Arias Pistons 12.5:1 Compression 82mm Bore Honda B-series on 2040-parts.com

Demise of kei cars on the horizon?

The kei car has long been a staple of the Japanese automobile industry and its car culture. Too diminutive for Western markets, the tiny cars and trucks are a strong influencer of design in Japan. Now, as The New York Times reports, the Japanese government has hit kei cars with increases in sales tax, gasoline prices and has reduced the kei car tax break introduced to make the cars popular in the first place by 50 percent.

The Hongqi L5 is the most expensive Chinese car you can buy

China's oldest car company rolled out its first vehicle on Aug. 1, 1958; it was a chrome-lined black sedan designed -- like the pastiche of 1950s cars it resembled, including the Packard-esque Chaika -- to strike equal amounts of fear and inspiration into the revolutionaries. In Chinese, "Hongqi" in means "red flag," the most potent symbol of the Chinese Communist Party, making it a fitting name for a company that supplied the apparatchik.

Caterham to take on Cayman, Evora

With the increased visibility brought to enthusiast-secret Caterham via their Formula One team, it only makes sense to diversify the company's offerings. Though they've diverged from the Seven-only path a couple of times before -- with the limited-production 21 in the mid-'90s and the more recent SP/300.R, a track-only collaboration with Lola -- this time they're taking aim at higher-volume prey. The targets?