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Watch the sad, final moments of a crusher-bound heap

Automotive wrecking yards are good places to reflect on the real-world values of heavily depreciated vehicles versus global current scrap-metal prices, and to see which cars have suddenly had the fix-it-versus-total-it line moved by insurance companies (the early-21st-century Subaru Legacy Outback, for example, appeared in large numbers in high-turnover wrecking yards just during the last year, as fairly minor collision damage on these cars is no longer worth fixing). You'll see the things that a car's last owner does in a desperate attempt to sell (or at least live with) an increasingly decrepit heap (as we learned in "Repo Man," you really will find a Little Tree in every car). During a recent trip to a San Jose, Calif., yard, I encountered this sad yet strangely compelling scene.

RCA's Dale Harrow: Car design more crucial than ever

As well as serving as head of the RCA's Vehicle Design Program, Dale Harrow is also a Financial Times columnist. His latest piece suggests the car is in the process of change, and at a rate beyond that undertaken in its first century of existence. Manufacturers have 'solved' the function of the car, and as reliability is no longer a concern for the consumer, design is now crucial.

Volvo V60 Polestar (2013) first official pictures

By Ollie Kew First Official Pictures 26 November 2013 10:00 This is the new Volvo V60 Polestar: a production-ready, 342bhp estate that Volvo will sell in the UK in 2014. That’s right, after the concept-only S60 Polestar and C30 Polestar, Volvo’s finally putting its performance arm’s money where its mouth is. American and mainland European buyers will be able to buy a saloon S60 Polestar, but we Brits only get the wagon V60.