Last week, I left the Return of the LeMonites 24 Hours of LeMons and went straight to Sweden for a car-freak field trip with Dr. G.D. Yo-Man. Surströmming, runestones, black metal, and, of course, junkyards full of weird (to Americans) European cars. Bloms Bilskrot, located in Söråker, boasts what must be thousands of cars from the 1940s through the 1990s, and the inventory extends well into dense forest where decades-old trees grow through engine compartments and plants grow on mulch on car roofs. Today’s Junkyard Find was located in the less wooded part of Blom’s, so I didn’t have to climb over any fallen trees in order to photograph it. (Read More…)

Spotted in the wild, somewhere north of Toronto: a brown Olds Alero with a vinyl roof. I’m not sure if this qualifies as a “Brougham” type car (does the roof alone qualify it?), but it’s a combination that I’ll likely never encounter again.

Though a new Alpine is set to come out in 2016, the new car will be lacking in English blood: Renault and Caterham have broken off their engagement to revive the historic French marque.

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The global outlook for Auto Back Securities (ABS) is steady – except in North America, where underwriting standards and borrower credit are slipping. (Read More…)

While we’re fortunate to be treated to a weekly look at American auto auctions courtesy of TTAC’s Steve Lang and his Hammer Time series, today we’re getting a glimpse of an auction on the other side of the world.

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Nissan’s budget brand Datsun is ready to go to South Africa, the fourth market that the resurrected nameplate will either see again or for the first time.

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My wife Mustang Sally and I are among the folks who are fleeing Southern California due to the high cost of living, rising taxes and the general ass-whipping that living here entails. We are moving to Tucson. We may be leaving Automotive Heaven for Hot as Hell Arizona but one of my long standing car nut dreams has come true: three bays, no waiting.

My wife tells me the triple garage we just purchased comes standard with a house attached to it, one with a fireplace and two or three bathrooms or something. I haven’t really noticed; I have a giant new garage to organize and I need your advise. (Read More…)

For ages, the kei car has been one of the darlings of the automotive world, owing to its tiny size and equally tiny engine (that also netted owners a smaller tax bill). Alas, Japan’s littlest cars may soon be put in a toy box destined for Goodwill as the nation’s government puts the pressure on both automakers and owners to move toward supporting bigger offerings.

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The only van not capable of improving its May 2013 U.S. sales figures in May 2014 possessed an in-showroom rival last month which didn’t exist a year ago. Ram Cargo Van sales fell 21%, or 209 units, in May 2014. But with the ProMaster making headway, total Ram commercial van sales jumped 84%.

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Fiat Chrysler Automobiles has just released their initial list of dealerships who will have the right to sell the Alfa Romeo 4C to North American customers, while the sports car will bring 342 pounds of luggage for the trip from Modena to the selected showrooms.

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Bloomberg is reporting that General Motors barred reporters from emailing, photographing or videoing monitors set up in a special media room during their annual shareholder meeting. (Read More…)

After a troubling first third of 2014, passenger car sales in May were resurgent in large part because of big numbers achieved by small cars. Overall car sales were down 2% through the end of April, but with a 9% year-over-year May increase (in a longer month with an extra weekend), there have now been a few more cars sold in the first five months of 2014 than during the same period one year earlier.

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Looks like we were wrong – sort of. We incorrectly announced that the Buick Verano 6-speed manual was slated to die for the 2015 model year, but luckily, we were wrong.

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I have a 10 year old Mazda Protege which I have loved ever since new.

There is just one small problem.

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