Mercury Mariner Outboard Carburetors 100-115-125 Wme 80-1/2/3/4 (t28) on 2040-parts.com

One Lap of the Web: Relentless auction consumerism and a chat with Pete Brock

-- Bonham's is hosting "Les Grandes Marques du Monde au Grand Palais," happening right now in Paris. Sounds fancy. And as with almost every Bonham's auction, there is some fancy machinery: our friends at Bring a Trailer point out an almost surreal variety of cars, from a Mazda 323 GTX Group N rally car to a cute lil' Saab 92B De Luxe.

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.

Megane Renaultsport 275 Trophy revealed

Meet the hottest Renaultsport Megane ever – the Megane Renaultsport 275 Trophy, which Renault hopes will eat the SEAT Leon Cupra for breakfast around the infamous Nurburgring test track. Packing, you guessed it, 275hp, the 275 Trophy has an extra 10hp over the standard Megane Renaultsport. Exact performance figures are still to be confirmed but Renault tells us the Trophy will return 37.7mpg, with peak power from its twin-turbocharged engine coming at 5,500rpm.