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Brian Wilson on the Beach Boys' car songs

Brian Wilson, the musical giant behind so much of the Beach Boys great music, sang at the Petersen gala in Los Angeles last week, and there were plenty of songs about cars and drag racing in the mix. "We're going to do a series of car songs because this place has a lot of cars," Wilson announced before leading his 10-piece band into "Little Deuce Coupe," "409," "All Summer Long" and "Shut Down." The band played to a packed house at the museum's annual fundraiser. Wilson's set was surely the most entertaining in the Petersen's 15 years of fundraising galas.

BMW X3 sDrive18d: First RWD X3 launches

BMW has launched the BMW X3 sDrive18d, the first rear wheel drive X3 and the new entry point in to the X3 range. If Land Rover can offer a 2WD Evoque, then there’s no reason why BMW shouldn’t offer a 2WD X3. So we get the BMW X3 sDrive18d as the new entry-level X3 and the first rear wheel drive X3.

Toyota studying larger Prius people-hauler

Toyota's Prius family could continue to grow, literally, as the automaker studies an additional version of the popular hybrid that carries three rows of seats. The three-row Prius would not be the same vehicle as the Prius Alpha sold in Japan, which basically crams a third row of seats into the cargo area of the five-seat Prius V to be sold in the United States starting this fall. To the contrary, this potential Prius would be large enough to hold seven people as well as their stuff, said Bob Carter, Toyota Division general manager.