Visteon Alternators/starters 7509 Alternator/generator-reman Alternator on 2040-parts.com

Rockin' Supercar: The Rebirth, Short Life, and Death of a Shark-Fin-Equipped '85 Toyota Tercel Wagon

Sometimes a very ordinary car becomes something special, maybe even loved, but that's not always enough to keep it out of the jaws of the crusher. This is the story of a second-gen Toyota Tercel wagon (known in Japan as the Sprinter Carib) and its journey from auction to lumber-hauler to kid transportation to a Chinese steel factory. Around the turn of the century, while I was working at a doomed dot-com in San Francisco's South of Market neighborhood, I discovered that the city auctioned off all the unclaimed tow-away cars every week at nearby Pier 70.

Smart to sell Nissan-built car in U.S. in 2011

The U.S. distributor of Smart cars says it has a tentative deal with Nissan to sell a small, five-door car built by the Japanese automaker under the Smart brand, beginning in late 2011. Smart USA Distributor LLC, which is owned by Roger Penske's Penske Automotive Group, said the car would be powered by a gasoline engine and fit the B-segment size class.

RM Auctions' Icons sale brings good return on customs

Hot-rod and custom-car enthusiasts came from across the country for RM Auctions' Icons of Speed and Style sale in Los Angeles on Saturday, which offered the entire collection of the Flying A Garage. Collector Ralph Whitworth had big plans to open a car museum in his native Winnemucca, Nev., and had assembled one of the greatest rod, custom and racing-car collections ever to make it happen. He housed it in a new, climate-controlled building in Winnemucca called the Flying A Garage and had plans to open a museum to draw interest to his hometown.