97 Yamaha Venture Vt 500 Exhaust Mid Pipe L4 on 2040-parts.com

Toyota to close Australian design studio

Toyota designers at its Technical Center Asia Pacific Australia (TTCAP-AU) are to lose their jobs as part of Toyota's decision to scale back the facility's activities as well as halting all manufacturing within the country by 2017. The TTCAP-AU, which carries out all its Australian design and evaluation operations, employs 150 designers and modelers and it's possible that its activities with the Camry, Camry Hybrid and Aurion models could be scrapped, raising doubts over its future. Around 2,500 employees at Toyota's Altona manufacturing plant are expected to lose their jobs, although the effects are likely to be wider ranging.

Porsche Boxster Carrera GT lookalike. Seriously sad.

The Porsche Boxster Carrera GT lookalike. Sort of. We’ve seen some pretty horrible attempts to make a car look special.

One lap of the Web: Ponycar birthdays, forgotten Hungarian racetracks and an Acura NSX

Chevy took some time this week to say happy birthday to its archrival, the Ford Mustang. The bowtie brand said that "healthy competition" between the Camaro and Mustang has been a "driving force for constant improvement." Check it out over at World Car Fans. Petrolicious has a handful of photos from a nearly forgotten track in Budapest, Hungary.