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eBay Find of the Day: Why this motorcycle's a deal at $135k

There can be no doubt that Soichiro Honda left a lasting legacy by lending his engineering talents to the company that bears his name. This can be said particularly of motorcycles, and the company outdid itself when it introduced the 1969 CB750. Widely considered the world's first superbike, it combined a then-powerful 67-horsepower, 736cc, inline four-cylinder engine and cutting edge tech for motorcycles at the time like an electric start and front disc brake. It is simply one of the most important motorcycles ever made, and now one of four handmade prototypes is up for auction on eBay Motors.
According to the seller, Honda had an idea that it had something special with the CB750 and built four preproduction models to be shown off to American media in 1968. Each one was hand-built by Honda technicians from bespoke components, and this blue/green model was photographed by magazines and for promotional material at the time. The seller believes that one of the four prototypes was destroyed, one is in Europe and one is unknown, which means this may be the only chance for collectors to get their hands on one.
The bike has prompted quite a bidding war with 97 bids registered as of this writing. With about seven hours left to go in the auction, the top big currently sits at $135,300. At this rate, things could get very exciting at the end. Although to own a prototype for the first super bike, it might be worth it.

2015 Honda Fit shapes up for America [w/video]

The Fit may be Honda's smallest (and, starting at $15k, most cost-effective) model, but it has never sold in quantities that even approach those of the brand's larger offerings - at least not in the United States. Where American Honda typically sells hundreds of thousands of Civic and Accord models - even CR-V crossovers and Odyssey minivans - annual sales for the Fit typically amount to tens of thousands. But the Japanese automaker hopes to expand its sales in the segment with the introduction of the new 2015 Honda Fit.
Having launched the all-new model several months ago in the Japanese Domestic Market, Honda is presenting the new Fit to the North American market here at the Detroit Auto Show. By and large, it's the same model that will be sold around the world, having been redesigned with more aggressive styling, a larger footprint on the road and more interior space. Only now it will be built for North American consumption at Honda's new plant in Celaya, Mexico, where the automaker plans to also build its new Vezel crossover (or whatever it'll be called here).
The North American Fit ditches the hybrid setup offered in the JDM model in favor of a new Earthdreams 1.5-liter four-cylinder engine with direction injection and i-VTEC valve timing to help it deliver 130 horsepower and 114 pound-feet of torque. That's 13 more horses and 8 more torques than the previous model, and the engine can be paired to either a six-speed manual or Honda's new continuously variable transmission. With the latter, Honda projects the Fit will get 33 miles per gallon in the city, 41 on the highway and 36 on the combined cycle. Lighter and more refined than the outgoing model's powertrain, the new engine sits in a lighter and more rigid frame as well, which Honda expects will earn it top ratings from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration and Insurance Institute for Highway Safety.

Check out Honda's sweet stop-motion 'Power of Dreams' ad

Television advertising doesn't just have to be the necessary evil that pays for the shows that you want to watch, and Honda is absolutely proving that with a new two-minute commercial titled Paper. Using stop-motion animation and a heap of illustrated cutouts, the spot showcases what the Power of Dreams motto really means. It runs through highlights like the success in racing, automotive development, Asimo, the HondaJet, and even lawnmowers. The result of all that hard work is spellbinding. The entire two-minute spot already aired during a few NFL games, and doing that was a serious investment. According to Ad Age, during the time that the ad ran the estimated cost per 30 seconds was $300,887. Honda is also prepping a minute-long version for TV, but you can enjoy the whole thing right now in the video, above. HONDA BRINGS 'THE POWER OF DREAMS' TO LIFE WITH TWO-MINUTE COMMERCIAL CREATED BY STOP-MOTION ARTIST AND INFLUENCER PES Elaborate Paper-Flipping Technique Artfully Tells the History of Honda Honda Brand Marketing Tone — Simple, Clever and Emotional — Will Carry Through Across Upcoming Advertising to Help Build a Long-Term Emotional Connection with Consumers Sep 21, 2015 - TORRANCE, Calif. -- Capitalizing on Honda's established, strong brand identity and its core belief in "The Power of Dreams," the company is launching a two-minute commercial, "Paper," during CBS Sunday NFL on Sunday, Sept. 20. After months in the making, thousands of hand-drawn and -colored illustrations from multiple artists provide the platform for an intricate paper-flipping journey to beautifully show Honda's history and range of mobility products. "The goal is for the marketing itself to become a demonstration of Honda thinking and all the people that touch our wide range of products along the way," said Tom Peyton, Assistant Vice President of Marketing for American Honda Motor Co., Inc. "This commercial stands for the courage and conviction to imagine and make dreams a reality and speaks to Honda's innovative nature and respect for personal achievement and contributions." "The Power of Dreams" philosophy speaks to Honda's belief that drives the company's R&D and diverse array of advanced-technology products, and to the determination to bring them to market. This rejuvenated approach to overall brand marketing is the sum of Honda's best thinking and could only come from the company's years of design and innovation.