Mustang Decal Lettering Heavy Duty Durable S281 Saleen 5.0 Extreme S351 on 2040-parts.com

Volkswagen Passat CC Facelift (2012) at LA Motor Show

Volkswagen Passat CC gets a Facelift for 2012 The VW Passat CC – the swoopy-coupe version of the regular Passat – has been around for four years and has hardly changed since it launched. Well, unless you count the option of having five seats in the back of your Passat CC, that is. But now its time for Volkswagen’s Mondeo-sized offering that thinks it’s a Mercedes CLS to get a bit of a makeover.

Spectre 341 Challenge: The thrill of the hill

All you need to take on the death-defying Spectre 341 Challenge is a license, registration, proof of insurance and Department Of Transportation-legal tires. The winding 5.2-mile road in Virginia City, Nev., named Highway 341 has 22 hair-raising turns, about 14 of which can literally kill you. “This place forces the intangibles to the surface,” event creator and Spectre Performance owner Amir Rosenbaum says.

Akio Toyoda waves family flag, heir makes crisis personal challenge

The reclusive Akio Toyoda is taking the rare step of waving the family flag, as the scion to Toyota Motor Corp.’s founding dynasty tries to steer the world’s largest car company out of a spiraling safety crisis. In testimony prepared for the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, President Toyoda pursues a rare personal tack on the emergency, saying “my name is on every car.” “As you well know, I am the grandson of the founder, and all the Toyota vehicles bear my name,” Toyoda says in prepared comments circulated ahead of Wednesday’s committee hearing in Washington. “For me, when the cars are damaged, it is as though I am as well.” The intimate reflection is a departure for Toyoda, who has spent most of his career sidestepping public discussion of his lineage.