Volkswagen Passat Engine Brain Box Electronic Control Module; 2.8l (v6), Engin on 2040-parts.com

Vast Private Collection To Go Under The Hammer

AN AUCTION of more than 1,000 lots all from the same collection is due to go under the hammer later this month. The collection belongs to Michael Banfield, who has amassed a huge collection covering the history of the car in the UK. Among the earliest cars for sale are a 1904 Mors Roi de Belges, which is in perfect working order, ready to be used and is estimated to make £500,000.

1970 DeTomaso Mangusta: Bring a Trailer special

The name means “mongoose” in Italian, and even if this American half-breed never killed a Cobra on the track, in the looks department it’s still lethal. DeTomaso built 401 Mangusta sports cars from 1967 to 1971 before it was axed in favor of the ubiquitous Pantera--a styling step backward in the eyes of your humble author. The Mangusta formula was the same as that for Pantera: a Ford V8 engine (albeit a 302 rather than a 351C) midships in a sleek Italian body.

Name game: Analysis predicts vehicle brand based on first name

Here's something to fill your mid-afternoon break. MoneySupermarket.com, a site in the U.K. that compares everything from insurance to travel, analyzed 17 million car insurance searches on its site to come up with a list of cars people are most likely to drive based on their first name.