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Honda Jazz Prototype is brand's latest production-ready 'concept'

Another auto show, another Honda "prototype." The brand has made something of a habit of showing very thinly veiled production models at the world's auto shows, ranging from the Accord, to the Civic and Civic Type-R, as well as the CR-V. And yes, this is far from the first time we've railed against this particular trend (it's not even the first time at this auto show). Now, it's time to preview the production-ready Jazz, known to American consumers as the recently released Fit.
As we covered in our original post on the Jazz Prototype, this car is pretty much a twin to the Fit, aside from its 1.3-liter engine. Sitting in place of the US-market 1.5-liter four-cylinder, the Earth Dreams 1.3 is probably a bit more suited to the tighter urban environments of the European Union. While the engine might be different, the six-speed manual and continuously variable transmission will be plenty familiar to US consumers.
We have a full live gallery of the new Jazz Prototype at the top of the page. Take a look at that, and then scroll down for Honda's press release and official images.

Ugly Moto makes beautiful motorcycle art [w/video]

Ugly Moto is a horrible name for a company that makes such wonderful motorcycle art. The creation of artist Francis Ooi, the company's illustrations focus on some of the iconic racing bikes of the 1960s and 1970s.
The artwork has an elegant simplicity that really makes it pop. It would fit just about anywhere from a home office to the bedroom of a young gearhead. Ooi has completed six illustrations so far covering classic cycles from Honda, Ducati, Yamaha and even Harley-Davidson. According to his site, the Suzuki RGB500 ridden by Barry Sheene will be the next one released. All of the prints are priced at $65 and are limited to 100 copies. They are all about 16.53 inches by 23.58 inches in size.
According to his website, these prints are just a hobby for Ooi and his real career is as the creative director at an ad agency. He creates the illustrations on his Mac, and he estimates that each design with about 800 components and layers takes about a month to complete. You can get idea of the process involved in the time-lapse video below.

Honda To Expand Takata Air Bag Recall Nationwide

Under pressure from federal regulators, Honda is expanding a recall of driver's side air bags to all 50 states. The air bags, made by Japanese supplier Takata Corp., can explode with too much force, sending metal shrapnel into the passenger compartment. Takata insists that current recalls covering 8 million U.S. cars in high-humidity areas are sufficient. But the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration wants the recalls expanded nationwide after some incidents outside the high-humidity zones. Rick Schosteck, Honda's executive vice president for North America, told House lawmakers Wednesday that Honda will expand the regional recall it began in June, but will continue to prioritize high-humidity areas. He also said Honda is working with other air bag manufacturers to make sure it has enough parts. Related Gallery Consumer Reports Least Loved Cars 2014 Recalls Honda Safety NHTSA list