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Honda Accord, Civic are America's most stolen cars

The National Insurance Crime Bureau has released its latest Hot Wheels study on the most popular stolen cars and trucks for 2012. The study has changed a bit from past years, with the new findings listing only the make and model of each vehicle, while taking into account all model years in its totals. Previous iterations only focused on the most stolen vehicles of a particular model year, with that make and model not appearing anywhere else on the list so as not to appear to call out a particular car. Confusing, eh? Said another way, in previous studies, if the three most stolen vehicles were the 2006, 2007 and 2008 Belchfire Turbo from Fictitious Motors, only the model year with the highest number of thefts would make the list.
The new study takes all model years into consideration while breaking down the number of vehicles stolen per model year in a full, in-depth report. Separately, the NICB is also listing the top 25 new vehicles stolen in 2012. That list is limited exclusively to model year 2012 entries.
Honda took the top two spots in the most stolen vehicles list, with 58,596 Accord models stolen and 47,037 Civic models stolen. The study is interesting, though, in that the most recent model year for the Accord is 1997, while the most recent the Civic is 2000. In fact, Hondas from 1990 to 2000 make up 16 of the top 20 cars stolen in 2012, according to the NICB. Compare that with the MY2012 list, where Honda's vehicles are eleventh and fifteenth, and it looks like the Japanese brand has been beefing up its theft control.

Honda Civic Tourer reminds us why we love wagons

It was the early 1990s when the last Honda Civic Wagon graced our shores, looking more like a squat five-door hatchback with an extra dose of charm. Well, Honda debuted the newest Civic Wagon Tourer at the Frankfurt Motor Show today, but, as we reported last month, it's a European model that will go on sale there early next year. There's still no word of it coming to the US.
The Civic Tourer was designed by Honda's European studio, and its overall look comes across as more muscular, sporty and stylish than both the sedan and two-door coupe, with bulging fenders and revised windows. Adrian Killham, large project leader for the Civic Tourer, has commented on the styling, saying, "Recently launched cars have tended to follow a similar style. The Civic Tourer has a different balance and appeal." We appreciate the sentiment, and the Tourer's shape is a big reason why we like it.
But we also like the 22 cubic feet of cargo space with the rear seats up, which grows to a gargantuan 59 cubic feet with the rear seats folded down. The big Civic will be powered by either a 1.8-liter four-cylinder petrol engine with i-VTEC or a 1.6-liter Earth Dreams i-DTEC diesel engine. Manual and automatic transmissions will be offered.

Honda, Top Gear working on 130-mph lawn mower

We're not even sure they've got a blade of Kentucky Bluegrass to cut, but the folks at Top Gear have gone ahead and started building what will become, if they're successful, the world's fastest lawn mower. Actually, it appears Top Gear is not doing much of the design and assembly work at all, instead having solicited help from experts at Honda and Team Dynamics, which oversees the automaker's touring car efforts.
What the three are working on is a riding lawnmower with a 110-hp engine that can reach 60 miles per hour in four seconds and trim turf at speeds up to 130 mph. If they succeed, such a maximum velocity would put them well ahead of the current record for the world's fastest lawnmower, which is 96.529 mph set by Bobby Cleveland and his Snapper race mower at the Bonneville Salt Flats in September of 2010. Top Gear hasn't said whether or not it will officially go after Cleveland's record, but the build will be featured in an upcoming issue of the Top Gear magazine and is scheduled to be completed by June 17, so we may learn what this maniacal mower's true purpose is then.
According to TG's report on how the build is going, as well as the video of it being fired up (literally) for the first time below, there aren't many actual mower parts left on this machine. What started out as a Honda HF2620 mower now sports wheels and tires from a racing quad, a back axle from a go-kart, a steering rack from a Morris Minor and a 1000cc engine from a Honda VTR1000F sport bike. All that remains from the original mower are the pedals and body panels; even the steel cutting deck has been replaced with a lighter fiberglass version. And blades? This mower will be bladeless, instead using two electric motors to spin lengths of brake cable like a weed whacker.