Kawasaki Honda Suzuki Yamaha Piston Lot #3 on 2040-parts.com

Hennessey Venom GT sets new 270mph world speed record

The Hennessey Venom GT has set a new world speed record for a two-seat sports car, hitting an official top speed of 270.49mph. Carried out on the 3.2-mile Space Shuttle landing strip at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida, USA, the Venom GT eclipsed the former fastest car in the world’s record, the 267.86mph Bugatti Veyron Super Sport. On Bing: see pictures of the Hennessey Venom GTHennessey Venom GT reaches 265.7mph top speed It’s not the first time the Lotus Exige-based sports car has tried to take the French marque’s crown, with previous tests getting oh-so-close to beating the Bugatti.

Money flows at Monterey Auctions

Buyers of classic vehicles have dug deep into their pockets at auctions on the Monterey Peninsula, easily topping the sales totals from last year with one auction still remaining. More than $203 million has been spent on 704 vehicles, for an average sale price of $288,360. In 2011, the auction houses set a record for total sales during Pebble Beach week at $197,732,538 having been spent on 881 vehicles for an average sale price of $224,441.

BMW M550d xDrive confirmed. X5 M50d & X6 M50d likely

BMW M550d xDrive arriving March 2012 (M5 pictured) We’ve been talking about the BMW triple-turbo diesel for a long time. As far back as Spring 2009 we reported BMW were working on a triple-turbo diesel, which we expected to see the light of day first in the BMW X5. It took more than two years for BMW to catch up with our story on the triple-turbo diesel, but we finally had BMW man  Brian Watts confirming the new diesel, but that it would turn up as the M550d.