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eBay Find of the Day: 1985 Honda City Turbo II is JDM forbidden fruit you can own

It's always fun to cruise different global eBay Motors sites and check out the cars that we never got here. Thankfully, America's 25-year import limit on cars means that some of the rarities from the 80s are finally legal on these shores. This 1985 Honda City Turbo II is a great example of a fun, little car that we never got new but can be made legal here now.
The City was basically the Japanese company's '80s equivalent of today's Fit, albeit significantly smaller. The little urban runabout was so popular in its basic form that Honda decided to take things up a notch and turbocharge it. That car sold enough to warrant an even higher performance version called the Turbo II, which added an intercooler and the flared fenders you see here. The latter helped it earn the nickname "bulldog" for its boxy, aggressive appearance.
Honda claimed at the time that its little 1.2-liter, turbocharged four-cylinder produced 109 horsepower and 118 pound-feet of torque with a five-speed manual. In a car that weight just 1,620 pounds, you can imagine it was a very entertaining little package.

2017 Honda Ridgeline First Drive

Over the years, the quest to build a better pickup truck has resulted in nothing but failure. Only one basic formula has proven successful: body-on-frame, front-engine, solid rear axle, and an optional transfer case for true four-wheel drive. And it helps to wear an American nameplate. The 2017 Honda Ridgeline is none of those things. Instead, it's a unibody. The engine is up front, but it's mounted transversely since the truck is based on front-wheel-drive architecture. And one look is all it takes to confirm the Ridgeline is not a Ford, Chevy, or Ram. In the face of ever-bolder and blockier competition, the Ridgeline looks, dare we say, aerodynamically sound. It's all based on the rational desire for greater efficiency, comfort, and convenience. In the same way that a car-based crossover is a better choice for most families than a truck-based SUV, the Ridgeline is a better choice for a large swath of pickup buyers. It really is more comfortable, more fuel efficient, roomier, and easier to live with than its primary competitors. Those same things could be said of the old first-gen Honda Ridgeline. But where the 2006 model was terribly unattractive and ambiguously styled, the new 2017 model is at least recognizable as a pickup. Gone are the buttresses of the old truck, replaced by a more traditional bed that is four inches longer than before. That bed is molded from a strong, dent- and scratch-resistant fiber-reinforced plastic material that's UV treated so that it doesn't need paint to keep from fading in the sun. A pair of dirtbikes or a single ATV fit nicely with the tailgate down. There's still a trunk recessed in the rear of the bed, complete with a drain plug so that it can be hosed out or filled with ice to keep drinks cold. Eight tie-downs come standard, each rated to hold up to 350 pounds. A power outlet is nestled behind a hidden door in the bed, but a two-prong design and 400-watt max rating limit its usefulness. Carried over from the first generation is a dual-action tailgate that can fold down or swing open, hinging on the driver's side. A new feature is an in-bed audio system that should prove a hit at tailgate parties. Plug a television into the in-bed outlet, connect to the car's audio system, dump some ice in the trunk, and you're good to go. Check out the innovative tailgate and in-bed audio in our Short Cut videos below. And stick around for the third video to see a load full of rocks dumped in that heavy-duty plastic pickup bed.

VW Finds CO2 'Irregularites', SEMA Recap, and More | Autoblog Minute

Volkswagen's diesel emissions scandal gets a new wrinkle, US regulators hit Takata Corporation with a substantial fine, and we head to Vegas for a look at tuner paradise at the 2015 SEMA show. Autoblog Senior Editor Greg Migliore reports on this edition of Autoblog Minute Weekly Recap. Acura Chevrolet Honda Mazda Mitsubishi Toyota Autoblog Minute Videos Original Video Acura Legend