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

Mazda hires VW alum Derek Jenkins to head U.S. design staff

Former Volkswagen designer Derek Jenkins has been hired to be the design chief for Mazda in America. Jenkins, 39, fills a position vacated last summer by Franz von Holzhausen, who left to take the top design post at electric-vehicle maker Tesla Motors. Jenkins had been chief of design for the Volkswagen Group in North America, which he joined in 2000.

Ultimate Street Car Association opens registration for 2014 season

Back in November, the Ultimate Street Car Association was announced at SEMA as a national race series to oversee the Optima Ultimate Street Car Invitational and Qualifying. Registration is now open for the first event at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca. Those of you who picked up any tuner mag from the last six years will remember the Optima Ultimate Street Car Invitational, which played host to some incredible cars -- and demonstrated an overwhelming bias toward Camaros, it turns out.

Show Review: Salon Privé 2011

Salon Privé is billed as Britain's most elite car show and, with its lashings of pink champagne, lobster barbecue and attendees who look to have taken a wrong turn from the UK scripted-reality show, Made in Chelsea, it's certainly the glitziest. This year Salon Privé moved from its traditional home of The Hurlingham Club, just a (precious) stone's throw from the real-life set of the aforementioned show, to the grounds of Syon House in outer West London. Home to the Duke of Northumberland, Syon House's Italian Renaissance architecture and lush grounds provide a fitting background for such an event although those familiar with the locales of Villa d'Este on the shores of Lake Como, the Goodwood Festival of Speed in the heart of Lord March's idyllic West Sussex estate or the dramatic Californian coastline of Pebble Beach may be disappointed.