2003 Honda S2000 Base Convertible 2-door 2.0l on 2040-cars

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Fernando Alonso expects to retire after McLaren-Honda

When Fernando Alonso was three years old, his father gave him a model of a McLaren-Honda grand prix car. That's where his path to Formula One started, and it's where he wants his career to end as well. Speaking with Autosport, the two-time world champion indicated that he intends to retire after he's done at McLaren, rather than switch to another team. Of course, he didn't indicate just when that would be, but as far as he's concerned, the road ends in Woking. The highly rated and immensely successful Spanish driver has been on the grid for fourteen years now. He started out with Minardi (precursor to Toro Rosso) in 2001, then spent four seasons with Renault, where he scored back-to-back world titles. He then switched to McLaren for one year, where he won four races, then back to Renault for another three where he and the team fell off their form. Fernando subsequently switched to Ferrari where he spent the last five seasons, thrice finishing second in the world championship but never quite managing to clinch an elusive third title. This year he's back at McLaren but has had a bumpy start. After crashing during a pre-season test session, he sat out the season opener, and failed to finish the second round in Malaysia. He's now in Shanghai preparing for this weekend's Chinese Grand Prix. Like this writer, he'll be turning 34 in July, making him the fourth oldest driver on the grid this year. So he's still got a good few years in him, and will likely want to see the troubled rekindling of the McLaren-Honda partnership through to winning form. But while nobody can tell what the future will bring, it looks like any other team that hopes to lure the champ away could end up disappointed.

Acura NSX GT3 racecar bares all in raw carbon

Acura slowly and dramatically revealed the NSX over a period of years. There were previews, concepts, and lots of teases before Acura finally showed us the whole thing. It's a different story for the racecar. And today, the wraps come off the FIA GT3-spec NSX to show all of its bare-carbon glory. The NSX GT3 strips away more than just the paint from the standard road car. The racecar comes sans hybrid system, meaning all the power from the twin-turbocharged 3.5-liter V6 is sent solely to the rear wheels. Modifications to the body include a large rear wing, underbody diffuser, and bigger hood vents for engine cooling. While the hybrid system may be gone, the NSX GT3 uses the same block, heads, valvetrain, crankshaft, pistons, and dry sump lubrication system as the road car. Power is sent through a six-speed sequential gearbox instead of the road car's nine-speed. The NSX GT3 will be built alongside the street version in Ohio. Honda engineers in Japan and North America shared in the development. Final GT3 homologation will be completed by the company's Honda Performance Division in Santa Clarita, CA. Related video:

Honda Civic Tourer images arrive early on web

Honda provided a teaser sketch of its Civic Tourer concept wagon about a month ago (right), but today, just a couple days before its official debut at the Geneva Motor Show, we've found these official pics of the car in question from WhatCar?
The Civic Tourer concept adds a little length and height to the current Civic hatchback sold in Europe, stretching the shape every which way to make a new wagon model that will compete with cars like the new Volkswagen Golf Variant, which is also making its debut in Geneva this week.
As we mentioned when Honda released the teaser sketch last month, the European Civic is different from the Civic sold here in the US, so the production version of this concept, which should debut in the fall, will never see the inside of a dealership in the States. Do you care, or does the smaller Fit fill that role well enough for Americans?