Toyota Mark Ii 2004 A/c Compressor [5260700] on 2040-parts.com

Great races inside November's car-sales numbers

November was a big month for car sales in the United States, up 14 percent from November 2010 to 994,786 units. Analysts expect car sales to total 12.8 million units for the year. Here's a look at some of the trends behind that big number.

2011 BMW 1 Series Facelift

The BMW 1 Series Coupe & Convertible get a 2011 Facelift To be entirely accurate, the 2011 BMW 1 Series Facelift isn’t across the board – at least not yet. What we are getting – at the Detroit Motor Show next month – is a modest refresh to the cosmetics on the BMW 1 Series Coupe and BMW 1 Series Convertible plus a bit of an oily tweak. On the cosmetic front the 2011 1 Series gets some new light front and back – headlight tweaks, L-shaped tail lights and LEDs front and back – and a new splitter that BMW says creates an air curtain to improve CO2 and reduce drag.

SoCal Speed shop wins AMBR award as hod-rodding returns to its roots

In a competition that "took hot-rodding back to its SoCal roots," the SoCal Speed Shop--the entity founded by original hot-rod hero Alex Xydias and now helmed by Pete Chapouris--finally won the AMBR. That's AMBR, as in, America's Most Beautiful Roadster, the most sought-after title in all of hot-rodding and the crowning glory of the Grand National Roadster Show. There is that competition at the Detroit Autorama that hands out the Ridler Award, but that is open to all manner of kustom kars.