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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 earns 5 Stars from NHTSA

Honda's emergency redesign of the new Fit's front end not only had a positive effect on its scores from Insurance Institute for Highway Safety – it recorded a Top Safety Pick after being retested – but it helped the compact hatch record an impressive NCAP five-star safety rating from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. Those are two significant achievements for the Fit, and surprise, surprise, the Honda was quick to tout the news. "The Fit shows that owning a smaller car doesn't mean you need to skimp on space, comfort or crashworthiness," said Honda's VP of auto operations Art St. Cyr. "Honda's commitment to the safety of our customers and other road users is second to none, and the Fit demonstrates this commitment in a powerful way." Check out the official PR on the NHTSA announcement, available below. All-New 2015 Honda Fit Achieves Highest Overall Vehicle Score from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration Feb 2, 2015 - TORRANCE, Calif. Subcompact Fit achieves both an NCAP 5-Star Overall Vehicle Score and an IIHS TOP SAFETY PICK rating Fit is the fifth Honda vehicle for 2015 to achieve top crash safety ratings from both from IIHS and NHTSA The spacious, fuel-efficient and versatile 2015 Honda Fit (http://automobiles.honda.com/fit/), has received a 5-Star Overall Vehicle Score, the top score available in the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) New Car Assessment Program (NCAP). The Fit, completely redesigned in 2014, earns both a TOP SAFETY PICK rating from the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) and a NCAP 5-Star Overall Vehicle Score from NHTSA for 2015, making it even more of a standout choice in its segment. "The Fit shows that owning a smaller car doesn't mean you need to skimp on space, comfort or crashworthiness," said Art St. Cyr, vice president of auto operations at American Honda Motor Co., Inc. "Honda's commitment to the safety of our customers and other road users is second to none, and the Fit demonstrates this commitment in a powerful way." Already the benchmark subcompact in terms of passenger and cargo space and innovative features, occupant safety features for the 2015 Honda Fit are further enhanced through the next-generation Advanced Compatibility Engineering™ (ACE™) body structure. The ACE™ body structure improves frontal crash energy management through a wider range of offset and oblique collision modes.

Alonso wants an NSX, but did Honda block him from Le Mans?

One of the biggest changes in store for the 2015 Formula One World Championship will see Fernando Alonso moving back to McLaren. That means he'll be driving under Honda power for the first time, after spending the bulk of his career driving for Renault and Ferrari. And being Honda's new poster child, as the two-time World Champion is fast discovering, has its advantages and its drawbacks. According to the latest reports, Alonso had been negotiating a clause in his contract with McLaren that could have seen him driving a Porsche 919 Hybrid at Le Mans this year, but Honda reportedly stepped in at the last minute and scuttled the plan. The drive would have been Alonso's first in the famous 24-hour race, after having had the honor of waving the flag at La Sarthe last summer. In one of the wilder rumors that emerged during the prolonged silence over his move for this season, the Spaniard was also linked to a potential return for Ferrari to Le Mans. That prospect came to naught, and now the Porsche deal has been wheeled into the garage, as well. The upcoming F1 season is expected to be one of transition, adjustment and development for McLaren and Honda, but the Japanese automaker's involvement in his hiring may not be all bad news for Alonso. Following the reveal of the new Acura NSX, Alonso tweeted "You still don't know, but one day we will be together..." followed by a series of heart-eyed smiley-face emoticons and accompanies by images of Honda's new supercar. The implication is that the two-time World Champion is expecting to get his talented hands on an NSX of his own, and we can certainly see how Honda would appreciate the imagery of Fernando driving around in its flagship. Even if it doesn't, though, we're sure McLaren would be glad to hook him up with a company car of its own – though Lewis Hamilton encountered some trouble securing (a very specific) one for himself. Even discounting the front-running F1 machinery he's been tasked with piloting on track to an impressive 32 career wins, Alonso has had some lustworthy company cars at his disposal over the years. At Renault, he had a Megane RS to drive, and during his last stint at McLaren, he had an SLR 722. But since signing with Ferrari, he's been given the keys to FCA models as varied as a Ferrari FF, a special 599 GTO, a Maserati GranCabrio, a Jeep Grand Cherokee SRT and an Abarth 695... and those are just the ones we know about.