Voltage Regulator-huco Wd Express 704 53001 644 on 2040-parts.com

No sign of global auto meltdown at Tokyo Auto Salon

With more than 600 cars on display and a record number of exhibitors, nothing at the 2009 Tokyo Auto Salon tuner show hinted at the global economic downturn. As always, there was a great mix of styles, from hard-core, 1,000-hp, supertuned machinery to weird customized scooter tricycles. Auto manufacturers tried hard to capture the minds--if not the wallets--of the younger-than-30 crowd with customized versions of production cars, while tuners were busy persuading power junkies to choose them for their next engine modification.

VW CrossBlue concept (2013) first official pictures

This is Volkswagen's next SUV, just revealed at the 2013 Detroit motor show. Called the CrossBlue, it's a 'mid-sized' six-seat SUV aimed specifically at the American market. Yet judging by these images, and to these European eyes, there doesn’t seem to be much ‘mid-sized’ about it – it's a mammoth five metres long, coming in at 200mm longer than a VW Touareg.

Race2Recovery: Wounded vets to compete in Dakar Rally

The 2013 Dakar Rally will include five teams of disabled veterans in its 575-entry roster. An organization called Race2Recovery will enter 24 men and women, most veterans of the US and British armed forces and most of them wounded in battle. They'll take to the wilderness of South America with the rest of the competitors on Jan.