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Honda MC-? prototype

Honda is less an automaker, it has been said, and more of a motor company that builds vehicles into which to put its engines. That sort of perspective goes a long way towards explaining the mind-boggling diversity of the company's product lineup. The Japanese industrial giant makes lawnmowers, marine engines, robots... even jet aircraft. It's also one of only a handful of companies that makes both cars and motorbikes. We recently had the chance to sample something that falls in between.
It's called MC-β - shorthand for Micro Commuter Beta, which already tells you it's Honda's second stab at the formula. The first Micro Commuter prototype was announced a year prior and, though marginally larger, struck us as a more complete product than its successor. But it'll likely still be a while before the formula is perfected and put into production, and even then it isn't likely to find its way any time soon to Honda's American showrooms - whether those showrooms are selling cars, bikes or ride-on mowers.
Driving Notes

Toyota tops Consumer Reports best, worst used car values

We often mock Toyota for building boring, soulless cars, but a new study by Consumer Reports suggests that regardless of whether that's true, the company has some of the best used cars on the market. In its report on used cars from 2004-2013, the Japanese automaker had 11 vehicles among its brands on the list - more than any other automaker.
CR breaks the list down by cost and vehicle size, and Toyota has at least one entry at every price point and in nearly every segment. To score a recommendation, a vehicle had to perform well in the magazine's initial tests and score above-average reliability results. It also tried to only suggest cars with electronic stability control. Of the 28 recommended vehicles, Honda/Acura had the second most mentions at six, and Ford, Hyundai and Subaru managed two each.
The Detroit brands also made it to the list, but not in a positive way. Consumer Reports compiled a list of 22 vehicles it wouldn't recommend because "they have multiple years of much-worse-than-average overall reliability." General Motors had the most unrecommended models on the list at six, but Chrysler and Ford weren't far behind, with five cars each from their brands not making the grade. The full list of recommendations is available on CR's website.

Acura NSX prototype gets back on track

Developing a new vehicle is not without its complications, we're sure, but usually things follow a fairly predictable progression: you develop a prototype, you test it, test it and test it again, then you put it into production. What you don't expect is that your prototype will burn to the ground, but that's what famously happened to the NSX which Honda engineers were testing a few months ago.
Fortunately, the Acura NSX prototype is back on track, both literally and figuratively, as you can see from this latest batch of spy shots snapped at the Nürburgring. This camouflaged prototype looks pretty much the same as the last one, only, you know... less crispy. Which is to say, it looks pretty much ready to hit showrooms.
The naysayers may point out that Honda chose colder and damper weather to put the NSX back into testing - thereby mitigating the risk of another fire - but we're sure the Japanese automaker has been working hard to fix the flammability issues, whatever may have caused them, over the past few months. At least, we hope they have.