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One Lap of the Web: Remembering the dearly departed

-- With news that Toyota is leaving the great state of California for the greater (by landmass, anyway; your own opinion may vary) state of Texas, it's worth reminding ourselves that Toyota in America started as one lonely building on 6000 Hollywood Blvd., having taken over a former Rambler dealership. (The site is still a successful Toyota dealership.) That first year of sales in 1958 saw 287 Toyopet Crowns and one Land Cruiser sold -- more as curiosities than as practical transportation, we'd wager. -- At any rate, Toyota's move from California to Texas is moving from "one of the most eco-friendly states in the union," according to Ward's Auto, "to the U.S.’s equivalent of China." -- Ten years ago today, the last Oldsmobile rolled off the line at Lansing Car Assembly.

Fun with fiberglass: Petersen exhibit celebrates moldable material

To be an artisan in aluminum or the Stradivarius of steel, you need about 40 years as an apprentice working metal with pinchers and pullers and to spend a lot of time rolling sheets back and forth through an English wheel. To make something out of fiberglass, all you need is resin. The Petersen Automotive Museum in Los Angeles is celebrating all things fiberglass--especially the cars--with an exhibit that runs through Oct.

New Honda Civic Type R Concept previews production Type R

The new Honda Civic Type R Concept previews production Type R We had a concept Civic Type R at Geneva earlier this year, but this latest Honda Civic Type R Concept – heading for a debut this week at the Paris Motor Show – almost certainly preview the full production Civic Type R due to arrive in Honda showrooms in 2015. Honda has made sure this Type R Concept is anything but a shrinking violet, giving it a startling blue paintjob with red highlights and keeping the statement massive rear wing intact, complete with quad tail pipes, aggressive rear diffuser and butch body kit. Under the skin of the front-wheel-drive Type R will be a new 2.0-litre i-VTEC which offers more than 278bhp – enough, it’s expected, for a sub-6 second 0-62mph – mated to a 6-speed manual gearbox with a new steer axis control at the front which minimises torque steer so you can get the power down properly.