Standard Motor Products Egv243 Egr Valve - Standard on 2040-parts.com

More than a (gull)wing and a prayer

They make up just six percent of Mercedes car sales in the United States—but nothing preserves and proliferates the top-shelf, seductive image of a Benz like a sports car. This is a point that's been driven home to me in a wide array of circumstances this year: Mercedes sports cars are still rock stars. I'll admit, I've often been a skeptic.

This Week in 1958: Montgomery, NY, hosts Governor's Trophy Race for the third year in a row

Fifty-five years ago was the third consecutive year that a former Air Force base in Montgomery, N.Y., served as a racetrack. The Governor's Trophy Race was a growing event and spectators only had to travel 75 miles from New York City to see race legends like Carroll Shelby compete. Nearly 30,000 spectators came to the two-day event in 1957, and race organizers were expecting even more in 1958.

Acura's bargain birth introduced Japanese luxury to the U.S. 25 years ago

The idea seemed almost ludicrous to Tom Elliott back in 1982, but there it was, in black and white, on Honda Motor Co.'s strategic product plan. Elliott's bosses in Japan had decided to sell a car priced at more than $20,000 in the United States, taking the Japanese brand dramatically upscale. And Elliott, Honda's U.S.