Granada Ford Chrome Script Emblem Fomoco 224 on 2040-parts.com

Ariel moves from Atoms to motorbikes in 2012

Ariel - famous to motorists for its skeletal Atom sports car - will start making motorbikes again in 2012. CAR's sister publication biking bible MCN today publishes the full story of the new Ariel superbike, likely to be priced around £20,000. Owner Simon Saunders told MCN Ariel would build the new bikes in the UK, but they would use Honda engines like the Atom sports car.

Watch the sad, final moments of a crusher-bound heap

Automotive wrecking yards are good places to reflect on the real-world values of heavily depreciated vehicles versus global current scrap-metal prices, and to see which cars have suddenly had the fix-it-versus-total-it line moved by insurance companies (the early-21st-century Subaru Legacy Outback, for example, appeared in large numbers in high-turnover wrecking yards just during the last year, as fairly minor collision damage on these cars is no longer worth fixing). You'll see the things that a car's last owner does in a desperate attempt to sell (or at least live with) an increasingly decrepit heap (as we learned in "Repo Man," you really will find a Little Tree in every car). During a recent trip to a San Jose, Calif., yard, I encountered this sad yet strangely compelling scene.

Citroen's GQbyCITROËN concept car (2010)

By Tim Pollard First Official Pictures 05 March 2010 09:16 Car manufacturers are increasingly looking for brand extensions outside their usual collaborations, so Citroën's new concept car should come as no surprise. They've teamed up with style bible GQ magazine to create the GQbyCITROËN.Designed to be a gentleman's sports car, GQ editor Dylan Jones worked with DS3 designer Mark Lloyd to create the five-door coupé. The rear pair of doors are suicide-hinged and the concave rear screen is a typical Citroën design flourish.