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Thieves still love older Hondas and pickups most, says NICB [w/video]

No one wants to have their car stolen, but a new study by the National Insurance Crime Bureau has some bad news for older Honda owners and pickup drivers. Fortunately, it has better news for drivers overall. The group is reporting that according to preliminary data from the Federal Bureau of Investigation, thefts were down 3.2 percent in 2013 (versus 2012) to fewer than 700,000 cars. That's the lowest figure since 1967. That's also less than half of the peak of over 1.66 million thefts in 1991. "The drop in thefts is good news for all of us," says NICB President and CEO Joe Wehrle. "But it still amounts to a vehicle being stolen every 45 seconds and losses of over $4 billion a year."
Honda drivers might not find it such good news with older Accord and Civic models topping this year's theft study. Toyota and Dodge can't really celebrate, either, with two models each on the list, as well. Overall, this year's list was split evenly between foreign and domestic models, which were mostly pickups.
The 10 most likely vehicles to be stolen in 2013 were:

A few pre-race notes and a lot of photos from the 24 Hours of Le Mans

The 82nd running of the 24 Hours of Le Mans is on.
Audi has won 12 of the last 15 events, the scion of Auto Union is trying to make it 13 this year. To do so, it will have to overcome a situation faced only three other times during its dominance of La Sarthe: underdog status. Toyota has won the first two races of the year and claimed pole for this race, the rumor being that this year it's Toyota's race to lose.
And then there's Porsche. It's been 16 years since the Stuttgart brand raced on the top rung at Le Mans, three years years since it announced its return, just a year since it acquired Mark Webber in a signing that wasn't subtle and a few months since we got eyes on the 919 Hybrid.

Toyota Supra, Rolls-Royces, dozens of BMWs recalled for backup camera issue

Weeks after Nissan and Infiniti recalled more than 1.2 million vehicles for a potentially dangerous programming oversight in the backup camera settings, BMW has issued a recall for similar problems. The recall, which covers 257,481 vehicles, includes numerous BMWs, as well as two Rolls-Royce models, and the 2020 Toyota Supra.  In total, the recall potentially affects 51 different products. This includes the 2018 BMW 540D, 2018–2019 BMW 640I, Rolls-Royce Phantom, 2018–2020 BMW 530e, 530i, 540i, M5, M550i, X3, 2019 Rolls-Royce Cullinan, 2019–2020 BMW 330I, 740Le, 740Li, 745Le, 750Li, 840i, M340i, M850i, X4, X5, X6, X7, Z4, and 2020 Toyota Supra. On certain BMW models, xDrive variants are also included. According to NHTSA campaign No. 19V684000, "The back-up camera and display settings can be adjusted such that the rearview image is no longer visible and the system will retain that setting the next time the vehicle is placed in reverse." If there is no display image when backing up, drivers can't properly see, and the car no longer meets modern safety regulations. Specifically, Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard (FMVSS) number 111, "Rearview Mirrors."  The recall was filed on September 27, 2019, and BMW plans to begin notifying affected owners in November. BMW, Toyota, and Rolls-Royce dealers will update the vehicles' software, which should fix the problem.