Suzuki Samurai Tranny Shifter Boot/mount on 2040-parts.com

Famed 1931 Duesenberg Whittell Coupe on the block at Gooding Pebble Beach auction

Gooding & Co. is set to auction what it claims is "America's most elegant automobile," a 1931 Duesenberg Model J by Murphy, at the company's 2011 Pebble Beach auction in August. Not to be confused with any run-of-the-mill Duesenberg Model J, this particular car is known as the Whittell Coupe after its owner, California playboy Captain George Whittell Jr.

2012 Audi R8 facelift, more power & S-tronic ‘box

Audi R8 getting a facelift - and more power - in 2012 The supercar with a mainstream car maker’s badge attached that is the Audi R8 has been something of a success as a halo car for the Audi range since it arrived in V8 form in 2007 (well, probably 2008 by the time most customer cars turned up). Since the original V8 R8 arrived we’ve had an absolute deluge – in supercar terms – of R8 models from Audi including the R8 V8, R8 V8 Spyder, R8 V10, R8 V10 Spyder and the rather costly R8 GT and R8 GT Spyder. But through that time the engines – apart from in the R8 GT – have remained the same, as has the woeful R-Tronic gearbox.

Toyota gives paralyzed bride a mobility van

In the 14 months after bride-to-be Rachelle Friedman took a paralyzing fall at her bachelorette party, she'd become pretty dependent on her wheelchair-accessible loaner van. Little did she know that Toyota planned to hand one over as a gift for her wedding--postponed until this week in Raleigh, N.C. Toyota and Braun--a manufacturer for wheelchair-accessible van conversions--had lent Friedman and her fianc