Honda pulls out of Frankfurt Motor Show to save costs

It's looking like all auto shows are going to be feeling the pinch of a shrinking auto market including the mighty Frankfurt Motor Show. Honda has joined Nissan by pulling out of this fall's event in Germany in order to save money. Earlier this year, Nissan announced that it would only participate in one auto show on each continent -- Geneva, Tokyo and Los Angeles -- and although Honda hasn't made such a sweeping announcement yet, it appears to be taking things one show at a time. However, it wouldn't be surprising to see a similar move with only one North American show presence as well. At this year's Detroit Auto Show, Honda and Acura had stands but didn't bother with a press conference. Instead the new Insight was simply revealed on the show floor.

Speaking of the Insight it goes on sale in Europe on April 18. Elsewhere, Honda will begin testing its FCX Clarity fuel cell car in Germany later this year and will divert other resources to fuel cell and hydrogen development. Honda sees fuel cells as a better long term bet than batteries and plug-in vehicles and intends to pursue that direction.

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562 hp Hennessey Camaro HPE550 is the Z28 that never was

The Chevrolet Camaro Z28 may be stuck on an indefinite holding pattern, but Hennessey Performance is one of the first aftermarket firms to step up and fill the void between the base SS and Henessey's own 705-hp, ZR1-powered Camaro HPE700.

The Camaro HPE550 begins life as a standard SS model, and with the help of a Magnuson supercharger and a Corsa exhaust, the blown LS3 puts out 562 hp at 6,200 rpm and 557 lb-ft of torque beginning at 4,200 rpm. Hennessey is claiming a 0-60 mph time of 3.9 seconds (down from five seconds on the standard model) and a quarter mile pass of 11.9 seconds at 119 mph.

The entire HPE550 package, which also includes high-flow fuel injectors, an aero package and aluminum wheels, will set you back $24,950 plus shipping uninstalled, or $31,000 installed, not including the cost of the donor car. If that's not enough, you can send your new SS to Hennessey for the aforementioned HPE700 package, or go completely nuts with either the 850 hp or 1,000 hp twin turbo setup that will set you back $54,500 or $59,500, respectively – again, not including the cost of the stock Camaro SS.

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