Bendix Brakes Brake Shoe 771 on 2040-parts.com

The scramble for scarce tires

North American automakers are struggling with a nagging shortage of tires, caused in part by tire plant closings and rising demand for low-volume specialty tires. Automakers are paying much higher prices -- double-digit percentage increases from a year ago -- as tire makers gain pricing power. "We have been bombarded from every side for additional tires, and we can't keep up," said David O'Donnell, Continental Tire's vice president of original equipment in the Americas.

A Pagani Zonda R For Sale – Track not included!

A Pagani Zonda R is up for grabs As we reported recently, Pagani has finally got round to officially launching the Pagani Zonda R, the ultimate performance Zonda (not that there’s anything wrong with the performance on the Zonda S or Zonda F or Zonda Cinque or…), which is a pure, track-only version of Pagani’s stunning supercar. As you would expect, there are only going to be a handful of Zonda Rs made and frankly, unless you have your own track (or own your own country), you’re not going to be able to use it to blat down to the pub on a Sunday lunchtime. But that small detail won’t stop the well-heeled petrol-head from digging deep to buy one.

Lexus LF-NX concept (2013) at Frankfurt motor show

This is the Lexus LF-NX concept SUV. It’s a BMW X3-sized crossover that’ll sport hybrid power and entice would-be Lexus buyers who don’t need a car as big as the RX hybrid SUV. That is, if the crazy styling doesn’t put them off, because this is certainly one of the more polarising concept designs we’ve seen in recent times.