Mark your calendar: Car Craft Nationals are next weekend

Get ready for one big horsepower party. The 2008 Car Craft Magazine Summer Nationals rolls into the Minnesota State Fairgrounds in St. Paul for three days, July 25, 26 and 27. More than 4,000 street machines and muscle cars will be part of the event, which features all makes and models of two-wheel-drive vehicles as well as feature cars. More than 45,000 car lovers are expected to attend. Hours are: Friday (July 25), 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.; Saturday (July 26), 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. and Sunday (July 27), 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Tickets are $8 in advance, $12 at the gate. A two-day pass is $16 and a three-day pass is $24 (available at the gate). Buy tickets at www.familyevents.com. For more information about the event, visit www.carcraft.com or call 1-877-413-6515.

A base-level Mercedes-Benz?

How about buying economy versions of the A- and B-Class Mercedes-Benz models? Auto Week says it could happen. The German automaker produces entry-level versions of these models but they generally are not available in North America. But the possibility exists that these versions may in fact be sold on this continent as part of the company's overall globalization push. Visit Autoweek.com for more information.

Magical mirrors

Mito Corporation keeps offering high-tech versions of car mirrors that are not just cool, but are impressively safer than factory mirrors. For example, the company offers a Gentex auto-dimming mirror with built-in rear-camera display, a Muth turn-signal mirror that includes a flashing chevron, which alerts other drivers of your turning intentions and a Gentex auto-dimming rearview mirror that eliminates headlight glare and integrated buttons for programming remote control devices such as your garage-door opener. Visit Mitocorp.com.