Mercedes-Benz SL

The next generation Mercedes-Benz SL – code name R231 – is the sixth model to wear the 'Sport Leicht' badge since the first back in 1954. Despite being 50mm longer (at 4612mm) and 57mm wider (1877mm) than its predecessor, the new SL is considerably lighter thanks to its aluminium construction. Its drag Cd figure of 0.27 also helps to increase efficiency.

2013 Ford Fiesta ST debuts at Geneva

2013 Ford Fiesta ST The 2013 Ford Fiesta ST arrives at Geneva in production guise – after a Fiesta ST Concept last year – and will go on sale early 2013. It looks like Ford has finally managed to fit the new 1.6 litre Ecoboost under the bonnet of the new Fiesta ST (all the cars running around so far have had the lump out of the Zetec S) and has pitched up at Geneva with the production version of the 2013 ST. That 1.6 litre Ecoboost engine is a four-cylinder petrol with 178bhp and 177lb/ft of torque, which gives a sub-7 second 0-62mph and a top speed of 136mph.

Rockin' Supercar: The Rebirth, Short Life, and Death of a Shark-Fin-Equipped '85 Toyota Tercel Wagon

Sometimes a very ordinary car becomes something special, maybe even loved, but that's not always enough to keep it out of the jaws of the crusher. This is the story of a second-gen Toyota Tercel wagon (known in Japan as the Sprinter Carib) and its journey from auction to lumber-hauler to kid transportation to a Chinese steel factory. Around the turn of the century, while I was working at a doomed dot-com in San Francisco's South of Market neighborhood, I discovered that the city auctioned off all the unclaimed tow-away cars every week at nearby Pier 70.