Most race cars retire without fanfare; their exploits quickly forgotten for the latest round of quicker machinery. The cars that weren’t winners are often scrapped, forgotten, or scavenged for spare parts in service of their successors. Lucky ones get a more relaxed second life in historic racing series.

But what of would-be motorsport machines that never arrived at the starting line in the first place? They’re lucky to end up with a few lines in a listicle a decade after their stunted chance at glory.

The racing version of the eighth-gen Volkswagen GTI was headed down a similar path after Vee-Dub pulled the plug on all factory motorsport programs in 2020, midway through the GTI touring car’s development. The Volkswagen Motorsport staff was split up and reassigned to work on other projects within the company, and the prototype they’d been working on—the Mk8 GTI TCR—joined the brand’s museum inventory, unfinished.

The one-of-one work-in-progress subsequently traveled to the United States as a marketing and PR asset, trotted out to local circuits to reel off routine demonstration laps instead of traveling the world and angrily banging doors with the Hyundais, Hondas, and other competitors in TCR-class racing series. But fate had another path for this special GTI, and it would soon be yanked out of obscurity and onto one of the biggest stages in motorsport.

As part of the 50^th birthday celebrations of the Golf nameplate in 2024, VW decided to honor its hatchback’s venerable racing history with a special project that evolved into a plan to compete at the Nürburgring 24 Hours (N24). With just months until the race and without a factory racing division, building a new car was out of the question—but what about that old Mk8 GTI TCR prototype that’d been kicking around in America?

And so began the fast-tracked process of turning a half-finished racer into a world-class competitor. The Volkswagen Motorsport engineers who’d formerly been involved with the project the first time around were willing and eager for another go. They knew the car well and were champing at their bits to pick up where they’d left off, but they’d have to work at night after their day jobs, and they needed a little extra help.

And Max Kruse Racing was there to provide it. Co-founded and run by Volkswagen development driver, brand ambassador, and professional racer Benny Leuchter, the racing team complemented VW’s in-house engineers by providing invaluable experience with setting up and running a car in a 24-hour endurance race. Leuchter’s familiarity with Volkswagen Motorsport made the partnership even stronger.

The Mk8 GTI TCR prototype was shipped back to Germany, where it was immediately routed to Max Kruse Racing’s HQ in Duisburg. With a four-month countdown to the N24, time was of the essence.

The powertrain package was largely left as-is, with the most significant changes occurring on the software rather than hardware side. Namely, the ECU was adapted to run the newly developed Shell E20 fuel that would power the GTI in the N24. “The engine is the stock GTI gen-four 888 engine [a 2.0-liter turbocharged four-cylinder],” VW spokesperson Martin Hube told us at the Nürburgring. “We are competing in the alternative fuel class, so it’s running E20 that we are using together with Shell, [which is] capable of getting rid of nearly 50% of CO2. We wanted to show that a stock engine is capable of competing with this new [bioethanol] fuel under the hardest conditions. [The car] also gained some power because the fuel is a bit more than 100 octane.” The total output in the rechristened Mk8 GTI TCR—now called the Volkswagen GTI Clubsport 24h—is 348 hp, which is just about 50 more than the recently unveiled road-going version.

The GTI Clubsport 24h’s most noticeable augmentation, though, is its redeveloped aero package. Marketing is one reason for the revamp, seeing as the prototype featured the pre-facelift Mk8 GTI’s styling cues and would need to be updated to match the current model’s look. Win with a one-off car on Sunday, sell more base Golfs on Monday, or something like that . . . However, those with extra keen eyes for GTIs will notice that the Clubsport 24h has a mix of pre- and post-facelift design elements.

That said, the main impetus behind the aero makeover was performance-focused, with the engineers incorporating the latest principles into their old car’s new fenders, wings, splitters, diffusers, and every other wind-shifting bit and bob. The resulting look is the meanest looking widebody ever worn by a factory-backed Volkswagen. Like the prototype, the finished Clubsport 24h completes its silhouette with a chunky rear wing hung from swan-neck supports attached to the hatch, and a single very purposeful-looking center-exit exhaust.

With the bodywork buttoned up, it was time for the new roll cage and safety structures to be homologated with just a few weeks before the green flag, so the Clubsport 24h was flat-bedded to a testing and certification center in Spain to make sure everything was in order. With its up-to-date safety compliance in hand, it then headed back to Germany for last-minute shakedowns at Volkswagen’s test track in Ehra-Lessein. The VW engineers and the Max Kruse Racing team had just enough time to define the parameters and tolerances of their car’s systems—for example, how hot the gearbox oil could get without leading to mechanical failure, and which shift points to use to maintain the appropriate operating temperature—before it was time to put all their efforts to the test at the Clubsport 24h’s first-ever race.

There are less daunting debuts than a day-long trial by fire (and fog) at the Nürburgring, but the Clubsport 24h was immediately impressive upon its arrival in Nürburg. Before the race proper, the car set a new front-wheel drive racing car record at the track (which combines the shorter and more modern Grand Prix circuit with the infamous Nordschleife for a total lap length of just under 16 miles) during qualifying: With Benny Leuchter at the controls, the Clubsport 24h clocked a 8:53.239 lap to start the race at the front of its class.

On race day, the #50 car was to be driven by Leuchter, Johan Kristoffersson, Nico Otto and Heiko Hamme over the course of the 24 hours. Mother Nature had other plans however, and the dense layer of fog that immobilized the emergency services helicopter saw the race halted after 7 hours and 22 minutes. Track conditions were closely monitored as hundreds of thousands of fingers were crossed for a restart that never came. To the disappointment of nearly a third of a million people who’d come to compete at, watch and camp out next to this year’s race, the 2024 edition was the shortest in the N24’s 52-race history.

Despite that, the team behind the Clubsport 24h wasn’t upset with taking home the class win. The car finished in 43^rd overall, conquered its category, beat more than half the overall field of finishers, and fulfilled its purpose. “We wanted to show the people in the woods, the people around the track, that this car is really capable,” Hube said, “and now we have the fastest museum car ever made by Volkswagen.”

It still is a museum piece, after all. With one race and one class win under its belt, the Clubsport 24h’s next job is back under the marketing and PR umbrella, where it will be attending the annual GTI Treffen—the world’s largest hot hatch VW celebration—in Wolfsburg during the last weekend of July. But its time as a contemporary racer may not be over, either…

On that topic, Hube told Hagerty, “We have huge motivation now. We expected to be competitive, but we haven’t expected to come to the ‘Ring and record a record lap time. That shows the capabilities of this car, and the engineers have so many ideas for further development. We’re really inspired and there is an idea to use [the Clubsport 24h] as a development car for the next years. We have two more things to celebrate: in 2026 it will be 50 years of GTI. 2027 will be 25 years of R.”

Could this car’s successful second chance revive the defunct Volkswagen Motorsport department? “Now we have to convince the board that it’s necessary to be here [at the Nürburgring], that it’s necessary to present the Golf in front of the fans here. We have to come back.” Asked how they will convince the board, Hube smiles and says with typical German playfulness masked in straightforward phrasing: “It’s better to argue our case with a good result than with a bad result.”

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In celebration of the Golf nameplate’s 50^th anniversary this year, Volkswagen has updated the eighth-generation GTI with more power and usability. At Germany’s iconic Nürburgring today, it also launched a high-performance Clubsport model, which in comparison to the base GTI means more of almost everything. More power, more aero, more stopping power, more drive modes, more aggressive styling, more wheel choices, and even more motorsport cred in the form of a one-off 343-horsepower racing version that will compete in this weekend’s 24 Hours of the Nürburgring with a newly developed bioethanol fuel from Shell.

The only bad news of the day is that the Clubsport won’t be coming to the United States thanks to the pesky and pricey process required to homologate the higher-output version of the GTI’s two-liter inline-four turbo. The resultant MSRP to cover those costs would put the Clubsport very close to Golf R territory, and VW rightly believes that outside of a few GTI-only diehards, most stateside buyers would likely opt for the faster all-wheel drive Golf R than the front-wheel drive GTI Clubsport when faced with a similar sticker price. In other words, Europeans have more choices when shopping for European performance cars, as usual.

It’s a shame, too, because the Clubsport is the fastest and most powerful production-spec GTI ever made, and there’s more than just sentimental value at play in the evolution of FWD hatchbacks. 

Now in its fourth evolution, the souped-up version of the EA888 four-cylinder in the Clubsport produces a maximum output of 300 PS (296 hp) and 400 Nm (295 lb ft) of torque, and is capable of hauling the four-door to 267 km/h (165 mph) when equipped with the optional “Race” package—without that option, the Clubsport is limited to the same 250 km/h (155 mph) top speed as the base GTI. The updated but still eighth-generation GTI boosts output from 245 PS (241 hp) in the launch edition to a formidable 265 PS (261 hp).

Although they share a powertrain, the Clubsport boasts 31 more ponies and 22 more lb ft of twist than the updated GTI thanks to increased turbo boost pressure, a tweaked engine control profile, and “other internal engine measures” that we’ll just have to guess at. The same seven-speed paddle-shiftable gearbox routes the power to the new GTI and GTI Clubsport’s front wheels, but the Clubsport completes the 0-62 mph in 5.6 seconds compared to the GTI’s time of 5.9 seconds.

The eighth-generation GTI comes standard with four drive modes—the self-evident Eco, Comfort, and Sport, as well as a driver-modifiable “Individual” profile—while the Clubsport adds a “Special” mode directly influenced by the undulating elevation changes of the Nürburgring Nordschleife. These drive modes change the profiles of Volkswagen’s Vehicle Dynamics Manager (which controls the electronically locking front differential as well as the lateral characteristics of the shock absorbers) and Dynamic Chassis Control (which takes road surface, steering, acceleration, and braking data into account to control the overall suspension characteristics).

Both GTI and Clubsport Golfs get the latest edition of VW’s progressive rack and pinion steering system, which uses a variable ratio and an electric motor to adapt the response from the wheel to account for whether you’re turning into an Aldi parking spot or navigating the ‘Ring’s Karussell. Part of the steering system’s evolution came from adding former senior Bugatti tester Sven Bohnhorst to the team. We aren’t sure that drivers will notice the “particularly positive characteristics of the steering setup of the Bugatti Pur Sport” in a Golf, but it doesn’t hurt to have Bugatti under the same organizational umbrella, either. What they are more likely to notice is the increased braking ability of the Clubsport’s one-inch larger brake system over the GTI’s setup.

Styling-wise, the Clubsport relies on substantive bodywork and materials tweaks rather than an abundance of “Clubsport” badges. The most noticeable visual differentiator between the GTI and Clubsport is the front air dam, where the Clubsport’s body-colored blades extend more aggressively into the black honeycomb grille. The other major Clubsport signifier comes at the rear end in the form of a larger roof spoiler with an opening between its leading edge and the roof (whereas the GTI gets a smaller, “closed” roof spoiler). Both cars feature exhaust outlets on either side of the rear diffuser, with the Clubsport’s “Race” package adding an Akrapovič sports exhaust system. More subtly, the non-body-color trim on the Clubsport is finished in gloss black rather than the matte black of the GTI.

The GTI and GTI Clubsport both get VW’s new LED headlights and taillights, with an option box that can be ticked to include IQ.LIGHT LED headlights with a longer beam throw. The package also changes the taillights to 3D LEDs, which adds an effect to the blinkers.

The side profile of the Clubsport is distinguished by striated graphics on the bottom of the doors, as well as a Clubsport-only diamond cut finish on the optional 19-inch “Queenstown” wheels designed for the eighth-gen GTI. For those seeking the lightest-possible wheels from the factory, there is also a Clubsport-only option for 19-inch “Warmenau” forged shoes, which weigh just 8kg (17.6lbs) each.

Inside the new GTIs, Volkswagen has made the touchscreen-heavy interfaces more user-friendly (and finally illuminated the HVAC controls!) and debuted its newly designed software and hardware package for the infotainment system, which now is now a fourth-generation modular infotainment system. What does that mean? Most importantly, a new menu structure that includes a driver-customizable toolbar that stays on the screen no matter what. The hardware side of the updates is defined by a 12.9-inch touchscreen on the center of the dash.

Complementing that big tablet of toys is the 10.2-inch digital instrument cluster, which has three selectable configurations: Classic, with round dials; Progressive, with various tiles to display relevant info to the driver; and a performance-focused “GTI” option which puts the tach front and center and includes nifty sub-dials to monitor turbo boost and torque. Both the updated GTI and GTI Clubsport have an option for a head-up display on the windshield, as well as a 480-watt Harmon Kardon-designed sound system, which adds to the existing nightclub-like ambiance that comes courtesy of the 30-color-configurable interior accent lighting package that comes as standard in the GTI and Clubsport.

For drivers who like hands-free virtual assistants/assistance, there is an option for a new “IDA voice assistant” for the first time in a GTI, which uses ChatGPT to answer just about any question you can think to ask, such as “Why would anyone want their car to listen to them?” Some will prefer the GTI without this modern HAL 9000, but we’re not so cynical to think it won’t have the potential to be useful.

As for the materials in the cars’ guts, cloth sports seats are standard in the GTI, while the Clubsport gets VW’s ArtVelours fabric wrapping a premium version of those sports seats; both cars can be spec’d with leather interiors, heated and air-conditioned front seats, and authentic carbon fiber trim packages. 

All told, the Clubsport appears as a fitting celebration of VW’s 50 years of cranking out hot hatches, not to mention a likely send-off for fully-ICE powertrains in the GTI. It’s just too bad we won’t see it in the states.

***

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The Type 1 Volkswagen first went on sale in the United States in 1949, and two were sold. After that, VW dealers here did increasingly well with the Type 1—eventually known as der Käfer or the Beetle— with each passing year, with the American Beetle sales pinnacle reached in 1968. These cars have become uncommon in car graveyards in recent years, but I found this fairly solid ’70 in Colorado last winter.

For the 1970 model year, Volkswagen of America offered five models, all built in West Germany: the Beetle, the Karmann Ghia, the Fastback, the Squareback, and the Transporter (which was pitched as the Volkswagen Station Wagon at the time).

The 1970 Beetle was available as a convertible, as a two-door sedan, and as a two-door sedan with sunroof. Today’s FPS car is the latter type, which had a list price of $1929 when new (about $16,001 in 2024 dollars). The non-sunroof sedan cost just $1839 that year ($15,254 after inflation).

The Beetle wasn’t the cheapest new car Americans could buy in 1970, but it was a lot of car for the money. The 1970 Austin America (known as the Austin 1100/1300 in its homeland) had an MSRP of $1815, while American Renault dealers offered a new 10 for a mere $1775. The 1970 Toyota Corolla two-door sedan had an astonishing list price of $1686, which helped it become the second-best-selling import (after the Beetle) in the United States that year, while Mazda offered the $1798 1200 two-door. For the adventurous, there was the motorcycle-engine-powered Honda 600, priced to sell at $1398, and Malcolm Bricklin was eager to sell you a new Subaru 360 for only $1297. How about a 1970 Fiat 850 sedan for $1504? The Ford Pinto and Chevrolet Vega debuted as 1971 models, so the most affordable new American-built 1970 car was the $1879 AMC Gremlin.

The first factory-installed Beetle sunroofs opened up most of the roof with a big sliding fabric cover, but a more modern metal sunroof operated by a crank handle replaced that type for 1964.

The final U.S.-market air-cooled Beetles were sold as 1979 models, which meant that Beetles were very easy to find in American junkyards until fairly deep into the 1990s. You’ll still run across discarded Beetles today, though most of them will be in rough shape and they tend to get picked clean in a hurry.

Volkswagen introduced the Super Beetle, which received a futuristic MacPherson strut front suspension and lengthened snout, as a 1971 model in the United States. Most of the Beetles you’ll find in the boneyards today will be of the Super variety, which makes today’s non-Super an especially good find for the junkyard connoisseur.

I’ve owned a few Beetles over the years, including a genuinely terrifying ’58 Sunroof Sedan with hot-rodded Type 3 engine that I purchased at age 17 for $50 at an Oakland junkyard. It acquired the name “Hubert the Hatred Bug” due to being the least Herbie-like Beetle imaginable. Later, I acquired a 1973 Super Beetle and thought it neither handled nor rode better than the regular Beetle; your opinion of the Super may differ.

The Type 1 Beetle was obsolete very early on, being a 1930s design optimized for ease of manufacture, but it was so cheap to build and simple to maintain that customers were willing to buy it for decade after decade. Beetle production blew past that of the seemingly unbeatable Model T Ford in 1972, when the 15,007,034th example rolled off the line, and the final Vocho was assembled in Mexico in 2003. That means a last-year Beetle will be legal to import to the United States in just four years!

The first water-cooled Volkswagen offered in the United States was the 1974 Dasher, which was really an Audi 80. It was the introduction of the Rabbit a year later (plus increasingly strict safety and emissions standards) that finally doomed the Type 1 Beetle here; Beetle sales dropped from 226,098 in 1974 to 78,412 in 1975 and then fell off an even steeper cliff after that. For the 1978 and 1979 model years, the only new Beetles available here were Super convertibles.

The original engine in this car was a 1585cc boxer-four rated at 57 horsepower, although there’s plenty of debate on the subject of air-cooled VW power numbers to this day. These engines are hilariously easy to swap and were once cheap and plentiful, though, so the chances that we are looking at this car’s original plant aren’t very good.

This is a single-port carbureted engine with a generator, so it could be the original 1600… or maybe it’s the ninth engine to power this car. Generally, junkyard Type 1 engines get grabbed right away these days, but this car had just been placed in the yard when I arrived.

The hateful Automatic Stickshift three-speed transmission was available as an option in the 1970 Beetle, but this car has the regular four-on-the-floor manual.

To get into reverse, you push down on the gearshift and then into the second-gear position (this can be a frustrating process in a VW with worn-out shifter linkage components).

By air-cooled Volkswagen standards, this car isn’t especially rusty. I’m surprised that it ended up at a Pick Your Part yard, to be honest… and now here’s the bad news for you VW fanatics itching to go buy parts from it: I shot these photos last December and the car got crushed months ago. I shoot so many vehicles in their final parking spaces that I can’t write about every one of them while they’re still around.

It even had the original factory Sapphire XI AM radio.

***

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Fifty years after it first came on the scene, the Mk8 Volkswagen Golf of today finds itself larger, heavier, and more reliant on touchscreens and digital technology than ever. (Who among us isn’t?) To rewind the clock back to the first generation of this world-famous econo-hatch is to step back into your youth; there were fewer horsepowers to spend in those days, but they seemed to go further. The view out the windshield looked clearer and brighter, and the road ahead seemed to wind on far beyond the horizon.

That’s the magic of vintage cars: they are time machines of a type, and while they may only transport you for a short drive or a weekend, you can recapture a bit of your youth with them. The first-generation Golf is a pathway to a humble, everyman experience known to many from 1974–85, blending the best of no-nonsense Germanic interiors with solid build quality and stout reliability. In its day, this little hatchback offered a Mercedes- or BMW-like experience albeit at much thriftier pricing. In the process, the Golf became nearly as ubiquitous as the Beetle it replaced as a result of that appeal.

The good news here is that the Mk1 Golf still delivers joy at a half-century since its inception. And while it’s nowhere near as common as it once was, the car remains within reach of regular enthusiasts. VW built seven million of these little cars for the whole world, and thanks to a strong and faithful fanbase, many of the best examples are still out there. When you do come across a Mk1 Golf enthusiast, it’s common to find that they own several examples, possibly a few later Golfs, and maybe even a Scirocco. People like to rescue these cars, and that keeps them on the road.

So, you want one. Maybe you had a slightly ratty GTI in college, or maybe your unrequited high school love drove a flawless white Cabriolet and looked like a Patrick Nagel illustration. No matter the motivation, here’s what you need to look for before going down the proverbial Rabbit hole.

Mk1 Golf: Squaring Volkswagen’s Circles

Let’s begin with a little history on the car that America first knew as the Rabbit (arguably an even better name for the car than Golf). Volkswagen began planning to replace the Beetle all the way back in the 1950s, but it wasn’t until the 1970s that VW’s economic outlook became dire enough to actually force the change. After all, the 1960s were basically defined by the Beetle’s ubiquity and cultural clout, especially in the U.S. market.

All of VW’s prototype efforts were dubbed “EA” for Entwicklungsauftrag, which translates to “Development Assignment,” and is, regrettably, not a valid Scrabble word. As the number of such efforts climbed, you could kind of see the eventual Golf emerging from the primordial hatchback ooze. The rear-engined EA266 was built by Porsche and vaguely resembles a Honda N600. EA276 was a hatchback with an air-cooled engine mounted up front, and it looked like a Skoda or Fiat project. The latter, especially, was rather ungainly.

In 1969, while visiting the Turin auto show, VW’s Director and the company’s main Italian importer totted up a list of their six favorite cars from the show and sat down to compare notes. As it turned out, four of the six had been drawn by a young designer just into his thirties, but with a string of hits already: Giorgetto Giugiaro.

Giugiaro was invited to Wolfsburg to provide a shape for EA337. For a designer responsible for everything from the Giulia Sprint GT to the BMW M1, the fact that Giugiaro often called the humble family-oriented Golf his best design speaks to just how special this little car is. Interestingly, his original prototype featured square headlights, so while round-headlight Euro-style conversions are a popular modification now, the U.S.-style squares are actually closer to Giugiaro’s original vision.

Production commenced in March of 1974, and the first cars were delivered to owners in May of that year. The name, “Golf,” is generally held to be taken from the German for Gulfstream, as many Volkwagens are named for winds (Scirroco, Bora, Jetta). The front-engine, front-wheel-drive hatchback layout wasn’t groundbreaking—the Honda Civic had arrived a few years earlier—but the Golf’s deceptively simple engineering and supremely practical nature made it a hit.

Enthusiast readers are by now champing at the bit chanting “GTI! GTI! GTI!” like a bunch of unruly Bayern Munich Fußball-Bundeslinga fans. Keep your jerseys on, people, we’ll get there in a bit. First though, a look at the Mk1 Golf’s more pragmatic side.

In Europe the early cars were powered by a carbureted 1.1-liter four-cylinder engine that made 50 hp, or a later 1.6-liter four with 75 hp. With a curb weight of around 1800 pounds, this was perfectly sufficient motive power for a small car. There was also a diesel option, again with about 50 horses to start, and while on this side of the Atlantic early oil-burner VWs have a reputation for being more tortoise than hare, they do get there in the end. The thrifty diesel even turned out to be popular when gas prices skyrocketed in the late 1970s.

With a simple two-box chassis layout, independent suspension up front, plus a space-saving twist-beam suspension out back, rack and pinion steering, and front drum brakes on all but the earliest models, the Golf was a capable handler even in non-sporting trim.

It arrived in the U.S. market in 1975, badged as the Rabbit with a 1471-cc engine good for 70 hp (later bumped to 1.7 liters and 78 hp). Period reviews noted that it was quicker than rivals like the Toyota Corolla or Honda Civic, yet just as cheap to fuel.

By 1978, the Rabbit Diesel’s 1.6-liter engine offered U.S. buyers about 50 percent more efficiency than the gas model, and an unused Chrysler factory in southwest Pennsylvania had begun breeding Rabbits outside of Germany. VW’s Westmoreland Assembly site ceased operations in 1987, but not before it had produced well over a million Rabbits in various trims and configurations.

Mk1 VW Golf: Varieties Are The Spice Of Life

When it comes to changing things up as you go along, the Golf might as well have been called the Volkswagen Calvinball. Yes, the two-door hatchback was the original version, but VW turned the basic layout of the Golf into a number of different cars. Pickup truck, anyone?

Perhaps the best-known and longest-lasting of these variants was the Jetta sedan. Little more than a Golf-with-a-trunk, the Jetta has now been around long enough to be celebrating its 45th birthday this year. More of a success in the US than Europe, the Jetta was first offered as a two-door, then later a five-door variant, and is a popular platform to modify as essentially anything you can do to a Golf will also work on it.

Even more fun is the Golf-based pickup truck known as the Caddy in Europe (very funny, VW) or the Rabbit Pickup over on these shores. This Golf-with-a-bed was actually a U.S.-market innovation, and it entered our market in 1979 with the choice between the Golf’s 78-hp gasoline engine, or the diesel motor with a five-speed manual transmission. Fuel economy for the latter was simply excellent, over 50 mpg, and the little bed was rated for a useful 1100 pounds.

Perhaps most fun of all were the cabriolet models, with their signature “basket handle” central roll bar. These were all built by longtime VW partner Karmann and were usually available in a high level of trim. U.S, versions are basically GTI-spec, merely with a roof so you can be open to the elements and enjoy room for four friends.

“GTI! GTI! GTI!”

Okay, fine.

Mk1 VW Golf: The GTI

The Volkswagen GTI (Rabbit or Golf) is one of the most important enthusiast cars ever built. It was not the first hot hatchback, nor was it the fastest of its kind. In U.S. specification, the GTI didn’t even muster up three-figure horsepower levels.

But for so many who grew up to be BMW propellor-heads, or avid AMG fans, or air-cooled Porsche cultists, or perhaps even Mustang or Corvette owners, the GTI could have been that first time you fell in love behind the wheel: Not much power, but the ability to make the most of it. Agile as a terrier. Easy to keep fueled up when your wallet was full of cartoon moths and half-stamped rewards cards. It was the right car for almost anything.

Plus, the GTI had a great backstory. Back in the early 1970s, Volkswagen had introduced a sporty version of the Super Beetle called the GSR (for Gelb Schwarz Renner, or Yellow and Black Runner). It had a 1.6.-liter air-cooled engine that made all of 50 hp, but this was sufficient to get some German politicians riled up about performance cars tearing up the highways during a fuel crisis.

“Won’t somebody think of die kinder?” type of thing.

Thus, VW’s executives weren’t interested in building a performance-oriented Golf. Instead, a six-man skunkworks project led by the head of VW’s press department, Anton Konrad, developed the GTI outside of official oversight. Split between marketing staff and performance-minded engineers, the small team tuned the chassis, bumped up the power, and came up with the moniker GTI for Grand Tourer Injection. The original prototype was built with twin carburetors on a Scirocco platform, but the near-final version used the 1.6-liter fuel-injected engine intended for the Audi 80.

The crowning touches were added by designer Grunhild Liljequist, who came from an unusual background. Her family members were hatmakers, and she studied porcelain painting and designed boxes for a Berlin chocolatier before joining Volkswagen’s fabrics and colors division in the 1960s, the first woman to do so.

What does all this have to do with the GTI? Well, Liljequist is responsible for the tartan check pattern on the GTI’s seats, and she also came up with the idea for the golfball shift knob. She’d recently returned from a vacation in the U.K. before being assigned to the GTI team, so there is a little Scottish influence baked into VW’s hot hatchback.

The car debuted in 1976 but remained a forbidden fruit in North America for several more years. European-spec GTIs had roughly 110 hp from a revvy 1.6-liter engine, stiffer and lower suspension than the standard Golf, upgraded brakes, a subtle red trim to the grille, and 13” wheels. Canada got a version of the Rabbit with GTI suspension but the standard engine beginning in 1979, until the Rabbit GTI came along for the U.S. in 1983. (It should, however, be noted that VW Canada did actually stock European GTI parts for many years, as some owners would occasionally import Euro GTIs or convert their own cars to full overseas spec.)

The 1983-84 Rabbit GTI didn’t have quite as much power as the European cars, but its 1.8-liter four-cylinder had broader torque characteristics. The GTI tipped the scales at 2100 pounds in U.S. trim, but it was and so remains an absolute blast to drive. Furthermore, seeing as most of the actual sports cars of the period had ballooned into personal luxury coupes, the no-nonsense GTI cut through the fat with crisp handling and zippy performance.

Two-year production of the U.S.-built 1983 and 1984 Rabbit GTI totaled roughly 30,000 cars. Worldwide, GTI production figures: nearly half a million in volume. Not bad for a car VW never actually wanted to build in the first place.

Mk1 VW Golf: Problem Areas

Like any unibody car that’s decades old, rust is a particular consideration when checking out a Mk1 for purchase. Areas to watch for include the wheel arches, spare wheel wells, floor pans, and both inner and outer sills. If the windscreen has been leaking, the lower panel there is also worth close inspection. Further, rust around the fuel filler neck can be particularly problematic; ending up with sediment in the fuel tank is a huge problem for fuel-injected models.

Some exterior trim bits can be hard to find, especially on older models, but something like a Rabbit GTI has been collectible for ages so there may be aftermarket suppliers out there. In South Africa, Volkswagen built a Mk1 Golf called the Citi Golf right until 2009, and there’s some crossover there for parts.

The engine and transmission are robust and simple, so the usual concerns here are pretty basic. Watch for blue smoke indicating worn valve seals, and listen for synchros failing in the gearbox. Getting a potential purchase inspected by a specialist in water-cooled VWs is always a good idea.

The interior is probably the biggest consideration because chasing parts for it down is tricky. Carpets and some interior fabrics are relatively easy if you have a good local upholsterer (harder to find these days), but plastic parts like the dashboard are pretty scarce.

An unmodified Mk1 will, of course, be the most collectible example to hold onto. But many owners modify their cars at least a little. Suspension changes are relatively easy to return back to stock if wanted, and most of the cosmetic changes done in the community tend to fall under the less-is-more ethos. Period-look alloy wheels in larger diameters are so popular that aftermarket companies like RML have done multiple production runs. The 14-inch “Snowflake”-style wheels worn by the Rabbit GTI can be had in a very tasteful 15-inch size that’s wide enough to wear stickier modern rubber.

Mk1 VW Golf: Valuation

There are not many secrets left in the car collector world, and this one got out a few years back when everyone woke up and noticed what a bargain the Mk1 Golf was, particularly the Rabbit GTI. Recently, VW’s decision to drop the manual transmission from the modern GTI after the 2024 model year just underlined how the Rabbit is one of those “they don’t make ’em like this anymore” cars.

Let’s start with the Rabbit GTI, as its price spike tells pretty much the story for all Mk1 Golf variants. After a long and steady shallow rise over decades, the values for #2-condition (Excellent) 1983 Rabbit GTIs surged in 2018, crossing the $10,000 mark for the first time. They still would have been a good buy at that point, as between 2022 and 2024, they have since doubled. A perfect, #1-condition (Concours) car—among the very best examples in the world—is somewhere above $35,000 in value, assuming you can find one.

However, there’s better news around #3-conidition (Good) cars, which represent by far the majority of examples out there. Truly, this is probably the GTI you actually want to own and drive. These examples rose with the same cadence as better-condition cars, but they are currently having a slight downward correction and are now below $12,000 in value, on average. Gone are the days when a really nice Rabbit GTI was half that cost, but compared with other fun-to-drive classics, this is still a lot of value for your dollar.

Values for other Mk1 hatchbacks, the Cabriolet, and the Pickup/Caddy are a little less coherent. Like the GTI, all had spikes up around 2021 and 2022, and all have slightly had what seems to be a correction. A VW Pickup might be anywhere between $10,000-$20,000, the latter informed by two strong sales on Bring a Trailer. That kind of money is still a “Why Not?” bid from a collector who might want to own something fun for a while, then move it on. Cabriolet versions seem much more reasonable, with high bids coming in at only about half what you’d pay for an Excellent-condition GTI.

While it’s fun to contemplate a project here, as these cars are well understood and have a strong fanbase, it is still worth stepping up to pay for a Mk1 that is structurally sound. Rust repair is no cheaper on a Rabbit than it is on a 911, so while the mechanical parts and hunting down trim can be fun, it’s worth paying more for a car with good bones.

Mk1 VW Golf: Notes on Community

When hunting a Rabbit, it’s best to be Vewy Qwuiet make as much noise as possible. Because Golfs and Rabbits were so inexpensive for so long, many VW enthusiasts of ordinary means often have multiple cars in their fleet. What you want to do is find your local VW community and start asking around for cars people might part with.

Just as Beetle owners like to get together for swap meets like it’s still the 1960s or ’70s, local VW meets are a good way to develop knowledge on the water-cooled cars. There is almost certainly a VW specialist in your area who might be a good resource for problem solving, but Mk1 owners generally like to do their own wrenching. The cars are still easily understood by shade-tree mechanics today, and troubleshooting doesn’t require a laptop.

Part of the fun of Mk 1 ownership is that there is a club feel to it. So many of these cars were sold that the pool of enthusiasm for them is both broad and deep. Cruises, meets, and late-night wrenching sessions are all part of the experience. Just like it was back in the day. If you’ve been thinking about one, a Mk1 Golf or Rabbit is still one of the best bang-for-buck time machines out there.

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In a recent Linkedin post, Volkswagen CEO Thomas Schäfer offered the first teaser of what is expected to be a special edition Golf GTI created in celebration of the Golf nameplate’s 50th anniversary. (Note: This is just the Golf name, not the GTI; the latter debuted in 1976, while the Golf debuted in 1974.)

The video teaser shows a blurred-out white Golf GTI cruising around the Nürburgring Nordschliefe’s famous Karussell corner. A “50 Years of Golf” slide appears at the end, giving us our clue as to what the occasion is.

In the post, Schäfer writes, “We are returning to the Nürburgring for the 24-hour race to celebrate the world premiere with the fans.” That race takes place the weekend of May 31, and VW’s newest Golf GTI will debut at 10:30 a.m. ET that day.

Note the small text that reads “concept car” at the bottom of the video. We’re a little surprised that’s on there because although the car pictured is a bit blurry, it doesn’t really look all that different from the current eighth-generation Golf GTI. However, part of the GTI’s ethos has always been somewhat understated exterior styling; the magic of a hot hatch like this is the ability to blend in when needed, but then to spark joy on a back road with an athletic chassis and an eager engine.

So what exactly is going to be special about this 50th-anniversary car? It’s tough to say, but the internet hivemind thinks we could be looking at a new version of the Golf GTI Clubsport. The Clubsport was a European-market version of the GTI unveiled in late 2020 that removed the rear seats, upgraded the turbocharger on the 2.0-liter engine to boost output to 300 hp, added an electronically locking front differential, and introduced a host of suspension tweaks to make the car more track-worthy. Then, in 2021, VW also dropped a limited-run Clubsport 45 model that added an Akrapovic exhaust and a roof spoiler among other bits to celebrate the 45th anniversary of the GTI nameplate. Sadly, neither model was offered in the North American market.

And while we’d love to hold out hope that this new model will make it stateside, the chances of that feel slim. European markets always get the hottest versions of VW’s everyman hatch, while U.S. enthusiasts often get short shrift. A shame, that—despite all the CUVs flooding our roads, there are surely enough V-Dub hot hatch faithful to scoop up every last example of a limited-run model.

But we digress—there’s another piece of context that makes this debut significant: This could be the last gas-powered version of the Golf GTI, period. Last year, Schäfer told German publication Automobilwoche that the eighth-generation GTI would be the last to feature gasoline-burning powertrains, meaning that all future Golfs would likely be electric.

If this is indeed the gas-powered GTI’s swansong, let’s cross our fingers and hope for something truly special. Then go ahead and cross your legs, arms, and whatever other body parts you can manage, too, in hopes that it will somehow wind up stateside.

***

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Once upon a time, you could—instead of a bunch of crossovers and maybe three sedans and seven pickup trucks, like today—get all sorts of interesting new stuff. Like lots and lots of sporty, cool imported cars … Alfa Romeo Spider, Datsun 240Z, Porsche 914, Toyota Celica, Volvo 1800S, to name a few. And today’s subject, the Volkswagen Scirocco.

The Scirocco, along with the Golf, were the result of a big change in VW in the ’70s. Up until their appearance, VWs were eminently predictable: Round, happy looking rear-engined economy cars, with an air-cooled four. While the Golf effectively replaced the Beetle (though VW never officially called it that until the 1998 New Beetle), the Scirocco replaced the Karmann Ghia.

And like the Karmann Ghia—a favorite of mine, by the way—it was the basic VW with the same basic underpinnings, just in a snazzier suit. The K-G was a pretty car, and though it looked sporty it had the same engine and horsepower as the Beetle, so it wasn’t exactly a ball of fire.

But it sure was pretty. And a convertible was available as well, right up through its swan-song year of 1974. The convertibles were relatively rare, however, compared to the coupes. I was very happy to see this mint example at the Maple City Cruise Night in Monmouth, Illinois, last August.

And it was even in the same color combination as our Scirocco today—dark green with saddle tan interior, a favorite combo of mine. There was no Scirocco convertible sadly, but I am not sure how it would have looked if such an animal had been offered, with the fastback styling of the coupe.

But that’s enough Karmann-Ghia love for today; pardon the digression. At any rate, the Scirocco first appeared fairly early in ’74 in Europe, but it was a ’75 model when it first showed up on American shores. Like the Golf/Rabbit, it was front-wheel drive, a water-cooled engine, and wore very angular, modern styling.

Under the hood was a 1588 cc / 97-cubic-inch four, which by 1980 produced 76 horsepower at 5500 rpm and 84 lb-ft of torque. A little different from a ’75 Caddy with a 500-cu-in V-8. But, of course, it was a much smaller, zippier car. Sciroccos were 155.7 inches long with a 94.5-inch wheelbase.

As luck would have it, I have a 1980 VW Scirocco brochure, so I was able to identify the color of our featured car as Colibri Green Metallic, with a leatherette interior in Gazelle. Other colors available in ’80 included Mars Red, Brazil Brown Metallic, and Diamond Silver Metallic. You could also get a red interior.

Again referring to my ’80 brochure (I love collecting old car brochures, don’t you?) 0-50 mph took 7.5 seconds and top speed was 103 mph, which probably sounded pretty great in the 55-mph-speed-limited USA of 1981. Factory options included air conditioning, a rear window washer and wiper, five-speed manual (a four-speed manual was standard), three-speed automatic, and a sun roof, as seen on this example.

Our featured car is yet another find by my friend Jayson Coombes. It was on display at the Castle Hills Classic Car Show in Lewisville, Texas, in May 2023. Jayson sent a lot of pictures from that event, and there was a lot of excellent rolling stock (including a beautiful ’64 Buick Skylark Sport Wagon), but I zeroed in on this VW due to its gorgeous color, gorgeous condition, and the fact that I haven’t seen a Scirocco, in any condition, in probably 25 years. The 1981 model year was the last for this generation, but starting in 1982, an all-new Scirocco would take over and fight the good fight into the early ’90s, when the also-fetching Corrado took over.

Where have all the sporty, inexpensive cars gone? I don’t know, but there sure used to be a lot!

***

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As we told you just two weeks ago, values for the long-discontinued Volkswagen Sciroccos are on the rise, especially the Mk II model, which debuted in America in 1982. Though the Scirocco hasn’t been offered in the U.S. since 1988, “The last five years have treated Mk II Sciroccos exceptionally well. Values for the best cars have exploded from just under $13,000 in 2019 to a full 60 grand in the latest edition of the Hagerty Price Guide,” noted senior editor Eddy Eckart.

It seems every few years we get wind of a new Scirocco model (the name, by the way, means a strong wind from the Sahara), but so far, nothing. Until now, perhaps: Autocar suggests that the Volkswagen Scirocco may be “primed for comeback as [an] EV sports coupe.”

The publication claims that a “high-ranking insider” revealed that the VW Scirocco could be part of a plan that would include the electric Porsche Boxster and Cayman, a new version of the Audi TT, and a production version of the Cupra Dark Rebel, which has been shown as a concept. Cupra is a Spanish brand.

The four-passenger, all-electric Scirocco would be built, Autocar speculates, on a stretched version of the PPE platform which is being developed for the new Boxster and Cayman. It could be rear-wheel-drive and powered by a single motor, or all-wheel-drive with a motor at each end, or likely both. The higher-powered version could be marketed as a Scirocco R.

Assuming it’s true, when might we see a new Scirocco? As early as 2028, “if ultimately granted production approval by Volkswagen brand CEO Thomas Schäfer,” says Autocar.

We’ve reached out to VW about the rumor, and expectedly got back: “No comment.”

***

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Given the global impact of the Volkswagen Golf, which turns 50 this year, it was only appropriate that we solicit the perspective of one of our veteran colleagues across the pond. We’ve adjusted the lexicon to suit American readers, though a few UK-specific references remain for the sake of authenticity. —Ed.

Bernd Pischetsrieder, a former Volkswagen boss, once volunteered in a round-table interview that he had just driven the latest Golf model due for launch in a few months.

“What’s it like?” asked one journalist. Pischetsrieder looked nonplussed.

“It’s like a Golf,” he replied, staggered that anyone could be quite so ignorant.

He had a point. Over 50 years and a total 37 million sales across the world, VW’s Golf has often been the answer to pretty much any and every motoring question. Now in its eighth generation, for the last half-century, Golf has been the quintessential family-sized hatchback: spacious, economical to run, reliable, stylish, and, like the original Mini, brilliantly classless.

It’s been beloved by generations of European families, including our own Royal family, and by quite a few Americans, where it was originally badged as the Rabbit. And in that super-sized land, our medium-sized Golf is seen as a compact car.

Nevertheless, as a Beetle replacement, the Golf was a long time in gestation. From as far back as 1952, under VW’s first managing director, Heinrich Nordhoff, the company had been developing a series of rear-engine Beetle replacements—over 70 of them, many of which were painstakingly developed and then rejected. By 1967, and after a prolonged German sales slump, VW was getting desperate about a replacement for the charismatic but aging car, which had been designed by Ferdinand Porsche under instructions from Adolf Hitler. The company’s finances were in dire straits, sales were tumbling, and all the management had come up with was the weird Type 3 Variant, the anodyne K70, and endless clunky Beetle-replacement prototypes going back to the 1950s.

In the end it took a visit to the Turin motor show by director general Kurt Lotz and Italian importer Gerhard Gumpert. There they each wrote down their favorite models, only to discover that most of them were designed by Giorgetto Giugiaro, and a light appeared at the end of the tunnel. VW project EA337 became the first Golf.

While “Blizzard” and “Caribe” were considered as names for the new hatchback, the Golf name won out. It was previously thought to have two possible derivatives: first, that it followed a VW pattern of calling cars after winds (Passat, a German name for a trade wind; Scirocco, a warm Mediterranean wind from the Sahara), and Golf is close to Gulf Stream (Golfstrom in German); or second, that it was named after a sport, as were cars like the Polo and the Derby.

It turned out, though, to be named after a horse, a Hannover gelding owned by Hans-Joachim Zimmermann, then VW’s head of purchasing. In 1973, VW chairman Horst Münzner came over one weekend and rode Zimmermann’s horse, and both men thought the Golf name was a good one for the new hatchback. Zimmermann revealed all when he donated a picture of Golf the horse to the Stiftung Automuseum Volkswagen: “My horse was the inspiration for the Golf’s name, it stands for top-class, elegance and reliability. May the Golf have a long history of success. My horse got to be 27 years old, and in human terms, that meant it reached the ripe old age of 95. That is a pretty good omen.”

Perhaps equally portentous was the fact that Giugiaro considered his folded-paper Golf design to be the most important car of his distinguished career, and it stands close scrutiny even today.

Not only did Golf become a best seller, accounting for more than 50 percent of VW sales by the end of the 1970s, it gradually morphed into a linchpin of the entire VW Group operation, with all other models spun off the basic kit of parts that underpinned Golf. So, think of Polo as the small Golf, Passat as the big Golf, and so it went on, to include Audis (posh Golfs), Seats (sporty Spanish Golfs), and Škodas (Czech Golfs). And if the GTI was a fast Golf, the Touran was a van Golf, and the Tiguan an SUV Golf.

Last month, VW presented its latest Golf—the last to be powered by combustion—to the world. It’s far from all new and can trace its underpinnings to the 2012 Mk7 model, which is one of the finest mass-production cars ever built.

Trouble is, the Mk7’s replacement, the Mk8 of 2020, would have been fine were it not for the dreadful touchscreen system with its confusing CARIAD software and its wrongheaded slider switches for adjusting radio volume and heating, which weren’t even illuminated at night.

So this new Golf is really 8.2, if you like, with some of its software and switchgear improved and upgraded, but sharing its MEB platform structure pretty much unchanged from the Mk7. As a result, it’s probably just as good to drive but with a load more interfering electronic safety systems.

And will there be a Mk9? Probably. After his predecessor denied that there would be a replacement Golf, new VW boss Thomas Schäfer proved to have a better grasp on the public’s love for the familiar and trusted, and he is determined not to throw away the name, which has been a bestseller ’round the world for the last 50 years.

“The Golf has been at the heart of the Volkswagen brand for half a century now,” Schäfer said at the new car’s launch, “offering affordable mobility for all at the highest technical level. It has constantly adapted itself to customer needs and has thus become a global bestseller… The Golf does not get any better than this.”

As Alan Price sang in the famous 1987 TV commercial for the Mk2 Golf, which starred model Paula Hamilton: “Everyone is going through changes. No one knows what’s going on … ”

Well, we do—a bit. Schäfer’s all-new Golf won’t arrive until 2028, at which point it’ll be a battery-electric vehicle, and given the way VW has twisted and turned on the hook of good intentions for the last decade, that leaves lots of room for maneuvering, especially as the EU won’t actually ban combustion-engined cars until 2035. In other words, watch this space …

But let’s go back to the Golf’s heyday, starting with where it’s built. Though it has been produced around the world, the Golf is most associated with the 70 million square foot plant at Wolfsburg in Germany. Built in 1938, the factory was established on a greenfield site near the village of Fallersleben. At its inauguration it was named KdF-Stadt – Hitler’s original name for the Volkswagen Beetle was KdF-Wagen, for “kraft durch freude,” meaning strength through joy. The site was later named Stadt des Kdf-Wagens bei Fallersleben—City of the Strength Through Joy Car at Fallersleben—and was expanded into a larger city with blocks of flats for workers and a power station that provided electricity and heat to those workers’ homes.

After World War II and the reinstatement of production of the Beetle, it was renamed Wolfsburg, after the nearby Wolfsburg Castle. In 2003, for the launch of the fifth-generation Golf, Volkswagen temporarily renamed the city ‘Golfsburg’ as a fairly rubbish publicity stunt.

So here we are in 1974, and the launch of the first-ever Golf. “Great power, great performance and great fun,” ran the copy lines for the razor-edged little car. It arrived in the UK in October 1974, but the road testers didn’t get their hands on it until the following year.

Motor magazine’s car breakers tested the 1100L model in early 1975, and their judgment was nuanced. They liked the smooth and tractable engine, excellent gearchange, responsive steering, and safe handling, though the photographs seemed to show them hurling the little car through every available corner. What they didn’t like so much was the £1517 price (£11,215 today, or roughly $14K), which made it quite pricey against the Austin Allegro, Alfasud, and Ford Escort. And the performance data was rather underwhelming: an 87.4-mph top speed, 0-to-60 mph in 17.8 seconds, and an average of 28.4 mpg.

It was four months until they got their hands on the more luxurious and powerful 1500LS, which cost £1798 (£13,292, or roughly $16,750). Motor’s verdict was that the seating was too hard, ventilation was poor, and the gearchange felt imprecise, but they still liked it and it performed a lot better, with a 97.8-mph top speed, 0-to-60 mph in 12.6 seconds, and average fuel economy of 27.8 mpg.

The Golf was runner-up to Citroën’s CX in the 1975 Car of the Year award, but the public knew what they wanted, and in its first year of sales the VW was the UK’s 14th best-selling car, with almost 20,000 sales.

I owned an early ’80s Mk I with a 74 hp (75 bhp), 1.6-liter engine and five-speed gearbox. Bought secondhand, it was a lovely little car: nippy, economical, and very cool compared with the competition at the time. I was far from alone; there are pictures of a certain Diana Spencer standing beside a light blue Mk1. Amazingly, the Mk1 model continued to be produced in South Africa until 2009.

In 1976 came the GTI, which is considered to be one of the first-ever hot hatches. The UK didn’t get it until 1977, and only as a special-order, left-hand-drive model. Back to our fast and furious Motor testers, who concluded: “If Volkswagen are as successful in competition as they have been in developing this car, they will prove formidable opponents.”

UK buyers would have to wait until 1979, however, for a full factory right-hand-drive GTI, which basically was the start of the British public’s love affair with fast family hatches; there have been times when GTI models have accounted for more than 10 percent of all UK Golf orders.

The second-generation Golf was introduced in 1983 (1984 in the UK). By this time the GTI version was sporting a 1.8-liter engine, and with the larger body and more practicality, many consider the Mk2 of whatever stripe to be one of the finest Golf models produced.

A complete restyle arrived with the Mk III, which helped it finally garner the European Car of the Year award, in 1992. The 1998 Mk4 marked an attempt to take the car upmarket with a lovely attention to detail in the cabin, but also a big weight increase, lackluster handling, and an eight-valve GTI model that was scarcely worthy of the badge. Largely unloved except by VW executives, the Mk4 was compared unkindly to the sharp handling and looks of the 1998 Ford Focus.

The fifth and sixth generations (2003 and 2008, respectively) moved the game on with independent rear suspension, but again with a weight increase. It was the Mk7 that incorporated VW’s new MQB platform, which pushed the Golf back to the forefront, with more space, a bigger boot, and more rear leg room than before.

And in 50 years, boy, did the Golf grow. The new Golf Mk8 measures 168.7 inches in length, with a curb weight that starts at 2767 pounds. Contrast that with the tiny Mk I, at just 146 inches long and weighing 1764 pounds, but the latest model is also safer, quieter, more comfortable, faster, and more economical, so progress hasn’t all been backward.

Now it’s the beginning of the end for a car that many learned to drive in and which in the last half-century has sold on average 2000 units a day. While the Golf continued to top the sales charts as the world went into Covid lockdown, its fall started in 2022, a troubled year in general for the motor industry. At that point, the Golf’s 15-year run at the top of the European sales charts ended, with VW’s manufacturing and supply issues causing the car to fall to fifth place, with Peugeot’s 208 assuming the top spot.

Not that the Golf will disappear from our roads overnight. With total sales of over 2.3 million in the UK, there have been at least 442 different Golf models over the years, which makes it very difficult to work out exactly how many are still on the road, although one estimate has it at just over a million.

As they said in the first GTI ads, “Everyone must have something in life he can rely on.”

If you are someone who still has a Golf parked outside, you’re part of a once-important but now slowly diminishing herd. But don’t despair, your daily driver has been one of the most influential and significant cars ever built, and if you look after it, it most surely will look after you.

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For those of us who call Michigan home, there was something sorely missing from this year’s Super Bowl: our Detroit Lions. Again. Alas, it wasn’t meant to be. 

Sadly, the Lions—whose principal owner is Sheila Ford Hamp, a descendant of both the Ford and Firestone families—weren’t the only Detroiters who didn’t show up for the big game. For the third straight season, Ford Motor Company sat out too, choosing not to spend $7 million for a 30-second commercial on CBS. General Motors? Nope. Stellantis, the conglomerate that owns Ram, Jeep, and Chrysler? Nada.

Fortunately, several automakers played like champions. So did the Kansas City Chiefs, who after a slow start defeated the San Francisco 49ers 25–22 in overtime to claim their second consecutive Super Bowl title. Cheers to all who entertained us on and off the field, and even those who tried and failed. We appreciate the effort.

Touchdown

Volkswagen USA: “Arrival”

Most great Super Bowl commercials are great because they make us laugh, but some hit us right in the heart. Count Volkswagen’s “Arrival” among the latter. Celebrating VW’s 75 years in the USA, starting when the Beetle turned heads and changed minds upon its arrival in 1949, this commercial is actually an “American Love Story.” Using Neil Diamond’s impassioned 1971 hit “I Am … I Said” as the soundtrack and utilizing both actual and recreated film footage and photos, VW did the opposite of its award-winning “Think Small” ad campaign. It dreamed big and absolutely nailed it, right down to its ending tagline: “We shape its metal. You shape its soul.” (We’ve included the two-minute version above because it’s twice as nice as the one-minute version that ran during the third quarter.)

BMW i5 M60: “Talkin’ Like Walken”

Admit it: You’ve done your own Christopher Walken impression before. Lots of times, in fact. You probably started way back in 2000 when Walken appeared on Saturday Night Live and scored laughs (even from the cast) in his role as record producer Bruce Dickinson. “I have a fever, and the only prescription is MORE COWBELL!”

BMW knows us all too well. From the valet to the coffee barista to the tailor to the makeup artist to the waiter, everyone in this ad for the new i5 M60 electric sedan is “Talkin’ Like Walken.” The commercial ends with a proclamation from the announcer: “There’s only one Christopher Walken, and only one ultimate driving machine,” before he goes into his own Walken impersonation: “The rest are just imitations.” Walken, driving his BMW, laughs: “Come on.”

Nailed it.

Toyota Tacoma: “Dareful Handle”

Toyota had a banner day Sunday, especially considering that (according to Ad Age) it was going to skip the Super Bowl entirely until CBS came calling. Thankfully, Toyota’s marketing team already had a great commercial in the can: “Dareful Handle,” which refers to that handy dandy interior safety feature that we often call the “Jesus Bar”—as in, “Oh, Jesus, please save me while I hang on for dear life.”

As the camera jumps from one frightened passenger to the next, we’re shown an orange Tacoma kickin’ up dust while doing donuts and other herky-jerky maneuvers at high speed. “Introducing the most powerful Tacoma ever,” the announcer says, “With [echoing the truck’s flustered passengers] the ‘Shut the Front Door!’ handle … also known as the ‘Seriously Rob!’ handle … or the ‘Woah, woah, woah … woah, woah!’ handle … or the ‘No Me Gusta! (I don’t like!)’ handle … standard.”

Kia EV9: “Perfect 10”

Kia went the VW route, tugged at our heartstrings, and delivered another winner. Showcasing its new EV9, “the first mass-market three-row EV SUV in the U.S.,” the car isn’t just for transportation, it’s designed to be a mobile power source. When a young skater’s grandfather misses her performance, she brings the show to him and dazzles on a lighted rink just outside his window—and the Kia EV9 provides the juice. Well done.

BONUS: Toyota Tacoma: “Celebration”

This ad was among those offered up during the week leading up to the game, so even though it didn’t have an official time slot, we thought we’d include it. In “Celebration,” a herd of Tacomas—and motorcycles, and even a souped-up riding lawn mower—roar through a canyon before stopping, en masse, at a desolate cabin. When a bearded man comes to the door, one of the Tacoma drivers asks, “Can Billy come out to play?” The man, who we quickly deduce is Billy, shouts “YES! Woohoo!” and jumps into his own Tacoma to join the fun.

Field Goal

Kawasaki Ridge: “Mullets”

In this mildly amusing spot, everyone who comes in contact with Kawasaki’s up-market, four-cylinder side-by-side—even a (formerly) bald eagle and wrestler Steve “Stone Cold” Austin—suddenly wears a mullet. “Business in the front, party in the back. The all-new Kawasaki Ridge.”

Pluto TV: “Couch Potatoes”

Cute. And yes, we know, it isn’t an automotive commercial. But it has a fictional Pluto tractor in it, so it gets in on a technicality. “This here, this is Pluto TV country. Here on this farm, we grow couch potatoes.” The best line in this ad, showing potatoes glued to their couch, thanks to Pluto’s streaming television service? “I like anything where a hot person throws a glass of wine at another hot person.”

Turbo Tax: “Streamer”

Kris came to Turbo Tax because she “switched gears from delivering part-time to streaming full time.” The ad has almost nothing to do with cars, except that when she makes the switch she suddenly becomes part of a fast-driving video game. “That’s how you corner chat!” Don’t we all wish filing our taxes was this fun?

OFF-SETTING PENALTIES

The Dawn Project: “Boycott Tesla Now”

Like a football referee who calls out both teams for messing up, we’re introducing this new category for an ad that ultimately left nobody in a better position.

Dan O’Dowd is a tech entrepreneur who heads The Dawn Project, a group that wants to ban Tesla’s “defective self-driving software,” which “drives like a drunk teenager.” The fact that Tesla tends to pirouette away from liability claims when its cars get into accidents while using the autosteer system is not lost on The Dawn Project. It’s the second year in a row the group has purchased ad space during the big game to criticize Tesla, according to The Washington Post. We agree, of course, that software shouldn’t put the lives of people at risk, but a night of festivities and sports didn’t feel like the right venue for this ad.

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The Volkswagen Thing played many roles during its relatively brief lifespan: proto-SUV, funky runabout, oddball off-roader. But with a Beetle Type 1 driveline and a Transporter Type 2 suspension, VW’s so-called “Thing”—Type 181, internally—was nobody’s idea of a high-performance vehicle. That might have changed this past weekend when a car known as “Lunatic Fringe” debuted in unfinished form at the Grand National Roadster Show in Pomona, California.

Built at Ron Jones Garage, a premier hot-rod and restoration shop (and authorized Hagerty repair facility) in Windsor, Colorado, Lunatic Fringe is a VW Type 181 crossed with a Porsche 911. “Our vision was, this was what Porsche would have done it if had built the Thing,” says Gunnison Jones, the 24-year-old son of shop owner Ron Jones.

Instead of the asthmatic four-banger in a stock Thing, Lunatic Fringe gets an air-cooled Porsche 3.0-liter flat-six punched out to 3.2 liters and sprinkled with hot-rod fairy dust: lightweight rods and rockers, titanium valve hats, a custom-ground cam, even a full-on MoTeC wiring harness and ECU. The Porsche 911 bits include the front diff, sourced from a 996-generation 911 Turbo, and the transaxle, out of a 997-generation 911 Turbo.

To be honest, there’s not much original Thing in this beast. It looks less like a spunky, slab-sided VW than something you’d see crawling over boulders in King of the Hammers. “Every single panel on it except the windshield frame has been hand-built,” Jones says.

The truck rides on a stout chromoly tube frame fabricated by Colorado Sand Cars. The long-travel suspension incorporates Fox shocks and coilovers. The build features a host of billet pieces machined on a CNC mill and other components designed with Solidworks software. Inside a custom housing, eagle-eyed observers might recognize headlights out of a Polaris RZR.

Ironically, Lunatic Fringe doesn’t display evidence of Ron Jones’s main specialty—paint. The truck was displayed at Pomona in bare metal, sans doors, roof, spare tire, or even a finished interior. Its pair of old-school bucket seats were upholstered in a throwback three-tone fabric. When Lunatic Fringe officially debuts at the SEMA Show in November, it will be painted Robin’s Egg blue and fitted with custom wheels.

The project seems like an odd fit for a restoration shop that focuses on rods and customs; the builds showcased on the company website include a pair of pugnacious 1950 pickups, a vibrant 1953 Chevrolet Bel Air race car, and a stanced 1967 Chevy Nova SS packing a blown LS3. The Thing was parked at the Roadster Show next to another outlier that the Ron Jones Garage brought to Pomona: a stunning 1937 Type 57S Bugatti drophead coupe with a supercharged straight-eight and the sinuous, elegant coachwork emblematic of French coachbuilders of the era.

“They only made 12 of them, and this is one of two with Corsica bodies, and it’s the only one with a nickel finish,” Jones says. “This was the first pre-war car we’d ever done. It was also the first Pebble Beach [Concours d’Elegance] car.” No problem. In 2021, the Bugatti won its class at Pebble Beach and was the runner-up for Best of Show.

Still, Lunatic Fringe scratches a different itch—the hot rodder’s perennial quest for something totally different and unmistakably personal. “We tried to talk the customer out of the Porsche engine,” Jones admits. “I wanted to do something crazy like a turbo LS. But he had to have the air-cooled motor. So we ended up with something that’s super unique.”

There are plenty of Bugattis out there, even Type 57s. But there’s only one Porsche-powered Thing out on the “lunatic fringe.”

***

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Few people are as knowledgeable about automobiles and their unique driving characteristics than Jay Leno, so it’s a rare occurrence when he needs help to “fill in a gap.” In the latest episode of Jay Leno’s Garage, Jay decides it’s high time to learn about the Volkswagen Scirocco. And who better to school Jay than award-winning automotive journalist, YouTube host, and Scirocco aficionado Jason Cammisa?

The question is, what took him so long to take one for a spin? As Jay explains, he was pretty busy building his comedy career in the 1980s and had little interest in most Volkswagens at the time. In fact, he’d just purchased a year-old 1986 Lamborghini Countach for $70,000, which “seemed like crazy money at the time … I was so captivated by that whole Italian thing and Ford Cobras, so Scirocco just seemed like a regular car.”

Cammisa admits that it is—and isn’t. The knowledgeable and hilarious host of three Hagerty YouTube series—Icons, Know It All, and Revelations, where he has racked up more than 450 million views—has owned his 1987 Scirocco 16-valve since 1997. He went to high school in Germany and was a fan of German cars, but he knew nothing about Sciroccos. He wanted a Golf. But when his father “kind of reneged” on a promise to buy him a car in college, he used his dad’s credit card—designated for emergencies—to buy this second-gen Scirocco for $1500 (in the U.S.).

Somehow, he survived his father’s wrath and never let go of the car.

“I’ve driven literally thousands of cars for work, basically everything in production for the last 30 years, and this is still the one that makes me laugh the most,” he says, “which is weird because it shouldn’t. It’s a common car for common people.”

“And you were pretty common, as I remember,” Jay says.

“I still am,” Jason admits. “Trash, complete trash.”

“To me, Volkswagen was always nice, and there was a cute aspect to the Bug and the hippie van and all that kind of stuff,” Jay says. “And then the next gen, the Rabbit, didn’t do much for me. And I didn’t pay much attention to the Golf. The Scirocco just seemed like another version, but it’s not. This is much more sophisticated.”

Styled by Giorgetto Giugiaro and bodied by Karmann, this Scirocco began its life with a 1.8-liter, 123-horsepower four-cylinder engine mated to a manual five-speed transmission. It still has that gearbox, but it is now powered by a 2.0-liter with European cams and intake, which boosted horsepower to 170.

“This is a Mark II Scirocco, but it’s the same exact platform underneath,” Jason says. “And the Scirocco was a first-gen GTI—the original Golf GTI with a lower roof.”

Jason dives even deeper into the car’s styling and lineage. “Look at the rear window … this looks to me like a BMW Hofmeister kink,” he says, then continues to explain some of the car’s finer points. When Jason is finished, Jay says, “More information than I wanted to know, but that’s OK.”

Cammisa is undeterred. “This was the last of the A-1 chassis, so it got all the things the original GTI never got, like power steering, four-wheel discs, 16 valves …”

Jay is clearly trying to figure out exactly why this car is priceless to Cammisa.

“You bought it when you didn’t know what it was, and then you fell in love with it. So it’s like imprinting on a goose. The first thing you see when you open your eyes, that’s your parents. If you were driven home in a ’71 Pinto, would that have … ?”

“Nooooo,” Jason says, emphatically. There’s more to it than that. The thing “weighs 2356 (pounds) and has enough power to have fun. It loves to be sideways.”

Cammisa even shipped it to Germany and cut it loose on the Autobahn. Top speed: 135 mph, “which is horrifying. Don’t do it.”

The car is also a rare sight on the West Coast, Jason says.

“In 15 years of living in California, I’ve seen two Scirocco 16-valves on the road. You just don’t see them. They were fast and cheap, and they snap oversteer. Fast, cheap, and sideways means tree. So they’re all gone. It’s been a challenge to keep this one [on the road].”

Jay asks, “Is this a car you’re keeping your whole life?”

“This is it,” Jason says. “No. 1. Bury me in it.”

Offered the chance to find out if the Sirocco is everything that Cammissa says it is, Jay slides behind the wheel and turns the key. Did he enjoy driving it? Check out the last half of the show to see the verdict, but you can be sure that Jay’s knowledge gap has been properly filled.

***

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When you spend enough time crawling around in car graveyards, as I do, you learn that plenty of seemingly restorable examples of much-sought-after vehicles end up getting discarded and crushed. The Volkswagen Transporter is one of the most vivid examples of this; enthusiasts love them passionately, resale values keep on climbing… and yet here’s another solid Transporter, found in a Denver-area self-service yard. What gives?

This one is a Vanagon, the name Volkswagen used for the third-generation (known as the T3) Transporter in North America. The Vanagon first went on sale here as a 1980 model, replacing the beloved T2.

Volkswagen began selling air-cooled Transporter vans and pickups in the United States in the early 1950s, stubbornly referring to the passenger-van version as a station wagon for many years (to be fair, the Detroit manufacturers took the same approach when marketing their small passenger vans). The first-generation, T1 Transporters were sold in the United States through the 1967 model year, after which the T2 took over here for the 1968 through 1979 model years.

The Vanagon still had its engine in the back, but it was bigger and wore more angular styling than its predecessors. The 1980–82 models were powered by air-cooled engines, just as their 1938 kDf-Wagen ancestor had done, but water-cooled engines began showing up in Vanagons during 1983. This van has a radiator in the front, so it must be an ’83-up Wasserboxer, nein?

Well, VW’s build tag shows a March 1981 date of manufacture, so this van’s (presumable) final owner must have become weary of the original air-cooled mill overheating in Colorado’s hot, thin air and decided to upgrade to a newer, water-cooled rig. The VIN shows that it started out with gasoline power, so at least its original owner didn’t have to tolerate Malaise-Era VW Diesel Misery (actually, the dangerously slow 48-horse Vanagon Diesel was available in the United States for just the 1982 and 1983 model years).

Was the swap ever completed? Engine parts, including a pair of Wasserboxer cylinder heads, are scattered around the rear cargo area but the engine case is missing. Either the project faltered and never drove with water coursing through its veins or the water-cooled engine blew up and didn’t get repaired.

This van isn’t at all rusty and the interior looks to have been decent enough when it arrived here, so how did it meet this fate?

First of all, Front Range Colorado (the part of the state just to the east of the Rocky Mountains) is isolated from America’s other major population centers by the vast distances of the American West. That’s great for automotive enthusiasts who live here (as I do), because the dry climate discourages corrosion and great project vehicles are easy to find at good prices. However, it’s a grueling two- or three-day tow from here to the big cities of the Midwest, and it’s an even more grueling two- or three-day tow over two triple-digit-elevation mountain ranges to the big cities of the West Coast.

A 1961 Transporter in this shape would find an out-of-state rescuer for sure, even if no local air-cooled VW enthusiast had space for it (most of us have all the projects we can handle and then some), but that proved not to be the case for a Transporter two decades newer. Solid Vanagons go to the crusher here on a regular basis, as I’ve shown in the past (and if you think Vanagon Westfalias are immune from the cold steel jaws of the Colorado Crusher, think again).

How about T2 Transporters in Colorado junkyards? They’re a bit harder to find in the boneyards here, but they do show up now and again. I documented a ’78 with the ultra-rare automatic transmission just last summer, plus a ’71 Kombi and a beige-over-brown ’78 with period-correct pinstriping in recent years.

The Vanagon was sold in the United States through the 1991 model year, with the very last T3 Transporters rolling off the assembly line in South Africa in 2002. Volkswagen of America brought over the T4 Transporter as the EuroVan for the 1993 through 2003 model years, but sales numbers here never approached those of the T1-T3 vans. After that, VWoA took a shot at selling Chrysler-built minivans with Routan badges here for the 2009–14 period, with results about as grim as everyone predicted. Now the Volkswagen Van has returned to the United States, powered by electrons and showing design influences from three-quarters of a century of Transporters.

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It’s no secret that Jim Harbaugh likes cars. The University of Michigan football coach, who on Monday led the Wolverines to a College Football Playoff championship with a 34–13 win over the University of Washington, used to own part of Panther Racing, a winning IndyCar team, and he drove the Chevrolet Corvette pace car at the 2013 Indianapolis 500.

And in 2018, he did doughnuts on the Michigan Stadium’s turf field in an 840-horsepower Dodge Challenger Demon. While in college, he even worked as a security guard for a General Motors plant, reportedly checking IDs and lunch boxes.

So what did he drive when he was playing quarterback in 1983–1986 for Coach Bo Schembechler at the University of Michigan? Something cool?

Not so much, judging from a 1986 story in the now-defunct Ann Arbor News.

He drove a faded red 1970 Volkswagen Beetle. In the Ann Arbor District Library archives, there is a photo of Harbaugh sitting on the rear bumper of the VW. The caption says, “Bo Schembechler is high on Harbaugh, but not his fender-flapping VW.” Harbaugh’s car “should not be allowed on the streets,” Schembechler once said.

In the photo, “It looks like I’ve got a cell phone,” Harbaugh said, quoted in a story from 2015 that appeared on a University of Michigan website. “And there’s the old VW. Driving this car was like Fred Flintstone. You could put your feet on the ground. The whole floorboard was rusted out and about to go. In the winter, it got so cold because it had no heater that worked. The frost, I had to scrape from the inside.

“The car got condemned. I paid $400 for the car at a used car lot on Stadium (Boulevard), the muffler fell off. And I did a really funny thing with it. The shifter knob broke, and I drilled a hole through a baseball and put the baseball over the top of it so I could shift it. And the brakes were really bad.”

He spoke about the time he was driving the Beetle from Ann Arbor to his parent’s home in Kalamazoo, Michigan, a 100-mile trip, when the car became stuck in third gear. “So, I just had to keep going 55 (mph). I could brake, but it would go right back up to 55. I drove it that way from Jackson to Kalamazoo and right into the driveway without coming to a stop.”

Sketchy as it may have been, the Beetle helped shepherd Harbaugh around during his time at Michigan, where he cemented a legacy as one of the football program’s most celebrated quarterbacks. Since returning to his alma mater in 2015 to take over as the football team’s head coach, we’d bet he’s been cruising the campus in something a fair bit nicer. That’s probably for the best.

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Cute, isn’t it?

This 1961 Chevrolet Corvair pickup represents an unusual chapter in automaking history, when Chevrolet, Ford, and Dodge offered “flat-faced,” cab-forward vans, and modified them into light-duty pickup trucks, a formula made popular by Volkswagen. This example is offered on Hagerty Marketplace.

This pickup’s formal name is the Chevrolet Corvair 95, so named because of the very short 95-inch wheelbase (the wheelbase of a modern Honda Civic wheelbase is a foot longer). This made the Corvair 95 maneuverable and easy to park, and the bed allowed for a lot of cargo room.

This Rampside version, built from 1961 through 1965, is so named because of a fold-down ramp on the passenger side, making the loading of motorbikes, karts, or lawn equipment (the Corvair 95 was popular with landscapers) simple and easy. There’s even a rubberized edge at the top so the paint doesn’t get scuffed. The Rampside was also popular with West Coast surfers, who could just place their boards in back and head for the ocean. There’s a rear tailgate too, of course.

The engine is a rear-mounted flat-six-cylinder displacing 145 cubic inches. It has 80 horsepower and 128 lb-ft of torque, and is listed as having the Corvair 95’s “beefed-up” engine “with more durable exhaust valves, exhaust valve rotators, lowered compression, and carburetors with larger jets for cargo-transporting duties.” It’s air-cooled, and you can see the vents in the rear quarters.

There’s 80 cubic feet of load space. Payload capacity is a healthy 1900 pounds.

The transmission was typically a three-speed, but this example has the more coveted four-speed manual transmission, operated via a floor-mounted shifter.

Inside, the 1961 Corvair 95 is pretty bare-bones, with a vinyl-covered bench seat. Aftermarket accessories include a steering column–mounted tachometer, and a dash-mounted Kenwood stereo. The big two-spoke steering wheel is nearly horizontal, like a bus driver’s, to make ingress and egress easier. Mileage shown is just over 75,000, but it isn’t known whether or not that’s correct.

Baby-moon hubcaps and thin whitewall tires complete the period look. Many Corvair 95s were two-toned, but this one is refinished in a single blue color with a matching dashboard. It wears chrome bumpers front and rear.

It’s a bit unusual to find a classic that is willing and able to work for its keep, but this Corvair 95 is. It’s available on Hagerty Marketplace, with closing bids due Tuesday, November 7, at 3:50 p.m.

***

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Roadtrek is a premium Canadian brand of enclosed-van campers, famous for two things: Cramming an incredible amount of RV-related equipment into a van, and unapologetically high prices, sometimes close to $200,000. For those RVers who want everything contained inside a modest footprint, they may be the only way to go.

Now comes word that Roadtrek campers are about to pop their tops, thanks to the North American return of the German camper company Westfalia, known mostly for making Volkswagen vans into semi-livable quarters. They were popular during the 1960s and ‘70s, but haven’t been imported here for 20 years.

According to RV Business, a pre-production model of the North American Westfalia Van “will be unveiled exclusively to dealers this September at the RV Dealer Open House House in Elkhart, Ind., marking a new chapter in the brand’s legendary history.”

Len McDougall, head of sales for Westfalia North America, said, “We are excited to share our team’s hard work in development and engineering to bring this iconic brand back to North America. This is one debut that you don’t want to miss.”

McDougall hinted at the impressive design, stating, “The display model will feature sleeping availability in the front, rear, and upper pop-top area of the van,” apparently a Ram ProMaster. “You will have to stop by the display to really take in all the details.” That show ends today.

Indeed, the company has a fascinating history. It was founded in 1844 to build horse-drawn carts. According to Westfalia: The history of its conversions began in 1951 with one customer’s special wish: When Westfalia in Wiedenbrück created the so-called “Camping Box”, especially designed for an officer in the British Forces stationed in Germany, he had a simple request: equip a VW transit van as a home.

This had to be neatly built into the vehicle and at the same time had to be suitable as a room for sleeping, living, and working. “So the people at Westfalia took a VW bus, installed a double door between the B and C columns, and built-in multi-purpose furniture and decoration behind the front seats. For example, pretty ruffled curtains which matched the checked pattern of the furniture. A real zeitgeist combination.

“A studio couch, folding table, seat bench, roll-front cabinet, and sideboard completed the interior ensemble. The result was such a success that the Camping Box soon went into series production and the converted VW Bus became the dream car of the ’50s, because it was multifunctional and could be used as a hotel on wheels.”

In 1962, Westfalia built the first motorhome with furniture surfaces made of light plastic material, and named the VW bus-based vehicle the Westfalia SO 34. “The Westfalia SO 34 was shipped across the pond in large numbers, and was the first vehicle with camping furniture with white and grey plastic surfaces instead of wood veneer surfaces. The SO 42 was also very successful in the USA.

“This vehicle already had insulation but it didn’t yet have the folding roof which became typical for the Westfalia later on. The equipment comprised interior paneling, roof storage compartment, cool box with water tank, manual pump and folding table on the side, wardrobe with mirror, storage compartment with upholstery and folding table.”

Soon after the innovative folding roofs became standard, offering a lot of room in this jack of all trades’ “kitchen”, resulting in a comfortable standing height and more space to work in. “The vehicles converted by Westfalia created a feeling of freedom and independence that had been unthinkable until then. After all, you’re at home where you feel at home.”

Presumably, that’s how you should feel in the new Roadtrek Westfalia. For more information about the relaunch of Westfalia in North America, visit westfalia-americas.com.

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Like any group of car fans, the writers here at Hagerty have wide ranging and (mostly) good tastes. We have our American muscle guys, our JDM freaks, a couple of Bimmer boys, and of course a few Porschephiles. I, for one, love my underpowered British heaps and euro oddballs. One thing we can all agree on, though, is that the latest Sale of the Week is a damn cool car, even if none of us would ever want to actually own it.

Fascinating eight-cylinder powertrain? Check. Six-speed manual gearbox? Check. Wagon body? Again, check. It even has a lovely color. It’s a 2003 Volkswagen Passat W8 wagon, and it sold this week for $11,652. Seems cheap for something that ticks all of those cool car boxes, but there are reasons why it didn’t go for more.

The “B5” generation of Passat came out in 1997, and it received a significant update called the “B5.5” for 2001. These were strange, interesting times at VW. The Germans were buying up premium badges like Bentley and Lamborghini. They even brought Bugatti back from the grave. Meanwhile, company boss Ferdinand Piëch was pulling Volkwagen, the brand of Golfs and Beetles, upmarket with more sophisticated models. Sometimes, a little too sophisticated. The ill-fated Phaeton executive sedan is probably the most famous example of this early 2000s over-engineering, but before that was this truly wild version of the B5.5 Passat.

The star of the show was the W8 engine, and the fact that this thing made it into a family car like the Passat is crazy enough. Sort of like Toyota slicing two cylinders off the Lexus LFA’s V10 and dropping it into a Camry. The W8 was something of a test run for VW’s later W12s used in Bentleys and Audis and the W16s used in Bugattis. Essentially two narrow-angle 15-degree VR4s arranged in a 72-degree V-shape on a common crank, it offered V8 power in a more compact package. Calling it half a Veyron engine isn’t a huge stretch of the truth, but in the Passat the 3999-cc W8 was rated at just 270 horsepower and 273 lb-ft of torque. It did at least garner praise for smoothness and delivering solid oomph on the highway. It’s the only engine with a W8 configuration to ever make it to production, and given the way the car industry is moving, it probably always will be.

The W8 Passat was available in either four-door sedan or five-door wagon body styles, and buyers could choose between a 5-speed auto or a 6-speed manual. All W8s came standard with VW’s 4Motion all-wheel drive. Base price was around the $40K mark.

An intriguing car, then. Even 20 years ago an eight-cylinder family car with an available stick was a rare and exciting treat. Writing for Car and Driver back in 2004, our own Aaron Robinson praised the suspension for “keeping the 3918-pound Passat from bobbing like a bath toy over fast-changing cambers, and the cleaver-sharp steering is from the Audi kitchen.” He also noted that “if you can live without rings, spinners or silver stars on the hood, perhaps the W-8 six-speed is worth your attention.”

But just because a car is intriguing doesn’t mean it’s easy to sell. There were contemporary Audis and BMWs that would do everything the W8 Passat could but did it for less money, and they did have premium badge on the hood.

In the end, only 11,000 W8 Passats sold worldwide, and just a tiny fraction of those buyers ordered theirs with a long roof and third pedal. Some sources say fewer than 100 manual W8 wagons came to the U.S., and it’s probably a safe bet to say significantly fewer are still on the road.

This one, though, is. The Blue Spirit Pearl over Flannel Gray leather wagon has 17-inch BBS “Madras” wheels, sport suspension, sunroof, heated power front seats and roof rails, while mild mods include EuroCustoms Tuning engine management software and a cat-back exhaust with four tips to clue you in that this isn’t an English professor’s Passat. Its New Jersey license plate reads “6SPDW8”. Nice.

Now for the not-so-good stuff. It has nearly 150,000 miles, and all the usual chips, dings, wear and tear of a 150k-mile car. According to the seller, the engine was replaced in 2009 after a mechanic dropped a bolt down into the engine block before somebody else started the car. That’s one expensive oopsie.

The car, on the other hand, is not so expensive, and another example of how easy it is to lose money in this hobby. The seller has enjoyed the car for 10,000 miles, but he bought it a year ago for $13,400, and that doesn’t include the maintenance he’s done.

That doesn’t mean there won’t still be plenty more maintenance for the new owner to enjoy. They didn’t sell many W8 Passats, but the Internet is still full of horror stories by former owners and mechanics, and just the timing chains look like the stuff of nightmares. Finding engine parts would be a headache, and of course the rest of the car is a 20-year-old VW, so there’s plenty of stuff to go wrong outside the engine bay, too.

Just like when it was new, this is a badass car. But it takes a special kind of person to actually want to put it in their garage. It’s hard to find that kind of person, in the Hagerty office or anywhere. That’s why it sold for cheap.

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A 1963 split screen VW bus for sale on U.K. website Car and Classic is certain to divide opinion.

Technically, it’s two VW Type 2s that have been mashed together to create a tow truck and camper based on the “fifth wheel” idea. As if that’s not enough, the original air-cooled flat-four engine has been ditched in favour of a two-liter, turbocharged motor from an Audi S3. It’s mated to an Audi automatic transmission and the whole drivetrain is neatly packaged beneath the vehicle’s rear deck.

An external roll cage stiffens the shell to cope with more than four times the power that the bonkers bus would have had in its original form. It sits a little lower than standard, but otherwise outwardly this Frankenbus looks suitably period in its two-tone cream-beige paintwork with matching steelies.

The trailer features a king size rock’n’roll bed and kitchen, while its Westfalia-style pop-top extends head room to standing height. There’s a stylish wood-slatted roof rack and a roll-out awning to cover your campsite.

The neatest feature is the articulated U-shaped hitch on the bus’s bed which means it can be detached from the camping trailer and driven on its own. The cab has retained much of its originality, keeping a bench seat and its trademark big steering wheel with exposed column. A Hurst-like shifter is in the only real clue that something different has been done.

“Every once in a while you come across a vehicle that’s so impressive, you can’t praise it enough,”reckon Car & Classic. “This is one such vehicle. The brainchild of a very clever and talented individual, we’re sure Volkswagen collectors the world over will want to own this awesome custom creation.”

At the time of writing the bidding had reached just under $30,000,  but whatever price it fetches someone will be getting a fantastic two-for-one deal with this unique Type 2.

The post This is what happens when a VW Type 2 meets an Audi S3 appeared first on Hagerty Media.

One more shift-for-yourself opportunity bites the dust: A manual transmission in the Golf GTI and Golf R ends with the 2024 model, Volkswagen confirmed today.

The information was inherent to VW’s announcement of the 2024 Golf GTI 380, a special equipment set standard on every 2024 manual-transmission GTI. “Available exclusively in the North American market, this special-edition build combination celebrates the heritage of the manual transmission in VW’s hot hatches during the final year of three-pedal production for Golf GTI and Golf R.”

“The GTI 380 conveys our appreciation for the enthusiasts who have continually demonstrated their love for the manual-equipped GTI for over four decades,” said Petar Danilovic, Senior Vice-President of Product Marketing and Strategy for Volkswagen of America. Take rate for the GTI’s manual has been about 40 percent, but VW has earmarked 50 percent for this final year.

The “380” name comes from the Mk8’s (eighth generation) internal model code. It’s a nod to the fourth-generation GTI 337 special edition, sold in 2002, which borrowed the internal model code from the Mk1 GTI.

In the same spirit, the GTI 380 incorporates design and performance-enhancing elements and pairs them with an exclusive color to every manual-transmission trim for 2024—S, SE and Autobahn. “Enthusiasts will appreciate standard DCC adaptive damping system and multi-spoke gloss black 19-inch aluminum-alloy wheels from the Golf R 20th Anniversary Edition shod with summer performance tires.”

A gloss black roof pairs with gloss black mirror caps, and there’s the classic red exterior detailing of GTI. Colors for the 2024 Golf GTI include Deep Black Pearl, Atlantic Blue Metallic, Kings Red Metallic, Reflex Silver Metallic, Moonstone Gray, and Opal White Pearl, along with Graphite Gray Metallic, which is exclusive to the GTI 380.

Inside, the GTI 380 pays homage to the history of GTI with a golf-ball “inspired” manual shift knob—present on past generations of GTI—and honeycomb accents. S and SE trims feature classic plaid cloth seats; leather seating surfaces come standard for the Autobahn trim and are optional on the SE trim.

As with the rest of the 2024 Golf GTI lineup, GTI 380 trims are powered by a turbocharged EA888 2.0-liter four-cylinder engine with 241 horsepower and 273 pound-feet of torque. While this model is the last Golf GTI to be offered with a six-speed manual, the seven-speed dual-clutch DSG transmission will carry forward on future GTI models and on the 315-horse Golf R. The manual in the Golf R also has a year left until a facelifted car comes out later in 2024.

North America was the only region to get a manual option in the Golf R, and VW previously told Hagerty that getting a clutch pedal approved for this market was “a big fight.”

Sales of the Mk8 GTI (launched for 2022) have been slightly down compared with the outgoing Mk7, though that’s more a problem of supply than demand, VW rep Mark Gillies says.

The 2024 Volkswagen Golf GTI 380 goes on sale in early Fall 2023, with a starting MSRP of $32,485 for the GTI 380 S, $37,285 for the GTI 380 SE, and $40,625 for the GTI 380 Autobahn. That doesn’t include shipping, which is $1150.

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Over the past few weeks, we’ve written a lot about million-dollar metal from Monterey. Now it’s time to come back to earth and look at some cars that are only kind of expensive. What caught our eye this week is a rally homologation special that ticks many of the same boxes as the most expensive ’80s automobiles. Racing pedigree and low production? Check. Four-wheel drive? Check. Forced induction? Of course. Box flares? You bet.

It’s a Volkswagen Rallye Golf which, as the name suggests, was built to whip around the special stages of the World Rally Championship. It’s also one of the rarest versions of one of the world’s best-selling cars, and the ancestor of the more well-known Golf R32 and today’s Golf R. Yet it sold for $41,278 this week on Cars and Bids. Certainly not chump change, but still several grand less than a new Golf R, and less than you might think when you hear the words “homologation special.”

The second generation of the Volkswagen Golf debuted in 1983. VW’s characteristically cheeky advertisements boasted “If at first you succeed, try again,” and it was indeed a worthy follow-up to the wildly successful first-gen (1974–83) cars. Over its 10-year production run, the Mk II Golf would sell 6.3 million copies.

The hottest version that most people could buy when they walked into their V-dub dealer was the 16-valve GTI, which was a standout hot hatch despite stiff competition in the European market from the likes of the Peugeot 205 GTi. But, in a bid to take the Golf rallying in Group A (then the top class of the World Rally Championship), VW needed something hotter, and they needed to sell 5000 copies in order to homologate it for the 1990 season.

The Rallye Golf is what they came up with. On the outside, the obvious differences are the box flares, à la E30 BMW M3, plus a unique grille flanked by rectangular headlights, a special body kit, and badges. Underneath, the 1.8-liter engine has an eight-valve head but also a G-Lader supercharger. VW also shrank the engine slightly by 18cc (1763cc) to fit within the WRC’s rules, which featured a 1.7x multiplication factor for displacement on forced induction engines. The original 1781cc unit would have gone over the adjusted 3.0-liter limit in the rulebook.

The engine drove all four wheels via a five-speed gearbox and VW’s Syncro four-wheel drive setup, similar to the system in the Golf Syncro and Golf Country. Screwed together at the Volkswagen Motorsports facility in Belgium, the Rallye Golf weighed 200 pounds more than a regular GTI thanks to that Syncro system, but at 2635 pounds it wasn’t too beefy, and of course the supercharger delivered extra punch. But it wasn’t exactly a knockout: 160 horsepower and 165 lb-ft made it quick but not a tire-scorcher. The sprint to 60 still took over eight seconds.

It was also expensive, at 50,000 German marks, about twice as much as a GTI. A handful of Rallye Golfs were sent to the U.S. for evaluation, and supposedly Volkswagen of America’s vice-president James Fuller wanted to sell it here. Unfortunately, he was on Pan Am Flight 103 when it was blown up by Libyan terrorists in December 1988. The Rallye Golf didn’t make it to U.S. shores. Despite the price and the limited market, though, the Rallye Golf did sell a little over 5000 copies, all in left-hand-drive configuration.

It was expensive and not too fast on the road, and the Rallye Golf wasn’t exactly an ace on the rally stages, either. These were the days of the Lancia Delta Integrale and Toyota Celica GT-Four, so it’s not all that surprising that Volkswagen finished 10th in the 1990 WRC season with just 10 points. Lancia and Toyota each finished with over 130. The factory VW team pulled out of rallying after just one year, although a few private teams ran Rallye Golfs for a few more seasons. Then, the Rallye Golf disappeared into obscurity, although the Golf R32 of the 2000s and the Golf R of today can trace their roots right back to this late-’80s original. Growing interest for old rally-bred collector cars has helped bring the Rally Golf a little more back in the light, too.

The car sold this week wears the lovely color of Green Pearl Effect, and the Recaro front seats with patterned cloth inserts look pretty sweet. It wears a few aftermarket changes, including 16-inch BBS wheels, KW suspension, and a Supersprint exhaust. Showing 159,400 km (99,100 miles) but looking remarkably well cared for, it was only imported to the U.S. from Europe last year and already has a U.S. title, which is a good selling point.

This price isn’t a record for a Mk2 Golf (someone paid 91 grand for a 1992 GTI a few months back) but it is in line with what the few other Rallye Golfs have sold for in recent memory. And it seems like a decent value. Sure, 30 to 40 grand for an old Volkswagen hatchback that never won anything isn’t cheap, but rare homologation specials have a certain coolness factor, many more common ’80s performance cars sell for more, and other unsuccessful rally cars from the earlier Group B era routinely bring seven figures. Given all that, plus its connection to more modern VW performance cars, this special low-volume Golf was a good buy. Even if it wasn’t a hole-in-one back in the day.

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Via Insider

The post This semi-spicy ’80s hatch is cheaper, cooler than a new Golf R appeared first on Hagerty Media.

20 years ago this year—July 20, to be precise—Volkswagen’s factory in Puebla, Mexico, made the very last Beetle. While the O.G. vintage Bugs have a guaranteed place in the hearts of most car enthusiasts, let’s take a moment to examine the evolving legacy of the New Beetle. You may have seen this story on the Hagerty UK website last June; it’s reproduced here unchanged. —Ed. 

It’s probably fair to say the awkwardly named Volkswagen New Beetle, launched in 1997, was not an outstanding car, even if being based on the Mk4 Golf means it was never a bad one.

A proportion of you will balk at the idea of this Bug being a future classic, regardless of its objective capabilities. Revivals of much-loved names tend to get a short shrift with enthusiasts, particularly if they seem a bit cynical, with an uncomfortable whiff of cashing-in hanging in the air.

New Beetle was certainly that. It was absolutely targeted at those who fondly remembered the 1960s and 1970s. But it was far from the only attempt to leverage such nostalgia, so we can’t level this accusation at Volkswagen alone. The Rover Group for one, for whom the original Mini was still trudging on (and whose ’90s brochures went barely a paragraph without mentioning Carnaby Street, Twiggy, or miniskirts), and was preparing the P4-inspired 75 in the background.

The press meanwhile were convinced a “new 2CV” was on the way, and Chrysler was busy launching the PT Cruiser—pseudo-’40s or ’50s really, but very much bait for baby boomers. Remember that this was the era of the two-seat roadster revival kicked off by Mazda, a phenomenon which echoed the first roadster boom of the 1950s and 1960s.

The New Beetle fit right in. It was a bullseye for customers whose kids had flown the nest and could now settle down with the warm, fuzzy familiarity of a retro design, trading boring, Golf-style practicality for old-car styling without old-car quirks. And, with the 1960s heavy in contemporary pop culture (Britpop was a revival of the mop-haired bands of the ’60s, ravers were the new stoners, tie-dye was making a weird comeback) even younger buyers would “get it.”

The advertisements, designed by long-standing VW ad agency DDB, harped on the retro theme. “Less flower. More power” read one; “The engine’s in the front, but its heart’s in the same place,” ran another.

The first tagline was only half true, of course: famously, the New Beetle was, in a rather self-aware way, fitted with a small vase on the dashboard into which you could plonk a large, petalled motif of the late 1960s.

One thing you might have forgotten is that the car was actually very well received by the press. Most noted it was not the quickest vehicle, with its old-tech, 2-liter eight-valve from the Mk3 Golf. The available 1.9-liter TDI engine was in a relatively low state of tune, too (though some noted its gravely note was most similar to that of a classic Beetle’s flat-four).

Most reviewers could tell the New Beetle wasn’t set up as a handler. Many noted the appalling rear headroom from that sloping window, and a few had reservations over the plastic football field VW called a dashboard, which made the front corners of the car basically invisible and every attempt at parking a test of nerves.

That said, it’s not like the original Beetle was perfect. The New Beetle was still a tidy drive, particularly for those who still had memories of how badly a ropey original could get down the road. Reviewers loved the materials and details (this was peak “blue backlit dials” era for VW) and enjoyed the overwhelmingly positive reaction from bystanders even more. Jeremy Clarkson, of all people, even went as far as saying the first Turbo model in the U.K. would be his (though there’s no record of whether he kept that promise).

Age has now wearied the New Beetle just as it would have done 25-year old examples of the original back in 1997, and today the model hovers in that uncomfortable territory between cheap banger and emerging classic.

The original once suffered in that limbo, too. People knew it was iconic even at its lowest ebb, but just like Minis and other budget cars, the classic Beetle spent an awful long time as a disposable product, cheap, rotting away, and terrifying penny-pinching owners with handling quirks unique to its 1940s origins. The New Beetle at least kept you out of the hedges.

The important thing is that those that survived now have a following. And that, more than anything else, is why I think the New Beetle will be viewed with increasing fondness. It didn’t become the icon of a social movement like its ancestor, but take a look at how many younger buyers have adopted the model today and are modifying it just like its predecessor.

In the last few weeks alone I’ve seen a convertible custom-painted in a 1950s black and cream (complete with polished chrome hubcaps), and another that looked like it had escaped the set of Mad Max: Fury Road, with external fuel cans and grilles over the lights. Search online and you’ll find highly-modified Turbos, V5s on air ride, and even track-modified cars. Highly personalized, plentiful parts, a thriving community … any of this sound familiar?

In the end, it barely even matters that Volkswagen called it a Beetle (with or without the “New” prefix). The important bit is that owners loved them when new and bought the thing in droves. A quarter-century down the line, a new generation of owners is emerging ready to give the New Beetle a whole new lease of life.

Via Hagerty UK

The post Can VW’s New Beetle shed boomer nostalgia to win younger hearts? appeared first on Hagerty Media.

One of only 25 Brubaker Boxes—essentially kit cars built on Volkswagen Beetle chassis—recently sold on eBay for an astounding $68,900 (plus taxes and fees), but Hagerty Price Guide publisher Dave Kinney isn’t surprised at how much money the fully restored example brought. He owned one himself, in the 1970s.

“I think the good news for somebody is if [Brubaker Boxes are] selling for sixty-eight nine, then you should go make some molds, get some old VW chassis, and you’re in business,” Kinney jokes. “Seriously, that’s a lot of money, but good luck finding another one. They just aren’t out there.”

Kinney understands the draw of the Bug-based Box, which he says is arguably the first minivan. “It was a big sensation because it was on the cover of Car and Driver [in March 1972],” he says. “It was a completely new concept, and it made a big splash. People would stop and stare at it. It was really, really, really mind-boggling.”

The Box was the invention of California inventor Curtis Brubaker, who studied car styling at Pasadena’s Art Center College of Design and worked for Lear Jet and General Motors before setting up his own design studio in Los Angeles. He created dozens of innovations over the years, including the 8-track tape player while working with Bill Lear. Brubaker envisioned the Box as a tool for surfers to get their boards, gear, and friends to the beach.

As Brubaker explained to the Galpin Auto Sports team on Discovery UK’s G.A.S. Extreme Customs in 2020, it all started with the theft of his brother’s VW van. “I was thinking, ‘Why is this guy stealing a used Volkswagen?’ And we got to thinking about all the surfer kids driving these things. We took a trip down to Newport Beach; I took one picture where there were like seven or eight of ’em on one tiny street, and I said, ‘There’s a market here … something that appeals more to the kids.’”

Brubaker debuted the prototype Baha Box at the 1972 Los Angeles International Motorsports Show and gained enough funding to start production, but Volkswagen refused to sell him any chassis. That meant he’d have to buy new Beetles and remove the bodies, which proved too costly and time consuming. Three concept vehicles were built before Brubaker sold the design to Mike Hansen’s Automecca of Chatsworth, California. Most sources agree that Automecca, which offered the vehicle as the Sports Van, built 25 in total, including the one that just sold on eBay.

The innovative one-box van—fashioned with 13 fiberglass panels mounted on a stiff tube frame and attached to the Type 1 chassis—features sloping front and back glass, a removable roof, and a single sliding door on the passenger side. To keep costs down, the windshield was borrowed from an AMC Hornet and the rear glass came from a Chevrolet El Camino. Although there is debate about whether the bumpers were made of wood or a composite material, Kinney says they were wood: “Two slabs of wood, front and back.”

In addition to the VW’s driver and passenger seats, the rear seating was “essentially a tan, vinyl-covered couch,” Kinney says. The love seat could be removed to add cargo space.

The Brubaker Box stood only 53 inches tall, which made it an adventure to get in and out of. “You had to step into it from the side and walk to the drivers’ seat while stooping over.”

Kinney bought a brown metallic Brubaker Box/Automecca Sports Van in 1977 after hearing about it from a friend who owned an auto dealership near Fort Lauderdale. He traveled to Florida from Virginia to check it out. “I remembered it from when it was on the cover of Car and Driver,” Kinney says. “I bought it without really knowing any of its (individual) history, as you did back then. I think I paid $3000 for it and sold it 18 months later for $4000.

“I drove it for at least a year—used it as a daily driver in the summer, and boy, was it hot in there. The driver- and passenger-side windows slid back, and it was hard to see out the back and the sides. It wasn’t the most practical car; it was a totally enclosed dune buggy. It had a VW semi-automatic transmission, which never worked properly. If I’d kept it, I would have swapped that out.”

With that said, “It was really fun, and pretty well-made in that I never had a problem with anything falling off. It was a good-looking little truck. I wish I knew what happened to mine. I hope it’s still out there somewhere.”

Last week, when we wrote about the Jungle Green Metallic 1971 Bug-based Brubaker Box/Automecca Sports Van offered on eBay, readers wondered where the surf boards were intended to reside, inside or outside, since the roof was removable and there was no rack. Kinney says it was an easily solved problem.

“You’d just buy a universal roof rack from the Sears catalog and strap the boards on top,” he says, then adds, “Don’t ask about my surfing skills, because they’re non-existent.”

While Kinney jokes that the nearly $70K paid for the Box/Sports Van on eBay should motivate someone to start building them again, California entrepreneurs Tomo Bullum and Dale Davis are way ahead of him. Four years ago, Bullum and Davis announced plans to launch a vehicle inspired by the Brubaker Box, but they have not yet responded to inquiries through their website.

If their plan comes to fruition, would Kinney consider buying one?

“Nah, I’ve been there, done that,” he says. “They’re great to own, but they aren’t great to drive.”

One lucky bidder is about to find out.

***

This article first appeared in Hagerty Drivers Club magazine. Click here to subscribe and join the club.

The post Why an oddball ’70s surf van just sold for $68,900 appeared first on Hagerty Media.

Front and center in any good car project is the list of parts necessary to complete the job. I’m presently at the shallow end of returning my 2002 Porsche 911 Carrera back to (mostly) stock, and recently had my trusted shop price out a few components before diving in. One of my car’s key needs is an exhaust system, so I asked the shop to price a brand-new, OEM heads-to-tailpipe replacement as it would have left the factory.

I was quoted $17,273.32, including tax.

Ouch. According to the Hagerty Valuation tool, the cost of parts alone would be 64 percent of the projected value of the entire car. Based on inventory found on reputable online sellers of OEM Porsche components, a full replacement exhaust for a far newer and far more valuable 991.2 (2016–19) Carrera settles somewhere around the $9000 mark.

Shocked? You betcha. But I shouldn’t have been, considering I was duly warned over a year ago by a foremost marque expert that parts for my car—and all older cars, for that matter—are going to rapidly become significantly more scarce and expensive.

I visited Jake Raby’s Flat-Six Innovations (FSI) facility back in the early spring of 2022. As a 996 owner, this former pig farm in the hills of rural Georgia is sanctum sanctorum; Raby and his outfit build the best M96/M97-family engines on the planet, turning engines long seen as unpleasant, problem-prone paperweights into over-engineered reactor cores that match Porsche’s own Mezger for meat.

Toward the end of the day-long tour, he took me into a repurposed shipping container that held one of his on-site parts archives. This veritable treasure trove of OEM-grade Porsche parts would shame any official service center. Sandwiched between shelves of coil packs, manifolds, and various flat-six detritus, he told me he maintained this archive to battle a wide-reaching parts shortage that was hitting 996s and 997s, hard.

I left with a hot coal in my gut.

Fast forward to a few weeks ago, when a conversation with Jonathan Hodgman of Atlanta’s Blue Ridge Mercedes echoed Raby’s earlier sentiment to an eerie degree. Hodgman’s one of the top resources in the States for pre-merger AMGs and related models, specialty hand-built cars that have always required clever fixes or fabrications for bespoke parts that simply didn’t exist. But as Hodgman tells it, he’s struggling to source OEM-grade “essential” componentry, and it’s become a serious problem. “I used to spend 20 minutes of my time ordering parts. Now, I spend half my time ordering parts,” he sighed. “It’s become a real chore.”

So, along with Hodgman, I checked in with Raby a year and change after my visit to see what is happening, where we are heading, and what can be done. “From the root to the top of the tree, it’s dying,” he tells me in a video call. “There are too many factors that are going to take it all away.”

We’ll start with the “what.” As both Raby and Hodgman tell it, the basic supply of new OEM-quality replacement parts—that is, parts manufactured by either the original equipment manufacturer or to the same quality—has all but dried up. If there are aftermarket or non-OE supplied parts available, they’re of sub-par quality and often fail right out of the box.

“Radiators, hoses, basic stuff started to be a struggle ten years ago or so,” explains Hodgman. “Then the pandemic happened alongside the push for electrification, and that has had a staggering effect on parts availability. Ten years ago, it wasn’t really a problem, it was just annoying. But, as the years have gone on, it’s only gotten harder and harder and harder.”

“It’s 356, it’s 914, it’s Volkswagens, it’s the more modern Porsches—it’s everything,” says Raby. “Inflation has helped with parts supply for 996 and 997s because it’s taken some of the demand away—that’s good. The parts supply is there, but now we have is the quality of the parts.”

He tells me of troublesome oil-air separators and water pumps, finding that more than a few are duds right out of the box. As a result, he’s been forced to build a specialized test rig in the shop to test the oil-air separators before installation. “If it was built during or post-COVID, it has a question mark on it, quality-wise,” Raby says, frustratedly. “Now, we go by date-codes.”

Ah, there it is—the great “Everything Shortage” of 2020 and onward. Peak pandemic supply struggles saw acres of brand-new vehicles parked en masse mid-assembly, awaiting parts. As automakers scrambled to fill in-market parts supply, many production lines for old parts were pivoted in the name of profits. “Suppliers are turning off these mildly profitable lines and retooling them for newer cars for which there are mass shortages as well,” says Hodgman. “I get that it’s simply supply and demand, but that doesn’t help me any.”

So, as the OE supply dwindles, lower-tier suppliers fill the vacuum with sub-standard replacements—or nothing at all. According to both Raby and Hodgman, stock of legacy electronic modules for mass-produced are essentially non-existent. “You need an E-GAS module for your [Mercedes-Benz] 500E—a part that it essentially needs to run? Good luck—I bought the last seven Mercedes had in stock, and they’re never going to replenish them ever again,” says Hodgman, laughing ruefully. “I’m going from recommending certain cars to not, simply because the parts supply is such a dreadful ordeal, and there’s no ready workaround.”

I push Hodgman on what the limits are of this scarcity, asking him what would happen if a wealthy owner brought his 500 E in for a module fix. “Well, I’ll say that we have two options. Either we sit and wait patiently for a good used one—hopefully—cause no one is remanufacturing,” he explains.  “Or, you unfortunately have to re-engineer the car, and that’s an expensive proposition. You’re taking what was a $1000 module problem and turning it into a $30,000-$40,000 re-engineer problem.”

I’m sure owners of most pre-war and low-volume cars are nodding in affirmation by now. Parts supply for some early cars is non-existent to the point where everything is custom fabricated or re-machined. For many cars, it’s been this way for well over half a century, and in most cases this means metal and shop work and is mostly a matter of money and time. The same cannot be said for those irreplicable electric components.

Ok—at this point, you’d think there’d be enough moneyed enthusiasts sick of crappy parts and long layovers at the shop that someone would step in to re-introduce quality components. And people have, to a degree; Raby tells me Flat-Six Innovations is building more exhaust components, coil packs, and modified water pumps in-house. “In some cases, we’re taking older parts and fitting new bearings in and building it ourselves,” he explains. “We’re building a better part.”

Problem at least partially solved, it seems. But this perceived gold rush—driven primarily by the extreme appreciation in the collector car market—has spawned a legion of new shops who, according to Raby, don’t know what they don’t know. “They just buy all these parts and think it’s ok,” says Raby. “They don’t know any better. They could have the best intentions in the world, they could want to sell a great engine, but don’t know it’s filled with junk.”

“People come to me with broken cars, telling me ‘I’ve replaced this, I’ve replaced that,’ and in their mind, those replaced parts are no longer a factor in the problem. A guy like me questions the new part first,” he continues. “There are some instances of cars going to shops, and leaving worse off than when they first went there.”

I reached out to Hagerty senior editor and noted 1970s–2000s Ford expert Sajeev Mehta for a more domestic perspective on the Teutonic shortage. “The thing to remember with mainstream [domestic] brands with huge dealer networks is that their parts supply decreases far less rapidly than the cars themselves get scrapped,” he explained in an email. “I can pretty much rebuild a 1986 Ford Taurus under the hood with parts from eBay and Rockauto because they made the parts by the hundreds of thousands and very few cars still exist to utilize them.

“Dealer networks from Porsche, Honda, VW, Toyota, et cetera weren’t nearly as large as the big three back in the 1980s and 1990s, so their parts supply dried up a lot quicker, which exacerbated the problem during the pandemic,” he continued. “The problems you are noticing are real, and that’s why I smile at my euro-centric car friends and wish them the best.”

I ran this by Raby. “I can get any part I want for my old Bronco with absolute ease,” he laughed. “What you also need to keep in mind is much of what the Big Three built also shared a ton of parts across many models. Porsche? Not so much.”

Where do we go from here? Is there a tipping point?

Hodgman is somewhat optimistic, particularly on emerging tech like metal 3D printing. “I hope as technologies become more accepted and advanced, the price will come down and these niche items will be easier to find,” he reflects. “I hope we’re in this middle lull where the emerging technologies can’t quite meet the demand we’re having now—but hopefully in ten years, that will come around and start to flip.”

“Unless people really step it up, it’s going to become quite a nightmare and chore,” he continues. “At the same time, it’s going to take a lot of mid-grade cars off the road as parts cars. I see that happening now.  Cars that are a little tired, a little worn. But, they have a bunch of stuff you can’t get anymore, and it’s worth more in parts than as a car.” Hodgman tells me has four “rough” 500Es as parts cars, and I cry foul at the idea of decommissioning such a special car. But, without this sacrifice, a lot more 500Es would be off the road.

I ask Raby what we as enthusiasts can do to potentially turn the tide in our favor. “We need to hold manufacturers, shops, and automakers to a higher standard,” he explains. “Be a better consumer through education. It’s up to the hands, minds, and wallets of the [car] owners. If you keep buying the junk, the bar will never be raised.”

In the meantime, I think this has the very real potential to push a portion of enthusiasts who were not considering electric conversion over to the sparky side. When faced with the choice between pickling a prized car for want of unobtanium componentry or installing one of the (nearly) drop-in EV conversion kits becoming increasingly available, more might take the plug-in path than previously expected.

Hodgman rejects this false dichotomy. In true early-AMG fashion, he’s swapping a 6.2-liter M156 (think C63, E63 AMG) into a 500E donor car hooked up to a BMW-sourced six-speed manual. “It’s so, so much easier to get parts [for the M156], and it keeps the true spirit of the car intact,” he says, sounding excited. I ask him when he thinks it’ll be ready. “I’d get it done a whole lot faster if I had another set of capable hands on my staff.”

Hear that? That’s the sound of another can of worms being cracked open.

***

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The Volkswagen Beetle has long been the chassis of choice for numerous car kits and factory-produced models. You definitely know the iconic Meyers Manx dune buggy, the Bradley GT, and perhaps even the MiniHome motorhome. Keep driving down that long and winding VW road, and you’ll eventually discover the Brubaker Box.

The 1970s Bug–based “minivan” is cool, weird, practical, jaw-dropping, and rare. So when one surfaced on eBay this week, bidding quickly soared past $50,000, days before the end of the auction, which is set for Saturday, July 1 at 5 p.m. Eastern.

The bidding frenzy is noteworthy, especially because the subject of all the attention isn’t even one of the original three Brubaker Boxes; it’s one of 25 Automecca-built bodies that were offered after the original makers went bankrupt.

The story began with Californian Curtis Brubaker, who studied car styling at Pasadena’s Art Center College of Design and worked for Lear Jet and General Motors before setting up his own studio in Los Angeles. Brubaker liked the Meyers Manx, but he imagined an even better tool for surfers to get their boards, gear, and friends to the beach.

Starting with a Volkswagen Type 1 chassis and working with fellow designers Todd Gerstenberger and Harry Wykes, Brubaker penned an innovative, “one-box” van with sloping front and back glass, a removable roof, and a single sliding door on the passenger side. Why only one? The fewer doors, the more rigid the fiberglass body, which was fashioned with 13 panels mounted on a tube frame and attached to the VW floorpan. To limit overhead costs, the windshield was borrowed from an AMC Hornet, the rear glass came from a Chevrolet El Camino, and the bumpers were made of wood or a composite material made to look like wood (opinions vary).

In addition to the driver and passenger seats up front, the rear featured a stylish love seat that could be removed to add cargo space. It’s difficult to imagine a minivan this, well, mini, but the unusual-looking vehicle stood only 53 inches tall.

Car and Driver featured the Brubaker Box on the cover of its March 1972 issue, and it was so well received at the 1972 Los Angeles International Motorsports Show that Brubaker was able to score $160,000 in funding. Flush with what amounts to nearly $1.2 million today, Brubaker obtained a 17,000-square-foot space for production. He estimated that his team could build five Boxes per month at $3995 apiece ($29K). In time, he hoped to increase that number to 400 per month.

The problem, as it turned out, was that Volkswagen wasn’t impressed with the idea. The German automaker declined to sell Brubaker any Type 1 chassis, which meant he would be forced to buy new (or used) Beetles and remove the bodies. When that process proved too costly, Brubaker eventually filed for bankruptcy. With Plan A dead, he eventually sold the design to Mike Hansen’s Automecca of Chatsworth, California. Most sources agree that Automecca, which offered the vehicle as the Sports Van, built 25 in total, including this one.

The seller, oldbug.com, explains that the 1971 Brubaker Box/Automecca Sports Van (VIN 1102392016) was “discovered as a bare, sun-cooked body in the high desert of California” and underwent a year-long, full restoration. It has been painted “in its original Jungle Green Metallic with period-correct long, green shag carpet, and the interior is true to the original design and pattern in a brown vinyl.”

The Box features a chrome bare-foot gas pedal, period Kraco 8-track player, period accessory wood shift knob and controls, and “exceedingly rare” original early ’70s Empi logo instrumentation and Empi sport steering wheel with padded center. 

“This is the ONLY example known to have the optional in-dash ice chest/storage box that was offered in the original sales prospect and order form,” the seller writes. “The wheels are period correct U.S. Indy four-lug slot mags, cleanly polished with chrome lugs and period key locks, with BFGoodrich raised white-letter tires on all four corners.

“The textured roof and end panels are done in the correct-style grain, and the controversial original fiberglass ‘faux wood’ bumpers are fitted front and rear. New Old Stock 1970s Sears and Roebuck driving lights were sourced and fitted up front. New windshield and rear window glass (AMC Hornet and El Camino, respectively, as the original).”

Mechanically, the car is powered by a new—as opposed to rebuilt—1.6-liter dual-port engine with a new AS-41 engine case, all new internals and externals, mated to a four-speed manual transmission. The vehicle has 12 volt electrics with alternator, mechanical advance distributor, single barrel carb with electric choke, and mechanical fuel pump. The exhaust system is a period-original header set up with two tips “that exit perfectly just below the bumper.” 

The chassis is from a 1971 Beetle and has IRS rear suspension, ball joint front beam, and stock drum brakes all around with new CV boots and shocks. The Brubaker Box/Automecca Sports Van has been driven fewer than 100 miles since the restoration was complete.

A collection of original documentation and literature from Brubaker and Automecca is included in the sale, but the personalized California “BUGNBOX” plates are not. Of course, if you’re in it for the plates, you’re missing the point.

“It is simply crazy to drive,” the seller writes. “From the single side door, to the driving position, the short shifter, the side-mounted switches, sliding side windows, the view across that immense dash and out the front windows, and, of course, the big wrap-around swanky love seat couch seating in the back … it is an experience like no other car in the world to go for a spin around the block in this.”

It’s also an opportunity that doesn’t come around often.

***

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When discussing the ascendant ’90s-era collector-car market, you’d be forgiven for thinking primarily about Japanese vehicles. It’s hard to escape spectacular Nissan Skyline and Toyota Supra sales, let alone this year’s dramatic Acura Integra Type R auction record. However, when we saw a 15,000-mile 1993 Volkswagen Corrado SLC sell for $53,550 on Bring a Trailer, it served as a good reminder that Japan doesn’t have the market cornered.

The Corrado’s potential as a future collector car wasn’t a sure thing at the start. As the stablemate of and eventual replacement for the popular Scirocco, the Corrado didn’t start off on the right foot. Improvements over the Scirocco drove costs through the roof, and performance from 1988’s top-line G60 supercharged 1.8-liter engine was anemic. Then came the introduction of the VR6 engine in 1992.

The 2.8-liter six-cylinder’s narrow, 15-degree V layout squeezed 178 horses into the tight confines of the Corrado’s engine bay, dramatically waking up straight-line performance. VW used suspension and other components from the Mk III Golf to help integrate the engine into the Corrado, and the body grew a more aggressive hood and fender flares.

The change in powerplant led to critical success, but the problem of price remained. A VR6-equipped Corrado SLC carried a base price of $22,540 in 1993—almost $49,000 today. The Ford Probe GT that beat the Corrado SLC on its way to winning Car & Driver’s December 1992 sport coupe comparison test cost a comparatively paltry $15,504, just over $33K in today’s dollars. Whether the Corrado cost too much for the segment, too much for a VW, or both, the VR6 couldn’t save Volkswagen’s sports coupe. Corrado production ceased after 1995.

The redeeming traits of the VR6-equipped Corrado SLC and its slow sales relative to the competition have paid dividends for it in today’s market. Hagerty Price Guide’s #1 condition (Concours) value for a 1993 Corrado SLC is $57,300, just a touch north of where this BaT sale landed. Compare that to a $31,400 #1-condition value for a 1997 Honda Prelude SH, or $33,100 for a similar-quality 1993 Mitsubishi Eclipse GSX. The Corrado isn’t likely to cross into legend status like the Integra Type R, but it clearly has built a strong case for itself against most of its Japanese sports-coupe competition.

This particular example benefitted from a few factors. At 15,000 miles and in pristine shape, it may be one of the cleanest Corrado SLCs in the country. Mild modifications don’t tend to hurt cars in this segment, and the Borla exhaust on this example will only serve to highlight the VR6’s growl. The photographic presentation—a hallmark of Bring a Trailer seller 911r—exhaustively portrayed every detail of the car and gave the Corrado the glamor a car in this condition deserves. Finally, the right person was in the room: According to comments, the buyer is Dave Schouster, owner of Eastside Motorsport, a VW shop that’s been steeped in VR6 work for decades.

$53,550 might sound like a lot for a Corrado—many people thought the same thing when it was new, too, but die-hard fans are still enthusiastically plunking down cash on their favorites. The battle for superiority in the ’90s sports coupe segment lives on, decades later.

***

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The laugh comes bubbling out—no mockery, just sheer delight. What on earth is this thing? The love child of a Volkswagen and a motorhome? A Vee-Dub RV? A Mini-bago? It’s a Super Bugger, midway between a Beetle and a Westfalia camper, and it’s here to put a grin on your face.

Along with a name to raise the eyebrows of staff at Hagerty’s UK office, the Super Bugger boasts an incredible amount of practicality. It has the friendly face of a Volkswagen Beetle but also a sink and a stove and a comfy dining table just big enough for two. There are drawers and cupboards everywhere, just as you’d find on a single-cabin sailboat. The table folds down into a bed.

All of this in a footprint that’s scarcely longer than that of the Volkswagen upon which it is based. The Super Bugger is also relatively light at around 2400 pounds. Despite having a height of 92 inches and the aerodynamic profile of a garden shed, it can run along at highway speeds. Nobody gets annoyed if it’s cruising a bit slower than the slow lane; people often fall in behind and follow the Super Bugger to its exit so they can take pictures and ask questions.

This example belongs to Sandra Paeseler and Bill Furlong of New Westminister, British Columbia, Canada. During the milder seasons, they often take it camping. Sandra, who doesn’t drive, is a bit more reserved than Bill, who is a Newfoundlander and well up to the task of chatting with strangers and fielding their queries. Generally, the latter run along the lines of “Wow! Did you build it yourself?”

While this Super Bugger benefited from a loving, ten-year restoration, the strange VW-motorhome hybrid was not uncommon 50 or 60 years ago. Similar to the dune buggy craze started by Bruce Meyers and his Manx, the sheer ubiquity of Volkswagens in the 1960s meant people felt free to get creative with them.

In Costa Mesa, California, somebody drew up plans for a Beetle motorhome conversion kit. Interested parties could either buy a turn-key “Super Bugger” or modify their own Bug. No matter which party did the work, everything from the firewall back was cut off and discarded, the chassis was reinforced, and the motorhome body built on top of the VW’s pan.

There are some variations on the theme, but anyone who owns the likes of a Boler or other small travel trailer will recognize the recipe used for the camper shell. The frame is of wood, with plywood floorboards and fairly standard RV-grade windows and fixtures. There are some clever tricks, such as the ball-and-socket rubber doorstops, and quite a lot of interior lighting. Originally, there would have been two beds: the main one and a loft over the seats for kids. Since the shelf for the latter was right at the height to smack an adult in the head, Sandra and Bill removed it.

Reupholstered in red, this Super Bugger’s interior is invitingly cozy. The Danish have a word for the feeling of the space: hygge, the contented feeling of spending all day in your pajamas.

All through the 1970s, the Super Bugger inspired imitations. Pinning down how many of these campers were built is tricky, and only a handful remain. But when Sandra’s father Herbert spotted the nose of this one sticking out of a Nevada Garage, however, the avid motorcyclist knew exactly what it was.

“The owner didn’t want to sell,” Sandra says, “But my dad kept stopping by, and eventually he convinced him.”

Herbert frequently took the Super Bugger on camping trips from California to British Columbia. After he died, Sandra inherited the car and stored it with some friends. Bringing it back to life took dozens of hours and tens of thousands of dollars, but the Super Bugger was part of the family.

The most recent camping season was cut short by some mechanical trouble near the ferry terminal at BC’s Sunshine Coast. Bill says there was a bit of trouble finding a tow company to retrieve the car; nobody had heard of a Super Bugger. But, he says, “by jigs and reels, we got her done.”

Happily, because the underpinnings are pure VW, finding a mechanic wasn’t difficult. Even better, the problem turned out to be only a failing U-joint, not a transmission failure, as Bill had feared. The mechanic, who builds drag-racing Bugs, had the Super Bugger sorted in a couple of hours.

Though it’s in fine mechanical fettle, the Super Bugger no longer ventures as far afield as California. When the conversion was new, the roads would have been packed with Volkswagens, and traffic would have moved slower. The basis for this RV was a 1969 Beetle, and while it has the lower-geared transmission of a Microbus to crawl up hills, it’s not really suited to interstate travel.

It won’t be sitting still, though. Bill and Sandra will take their little red RV camping around the Pacific Northwest this season, down into Bellingham, or back up to the Sunshine Coast. And everywhere they go, the phones will appear, and smiling faces will come up to chat, just they did the afternoon we spoke. “I had to stop!” one jogger said, panting to a halt.

Of course you did. It’s a cute little bugger.

***

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Hundreds of VW busses showed up in Huntington Beach, California to mark the world premiere of Volkswagen’s three-row ID. Buzz electric van. What would their owners think of VW’s fresh take on their beloved classic? I asked a few.

My first stop was to talk to the actor Kareem Grimes, who has been in several films and TV series including most recently the football-oriented All American series on the CW Network. A VW enthusiast, Grimes has followed the development of the Buzz for the past five years. Growing up in Inglewood, California, he fell in love with Volkswagens and recently purchased his dream bus, a ’67 23-window Samba.  I asked him what it was like to love classic cars with EVs like the Buzz on the horizon.

“This is just a part of life,” he said. “I’m an electric car owner already. When I saw the ID. Buzz, I thought now that’s what I’m talking about! Volkswagen is stepping up to the game, and I definitely want to be a part of that.”

I then interrupted a family eating lunch in their 1962 Walkthrough (meaning it has individual bucket seats up front, allowing occupants to walk through it). Dre Verga, the dad, shared that he had always wanted a bus and recently purchased this one. We discussed the new Buzz and if it captured that iconic look that first caught his eye as a child.

Verga said, “They did a great job with the shape. They did a modern take on a classic, and while it’s not 100-percent the same, you get the added safety features.” I asked him what he thought about the future of collector cars, and with his baby nestled on his lap, he responded, “Back in the 50s and 60s, it was hot rodding. Now younger kids are modifying cars from the ’90s; that’s their version of restoring hot rods, and in the future that ID. Buzz will be a hot rod restomod for someone.”

John and Danny Staggs are brothers and brought a 1960 Standard and a ‘64 Deluxe Standard Non-Sunroof.  I asked Danny, the younger brother, what got him into buses, and his answer was simple: “John.” When I asked him why he loves buses, he said, “because they make people smile.” And as for his take on the new Buzz, he said, “I think they’re pretty cool. I’d loved to own one. It looks like a lot of fun. I love how the doors open up on both sides; it reminds me of the double door of the split-window buses. I love how they carried on the tradition.” And when I asked him if the new one made him smile, he said, “Yes.”

AJ Salazar is 18 and just got back from a 2000-mile road trip to Moab, Utah in his 1967 Westfalia. He grew up attending bus events with his family and now brings his own. Salazar’s take was simple: “It has potential. You never know. It’s never the car; it’s the community that’s attracted to it. The people could do nothing, or they could make it into something amazing.”

***

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Call it cool, call it retro, call it Bussy McBussface, just don’t call it the new Microbus.

Fine, call it the new Microbus if you really want to. Volkswagen certainly would like that. At the reveal of the new electric VW ID. Buzz in seaside Huntington Beach, California, the company laid on the nostalgia as thick as fresh Kartoffelsalat. A DJ calling himself “Radio Woodstock” laid down one purple-haze track after another while flower-power hippy types mingled among more than 280 examples of T1-T5 Microbuses, Vanagons, Eurovans, Kombis, Crew-cabs, and pop-top Westfalias driven in by local collectors. VW execs even proclaimed June 2 to be International Volkswagen Bus Day.

The original 1949 to 1967 (in America) T1 and T2s are beloved nostalgia icons that are today highly collectible. A 1964 model parked at the ID. Buzz launch had a for sale sign on it and an asking price of $64,000. It was pointed out at the Buzz event that the Microbus has been at the epicenter of American culture and history since it was launched. It helped spawn the surf craze, Nike founder Phil Knight sold his first sneakers out of the back of one, and Steve Jobs sold his Microbus to get the money to start Apple Computer.

But the ID. Buzz, due in showrooms next year with an expected price of around $60,000, ain’t exactly a Microbus. For one thing, Volkswagen’s designers specifically backed away from making their new electric van too retro. “We came up with tons of sketches. A lot of sketches,” said lead exterior designer Einar Castillo Aranda, a native of Mexico City whose previous work was on the VW Polo subcompact.

“Round eyes. Square eyes. In the end we decided to go with a kind of integration of the headlights with the side lines. You don’t really want to go full retro. It only fits for a few cars, and we didn’t want to go that route. We’d like to push it a bit more forward.”

Another reason the ID. Buzz is not the new Microbus? It’s not micro. The U.S. will only get the XL-size version, with three seat rows and a 192.4-inch overall length. At roughly 16 feet it’s about the length of the VW Atlas SUV, which I don’t think anyone would call “micro.” Europe has the option for a shorter, two-row version.

Granted, 16 feet doesn’t seem so long when you realize the original Type 1 and 2s were 14 feet and change. And a 2023 Toyota Sienna, at roughly 204 inches, dwarfs the new Volkswagen. So if the ID. Buzz is not the new Microbus, let’s call it the new Mediumbus.

The ID. Buzz will debut with an upsized 91-kWh battery (the shorter Euro version gets an 82-kWh pack) that should be good for at least 280 miles depending on the configuration. A 282-hp rear-drive base model will slot under a two-motor, 335-hp all-wheel-drive version. Options include a two-tone paint job like the original Microbus, a bevy of bright exterior colors, three interior color options, and an electrically dimming panoramic sunroof that is five and a half feet long.

One downside to electrification: a relatively high floor inside and no fold-into-the-floor seating, as in other minivans, due to the battery pack being in the way. However, VW promises there will be a camper version for the U.S. along the lines of the California model sold for years in Europe (but not, ironically in California, or any other U.S. state).

It’s been over 30 years since VW dumped the flat-faced shape of the bus, the last one being the T3, known in the U.S. as the Vanagon and dubbed the “waterbox” for the water-cooled flat-four installed in later versions. Its replacement, the T4 of 1990, moved the engine to the front, mounted within a pronounced schnoz, while the driver shifted behind the front axle for better crash protection. Subsequent generations of Volkswagen vans have all sported Romanesque noses.

One thing Aranda and his colleagues are very pleased about is being able to move the ID. Buzz’s overall shape closer to that of the original monolithic box. That’s because of the switch to electric, which removes the engine front the front and all the necessary structure required to keep its bulk out of the passenger compartment in a frontal crash.

“Before with an ordinary combustion engine, it was impossible, you always ended up with a bonnet (hood) on the front, which was not anymore this [original] shape,” said Aranda. “Now with this new platform, we’ve been able to put the wheels to the corners to reduce the front overhangs, and move the driver forward in the cabin to produce the bus shape again. We are able to return to the true shape of the car.”

Shape, perhaps. Size, not so much.

***

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Wagenmasters’ Dustin Gomez never intended to shake the foundation of the Volkswagen community. Heck, he never even planned on moving into a shop space—or even putting a name on it. As he tells it, he just wanted to build the Beetle he never got the chance to finish back in high school.

“I daily drove a 1969 Beetle in high school. I loved it, but one thing had to go before college, and that was the car,” he recalls, smiling. “Fifteen years later, I would go to shows and leave thinking, ‘buy the car you never got to finish.” He found another ’69 and got to work, slowly restoring it in his driveway.

Seven years later, we’re chatting in the middle of Wagenmasters’ shop floor in Upland, California, sandwiched between a pair of 1956 “Ragtop” Beetles in two very different states of repair. To my left is a rusty, crusty Bug sitting sky-high on a lift, the undercarriage crossed with brittle twigs from a long hibernation in Oklahoma. The other Beetle is nothing more than a clean metal carcass awaiting primer.

Gomez tells me both cars are destined for Gooding & Company’s sales block at some point. In the years since that driveway restoration, Wagenmasters’ has become one of Goodings’ go-to sources for impossibly restored and impeccably presented air-cooled VWs. His restorations routinely command low six-figures on the block, with each sale inspiring several would-be buyers to place a similar build with Wagenmasters, never balking at the matching six-figure bill for a wheels-up project.

If you’re shocked at the prospect of a $100,000 Beetle, you aren’t alone. “The VW community has a love-hate relationship with us,” Gomez explains. “Because, if you’re trying to get into the serious restoration of VWs, you’re pushing the car into a market where it’s now hard to get.”

We first ran into Gomez at Gooding & Company’s auction preceding this year’s Amelia Island Concours d’Elegance. His 1959 Karmann-Ghia convertible was a standout at Gooding’s blue-turfed tent, attracting a mighty $123,200 winning bid that makes it the most expensive Karmann-Ghia ever sold at auction.

Whatever happened to das Volks wagen? What changed to make it acceptable to pay Porsche prices for old Beetles and Karmann-Ghias that were once the poster children for thrifty motoring? Gomez thinks it’s a combination of things. “Everything has been so crazy in the market for a while now,” he says. “And I think it’s our auction success that has further elevated the VW in collector’s eyes.”

A rising tide, and all that—but they made millions of VWs, and there are plenty of exceptional Volkswagen restoration shops around the world. I press him on what specifically is in Wagenmasters’ (WM) secret sauce. “I think it’s how we present it in a form of complete originality. And, the way we load up on the jewelry, the rare accessories, it elevates the car and gives it a humungous ‘wow’ factor,” he explains. “I think it’s something many collectors have never seen contextualized like that before. They know Volkswagen, but they don’t know it like that.”

He’s onto something there. Each Gooding-bound WM build arrives loaded to the valves with hard-to-find trimmings, some restored and some simply new-old-stock (NOS) parts dredged from every corner of the earth. We’re not just talking special shift-knobs or wheelcaps, either; Gomez tells us of dash-mounted coffee makers, map lights, radio upgrades, and window vents that have passed through his hands.

As these are simple bolt- or clip-on accessories manufactured in-period, each car could be considered “unmodified” — though it’s best not to approach a WM build under the impression these are numbers-matching, factory-sheet restorations. For the most part, each car is prepared with perfected period-correct paint, upholstery material/color, and options. So, think of WM’s creations as the idealized vision of that car.

In the shop office, he unlocks a glass display cabinet brimmed with enough rare goodies to outfit an ancient VW dealership. “This paper has to be at least 60 years old,” says Gomez as he pulls out a particularly rare a chrome wheel ring from its original brown wrapping. There’s a small dent in one of the lips. “I’m figuring out how to fix this,” he tells me. Unless he pointed it out, I probably wouldn’t have noticed—but those spending serious money on one of WM’s concours-grade builds sure would.

Then, there are the cars WM choses to restore. “[Official] Wagenmasters cars are all convertibles or ragtops,” Gomez explains, quite seriously. “There won’t be a coupe that goes to Gooding, as no matter what, it’s less money for a coupe. For us, the roof has to pull back.”

And, of all the multifarious Bug variants on the market, he tells me it’s the split-window, Ragtop Beetles—those with the retractable cloth roof section—with the optional “crotch cooler” side inlets that can be opened for fresh-air circulation that pry open the most wallets and snatch the most eyes. Amongst the “standard” mid-century Beetles, it’s the Ragtop that’s the standout model.

So, when WM brings a stunningly clean example of the “best” Bug wearing a crateful of desirable accoutrements to a tent filled with moneyed folks content with dropping seven- and eight-figure bank wires for a single car, tossing low-six-figures at one of the cleanest VWs in existence seems like a bygone conclusion.

“When our car lands at Gooding, it’s in a room full of one-million, two-million, five-million-dollar cars. What we bring is immaculate, but we’re still the cheapest kid in the room,” he laughs. “It makes it real easy to take us home.”

It also appears interest in top-shelf VWs is broadening. “I see people adding multiple VWs to their collection,” Gomez explains. “They start with a Beetle, then move into a Ghia, and then go into a Thing, and now they have a whole VW section in their garage.”

“It’s also a memory thing,” says WM mechanic Ron Lubetski. “They want something to remind them of their youth.” Gomez nods: “They’re thrifty, and they’re conversation pieces. Wherever you go, people want to stop and talk about it. Someone, somewhere, somehow had a Bug in their house.

That enthusiasm appears to be contagious. With each WM car sold, the market price goes up and his phone rings off the hook with would-be bidders looking to restore their dream VW or simply recreate the car they couldn’t buy at Gooding. It’s great for business, but restoring VWs is no longer the cheap-‘n-cheerful process it used to be. Quality parts availability is becoming a real concern, and as people notice the sale prices spiking, they’re hoarding original body panels and the like. “I just paid $700 for one fender. Before, when I started doing this, I could grab a fender for $50,” Gomez sighs. “Now everyone knows the value behind an Oval,” referring to 1953-1957 cars with oval rear windows. Regionality is also a hurdle; the WM team sources old VWs from everywhere except California, where VW culture is strongest and good cars are significantly more expensive than out-of-state.

Realistically, a restoration of this quality and detail was always going to be expensive, VW or not. Metalwork takes time, as does sweating the small stuff—an often-obsessive activity that’s not considered a pejorative in the concours world. Gomez tells me of the struggles surrounding the Karmann resuscitation, and how he had to “cut the car in half” at one point in the process.

I ask Gomez and Lubetski what’s next for the VW market. “I think it’s going planetary in the next year, year-and-a-half if the economy stays as it is,” says Gomez. “Like $20,000 for a rolling chassis. I think a car like this [ragtop] will be a $150,000 car after it leaves our hands.” There has to be a plateau point, right? “I’d say $150,000 to $175,000 for the best cars,” Lubetski says.

Again, this kind of cash was never part of Gomez’ plan. That 1969 Bug was just a fun project to scratch the itch. After a summer of daily cruising, he sold the ’69 for solid profit at a Mecum sale in Las Vegas, using the unexpected windfall to source a 1957 Volkswagen “Ragtop” Beetle from an older enthusiast in his hometown of San Dimas, California. Another driveway restoration ensued with the help of neighbors, friends, and family.

That ragtop proved pivotal in the WM story, reverently referred to by Gomez as the “Coral car,” so-named after the finished project’s pastel Coral Red paint. As he tells it, this was also the start of WM’ recognition as one of the leading sources of rare accessories, as the Coral car was quite the canvas for Gomez’ collection; aside from a charming paint-matched Allstate single-wheel trailer, the car wore hard-to-find extras like cross-laced beauty wheel rings, Petri Pelite steering wheel, NOS fender skirts, and a Hella searchlight, among others.

It was more presentation than car. “I noticed that regardless if it was a VW-specific or American show, the Coral car would sweep the awards. I was beating Chevelles, Mustangs, Bel-Aires,” he says, still sounding surprised.

The car’s shocking $61,600 sale at Barrett-Jackson’s 2018 Scottsdale extravaganza woke him up. “That lit a fire inside me — now I had to find every oval window out there,” he laughs. “But, when the Coral car sold, everything changed. I [originally] bought the car for $5,000, and after it sold, everyone was asking like $14,000 [for cars he would inquire about buying], saying ‘We know what you can do with the car.’”

He quickly sourced another 1957 ragtop, this time from New Mexico, followed by the 1959 Karmann-Ghia Convertible project from the same San Dimas enthusiast who sold him the first ’57. Meanwhile, people started to take serious interest in Gomez’ driveway builds. “People started knocking on my door, asking if I’d build a car for them. At first, I turned it down because I was too deep in my own projects,” he explains. “In the beginning, it was just me and friends I could find and offer a few bucks to help me wrench. I didn’t want to paint myself into a corner.”

Family and community is a common theme at WM. Gomez’ girlfriend is the shop manager, and his mother does the books as part of her existing bookkeeping business, with mechanic Ron Lubetski and his son Hunter making up the remaining half of the four-person team.

Even the name “Wagenmasters” holds deep roots in Gomez’ community. Admittedly self-taught primarily through books and videos, Gomez volunteered at the local VW workshop in high school, serving as the shop grunt who cleaned and moved parts around. “I was looking for anything I could to push my first Bug over the line,” he remembers with a smile. The shop unfortunately closed just a few months after he started, but his time there made a lasting impact.

When it came time to make his own work official, Gomez could think of no better name than the continuation of the old defunct shop of his youth, only with one key difference—Wagenmasters in place of the bygone Wagonmasters.

Now, WM is busier than ever. At the time of my visit, WM had three cars in various states of restoration slated for Gooding sales, with four or five customer cars in line for restoration—which now is a year-and-a-half turnaround process. Even so, don’t think you have to spend $90,000 on a rusty ragtop to get shop-space with the WM team; despite the record setting sale and a portfolio of award-winning wheels-up restorations, WM happily offers standard servicing to anything with a VW pancake motor.

WM is surprisingly upfront with hourly rates and service pricing on their website. “It’s what I wanted when I was working on my own car,” says Gomez. And, since they’re not entirely removed from their Volkswagen cousins, WM is also open to restoration and service on Porsches. As everything aside from paint and upholstery stitching is done in-house, they won’t touch something hyper-complex like a Carrera four-cam, but anything with a standard 356 engine is welcome—as proven by the shop’s gleaming, freshly restored drop-top 356 just waiting for finishing touches.

I ask Gomez what he sees in the future for Wagenmasters. “This, and hopefully the bay next door,” he says, gesturing at the small two-car workshop. “No bigger. We all love what we do here, and then we go home and eat dinner. In the long run, we’re all home on time.”

“It’s all I’ve ever wanted to do – build cool cars and make it home for dinner.”

***

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AM radio could live again, lawmakers say

Intake: Reports of the death of AM radio may be premature. A group of bipartisan U.S. lawmakers introduced legislation Wednesday to bar automakers from eliminating AM broadcast radio in their new vehicles, citing safety concerns, says Reuters.  Sen. Edward Markey, D-Mass., one of the sponsors of the bill, said at least eight automakers have removed AM broadcast radio from their EVs, including Tesla, BMW, Ford, and Volkswagen, with Ford removing it from gas vehicles, too. Lawmakers say losing AM radio undermines a federal system for delivering key public safety information to the public. The bill would direct the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) to issue regulations to mandate AM radio in new vehicles without additional charge. “Carmakers shouldn’t tune out AM radio in new vehicles or put it behind a costly digital paywall,” Markey said.

Exhaust: Most of the automakers that are removing AM say it is because interference from electric vehicles affects the signal. The Alliance for Automotive Innovation, a trade group representing major automakers, said “mandating AM radios in all vehicles is unnecessary. Congress has never mandated radio features in vehicles ever before. Automakers remain 100 percent committed to ensuring drivers have access to public alerts and safety warnings.” — Steven Cole Smith

Canyon AT4X AEV Edition promises to take GMC’s midsizer up a notch

Intake: On Instagram yesterday, GMC announced that an even more capable version of the Canyon AT4X midsize pickup would surface on July 6. The Canyon AT4X AEV Edition, created in partnership with off-road aftermarket firm American Expedition Vehicles, will represent the ultimate off-road midsize pickup in GMC’s lineup. It will join the Sierra HD AT4X AEV Edition, revealed earlier this month, and the light-duty Sierra AT4X AEV Edition, which was unveiled last July. The AEV treatment usually involves new underbody skid plates, new bumpers, new wheels, and possibly more, all adding up to increased ground clearance, better approach and departure angles, and generally even more off-road worthiness. From the teaser photo, we can see a new front bumper for sure as well as some very stout underbody armor. The Canyon’s platform mate, the Chevy Colorado, gets goodies such as 35-inch tires and hydraulic jounce shocks when it dons the forthcoming AEV package; expect the Canyon to get this tech as well.

Exhaust: What began for AEV as a fruitful partnership with the Chevrolet Colorado ZR2 has now spawned a serious tie-in with the entire GM family of pickup trucks. Despite the serious off-road chops, don’t think of this as a response to Ford’s recently revealed Ranger Raptor—that thing still feels like it’s in a league of its own. Instead, this feels like an even more ready-made platform upon which to live out your wildest overlanding dreams. — Nathan Petroelje

Everrati and RS Werks electrify the Porsche 911 ST

Intake: British electro-modder Everrati and Pennsylvania Porsche specialist RS Werks have partnered to produce an homage to the 911 ST. Based on the G-Series chassis 911 from 1973–1989, the car is a tribute to the short run of 33 STs made in 1970–1971 to meet FIA racing regulations. Wider wheel arches allowed for fatter tires and STs were lightened by using thinner steel, removing the heating ducts, and cutting back on interior features. The Everrati/RS Werks car has also been built with weight-saving in mind to compensate for the fitment of a 62-kWh battery and 446-hp electric motor that drives the rear wheels via a limited-slip differential. The car is claimed to reach 60 mph from rest in less than four seconds and have a range of more than 200 miles. AC and DC fast charging is included to make it a practical tourer and, unlike the original ST, it doesn’t skimp on luxury. Air conditioning, power steering, and a high-end audio system with Apple Car Play are all included, while TracTive adaptive damping is an option.

Exhaust: Although Everrati hasn’t released numbers the company says the car’s weight and weight distribution are “targeted at as close to that of the original 911 ST.” If that’s true then it would tip the scales at just over 2000 lbs and be more proof that it is possible to add electric performance without amassing mass. — Nik Berg

Ram 1500 Rebel Havoc Edition is a mini-TRX in yellow

Intake: If you missed the boat for the 2023 Ram TRX Havoc Edition announced last December, there’s a new less expensive 2023 Ram 1500 Rebel Havoc Edition featuring the same Baja Yellow exterior color. “Ram 1500 Rebel Havoc buyers will enjoy the newest addition to our light-duty lineup, which offers a distinctive combination of unique exterior appointments only seen on a Ram truck,” said Mike Koval Jr., Ram brand CEO. The Ram 1500 Rebel Havoc Edition “features a unique combination of technology, graphics, performance, and exterior appearance straight from the factory.” Selec-Speed Control is new on the Ram 1500 Rebel for 2023 and allows the truck to maintain a consistent speed while traversing variations in slope. The new tech applies engine torque and brake pressure to help keep a consistent pace, allowing the driver to focus on steering.

Exhaust: The Ram Rebel Havoc Edition starts at $72,205, including a hefty $1,895 destination fee. It goes on sale, “available in extremely limited quantities,” later this spring. —SCS

Ford recalling 422,000 SUVS for video issue

Intake: Ford and the NHTSA are recalling about 422,000 sport utility vehicles in the U.S. because the video output may fail, preventing the rearview camera image from displaying. The recall covers the 2020–2023 Ford Explorer and Lincoln Aviator, and 2020–2022 Lincoln Corsair SUVs, all with the 360-degree camera.  The recall expands and replaces prior Ford recalls, including one from January 23, for a similar issue. Ford last year updated the image processing module software in an effort to address the issue.

Exhaust: Letters should go out to owners next month. Ford says it is “working together with suppliers to identify root cause and provide the correct remedy as quickly as possible.” — SCS

And speaking of recalls…

Intake: Carfax, the automotive information service, has identified more than 2.5 million vehicles that have been the subject of serious “Do Not Drive” or “Park Outside” safety recalls that remain unrepaired as of May 1, Carfax data shows. Ten states have more than 70,000 of these vehicles each, with California leading the way with 245,000 vehicles alone. “Despite efforts by state and federal governments—and the auto industry itself—too many consumers are driving in vehicles that have been deemed too dangerous to drive, or that shouldn’t be parked in or near a home for fear of a fire,” said Faisal Hasan, general manager for Data at Carfax. “Officials and communities need to break through consumer recall notice fatigue and drive home the message: We can save lives today by getting these recalls fixed.”

Exhaust: You can check VIN numbers on both Carfax.com and NHTSA.gov to see if your vehicle has a “Do not drive” and/or “Park outside” recall. It really could save your life. — SCS

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Civic Type R sets FWD record at Nürburgring

Intake: A 2023 Honda Civic Type R has set a new front-wheel-drive track record at the 12.9-mile Nürburgring Nordschleife circuit in Germany, considered the most challenging road course in the world. The Civic Type R, the most powerful Honda production vehicle ever sold in the U.S., lapped the track in 7 minutes, 44.881 seconds. The previous record was set six years ago by the previous-generation Civic Type R. The only performance difference from stock was the addition of  Michelin Pilot Sport Cup 2 Connect tires, which are available through Honda dealers.

Exhaust: Said Hideki Kakinuma, Civic Type R Development Leader: “Since the start of sales in Japan in September 2022, we have received numerous customer feedback from all around the world filled with amazement and joy, far exceeding our expectations. However, we still had one more mission to fulfill, which was to claim the title as the world’s fastest FWD car with a record Nürburgring lap time.” The 315-horsepower Civic Type R has starting price of $42,895. For comparison, the current overall street-legal lap record is 6:30.705, set by the Mercedes-AMG One at the ‘Ring last October. — Steven Cole Smith 

131,700 Ram pickups recalled for stalling issue

Intake: Chrysler is recalling 131,700 2021 Ram 1500 trucks in North America equipped with the 5.7-liter eTorque V-8 engines over the risk of stalling out. The powertrain control module software may create an incorrect fuel mixture in the engine, which can stall it, creating a potentially hazardous situation. The engine can turn off without warning, possibly causing a crash, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.

Exhaust: As of March 30, one accident and no injuries were reported in relation to the issue. Owners will be notified by mail beginning June 2, 2023. Dealers will update the powertrain control module calibration software for free. — SCS

Maserati’s second EV, the Grecale Folgore, debuts in Shanghai

Intake: Maserati unveiled another all-electric vehicle at the Shanghai Auto Show this week. The Grecale Folgore becomes the second EV revealed by the Milanese firm, joining the GranTurismo Folgore which was revealed late last year. The Grecale Folgore is a compact luxury crossover, while the GranTurismo Folgore remains a slinky-looking coupe that reportedly boasts nearly 760 hp. Maserati has committed to making electric versions of all its models by 2025, as well as exclusively electric vehicles by 2030. That means there’s a battery-powered version of the MC20 sports car in the works, as well as an electric Levante, and the Quattroporte.

Exhaust: While Maserati’s electrification strategy appears more conservative than some of its rivals like Mercedes or Audi, the Trident-adorned cars are already quite attractive looking, so perhaps the team feels no need to radically reinvent the lines of these machines to show how they can look with battery power. We’re quite fine with that. — Nathan Petroelje

Certain VW, Rivian models qualify for tax credits after all

Intake: Left off the original list, Volkswagen and Rivian have confirmed that certain electric models they make are eligible for tax credits under the U.S. Treasury Department criteria, says Automotive News. All models of the 2023 ID.4 are eligible for the full $7,500 tax credit this year. Said Pablo Di Si, CEO of VW Group of America: “This shows that we made the right decision to localize production of the ID4 in Tennessee and invest even further in battery production, components and innovation.” Also, certain Rivian R1S and R1T configurations are eligible for a $3,750 credit. While the Rivian SUV and pickup start in the $70,000s, most are expected to be configured at sticker prices higher than the $80,000 maximum threshold. That would make them ineligible for the credit.

Exhaust: Under the Inflation Reduction Act, buyers who meet income thresholds can get a tax credit of $3,750 or $7,500 for new EVs assembled in North America that also meet stricter battery sourcing restrictions. Those rebates “ramp up over time, maxing out at 80 percent in 2027 for minerals and 100 percent in 2029 for battery components,” Automotive News says. It’s apparent the list of eligible models is a moving target, so expect more additions and subtractions over time. — SCS

Volvo now has the Waze, and the means

Intake: Volvo has become the first manufacturer to offer the useful Waze navigation and information app to U.S. drivers as part of the car’s infotainment system. “Our in-car app library just grew one app larger today as Waze becomes available to all Volvo cars with Google built-in around the globe. Our collaboration also brings the in-car Waze app to drivers in the U.S. for the first time,” the company says. There’s a one-time setup for Waze after downloading the app in the Google Play Store in your Volvo car. “No matter who’s driving the car and what device they use, navigation with Waze will be just one simple tap away.”

Exhaust: The in-car Waze app helps make things easier by avoiding phone-related distractions while continuing to offer the functionalities that you’ve come to expect from the Waze app on your mobile phone. Displayed on Volvo’s infotainment system, the in-car Waze app “utilizes more of the center screen in the Volvo user interface you’re most familiar with, making navigation more comfortable with a bigger and bolder eye-level display area.” — SCS

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According to a list released by the Biden administration via the U.S. Treasury Department, nine electric or plug-in hybrid vehicles from seven manufacturers—Audi, BMW, Genesis, Nissan, Rivian, Volkswagen, and Volvo—no longer qualify for either the $3750 or the $7500 tax credit provided by the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022.

The vehicles that no longer qualify are the electric 2023 Audi Q5 e Quattro Plug-in Hybrid, the 2021–23 BMW 330e Plug-in Hybrid, the 2021–23 BMW X5 xDrive45e Plug-in Hybrid, the 2023–24 Genesis GV70, the 2021–23 Nissan Leaf, the 2022–23 Rivian R1S, the 2022–23 Rivian R1T, the 2023 Volkswagen ID.4, and the 2022–23 Volvo S60 Plug-in Hybrid.

The Inflation Reduction Act provided for buyers who meet certain income levels to claim a tax credit of up to $7500 for North American–assembled, new EVs that also meet sticker price restrictions.

Starting Tuesday, the credit will be divided, with $3750 available for an EV that has at least 40 percent of the value of its battery’s critical minerals extracted or processed in the U.S. If that same percentage of ingredients is sourced from a country with whom the U.S. has a free-trade agreement, such as Mexico and Canada, or from materials that were recycled in North America, the vehicle also qualifies.

An additional $3750—in other words, the full $7500—is available if at least half of the value of the EV’s battery components are made or assembled in North America.

Here are the vehicles eligible for the $3750 tax credit (the Tesla Model 3 is double-listed due to variants):

• 2022–23 Ford E-Transit
• 2022–23 Ford Mustang Mach-E

• 2022–23 Ford Escape Plug-in Hybrid
• 2022–23 Lincoln Corsair Grand Touring
• 2022–23 Jeep Wrangler Plug-in Hybrid 4xe [both the Rubicon variant and the Sport S 4xe]

• 2022–23 Jeep Grand Cherokee Plug-in Hybrid 4xe
• 2022–23 Tesla Model 3 (Standard Range Rear-Wheel Drive)

Here are the vehicles eligible for the full $7500:

• 2023–24 Cadillac Lyriq
• 2024 Chevrolet Silverado EV

• 2024 Chevrolet Blazer EV
• 2024 Chevrolet Equinox EV
• 2022–23 Chevrolet Bolt and Bolt EUV

• 2022–23 Chrysler Pacifica Plug-in Hybrid
• 2022–23 Ford F-150 Lightning

• 2022–23 Lincoln Aviator Grand Touring
• 2022–23 Tesla Model 3 (Performance)
• 2022–23 Tesla Model Y (All-Wheel Drive)

• 2022–23 Tesla Model Y (Long Range All-Wheel Drive)
• 2022 Tesla Model Y (Performance)

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VW’s newest EV ditches switches

Intake: Do Americans still want sedans? Volkswagen hopes so, as it has finally taken the wraps off the new ID.7, the company’s flagship electric sedan. Designed for long distances, VW says, the available 86-kWh battery should have a range of 435 miles, while the smaller, 77-kWh battery’s range is 382 miles on the European cycle (EPA ratings will be moderately lower than those figures). Horsepower with either battery is 282. The ID.7 has the “new generation of the Volkswagen cockpit” with standard “augmented reality heads-up display”; this changes the “cockpit architecture because classic instruments become practically superfluous.” New seats have climate control and massaging functions, and the new air conditioning system boasts interactive smart air vents. The ID.7 makes “long journeys shorter thanks to the extremely generous interior space and a fast and intuitive next-generation infotainment system,” including a Harman Kardon stereo. Above the passengers, a new panoramic sunroof with smart electro-chromic dimming glass is standard for the U.S.—the glass layers can be switched to an opaque or transparent setting.

Exhaust: The ID.7’s overall length is 195.3 inches, and its wheelbase is 116.8 inches. We especially like the “intuitive” voice control: Say “Hello Volkswagen, my hands are cold,” and the steering wheel will heat itself while warm air is directed onto your hands. The ID.7, described by VW as a “fastback sedan,” comes to America in 2024, and will be built in the Emden plant in Germany. Pricing information to follow. —Steven Cole Smith

Buick’s all-new Envista wears brand’s new look

Intake: Well, well, well, look at Buick getting a little frisky. The marque just unveiled the Envista, a brand-new nameplate on an SUV with athletic proportions. It’s the first SUV to fully incorporate the new styling language previewed by the Wildcat EV concept, which debuted last year. A wide grille sits low on a forward-leaning front end, flanked by stylish intakes and sleek headlamps. The roofline drops dramatically at the rear, giving the crossover a profile that Buick hopes will attract some of the buyers transitioning away from sedans. Inside, the central infotainment system and digital instrument cluster are housed in a 19-inch assembly spanning a good chunk of the front dash. The Envista will get noise-canceling tech for the interior and, despite the coupe-like roofline, will still offer 20.7 cubic feet of space behind the rear seat and 42 cubic feet with the rear seats folded down.

Power comes from a 1.2-liter, turbocharged three-cylinder good for 136 hp and 162 lb-ft of torque delivered exclusively to the front wheels. Three trims will be offered: Preferred, $23,495; Sport Touring, $25,195; and Avenir, $29,695 (all prices exclude destination).

Exhaust: While other automakers roll out spendy EVs that hope to land a portion of monied buyers in the future, the smaller, gas-burning Envista shows that Buick is clearly prioritizing market share. The package looks handsome enough to make some ripples in the highly competitive world of small SUVs. — Nathan Petroelje

Mini marks one million Hard Tops

Intake: Ten years after the model’s introduction, the one millionth Mini Hard Top two-door has rolled off the production line at the British company’s Oxford factory. It’s actually a double celebration: The plant is heralding 110 years since it first began producing Morris motorcars, although it’s only built Minis since the brand’s 2001 re-issue. The millionth Mini is a British Racing Green Mini Electric and will go to a lucky owner in Canada.

Exhaust: It’s not long before Mini begins the switch to an all-electric range, so this is a significant milestone in the brand’s history. The next Mini Hard Tops will all be EVs, as will the Countryman and the Aceman, the latter of which will replace the Clubman. The next generation will also see Minis made outside the U.K. (in Germany) for the first time since the brand’s British Leyland days, when licenses were granted to build the little cars in Italy, India, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, and Thailand. —Nik Berg

Do loud pipes really save lives? New research says no

Intake: The widely held belief among bikers that noisy exhausts are a safety feature has been disproven by researchers in Romania and the Netherlands. A study by the Association for the Development of Motorcycling in Romania, along with the Department of Road Vehicles at the Polytechnic University of Bucharest, and Netherlands-based specialists Enviro Consult, concluded that even the loudest pipes can’t be heard in modern cars. The scientists measured the sound heard inside a car with the windows up, the engine running, and the radio playing at a level low enough for easy conversation. Outside the car six different motorcycles revved their engines to the redline producing sound levels between 80 dBA and 110 dBA. The bikes were positioned at distances of 50 feet and 33 feet behind the car, then with the bikes’ front wheel next to the car’s rear wheel, and finally 13 feet in front of the car. Even at their very closest researchers said the bikes could only just be heard and concluded, “unfortunately, it is too late to be safe.” At anything beyond 33-foot distance, the driver of the car couldn’t hear the bikes at all. “We consider that noise is not a warning for the car driver,” added the researchers. “It can even be considered a danger because you will not have time to adapt to the new reaction of the driver.”

Exhaust: Riders take note: You need to be seen, as it seems like you won’t be heard, even if you have the most awesome-sounding Akrapovič exhaust on your bike. The soundproofing of modern cars has reached a level where drivers are completely cocooned from the outside world, which might be great for driver’s relaxation, but not so good for fellow road users. — Nik Berg

Are EVs too heavy for old parking garages?

Intake: Automotive News has a story out of England that cites a report from the British Parking Association that says heavier electric vehicles may be too heavy for older “car parks.” “Many multi-story garages across the United Kingdom were built in the 1960s and ’70s and could be too weak to bear the added weight that EVs have,” according to the report. Battery packs weighing thousands of pounds can make EVs significantly heavier than gasoline-powered vehicles, especially the small cars that have long been commonplace in the U.K. How this translates to the U.S. remains to be seen, but we have plenty of parking garages that are showing their age, though older ones were likely built to hold heavy 1960s American “lead sleds.”

Exhaust: The story points out that a Tesla Model S weighs nearly 5000 pounds, while a GMC Hummer EV pickup tops 9000. “For comparison, a 1970 Ford Escort weighed less than 2000 pounds.” Said structural engineer Chris Whapples: “I don’t want to be too alarmist, but there definitely is the potential for some of the early car parks in poor condition to collapse. Operators need to be aware of electric vehicle weights, and get their car parks assessed from a strength point of view, and decide if they need to limit weight.” — SCS

More VinFast electrics en route to the U.S.

Intake: Vietnam’s vehicle maker VinFast said on Monday it had shipped a second, 1879-vehicle batch of longer-range VF 8 sport utilities to North America, says Reuters. VinFast, backed by Vietnam’s largest conglomerate, Vingroup, which is controlled by Vietnam’s wealthiest citizen, dispatched a shipment of 999 of its VF 8 SUVs to California from Vietnam in November but needed until March to prepare them for delivery to customers after disclosing the car would have a lower battery range than the manufacturer had originally claimed.

Exhaust: After a 20-day sea journey, 1098 of the cars from the new batch will land in California, while the remainder will go to Canada. Deliveries will start in May for the U.S. market and in June for customers in Canada. Currently, VinFast is offering a revolving price of $399 for the VF 8 City Edition model for a 24-month lease. —SCS

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Intake: Volkswagen’s first all-electric sedan, the mid-size ID.7, will premier in a global live stream on April 17. The new car will join the ID.4 SUV and ID. Buzz van in the brand’s U.S. line-up, but unlike its smaller sibling, which is assembled in Chattanooga, Tennessee, the ID.7 will be built in Germany and China. VW describes the car as “the comfortable limousine for long-distance travel,” suggesting that its range will be significantly higher than the 275 miles afforded to the ID.4 by the E.P.A. test cycle. “The ID.7 is an extremely important model for Volkswagen in China, Canada, and the USA. It impresses with plenty of space, innovative assist systems, and modern features like a high-end infotainment system. Our customers will receive a genuine premium package with the first all-electric flagship model from Volkswagen,” claims Imelda Labbé, Volkswagen’s Member of the Board of Management for Sales, Marketing, and Aftersales. The camouflage comes off at 8 a.m. EST on April 17.

Exhaust: While most of the world is obsessed with SUVs, EV buyers are still suckers for a sedan, thanks in no small part to Tesla, of course. VW is hoping to take a significant piece of that action with the ID.7 as part of a $7.7 billion investment in “the electric and digital transformation” of the brand in America. — Nik Berg

Rising danger: SUVs vs. bicyclists, study says

Intake: In a study that should surprise no one, the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety researched bicycle vs. vehicle accidents, and determined SUVs, with their higher nose and reduced forward visibility, provide the most danger to cyclists. According to Automotive News, “The tall front end of SUVs can strike bicyclists higher on their bodies above the center of gravity. This results in riders getting knocked down, where they can be run over, rather than being thrown onto the hood of the vehicle, said IIHS statistician Sam Monfort, the lead author of the study.” The research, titled “Higher point of impact makes SUV crashes more dangerous for cyclists,” analyzed data from 71 Michigan bicycle crashes that involved a single SUV or car and a bicyclist age 16 or older. Trauma to the body was 55 percent higher for SUVs than for cars, and scores for head injuries inflicted by SUVs were 63 percent higher.

Exhaust: Automotive News, citing the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, reports that bicycle crash rates are on the rise. In 2021, 966 cyclists were reported killed in crashes, according to NHTSA. This is up from 621 bicyclist fatalities in 2010. — SCS

Study: That new-car smell can be harmful

Intake: A new study claiming that a new-car smell can be harmful to your health is making the rounds of science publications, as well as USA Today. The study claims, according to USA Today, “Researchers at Harvard University and the Beijing Institute of Technology in China conducted a study on the chemicals that create the new car smell, finding that the smell could increase the risk of cancer, and it doesn’t take much time to be in the vehicle for it to become a hazard.” The culprit is mostly formaldehyde, which the study found at levels that were 34.9 percent higher than Chinese national safety standards, and acetaldehyde, a probable human carcinogen, which was found to be at levels 60.5 percent higher than Chinese national safety standards.

Exhaust: Researchers put sensors inside new cars, then closed them up for 12 days in the summer heat. It is difficult to divine what cars, and from where, were used in the study, which would have been helpful information. The entire study can be read here. This is hardly the first time these claims have been made: AAA Magazine wrote about a similar study by the Ecology Center in 2020. — Steven Cole Smith

Restored 1927 Alvis Grand Prix car debuts this weekend

Intake: The sole surviving front-wheel-drive Alvis Grand Prix racing car, once abandoned in a scrapyard in Coventry, England, is being revived by The Alvis Car Company, its original creator. It is set to mark its first public appearance in Chiba City, Japan, at Automobile Council 2023 this weekend, 96 years after its race debut at the 1927 Junior Car Club 200 Mile Race at Brooklands. The Alvis caused a stir in 1927 owing to its highly unusual mechanical layout. Remarkably, the car has no conventional front axle. Instead, the steering system uses four elliptic leaf springs in a unique, independent arrangement. An in-line, eight-cylinder, 1.5-liter, supercharged engine sits just behind the longitudinally mounted gearbox, giving the car a distinctive length when compared to its competition.

Exhaust: After qualifying second in the British Grand Prix, the car fell out and was retired. Upon returning to the Alvis factory, the car’s engine was removed and entirely dismantled to diagnose the cause of the failure: a shattered connecting rod, now on display in Alvis’ showroom in Kenilworth, England. The Alvis Car Company still builds limited-edition copies of original Alvis designs. — SCS

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1800-hp Mustang Super Cobra Jet 1800 is coming for your quarter-mile records

Intake: The next chapter of Ford’s electric motorsports efforts has arrived in the form of the Mustang Super Cobra Jet 1800 drag car. The name harkens back 1969 when Ford Performance introduced the Super Cobra Jet name as an improvement to the standard Cobra Jet package. The new car is a heavily reworked version of the Cobra Jet 1400, which holds the NHRA world record quarter-mile pass (8.128 seconds @ 171.97 mph) for full-bodied electric vehicles. Ford Performance expects the Super Cobra Jet 1800 to best that pass, thanks to a host of chassis, powertrain, and control system upgrades. It uses the same four-inverter, twin double-stacked electric motor setup as before, but the 1800 has a new transmission from Liberty, as well as a new lightweight battery system designed by Ford Performance and MLe Racecars. A new rear end featuring improved suspension geometry and larger Mickey Thompson drag radials will help get that mountain of torque down for good launches.

Exhaust: They might lack the aural drama of the gas burners, but these electric drag cars are unbelievably quick. On top of the quarter-mile record attempt, the Super Cobra Jet 1800 will also attempt to claim the electric vehicle 0–60 mph record and the two-wheel-drive electric vehicle 0–60 mph record later this year at an NHRA event. The package looks mean enough to pull that off. — Nathan Petroelje

Car companies lacking “megasite” options

Intake: Volkswagen’s off-road brand Scout studied 74 different parcels of land across the U.S. last summer as it hunted for a place to build a $2 billion assembly plant, dismissing most quickly because of insufficient infrastructure. Companies, says Reuters, are having trouble finding suitable “megasites” for building new factories. As for the Scout plant, “In one case, they learned it would take six years to build a needed rail link. Others lacked access to clean power, crucial for a project for ‘green’ electric vehicles. Some did not offer enough nearby skilled labor,” Reuters said. “Fueled by a combination of hefty government incentives, a transition to new transportation and energy technologies, and national security concerns about relying on distant suppliers, especially in China, there’s a factory-building boom taking place across the U.S.” While the U.S. has plentiful land, “there are not that many places to quickly plunk a billion-dollar-plus factory.”

Exhaust: The factory renaissance “could soon hit a barrier because of the scarcity of ready-to-go megasites, according to 25 economic development groups, state and local officials, utilities, and companies interviewed by Reuters.” That would be a problem for the Biden administration, the story speculates, “which has pushed through legislation to fuel the developments. Corporations have announced dozens of projects since the passage of the Inflation Reduction Act and the CHIPS Act last year.” — Steven Cole Smith

Alfa celebrates 100 years of Quadrifoglio with Giulia and Stelvio specials

Intake: It’s April 15, 1923, and Ugo Sivocci is lining up at the start of the Targa Florio in his Alfa Romeo RL Super Sport. On the car’s nose is a large green four-leafed clover on a white diamond background—the first appearance of the now legendary quadrifoglio mark. A century later, Alfa Romeo is introducing two very limited special editions of the Giulia and Stelvio. Just 100 of each will be available worldwide, and they’ll be distinguished with a host of celebratory styling additions that include unique 100th Anniversario badges, gold brake calipers, a carbon fiber grille and mirror caps, plus gold stitching throughout the leather/Alcantara cabin, carbon accents, and additional badging. The order books open soon and deliveries will begin in the fall.

Exhaust: The lucky charm certainly worked; not only did Sivocci win the Targa Florio, but Alfa Romeos also placed second and fourth as well, and the quadrifoglio would dominate motorsports in the 1920s, with Alfa Romeo taking victories in the very first Grand Prix Championship of 1925, plus the Mille Miglia and Le Mans. Surprisingly, it took Alfa some 40 years to capitalize on the success of the quadrifoglio, however, with the Giulia Sprint GT Veloce of 1965 being the first series production car to wear it. —Nik Berg

KBB: Signs point to dropping prices in new car market

Intake: There’s a sign that the hot new-vehicle market may be settling down. The average transaction price of a new vehicle fell below the manufacturer’s suggested retail price for the first time in 20 months, according to a study by Kelley Blue Book, says a Reuters story. The average transaction price of a new vehicle in the U.S. declined 1.1 percent in March to $48,008 from February’s $48,558. However, March prices rose 3.8 percent compared to a year ago. Except for Toyota, which is still suffering supply chain issues, the top global automakers reported a rise in first-quarter U.S. sales on improving shipments to dealers as vehicle inventories grow. “Right now, in-market consumers are finding more inventory, more choice, and dealers more willing to deal, at least with some brands,” said Rebecca Rydzewski, a researcher at Kelley Blue Book.

Exhaust: In March, the average price for a new non-luxury vehicle, which includes brands such as Chevrolet, Ford, Hyundai and Nissan, was $44,182, a decline of $505 compared with February, but buyers continued to pay above MSRP for luxury vehicles, said KBB. — SCS

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Spied: New Tacoma flaunts rear disc brakes, longer bed

Intake: Just two days after the first teaser image from Toyota about the upcoming refresh for its Tacoma pickup, due in 2024, spy photographers have captured shots of a test mule. Though the prototype truck is draped in the automotive equivalent of a bathrobe, there’s no hiding those chunky Goodyear Wrangler tires or that serious ground clearance. As previously announced, the Tacoma—at least in its most off-road-ready, TRD Pro form—will be a hybrid, likely cribbing the 48-hp, 104-lb-ft AC electric motor from the hybrid (iForce Max) variant of its half-ton sibling, the Tundra. The current Tacoma, now seven years old, still uses drum brakes in the rear, but we can just make out calipers and discs behind those rear wheels on this mule. Will the new Tacoma finally get disc brakes on all four corners? It’s possible. That bed looks a bit longer than the 5-foot one offered on the current truck; perhaps the upcoming TRD Pro will finally allow a crew cab, 6-foot bed configuration. Style-wise, we’d expect the exterior skin to carry the same creased, angular styling seen on the larger Tundra.

Exhaust: It might be gaining a high-tech drivetrain, but if these photos are any indication, the upcoming Tacoma TRD Pro won’t lose any of its off-road chops. The new generation of this mid-size truck—a best-seller for 18 years—looks ready to pick up right where it left off. — Nathan Petroelje

Craig Breedlove’s wife, son share thoughts on his death

Intake: We’ve told you that Norman Craig Breedlove, 86, the first person to surpass speed marks faster than 400-, 500- and 600- miles per hour, died peacefully in his sleep surrounded by family on April 4. Now wife Yadira has issued a statement. In part: “He was an American treasure,” she said. “Our hearts are heavy today letting him go, but we also acknowledge Craig’s courage and bravery seeking motorsports honors for the United States of America. For decades, his deeds touched many, many people around the world.” She added, “I shared my life with a wonderful man that I will always admire; he filled me with deep, abiding love. My intelligent, strong, happy, brave, humble husband saw life with great positivity and was always full of so many projects! For 20 years I have known joyful love, complicity, respect, and learned so much by his side. He will forever stay in my heart.”

Exhaust: Son Norman credits his father with demonstrating how to shepherd dreams forward. “What I admired most about Dad was his tenaciousness,” he said. “He simply would not accept rejection and repeatedly went back to people and companies until he got a ‘yes.’” — Steven Cole Smith

No, Ettore Bugatti hasn’t risen from the dead

Intake: An ornamental egg from Bugatti and British jeweler Asprey is one you definitely won’t want to crack. Inspired by the words of Ettore Bugatti’s father Carlo who said, “The purest perfect shape of nature is the egg,” the Royale Edition Bugatti Egg is an art piece that is both retrospective and future-looking. Each limited-edition egg features a carbon-fiber shell, adorned with a silver diamond-weave lattice, and is decorated with diminutive Dancing Elephants, which were originally designed by Rembrandt and appeared on the hood of the Type 41 Royale, that stupendously luxurious, expensive 1920s Bugatti. The eggs have a diamond door that opens to reveal a scene of Bugatti’s Chateau Saint Jean in Molsheim, France, and a sterling silver Type 41 Royale Esders.

Exhaust: The price of these decorative eggs is no yolk. 111 examples will be crafted and the most expensive start at $200,000. — Nik Berg

Electric G-Wagen will go further thanks to U.S. battery tech

Intake: The Mercedes-Benz EQG will be the first car to make use of an innovative new technology that can increase EV range by 20 percent. Silicon Valley-based company Sila spent the last 12 years working out how to replace the regular graphite anodes of lithium-ion batteries with silicon and the result is a new material called Titan Silicon. Using silicon instead of graphite will allow batteries to charge faster and store more energy, which is a win-win. Unfortunately, silicon has a tendency to expand and degrade, but Sila’s experiments over 70,000 different iterations have led to a unique design that means the silicon only expands a tiny amount and won’t damage the battery. Sila is ramping up production rapidly, saying it will make enough Titan Silicon for 200,000 EVs a year by 2026, and enough for one million cars in 2028. Initially there will be a price premium, which is why it’s being launched on the EQG, but as volumes increase the anodes will become more widely available. “We are ready to take on more automakers now,” CEO Gene Berdichevsky told Automotive News Europe. “There are three things that customers care about, and it’s range, range, and range. We are here, and we are ready for it.”

Exhaust: More range and faster charging are what EVs desperately need to truly go mainstream, so this technology can’t come soon enough. Unfortunately, we’ll have to wait until the 2025 arrival of the EQG to see just how well it works. — NB

NASCAR teams boycott meeting with sanctioning body

Intake: There may be a caution flag in NASCAR land: The Associated Press reports that a “ top group of NASCAR team owners skipped a [quarterly] meeting with series officials Wednesday with the two sides at an impasse over permanent charters, a key plank in the business model of the stock car series.” The boycott reflects differences in how the charter system works—36 teams out of 40 have charters, which guarantee that their cars will have starting spots in every race, regardless of how poorly they qualify. Each team has to pay seven figures for a charter and also has to largely fund their teams through sponsorship, which is difficult to come by in this near-recession. “The owners went public last October with their frustration over what they consider a broken business model in which racetracks and NASCAR make the bulk of the money and teams are forced to fund their organizations through outside sponsorship,” the story said.

Exhaust: The current charters expire at the end of the 2024 season, AP says. The race teams want the charters to become permanent, and NASCAR, apparently, is unwilling to even discuss the matter. Also an issue: The teams want more of the TV money that is currently going to NASCAR and the tracks. We’ll stay tuned—this could get serious. — SCS

VW stops selling ID.4; its doors could fly open

Intake: Volkswagen has recalled some ID.4 electric vehicles because a door could fly open while the vehicle is underway. In a statement, Volkswagen said it has notified the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration of a voluntary safety recall affecting approximately 16,207 VW ID.4s from the 2023 model year (the car’s been in production since 2021). “Due to quality control issues at a supplier, parts that did not conform to our specifications were delivered to the Chattanooga plant. Among other issues, the part may allow moisture to enter the electronic board integrated in the door handle. In turn, this may allow the vehicle door to open unintentionally while driving or the vehicle door may no longer be opened from the outside and/or inside.”

Exhaust: VW has issued a “stop sale” on the ID.4 crossover, suggesting that at present, the company doesn’t have an immediate fix for the problem. — SCS

Walmart and Sam’s Club to add EV fast chargers

Intake: Walmart is building its own network of electric vehicle charging stations for public use by 2030, “to tap into growing adoption of EVs in the United States,” says Reuters. The new fast-charging stations will be placed at thousands of Walmart and Sam’s Club stores, alongside nearly 1300 it already operates as part of a deal with Electrify America, one of the country’s largest open public EV networks. Walmart’s more than 5000 stores and Sam’s Club warehouses are located within 10 miles of about 90 percent of Americans, Reuters says. “We have the ability to address range and charging anxiety in a way that no one else can in this country,” Vishal Kapadia, Walmart’s recently appointed senior vice president of energy transformation said, adding that the new stations will also address issues around reliability and cost.

Exhaust: The Walmart charging stations we’ve used have been clean and reliable. This could be a gamechanger for a lot of consumers on the fence about going electric. – SCS

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Passionate enthusiasts, rather than just computer coders, still hold sway at mainstream car companies. Why else would Toyota build the Corolla GR and Honda the Civic Type R? Both are souped-up economy cars with manual transmissions and starchy suspensions. My colleague Sam Smith penned an encouraging report on the “hot hatches.”

The term was coined nearly 50 years ago when Volkswagen developed the original GTI, based on the Golf, which replaced the Beetle and was called the Rabbit in the U.S. The thrifty Golf had a rear liftgate called a “hatchback” that provided ample cargo space. When VW installed a higher-horsepower engine, a stiffer suspension, and thickly bolstered seats, the GTI was born.

The GTI’s parts gelled perfectly, adding up to a drivers car that was as quick as a Pontiac Firebird Trans Am. It was “hot,” as car geeks might say, and launched the hot hatch segment. A steady stream of new hot hatches is vital to passionate car folks because they’re so often gateway drugs for young enthusiasts. The used hot hatch is typically the fun-to-drive solution for young people who frequently move from home to college to first apartment. Two of our youngest staffers at Hagerty Media own hot-hatch Fords, ST versions of the Focus and Fiesta. I’m also a disciple of the hot hatch because the used 1983 GTI I bought for $2300 in 1991 set me on the path that put me here, typing this newsletter.

It’s not just power or stiff suspension, but a careful integration of the parts, artful chassis tuning by the right engineers, that makes a compelling hot hatch. My GTI was crisply styled by Giorgetto Giugiaro’s Italdesign firm with tight edges and pleasing proportions. I felt good every time I saw it, because it was far more than just a car I had to buy because it fit my price range. The original GTI still looks compelling.

The new Honda and Toyotas have lost that design restraint, but they’re incredibly capable and I bet one of my kids buys a used one in the next 10 years. If you’re an adult, I recommend the Honda Civic Si, which although only offered as a sedan, is nearly as entertaining as the Type R but more comfortable and far less attention-grabbing. The Civic Sport Touring hatchback is even better appointed.

I’m grateful that both Toyota and Honda continue to build sporty cars because Chevy just killed one, the Camaro. The company announced that 2024 will be the last model year, though GM promises this “isn’t the end of the Camaro’s story.” Sigh.

Meanwhile, Cruise, the General Motors division that’s developing autonomous cars, is having to adapt to hit-and-run incidents with its robotaxis. In one event, a driver doing middle-of-the-night donuts ran into a Cruise taxi and then bolted. I’ve long wondered how autonomous cars will survive among human drivers who think the robots have to be submissive drivers.

This being the first week of spring, I imagine that you, like me, are preparing for the driving season. Here’s a guide to clean the winter crud off your carpet and another helpful article with inspection tips before you hit the road.

If money is not a concern for you—lucky bastard!—allow me to suggest the car I’d most like to drive this year, the $2 million Gordon Murray T.33 Spider.

Have a great weekend!

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By draping a cute, fiberglass body over durable and inexpensive VW running gear, Bruce Meyers started a beach buggy craze. Meyers’ creation, dubbed the Manx, was a defining symbol of the carefree Californian lifestyle.

Volkswagen took notice of this craze and wanted to get in on the Manx’s market. In 1971, Dr. Henry Braner, Volkswagen of America’s Director of Market and Product Planning at the time, had an idea: Take the civilian-spec drop-top Type 181—which was already on sale in Europe and Mexico at that time, paint it fun colors, and market it to Californian surfers and free-spirit types. Thus the VW Thing, as it came to be known in America, was born.

If you’re in the hunt for a military beach cruiser born from a military vehicle, check out our Hagerty Marketplace auction pick of the week, this 1974 Volkswagen Type 181 Thing.

By the mid-1960s, NATO’s Europa Jeep project had stalled, but the West German Army was still in need of a small, all-terrain troop transport vehicle. To quickly meet military demand, Volkswagen slapped together the Type 181 in 1969 with parts it already had lying around. It utilized a reinforced floor pan from the Karmann Ghia, rear-swing axle suspension from the Type 2 Transporter van, and the air-cooled flat-four and manual transmission from the Beetle.

It didn’t take long for VW to realize that there was also public demand for a more rugged vehicle that could handle the terrain in Central Europe and Mexico. In 1971, the first civilian versions hit dealerships.

The Thing made its stateside in 1972 as a 1973 model. It was initially only available in three colors, but more followed in 1974. By the time the Thing had reached the U.S., VW had upgraded the Type 181 to have independent rear suspension. Sadly, it was ultimately dropped from the U.S. lineup in 1975 because it couldn’t meet that year’s more stringent crash test standards. For such a short tenure on the market, the Thing sold pretty well. The total production tallied 28,930 units.

Our featured Thing presents well with its Bright Sunshine yellow paint, chrome steel wheels, and black leatherette upholstery. The car has lived in South Carolina for its whole life, but the seller notes that the floor pan has had rust repaired. There are a few flaws in the paint, like a crack above the engine cover hinge, and a run in the rare, optional factory hardtop.

Summertime is fast approaching. This Thing would make the perfect fair-weather cruiser. Take off the doors, drop the top, fold down the windshield, and enjoy the open air. The auction ends on Thursday, April 13, at 4:30 p.m. ET, so make sure to get your bids in.

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2024 Jeep Wrangler: More of everything, even the V-8

Intake: A host of updates are headed the Jeep Wrangler’s way for 2024. Stick with us here: The 2024 Wrangler Rubicon will offer an 8000-pound Warn winch, a 100:1 crawl ratio, and a new Dana 44 HD rear axle that allows you to fit 37-inch (or larger!) tires and tow up to 5000 pounds (up from 3500 in the 2023 model). A 12.3-inch center infotainment screen that features wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto will be offered on all trim levels. Two new models join the fray: a Sport S 4xe, which lowers the entry point to plug-in hybrid Jeep life, and a Rubicon X. The latter is a posh take on the Rubicon, pairing leather upholstery and a premium stereo with 35-inch tires via the Xtreme 35 package ($3995), steel bumpers ($1995), and an integrated off-road camera ($795). There’s a new seven-slot grille on all trims, a new windshield-integrated antenna, 10 new wheel designs, and more. Hybrid Wranglers will now be able to power external devices thanks to four 120-volt outlets with 30 amps of total output that draw from the vehicle’s battery pack. Our favorite tidbit? The 6.4-liter V-8-equipped Wrangler Rubicon 392 will soldier on for at least one more year.

Exhaust: The breadth of the Wrangler portfolio is astounding. Want a fun-looking, open-air pavement cruiser that can scoot about under electric power? The Wrangler can do it. A hell-raising, dirt-flinging desert stormer? It can do that, too. Trail-ready mountain-stomper? Check. — Nathan Petroelje

Mercedes’ GLS SUV gets facelift, off-road tech for 2024

Intake: Mercedes’ big six- or seven-passenger SUV gets a mild makeover for 2024, with a new nose and taillights. Inside, customers can choose from two new leather upholstery options. The range of interior trim finishes has also been revised with new High-Gloss Brown Linden Wood. The “Off-Road Mode” in the GLS turns special controls such as gradient, lateral inclination, compass, and steering angle into a visual experience; thanks to the standard Surround View system with a 360‑degree camera, it offers the “transparent hood” function found on its small GLC sibling and Benz’s electric EQS SUV. When the Off-Road mode is active, the central display shows a virtual view under the front of the vehicle. This enables the driver to recognize obstacles in their path such as large rocks or deep potholes sooner and more easily. The Off-Road Engineering Package, available for the GLS 580 4MATIC, includes an underbody guard and in combination with the SUV’s standard Airmatic suspension, provides 1.2 inches more ground clearance.

Exhaust: The GLS, as luxurious as it is, is prepared to do some work: All-wheel drive and a gear ratio designed for pulling power allow a towing capacity of up to 7716 pounds and a tongue weight of up to 309 pounds. There’s also Trailer Maneuvering Assist and an updated Trailer menu in the central display. The 2024 Mercedes-Benz GLS goes on sale later this year. — Steven Cole Smith

Toyota Tacoma goes hybrid for 2024

Intake: In this teaser photo released yesterday, we got our first look at the hind end of the all-new 2024 Toyota Tacoma. Of note is the small badge on the lower right-hand portion of the tailgate: i-Force Max, the name for the hybrid system that Toyota uses on the Tacoma’s full-size pickup sibling, the Tundra. The half-ton pairs a twin-turbo 3.5-liter V-6 with a 48-hp, 104 lb-ft AC electric motor fed by a 1.9-kWh nickel-metal battery. While it’s not clear which engine will be used in the Tacoma, we wouldn’t be surprised to see some sort of turbocharged four-cylinder in the engine bay, possibly supplemented with a similar electric setup. The tailgate shown is that of the top-trim, TRD Pro, which may mean that, like the Tundra, only upper trim levels will get the hybrid treatment; lower trims may suffice with just the engine. Toyota has promised more details in the months to come.

Exhaust: The Tacoma has been America’s best-selling midsize pickup for several years running, in part because of the stone-dead reliability that comes from its relatively archaic setup with an older 3.5-liter V-6 and a six-speed automatic. Will the new, more complex setup mar the Tacoma’s rugged image? — Nathan Petroelje

Four year later, badass off-road Atlas spawns … a trim level

Intake: At Chicago, in February, we saw the freshened-but-not-reinvented Atlas. At New York, in April, we meet a little spritz of novelty on top of those 2024-model-year changes: An outdoorsy variant called the Peak Edition. For a yet-undisclosed premium, the Peak Edition adds some cosmetic touches: The smallest wheel size in the Atlas range (18 inches) is painted black and wrapped in all-terrain tires, whose more aggressive texturing adds an air of trail-readiness. Most of the body trim—grille, roof rails, window surrounds, wheel arches—is black, rather than chrome. Inside, you’ll enjoy the faux-leather, ambient lighting, and decorative trim panels brought by the Atlas family’s 2024 freshening, along with a Peak Edition–specific badge on the steering wheel, orange stitching on the seats, and black metallic check patterns on the dash and door inserts. The new trim level is inspired by a 2019 concept based on the pre-freshened Atlas and named Basecamp, but its 1.5-inch lift kit is nowhere to be seen on this production-ready variant.

Exhaust: Peak Atlas, or peak poser? However you feel, you probably hold a strong opinion about vehicles that aspire to outdoorsiness. The 2024 car market, from the hardcore 4x4s of Ford and Jeep to the plastic-fendered family haulers of Subaru and VW, has you pinned. — Grace Houghton

Mini previews all-electric Countryman

Intake: Mini has offered a first glimpse at its next-generation Countryman, and, if you don’t like change, you should look away now. For a start, the Countryman will be Mini’s first electric-only model, with no gasoline-powered version to be offered. It will also be the first Mini to be built in Germany, and it’s the least “mini” of any Mini yet, having grown by over five inches in length and two inches in height over the outgoing model. On the plus side, from what we can see, despite the colorful camouflage, the new car appears to retain the overall proportions of which Mini fans are so fond. The details are disguised, so final judgment will have to be reserved until the wraps come off. Mini has revealed the car’s electric credentials, however, and they are a huge step forward from those of the limited-but-fun Mini Cooper SE. The Countryman will come in two flavors: the two-wheel drive E offers 191 hp, and the SE ALL4 sends 313 hp to both axles. With a battery capacity of 64.7 kWh, Mini claims a range of 280 miles, although that’s based on Europe’s rather optimistic WLTP cycle. Production begins in November 2023 with deliveries to follow in 2024.

Exhaust: This should be the most eco-friendly Mini ever made. It’s being built at the BMW Group’s “green plant” in Leipzig, which is powered by four massive wind turbines which store electricity in 700 battery packs recycled from BMW i3s. The Countryman’s dashboard steering wheel headliner and floor mats are all made from polyester recycled from PET bottles and carpet remnants, which reduces rubbish going to landfill and cuts carbon emissions. — Nik Berg

Ohio drag strip adds special class to get teenagers off the street

Intake: Edgewater Sports Park is like any other racing venue: It wants exciting and safe racing. This is why the Grandview, Ohio, track wants to attract teen drivers with a new bracket racing class specifically for high school students. The rules outline a class designed for cars that would normally be found in high school parking lots: eligible cars must have DOT street tires and run the quarter-mile strip with an ET (elapsed time) no quicker than 11.60 seconds. Helmets are only required if your car can make a pass quicker than 14 seconds. See the track schedule at Edgewaterrace.com

Exhaust: Since bracket racing is about the driver’s skill and ability to run the exact time they “dial in” at the starting line, rather than a true head-to-head race between the lanes, it is the perfect way to level the playing field here. What better way to get some thrills in Mom’s beige boringmobile? Wait, don’t answer that. — Kyle Smith 

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Feds’ new EV tax-credit rules are as strict as expected

Intake: The federal government on Friday unveiled its new tax-credit rules, deciding which EVs would get a tax break and which ones wouldn’t. The U.S. Treasury Department’s stricter rules will reduce or remove tax credits—which range up to $7500—for some zero-emission models but grant buyers another two weeks, until April 18. On that day, the new requirements take effect, and the Treasury Department publishes a list of eligible vehicles. The rules, which reward vehicles with batteries made in the U.S., are designed to wean the United States off its dependence on China for the materials needed to make EVs. The revised tax-credit rules are part of President Joe Biden’s effort to make 50 percent of U.S. new vehicle sales by 2030 EVs or plug-in hybrids, Reuters said.

Exhaust: Part of the EV tax credits, according to Reuters, require that 50 percent of the value of battery components be produced or assembled in North America to qualify for $3750 of the available credit and 40 percent of critical minerals sourced from the United States or a country with which it has a free-trade agreement. The Biden administration believes that over time the tax credit will result in more EVs sold as automakers scramble to revamp supply chains to meet critical mineral and battery component rules. It is not immediately clear when or how many EVs will lose tax credits or see them cut. — Steven Cole Smith

Baby Bugatti is getting its own little race series

Intake: It might only be three-quarters the size of the real thing, but we already know that the Baby Bugatti II from The Little Car Company is 100 percent fun. Now the scaled-down classic, together with drivers both young and old, will be put through its paces at some of Britain’s most historic racing venues. The UK Bugatti Baby II Championship will see 20 adult-and-child teams compete against each other in a three-pronged sprint series that takes in Silverstone and the Prescott Hill Climb—home of the Bugatti Owners’ Club—as well as The Little Car Company’s home at Bicester Heritage, in Oxfordshire. To be eligible, young drivers must be between the ages of 10 and 14 years old, and, while there’s no upper limit for mum or dad there’s a maximum height of 6 feet, 2 inches. You don’t need to own one of the £50,000 cars ($62,000) as the £4950 ($6100) entry fee is worked out on an arrive-and-drive basis with a car and factory support included. Entrants will even be offered coaching from Bugatti development driver and speed record holder Andy Wallace, and although the all-electric Baby’s top speed is only around 40 mph, we’re sure it will feel at least 25 percent faster.

Exhaust: This new series marks the first time in almost a century that junior Bugattis have actually been raced. Ettore Bugatti built the first Baby for his five-year-old son Roland in 1926 but such was the response it soon went into production, with around 500 examples built between 1927 and 1936. These half-scale replicas of the Type 35 Grand Prix were sold new for 5000 francs, an equivalent of $3500 today, and only 100 or so are believed to still exist. As a result, originals have been known to sell for over $100,000 and we can’t imagine anyone daring to race one. — Nik Berg

Surprise OPEC oil cuts should mean, yep, higher gas prices

Intake: The price of a gallon of gas, already inching upward because of the season, is set to climb higher. On Sunday, Saudi Arabia and other major oil producers announced surprise cuts, totaling up to 1.15 million barrels per day from May until the end of the year, “a move that could raise prices worldwide,” according to the Associated Press. The production cuts alone could push U.S. gasoline prices up by roughly 26 cents per gallon, in addition to the usual increase that comes when refineries change the gasoline blend during the summer driving season, said Kevin Book, managing director of Clearview Energy Partners LLC. The normal seasonal increase is about 32 cents a gallon, according to the Energy Department. Iraq said it would reduce production by 211,000 barrels per day, the United Arab Emirates by 144,000, Kuwait by 128,000, Kazakhstan by 78,000, Algeria by 48,000 and Oman by 40,000. Our gas prices likely won’t reach the level they did one year ago, when the national average was about $4.50.

Exhaust: The cuts mean money in the pocket of Russian president Vladimir Putin, AP says, whose country will cut production by 500,000 barrels per day. All the countries involved are members of the so-called OPEC+ group of oil-exporting countries, which includes the original Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries as well as Russia and other major producers. — SCS

GM to drop Apple Car Play and Android Auto

Intake: CNN is reporting that General Motors plans to phase out Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, technologies that allow a driver to bypass the vehicle’s native infotainment system and instead mirror their smartphone’s display, via software designed by the cell-phone manufacturer. In lieu of CarPlay or Android Auto, future GM electric vehicle will shift to built-in infotainment systems developed with Google. CNN suggests GM’s decision to stop offering those systems in future electric vehicles, starting with the 2024 Chevrolet Blazer, could help the automaker capture more data on how consumers drive and charge EVs.

Exhaust: GM would benefit from focusing engineers and investment on one approach to more tightly connect in-vehicle infotainment and navigation with features such as assisted driving, Edward Kummer, GM chief digital officer, and Mike Hichme, executive director of digital cockpit experience, said in an interview. “We have a lot of new driver assistance features coming that are more tightly coupled with navigation,” Hichme told Reuters. “We don’t want to design these features in a way that are dependent on a person having a cellphone.” — SCS

Gas-sipping Golf on the way out

Intake: VW will not develop a new, ninth-generation Golf with a combustion engine after the current model reaches the end of its life cycle, according to Automotive News and its European sister publication Automobilwoche. The current, eighth-generation Golf will get a freshening next year. “That puts it in a great position until the end of the decade. Then we will have to see how the segment develops,” VW brand boss Thomas Schäfer told Automobilwoche. “If the world develops completely differently than expected by 2026 or 2027, then we can also launch a completely new vehicle again. But I don’t expect that to happen. So far, that’s not planned,” Schaefer said.

Exhaust: The Golf has been in production since 1974 and its name will be retained for a battery-electric vehicle. The internal-combustion-engine Golf’s exit won’t happen before 2028, Schäfer said, in concert with the arrival of the company’s new SSP electric platform. — SCS

Ford tuning out AM radios in ICE and EVs

Intake: Ford plans to stop installing AM radio in new gas-powered and electric vehicles beginning in 2024, including the all-electric Mustang Mach-E and F-150 Lightning pickup, the Detroit Free Press has confirmed. “We are transitioning from AM radio for most new and updated 2024 models,” Ford spokesman Wes Sherwood told the Free Press. There have been multiple manufacturers who complain that AM frequencies cause problems for electric vehicles, and therefore they dropped AM, but Ford is killing AM even in combustion-engine vehicles, though it will stay on in commercial vehicles.

Exhaust: According to The Verge, Ford was joined by BMW, Mazda, Polestar, Rivian, Tesla, Volkswagen, and Volvo in staking out the position that AM radio is incompatible with EVs, citing electromagnetic interference from the powertrain. Tesla made this same argument when it dropped AM radio from its vehicles back in 2018. This can be troubling, as AM is often the best source for emergency broadcasts. — SCS

Tesla Semi gets first recall

Intake: The electric Tesla Semi truck, which began limited sales a few months ago, has its first recall, due to a supplier-sourced part. According to Electrek.co, the recall was announced on the NHTSA’s recall website, showing that the issue involves the parking brake and affects 35 vehicles. Apparently the electronic parking-brake module could fail to engage due to air leakage within the unit, leaving drivers unaware that it isn’t activated, possibly leading to a rollaway incident when the driver releases the service brake. This problem was identified as affecting 35 “Intellipark Valve Modules,” all from Bendix Commercial Vehicle Systems.

Exhaust: Teslas detractors delight in posting photos of disabled Tesla trucks by the side of the road, but that wouldn’t be due to this parking-brake issue. Any all-new vehicle, especially one as ambitious as the Tesla Semi, is bound to suffer teething issues. — SCS

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Ferrari Portofino M bows out in favor of new Roma Spider

Intake: A new report from Road & Track indicates that the Ferrari Portofino M will cease production soon. The recently revealed Roma Spider will take the Portofino M’s place as the company’s entry-level droptop ride. It uses the same 612-hp twin-turbo V-8 that the Portofino did, and it carries the same front-engine, rear-drive 2+2 playout, but the new car ditches the Portofino M’s bulky folding hardtop in place of a much lighter soft-top setup. The origins of the Portofino begin back in 2008 with the arrival of the Ferrari California, which first employed a 453-hp 4.3-liter naturally aspirated V-8. In 2014 the California T arrived, scoring two turbochargers and a power bump to 522 hp. The California T morphed into the Portofino in 2017, and power was bumped to 591 hp. Then in 2020 the Portofino M arrived, lifting power to 612 hp, where it has remained to this day.

Exhaust: Though it was much easier on the eyes than the California, the Portofino always struck us as a bit too aggressive for its form factor. The new Roma, on the other hand, is a bit softer around the edges, and the elegant shape is more befitting of the front-engined droptop grand tourers of Ferrari’s heyday. — Nathan Petroelje

2024 Nissan GT-R order books open in Japan

Intake: It’s too early in the U.S. to order a 2024 Nissan GT-R, but the car has just become available in Japan, and if the prices there hold similar for the U.S. market, you’d better plan to work a little overtime. Carscoops pulled out the calculator and converted the prices to dollars, and they say the base model, or the Pure, starts at $104,788, increases to $116,982 for the Black edition, $113,095 for the Premium Edition, and $144,494 for the Premium Edition T-Spec. The Nismo-engineered Track Edition is $134,510. It will cost you a whopping $218,341 for the GT-R Nismo, and $222,152 for the Nismo Special Edition.

Exhaust: Despite some tweaks for 2024, it’s amazing that a vehicle as old as the GT-R still commands such premium prices. The Japanese version of the base GT-R has a twin-turbo, 3.5-liter V-6 that pumps out 565 horsepower, and it’s attached to a six-speed dual-clutch transmission. The car still works amazingly well and has a classic look that every car-loving teenager covets, so we expect the U.S. allocation to sell out as usual. Nissan has promised the 2024 model will show up this spring, so U.S. pricing should come soon. — Steven Cole Smith

Ford recalling Mavericks, Broncos

Intake: Ford is recalling a relatively small number of Broncos and Mavericks for separate issues—with the Maverick, 2716 of the 2023 pickup trucks need work on electric circuits in the engine bay to fix trailer taillights that may not illuminate. Letters should go out to owners on March 27. Also, 1651 Broncos from 2021 and 2022 are being recalled for rear-view camera issues. Apparently, these affected vehicles might show the rear backing camera on the 8-inch SYNC infotainment system after backing up has ended and the vehicle is put in forward gear. Letters should go out to owners on May 1.

Exhaust: If you think you might have an affected vehicle, have your VIN number ready and either log onto Ford.com, or call the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration at 1-888-327-4236. — SCS

European Union: E-fuels could become a legal alternative to electric

Intake: Reuters is reporting that the European Commission has drafted a plan allowing sales of new cars with internal combustion engines that run only on climate-neutral e-fuels, “in an attempt to resolve a spat with Germany over the EU’s phasing out of combustion engine cars from 2035,” similar to the plan adopted by California and a number of other states. The draft proposal, seen by Reuters on Tuesday, suggests creating a new type of vehicle category in the European Union for cars that can only run on carbon-neutral fuels. “Such vehicles would have to use technology that would prevent them from driving if other fuels are used, the draft said. This would include a ‘fueling inducement system’ to stop the car from starting if it was fueled by non-carbon neutral fuels.”

Exhaust: While e-fuels have been most often mentioned as a way to keep ICE-powered race cars on track, there’s a groundswell of research going into the manufacture of e-fuels for street cars, too. Check out our visit to a plant in Chile that’s at the forefront of the technology. — SCS

VW responds to “Gold Rush” atmosphere in the U.S.

Intake: In a story titled “VW Says There’s Never Been a Better Time to Build an EV Factory in the U.S.,” Bloomberg outlines the reasons why Volkswagen moved so quickly to build a new plant in South Carolina to make the new Scout SUV. Volkswagen said lucrative new U.S. incentives for EV makers “were just too good to pass up when weighing to pick a partner or build its own factory to make cars for the new Scout brand.” VW will build the $2 billion factory to produce electric SUVs as part of Scout Motors, Inc. The factory is due to open in 2026 and will eventually build 200,000 EVs a year. 

Exhaust: “We view it simplistically a little bit like the Gold Rush,” Scott Keogh, chief executive officer of the Scout brand told Bloomberg, as Keogh was “equating the 1849 California Gold Rush with the federal Inflation Reduction Act that provides incentives” for domestically produced EVs. “There’s never been a better time to build a factory in America,” Keogh said. — SCS

2007 F1 champ goes NASCAR Sunday at COTA

Intake: The 2007 Formula One World Champion, Kimi Räikkönen, will make his second NASCAR Cup Series start on Sunday driving the No. 91 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 in the NASCAR Cup Series race on the road course at Circuit of the Americas in Austin, Texas. Although it is his first time in a race car in 2023, the Finland native has one big advantage this weekend: He knows the COTA circuit well, as one of Räikkönen’s 21 Formula One victories, and his most recent, came at COTA on Oct. 21, 2018, when he led 39 laps on his way to victory driving for Ferrari. He’s raced eight times on the 20-turn, 3.41-mile permanent road course. He’ll be part of the Trackhouse Racing team, joining Ross Chastain and Daniel Suarez.

Exhaust: “Obviously, it’s helpful that I know the track,” said Räikkönen. He raced with Trackhouse at Watkins Glen in August of 2022. That day Räikkönen used his skills in the rain to climb into the top 10 before a late-race accident ended his day. – SCS

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The VW ID. 2all concept car sees Wolfsburg going back to the future. On the one hand, it previews a small electric car due in 2025. But on the other hand, it thrusts elements of VW’s past into the present. How so? Its digital instruments will display cool retro graphics from Volkswagens of the past.

This is probably the best digital gimmick we’ve yet been treated to by the touchscreen-generation of modern cars and their haptic-equipped, gesture-controlled dashboards and gizmos.

It means you could call up the instrument cluster of a Mk I Golf and imagine you’re back in the mid to late 1970s, tugging at a choke lever, twisting the key in the ignition barrel and looking for the ignition lights before cranking it to life and waiting for the telltale engine-check lights to go out. Cool, right? Okay, maybe it’s just us …

It will also mimic the spartan look of a classic Beetle, while the virtual cassette player is another neat touch – one that won’t chew up your cassettes or get stuck in a never-ending cycle of auto-reverse because the tape is in a bit of a mangled state.

VW’s head of design, Andreas Mindt, said: “We are transferring the DNA of our icons into the future. The ID. 2all is therefore also an homage to the Beetle, Golf and Polo.”

Mere words in a press pack, but Mindt’s comment about DNA has some substance.

Take the C-pillar, which pays homage to the Mk1 Golf. “The C-pillar is the backbone of the Volkswagen design. In the ID. 2all, the stability of the C-pillar initially flows from the backbone into the side body elements,” said Mindt.

It, ahem, blends particularly well with the heckblende, which we suspect will be illuminated on the production version. Time to dig out that Hella rear panel catalogue from the attic?

There’s more good news on the inside, where you’ll find a “self-explanatory infotainment system with classic volume control and a separate air conditioning block”. A victory for common sense and, we suspect, a response to the less-than-positive response to the make-everything-digital Mk8 Golf and other ID models.

For now, the ID. 2all is a concept, but rest assured it’s destined for production. VW says the 58kWh battery will offer a range of 280 miles and be charged from 10 to 80 percent in 20 minutes.

The 0-62mph time of seven seconds will keep a Mk1 Golf GTI driver on their toes, but the 99mph is more Golf 1.6 LS than hot hatch.

VW says it’ll come with a starting price of less than €25,000 (£22,000), which would make it one of the more affordable electric cars on the market.

As you can tell, we dig the retro instrument panel and tip of the hat to VW’s heritage, but what do you think? Let us know in the comments.

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Via Hagerty UK

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BMW’s next M5 will be all-electric

Intake: BMW’s next-generation 5 Series is ready for launch in October and, alongside mild-hybrid and plug-in hybrid versions, there is to be a fully-electric Five for the first time. What’s more, BMW Chairman Oliver Zipse has confirmed that there’ll be an M version powered only by volts. “A fully electric Performance model from BMW M GmbH will also be included in the new BMW 5 Series lineup,” he said. The 5 Series celebrated its 50th anniversary in 2022 and more than ten million have been sold worldwide since. The eighth will be the most advanced iteration ever and a major part of the “systemic expansion” of BMW’s electric-vehicle range.

Exhaust: Building another all-electric M car is an absolute no-brainer after the battery-powered, M-badged 4 Series proved to be a huge hit. “The all-electric BMW i4 M50 shows how BMW blends dynamic performance and electric mobility to perfection. It was the best-selling BMW M model worldwide in 2022,” said Zipse. —Nik Berg 

VW’s next Golf GTI will probably look like this

Intake: VW just showed the world this cute little concept, called the ID.2all. ID, in VW speak, means “all-electric.” The smaller the number that follows ID, the smaller the vehicle. This front-wheel-drive concept previews a sort of people’s EV—if those people live in Europe, that is—which VW will reveal in production form in 2025, hopefully with a roughly €25,000 price tag. The relevant bit for the U.S.? This tidy hatch previews VW’s new design language, and given that it’s “as spacious as a Golf,” it’s a pretty fair bet that the next GTI will look similar. The ID.2all was designed in what had to be a serious rush by Andreas Mindt, who stepped in as Head of Volkswagen Design only February 1 of this year, after VW CEO Thomas Schaefer decided he’d had enough of the previous design head’s retro schtick. That said, ID.2all is quite sympathetic to the traditional silhouette of the Golf: a happy, humanoid face, a dominant C-pillar, and an arrow-straight beltline.

Exhaust: The exterior may be quite handsome, but peek inside. Looks like Mindt got the memo about customers’ clamoring for real buttons, rather than haptic sensors. A real, push-it-and-it-clicks button to adjust cabin temperature? Don’t tell Schaefer, but it almost feels retro. —Grace Houghton

“Confuse onlookers” with Audi special edition

Intake: Audi of America is offering 75 copies of what’s referred to as the 2023 Audi RS e-tron GT project_513/2. “Customers now have the opportunity to drive a version of the e-tron GT that most closely resembles the prototype car. This limited edition leverages the original design used for global prototype testing with ‘e-tron’ camouflage script on both the exterior and interior, and is exclusive to the U.S. market,” says the automaker. It’s the first Audi to offer an exterior skinned and wrapped in camo from the factory. “Camouflage graphics are often used by Audi for initial testing, and are designed to create confusion for onlookers that may be looking to capture the latest glimpse into automotive exterior design and technology before it is made public.”

Exhaust: As special editions go, this one is pretty mild—and a little confusing, alright, consisting mostly of graphics inside and outside the car. Of course the EV already has 637 total horsepower, so you really don’t need a lot more performance. Price of the GT project_513/2 is $179,900, plus shipping and a $595 metallic paint charge. —Steven Cole Smith

Honda’s big seatbelt buckle recall

Intake: Honda is recalling 448,613 vehicles in the U.S. over front seatbelt buckles that may not latch properly. A manufacturing issue can cause the surface coating on the buckle to deteriorate and lead to the belt-release button to shrink at lower temperatures. The recall covers the 2017–20 Honda CR-V, 2018–9 Accord, 2018–9 Accord Hybrid, 2018–20 Odyssey and 2019 Insight, and the 2019–20 Acura RDX. No injuries have been reported as a result of the issue, but there have been 301 warranty claims.

Exhaust: Dealers will replace the driver and front passenger seatbelt release buttons or buckle assemblies. Owners who paid for repairs related to the issue will be eligible for reimbursement. Letters will begin going out April 17. —SCS

Automotive News proclaims EV startup boom “is over…”

Intake: “…and companies now are trying to avoid a bust.” The publication found that, “Of the 10 EV startups reviewed by Automotive News, only four have enough cash on hand to cover a year or more of operating expenses, and only a couple can cover more than two years of their cash burn, according to their most recently available Securities and Exchange Commission filings.” Several, including Nikola, Faraday Future, and Arrival have identified doubt about their “abilities to continue as a going concern.”

Exhaust: It’s a tough world out there for EV startups, now that major OEMs have fully embraced the electric market. “There’s definitely a sense of fatigue,” said Jeff Osborne, a senior analyst focused on the sustainability and mobility technology sectors at TD Cowen, an American investment bank owned by Canada’s Toronto-Dominion Bank. “These stocks, putting it bluntly, are dramatically out of favor. It’s very unclear who’s going to win.” —SCS

“Right to repair” lawsuits filed against Tesla

Intake: Reuters is reporting that Tesla has been sued in a pair of proposed antitrust class actions accusing the company of “unlawfully curbing competition for maintenance and replacement parts for its electric vehicles, forcing owners to pay more and wait longer for repair services.” The lawsuits, filed on Tuesday and Wednesday in federal court in San Francisco, “allege that Tesla designed its electric vehicles, warranties and repair policies to discourage owners and lessees from using independent shops outside of Tesla’s control.”

Exhaust: Tesla joins other manufacturers facing “right to repair” antitrust litigation over alleged exclusionary conduct. Cases have also been filed against Harley-Davidson and John Deere. Both those companies have denied claims, but Deere has already lost one case. Reuters reached out to Tesla for comment, and none has been forthcoming. —SCS

You can buy Paul Newman’s Volvo

Intake: Bring a Trailer is offering a 1988 Volvo 740 Turbo wagon that was acquired new by actor Paul Newman and subsequently modified with a Buick Grand National–sourced turbocharged 3.8-liter V-6, a Borg-Warner five-speed manual gearbox, and an Aero-style body kit. The car is finished in gray and features 16-inch Gemini wheels, lowering springs, a limited-slip differential, an HKS turbo timer, a power-operated sunroof, heated front seats, third-row seating, and air conditioning.

Exhaust: Connecticut dwellers like Newman and David Letterman preferred hot-rodded Volvos to help confound state troopers who might doubt their radar readings when a Volvo sped by. The auction ends Friday, and bidding, at this writing, is up to $26,000. Watch this space; we’ll be analyzing the final result in a separate article. —SCS

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“Look out! Here comes the porta potty again!” someone shouted.

“Excuse me,” yelled the blue-hatted potty driver. “Coming through!”

He did. And then he was gone. And then he was back, then gone again, this time with six feet of toilet paper fluttering from the urinal.

If it’s a motorized porta potty, this must be Concours d’Lemons, a home for cars that time, and everybody else, forgot. It, along with RADwood, a less extreme show series for cars of the 1980s and ’90s, are situated on the first green of the formerly pristine Ritz-Carlton golf course at Amelia Island, just north of Jacksonville, Florida. On a couple of other greens are the 150 cars that make up the Amelia Island Concours d’Elegance, an event that has occurred each spring since 1996.

This year, on the Saturday before the real Concours is held on Sunday, a couple of greens were dedicated to everyman cars. Seriously, some of the Lemons cars were so nice it was hard to tell where Lemons ended and RADwood began, except for helpful signs. The porta potty—well, we have a pretty good idea where it belonged, though it did appear properly washed and waxed. It kept driving up to the valet parking area, no doubt confounding any number of serious-minded concierges.

Back to Lemons. “Would you like a gin and tonic? We’re drinking today,” said Patricia Schwarze of DeLeon Springs, Florida. Likely the pitcher of gin and tonic possibly influenced the Lemons Concours judges, who wear gold sashes, one of them reading “We accept bribes.” Her car was a button-cute 1965 Citroen, a tiny car that was designed to battle the Volkswagen Beetle. “It is cute,” Patricia agrees, “but I’m not sure the rear looks like it was designed by the same people who designed the front.”

Speaking of Beetles, Michael Shores of Fernandina Beach, Florida—everybody’s from Florida, and Fernandina Beach is just up the road—was showing his 1984 VW pickup, but it isn’t the one sold in the U.S. This one was built in Brazil and wasn’t imported to the States. “Look at the engine,” Shores says. “It’s just a Beetle engine, but stuck up front.” It is, which leaves a lot of room behind the grille.

Over there is a green 1976 Lancia Beta, an Italian that never quite caught on in the U.S. The car and its owner, Neil Claason of Jacksonville, are positioned behind a sign that designates the class: “Needlessly complex Italian.” Claason was planning to bring his 1991 Alfa Romeo, but, well, you know, the Lancia started. “Needlessly complex Italians,” he says.

Arguably the hit of the Lemons Concours was Gil Pepitone’s gold 1976 AMC Pacer. Pepitone, of Winter Springs, said he has done a lot of work on his car, which sort of goes without saying, it being an AMC Pacer.

Moving to the RADwood side, there’s David Wallens’ 1984 Porsche 911 Carrera. It has a BMX bike on top, a 1984 model that Wallens rode and treasures almost as much as his 911. “It’s all 1984,” he says, down to the specific IMSA sticker on the side window, and the vintage radar detector stuck to the windshield, which would do him absolutely no good on the drive home to Ormond Beach. The license plate is from 1984 in New York, where Wallens grew up, and the plastic license plate frame is from a long-defunct local Porsche dealership there, where Wallens rode his bike—possibly the one on the roof—one night to steal. He is hopeful the statute of limitations has passed.

Almost invisible—just as they were when they were among the most popular vehicles in America—is Jacksonville residents Graham and Ashley O’Conner’s white, two-door 1986 Honda Accord. These were once everywhere, and hardly anybody thought to save one. The O’Conners are the second owners, and the car is in lovely shape, given the fact it has 137,000 miles on it.

We are suddently interrupted by the porta-potty, traversing into RADwood territory. No problem here. This is a tolerant and inclusive bunch.

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Toyota extends GR Corolla Circuit production after high demand

Intake: Toyota has decided to produce the hot GR Corolla Circuit Edition for 2024, even before the 2023 model hits the market, which will be this spring. “We are seeing a ton of enthusiasm and excitement for the GR Corolla, especially the Circuit Edition,” says Michael Tripp, Toyota’s vice president of Marketing and Communications. “When Toyota GR fans speak, we listen and our plans are to increase GR Corolla volume and continue offering the Circuit Edition as part of the GR Corolla lineup in 2024.” The 2023 GR Corolla Circuit Edition’s standard features will include a vented bulge hood, forged carbon fiber roof, gloss black rear spoiler, front and rear Torsen limited-slip differentials, and red-painted GR logoed calipers. There will be around 1,500 Circuit Edition cars produced for the U.S. for model year 2023. Production of the Circuit Edition model for 2025 and beyond is still under consideration, Toyota says.

Exhaust: The 300-horsepower GR Corolla is the car Toyota enthusiasts have been waiting years for, and a large aftermarket accessory market has already sprung up for the car. The Circuit Edition should be a great starting point for a genuinely potent track-ready car. — SCS

Automobili Pininfarina Battista Hyper GT claims two world records

Intake: The $2 million Automobili Pininfarina Battista Hyper GT has snagged the quarter- and half-mile records for a production car. Automobili Pininfarina is a Germany-based subsidiary of Indian automotive manufacturer Mahindra & Mahindra, best known for tractors and its SUVs, who purchased the Italian car design firm Pininfarina SpA. The 1900-horsepower Battista GT, at a track in India, ran the quarter-mile in 8.55 seconds, and the half-mile in 13.38 seconds. The car began production last year and will soon be delivered to customers.

Exhaust: This and the electric Rimac Nevera are the future of supercars, like it or not. We’ve experienced the neck-snapping acceleration of the Nevera, and all that’s missing is an exhaust note. — SCS

Report: VW’s Scout may be assembled in the U.S.

Intake: Automotive News‘ European sibling publication Automobilwoche, citing company sources, reported that Scout, which Volkswagen acquired in 2021 with plans to relaunch it as an electric light-truck brand, will begin production in 2026 from a VW Group-built plant in the U.S. Volkswagen had considered contracting manufacturers Foxconn and Magna, but decided to build the plant on its own. “The decision to build the plant ourselves is available as a draft resolution and has thus been taken,” company sources told Automobilwoche.

Exhaust: The Scout is expected to be a direct competitor for the Jeep Wrangler and Ford Bronco. The fact that it might be built in the U.S., in its own plant or a new plant shared with Audi, is good news. — SCS

Hyundai divests interest in plant which may have violated child labor law

Intake: Hyundai has told shareholders that it would divest its controlling stake in a major Alabama auto parts plant where Reuters last year documented that children as young as 12 were working. In a letter to shareholders from Hyundai Chief Executive Jaehoon Chang, the company said recent audits at 29 of its direct suppliers across Alabama made it confident they are “now in full compliance with underage labor laws.” Hyundai also told investors it was implementing extensive new corporate measures, including a training program for its parts suppliers to begin next month in collaboration with the U.S. Department of Labor, to prevent future child labor violations.

Exhaust: Reuters’ award-winning series on American child labor violations was compelling. Hyundai appears to have done the right thing when confronted with the issue. —SCS

Lordstown pauses production and deliveries citing quality issues

Intake: Electric pickup manufacturer Lordstown Motors announced yesterday that it would halt production and deliveries of its Endurance pickup truck due to performance and quality issues with certain components, according to a new report from Automotive News. The EV maker said in a statement that it has filed paperwork with the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) for a voluntary recall of the Endurance to remedy an electrical connection issue that could result in a loss of propulsion while driving. The company began production of the Endurance pickup in September of last year with a goal to deliver 50 vehicles last year, plus more this year out of the first batch of 500 planned units.

Exhaust: It’s starting to become a common story among these fledgling automakers hoping to jump into the fray during the shift to EVs: Startup automaker reveals interesting component, gathers hype, holds an Initial Public Offering (IPO) of stock to raise funds, then hits the skids once production ramps up. Shares of Lordstown fell more than 8 percent in trading before the bell yesterday and continue to take a hit today. Let’s hope it can get the issues resolved in short order. — Nathan Petroelje

No more Mini Clubman after 2024?

Intake: Citing a Mini-centric website called Motoring File, Car and Driver is reporting that the Mini Clubman won’t be back after 2024. Citing disappointing sales—from 12,204 units in 2016 to just 2469 last year, becoming the worst-selling model in Mini’s lineup—there’s no point in continuing production, which will apparently end the first quarter of 2024. Mini declined to comment on the rumor.

Exhaust: Too bad; the Clubman has been one of our favorite Mini models, but you can’t argue with those sales figures. — SCS

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In a sea of fiberglass kit cars that were merely imitations, the Meyers Manx beach buggy was an innovation. Now, a new evolution of the iconic Bruce Meyers design allows fans of the beautiful ’60s runabout to build their own version, complete with a few notable updates by renowned designer Freeman Thomas.

The Meyers Manx is easily the most recognizable dune buggy ever designed, and it spawned an entire industry of VW Beetle–based clones. By stripping away the Beetle’s body and shortening the stamped chassis pan, Bruce Meyers created a nimble, lightweight vehicle that made excellent use of the Beetle’s modestly powerful engine.

Choosing the Beetle as the donor meant that there was a huge stockpile of available vehicles to use. (VW would eventually build over 15,000,000 of them.) The choice also gave performance-hungry Manx customers a huge selection of compatible, aftermarket speed parts.

An all-new Meyers Manx Remastered Kit uses modern technology to make a fiberglass body that is more precise than the original’s and includes a couple of updates for easier assembly. The dash panel is removable, simplifying the process of wiring, and features integrated tubes to house the harness. An all-new, locking trunk provides a tidy compartment for secure storage.

“It is a privilege to work on the Manx dune buggy, which is such an iconic piece of California cultural history,” Freeman Thomas says. “The goal of the Remastered program was to preserve [founder] Bruce Meyers’ unmistakable design while incorporating modern touches that make full assembly accessible to more people.”

The company is currently taking deposits for the Remastered kit, which costs $5995. Slap down a 50 percent deposit, or just under $3000, and you’ll receive the body, dashboard, and trim required to make the most basic version of the buggy. It includes your choice of 18 solid gel-coat colors, with 46 metallic colors as a $1000 option. You will still have to supply your own VW Beetle for the chassis, suspension, steering, lights, and drivetrain; but there are so many reproduction parts available, it’s likely you could complete the kit with entirely new parts.

This kit will hopefully enable a new generation of enthusiasts to build their dream dune buggy, but for those seeking a turn-key option, the battery-powered Meyers Manx 2.0 is expected to go on sale this year as well.

***

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The post Classic Meyers Manx dune buggy reborn with new DIY kit appeared first on Hagerty Media.

2024 Buick Encore GX gains new face, new tech, new trim

Intake: Buick announced a host of updates for the 2024 Encore GX, its most popular (and smallest) North American offering, which shares a platform with the Chevy Trailblazer. Updated front-end styling evokes that of the Wildcat EV concept, with a new forward-leaning demeanor, new grille, and new wing-like LED headlamps, which come standard on all trims, and the first application of Buick’s new tri-shield logo. A new 19-inch virtual cockpit system graces the Encore GX’s interior, regardless of trim level. It’s two screens—an 11-inch center infotainment screen and an 8-inch digital instrument cluster—placed behind a single piece of glass. Power comes from either a 1.2-liter (standard) or a 1.3-liter (optional) turbocharged three-cylinder engine. The former makes 137 hp and 162 lb-ft of torque, the latter produces 155 hp and 172 lb-ft of torque. All-wheel-drive is available across all trims, but you’ll have to spring for the 1.3-liter engine to get it, which also nets a nine-speed automatic transmission.

You can have either engine in a front-wheel-drive configuration, although you’ll get a CVT transmission there. Buick says production of the Korean-made Encore GX will begin next month, with customer orders coming online in May of 2023. The Encore GX Preferred starts at $26,895, the Encore GX ST $28,095, and the new Encore GX Avenir $33,195. All prices exclude the destination fee.

Exhaust: The Chevy Trax-based Encore died in 2022, and the Encore GX is slightly larger than that now-dead model. The Encore GX is going to need to pull big numbers to rally Buick from a terrible 2022 sales year here in the states. This raft of updates is a good start. — Nathan Petroelje

VW sheds light on new Touareg … and Porsche Cayenne

Intake: Volkswagen has released teaser photos and a few technical details of the next Touareg SUV before its launch in the summer. Photographed under the Northern Lights of snowy Sweden, the Touareg is still under a camouflage wrap, but the model’s HD LED matrix headlamps are clear to see. Using 38,400 micro LEDs they will project “an interactive carpet of light” onto the road ahead, illuminating the entire lane. More illuminations come in the form of the rear VW logo which glows red at night. The Touareg has further innovations including a roof load sensor that informs the chassis electronics to make the car handle predictably when its center of gravity is raised with extra weight on top. The suspension, in standard steel or optional air-sprung, has been tweaked and the interior will now include a 15-inch center touchscreen that VW calls “Innovision Cockpit”.

Exhaust: VW stopped selling the Touareg in the U.S. in 2018 in favor of the Atlas, but its sister car, the Porsche Cayenne, will no doubt get the same (or similar) treatment in its own makeover which makes its global debut this spring. — Nik Berg

Mini to build electric convertible

Intake: Following what it says was “positive feedback” from the one-off electric Mini convertible that was shown around the U.S. last summer, the company has announced that it will build 999 of the cars for this model year. “Three years ago, we launched the Mini Electric, and today one in five Mini models sold in Europe is an all-electric Mini. This success has spurred us to implement the small series of the Mini electric convertible within only a few months. I’m delighted that we can offer 999 Mini customers an extraordinary and exclusive open-air go-kart feeling,” says Stefanie Wurst, Head of the brand. The electric Mini convertible will be powered by a 184-horsepower single electric motor, with a range of 124 miles.

Exhaust: That’s the good news. The bad news is you can’t have one unless you live in Europe—at least for now. No announcement has been made about the U.S., but it’s almost certain the Mini convertible will come here eventually. Price, in U.S. dollars, is about $63,000, a lot for a car with such a short range. We drove the prototype last year, and it was a blast—heavy, yes, but with a very low center of gravity that still offered, as Wurst said, a “go-kart feeling.”—Steven Cole Smith

Daytona 500: Bowman on the pole, Pastrana and Johnson make the field

Intake: Chevrolet driver Alex Bowman put his Ally Hendrick Motorsports Camaro on the pole position for Sunday’s NASCAR opener with a lap of 181.686 mph in qualifying Wednesday. Teammate Kyle Larson is on the outside front row. The returning seven-time champ Jimmie Johnson turned a lap fast enough to guarantee him a spot on the big show, as did stunt performer and NASCAR Cup rookie Travis Pastrana.

Exhaust: Thirty-six of the 42 cars trying to qualify for the race have charters that guarantee them a starting spot in the race. The six cars vying for a spot, including Johnson and Pastrana, do not have charters, and either had to set a fast time on Wednesday (two cars qualify on time), or race their way in from one of the Duel races held tonight. Among those hoping to race his way in: IndyCar’s Connor Daly. Only the front row was set in qualifying (yes, we know it’s complicated), with starting positions for the race set in the Duels; 40 cars will start, meaning two will go home. —SCS

Renault in talks with AutoNation to sell Alpine sports coupe here

Intake: Renault is having conversations with U.S. giant auto retailer AutoNation about possibly marketing its Alpine A110 sports coupe in the U.S., says Bloomberg. “It’s not easy because we are not present in the U.S. and we have to start from scratch,” CEO Luca de Meo said on the sidelines of Renault’s earnings presentation in France. Working with AutoNation, helmed by former Fiat Chrysler CEO Mike Manley, “could take the form of a partnership that goes beyond placing cars in dealerships, he said.”

Exhaust: The Alpine brand was relaunched in 2017 with an eye toward bringing its products to the U.S. At present, it makes only the A110 but has additional products on the drawing board. De Meo made it clear in the story that if a partnership doesn’t work out with AutoNation, he plans to keep looking for a way into the U.S. market. —SCS

Ram recalling 340,000-plus heavy-duty diesels

Intake: Stellantis is recalling nearly 341,000 Ram heavy-duty diesel trucks after reports of six potentially-related fires, says Automotive News. The recall covers certain 2021–23 Ram 2500 and 3500 pickups as well as 3500, 4500, and 5500 cab chassis trucks that are equipped with 6.7-liter Cummins turbodiesel engines and prior-generation heater-grid relays, which were the focus of two previous recall campaigns.

Exhaust: Ram discovered the intake heater-grid relays on certain vehicles may overheat. “In rare instances, this condition may pose a fire risk,” according to a company news release. Vehicle owners are advised to park outside. The fix, apparently, is to replace an electrical connector. — SCS

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The Henry Ford Museum of American Innovation, in partnership with the Hagerty Drivers Foundation’s National Historic Vehicle Register, will welcome a new selection from the Register’s prestigious group of significant automobiles. This special pop-up in the museum showcases a different vehicle from the Register every six months. The first vehicle displayed was the “Ferrari” from Ferris Bueller’s Day Off. The next vehicle just moved into the display is a 1966 Volkswagen Deluxe Station Wagon, or “microbus.” The VW bus was the primary vehicle for a couple at the forefront of the Civil Rights Movement in South Carolina: Esau and Janie B. Jenkins.

Mr. Esau and Mrs. Janie—as they were known—were both born in 1910 on Johns Island, South Carolina. After marrying at age 17, the couple founded many successful businesses and began offering ways to improve the lives of fellow African Americans (and their own 13 children) while investing in their community.

After establishing a successful produce business in Charleston, Esau and Janie realized the vital need for transportation for the people of the Sea Islands to various areas around Charleston County. They purchased several used city buses and stake-bodied trucks to transport workers and students. Soon they realized they could pull double duty by providing instruction on the bus rides into Charleston. While literacy tests were keeping many Black voters away from the polls, the Esau and Janie Jenkins endeavored to use time spent on the buses to teach their passengers reading, writing, and civics to provide them with the skills needed to vote, and to begin to counter the racism prevalent at the time. Driven by Mr. Esau, the Jenkins’ older sons, and trained local drivers, the vehicles provided essential transportation and became rolling classrooms as Mrs. Janie taught adults to read the section of the U.S. Constitution required to become registered voters.

About the same time they were operating their bus line, Esau and Janie Jenkins—motivated to make a difference—established the Progressive Club with other community members in 1948 to provide support for their neighbors. Over time, the Progressive Club grew to become a community center and co-op that provided everything from voter and literacy education to childcare and a place to purchase groceries. The Club’s building, built in 1963 next to the Jenkins’ house, even housed a gas station and classroom space. Leaders, including Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., and others, participated in workshops and community meetings there to understand how they empowered the people of the community to read, write, and vote.

Throughout their lives, Esau and Janie Jenkins helped develop a citizenship school that was modeled throughout the South during the Civil Rights Movement. They helped form a credit union to give African Americans access to fair financial services and legal advice. Scholarship funds. They helped established a public high school and organize scholarship funds. They even worked to create a community health organization.

The Preservation Society of Charleston described the Jenkins’ efforts as playing “a critical role in building the base for the Civil Rights Movement.”

A Foot Solider in the Civil Rights Movement

The 1966 Volkswagen Type 2 Deluxe Station Wagon, which could accommodate nine passengers, fit perfectly into those plans. Esau Jenkins painted his slogan, “Love is Progress, Hate is Expensive” on the back panel and the contact information for the Citizen’s Committee’s Credit Union and Citizenship Projects on the side panels. According to the AACA Museum, the Volkswagen at one point carried Septima Clark, a Johns Island teacher hailed as the mother of the Civil Rights Movement, and Bernice Robinson, who conducted “the most successful and widespread literacy campaign ever seen in the United States” from Johns Island. The bus soon became not only ubiquitous in the Charleston area but also representative of the Jenkins family and of their civil rights efforts. When people saw this little bus, they knew help was coming.

As Emily Williams wrote for the Charleston Post and Courier, Esau and Janie Jenkins might remain “relatively unknown to the general public,” but “they served as examples of how to effectively counteract injustice … empowering people with practical tools like fair loans, literacy, and voter education.”

The Rescue 

After Esau’s death in 1972, the Volkswagen was parked in the family’s backyard and did not move for over four decades. As you can imagine, time and nature took their toll. Over the years, exposure to the elements, the salt air of the island, and multiple hurricanes withered the VW. Corrosion set in, the right front door rusted off completely, and the A-pillar collapsed. The bus gradually sank into the earth. Long after Mrs. Janie’s death in August 1998, the old VW bus sat.

In 2014, to honor the civil rights legacy of the Jenkinses in a permanent exhibit, the rear hatch and the engine cover were shipped to the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture in Washington, D.C. The green paint was faded and chalky, but the white lettering proclaiming the Jenkins’ motto remained.

The family purposely chose not to restore the VW. The van’s rugged character is a tribute to the selfless service of Esau and Janie Jenkins, and it’s a testament to the long road toward equal rights. In 2019 Hagerty’s Historic Vehicle Association (now the Hagerty Drivers Foundation) unearthed the Jenkins Bus to document its significance through the National Historic Vehicle Register. It took over five hours to free the Bus from the ground. To their delight, the old bus wasn’t so frail after all. But extracting it was easier said than done. It took a team of three HDF staffers, aided by Keith Flickinger—curator and chief restorer at the NB Center for American Automotive Heritage—and local car enthusiast and Progressive Club member Joe Boykin. Casey Maxon and Preston Rose of the HDF photographed the bus to ensure a complete visual record of the process, and Flickinger welded braces from the chassis to the inside roof supports, protecting the bus from collapse.

Ensuring that our automotive heritage is never lost or forgotten is paramount to the Hagerty Drivers Foundation mission. “The Jenkinses exemplify what we mean when we aspire to ‘Drive Bigger,’” said Scott Keogh, CEO and President, Volkswagen Group of America. “We’re honored to help preserve a part of their legacy so that present and future generations of Americans can learn what it took to bring civil rights to all.”

The bus was then displayed on the National Mall. Almost as much work went into preserving the Jenkins Volkswagen Bus as it would have taken to restore it. Rust still pervades the body, it doesn’t run, and the interior remains torn and worn. The staff at the NB Center for American Automotive Heritage and BR Howard Conservation helped stabilize the vehicle so it wouldn’t deteriorate any further. The conservation team could not even wash the van without causing damage—the existing paint was so oxidized that any mechanical cleaning would have caused the paint to flake. Instead, they misted the body two to three times a week with a biocide to kill the biological growth without harming the paint. All active corrosion was mechanically reduced using a combination of methods including adjustable thermal shock cleaning systems, ultrasonic scalers, and pneumatic micro jacks.

Where rust had discolored the paint on the Volkswagen, the team from BR Howard Conservation used chelating gels which removed the rust but preserved even the runs in the paint. The interior similarly remained torn and deteriorating, but after a solvent-misting treatment, the team was able to soften the brittle components.

To ensure America’s automotive heritage would never be lost or forgotten, in 2009 Hagerty founded the Historic Vehicle Association (now Hagerty Drivers Foundation). The HDF helped launch the National Historic Vehicle Register to record and protect America’s automotive past and, to date, 32 vehicles are included. Instead of just reading about these significant automobiles, The Henry Ford in Dearborn, Michigan, is giving you a chance to see them in person. The rotating selection of cars change out every six months, and the exhibit is included with admission to Henry Ford Museum of American Innovation. The Jenkins Bus is planned to be on display through June. The Henry Ford features the most comprehensive collection anywhere focusing on innovation, ingenuity, and resourcefulness in America. Its unique venues also include Greenfield Village, an 80-acre outdoor living history museum where you can ride in a Ford Model T and see the actual lab where Thomas Edison worked on the light bulb, and the very workshop where the Wright Brothers developed the first airplane. For more information, visit thf.org or follow The Henry Ford on social media @thehenryford.

The 1966 VW Bus is among 32 automobiles commemorated and documented with photographs, line-drawings, and history of the vehicle archived in the Library of Congress. Casey Maxon, Senior Manager of Heritage at the Hagerty Drivers Foundation, says they take the time and effort to save vehicles like the Jenkins Bus to help remember the impact these automobiles had on history.

“When we launched the Register we were looking for ways and strategies that we could really effect change and create a real understanding of the impact of the automobile. Since 1933, programs administered by the Federal Government and produced in partnership with historians, scholars, community leaders, students, professionals, and others have documented the history of over 100,000 artifacts and catalogued them at the Library of Congress; but there weren’t any automobiles. The Hagerty Drivers Foundation created the National Historic Vehicle Register in the model of these pre-existing Federal programs to fill this gap in our nation’s recorded history. Working in partnership with the U.S. Department of the Interior, the Foundation is able bring the important contribution of cars, trucks, and motorcycles into the fold.

Partnering with The Henry Ford to display these significant vehicles documented on the Register in this exhibit allows us to further extend the reach of the Register. If you look at institutions that have really made a difference in saving automotive history from the beginning, it’s hard to think of one more influential than The Henry Ford. Enthusiasts and the general public flock to The Henry Ford from all over the world to get a touch point on American history, and we hope this exhibit will further expose them to the story of the automobile in the U.S.”

Esau and Janie B. Jenkins spent several decades fighting to improve the lives of their neighbors by teaching them how to read and how to exercise their civil rights, among many other things. And now the vehicle they used to create so much positive change can be seen by all. Through their dedication to civil rights, the Jenkins family created a lasting legacy.

The post Henry Ford Museum to showcase 1966 VW Microbus with Civil Rights legacy and National Historic Vehicle Register status appeared first on Hagerty Media.

Production-spec electric Ram REV debuts during Super Bowl

Intake: A clever one-minute ad during the closing half of Super Bowl LVII showed the actual Ram REV, something we hadn’t seen until then. The looks are toned down considerably from the Ram prototype that was shown at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, but it’s still identifiable as something different from the regular Ram. Details on the REV remain sketchy—the website does announce that “a sophisticated front full fascia and lower grille surround complement this electric truck’s already heroic demeanor,” but that’s about it. Mostly the site shows how you can become a Ram Insider+ by sending them $100 to reserve your place in line when the truck goes into production next year, with delivery in the fourth quarter of 2024. That gives Ford and GM quite a jump on their electric trucks before the Ram REV makes its entrance.

Exhaust: It’s undeniably a good-looking truck, but so are the Ford and GM electrics. Ram will need some innovative engineering and features, something more than a “heroic demeanor,” and it needs to reveal them soon if it wants customers to wait a year and a half before buying an electrified pickup. — Steven Cole Smith

Subaru issues a “do not drive” on some 2023 Solterras

Intake: In what amounts to a re-recall, Subaru is issuing a “do not drive” advisory on 1182 Solterras made for the 2023 model year. These electric vehicles were the subject of an earlier recall requiring the replacement of original hub bolts. Subaru identified an issue with vehicles repaired at two port locations by one particular team of contractors. The teams did not properly complete the repair procedure resulting in the potential for significantly under-torqued bolts. Out of an abundance of caution, Subaru is recalling all vehicles repaired at all port locations supported by the third-party contractor. Vehicles without the original hub bolt recall and vehicles repaired at other facilities are not affected.

Exhaust: For all potentially affected vehicles, Subaru retailers will inspect the hub bolts and, if necessary, retorque to the specification at no cost to the customer, who will be instructed not to drive their vehicle and to contact their retailer to have the vehicle towed for inspection. Towing will be offered at no cost. — SCS

2024 Volkswagen Atlas and Atlas Cross Sport get a refresh

Intake: Volkswagen’s largest SUVs, the seven-passenger Atlas and five-passenger Atlas Cross Sport get a refresh inside and out for the 2024 model year, with the vehicles available in the third quarter of this year. Outside, there’s a new front-end design and greater differentiation between Atlas and Atlas Cross Sport. On both cars, a wide chrome four-bar grille is framed by LED headlights with the newly standard adaptive front-lighting system. At the rear, both models add a larger spoiler, lengthening the overall roofline of the vehicles and giving them a sleeker side profile. Atlas Cross Sport models add a more aggressive rear diffuser than the previous generation, further differentiating the two models. All trims get new wheel designs, ranging from 18 to 20 inches with machined alloy and black finishes available. R-line trims up the ante with a gloss-black grille, 21-inch aluminum-alloy wheels, and signature R-line badging. Under the hood, power will come solely from a four-cylinder turbocharged and direct-injection engine with 269 horsepower and 273 lb-ft of torque. The six-cylinder engine goes away.

Exhaust: We’ll miss the VR6 engine, but the four-cylinder actually has more torque, and towing capacity (5000 pounds) remains the same. An eight-speed automatic transmission and front-wheel drive are standard; Volkswagen’s 4Motion all-wheel-drive system is available across the model lineup. — SCS

Lucid linked with Aston Martin when AMG arrangement ends

Intake: Luxury EV startup Lucid Motors is in talks with Aston Martin, according to a new report. A story by well-connected German journalist Georg Kacher in Car and Driver suggests that a partnership between the two companies would literally electrify Aston Martin’s business, while offering Lucid expertise in vehicle architecture, design, and personalization. It would also give Lucid access to Aston Martin dealers worldwide. Why would Aston Martin need this trans-Atlantic hook-up when it already has an agreement with Mercedes-AMG? Kacher suggests that the rapid exit of former AMG boss Tobias Moers from his job as Aston’s CEO in 2022 means that the German-British relationship is souring. There’s no suggestion that Mercedes would pull the plug early on the arrangement, but an insider told Kacher, “AMG and Pagani—that’s true friendship. AMG and Aston is merely a business case with a fixed expiration date.”

Exhaust: Aston Martin’s 110-year history has been plagued with financial instability and the company seems like it’s almost always up for sale. Under Lawrence Stroll, Aston Martin has been floated (though the share price isn’t exactly buoyant) and refinanced, but it will need a strong partner in order to develop the electric vehicles it will be compelled to produce before the decade is out. Lucid comes with big backing in the form of Saudi Arabia’s sovereign wealth fund, but there’s another potential bidder in the form of China’s Geely. Boss Li Shifu is an Aston Martin fan and already owns a sizable share of the British brand which he could be looking to increase, and with Geely comes EV expertise in the form of Polestar and Lotus. —Nik Berg

John Deere debuts electric zero-turn mower

Intake: Yes, we know it’s not a car, but it has a motor and four wheels, so allow us to present the first electric zero-turn riding mower from John Deere, as the company begins a serious electric campaign. The Z370R Electric ZTrak has a 42-inch deck and is designed for residential customers, and it’s capable of mowing two acres between 110-volt charges to its sealed lithium-ion battery. Reportedly it’s almost silent and vibration-free.

Exhaust: The price is $6399, and it comes with a 5-year, 200-hour battery warranty. That’s about double the cost of a conventional 42-inch John Deere 20-horsepower zero-turn mower. — SCS

Lyft takes a hit as Uber advances

Intake: The ride-sharing service Lyft lost more than a third of its market value on Friday after a “bleak forecast fueled worries that the company’s price cuts to avoid being a distant second to Uber in the North American ride-sharing market would squeeze profits,” reports Reuters. The story quotes analysts who predicted that any additional business at Lyft would not be enough to offset lower prices. Uber and Lyft have been “locked in a battle for market share” with latest earnings showing Uber’s global presence and more diversified business were “giving it an edge over rideshare- and U.S.-focused Lyft.” Lyft shares hit their worst day on record after closing 36.4 percent lower, as the sell-off erased over $2 billion in the company’s market value and nearly all of its share price gains this year.

Exhaust: The battle is reminiscent of the Sirius and XM fight for superiority in the satellite radio business. In the end, there was only room for one, and the companies merged. Maybe that’s the future here, too. — SCS

Build the world’s smallest street-legal car

Intake: “The Peel P50, produced in the early 1960s, was the smallest production automobile in the world. And now a new kit allows handy folks to build their own replica, although this time, it’s electric,” says Electrek.co. Peel went out of business in 1965, but a new company, known as P50 Cars, has created a replica that is “much easier to get your hands onto than one of the original 50 production models.” This P50 uses a 4-kW motor that is good for speeds up to 28 mph. The British manufacturer says it takes about 50 hours to assemble. The kit starts at £10,379 (approximately $12,600).

Exhaust: Sure it’s just a light vehicle, limited in speed and utility like a road-equipped golf cart, but isn’t it cute? Check out the P50 website here. — SCS

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The post Meet Ram’s electric pickup, Subaru recalls its EV, Lucid to partner with Aston Martin? appeared first on Hagerty Media.

We recently asked about the worst engines you’ve experienced in your lifetime, and you certainly delivered. Perhaps too well, as the responses were overwhelming. How on earth could we cover all the bad engines made over the years? Our solution to this (wonderful) problem was thus: we thinned the herd down to responses that specifically included personal experiences that add a little more value than just the usual re-hashing of the same stories you’ve heard elsewhere.

Let’s get right to it!

The Iron Duke four-cylinder

Charles A Parent said that the worst engine he ever owned was a Pontiac Iron Duke that “constantly ate Throttle Position Sensors and cracked the cast iron exhaust manifold three times.”

While the inclusion of TPS sensors suggests it might be the later TECH IV design, combining that with a four-speed shifter “that was prone to locking, in or out of gear” caused him to Lemon Law the car.

VW Type 412 1.8-liter flat-four

Hagerty Community user lasersailor came in strong with this one:

“I’ve got you all beat. 1679cc flat 4 in my parents 1972 VW411 wagon with a wimpy 3-speed auto transmission. Two fires caused by improper fuel injection repair at the so-called dealer in Florida. The 2nd fire caused near total immolation. Plus it was slower than a Pinto or Vega.”

Toyota 3VZ-E V-6

Hagerty Community member John Nichols gave a very balanced perspective on one of the more desirable and durable engines from Toyota, because sometimes tearing into something can turn into quite a shock:

“I recently got involved with a 1992 Toyota V-6 rebuild. The truck had a blown head gasket, the oil was full of water. Obviously these vehicles have a huge cult following of being amazingly reliable which I’m sure is well deserved.

HOWEVER when things do start to go it will cost you and assembly must be performed like a surgical operation. Parts and pieces and shrouds, crossover exhaust converters not to mention miles of vacuum lines weird little filters and of course the timing belt alignment are all part of the problem, not to mention the famous under the manifold sensor wire.

Ordinarily working on engines can be kind of fun be it a small block or an English roadster, although you have to make little tweaks often and pay attention to detail the reward of a few hours attention is measurable performance improvement.”

Chrysler 2.2-liter four-cylinder

This one might spark some controversy, as Chrysler’s 2.2-liter engine was designed specifically for a new platform and a new automotive reality. That said, Hagerty Community member David likely had an older model, but his experiences are certainly worth a read:

“As I recall memories of the early 80’s K Car with that darn 2.2 liter I feel a tension headache coming on. That engine had more use as a boat anchor, and I remember my poor dad spent more time and dollars repairing shoddy engineering design.

Crazy but true, when I got my licence and started to drive – I took that K Car to town and the engine actually fell out of the car! The front motor mount failed in the middle of an intersection. I guess even the car itself was sick of that engine and tried to spit it out.”

I reckon that A. Raymond had it even worse, but at least the dealership asked him a rather hilarious question:

“I had a Chrysler 2.2 non turbo forced upon me as a young fellow. Driving home from work in rush hour traffic, the engine decided it was time to digest itself. (It had 25,000 miles on it at the time.) The dealership accused me of ‘racing’. I laughed long and hard at the suggestion and told them I wouldn’t be doing too much racing with 88 hp.

After begrudgingly replacing the motor under warranty, I drove it another 3 months before selling it to another unfortunate schmuck. It was the worst thing I have ever had the displeasure of having to drive. I look back now and still laugh at that ‘you must have been racing’ suggestion.”

Oldsmobile Quad 4 four-cylinder

Brian was pretty sick of the Iron Duke in his 1985 Cutlass Calais, noting it was reliable but also “noisy and weak.” So imagine his delight when the Quad 4 made a splash in 1987:

“I was so excited to get one of the first Quad 4s. More power and much quieter. My love affair ended at 67,000 miles when it had a complete meltdown out of warranty. My very last GM car.”

And then we heard from Tom:

“Yes, I had the Quad 4 in a Pontiac Grand Am. Delightful, until the head gasket failed. Dealership near my work (different state from purchase point) tried really hard not to cover the failure but, after showing how much coolant I was adding, did a cheap fix. Probably tore it down to only replace the head gasket because it failed again, just out of warranty.

At that point, I was back where I bought the car, and they repaired it again, but it still didn’t seal. Any time I got in traffic, it would overheat and blow out the coolant. Tried checking the cooling system (radiator, etc.) without finding any issues. Aluminum head must have been significantly warped by that point. Finally sold that car. Too bad as it was fine as long as it was moving.”

Honda CVCC four-cylinder

Dan T Man takes us over to Honda, a brand we don’t usually hear about in this context. But he noted that the “1751 CC engine in the original Honda Accord was known to develop a head gasket leak between the #3 and #4 cylinders every 30,000 miles.” He said that it ran fine otherwise, and learned that “when the engine lost about 50 rpm at idle it was time for another change” of the head gasket.

AJD went further:

“My first brand-new car was a 1977 Honda Civic CVCC. Within 60K miles it had eaten 3 water pumps and blown its head gasket. The head gasket had been recalled but would not be replaced until blown. It really blew up nicely and the engine never ran right again.”

Buick 3.8-liter (Malaise Era) V-6

Don’t take this as a slam on Buick’s tried-and-true, 90-degree, 3.8-liter V-6. Odds are the problems that Dwayne Wertman experienced came from the Malaise Era engineering mounted to its induction and exhaust systems.

“I bought a new 1981 Oldsmobile Cutlass V-6. The engine would ping and rattle just trying to keep up with traffic. Often times it would stall in the intersection. I returned to the dealership on many occasions. It was a really good dealership, [because] after eight months they bought back and all I lost was tax and license.”

eagerdever drives home the point of this being an issue from the 1970s and early 1980s:

“I experienced oiling problems accompanied by valve train noise and the engine light in a 3.8 V-6 in a ’79 Olds Cutlass wagon. I’d stop and let the engine cool down, and then be on my way. The crankshaft finally broke in half. Because it broke on the diagonal, the engine continued to run, though poorly. A co-worker had similar problems with that engine in a Grand Prix, replaced under warranty. Another co-worker lost the engine in his Buick Skyhawk (the Buick version of the Chevy Monza). All three were due to poor oiling.”

Mitsubishi 4G54 four-cylinder with Mazda sprinkles

While the Buick was a victim of engineering mandates of the era, apparently Mazda shot themselves in the foot with a half-baked design made with no third-party intervention!  Check out Arthur Hill’s fascinating tale of deceit:

“In 1988, as my family grew to 4, I needed to trade my Toyota 4X4 Pickup for one of the new ones with actual back seats to hold the two children. Unfortunately Toyota did not produce one until a few years later, but Mazda had a very nice looking B2600 4X4 that had back seats. This truck had the worst engine I ever had to deal with.  I quickly discovered that if you really put your foot into it under a load, the engine would stutter and almost stall. Many trips to the dealer failed to solve this issue.

Finally a mechanic took me aside and admitted that Mazda rushed the truck into production without having an engine big enough, so they used a Mitsubishi 2.6 engine instead, but to make it easier to work on for their service people, they adapted their own accessories including the carburetor. Under load the only way the engine could get enough fuel was to link both barrels together all the time.

Needless to say, Mazda dropped this truck and you never see any on the road. Terrible truck with a terrible engine, but the actual Mitsubishi 2.6 engine was probably fine in their own vehicles.”

Mitsubishi 4G54/Chrysler HEMI 2.6-liter four-cylinder

No, not that Hemi. Or that one. We’re talking about the hemi-headed Mitsubishi 2.6-liter used on the Chrysler K-car and its derivatives. Chris Harshman said that the “worst engine I ever had was a 4-cylinder Mitsubishi engine in my 1982 Dodge 400. I used to joke with my friends that I could accelerate from 0-to-35 in 12 seconds.”

Subaru boxer flat-four/flat-six

BobJ chimed in with one of the more offensive engines in modern history: the head gasket-munching Subaru boxer. But unlike other stories here, he made the same mistake twice.

“Had a 2005 and a 2010. Both blew head gaskets. Out of warranty but I complained and Subaru of America paid for half. Everyone complains about poor head gasket design & construction but I also wonder about open deck block design.”

GM 2.4-liter Ecotec four-cylinder

Hagerty Community member Rob keeps us in a more modern era, with a problem with the Ecotec 2.4-liter mill in his 2010 Chevrolet Equinox.

“Here’s a counterpoint for everyone who marvels at the reliability of modern cars. Launched just after GM’s bankruptcy, I should have known they probably cut corners on validation but couldn’t pass up a nice sized SUV that cracked 30 mpg.

It went through numerous high pressure fuel pumps. The timing chain tensioner went bad. The variable cam timing system went out and timing chain would slap like crazy when you started it. It had a bad heat treat on a pin in the cam shaft. Started burning over a quart of oil every 1000 miles and was rebuilt under warranty just before 50k Powertrain warranty expired. And I never got anywhere near 30 mpg on the highway.”

Ford 1.5-liter Ecoboost four-cylinder

Steve notes that his 2015-vintage, 1.5-liter, Ford EcoBoost engine is “absolute garbage compared to every other engine I’ve had the pleasure (or displeasure) of operating.” His example needed a new long block after 60,000 miles, and this helped him create a visionary notion about the EcoBoost’s promise of power and efficiency in a single engine:

“The reality is that you can’t have it all and ultimately lose out due to the extra complexity and stresses on the engine. I am not sure if the other EcoBoost variants are like this and I don’t care to find out personally.”

Holden Starfire four-cylinder

Mr. Nigel Utting takes us to the Land Down Under, reminding us that “GM Holden came up with an abominable 1.9 liter 4 cylinder named the Starfire.” The lack of power likely made Nigel’s comments far from the minority, with fuel economy numbers there were disappointing to boot:

“Based on a cut down six, this god-awful thing used to have a couple of seconds delay between hitting the accelerator and responding, a bit like downloading revs of the internet with a slow connection.”

Ford Cologne V-6

While Ford of Germany contributed greatly to the automotive landscape in Europe and the USA alike, Patrick Abbott reminds us that the Cologne V-6 wasn’t necessarily one of them. His example “regularly destroyed rocker arm assemblies and main bearings” while Richard Eaton was truly cursed with a lemon:

“I purchased a new, 1990 Ford Ranger with the 2.9-liter V6. Should have seen this coming when the transmission had to be replaced 4x for porous castings, and then both heads cracked under a recall. But then less than 50k miles after those heads they were again cracked sufficiently to turn the oil white in 1000 miles. Never again will I buy Fords.”

The Oldsmobile Diesel V-6

TerryTwoUtes picked up an example of an engine that history hasn’t looked too favorably upon: the Oldsmobile diesel.

“My parents had a ’78 Oldsmobile Delta 88 diesel, the dreaded 350 diesel engine derived from the gasser engine. After about 5–6 blown head gaskets and even one full short block replacement, it was finally traded off. Only good thing was GM trying to save face and all of those repairs were covered under extended warranty.”

Cadillac HT4100 V-8

Speaking of obvious punching bags, Hagerty Community member Coffeyclan reminds us all how low Cadillac went upon the introduction of this “High Technology” motor:

“The worst was Cadillac’s HT4100 engine. Acceleration was at a snail’s pace, the timing chain went bad twice, etc, etc, etc. I sold this car before the warranty ran out!”

Detroit Diesel “Fuel-Squeezer”

The one, the only, the legendary DUB6 threw us a curveball, thanks to his experience driving commercial trucks:

“In the mid-’70s, I drove longhaul truck for a fleet operator that leased their rigs. Most of the trucks had Cat engines and either 13 or 18 speed transmissions. As fuel prices rose during the embargo period, the leasing company offered up a Kenworth needle-nose with Detroit Diesel “Fuel-Squeezer” and 6 speed tranny to test out. Guess who was low enough on the pole to get picked to drive it for what was supposed to be 3 months?

That thing was so gutless – and the gear ratios so far apart – that even on the slightest grade, I was lucky to be able to manage 20 mph, loaded. Empty, it might get to 50 downhill, but then of course, there would be a corresponding upgrade. Fuel squeezing? Hardly. Most of the big Cats were averaging 4.5-5 mpg. This little longnose managed about 6.0 – mostly because the throttle had to be just about wide open all the time just to maintain forward momentum.

Maybe would have been fine for a flat-land operation, but in the mountainous WEST, it was pretty sad. My trips started taking up to twice as long as was projected, and several appointments would be missed every week. After about 8 weeks, the truck went back to Kenworth!”

Toyota 18R-C four-cylinder

Let’s be clear on one thing: This isn’t a slam on all Toyota 18R engines, only the California-spec motor aimed at reducing emissions. Pete notes that the 18R-C was never designed for durability:

“I am a car guy and former auto mechanic. By far the worst designed and engineered engine was a Toyota 18R-C. I have had experience with more than one, and they all burned valves every 15,000 miles even after Toyota did a factory upgrade to “fix” the problem (which it did not). I drove the car for 75,000 miles and did 5 valve jobs before I woke up and sold it for $500, it did have a good clock though.”

Chevrolet 2300 four-cylinder

Of course the 2300 motor would make the list, as there were three negative comments to this effect. It didn’t help that the early Vegas weren’t the most reliable dance partner, and NCB chimed in with a personalized tale of ownership:

“I owned a 1973 Vega GT. Yes, I’m dating myself. First, and worst car I ever owned. Engine overheated due to poor cooling system design which led to scored cylinder walls in the aluminum block. It drank oil! Bad valve stem seals and “rusting away to nothing in 5 years” were icing on the cake. MotorTrend Car of The Year in 1971!”

 

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Drivers named for GM’s Garage 56 Le Mans entry

Intake: A press conference that was part of the Rolex 24 at Daytona weekend addressed the all-star driver lineup for the Chevrolet Camaro that GM, NASCAR, and Hendrick Motorsports are entering in the 100th running of the 24 Hours of Le Mans. This entirely reworked NASCAR Cup Camaro will run in a class called Garage 56, a slot Le Mans organizers use to enter an exhibition vehicle demonstrating unfamiliar technology. The drivers will be NASCAR star Jimmie Johnson, veteran road racer Mike Rockenfeller, and former Formula 1 champion Jensen Button. Johnson was not a huge surprise, because he has wanted to compete at Le Mans for years, and Rockenfeller has been doing most of the testing of the Camaro, but 2009 F1 champ Button was a shocker. “As a lifelong racing fan, I have always dreamed of racing certain cars, with and against certain drivers and competing in certain events,” Button said. “In June, a number of those dreams will come true.” The trio will be testing the car at Daytona International Speedway tomorrow and Wednesday.

Exhaust: Not since the wacky DeltaWing debuted at Le Mans in 2012 will a Garage 56 entry get this level of attention. — Steven Cole Smith

Renault to electrify classic 4, 5, and Twingo

Intake: It’s not enough that Renault is launching new electric cars wearing the iconic R4 and R5 badges; the French firm is now offering kits to transform its classics to battery power. Unveiled at the Rétromobile showcase in Paris is a retrofit system for the Renault 4, 5 (Le Car), and the first-generation Twingo, which costs €11,900 ($12,950) including installation and replaces the internal-combustion engine with a 48-kW brushless synchronous motor and a 10.7-kWh battery pack. The original transmission is kept, so the classic experience of rowing your own gears is maintained. Developed and fitted by partner company R-FIT, the conversion’s drawback is range. You’ll likely only get 50 miles from a full charge and the kit isn’t compatible with rapid charging systems, so juicing up an empty battery would take over three hours.

“We are overjoyed about launching these electric retrofit kits that will enable people who love their classic cars and young people to drive in France in our iconic Renault 4, Renault 5, and Twingo, powered by electricity,” said Hugues Portron, director of The Originals Renault collection. “In addition to the circular economy created by these new electric engine fits, the electric retrofit kits offer a solution that combines the pleasure of driving with savings and reliability without taking anything away from the style and the original designs of these well-loved timeless classics.”

Exhaust: Only last week, Toyota showed a pair of zero-emission AE86 coupes converted to run on hydrogen or battery power. The plus side of OEMs getting in on the trend for electrifying older models is that the OEM conversions should, at least, come with some factory assurances. The Renault kits are supplied with a two-year warranty and have passed safety tests, providing peace of mind to owners contemplating making the switch. — Nik Berg

U.K. exhaust company takes aim at “modern classics”

Intake: Some of our “modern classics” are getting a bit long in the tooth when it comes to their exhaust systems, which likely need replacing. Rather than go straight OEM, allow us to present Milltek Sport, which has developed bespoke new OEM+ systems for the latest crop of classic performance heroes, including the Audi TT, Honda Integra Type R, Mini Cooper S, Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution (VII/VIII), Volkswagen Golf R32, and Audi RS4 (B5/B7). “These cars are now passing their twentieth birthday and will soon be considered as classics in their own right. A Milltek Sport Classic system offers the perfect balance of OEM+ design, superior quality and enhanced performance and sound,” said Steve Pound, managing director of Milltek. The company says that while some customers choose larger bore, race-inspired exhaust systems, many customers choose an upgraded item that emulates the original factory design.

Exhaust: We’ve seen Milltek products and have been impressed by their style and quality. — SCS 

Nissan all-wheel-drive system could be an industry leader

Intake: “When cruising along at 40 mph on a sheet of super-slick ice, it pays to have an ultra-responsive vehicle stability system that won’t skate you right off the road,” is how Automotive News introduces its Japanese test of the new e-40rce system Nissan will be using on its all-electric Ariya. E-4orce “combines all computations in one electronic control unit for faster reaction and more precise power adjustment.” It then channels the signal to two sets of electric motors—one for the front axle, the other for the rear. The setup allows for a wide band of power splitting, delivering up to 100 percent to the front axle and up to 100 percent to the rear. The system then blends that power distribution with independent braking control on the right and left sides. On an icy frozen lake bed, “An e-4orce-equipped Ariya sprung quickly off the start with zero slippage, braked with ease in an unwavering beeline, and proved nearly impossible to fishtail on an icy skid pad.”

Exhaust: Nissan’s e-4orce is just one of such systems being offered on this next generation of electric vehicles. The new crop of stability-control systems should definitely be on a buyer’s radar. — SCS

Ford chops prices across Mustang Mach-E lineup

Intake: Ford is cutting prices across the entire Mustang Mach-E lineup. The move is meant to compete with Tesla, who recently dropped prices for many of its vehicles as well, according to the report from the Detroit Free Press. Depending on the model, prices have dropped between $600 and $5900, excluding destination fees. “We’re not going to cede ground to anyone,” Marin Gjaja, chief customer officer for Ford Model e (The company’s EV division), told reporters on a conference call. “We’ll continue to push the boundaries to make EVs more accessible for everyone.” Ford noted that the price drops were in part because of the new tax incentives put into place by the Inflation Reduction Act. Those tax credits—up to $7500 for qualifying vehicles—went into effect at the start of this year. (Tesla’s recent price cuts were also influenced by the new tax incentives coming online.) Ford has sold more than 66,000 Mustang Mach-Es since the model first went on sale in 2021. The Mach-E’s production facility in Mexico is currently undergoing a revamp to handle increased production, and Ford says it will come back online sometime in the first quarter of this year. The goal of the revamped line is to take annual production from 78,000 units to 130,000.

Exhaust: Ford also noted that with its EV supply chain gathering momentum, material costs for the Mach-E were down, and that was another driver of the price cut. There’s good news for dealers as well: Ford said it will drop the 25-unit annual EV sales cap at dealerships, and it is also reducing the costs of that EV certification program for dealerships by $10,000, according to a report from Automotive News. Kudos to Ford for passing some cost relief on to dealers and customers alike. — Nathan Petroelje

More false alarms from iPhone 14 Crash Detection system

Intake: According to 9to5mac.com, the iPhone 14’s Crash Detection system, designed to inform authorities if the owner has been involved in a serious car crash, has caused the fire department of the Kita-Alps, Nagano, in Japan to report 134 false calls between December 16 and January 23, “mainly” from the iPhone 14 Crash Detection system incorrectly triggering as the phones’ owners go down the ski slopes. The site quotes Apple, describing what the Crash Detection system responds to—sudden speed shifts, abrupt changes in direction, cabin pressure changes, and loud sound levels—and the sensors it uses: “A new high g-force accelerometer senses extreme accelerations or decelerations up to 256 gs […] A high dynamic range gyroscope monitors drastic changes in a car’s orientation […] The barometer can detect pressure changes caused by deploying airbags […] While you’re driving, the microphone identifies the extreme sound levels of a collision.” This array is causing false triggers when users are riding on roller coasters, and when they’re skiing and snowboarding, says the New York Post.

Exhaust: Crash Detection is a feature on all iPhone 14 models, as well as the Apple Watch Series 8, second-gen Apple Watch SE, and Apple Watch Ultra. Apple is reportedly working on the problem. — SCS

Alfa wants a big vehicle for the U.S.

Intake: Alfa Romeo is working on a new large “E-segment” fully-electric vehicle to expand in the U.S., CEO Jean-Philippe Imparato said. “We will have to be in the E-segment in North America,” Imparato told Automotive News on the sidelines of the launch of the Tonale compact crossover in Japan. “We are working on that.” The brand’s U.S. lineup tops out with a D-segment entry in the Giulia sedan.

Exhaust: Alfa definitely needs more inventory if it wants to make a serious play for the U.S. The Italian brand has pledged to go all-electric by 2027. — SCS 

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Hennessey H650 package gives GM full-size SUVs 650 hp

Intake: Hennessey just announced its H650 upgrade for the Cadillac Escalade, GMC Yukon, and Chevrolet Tahoe and Suburban siblings that takes each SUV’s 6.2-liter V-8 up to 650 hp with a 2.9-liter supercharger, charge cooler, upgraded pushrods, and a stainless steel, cat-back exhaust. The company claims the H650 package knocks a second off quarter-mile elapsed times and the upgrades are backed by a three-year, 36,000-mile warranty.

Exhaust: If an Escalade-V is a bit too flashy for you, or if you can’t get your hands on one of those 682-hp luxo-cruisers, then Hennessey’s upgrade seems like the next best thing. The $27,950 price tag for the package and its installation is quite steep, but it’s $10,000 less than the step between the Escalade-V and the next-highest Escalade trim—although the Escalade-V adds more than just power. If the H650 package makes the six-two sound as mean as the “LT4.5” found in the Escalade-V, Hennessey may be onto something. — Brandan Gillogly

“Nomads” hurt automakers’ brand loyalty

Intake: A study by S&P Global has identified eight automotive brands that are subject to the “nomad challenge”—in other words, they struggle to hang on to first-time customers for a second or third purchase. Such consumers may be “nomads,” migrating from one brand to the next. The eight afflicted brands are Acura, Mercedes-Benz, Ram, Dodge, Audi, Mazda, GMC, and Volkswagen. Tesla leads the pack of manufacturers that have strong brand loyalty: just 39 percent of Tesla customers buy their next vehicle from a company other than Tesla. “Brands that fail to transform nomads into loyalists not only lose out on the immediate sale to the nomad but also [on] the future loyalty benefit they could have provided as loyalists,” said Erin Gomez, associate director of consulting for S&P Global, speaking to Automotive News.

Exhaust: Besides at Tesla, the study says customer retention is also high at Subaru, Jeep, Kia, Hyundai, and BMW. It’s critically important to hang onto customers once you make that first sale, and some brands are doing better at it than others. — Steven Cole Smith

Time-capsule Lamborghini Countach goes under the hammer

Intake: A 1990 Lamborghini Countach 25th Anniversary Edition which has covered less than 160 miles since new, despite having three owners in the last 33 years, will be a star of RM Sotheby’s Arizona auction on January 26. The car’s original bill of sale shows that it was delivered to its first keeper with 138 km (82 miles) on the odometer and that it cost $275,000 at the time. In 17 years of ownership, the Lambo accumulated just eight miles before it was sold back to Clark Motor Company in Ohio, the dealer which originally supplied it. The Countach was sold again in 2010 and lived in a private collection until 2020, when the current owner bought it. In all, less than 80 additional miles have been added to the clock since the Countach was first delivered. Its 5.2-liter V-12 engine won’t even be run-in, although the car has had a recent service to confirm all is in working order. RM Sotheby’s estimates this time-capsule Countach will fetch $750,000–$1 million.

Exhaust: In the unlikely event that the next buyer wishes to actually drive this Countach, the first thing he or she will have to do is replace the 33-year-old Pirelli P Zero tires. But, let’s face it, that’s not going to happen. This Lamborghini will simply be transported to another climate-controlled private collection and never be seen in public until prices have risen sufficiently for it to be auctioned off again. And those prices likely will rise—quite quickly. Values of #1 (Concours) and #2 (Excellent) condition Countaches have more than doubled since late 2021, and it’s not unreasonable to expect the values of these wedgey wonders to continue to climb, even if the growth isn’t as dramatic as it was during 2020–2022. – Nik Berg

Volkswagen wants a rugged electric 4×4 based on the Ford Ranger

Intake: According to a new report from Autocar, Volkswagen has revived plans to build a rugged, electric 4×4—known internally as the ID. Ruggdzz—underpinned by a ladder-frame chassis borrowed from the Ford Ranger. The ID. Ruggdzz was first revealed at a media event in 2019, although the project was put on hold in late 2020 due to the rocky launch of VW’s first EV, the European-only ID. 3. The Ranger chassis currently forms the bones of Volkswagen’s Amarok, a mid-size pickup sold globally outside of the U.S. In an interview with Autocar at the launch of the new Amarok in South Africa in December, VW Commercial Vehicles CEO Carsten Intra noted engineers were indeed working on getting the Amarok/Ranger platform to accommodate electric motors and batteries. The timeline for the debut of the ID. Ruggdzz is unclear.

Exhaust: What would such a project mean for the revived Scout brand, Volkswagen says will bring an all-electric, off-roady pickup and SUV to market here in the States? As of late last year, Volkswagen was busy courting Taiwanese electronics powerhouse Foxconn as a partner for Scout EV production. It seems unlikely that VW would also ask Ford to hop in bed for such a deal, so in our eyes, this ID. Ruggdzz is an entirely separate model. Despite Scout’s extremely American brand cachet, wouldn’t it make more sense to jump through the hoops to make its truck a global model? — Nathan Petroelje

Maserati Grecale starts under $65,000

Intake: Maserati has priced the all-new Grecale SUV. It starts at $63,500 for the entry-level GT trim. That gets you the base, 296-hp, turbocharged four-cylinder—you’ll have to upgrade to the $102,500 Trofeo if you want the twin-turbo, 526-hp V-6, or you can slot in between the two models with the $72,900 Modena, which has a 325-hp four-cylinder. For reference, the larger Levante GT with the V-6 starts at $90,700. Shipping is not included in the prices.

Exhaust: To our way of thinking, under $65,000 seems pretty reasonable to be able to tell people you drive a Maserati, but you won’t impress too many of them if you mention you only have 296 horses. — SCS

Honda forms new business division to accelerate EV shift

Intake: Honda is creating a new business unit within the company to speed up Big H’s shift to an all-electric future, according to a new report from Automotive News. The new unit will consolidate Honda’s strategy for electrification and the development of new automobiles, motorcycles, and power products such as generators. Part of the shift will also involve combining six regional operations into three larger ones: North America, China and other associated regions including Japan, and a region that covers the rest of Asia and all of Europe. Condensing regional operations aims to “rapidly develop the implementation of resource shifts in accordance with the future lineup strategy in line with the electrification acceleration,” a spokesperson told AN in a briefing. Last year, Honda said it wanted to roll out 30 new EVs globally by 2030, in which it would also be producing 2 million EVs annually.

Exhuast: Lots of corporate speak in that last sentence but you can translate it thus: “We’re behind the competition when it comes to getting EVs to market, and these moves are going to help us play catch-up.” Honda does already have a partnership in place with General Motors that will produce one EV by 2024 (the Honda Prologue) and another model for Acura (called the ZDX) due the same year, but it needs to gather steam in producing its own EVs following the early fruits of the GM partnership. — Nathan Petroelje

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2024 Mustang GT VIN 001 to be auctioned for diabetes research

Intake: Ford has announced that it will auction off the first 2024 Mustang GT, VIN 001, this Saturday evening, January 28, at Barrett-Jackson’s Scottsdale, Arizona sale. All proceeds from the sale will go to the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation (JDRF), a global type 1 diabetes research and advocacy organization. The seventh-gen Mustang GT is hardly the first VIN 001 Mustang to be sold at public auction: the first Shelby GT500, the first Mustang Mach 1, and the first Mustang Bullitt each crossed Barrett-Jackson’s block. The 2024 Mustang GT features a mildly revised version of Ford’s 5.0-liter Coyote V-8 that can produce up to 486 hp and 418 lb-ft of torque when you option the Active Valve dual exhaust that is part of the performance pack. That upgrade also nets a Torsen limited-slip rear diff, a strut-tower brace, MagneRide active suspension, larger brake discs, wider rear wheels and tires, and a new electronic parking brake that will help make novices into better drifters. The choice of transmission—manual or automatic—is yours, as are paint color and alloy wheel design.  The winner of the auction will get to option their Mustang GT however they want, choosing from a host of other options (including the performance pack mentioned above).

Exhaust: Good on Ford for using the first of this hotly anticipated model as a force for good. If past VIN 001 sales are any indication, this auction will likely bring big money. — Nathan Petroelje

Acura on pole for Rolex 24 at Daytona

Intake: Defending Rolex 24 at Daytona and series champion Acura and Meyer Shank Racing got their 2023 IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship season off to a strong start Sunday. Driver Tom Blomqvist put together a frantic last-lap “flyer” in qualifying aboard his Acura ARX-06 to claim the pole for next weekend’s 61st running of the 24-hour race at Florida’s Daytona International Speedway. The team had been the fastest all week in practice, but when a red flag came out to stop qualifying for Nick Tandy’s crash in his Porsche, Blomqvist was sitting in seventh. When qualifying resumed, there was only time for one lap, and on cold tires, Blomqvist wrestled the Acura to the lead position. The qualifying session capped a weekend of full-field IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship testing, known as “The Roar Before the 24,” and set the grid for the 61-car field that will be running next weekend. The other Porsche, driven by Felipe Nasr, was second, followed by Ricky Taylor in the Wayne Taylor Racing with Andretti Autosport Acura.

Exhaust: It was an exciting qualifying session, held on a very windy day whose weather was blamed for a couple of crashes. This is the first formal outing anywhere for the new hybrid “GTP”-class car, with Acura, Porsche, Cadillac, and BMW fielding entries. Next weekend’s Rolex 24 should be a history-making event as the top eight GTP cars were separated by only 0.815 seconds. — Steven Cole Smith

Volkswagen design chief ousted over retro designs, replaced by Bentley design head

Intake: Volkswagen is replacing its design chief, Jozef Kabaň, with Bentley’s design head, Andreas Mindt, according to company sources, says Automotive News Europe. Mindt’s successor at Bentley will be Tobias Suehlmann, who currently heads exterior design at the VW Group’s ultraluxury brand. Suehlmann joined Bentley in October 2021, having previously worked at Bugatti, Aston Martin, McLaren, and VW brand. VW brand’s new CEO, Thomas Schaefer, reportedly, has been unimpressed with some of Kabaň’s designs.

Exhaust: Interesting. In our minds, VW design has been pretty good under Kabaň—look no further than the retro-tastic ID. Buzz electric van—but Mindt is certainly a talented man. Kabaň is being retained by Volkswagen brand and will take up another position within the company. — SCS

Six-wheeled Porsche 944 is just the pickup you need on a Monday morning

Intake: A Porsche specialist in Germany spent 26 years building a unique workhorse out of a 944 and now the six-wheeled special could be yours. As its name suggests, 914-Boxergarage in Karlsbad, Germany, specializes in the 914, a model for which founder Deniz Kunze fell in the early 1980s. In 1995, however, he began work on a shop truck based on the front-engined 944. Over 2500 man-hours and more than two decades later, the world’s only six-wheeled 944 pickup was completed. This most peculiar Porsche is powered by an overhauled three-liter, four-cylinder engine from the later 968 model, and one of the rear axles is driven using the 968’s transaxle gearbox. The second axle, meanwhile, was lifted from an Audi 200 Turbo. KW coilover suspension is installed and it rolls on 17-inch BBS alloy wheels. The load bed is 80 inches in length and features oak floorboards, while the interior has been retrimmed in black leather with contrasting stitching to match the Continental Orange paintwork. The truck is road legal, having passed Germany’s tough TÜV standards, and is offered for sale at €175,000, or $190,700.

Exhaust: Who’d have thought that such a strange setup for a pickup would actually work? It’s a testament not only to Kunze’s imagination but also to his craftsmanship that the final result looks so awesome. Should you fancy something a little more conventional, Kunze also offers a”Black Forest Edition” of the 914, complete with a 2.4-liter, 160-hp motor, uprated suspension, and full interior do-over for around $80,000. — Nik Berg

Geely to turn London’s black cabs into electric car manufacturer

Intake: China’s Geely is planning a big investment to turn the maker of London’s iconic black taxis into a high-volume, all-electric brand with a range of commercial and passenger vehicles, executives at the unit told Reuters. London Electric Vehicle Company (LEVC) also aims to expand its suite of services, which include “cars arranging their own maintenance.” LEVC and Geely will seek to attract other investors to their zero-emission portfolio and would look to partner with other carmakers to develop new technology.

Exhaust: The U.K. seems to be a tad behind on electric-car adoption, and LEVC’s mission change will likely help bring some technology to the region. “We need to make sure the U.K. environment as a whole is competitive and has its position on the world stage,” said LEVC managing director Chris Allen. — SCS

Why are gas prices on the rise again? Blame China

Intake: The price for a gallon of gasoline hit a national average of $3.415 on Sunday, compared to $3.300 a week ago. One year ago, it was $3.328. In a recent press release, AAA spokesman Mark Jenkins says that China: “… is having a direct impact on what we pay at the pump. During the past two weeks, oil prices have made strong gains on the belief that fuel demand will ramp up as China reopens its economy. China is the largest oil importer in the world, and since oil is a globally traded commodity, global fluctuations in supply and demand have a direct effect on local prices, just as they always have.”

Exhaust: The good news, if you can call it that: “Retail prices appear to have mostly adjusted to the recent oil price gains. Where gas prices go from here will be contingent on what happens in the oil market this week,” Jenkins says. — SCS

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Strange, isn’t it? The car-based pickups, such as the Chevrolet El Camino and Ford Ranchero—and on a smaller scale, the Dodge Rampage/Plymouth Scamp and the Rabbit-based Volkswagen pickup—never quite caught on in the U.S. the way they did in, say, Australia. As the former owner of an El Camino (1969) and a Ranchero (1976), I find that a shame, since these “utes” served dual purposes very well—the comfort of a car, the utility of a light-duty truck, perfect for carrying my widowmaker Suzuki TM400 dirt bike to the track. Rancheros and El Caminos are sort of the opposite of a mullet haircut—business out back, party up front.

Unless it’s an SS model El Camino, the price of Rancheros and El Caminos are quite reasonable given their collectible status. Here are some examples, all $30,000 or under on Hagerty Marketplace, that would make for fun and useful vintage vehicles that could very well appreciate in value.

1966 Ford Ranchero

Asking price: $15,500

Here’s a mildly customized gold-and-black example that was used on a 5000-mile trip on Route 66, and the owner and the Ranchero returned home still friends. It has a 289 cubic-inch V-8 that has been updated with aluminum heads, Comp Cams, aluminum roller rockers, an Edelbrock four-barrel carburetor, plus electronic ignition with vacuum advance, so it should make all the right noises. The transmission is a C4 automatic, wheels are Cragar Street Pros with Michelin rubber. Inside, twin bucket seats. For that asking price, this strikes us as a bargain.

1969 Chevrolet El Camino

Asking price: $30,000

This ’69 El Camino, one of the most desirable years, already has a pair of fuzzy dice hanging from the rear-view mirror that match the handsome red Sikkens exterior paint, which has five layers of clear coat. “Lovingly cared for over the last 33 years by the current owner,” the ad says, and it looks it. The engine is a built 5.7-liter V-8 with a Turbo 350 automatic transmission. It’s not an SS, but it’s probably as close as you’ll get for $30,000.

1961 Ford Falcon Ranchero

Asking price: $22,000

By 1961, Ford had downsized the Ranchero and moved it to the Falcon platform. This is another mild custom, with the original inline six-cylinder engine replaced by a 5-liter V-8, with a floor-shift C4 automatic. A bonus: It has working air conditioning. This two-tone beauty with custom wheels also boasts a very clean interior—it’s a rare little bird for $22,500.

1977 Chevrolet El Camino

Asking price: $11,500

The last of the big El Caminos before they were downsized for 1978, this example has a 5.7-liter V-8 that has been bored .30 over, an Edelbrock four-barrel carburetor, 10.5:1 pistons, and a performance camshaft, all coupled with a Hydramatic automatic transmission. The interior needs a little work, but that’s reflected in the $11,500 price. An underrated model year.

1968 Chevrolet El Camino

Asking price: $13,000

This 1968 El Camino looks to be one paint job away from being a very nice vehicle. The interior is very clean, but there’s a little surface rust on the body and the paint is faded. Under the hood is a 5.7-liter crate V-8 that has a 650 Quadrajet carburetor, MSD ignition, and an Edelbrock intake manifold. The transmission is a B&M 350 Turbo with a Hurst floor shifter. The seller says the vehicle was built from the factory as an SS, and it has an SS double-vent hood.

1965 Chevrolet El Camino

Asking price: $22,500

This is a pretty 1965 El Camino that the owner says sat for years until he got ahold of it, freshened it up, and had it painted. It has a 355 cubic-inch V-8 with a 750 Holley carburetor, and an automatic transmission. It has Chevrolet-correct Rally wheels and good tires, the owner says, and the interior has been updated with some new parts and pieces.

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Last month, we asked members of Hagerty Media about their wish list for Santa. While it woulda been fun to see who was naughty and who was nice, perhaps discretion is the better part of valor. So instead, we’ll ring in the new year with some of our favorite moments from last year.

Who knows, maybe these picks will inspire us (or you) to seek new inspiration in 2023, or perhaps to dip back into the well that’s been so good to us in the past.

Cars and Coffee with the Family

Matthew Fink, our Branded Content Writer, said his favorite moment was when he took his Dad and son to their first Cars and Coffee with other classic car owners. He said it was an easy choice, and that moment “made all the cost and struggles to get a car and keep it running worth it.” More to the point, Matt wished he did this years ago!

Cars and Buildings

Mine was pretty easy, as I had watched the movie Columbus and always wondered what car could turn that little Indiana town into a story for automobile enthusiasts. More specifically, enthusiasts who also have an appreciation for great architecture. It took years to find the right car for that city, but luckily I found the right rolling sculpture in the Minecraft-like Hyundai Ioniq 5.

What resulted was an installment in Hagerty’s Great Reads. I am beyond proud of the hard work that went into making this happen. So if you like buildings with your cars, check this out.

Staying in the Moment

Sam Smith, our Editor-at-Large, remembered how a snapshot of an Audi race car “set off a cascade of memories that reminded me everything is forever on its way to somewhere else” and subsequently gave us a fantastic chapter in his In The Moment series.

Radical old with radical new

Eric Weiner, our Executive Editor, chose his contribution to 2022’s installment of our Great Reads where he drove a Tesla Model 3 and a Citroën DS together for a story idea that’s been simmering “for about eight years.” You can experience Eric’s Great Read here.

Barracudas and Boats

Aaron Robinson, another of our Editors-at-Large, was thrilled to work on the brakes of Mr. Bean’s Plymouth Barracuda but his time with the USS Nimitz might have been even cooler. You know, even if the Nimitz‘s connection to automobiles is, as Aaron put it, rather “tangential.”

Racing and Spectating

Senior Editor Eddy Eckart chose two moments in motorsports. What a modest guy, as his C8 Corvette Z06 review was a banger!

Anyway, Eddy loved his time as a driver, when he went karting at Nelson Ledges in 2022. While he didn’t win, he noted that “I sharpened my skills and got deeper into one of the purest forms of motorsport out there.” But Eddy went further, referencing Colton Herta’s amazing save at Indy, as seen in the video above. Wow, that was a moment to savor.

Six Ways and a Wedding

Editor Kyle Smith was actually conflicted on our question, because two of his articles “represented big shifts in my life.” The wrap-up of the Six Ways to Sunday project and the tale of Driving the Model A to his wedding were moments in time that he will hold “close to my heart for many years for a variety of reasons.”

Demolition Man

Editor and Photographer Cameron Neveu raced in his first demolition derby this summer. Cam drove a “Dodge Caravan painted like a Minion from Despicable Me. I finished second. The crowd loved me!”

Therapy behind the wheel

Grace Houghton, Associate Managing Editor, had the privilege of escaping “the glamorous hustle of Monterey Car Week’s auctions and press events” to get some quality time with a special BMW. Grace says this was a “refreshing reminder of how therapeutic driving can be, and how a moment can find you.”

Becoming Dad of the year

Ben Woodworth, Senior Video Lead, never fails to impress me in his replies for Our Two Cents. This time he gave us a true gem:

“Mine is pretty simple: Doing donuts in the snow in an empty parking lot in my crappy car with my kids giggling in the back seat.”

California Dreamin’

Joe DeMatio, Senior Manager of Content, remembered a wonderful trip in a wonderful car:

“This photo was taken near Willow Springs, but the previous Saturday morning I crossed the Oregon-California border, southbound. The section on Interstate 5 that took me up to Mt. Shasta and through the Shasta-Trinity National Forest was spectacular, traffic was light, I was behind the wheel of my newly-purchased 2019 VW Golf Alltrack, and I was headed to San Francisco, one of my favorite places.”

R/C cars and minivans

Associate Editor Nathan Petroelje said his moment was a “toss-up between overlanding in a minivan” and exploring the world of R/C vehicles in Florida. He put this community’s enthusiasm in proper perspective when he said:

“The passion that I discovered there draws from the same pool that full-size automotive enthusiasm does, but the attention to detail and the creativity that these folks put on display is truly incredible. They’re crazy fun to wheel through the forest, too!”

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Any number of cars are special because they are rare, but it takes something truly exceptional to be both common and still charming.

This 1956 Volkswagen Type 1 is exactly that: a car built for the masses, but one that offers an ownership experience that’s arguably more appealing than some contemporary exotica. It is not fast, it is not a particularly deft handler, and to the casual onlooker, it might only ever be, “Just a Beetle.”

But there’s a reason more than 20 million of these cars found homes. It’s the same reason the first movie starring a Volkswagen was called “The Love Bug.” A Beetle’s hardly an Alfa-Romeo, but it can still feel special to drive.

The Volkswagen Type 1 family can basically be broken into three categories: the elegant 1950s, the hotrodder 1960s, and the comfortable but perhaps a bit “Fat Elvis” 1970s.

This 1956 sedan hails from right around the time that Volkswagen became a household name in North America. Sales were slow until 1954, but then exploded in 1955; in the year that this particular Type 1 left the dealership, Volkswagen sold some 50,111 cars. Slightly more than half of all import car sales in the U.S. were VWs.

Why would you buy a funny little German economy car over best-selling General Motors full-sizers like the Impala or Bel Air? It certainly wasn’t prestige and luxury. This car has the popular extra chrome and a push-button AM radio, but even by the standards of the day, creature comforts are pretty spartan. The cabin is roomier than expected thanks to the curving roof, but fitting three bumptious kids in the rear for any kind of road trip would require some judicious application of the now frowned-upon martial art best described as Dad Hand.

The appeal wasn’t necessarily innovation either. When prototypes first debuted in the 1930s, the VW Type 1 was forward-looking and futuristic. By the mid-1950s, it was a bit like a black-and-white space adventure movie. Today, the car has a friendly, cheerful face, but in 1956 the Volkswagen was considered a bit homely, and its rear-mounted, air-cooled flat-four engine a bit odd.

However, by 1956, critics were already raving about the VW’s economy, practicality, and simplicity. The public agreed, voting with their wallets. After all, a sedan like this only cost about $1495. Bugs were everywhere.

Viewing this car through modern eyes emphasizes how simplicity is a nearly lost art in automotive design. It’s such a familiar shape, a curve atop a curve, but seeing an early VW out in the world of cliff-faced pickup truck grilles and fussily corporatized crossovers really underlines how good its design is. It just looks happy.

Plus there’s the added benefit that almost everyone is happy to see you. The original VW is such an icon that everyone seems to have a story about one, and you’d better get used to strangers coming up to talk to you about it. It’s a bit like the thing where motorcyclists all wave to each other, but here you also get waves and smiles from random people walking down the street. Kids too. And I would swear that even dogs seem to pant happily at this car.

A three-speed automatic was available much later in the VW’s lifespan, but in a 1956 you get a four-speed manual. Power – such as it is – comes from an 1192 cc flat-four engine that sipped gasoline through a single-barrel carburetor and made just 36 hp. Fitted with twin chrome exhaust pipes for the ’56 model year, that flat-four makes a sound that is immediately recognizable to anyone who grew up with Beetles around. It’s hard to describe, but it’s a blend of a chirp and dried pea rattle that sounds like a cricket performing an offbeat drumroll.

Thus, as soon as you start a VW, it puts a smile on your face. Engage first gear and set off. Delightfully, 36 hp immediately feels like enough. Not a surfeit of power, certainly, but not lacking either, and with enough torque to get up to speed or climb the odd hill or two.

The other surprise is how comfortable the VW feels. This is a pretty basic car with torsion-beam suspension, but because it is light and has a rear weight bias, it feels slightly floaty to drive. The steering is very light – since the front end is – and you can see how North American drivers would come away from a test drive impressed.

As usual, it’s the brakes that offer a dose of reality. They’re not bad by the standard of the day, but like many cars of the 1950s, a little forward planning and alertness is required. New cars can stop a lot quicker than a Beetle can, so you give people a little extra room.

The handling is as much a Beetle characteristic as the soundtrack. Dire pronouncements about treacherous swing arm rear suspension are really only a danger if you’re really driving a VW furiously on rough roads, and why on earth would you be angry-driving one of these? Instead, it’s just a bit of a lean, that airy-light front, and the feeling of planted traction out back. For an economy car in its mid-to-late sixties, this Beetle scarcely puts a foot wrong as a slow dancer.

Seated in an airy cabin with great sight lines, grasping the simple two-spoke steering wheel, it’s easy to understand why the Beetle remains such a beloved classic. Nothing else sounds like it does. Nothing else really looks like it. Everybody knows about it.

You can’t call it a unique experience, because by definition something that’s unique is one of a kind. A Beetle can never be one of a kind; it’s one of millions. It’s still just a really special car. The kind to make you smile.

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The post Unique? Maybe not, but the vintage VWs are definitely special appeared first on Hagerty Media.

De Tomaso’s 12,300-rpm V-12 drinks synthetic fuel

Intake: De Tomaso’s take on eco-friendly Italian design is a 900-hp track-only hypercar that runs on synthetic fuel. The two-seater, $3 million P900 is “in essence, the world’s first carbon-neutral V-12,” claims De Tomaso. There’s no electrification to boost performance or environmental credentials, but the 6.2-liter V-12 is claimed to be the shortest and lightest ever constructed, weighing in at 485 lbs, and has been designed to run on e-fuel. The whole car is just 1984 lbs (900 kg) thanks to its all-carbon construction, and its aero-enhanced body features a drag reduction system and has been developed with Capricorn, which also worked on the Porsche 919 Evo Le Mans car. No performance figures or price have been revealed, but just 18 will be built, so if this kind of environmentally-conscious motoring appeals to you, get ready to act fast.

Exhaust: It’s excessive and exclusive and would probably be irrelevant if it wasn’t for the additional attention that De Tomosa is drawing to synthetic fuels. “As a passionate automotive enthusiast, it is difficult for me to accept a silent EV-driven future,” said Norman Choi, De Tomaso CEO. “We believe that alternatives do exist, and the development of our new platform, driven by synthetic fuels, is our solution for keeping this shared passion for the theatre of combustion engines alive. This venture into synthetic fuels represents our commitment to the pursuit of a zero-emissions mobility future without sacrificing the crucial element which we all hold so dear— the soul and symphony of an engine.”  That’s something we can all get behind. –Nik Berg

Hyundai taps SK On Co. to skirt U.S. EV tax credit woes

Intake: Just months after announcing plans for a dedicated EV manufacturing plant and a battery plant in Georgia, Hyundai has now announced that it has entered into an agreement with South Korean battery maker SK On Co. to supply the battery packs for its future run of U.S.-built EVs. When the Ellabell, Georgia, plant was first announced, Hyundai declined to name the battery supplier, but SK Innovation, who is the parent company of SK On Co., already had a $2.5 billion battery manufacturing facility in Georgia, and it was expected that SK would be the partner of choice. Yesterday’s announcement formalizes that plan. Hyundai’s new plant is expected to start commercial production in the first half of 2025, and the automaker is targeting some 300,000 units annually—a big chunk of the Hyundai, Kia, and Genesis family’s goal to reach annual global EV sales of 3.23 million by 2030. The plant could produce as many as six EV nameplates for the Hyundai, Kia, and Genesis brands, according to a report from Automotive News.

Exhaust: The SK partnership moves Hyundai one step closer to potentially regaining eligibility for the $7500 EV tax credit, which under the new rules laid out in the 2022 Inflation Reduction Act, requires a hefty chunk (50 percent in 2023, 60 percent each year beyond) of battery components to be made or assembled here in the United States. Hyundai, who has quietly become the second-largest EV seller in the U.S.—lamented the new rules when they were announced, lamenting that the more stringent rules were detrimental to the automaker’s bottom line. — Nathan Petroelje

F1 boss Binotto resigns from Ferrari

Intake: Ferrari Formula 1 team principal Mattia Binotto has announced his resignation from the team, effective December 31. The Italian assumed the reins in 2019. “With the regret that this entails, I have decided to conclude my collaboration with Ferrari,” said Binotto. “I am leaving a company that I love, which I have been part of for 28 years, with the serenity that comes from the conviction that I have made every effort to achieve the objectives set.”

Exhaust: The news of Binotto’s departure is one part surprising, one part expected. The 58-year-old was expected to stay with the team for 2023. Ferrari dismissed rumors of Binotto’s resignation at the season finale Abu Dhabi. Still, F1 fanatics know that the Prancing Horse doesn’t wait for ships to right themselves. Under his signal calling, Ferrari went winless in the final 11 races of the season, as the team’s pit strategy became the subject of memes. Now that the decision has been made, fans will turn their internet musings to who may assume the ultimate F1 hot seat. Could it be Benz boss Toto Wolff or Red Bull man Christian Horner? Probably not. It is rumored that Alfa Romeo F1 team leader Fred Vassuer may assume the red throne. — Cameron Neveu

Lancia plans for the next century with “Pure and Radical” design

Intake: Italian legend Lancia is headed out of the doldrums and into a new era, boldly defining its design language for the next 100 years. That’s the message from Lancia Design Day, which showcased a weird, wheel-less concept that previews three Lancias to be launched between 2024 and 2028. The brand also unveiled a new logo, the eighth iteration since Lancia was founded 116 years ago, and says that its Pu+Ra (Pure and Radical) design motif will direct the company’s design for the next century. Lancia hasn’t forgotten its glorious history as it looks to the future, claiming that “the soft, pure and sensual shapes of the Aurelia and Flaminia will be found in the future Lancia vehicles, combined with the most modern expressions of radicality and simplicity, inspired by the language of furniture, architecture, and fashion, as well as by the brand’s sports history embodied in the famous Stratos and Delta.” The Pu+Ra Zero concept is “a three-dimensional manifesto” which will influence the upcoming Ypsilon city car, the next Delta, and a yet-to-be-named flagship. All three will be pure electric vehicles, to rebuild Lancia’s reputation in Europe. “Lancia will once again be a desirable, respected, and reliable brand in the European premium market. Today is the beginning of the new Lancia!,” heralded CEO Lica Napolitano.

Exhaust: In recent years Lancia has struggled on with a single model, sold only in its home market, but this announcement puts the company back on the world stage. “Today is the beginning of our Renaissance that will amaze Lancia fans all over the world,” said Napolitano, while confirming plans for new-look European dealerships. Sadly, the U.S.A. doesn’t look likely to feature in the Lancia’s plans for the time being. — NB

VW eyeing manufacturing partnership for Scout EV brand

Intake: VW is courting a builder for EV trucks and SUVs for their Scout brand in the United States, eyeing partnerships with their strategic partner Magna Steyr and manufacturing juggernaut Foxconn. Automotive News cites discussions with VW employees regarding the possible tie-up with Foxconn, a Taiwanese manufacturing company that recently took over production for Lordstown Motors in Ohio. That factory will also make the Fisker Pear, but Foxconn was previously teasing a second plant in Wisconsin for a yet-to-be determined vehicle, perhaps for Volkswagen/Scout or for their prototype electric Model B crossover and their Model V pickup.

Exhaust: Only time will tell how VW proceeds, be it with a trusted partner or a tech company: both suppliers are looking to increase their footprint in the United States presumably because of the incentives set in place with the Inflation Reduction Act. VW’s Chattanooga assembly plant likely isn’t suitable for a dedicated EV platform (yet), so working with a third party will quickly secure a foothold in America’s growing EV market. Will Foxconn’s recent missteps with iPhone production in China have any impact on VW’s decision? Corporations usually look beyond the news cycle when hooking up with a partner, so don’t bet on it. — Sajeev Mehta

California earmarks $1B for medium- and heavy-duty vehicle charging

Intake: We told you yesterday that Tesla is ready to deliver its first electric 18-wheeler tractors later this week: Now comes word from the Los Angeles Times that California Public Utilities (CPU) is dropping $1 billion on a vehicle electrification charging project, with most of the money earmarked to accelerate the number of midsize and heavy-duty trucks on the state’s roads. The Times says that about 70 percent of the funds “will go to charging medium- and heavy-duty vehicles, which combine to account for a disproportionate amount of greenhouse gas emissions” in the transportation sector. “It’s the highest priority,” (CPU) Commissioner Clifford Rechtschaffen said. “We have very stringent state goals established by the Air Resources Board to electrify medium- and heavy-duty trucks and they need charging infrastructure in order to electrify their fleets.”

Exhaust: Rechtschaffen is correct, but depending on who you listen to, $1B is a ways off from the sort of monetary investment that will make a real difference in the near-term. Without a way to recharge on the road, the electric semi-truck market will be confined to routes that bring the trucks home every night to recharge. – Steven Cole Smith

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Despite their intelligent interior packaging, friendly driving dynamics, and sensible price tags, many of Volkswagen’s latest products have failed to wow in one key area: infotainment.

In a recent interview with CAR magazine at the 2022 Los Angeles Auto Show, VW’s CEO Thomas Schäfer admitted that the company’s notoriously frustrating, touch-sensitive displays and slide controls have failed to meet expectations. He made it clear that fixes were in the works.

“In this rush to create these vehicles to be quick off the mark and so on, the team had come up with different ideas,” Schäfer told CAR. “We’ve got feedback from customers, we’ve [got] feedback from clinics, and from journalists … They say, “You know this is not good. You’ve got to improve this.”‘

The system in question is known as MIB3, which VW announced in July of 2020. It’s currently featured on models such as the ID.4 electric SUV, the Golf GTI, and the Golf R, and introduces modern amenities like wireless CarPlay, standard USB-C ports, emergency stop, and “partially automated” driver assistance from 0 to 95 mph.

It also introduced capacitive sliders to adjust stereo volume and cabin temperature. (In contrast to dials or switches, which respond to physical manipulation, capacitive controls respond to the touch or swipe of a finger.) Fitted side by side in a single groove below the main touchscreen, these sliders aren’t illuminated. Are you increasing the fan speed or cranking the stereo volume? In the night, it’s nearly impossible to tell until after you’ve swiped.

We’ve had more than a few run-ins with the MIB3 system, and most have left us frustrated. Associate managing editor Grace Houghton puts it plainly:

“I though you could only get road rage while driving … until I met the Mk. 8 GTI. While sitting in a parking spot in the full sun, I accidentally shut off the entire climate control system. Had to consult the owner’s manual in the glovebox to turn it back on.”

MIB3’s central touchscreen also features an unintuitive menu structure, hiding useful and frequently used features behind several (sometimes redundant) submenus.

Complaints about the system grew so loud that VW’s board began to convene monthly to check the progress on the fixes.

Relief should arrive soon, according to Schäfer. “The new 3.0 software is coming now,” he said. “It will not be the [fix for the] sliders and hardware, but the software will be a tremendous step up in the next few weeks.”

Illuminated sliders will follow, set to arrive in the next 18 months or so.

The sliders aren’t the only one of VW’s new-fangled features to draw the ire of customers and a subsequent fix from the manufacturer.

Earlier this fall, Schäfer announced via LinkedIn that VW would bring real buttons back to its steering wheels, replacing the existing (and often infuriating) touch-sensitive controls. In his interview with CAR, he hinted that a new Tiguan will be the first vehicle to feature the new steering wheel. The current Tiguan debuted in 2016, and the next-generation car is expected to arrive sometime in 2023.

The steering wheel buttons may be en route, but changing something as complex as the infotainment system when you’re a multinational conglomerate like VW is not easy.

“With a company our size, to change [the sliders, buttons, and infotainment system layout] into something completely different is a monumental task,” Schäfer admits. “You have to change 100 tools and so many suppliers globally.”

Tough or not, change must come. As Volkswagen races to fill out an electric portfolio for the coming decade, getting the infotainment right—from slider to button to touchscreen—is pivotal.

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Imagine folding yourself into a giant clothes ­dryer and switching on the machine. Suddenly, you’re in the living and breathing, banging and clanging belly of a mechanized beast. The sheetmetal drum buzzes and dances around you, the din spiking from tolerable to torturous and back, like a sound meter in Deep Purple’s recording studio. The jouncing and pounding of your own personal Tilt-a-Whirl of hell is incessant—crazy-making, actually. But wait, you’re not some loon in a commercial dryer, you’re some loon in an Austin Mini Cooper S.

Don’t take my word for what it’s like; ask Silicon Valley manufacturing engineer Tom Lofgren, who owns the lovely Austin shown here. He might laugh, but he’d likely not disagree. Because the Morris Mini-Minor—aka the Austin Mini—is really the biggest, best little boombox on wheels. Open the driver’s door and just try to get in. We dare you! Lofgren, who joined us for a day’s driving in the San Francisco area, stands over 6-foot, 4-inches in his size 12 kicks. He has to enter his Austin Mini Cooper S by first jutting his right foot and knee past the steering wheel, then bending himself into the car. Which, by the way, has plenty of headroom.

On a cool, clear spring morning—ideal but hardly guaranteed in Fog City—Lofgren and 1967 Volkswagen Beetle owner Sherman Van Lieu met in the lobby of a Burlingame, California, hotel, not far from San Francisco International. We brought together these gentlemen and their size XS classics to celebrate two 1960s counterculture icons in the epicenter of 1960s counterculture. From beatniks reading poetry in bookstores to the psychedelic roadshow down at the corner of Haight and Ashbury, this was the city at the heart of the hippie revolution. And these were two of the cars of that revolution, so compact and ascetic compared with the chromed schooners of middle-class aspiration and conformity that so offended the counterculture.

But it’s not the ’60s, it’s 2022, and compared with the Teslas and BMWs populating the city’s parking lots today, the Beetle and Mini looked like die-cast Dinky Toys. Lofgren and Van Lieu had never met, but they were already bros by association—as they would shortly discover. Meanwhile, the inimitable and plucky Mini, which debuted in 1959 and lasted in series production in three different versions—Mk I, Mk II, and Mk III—until 2000, was designed not for hippies but for the English working classes. Its cute-as-a-button looks, usefulness, and humility endeared itself to buyers who had lived through the Depression and one or both world wars. And its improbable outright victories in the Rallye Monte-Carlo in 1964, ’65, and ’67, after race-tuning by John Cooper, made it a legendary giant-killer. Which was really something for a car not drastically larger than a sow bug.

It’s funny that the lowly roly-poly bug should come up because the Mini pretty much owes its existence to one—the Volkswagen Beetle, that is. Wartime was partly responsible for both, and although we regard the Mini and the Beetle as Hippie Generation fashion statements here in America, their shared genesis was far less sunny and steeped in real need. The Volkswagen was designed before World War II, but not produced in huge volume until the ragtag remains of German manufacturing went into phoenix mode. Postwar, Great Britain owned the rights to Volkswagen production, as the Wolfsburg headquarters was in the British occupation zone. Despite chronic materials shortages, VW managed to start assembling cars in 1945, and it’s reported that, so soon after the war ended, some German soldiers appeared for work in military uniform—presumably the only clothes they owned.

Like the later Austin Mini, the Beetle was designed to do the most with the least. Its rear engine, in air-cooled opposed-four layout, allowed maximum interior space and a flat floorpan, which made the Beetle an ideal people mover. It spawned the Type 2 Transporter (aka “microbus”) in 1950, the Single Cab pickup in 1952, and the Double Cab variant in 1953. Soon, the viability of the Beetle, and its benefit to the German economy, inspired English leadership to produce a similar car on home soil. Enter Alec Issigonis, born to a British-Greek family that immigrated to England in 1923. Innovative from a young age, he became a Morris engineer at 30 and helped develop the 1948 Morris Minor, the Mini’s predecessor.

But young Issigonis’s opus was yet to come: the 1959 Mini-Minor, hurried into prototype form in 1957 thanks to fuel rationing brought about by the Suez Canal crisis of ’56. The car is a unibody box of uncommon simplicity. Four-cylinder engines from 848 cc to 1275 cc inhabited the engine bay, all turned sideways and driving through a transaxle sharing a deep iron case with the engine. The inspiration was from motorcycles, and the Mini inspired Mr. Lamborghini in creating the Miura. Despite the Mini’s formal grille, the radiator nestles between the nose of the engine and the left inner fender, with a multiblade fan pulling cooling air through the coils. The four-speed gearbox gets rowed via a steel rod and a floor-mounted, sprightly lever. Though never selling in the numbers of the Beetle, the Mini chased the same frugal customers in the U.S. from 1960, when it first appeared as the 35-hp Austin 850, until 1967, when the last 76-hp Cooper S yielded to new federal safety and emissions regulations.

Our run first took in the Marina District and the oceanfront, rattling down crooked Lombard Street and over to Chinatown for lunch. Throughout, the Cooper S was energetic; I remember seeing them at Riverside International Raceway in SoCal in the 1960s, slinging around Turn 6 (occasionally on two wheels) and haranguing much larger production cars with the aggressiveness and wile of a rabid terrier. In the city, the big greenhouse of the Mini offers terrific visibility and the most effortless parking this side of a Vespa scooter.

In a lapse of good judgment, Van Lieu handed me the keys to his Beetle, then allowed me to slide behind the wheel for our next drive stint. Comparatively, the Beetle is a luxury car. The seats are thick and supple, the sound attenuation is way better, all gears are synchromesh, and the ride quality on its 15-inch wheels (and torsion bar suspension) is vastly better.

The experiential differences crystallized as soon as I jumped from the Austin to the Volkswagen. The Beetle is a creampuff cruiser in comparison with the Cooper S. The VW body’s insulative properties far exceed those of the Mini, and the engine and driveline noise and vibration, separated from the cabin by a back seat and a firewall, seem more like a distant drumming than an immediate, in-your-face fracas. Quite frankly, the humble Volkswagen, the most iconic “people’s car” of the 20th century, feels like a luxury sedan compared with the Mini.

Lofgren has been a car guy since childhood and owns Triumph TR4s and TR6s, a Daytona Coupe replica, a Series I Jag E-Type, and this Cooper, among others. “There was no ‘car think’ in my family until my generation, but it still started early for me,” Lofgren said. “My younger brother and I were into Hot Wheels and Matchbox cars and would drive them on the Oriental carpets, using the patterns as lanes,” he recalled. “The first car I worked on was my parents’ 1971 VW Super Beetle, and the first car of my own was the TR6—I bought one at 18 and still have it.” Lofgren holds a mechanical engineering degree from Stanford. “Most tech people have no automotive skills,” he mused. Today, with retirement in sight, he and his wife work around 25 hours a week on their collection.

Lofgren likes the ’67 Mini Cooper S because it’s the highest performance and purest expression of John Cooper’s original intent, and it features a smaller and more delicate grille and taillights than the Mk II that debuted for ’68. This particular year also has BMC’s Hydrolastic suspension, which uses two pairs (one left, one right) of hydraulic fluid–filled rubber bags—essentially, springs and dampers inventively combined as one. Hitting road irregularities pumps the fluid aft and fore, much like water is traded between locks of the Panama Canal.

Van Lieu has long been a Volkswagen man, although he didn’t start that way. “My father was a Cadillac man,” explained the Michigan native. “When I was 9, he had a ’59 model, the kind with the roof extension; it was midnight black with a white interior. He was really into that car. In 1970, my sister needed a car and bought a new VW, but it wasn’t what she wanted, so my father told me to take over the payments.” (Sherman had been driving a canary-yellow ’64 Chevelle Malibu SS with a 327, a four-speed, and black bucket seats.)

“After high school, I got into the anti-establishment period with long hair and bell-bottoms,” continued Van Lieu. “Ecology was the thing then and the Malibu was a gas-eating car, while the Bug was a social and political statement. It was not luxurious, it had a horrible heater, and the windows froze up, but it was easy to keep up—the motor drops off with four bolts. Plus, it was a ‘people’s car,’ not my father’s yacht.”

Van Lieu appreciates the ’67 model, his fifth Volkswagen in 52 years, for several reasons, including its 12-volt electrical system, the metal dashboard, low-back seats, flat windshield, small taillights, and classic chromed bumpers.

The sight of two lanky dudes (at 6-foot-2, Van Lieu similarly towers over his Beetle) and their corgi-size cars was immediately intriguing—and so was learning that for the day they’d offered us with their cars, their tastes in how to use them also matched. Lofgren, of Swedish descent and impossibly tall for the Cooper S, and Van Lieu, a retired contractor with a penchant for ’60s Beetles, were impeccably aligned. Both like the essential honesty of their cars. Both love working on and sharing them. And both wanted their day with us configured the same way—with a maximum of low-stress, scenic driving and a minimum of time doing stop-and-go in the city.

Shy of Lofgren’s stance and sporting a Pencil Neck Geek physique and size 11 hoofs, I found wriggling into the Mini manageable. And once inside, surprise! There’s a ridiculous amount of space. There is no dashboard, per se, just a compact, centrally mounted instrument panel with a speedo, temp, fuel and oil gauges, and a modest bank of switches. The steering column is even adjustable—if you have a couple of combination wrenches. Seatbelt on, pull the choke knob, and turn the key. The tuned four doesn’t just start. No, firing this motor up, inside this cabin, is an immersive experience. The resonant frequency, the hollow and uninsulated unibody, the free-flowing exhaust system, and the low-restriction intake all take you to a loud, tinny, vibrating place. It’s like an all-out race car—blip the throttle, and the body buzzes in time with the revs.

The shift knob is the size of a mouse, as is most everything else on Planet Mini, including the exterior dimensions (the 56-inch-wide, 10-foot-long Austin would squeeze into a long-bed Detroit pickup with its tailgate down), the 10-inch wheels and tires, and, inside, the pedals. The Austin has a nonsynchro first gear, and I found the gear changes required deft operation of the throttle, clutch, and gear lever to avoid unpleasant grinding. But all of this mattered not once the Mini was rolling. Right then and there, the little Cooper S turned into a raging roller scooter, accelerating hard and responding to control inputs with eye-blink rapidity.

Honoring Van Lieu and Lofgren’s common interest in avoiding urban traffic, we eventually threaded our way toward the Golden Gate Bridge, arriving before the afternoon northern exodus to Marin. The cars wheeled across the famous 1.7-mile-long suspension bridge, the hellhole Alcatraz penitentiary to the right and 5100 miles of open Pacific Ocean to the left. Still marveling at the relative luxuriousness of the Volkswagen, I nearly missed the exit for the Marin Headlands. The narrow loop road here, much of it blissfully one way, wanders 12 miles atop and near the steep headlands and offers some of the most stunning views this side of Yosemite. But it’s not for foggy-headed drivers.

That’s because, after snaking upward to Fort Barry—a 1905 artillery battery built to safeguard the crucial Golden Gate—the road crests, feigns hard left, and plummets south in an alarming 18 percent grade. That’s three times steeper than any interstate and approaches the 30-degree pitch of San Francisco’s Chestnut Street and others, where Steve McQueen’s Mustang 390 GT took flight in Bullitt.

Brakes are important here. The Volkswagen front-disc conversion felt linear, predictable, and sure while ­threading down this serious part of our route. As well they should have, because it’s easy to imagine plowing off-road at the bottom and then sailing, Thelma & Louise style, off the edge and 400 feet down into seething, sharky waters. But this composed descent changed when we swapped rides and repeated the route, this time with me steering the Mini. “Better use second gear,” Lofgren said, seriously. “I’m not sure about the brakes. Oh, and hold the shift lever so it won’t jump out of gear.” With the engine whinnying and Lofgren looking uncomfortable in the right seat, the lovingly restored Cooper—Lofgren spent three years personally redoing everything from paint to metalwork, from engine to headliner—safely made the grade.

Following were a delicious few miles of secluded, beautifully paved, scenic, narrow and twisty road, all minutes from San Francisco. We were lucky, as the clear skies and benevolent temps we enjoyed are often redacted by petulant, clammy fog, but not today. At the photographer’s behest, finally we headed back to the Golden Gate and Horseshoe Bay, notable for its worm’s-eye view of the famous bridge soaring overhead. He wanted pictures, and I wanted context and perspective, essential for any story worth telling.

For some mysterious reason, a mere 4 miles from downtown San Francisco, the small bay and its attendant parking lot were virtually empty. So, with some daylight left and nearby quiet roads available, a precious missing piece formed, suddenly crisp and strong: The owners should trade cars!

Van Lieu, who had never driven any Mini, wedged himself inside Lofgren’s car and drove off. Upon returning, Van Lieu looked dumbfounded. “Deafening!” he exclaimed. “When it first started, the noise level was just tremendous, and I didn’t expect that much vibration. Then it was hard to find the brake and the clutch, because they’re so close together.” (Sherman wears size 11½ cowboy boots.) “The headroom was fine, but the rough ride and seating comfort were probably a little hard for me,” he concluded. “Years ago, I thought about getting one, but if they all sound like that when you’re driving, I don’t think I’d want it.” I’d sought clarity and there it was. Respect.

Next up, Lofgren hadn’t driven a Beetle in decades. “This is so civilized!” he said with a laugh. “It’s quiet and relatively smooth, not busy like the Mini. It brought back lots of memories of driving my parents’ Super Beetle when I was in high school. The steering is light and direct, and overall, this car seems better than our old one. Plus, it’s easier to drive and probably more people would feel comfortable in it than in the Mini, which is more raw than refined.”

Those 10 sentences from two owners may contain all you need to know for a potential Mini Cooper S or Beetle purchase decision. So, which is it? There’s no right or wrong answer, of course, only your own. Or, as they used to say around San Francisco, the answer, my friend, is blowin’ in the wind.

***

1967 Volkswagen Beetle

Engine: 1.5-liter H-4

Power: 53 hp @ 4200 rpm

Torque: 78 lb-ft @ 2600 rpm

Weight: 1700 pounds

Power-to-weight: 32.1 pound/hp

0-60 mph: 17.4 sec

Top speed: 84 mph

Price new: $1639

***

1967 Austin Mini Cooper S

Engine: 1.3-liter I-4

Power: 78 hp @ 5800 rpm

Torque: 80 lb-ft @ 3000 rpm

Weight: 1402 pounds

Power-to-weight: 18 pound/hp

0-60 mph: 11.5 sec

Top speed: 100 mph

Price new: $2341

***

Strong Sellers: Beloved by many, both the Austin Mini and Volkswagen Beetle were sold in vast quantities­—5.3 million Minis were produced from 1959 to 2000, and 21 million Beetles were produced from 1946 to 2003.

Racing Credentials: With tuning help from Formula 1 constructor John Cooper, the Mini became a racing success, winning the challenging Monte Carlo Rally in 1964, 1965, and 1967.

Value Proposition: The Hagerty Price Guide #3 valuation pegs a ’67 Beetle at $21,900 and a ’67 Mini Cooper S at $33,600. Even adjusting the original MSRPs for inflation, both cars have gained significant value over the years (+51% for the Beetle, +62% for the Mini).

This article first appeared in Hagerty Drivers Club magazine. Click here to subscribe and join the club.

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GMC Hummer EV recalled for improper battery pack sealing

Intake: GMC is recalling 700 Hummer EVs after two customer cars and one test vehicle suffered a failure where water entered the battery pack, causing one vehicle to stop driving, and two others to refuse to start. The recall will address “improper urethane sealing” of the battery pack, and owners of affected vehicles will receive recall information by mail. GMC will repair the vehicles at no cost, but so far there’s no solution set for these early production EVs. Until a fix is determined, GMC has also stopped new deliveries of Hummer EVs.

Exhaust: This recall has thrown a bit of a damper on GMC’s big all-electric debut. The solution to fixing the battery pack might be rather extensive, we’ll have to wait and see. General Motors has a lot riding on its Ultium platform, literally and figuratively, as the Cadillac Celestiq, Chevrolet Silverado EV, and GMC Sierra Denali EV will all use similar technology. The bright side is that the improper sealing was caught early and the issue hasn’t resulted in any fires, accidents, or injuries. —Brandan Gillogly

Barbie tricks out a Maserati for Neiman Marcus

Intake: Mattel and Maserati have come together to create a pair of Barbie Grecale SUVs, and one will be sold as part of the 2022 Neiman Marcus Fantasy Gift range. Barbie pimped her pink ride through Maserati’s Trident Fuoriserie program, adding acid yellow accents, and her famous signature to the exterior, which also features an iridescent top coat that creates a rainbow effect in direct sunlight. Inside, the black leather cabin is set off with pink stitching and monogrammed headrests. Powered by a 530-hp Nettuno V-6 engine, Barbie’s Grecale is offered in Trofeo specification, and priced at $330,000, with ten percent of the proceeds going to the Barbie Dream Gap Project. Maserati will reveal plans for the second car in 2023.

Exhaust: This isn’t the first Maserati to be sold through Neiman Marcus, and neither is it the only full-scale Barbie car. In 2004, the swanky store offered 60 Quattroportes for sale at $125,000 apiece in its Holiday Catalog, and in 2015 it followed up with 100 Ghibli S models, to mark Maserati’s centenary, priced at $95,000. Meanwhile, for her own 50th birthday in 2009, Barbie had two carmakers vying for her attention. Volkswagen unveiled a new Beetle with a motorized vanity in the trunk at a party in Barbie’s real-life Malibu Dream House, while Fiat also honored her with a hot pink 500 at the Milan Monza auto show. —Nik Berg

The Lotus Eletre will drive you round the ‘Ring

Intake: Lotus is developing its autonomous driving features so that the new Eletre hyper-SUV will be able to pilot owners around the Nürburgring at full tilt. The Eletre’s suite of deployable LIDAR sensors are standard fit and mean that it should be ready for “end-to-end autonomous driving” when regulations around the world allow, but until that time racing circuits such as the ‘Ring might offer the only opportunity to see just what the Eletre can do on its own. Lotus has also announced more detailed spec, and European pricing, while stating that “thousands of customers around the world have placed deposits to secure their Eletre.”

Three versions will be available with a choice of two powertrains. The Eletre and Eletre S come with a 603-hp single-speed setup providing a range of up to 373 miles and the flagship Eletre R offers a 905-hp dual-speed arrangement with a 304-mile range. That dual-speed setup cuts the 0-62 mph run down to under three seconds, versus the single-speed’s sprint time of 4.5 seconds. All Eletres come with a 112 kWh battery pack with the capacity to charge from 10-80 percent in 20 minutes on a rapid charger.

On-board tech includes sophisticated navigation with predictive routing to steer you on the most energy-efficient route, and there’s a Dolby Atmos entertainment system with KEF speakers. Six different interior options will be offered, including those with sustainable alternatives to leather. The entry-level Eletre will cost €95,990 ($96,378) in Europe, with the S costing €120,990 ($121,479) and the R €150,990 ($151,600). U.S. sales will begin in 2024, and local prices will be revealed nearer the time.

Exhaust: Whether in racing or on the road, Lotus has always been an innovator and the amount of tech offered in the Eletre is mind-blowing. It makes Ferrari’s V-12-powered Purosangue look like a dinosaur, although the world may not be ready for it. It could be many years before governments permit true autonomous driving, but at least your Eletre will be able to lay down some laps in the meantime. – NB

Spied: Next AMG GT may add GT 53 model with 671-hp hybrid four-pot

Intake: Spy photographers have captured a camouflaged test mule of what appears to be a Mercedes-AMG GT sports car equipped with a plug-in hybrid drivetrain. At the rear of the mule, you can see a small flap that likely shields a charge port. The low-slung sports car is rumored to be hiding a version of AMG’s plug-in hybrid four-cylinder, the advanced powertrain set to replace the twin-turbo 4.0-liter V-8s in several performance models. It’s already slated for the new 2024 C 63 S E Performance, in which it produces a stout 671 hp and 752 lb-ft of torque. If the AMG GT adds this powertrain it may name the model “53 S E Performance,” indicating a mid-level spec below the top-dog 63. Design differences on the GT 53 S E Performance are minor, but those exhaust pipes are rounded here, whereas they’re usually squared-off on the big-boy variant. The braking hardware looks plenty capable of arresting major speeds Expect to hear more about the upcoming AMG GT in the coming months.

Exhaust: When we heard that gas-only AMGs were coming to an end, we were a little bummed. However, the kind of power figures that the crew in Affalterbach may coax from two liters of displacement and some batteries is admittedly titillating. The prospect of AMG’s slinky two-door coupe with a lighter engine over the nose and more weight mounted mid-ship sounds like a wicked way to carve winding roads. We’re looking forward to seeing this one unveiled in full. — Nathan Petroelje

Limited-run Golf GTI celebrates 40 years of hot-hatch hijinks

Intake: Volkswagen has announced a special 40^th Anniversary Edition of its beloved Golf GTI. Just 1500 units will be built, all exclusively for the U.S. market. They’ll be split roughly down the middle between the six-speed manual and the 7-speed automatic. Four colors are offered, two of which—Tornado Red and Urano Gray—are exclusive to this special edition. Other design flourishes include a black roof and mirror caps, 19-inch gloss black wheels with red pinstripes borrowed from the European Golf GTI Clubsport 45 model, and special “40” badging inside and out. Performance-wise, the 40^th AE is based on the lower-rung GTI S trim, but it adds 235/35 performance summer tires, DCC adaptive dampers (which are standard on the top-spec GTI Autobahn trim), and speed-sensitive steering. Power comes from the same EA88 2-liter turbocharged four-cylinder, good for 241 horsepower and 273 lb-ft of torque to the front wheels. The Golf GTI 40^th Anniversary Edition will go on sale sometime in early 2023. Pricing, including the $1095 destination fee is as follows: $34,150 for the manual-equipped model and $34,950 for automatic-equipped model.

Exhaust: Forty years is a long time for a nameplate to endure, especially one that’s oriented towards the enthusiast more than the average Joe. While all other variants of the Golf are no longer available in the states, the GTI soldiers on. Here’s to many, many more years of one of our favorite hot hatches ever. — Nathan Petroelje

EV tax credit rules leave little wiggle room for South Korean, European automakers

Intake: Foreign automakers, which have been lobbying against stringent limits on the United States’ electric-vehicle tax credit, have received some bad news from Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen. “I’ve heard a lot about the concerns of the Koreans and Europeans … and we’ll certainly take them into account,” Yellen said Monday. But? “The legislation is what it is. We have to implement the law that was written.” That means the current $7500 consumer tax credit is available only on North American-built EVs. According to the Inflation Reduction Act, after 2023 the tax credit will not be given to any automakers that use battery components manufactured in China, a move to eliminate the United States’ reliance on Chinese technology.

Exhaust: South Korea and European automakers believe the new rules regarding EV tax credits are not only unfair but will stifle the EV movement as a whole. Yellen tried to placate those concerns by explaining that “we’re early on in the process for writing rules,” but experts say the new legislation allows little wiggle room. In other words, while the U.S. pushes back against China’s current domination of the EV battery market, our allies could suffer some collateral damage. — Jeff Peek

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Turns out, the Venn diagram of “technological advancements” and “things people want on their cars” is not a single circle. In a recent LinkedIn post, Volkswagen passenger cars CEO Thomas Schäfer announced that the brand will bring back push buttons on its steering wheels, replacing the controversial touch buttons currently found on models like the Golf GTI, Golf R and the ID.4 EV.

“We are sharpening our portfolio and our design, plus creating a new simplicity in operating our vehicles,” said Schäfer’s post. “For example, we are bringing back the push-button steering wheel! That’s what customers want from VW.”

(It’s not lost on us that “new simplicity” here is actually a solution that’s been around for decades. Let’s all just be happy that buttons took the win today.)

This is a good thing for future VW customers. Few things are as frustrating as accidentally muting your tunes while knifing through switchbacks or disengaging cruise control while lazily reaching to roll down the window.

In fact, we’re hoping VW considers taking it a step further, returning other functions in its central infotainment system to buttons, knobs, and switches as well. In a recent test-drive of the ID.4 AWD Pro S, we found the centrally-mounted touch controls for the volume just as irritating on the move. Given that other models, like the über popular Tiguan still have volume knobs, is it too much to ask for a more conservative blend of screens and switches?

The mention of “simplicity in operating” has us wondering if VW’s U.X. (user experience) engineers are re-thinking some of of the menu layouts as well. Do we really need to navigate a vague animated diagram of our car on the road just to get to a toggle menu to turn off lane-keep assist? If the recent spy shots of a face-lifted Golf mule running around with an even larger screen are any indication, we’re not anticipating wholesale rewrite of VW interior controls.

Volkswagen spokesperson Mark Gillies confirmed to Hagerty that the first U.S.-market vehicle that we’d see these changes on will likely be seen in 2024. That timeframe may mean we’ll see it first on the Golf, but it may also be something that first bows on VW’s new Taos subcompact crossover. Odds that it’s a new Tiguan are slim; that car, whose second generation debuted in 2016, is getting long in the tooth. News of a new Tiguan may drop next year, as that’s in line with VW’s current product cycles, which usually turn over every seven years or so.

Volkswagen has a lot riding on forthcoming models such as the updated ID.4 and the lovable ID.Buzz electric van. Getting the interior interfaces right could go a long way in helping the brand stay competitive in the meat of the EV market. Simplifying the steering wheel is certainly a step in the right direction.

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If there’s one major change to know about the 2023 VW ID.4, it’s that the electric people-mover is now made in America. Built in Zwickau, Germany, for the 2021–22 model years, ID.4s now come from the company’s massive Chattanooga, Tennessee assembly plant.

Why does this matter? Two reasons. First, it means continued eligibility for the EV tax credits laid out in the recent Inflation Reduction Act, which stipulates that in order for an EV to qualify for part of the $7500 federal tax credit, final assembly must take place in the U.S. EVs remain more expensive to buy than their gas counterparts, so automakers hoping to increase electric adoption are counting on every possible incentive to make these cars attractive. With the increased costs of batteries and other electronic components driving up prices, it’s an uphill battle.

In more tangible terms, domestic production means the ID.4 benefits from a handful of North America-specific tweaks. Compared to the German-built version from the last two model years, Tennessee’s ID.4 sports a larger center console—with an actual place to rest an elbow—that Big Gulping Americans will appreciate. A new, updated rear lighting design and illuminated badges front and rear also add some visual flourish to this generally good-looking compact crossover. For the uppermost Pro S Plus trim, VW added a useful 360-degree camera.

Specs: 2023 Volkswagen ID.4 AWD Pro S

• Price: $52,590 / $52,590 (base / as-tested)
• Powertrain: 82 kWh Lithium-ion battery, PSM permanent magnet synchronous front motor, ASM synchronous rear motor, single-speed transmission
• Horsepower: 295 hp
• Torque: 339 lb-ft
• Layout: Four-door, unibody SUV
• Weight: 4877 lb
• EPA-rated MPGe: 104 city, 93 highway, 99 overall
• 0-60 mph: 5.7 seconds
• Top speed: 112 mph
• Competitors: Hyundai IONIQ 5, Kia EV6, Ford Mustang Mach-E, Tesla Model Y, upcoming Chevy Equinox EV

At VW’s invitation, we headed down to Chattanooga for a spin in this made-in-America ID.4. An entry-spec, $38,790 ID.4 Standard comes with the smaller, 62-kWh battery and rear-wheel drive, offering 209 miles of range. Our test vehicle was an all-wheel-drive Pro S, which sports VW’s larger, 82-kWh battery—good for 255 miles of range. At $52,590 including destination ($3800 for AWD) this reasonably loaded trim is still cheaper than the most affordable Mach-E currently available on Ford’s configurator, which costs $56,275 for a rear-drive model with 247 miles of range. The lowest-price Model Y on Tesla’s configurator: an AWD model costing $67,190, with 330 miles of range. The ID.4 lines up as more of a direct competitor to the Hyundai Ioniq 5 and Kia EV6, with similar prices and range for AWD models.

Efficient packaging has long been a Volkswagen hallmark. In that respect, the ID.4 shines. It rolls on VW’s MEB platform, the modular, battery-powered bones that will underpin the lion’s share of VW’s future offerings. In an effort to expand the cabin area, VW’s designers pushed the front wheels as far forward as possible. Whether seated in the front or rear seats, all but the tallest inhabitants will find plenty of leg- and headroom for long trips. (The ID.4 does not have a frunk, however, because the primary HVAC module and some key driveline components occupy that space under the ID.4’s hood.) That runway-width center console, by the way, really does make a difference; you can rest your right arm during the drive with phones, wallets, and anything else smaller than a baseball mitt stored below.

With this in mind, it seems VW is hoping to position the ID.4 as a practical, economical value-play. From the company responsible for the Type 1 Beetle and the Golf, this is familiar territory, and it shows.

EVs are, however, new territory for most new-car buyers. Volkswagen says that 65 percent of ID.4 buyers are entering EV ownership for the first time. For many of them the driving experience will take some getting used to, but the ID.4 presents some particular hurdles. Acceleration isn’t one of them; our tester’s total system output of 295 hp and 339 lb-ft of torque is the most you can get on an ID.4 currently, and around-town driving is a cinch. Torque is right there where you want it, and the single gear ratio means no interruption in thrust.

It’s the braking that could use some refinement, specifically with regard to regen. (EVs recapture kinetic energy through braking and restore small amounts of battery charge.) The ID.4 offers two modes: “D,” which involves zero regenerative braking unless you’re applying pressure to the pedal, or “B,” which applies considerable braking force every time you lift off the accelerator. The former is best-suited to the highway, the latter to the city. In “B,” the calibration can shed speed at a rate roughly matching that of the gas cars hitting the brakes around you, but you can’t come to a complete stop without applying the brakes yourself, and there’s no hand-paddle as in the Chevy Bolt. Translation: no one-pedal driving. More crucially, you can’t adjust the severity with which the regen cuts in, so it’s all or nothing. Deceleration at highway speeds while in “B” can be seriously unnerving and unpredictable, and no two hard stops feel the same even when using the brake pedal.

The car’s fixed suspension dampers handle ordinary bumps well, and the ride is generally very forgiving over rough pavement. The quiet cabin adds some noticeable serenity to the ordinary driving experience. But tweak throttle or brake suddenly while entering a corner and you are presented with some strange-feeling body motions. After that happens a few times, you find yourself needing to be mindful of weight transfer in a way that doesn’t seem necessary in a mainstream compact crossover.

Which brings us back to VW’s value-play gambit. Even if the average ID.4 buyer has no sharply honed opinion on driving dynamics, they are certainly sensitive to the interactive user experience of a vehicle costing nearly $40,000 at minimum. Everyone is by now used to the incredible responsiveness and intuitive nature of smartphones, and VW’s 12-inch infotainment screen and tiny digital instrument cluster behind the steering wheel feel decidedly behind the times. Confusing user experience design choices abound in the ID.4. A few particularly noteworthy examples:

• To turn off the rather intrusive lane-keep assist, you need to dig a few menus deep in the car’s center screen to pull up a layout that depicts three cars on a highway. It’s not immediately apparent, but the next step is to touch the lane lines to conjure a digital toggle switch that can turn the lane-keep function on or off. If your commute includes city and highway streets, toggling in this manner will get old.
• There are two window switches on the driver’s door. They operate the front windows, unless you’ve tapped the word “REAR” on a space above the switches (there’s no actual button here), in which case the same switch opens the second-row window. Lazy hands will occasionally bump that touch-space without realizing it, and the result is opening the wrong window. An operation that takes one step with a dedicated switch instead takes two.
• Adjusting the volume requires tapping or sliding one of two touch-sensitive spaces below the primary screen. Occasionally, you might find yourself trying to steady your hand to toggle the aforementioned lane assist while on the go, and now suddenly EVERYONE GETS TO HEAR “HOT FOR TEACHER” AT FULL CRANK.

You can still control volume with buttons on the steering wheel, and climate control can also be actuated through a menu in the screen itself. But accidental inputs are alarmingly common here and can result in unnecessary frustration.

Top brass at VW have called the ID.4 “the most important model since the original air-cooled Beetle,” submitting it as Wolfsburg’s “EV for the masses.” Our bet is that the masses wouldn’t mind a few more physical switches and buttons. Maybe some adaptive dampers, if the masses are feeling greedy. (A VW spokesperson hinted that those might be in the works. Here’s to hoping.)

A spearhead product like this shoulders the heavy task of asking buyers to reimagine personal transport. VW of America’s adjustments for U.S.-built models suggest that the company is interested in meeting the expectations of customers on this side of the Atlantic. Judged on the merits of how it functions as a car, though, the ID.4 doesn’t often feel more practical, desirable, or functional than something like a VW Tiguan. An EV built in America is definitely a step in the right direction, but the ID.4 needs a few deeper changes if it wants to win over America.

2023 Volkswagen ID.4 AWD Pro S

Price: $52,590 / $52,590 (base / as-tested)

Highs: Quiet powertrain, stellar attention to NVH. Expert interior packaging. America-specific features are all for the better.

Lows: Unwelcome body motions when pushed. Various controls contribute to more ergonomic and UX problems than they solve.

Takeaway: The 2023 ID.4 is an improvement, but it could use a little more inspiration.

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No, we didn’t forget about the U.S. market Harlequin, the one based on the Golf. However, our patchwork-paneled wonder wouldn’t have existed had its slightly smaller, Euro-market sibling not set the precedent. Enjoy the view from the other side of the pond! —Ed. 

Some of the best inventions were created by mistake. Penicillin, the Slinky, the pacemaker, Post-it notes, the microwave oven, and safety glass, to name just a few. Then there’s the Volkswagen Polo Harlequin—or Harlekin, if you’re reading this in Europe.

Okay, the Harlequin wasn’t a mistake in the traditional sense. It wasn’t the result of an illicit affair involving Mr. Passat and Mrs. Golf. Workers on the Wolfsburg production line didn’t get the instructions for the third-generation (6N) Polo horribly wrong. The car—the Harlekin name came later—was born out of the need for a sales tool, designed to showcase the new Polo’s modularity and personalization options.

There were four colors: green for paintwork, blue for engine and chassis, yellow for interior and red for special equipment. Building blocks, which can be seen on this fan site, designed to promote the Polo’s strapline of so vielseitig konn klein sein, or, “small can be so versatile.” Legend has it that a bunch of trainees came up with the idea of creating a fleet of ten Polos in 1994 to showcase the modular system better than any brochure could do, with a further ten following in 1995. The multi-coloured Polo, complete with mismatched wheels, appeared in dealer literature, customer-facing adverts and on phonecards (remember them?), and Volkswagen even produced a thousand 1:87 scale models. Cue a rush to open Germany eBay starting in one, two … you’ve already gone, haven’t you?

If you’re still here, you’ll be pleased—and perhaps a little surprised—to discover that the story didn’t stop there. The Germans hadn’t been this excited about something since The Scorpions hit number one across Europe with the whistle-tastic “Wind of Change” and began pestering dealers for a production version of Germany’s Amazing Technicolor Dreamboat. Sensing an opportunity, VW’s marketing bods set to work creating a Polo Harlekin for the 1995 Frankfurt Motor Show, where it somehow managed to outshine the Mitsubishi Carisma. Lotus also unveiled something significant at the event, but the name escapes us.

Four cars were removed from the production line: one in Chagall Blue, another in Pistachio Green, one in Yellow, and the other Flash Red, before rising like chameleons from the, er, flames of desire. Frankfurt was treated to a spectacle that looked like something created by a body shop when you answered “yes” when asked which color you’d like.

That should have been the end of the story. Aside from some mildly amused guffawing in Frankfurt and a few column inches in the motoring press, the United Colors of They Did What? could (should?) have been consigned to the Big Book of German Automotive Sales and Marketing History. But this was little more than a prelude to the main event.

Volkswagen planned a run of 1000 cars, complete with consecutive serial numbers, certificate, and numbered key rings. Then it appeared in the U.K., land of the Carry On films, end-of-the-pier jokes, and Mr. Blobby. It was a match made in heaven. Flanked by single-colored versions of the Volkswagen Polo and Golf at London Motorfair, the four-color Polo stood out like a … well, a four-color Polo. You’ll note from the overhead photo that the roof, C-pillar, and sills are Flash Red; this would have been the car’s original color before it was whipped from the production line to be turned into the automotive equivalent of Neapolitan ice cream. A case of here today, cone tomorrow, or something.

This was a “Version 4” car, which came with a Yellow tailgate, front doors, and front bumper, Pistachio Green rear doors, bonnet, and rear bumper, and Chagall Blue front wings and grille. Customers were unable to specify a color combination, with Volkswagen promoting this restriction as “an element of surprise.” In reality, it was probably due to the company not wanting a surplus of body shells and panels in Wolfsburg.

Volkswagen made no secret of the car’s origins. In a press ad headlined by “No, honestly,” it said: “The Harlequin, as it’s called, started life as a car show gimmick to indicate the colors available.” It went on to promote the Polo range, before concluding: “We’ve even made one that runs on rabbit droppings.” Somebody must have discovered Wolfsburg’s sense of humour cupboard in the 1990s.

Based on the 1.4 CL, the Harlequin cost £11,095, which is the equivalent of £20,000 (~$22,600) in today’s money. For that, you got bespoke upholstery, driver’s airbag, GLX “sports” bumpers, clear indicator lenses, darkened rear lenses, and a guarantee that your neighbors would ask whether you’d bought a car from a traveling circus. Still, life’s too short to drive silver and grey cars; fair play to Volkswagen for adding a little color to our roads.

The best estimate is that Volkswagen built 3806 Harlequins, including the original batch of 1000, plus 500 raffled in a German McDonald’s promotion. Today, there are reportedly 17 on U.K. roads, with a further 41 listed as SORN. Interestingly, the Harlequins are registered with the DVLA as “multi-colored,” so this is something you might want to check if you’re looking at a fake car. Yes, they do exist.

Twenty-five years on from the launch of the Polo Harlequin, Volkswagen’s Dutch importer created a homage to the original using the current sixth-generation Polo. If nothing else, it shows how bloated small cars have become. Once again, Volkswagen insisted that it was a one-off and, 18 months on, it looks like the company is staying true to its word.

The Polo isn’t even the only example of Volkswagen going crazy with colors. Volkswagen North America produced a limited number of Mk3 Golf Harlequins for the 1996 show circuit, with a few cars supplied to the Summer Olympics in Atlanta. There are rumors that some of the cars were converted to single-color Golfs by a dealer in the city. What a killjoy.

We should also remember the classic Volkswagen advert of the 1960s, designed to showcase the interchangeable parts of the Beetle. Green wing blue bonnet, beige wing and turquoise door—it looks like something Mr. Tumble would drive. Check out the Mexican-built homage to the Beetle Harlequin, but don’t Google “Mr. Tumble car.”

Like anything bold or adventurous, the Polo Harlequin divides opinion. To some, it’s a novelty act in an otherwise dull but worthy of range of cars. To others, it’s a blot on the landscape that shouldn’t have made it out of Frankfurt. It’s neither as beneficial as penicillin or the pacemaker, nor as useful as the microwave or Post-it notes, but we’re glad the Polo Harlequin exists. It’s the Slinky of the car world—just don’t push it downstairs.

Check out the Hagerty Media homepage so you don’t miss a single story, or better yet, bookmark it.

Via Hagerty UK

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Gas-powered heavy-duty pickups are sticking around

Intake: The world may feel like it is rushing towards all-electric vehicles at a frenzied pace, but Detroit’s Big Three aren’t quite ready to ditch the dino-juice entirely. Heavy-duty pickups, which represent a cash-cow segment for Chevy, Ford, and Ram, will still be powered by internal combustion engines for quite some time, according to a report from Automotive News. Ford says it gets more revenue per year from Super Duty sales than many Fortune 500 companies generate in the same time frame. Customer interest isn’t flagging for this specialized tool. “If you’re puling 10,000 pounds, an electric truck is not the right solution. And 95 percent of our customers tow more than 10,000 pounds,” said Ford’s CEO Jim Farley at the reveal event last week for its heavily updated 2023 F-Series Super Duty pickup. Todd Eckert, Ford’s truck group marketing manager, doubled down on Farley’s sentiments in comments to Automotive News, saying that the buyers of heavy-duty trucks—miners, ranchers, construction companies, utility workers, and the like—haven’t shown much interest in EVs. Rather, they’re most interested in what can get the job done the best. Right now, that’s still gasoline- or diesel-powered engines. “Our intent is to play both sides of the business as long as we need to, giving customers choice,” said Scott Bell, Chevy’s vice president, during a media briefing last week. “We see this segment as maybe one of the last to hang onto ICE.”

Exhaust: Each of the Big Three either does or will soon offer an all-electric light-duty pickup, but the decision to keep the heavy-duty workhorses running on gas or diesel still comes as no surprise. Towing craters even the best EV’s range. Hauling large loads—like those that would necessitate the beefed-up running gear of an HD pickup—will have similarly adverse effects. This both-sides approach seems like the smartest way forward for all three automakers: You get to keep the money faucet flowing for enterprise-wide investment, and your customers can still buy the types of vehicles they actually want. Imagine that! — Nathan Petroelje

Audi’s 602-hp send-off R8 boasts gobs of aero and only two driven wheels

Intake: Audi is building just 333 examples of its final R8 GT RWD as it bids adieu to the V-10 engine. It’s quite the swansong, with the 5.2-liter naturally-aspirated motor uprated to 602 horsepower, making it the most powerful rear-driven Audi ever. Drive goes through a new seven-speed dual-clutch transmission that sports revised gear ratios. The added horsepower, increased torque (405 lb-ft in the regular R8 RWD vs. 413 lb-ft here), and the revised gear ratios will help rocket this last call R8 to 62 mph in 3.4 seconds, 124 mph in 10.1 seconds, and on to a 199-mph top speed. There’s a new Torque Rear driving mode that lets drivers set their own level of Electronic Stability Control from the steering wheel. Seven different slippage settings are programmed in for “precise and controlled oversteering,” says Audi. Ceramic brakes are standard equipment, as are unique 10-spoke, 20-inch alloy wheels which are available with racy Michelin Sport Cup 2 tires, and a performance sports suspension with carbon fiber reinforced plastic anti-roll bars. Externally, the car is distinguished by a high gloss black carbon aero kit consisting of a new front splitter and flicks, side skirts, rear diffuser, and a rear wing complete with gooseneck suspension. No price has been revealed but don’t be surprised if it rings in at well over $200,000 when a handful of these send-off models arrive at U.S. dealers next year.

Exhaust: There’s nothing like going out with a bang. Audi’s epic V-10 engine will be put to rest in 2023, but this final edition pushes it to its normally-aspirated limits. When those ten cylinders made their debut in 2009, they combined to produce a rousing 552 horsepower, and now Audi has set free a further 50 horses to make this the most desirable (and drifty) R8 ever. Good luck getting your hands on one. — Nik Berg

Rugged Renault 4 previews a serious change of direction for the friendly badge

Intake: Renault is all set to take the starring role at the Paris Motor Show when it will reveal a successor to the fabulous 4. Launched just over 60 years ago, the Renault 4 was the world’s first mass-produced hatchback—and mass produced it most certainly was. More than eight million Renault 4s were made in its 33-year life, with assembly plants as far afield as Ireland and Uruguay, as well as its native France. The 4 began life as Renault’s answer to the Citroën 2CV, a basic car for the masses powered by a paltry 603 cubic centimeters of combustion packed into a four-cylinder motor. Like the Citroën, it had a quirky umbrella-handle manual shifter sticking out of the dashboard, while its all-round torsion bar independent suspension could handle cobblestones and farm tracks with aplomb. Over the years it would become only a little more sophisticated, with a four-speed transmission replacing the original three-speed unit, and the engine ultimately increasing in capacity to 1.1 liters. The next 4 will have neither engine nor manual transmission, however, as it will be a pure electric vehicle. The teaser image just released by Renault suggests that it will adopt today’s take on utility and be a high-riding crossover rather than a compact hatchback, however. All will be revealed in Paris on October 17.

Exhaust: The French are coming! Fully embracing their government-mandated electric destiny, France’s carmakers are also looking to their pasts. Citroën’s oli may look nothing like the 2CV but it adopts the legendary Deux Cheveux’s lightweight utilitarianism, and now Renault is taking the 4 into the future. We can hardly wait to say bonjour to this need breed of funky French automobiles. — NB

Ford Performance offers two new factory-backed tunes for both Bronco engines

Intake: The folks at Ford Performance now have a Bronco-specific tune for their Calibration Delivery Tool, offering owners of 2.3-liter four-cylinder Broncos an additional 30 horsepower and 60 lb-ft of torque, while 2.7-liter examples net a more modest 25 horses and 18 extra lb-ft of twist. Total output for the tuned 2.3-liter engine will be 330 hp and 385 lb-ft of torque after the tune, and the 2.7-liter models will clear 355 hp and 433 lb-ft. While the aforementioned hardware is $495, adding the Bronco’s specific tune rings in at $825 for either engine. Premium fuel now becomes mandatory, but improvements in throttle response, transmission shift strategy, and the ability to add custom tire/gear sizes are included in the software. This package, when installed by a dealer or a ASE certified technician will not void the factory warranty, but DIY instructions are also available on their website.

Exhaust:Ford Performance has a first mover advantage when it comes to the Bronco’s software strategy, but if you wait a little while, you’ll likely save money with a third party tuner. A well-respected aftermarket tuner (for the similarly-equipped Ford Ranger) is only $499.99, likely with a comparable tune (or more aggressive, if you live on the edge) and with a single downside: the dealership might have a problem with you returning your Bronco back to stock to come in for servicing. (There’s a “flash counter” in most computer these days.) I’d consider the aftermarket alternative after coming to an agreement with a dealership’s service department, so you know just how exposed you are if an aftermarket tune affects a warranty claim. Do all your oil changes with them and they might go easier on you, depending on what you break whilst off-roading. — Sajeev Mehta

Will the VW Scout get its own dedicated platform?

Intake: When we last left the upcoming Volkswagen Scout EV, we assumed, but held off on writing, that the platform for the Scout would likely an existing electrified chassis like the MEB platform, which underpins the VW ID. Buzz. But nothing Volkswagen or its stablemates have is really suitable for a “rugged” SUV, which is a word VW used back in the May product announcement. Now, word comes from a Scout enthusiast named Jeff Bade, who reports on the Facebook page “Friends of the Binder Planet,” that he was recently in a focus group for the Scout, and he deduced —wasn’t told, but deduced—that the Scout may very well get its own platform. “Rumors of this being based on the VW skateboard platform are not true,” Bade wrote. He continued that “this is not a rebranded or variation of anything in the VAG line,” referring to shorthand for Volkswagen Audi Group. “What I came away with is nothing more than excitement,” he wrote.

Exhaust: If the Scout turns out to be a genuine off-roader built on a unique and capable platform that combines the new with a little bit of old, we’ll be excited, too. As owner of a couple of International Harvester Scouts, I’ll lead the cheering. — Steven Cole Smith

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Spy photographers recently nabbed a Volkswagen Golf mule out and about, lacking the usual covering over its interior, and lordy, that’s a big screen. Rumor holds that VW is experimenting with shorter product cycles, meaning that a facelift for the Golf Mk. 8—the U.S. only gets the GTI—may arrive as early as the 2024 model year. That’s only 3 years after the (somewhat-) new generation debuted.

A massive center screen now floats on the center of the dashboard. The touchscreen on the current Mk. 8 Golf is merely a lateral extension of the digital dashboard found ahead of the steering wheel. This iPad-style display juts outward, protruding above the dashboard line. It’s not the prettiest way to add more pixels, but we’ll give VW the benefit of a doubt and hope that execution in the production-spec model is a bit tidier.

We’re skeptical that this screen is an improvement. We’ve driven the Mk. 8 GTI a few times—on the track, through mountain roads, and over a week-long test through the geometric and largely uninspiring roads in and around our Ann Arbor, Michigan, office. Each time, the new Golf’s interior proved disappointing. Though it was spacious, the materials felt cost-cut. Worst of all, the two-in-one screens, which absorbed nearly every imaginable button or knob, felt like a choice of technology for technology’s sake. The presence of the fussiest controls, like the touch-sensitive temperature sliders placed in the “chin” of that giant screen, is frustrating.

We spared no syllable in praising the GTI’s superb visibility, a hallmark of the Golf for decades that’s only more remarkable as the average automobile’s beltline climbs. Why obstruct that superb sightline with a distracting screen, VW?

A pause from the doom and digitized gloom: This mule appears to be neither a real GTI nor one spotted in the States, judging by its modest wheel diameter, large sidewalls, and European-style license plates. This tablet-esque display could be unique to the European model. Unfortunately, that’s likely wishful thinking. The U.S. is a low-volume market for the Golf, since it only gets the enthusiast-oriented GTI and Golf R, so VW has little reason to spend extra money by configuring two separate dashboard units. Since the GTI is now shipped to the States from a German factory, we expect this tablet will appear on Golf models on both sides of the pond.

Win some, lose some.

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Porsche’s first “ducktail” 911 turns 50

Intake: The Porscheplatz museum in Zuffenhausen, Germany has been taken over by the Carrera RS 2.7, 50 years after the lightweight, performance-oriented 911 variant made its debut. A special exhibition “Spirit of Carrera RS” details the history of the car through films, photos, posters, and interactive exhibits. Taking pole position is a yellow Touring, with a rare green prototype also on display alongside the many models that followed the pioneering Porsche of 1972. The Carrera RS 2.7 was the first series-production car to feature front and rear spoilers for added downforce. It was stripped out to cut weight back to just 2116 pounds in Sport form and the 210-hp, flat-six engine was developed by Hans Mezger and Valentin Schäffer just for the RS. “It’s the most direct technology transfer from motorsport to series production that ever occurred,” claims Porsche’s head of GT vehicles, Andreas Preuninger.

Exhaust: If you can’t make it to Germany to celebrate the RS in person, Porsche has launched a microsite for you to explore from home. It’s well worth a visit to dive deep into the story of the RS 2.7. Porsche engineers were so focused on performance, for example, they had no idea of the impact the car would have on automotive aesthetics. “At the time, I thought the spoiler was just a solution to a technical problem. It took me a long time to realize that we had created an icon,” reveals Hermann Burst, who coinvented the iconic ducktail spoiler. —Nik Berg

Travis Pastrana wants to go 300 mph

Intake: Daredevil Travis Pastrana, who tours with a group of stuntmen and women called the Nitro Circus, has never driven a nitro-powered vehicle. That’s scheduled to change today when Pastrana tries out NHRA Top Fuel driver Alex Laughlin’s nitromethane-powered Top Fuel Dragster. The team is staying over a day after Sunday’s race at zMax Dragway in Charlotte, North Carolina, to practice, and part of the plan is to get Pastrana—who we last discussed when he parachuted from the 46th floor of a high-rise building in downtown Fort Lauderdale and crashed after his chute malfunctioned, breaking a vertebrae and his pelvis—a pass at over 300 mph in the 1,000-foot strip. Laughlin qualified the car at 320.89 mph before being taken out in eliminations, so the car has the speed.

Exhaust: Pastrana, at 38, has never met a challenge he wasn’t up for, though many have ended in multiple broken bones. With his time spent in NASCAR (not very successful) and his Nitro Rallycross series (very successful), if he doesn’t hit 300 mph in the 11,000-horsepower dragster, it won’t be for lack of trying. —Steven Cole Smith

In lieu of jet, VW suggests booking an autonomous car

Intake: Volkswagen’s latest flight of fancy is a fully autonomous electric vehicle designed as an alternative to short-haul aircraft travel. The GEN.TRAVEL concept car sits somewhere between a sedan and an van in size and proportion and offers a customizable cabin that can seat up to four people. A business setting turns the interior into a workspace, and there’s a two-person sleeper setup for overnight trips. The GEN.TRAVEL is all-electric, fully autonomous, and would be booked as “mobility as service offering” rather than being put for sale. You’d summon the car by app and it would pick you up and take you door-to-door to your destination. “It shows us what autonomous driving will look like in the future. The GEN.TRAVEL embodies the visionary design of beyond tomorrow for the mobility of tomorrow. Efficient shaping characterizes the extremely distinctive design. Thus, in an age of technical perfection and virtually unlimited possibilities, ‘form follows function’ becomes ‘form follows freedom,’” says Klaus Zyciora, VW Group’s head of design.

Exhaust: Never mind the questionable styling, or the innumerable issues around autonomous driving—our biggest concern is that VW design boss Zyciora claims the GEN.TRAVEL shows how “the automobile will not only be better, but also more exciting than ever before.” —NB

Chip shortage dooms 96,700 more vehicles

Intake: With the microchip shortage dragging on, automakers have been forced to cut 96,700 more vehicles from production schedules, according to the latest report from Automotive News, which spoke with industry analysis firm AutoForecast Solutions. Plants in every region of the world have been hampered by the shortage, including China, who had managed to steer clear of that issue through the earlier part of 2022. North American plants are cutting 54,000 vehicles out of their plans this week, while other Asian factories outside of China will lose 25,000. According to the report, AFS is now forecasting that the shortage will cost the global industry nearly 4.2 million units of production by year end.

Exhaust: We’ve seen automakers approach the shortage in various ways. Last year, General Motors was building a few models without certain content such as heated seats, to keep inventory flowing for hurting dealers. Ford has opted to stack nearly finished vehicles in holding sites, although not all of those are because of chip shortages. The CHIPS Act, which was passed earlier this year, will seek to bring more semiconductor manufacturing to U.S. shores in the coming years, but it’s not an immediate cure for the issues ailing the automakers. It’s a race against time to stem the bleeding. —Nate Petroelje

Goodyear the big loser in Sunday’s NASCAR race

Intake: It’s tough being a tire manufacturer for a race series like NASCAR: You never get mentioned for doing a good job with tire performance, but when something goes wrong, it’s a publicity nightmare. That’s what happened Sunday night at Texas Motor Speedway, when three separate drivers—Chase Elliott, Kevin Harvick and Martin Truex—crashed while leading the race because their right rear tire blew out, causing them to go into the wall. Christopher Bell’s car blew out a rear tire, and his car was repaired and he returned to the track, only to blow out a second right rear. Alex Bowman lost a tire, as did Ricky Stenhouse, Jr. Cody Ware lost a tire at full speed and hit the outside and the inside wall, sending him to the infield care center. “I don’t even know what to say,” Truex said. “Between crappy parts, tires exploding, and all the bullshit we’re dealing with, it’s a joke.”

Exhaust: This year, with NASCAR’s brand-new car, it’s been tough for Goodyear, the lone NASCAR tire supplier, to predict the perfect compound for each new track. Conditions changed dramatically at Texas: from a very hot, dry track in the sun to a steamy surface after a lengthy rain delay. The track cooled as the final part of the race ran under the lights. Teams experimented with tire pressure, deviating from the recommended numbers Goodyear supplies before every race. “It’s an unfortunate part of the learning experience,” said Scott Miller, NASCAR senior vice-president of competition. By the way, Tyler Reddick won the race. —SCS

Hybrid 911 GTS spied testing at the ‘Ring

Intake: Spy photographers caught this Porsche 911 mule testing at the Nürburgring this weekend, which they believe is a hybrid model. Porsche has said that its flagship model will undergo electrification in the near future, although unlike the 718 Cayman and Boxster, it will not transition to an entirely electric platform right away. Instead, it’s expected that the 911 will crib hybrid tech that was developed on the 919 race car, pressing the electric motor and battery into service in the name of performance first, rather than efficiency. This mule’s center-lock wheels hint that it might be the GTS model, a more driver-focused variant of the 911 than a normal Carrera. The existing 992-generation 911 GTS employs a 3-liter twin-turbo flat six, and while we’d expect that to remain in the forthcoming hybrid application, there’s no word yet on the particulars of the additional drive components. Some are speculating that rather than just a few 911s getting the hybrid treatment, all future 911s (excluding the GT-Series) will now become hybrid models.

Exhaust: The roughshod nature of this mule seems to indicate that there are a lot of stylistic choices yet to be finalized—from the mismatched wheels to the strange fog lights seemingly shoe-horned onto the front bumper to the mis-matched exhaust tips and sloppy rear bumper. Nevertheless, all great 911s spend a fair chunk of time in development at the ‘ring, and this one appears to be no different. If Porsche can capture some of the hybrid magic that made cars like the 918 Spyder so great, the next chapter of the 911 should be a plenty compelling story. That the GTS appears to play a role in that saga is encouraging; the GTS has historically represented a budget avenue to all of the desirable performance add-ons in the 911 arsenal without any of the luxurious frippery that can sometimes cause the sticker price to climb to dizzying heights—relatively speaking, of course. —NP

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If toys are for kids, there must be a lot of wealthy preadolescents out there. Last weekend’s auction of the mammoth pedal car collection from Elmer’s Auto and Toy Museum in Fountain City, Wisconsin, brought some eye-popping results, even for those who’ve been immersed in the hobby for years.

Twenty-one of the 600 or so pedal cars listed sold for five figures, and nine for at least $21,240 (including auction fees). You could score some sweet classic automobiles—with running engines and room for passengers—for that kind of coin.

Hank Davis, who has collected pedal cars for more than 40 years and writes about them for AutoMobilia magazine, says the Elmer’s auction “brought insane money compared to real values.” He theorizes that a combination of factors gave bidders a jolt of adrenaline once the auction started.

“I think folks wanting to own a piece of the [Elmer] Duellman history, combined with the stock market being in the crapper and the overall increase in automotive collectibles, created the perfect storm,” he says. “Mecum Auctions also helped with super marketing.”

Davis says a pair of 1930s G-Man Cruisers exemplify sales that easily exceeded current market prices. One of the pedal cars (in original condition) sold for $23,600, while the other (in restored condition) went for $11,200.

“The G-Man Cruiser pedal cars normally would bring $10,000 and $6000 in the condition they were in,” he says, “but they brought more than twice as much.”

The furious bidding was clearly infectious, as over 80 percent of the cars that crossed the block sold for $1000 or more.

The top sales were astonishingly high. A Duellman-commissioned, custom 1970 Plymouth Road Runner Superbird pedal car—wearing Limelight Green paint, an image of the Looney Tunes Road Runner character, and “Elmer’s Auto Salvage, Fountain City, Wis.” on the front fenders—claimed the top spot, selling for a whopping $59,000. (In case you’re wondering, that’s just a fraction of what an actual 1970 Plymouth Road Runner Super would cost. One in #3, or Good (daily-driver) condition carries an average value of $338K.)

Three other pedal cars that expert sheetmetal fabricator Jerry Anderson built for Duellman also brought big money. A 1970 Richard Petty Plymouth Superbird sold for $47,200, followed by a 1969 Dodge Charger Daytona for $37,760 and a 1969–70 Dodge Charger Daytona for $29,500.

Davis says the Super Birds and Daytonas are special, “but just because they’re a little more unique doesn’t make them worth the kind of money that buyers shelled out for them. As I’m sure you know, at an auction it only takes two.”

Other pedal cars that sold in excess of $20K included a 1927 American National Lincoln, $25,960; a 1934 Packard 5 in 1 (dump truck, tow truck, fire truck, delivery truck, and field ambulance), $23,600; a 1920s Steelcraft Spirit of St. Louis (Charles Lindbergh) airplane, $22,420; and a 1930s Gendron Fire Tower Truck, $21,240.

Duellman’s collection also included plenty of real cars, and they also brought high results—likely for many of the same reasons that fueled the pedal car bidding. For instance, the top seller was a 1970 Chevrolet Chevelle SS with a big-block 396 V-8, which rocketed to an astonishing $242,000. That was nearly five times its high estimate of $50K, more than twice the value of a Chevelle SS 396 in #1 (Concours) condition (which this wasn’t), and more than three times the value of one in #3 (Good) condition.

In addition:

A 1969 Dodge Charger 500, one of 392 built, sold for $104,500, nearly twice the amount of its high estimate and nearly $35K more than its #3 condition value.

A black 1958 Chevrolet Delray with 454 V-8, purchased by Duellman in ’58, went for $99,000, almost three times its high estimate of $35K.

A two-tone blue and white 1979 Volkswagen Bus sold for $46,200, more than double its high estimate of $20K. Its #3 condition value is $22,100.

A 1973 Chrysler Imperial LeBaron, which Duellman purchased new, sold for $44,000, three times its high estimate of $15K.

According to Mecum, the Duellman auction brought in $8.5 million in total sales for just over 2000 items. The top-selling motorcycle was a 1940 Indian Four for $99,000, while a 1947 Harley-Davidson FL Knucklehead sold for $55,000. Also notable, a 1929 Ford Snap-On wooden tool box found a new home for $35,400.

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New 6.8-liter gasoline V-8 primed for 2023 Ford Super Duty trucks

Intake: The Super Duty lineup at Ford has no shortage of engine options, but buyers will have even more choice come 2023. As reported by Ford Authority, a new 6.8-liter V-8 will join the options sheet. All signs point to this new gas burner being naturally aspirated, and we expect it to slot right between the current 385-hp 6.2-liter Boss V-8 and 430-hp 7.3-liter Godzilla offerings, power-wise. The trucks will also see a styling update, but the only sightings of these new heavy-duties have been obscured by plenty of camouflage.

Exhaust: Ford has been making big moves into the EV space for its crossovers, cars, and even light-duty pickups, but the Super Duty lineup is on a longer transition away from hydrocarbons than any other market. We reported back in April that the Blue Oval was planning to keep V-8s on the menu through at least 2040 for its heavy-duty workhorses. When we first heard news of a 6.8 in October of 2020, we expected to see the big-block under the hood of the Mustang or the F-150, but now it sounds like the motor will bow first in the Super Duty. Based on the initial projections, this new engine looks like a nice choice for fleet use or those who aren’t constantly hauling massive fifth-wheel campers. We’ll keep our eyes out for more details to see if Ford has other plans for its new middleweight V-8. — Kyle Smith

Redesigned Lincoln Corsair offers the senses a bigger nose, hands-free driving

Intake: The Corsair isn’t exactly long in the tooth, but the new-for-2020 baby Lincoln crossover receives minor cosmetic tweaks and significant upgrades under the skin for 2023. Nothing’s changed mechanically, but the electronics received a significant upgrade, as a next generation “ActiveGlide” hands-free driving assistant now includes “lane-changing, in-lane positioning and predictive speed assist” for highway use. A larger 13.2-inch touch screen and the latest Ford SYNC 4 software are also on tap. The big mouth grille is the best way to spot the Corsair’s changes for 2023, as it now extends below the bumper structure.

Exhaust:Lincoln says the Corsair is their best selling vehicle, and its sales continue to rise (up 21.1 percent this year). This suggests the brand might be doing better than we previously suggested. While loyalists continue to lust after something more Continental Town Car-like, these mid-luxury crossovers come loaded with technology for urban and suburban dwellers alike. If Lincoln continues to give the people what they like at such a rapid pace, they’ll likely earn progressively larger pieces of the pie. — Sajeev Mehta

Tuthill brings back Group B with 993 restomod

Intake: Britain’s Tuthill Porsche has revealed its latest road car, inspired by the 911 SC/RS that was rushed into World Rallying’s Group B in 1982. Porsche made 20 RS evolution cars by repurposing its 911 SC Group 3, but although it fought hard the SC/RS never landed a win. Tuthill’s take is actually 993 (1993–98)-based, albeit with body panels modeled after the 930 (1973–89, also known as the G-series), and has been designed for road trips rather than special stages. Power comes from a 3.8-liter engine with MOTEC ECU and a bespoke high-butterfly intake system. A six-speed G50 manual gearbox is installed, two-way adjustable dampers are fitted, Tuthill’s own brake calipers are bolted on, and the car wears 16-inch alloy wheels. The interior takes its lead from the 3.2 ClubSport, but throws in added niceties such as air conditioning and bluetooth connectivity. “This is the car to drive 500 km (311 miles) a day without fatigue, but one should also be able to charge down a country road with the same sense of lightness one would normally associate withe earlier Porsche 911s,” says founder Richard Tuthill.

Exhaust: Fresh from unveiling its ultimate 911K at The Quail—a carbon-bodied lightweight with an engine that revs to 11,000 rpm—Tuthill has gone back to its roots with the SC/RS. It was with this model in iconic Rothmans livery that Tuthill first began rallying with Porsche, and the new car is a fitting tribute. — Nik Berg

Patrick Dempsey wins the Mille Miglia (on screen)

Intake: Patrick Demspey has signed up to play 1957 Mille Miglia winner Piero Taruffi in Michael Mann’s upcoming Ferrari biopic. Taruffi was 51 years old when he won the race for the Scuderia in a Ferrari 315 S, with a time of 10 hours, 27 minutes, and 47 seconds. At 56, Dempsey is older than Taruffi, but still had to dye his hair silver-grey for the role. “It’s been a dream job with a great director. It’s fantastic. So, it’s a combination of all the things I love,” Dempsey told ET online.

Exhaust: The film is based on Brock Yates’ book Enzo Ferrari: The Man and the Machine and is set during the summer of 1957 when the company is facing bankruptcy. Adam Driver plays Enzo Ferrari and Penélope Cruz is his wife Laura as the company bets all on Italy’s most famous 1000-mile race. With Mann’s direction and a cast who care about cars, it’s shaping up well. — NB

Volkswagen’s ID. XTREME concept imagines the people’s EVs off-road

Intake: Volkswagen has unveiled an off-road concept based on its ID.4 electric crossover. Dubbed the ID. Xtreme, the new dirt-curious EV wants to push the boundaries of what folks expect from Volkswagen and take the electric sub-brand off the beaten path. The ID. Xtreme is based on the ID.4 AWD (called the ID.4 GTX in European markets). An electric motor on each axle will deliver power to all four wheels. Thanks to an upgraded rear motor, the concept’s total system power is 285 kW (382 hp), a 65-kW (87-hp) bump over the ID.4 AWD. Battery-wise, the concept employs a used, 82-kWh battery from another decommissioned test vehicle in the name of sustainability. The off-road build features a host of trail-minded goodies such as 18-inch off-road wheels, a new front bumper, a roof carrier with additional LED lights, an enclosed aluminum underbody, and more. Revised seats, dashes of Alcantara, and orange accents heighten the interior’s sportiness. VW showed the ID. Xtreme to the public at an electric mobility festival that took place in Locarno, Switzerland, last weekend. It says that it will gauge public reception to the concept to decide next steps about whether such a machine will enter production in the future.

Exhaust: When we drove the ID.4 AWD a year ago, we didn’t find it particularly scintillating. One of the biggest concerns was how the suspension seemed to melt when pushed. With no mention of adjusted suspension on this new concept, we’re concerned it will be more of the same, just with added dust. Still, positive reaction to Jeep’s Recon off-road EV suggests a budding market for these silent dirt-slingers. Perhaps the ID. Xtreme will make production, and we’ll get a chance to fling one down a forest road. Until then, this build is just wishful thinking for a car that could use a jolt of personality. — Nathan Petroelje

Supply chain threatened by potential U.S. freight railroad workers strike

Intake: After two years of failed contract negotiations between U.S. freight railroads and the unions representing 115,000 workers, both sides are preparing for a potential strike that could severely impact the country’s supply chain. According to Reuters, without an agreement before a “cooling-off period” ends on September 16, the standoff could lead to strikes, employer lockouts, and congressional intervention. Transportation companies BNSF and CSX say they are taking necessary steps to secure the shipments of hazardous and security-sensitive materials in the event of a strike, but they insist that these precautions do not mean a work stoppage is inevitable.

Exhaust: If you believe estimates from the American Association of Railroads (AAR), a work stoppage would cost the U.S. economy $2 billion per day in output and require 467,000 long-haul trucks daily to handle shipments diverted from rail. Worse, AAR says, there aren’t that many available trucks to get the job done, so the supply chain will be squeezed and prices will rise. How will that affect the auto industry, in particular? Since freight rail moves nearly 75 percent of the new cars and light trucks purchased in the U.S., any interruption will be costly. Let’s hope cooler heads prevail even after the cooling-off period ends. — Jeff Peek

NASCAR star Kyle Busch to join Richard Childress, Chevy in 2023

Intake: Earlier this morning, in front of a mass of reporters at the NASCAR Hall of Fame, star driver Kyle Busch and legacy team owner Richard Childress announced that the two will join forces for the 2023 race season. Two-time Cup champion Busch will vacate Joe Gibbs Racing (JGR), where he won 56 Cup Series races and took home two championship trophies (2015, 2019)—all behind the wheel of a Toyota. Now, “Rowdy” Busch becomes one of Chevrolet’s star drivers, trading Camrys for Camaros at Richard Childress Racing. The move was prompted by the expected departure of M&M’s/Mars from Busch’s #18 car at season’s end. As JGR searched for a new sponsor, it became more evident with each passing week that arguably NASCAR’s best driver would have to take a pay cut. The 37-year-old-driver indicated a few weeks back that he had multiple offers to consider. With the 2022 NASCAR Cup Series season coming to a close, Busch finally has a home.

Exhaust: This is the biggest free agent signing in NASCAR since Dale Earnhardt Jr. joined Hendrick in June 2007. Coincidentally, that move involved booting Kyle Busch—the man who Junior replaced—to Joe Gibbs Racing. During his time at JGR, circa 2011, Busch was involved in a series of on-track altercations with RCR drivers, which eventually prompted team owner Childress to punch Busch in the garage one day. Media sank their teeth into reports of Childress saying “hold my watch” prior to the scuffle, and the slogan went viral. Eleven years later, at today’s press conference, Childress presented Busch with a Rolex for his signing bonus and asked, “Will you hold my watch?” Expect big things from the Hall-of-Fame owner and the first ballot Hall-of-Fame driver. Richard Childress has demonstrated his ability to handle big personalities. The last driver to win a championship with Childress? The biggest personality of them all: Dale Earnhardt. — Cameron Neveu

The post Ford’s new V-8, Tuthill’s Group B 911 restomod, VW’s off-road EV concept appeared first on Hagerty Media.

Most readers here know me for my ever-present posts on various and sundry domestic luxury cars from the Brougham Era. It’s true that I have a serious soft spot for those land yachts, with their power gadgets, Sierra grained leather, crushed cranberry red velour, landau tops, opera lamps, opera windows, and heraldic crests, but believe it or not, I do like other cars. Really.

Today I’m not going to delve too deeply into Volkswagen’s history in the 1950s, or into the Beetle in particular. You all know the story. In the early ’50s, VW sent Ben Pon to the U.S. to get some import sales moving. It was a pretty dismal failure. Even that import dealer genius, Max Hoffman, gave it a shot, but he sold only about 2000 Beetles and was dumped by VW. But then magic happened.

Despite its dated platform and negligable performance, the little VW took off after Wolfsburg set up a U.S. headquarters in New Jersey. People started buying them, word got around that they were robust and well assembled, sales snowballed, and the rest is history.

Despite having an approximately 20-year-old design as the ’60s approached, with running boards—running boards, for Pete’s sake!—VW was on a roll in Europe, in the U.S., and elsewhere.

By 1958–59, despite looking remarkably similar to its late-1930s iteration, many changes had been made. Heinz Nordhoff, VW’s chief at the time, had decided that regular improvements were necessary, but there should be no change simply for the sake of change. So the cars themselves did not look drastically different.

Despite its resemblance to the prewar “Kdf-Wagen,” by 1959 the Volkswagen sported many improvements. In the United States, MSRP for a Beetle sedan was $1545 ($15,730 today). The Karmann convertible, a much flossier model with fully insulated top and plusher interior, set you back $2045 ($20,821).

All those invisible changes were there though, for those who thought to look or read the dealer brochure. Among the various and sundry upgrades were larger rear window and windshield for better visibility, widened brake drums and shoes for improved stopping power and a revised engine lid.

Today’s featured “cool old car” was spotted on Arsenal Island (Illinois) in July 2014 by yours truly. I believe it is a 1958 model, but a Euro-spec variant, as the fender-top turn signal lamps were absent, but it has the larger glass area—especially the rear window, that started in ’58. This car still had the semaphore-style turn signals housed in the B-pillars. ’59s received a dished steering wheel, and the Wolfsburg crest was removed starting in 1963.

I was visiting the very cool Arsenal Museum at the time, and the VW just happened to be parked in the same lot. I had my mother’s 1995 Jaguar XJS out for a run, and it was cool to see a fellow non-beige beigemist or silver silvermist combover-type motor vehicle in the lot! The vintage luggage rack and period-correct luggage were a happy bonus. Brougham, VW, Datsun 510, or otherwise, old cars are cool. And fun!

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The long-awaited ID. Buzz electric VW van will go on sale in Europe before it comes to the U.S., and Hagerty UK sent veteran auto journalist Andy English on the first media drive. North America’s version will be slightly different and exclusively in long-wheelbase form, but given the immense hype around this reborn microbus we wanted to share Andy’s report. Enjoy!

Based on the sketches done by Dutch VW importer, Ben Pon in 1947, which in turn were based on a layout of the Plattenwagen (flattened car), a Beetle-based, mend-and-make-do Wolfsburg-factory transport designed by Major Ivan Hirst of the Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers, the first Type 2 (Beetle was Type 1), went on sale in 1950. Developing new vehicles was a lot speedier in those days.

In the ensuing 73 years, the Microbus or “Bulli” as it is known in Germany, whether as a camper, pickup, bus, or van has become one of the most-loved VWs ever built—the people’s van if you like. It’s become part of the myths which VW tells itself; the Type 2 transported The Beach Boys, The Fabulous Furry Freak Brothers, The Who, and the Flower Power generation, and it was only in 2014 that new production of the second-generation “bay window” van version ceased in Brazil.

It’s been an itch which VW has found impossible not to scratch. All the way back to 1994 and the unveiling of Concept 1, which became the new Beetle, there were rumors of a new Type 2 on the cards. It wasn’t until 2001, however, that Volkswagen re-imagined its history with its Microbus concept presented at the wintery Detroit Auto Show. With its translucent rubber floors and plasma screens, combined with retro looks, the concept designed by Charles Ellwood at VW’s California design studios, carved a fine line between old and new. It was based on the mechanicals of the then-new front-engined T5 Transporter, but recalled the clattering, air-cooled campers and Kombis of yore. The reception was rapturous and the following year VW announced its imminent production, then promptly canceled it.

VW kept its thumb on the tease-em button, however, with the 2011 Bulli, the 2016 Budd-e, and the 2017 ID. Buzz, which were shown variously as microbuses, Kombis, vans, and campers, most of them standing not the slightest chance of production.

Perhaps we only get a couple of decent retro designs a decade; the Nineties saw Porsche’s Boxster (1993) and Volkswagen’s Concept 1 (1994), the Noughties saw Ford’s Mustang GT concept (2003) and Fiat’s Trepiùno (Cinquecento) concept (2004), there was the Alpine A110 in 2017 and the Mercedes G-Class in 2018, and in this decade, we’ve seen Renault’s 5 Electric concept and Volkswagen ID. Buzz, which is what I’m now sitting in, waiting to go. It’s been a long wait and even Jozef Kabaň, VW design director, says “it’s a relief to be able to show this vehicle off”.

With prices starting at £57,115 on the road, the ID. Buzz goes on sale this autumn with first deliveries early in the new year. Moving up the trim scale to the Style trim version will cost £61,915 and the launch 1^st Edition version will cost £62,995. The Cargo van version starts as the Commerce version at £38,125 without VAT, and rises to the Commerce Plus with radar-and-camera-based safety and parking assistance at £42,375.

Note here that this is not the Camper, which is the version we most associate with the Type 2 in the UK. You can buy an optional through-floor mattress and “cuckoo box,” which is a sort of camp kitchen, but as it stands ID. Buzz is a five-seater, and the van version has two or three seats. A seven-seat version will arrive next year and there’s also confirmation of four-wheel drive, larger batteries and a full Camper version on a longer wheelbase, which will mark the debut of the ID. Buzz in America, but they’re all to come.

Yes, it’s expensive, but in a world where the traditional MPV is the fastest disappearing market segment, it’s hard not to think that VW has reinvented the sector. Rivals are scarce, but there’s the seven to nine-seat Mercedes-Benz EQV, which costs from £71,760 with a 90kWh battery giving a 211-mile range, or the Vauxhall Vivaro E-Life which costs from £34,645 and seats up to nine, with the 50kWh battery giving a range up to 143 miles. Compared to the ID. Buzz, however, these have all the appeal of an airport courtesy shuttle.

Oh, and did I mention it looks fabulous? Treading that fine line between pastiche and reminiscence, it has its own character to boot. It’s big though. While the original 1950 Type 2 was 4280mm long, 1720mm wide and ran on a 2.4-meter wheelbase, this version is 4712mm long, 1985mm wide and has a 2988mm wheelbase.

Weighed down

It’s also heavy, which in turn impacts how much it can carry. It is certified for a maximum GVWR of 3000 kg, and with a 2470-kg (5445-pound) curb weight that means a max payload of 530 kg, or 1168 pounds. (The Cargo van gets a payload of 650 kg, or 1433 pounds.) That’s not great, especially when you consider the original Type 2 had a payload of 750 kg (1653 pounds).

Fill all the seats with large adults and you’re left with a payload capacity of 190 kg (418 pounds) to sling into the massive 1121 liters (39.5 cu ft) of load space. Fold the rear seats and you get 2205 liters (77.86 cu ft). VW also claims the commercial is exempt from the current regulations that restrict vans over 2040 kg to 60 mph on dual carriageways.

All of this might explain why VW restricted seating in the ID .Buzz to five people. It will also tow up to 2200 pounds and the Cargo van has space for two 1.2 metre (4-foot) Euro pallets in the back, though if you’re carrying more than horse feathers, you might be better off choosing the higher payload of a conventional-engined van.

Underpinning the ID. Buzz is VW’s MEB rear-drive battery electric structure and this is the largest vehicle on this platform so far. The battery is the largest currently available on the MEB platform, a 77kWh net lithium-ion unit, powering a 201 hp/228 lb-ft electric motor which drives the rear wheels via a single drop-down gear. It gives a top speed of 90 mph with 0-62 mph achieved in 10.2 sec.

Range is quoted at 258 miles, though driving gently I saw just 208 miles. There’s an 11kW onboard charger and the battery can be charged at up to 170kW on a DC charger. Charge times are 21 minutes for an 80 per cent charge on an appropriately fast DC charger and 10.5 hours on a 7.4kW home wall box.

Efficiency is quoted at 3.35 miles per kilowatt-hour, though in use we could only coax it to 2.9 miles/kWh. And while ID. Buzz emits zero emissions at the tailpipe, generating that electricity means it has well-to-wheels CO2 emissions of 35.2g/km.

Inside the cabin

Back to the cabin, where the dash presents a feast of fabulous surfacing and pleasant-to-touch non-leather upholstery. Students of the old models will recognize the “wood” surfacing on the dash from the old Type 2 Bay Window. At the wheel, the old Transporter’s driving position over the front axle is a thing of the past and in some senses, you are so far back from the windscreen it feels like the much-missed Renault Espace.

There’s so much love gone into the cabin, with double height shelving, clever slots for your mobile phone, fold-out and suitably large mug holders, and a flat floor between driver and front-seat passenger which is lovely and reminiscent of the old Type 2.

We’re not so keen on the exclusive use of USB-C charge slots, much loved by the techies but nonetheless implying you’re going to throw out all your old charge cables. That’s far from the peace-‘n-love hippie vibe of the old Transporter. And while you can get a high luggage space frame to make a complete through bed, it’s a bolt-in feature, which will take a couple of hours to remove—not exactly the stuff of a quick getaway on a tour of Europe.

Still, the sliding rear doors shut with that clunky thump of the old vans and the top-hinged tailgate makes a superb rain shelter for wet picnics. You sit almost 900 mm (2.95 feet) off the ground with panoramic views out thanks to the large front screen and quarter lights. The seats are large and comfortable and in the back there’s loads of head and leg room. The wheel at each corner stance and the hefty curb weight makes for a stable and solid-feeling driving experience. While you wouldn’t want to throw the ID. Buzz around, I did (so you don’t have to) and can report that it’s safe and trustworthy, with stability systems which cut in gently and a tendency to nose-on understeer if you find yourself careering into a tightening corner on the way to San Jose.

Sadly, it’s not all brilliant and the old bugbear of VW’s CARIAD touchscreen systems and software are stuck, like a smelly cat in the middle of the dash. Even changing the heater setting is the work of several keystrokes and good luck at night as the temperature and radio volume sliders aren’t illuminated. The system might now be stable with its latest 3.2 software upgrade, but it’s still pretty hopeless (and a subject close to many readers’ hearts, from what we can tell from your feedback).

And I’m sure I didn’t imagine this, but as I climbed into the cabin, the brake pedal wagged up and down in greeting, which was either a charming affectation in the control systems, or notice of trouble ahead.

Dynamically it feels quick off the line and powerful, with lots of acceleration at the squeeze of the progressive-feeling accelerator; a feature of all EVs where the motor produces all its torque right from when it first starts to spin. Uncorrupted by driveshafts, the steering is accurate and well weighted with a good on-centre response. VW boasts that the 20-inch (optional) tires are a full 750 mm (2.4 feet) in diameter and there’s a fair amount of sidewall to turn before the nose changes direction, but on the move, this isn’t a problem.

With four different driving modes, it’s mostly a case of progressively tightening up the steering and accelerator response. You almost always end up in Comfort which is the best compromise of lift off regeneration, accelerator response, and steering weight. Those big tires are quite noisy, even on Denmark’s smooth roads, and they set up a noisy “sproing” over sharp-edge holes and expansion joints.

With MacPherson-strut front and multi-link independent rear suspension, the ID. Buzz feels mostly long-legged and comfortable. It’s set up quite softly and the ride quality is smooth even though there’s a fidgety response from the rear at motorway speeds. With, say 200 miles between recharges, with the right fast-charge infrastructure, you could cover serious miles in this van.

And while it’s a big and heavy thing, maneuvering the ID. Buzz is much simpler than you might suppose, partly because it has the basics of good all-round visibility and large door mirrors to go with the panoply of bells, whistles, reversing cameras and warning lines on the screens.

Verdict

As a commercial proposition, the ID. Buzz isn’t going to have much appeal outside the promotional van/florist trades. A conventional three-tonne panel van will carry almost twice the weight of this machine with almost twice the range.

As family transport the ID. Buzz needs more seats and or more flexibility. It’s also selling into a market segment which rival manufacturers are fast deserting—Citroën withdrew its C4 Grand Spacetourer from sale this year for example. Yet somehow, and perhaps it’s the history or the long wait, or maybe the care that’s gone in, the ID. Buzz gets under your skin and you find yourself at the wheel, thinking of ways in which you could include this big, heavy, and expensive vehicle into your life.

For me, this van is a bit like seeing a litter of Newfoundland puppies, you know each one will cost a fortune to own, will come and “rescue” you every time you go swimming and will make you and everything you own smell of wet dog, but …

Take it from me, the ID. Buzz is irresistible. If you don’t want to own one, don’t go anywhere near it. Welcome back, Bulli.

Via Hagerty UK

***

2023 Volkswagen ID. Buzz

Price: TBD, $45,000–$55,000 est.
On sale: 2024 model year, expected late 2023.

Highs: Versatile, good-looking, with competent handling.

Lows: Expensive, could use more range, fussy infotainment.

Takeaway: Like the Type 2 of old, the VW ID. Buzz’s charms much outweigh its faults.

Check out the Hagerty Media homepage so you don’t miss a single story, or better yet, bookmark it.

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If there’s a truly defining difference between the automotive landscapes of Europe and America, it’s visible in our polarized perception of trucks versus vans. On both continents these are among the most common vehicles on roadways. However, from a European perspective the whole idea of a full-size pickup truck is borderline ridiculous. I think most normal Europeans suspect that the whole thing with carpenters and plumbers actually driving V-8-powered, off-road vehicles as daily transportation is just for the movies.

The truth is that transportation culture and infrastructure is totally different in Europe, and perhaps we simply don’t understand America’s love affair with the versatility, comfort, and durability of pickups. We have affection for vans instead—the quintessence of European rationalism. No hoods. Thoroughly efficient, four-cylinder diesels. Utilitarian design, unpretentious names like Transit or Transporter. It’s a stark contrast with American trucks, which have comparatively huge powertrains under massive hoods, macho names like Ram, and lots of chrome.

Of course, Europeans aren’t immune to indulgences of excess. Much like America has its King Ranch, Denali, and Longhorn, Europe enjoys its Volkswagen Transporter when upscaled to trims like Caravelle, Multivan, or California—the latter of which we are reviewing today.

Here’s a quick lesson: The T6 Transporter is VW’s midsize, transverse-front-engine commercial van, arriving in 2015 and subsequently updated in 2019 with a T6.1 designation. While the base Transporter is a work van, the Caravelle is a nicer, passenger version. The Multivan is (or was, rather) the stylish, near-luxury choice; now it’s basically a minivan on a completely different platform.

The luxurious California camper van is the least common variant, but probably the most interesting version of this line. It’s basically a Multivan you can live in. Or at least sleep in. Despite the success of the original VW Bus and Vanagon in America, there’s nothing quite like it on your side of the pond. Mercedes recently announced it will be killing the Metris for North America (or as we call it, the Vito), including the Weekender camper, and the all-electric VW ID. Buzz isn’t due until the 2024 model year.

There’s always a pickup truck with a camper box, but it’s hardly the same thing.

The Germans have this camper van formula down to an efficient science. They make the interior versatile enough to still work as a van to transport things and/or people, yet it’s also perfectly viable as a living space. Of course, the idea is not exactly new. Volkswagen contractor Westfalia first started to modify the VW Bus into a camper in the 1950s.

That van, then in the form of VW’s timeless T1, was fitted with folding rear seats, which made a bed; some tables; and, in some cases, even a basic kitchen. The signature “pop-top” was added to allow the occupants to stand inside and, later, to create room for another twin bed. For a long time, these camper vans were manufactured by Westfalia and other outside companies under various names, but since 2005 VW has built them in-house.

California campers come in two styles: Beach and Ocean (formerly, there was also a mid-level Coast trim). The Ocean is what most Europeans imagine when you say VW California, or VW camper vans in general. Behind its front seats, which can be rotated 180 degrees, there is a small kitchen complete with sink and stove. You can even hook an outdoor shower to the kitchen’s water tank. There’s no toilet, of course, but other than that, you have tiny version of everything that you need in an RV. The downside? It turns the California into a four-seater. No third row, not even a third seat in the second row. And, of course, significantly reduced cargo space.

That’s why you might want to choose the “lesser” Beach version, reviewed here. Removing the kitchen and the water tank makes the interior is almost back the capacity of a normal Caravelle or Multivan. At the first glance, you might not even notice that it’s a camper. That’s important not because a camper is something to hide, but because people are buying these Californias as everyday cars. Starting price, accounting for currency conversion, is about $50,000 for the base Beach.

Our California Beach was a five-seater with only the second-row bench, but it can be fitted with another one to seat eight total. If you forgo the kitchen entirely, you can even have sliding doors on both sides—easier for not only day-to-day living, but also for camping. You can also opt for the “kitchen-lite” version, in which you lose the left door but gain a pop-out table with a single-burner stove. That’s the configuration you see here.

This is probably one of the most versatile automobiles you can buy right now, maybe even the most versatile. On the footprint of a midsize sedan (length 193 inches, width 75), you can have up to eight seats (workhorse Transporter can have nine, with three-across sitting in the front): the front ones rotating, the rear benches able to slide back and forth, creating either more legroom or space for luggage or cargo. You can also remove the rear seats and have a spacious van, capable of many van things, including—but not limited to—the ability to turn you into “that friend with a van,” called upon whenever someone is moving or buying furniture.

All of this can, of course, be said about the Transporter, Caravelle, and Multivan. The great thing about California Beach is that it retains all of those models’ abilities and adds a whole new dimension without many drawbacks.

We’ve already mentioned the kitchen. Then there’s the pop-up roof, which doesn’t remove any noticeable amount of headroom in its normal state, yet can open to reveal enough space to stand up or provide two places to sleep, depending on whether you raise the bed or not.

Similarly, the downstairs bed doesn’t take up too much space when not in use. Its base consists of the second-row bench, folded down, and a sort of a “tray” above the trunk area, over which you’ll unfold the mattress, normally stored on the tray. You can also easily take it out and store it elsewhere, if it’s not in use. The tray will take a little work to remove, but it can be done.

Then there’s the cooling/heating box, mounted into the floor rails of the rear seats, which can also be taken out or mounted anywhere you want it—in front of the seats, in the “trunk,” anywhere. We’ve already mentioned the hidden table with the burner, and the gas bottle behind the side panel. On the other side, there is a picnic table hidden in the door and two chairs to match, hidden in the tailgate. The only thing you’ll really notice at first glance is the roll-out awning above the sliding door.

Features galore, yes. But what’s remarkable is how very slick and efficient the California is to operate. True, it might take you some time to figure out how to stow the table or chairs in the doors and tailgate. Sliding and folding out the rear bench is quite challenging the first couple of times. But in short order, everything just clicks. There is a nice touchscreen display to control the power roof and some other features, like independent heating, the LED lights (there are a lot of them), the battery charge, the inclinometer (so you can find the most level place for setting up camp) and others.

Still, the idea of a camper that’s also functional as an everyday vehicle works only if the underlying van itself can stand in for the family car. While this is very much the case in the original T1 (aka Type 2) based on the Beetle’s chassis, the vans of the decades in between weren’t so great. It got better starting with the T5 that came out in 2003, but the T6 and especially the current T6.1 generations of the Transporter/Caravelle/Multivan/California family have made great steps in the right direction. Many less discerning motorists would even say that the California behaves like an 80-inch-tall Golf.

Yes, for a van the California’s handling is quite impressive. It’s stable at German highway speeds—over 100 mph—and you can drive it briskly on backroads. Doing so is a weird sort of fun. The steering is precise enough and the suspension controlled enough for you to actually consider proper line through corners. It’s nowhere near a normal car or even a good SUV, of course, but there’s a sense of precision that wasn’t present in the old, lumbering VW vans.

Even the environment is very much Golf-like. The steering wheel is actually from the seventh-generation Golf, as is the infotainment and even the digital dash. Of course, the angle of the steering wheel is much different, and you sit in the driver’s seat like it’s a chair. There is one other key difference: You can actually see out of the California, in all directions. With high seating position and low window sills, it’s a bit like the “commanding position” that so many people love about SUVs like the Range Rover. What’s even better is that with virtually no hood, you have perfect view in front of the car, which means you don’t need a 360-degree camera system to park without bumping anything.

Even the drivetrain is, once again, carried over from smaller VWs. The fallout of Dieselgate wasn’t as severe in Europe, and we care a bit more about efficiency because fuel is so expensive, so European customers still love TDIs. The California offers a base 2.0 turbodiesel with 110-, 150-, and 200-hp versions available as an options and a choice of a six-speed manual or seven-speed DSG dual-clutch automatic.

Only the fastest version breaks 11 seconds to 100 km/h (62 mph). In other words, they’re all slow. Our tester with a 150-hp TDI and DSG with front-wheel drive (all but the 110-hp versions are also available with 4Motion all-wheel drive) gets there in 14.3 seconds. In Europe, there are still passenger cars that are slower, so even this version is quick enough to go with the flow, while the 200-hp one (0-to-100 km/h in 10.9 seconds) is capable of fairly brisk pace, thanks to its 450 Nm (331 lb-ft) of torque.

For all that, you will burn around 9 liters per 100 kilometers in normal driving (around 26 mpg), dropping to maybe 11 or 12 if you’re particularly lead-footed or trying to make use of Autobahn’s absence of speed limit. (I never tried it with this California, but I have, ahem, reasons to believe that a T6 Transporter with the 150-hp engine is able to reach 120 mph). That’s still over 20 mpg.

Is this the perfect car for everything, or what? Much in the way U.S. pickups have evolved into a utility vehicle that can also replace a luxury SUV, the California offers similar delights through a European lens. They have something of a cult following. Much like the T1 and T2 won the hearts of hippies and surfers, the T4s (known in U.S. as the Eurovan), T5s, and T6s are popular among everyone from young people living their #vanlife to tradesmen and grocery-shop owners. Some people use them as family transportation that can also serve as a camper or a work vehicle. They might not be as ubiquitous as full-size pickups in America, but they sure are popular.

Why hasn’t Volkswagen introduced these on the other side of the Atlantic? Dieselgate is one reason. I can only guess what the fuel economy of a California fitted with 2.0 TSI gasoline engine of any respectable horsepower would look like, but I’m sure it wouldn’t be pretty. The VW Tiguan with the same engine will have hard time stying under 10 l/100 km (23 mpg) when driven calmly and will easily go over 13 l/100 km (around 18 mpg) when driven with even moderate verve. The T6.1 is much, much larger, with vast frontal area, so I would expect much worse than that. It could actually be worse than a Chevy Express.

The other probable reason has to do with the realities of ownership amid the hyper-competitive and cost-sensitive U.S. market. While the VW van community swears on the vehicles’ durability, reliability is a different story. T5s and T6s (T6.1s probably won’t be different) are prone to rack up quite nasty bills especially when it comes to engines and DSG transmissions. While these vans are almost as nice to drive as a Golf or Arteon, they are also as complicated and at least as costly to maintain. VW, perhaps correctly, concludes that a van with the running costs of a European “near premium” car wouldn’t sit well with Americans.

Finally, the elephant in the room: purchase price. As-tested, our loaner vehicle (the California Beach with VW’s 150-hp 2.0 TDI engine and seven-speed DSG gearbox) costs around $60,000 before VAT (our devilishly complicated alternative to sales tax). With options? Better sit down. It’s roughly $78,000. The list includes stuff like $7000 for a driving assist suite, over two thousand for dual-zone heating, a $600 awning, and lots of other small bits.

Remember, we’re still in the realm of the front-wheel-drive, kitchen-less Beach. An Ocean fitted with the most powerful engine, the DSG, all-wheel drive, and all the desirable options will set you back more than $100,000. That’s Porsche 911 money. Even then, it’s not quite on the level of opulence that luxury cars or even American pickups offer you. No plush leather upholstery, no wood lining, no swag. Just very functional, efficient German engineering with a bit of stylish flair.

Weird as it might seem to Europeans, the supremely rational and efficient mid-size van—particularly campers like the California—are to the rest of the world rather exotic. They are remarkable, if you think about them. But if you still don’t get what the fuss is about, I understand. From my point of view, your snarling Ford Raptors and goofy Jeep Gladiators are just as inscrutable.

2022 Volkswagen California Beach

Price: $50,000 (est. base) / $78,000 (est. as-tested)

Highs: Brilliant packaging, wonderful versatility, impressive efficiency.

Lows: High cost, sluggish performance by American standards.

Takeaway: Strange it may be, but Europe is still the best place to experience California vanlife in a modern package.

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Between the 60 or so BMWs, six Vanagons, six Suburbans, and various and sundry family cars, about 100 vehicles have come into my possession (and usually left) since I got my driver’s license in the mid-1970s. I’ve written stories about the best and worst of the bunch, but I thought I’d simply enumerate the first six, as after that, it becomes something of a blur.

The first six weren’t great—in fact, several were bloody awful—but they were all memorable.

1969 Plymouth Satellite

This was my mother’s car. These B-bodied Chryslers with the slotted front grilles were best known in their two-door, 383-cubic-inch Roadrunner form, but ours was the sensible four-door with the stalwart 318 engine. Though the Satellite was classified as “mid-sized,” it was enormous by modern standards, sort of like a bigger pumped-up Dodge Dart with a V-8. With its four doors and front bench seat, it seemed to swallow an endless number of adolescents; I remember my mother driving me and 10 of my friends home after a junior high school dance (ah, those were the days when you could ignore seat belts and not feel like a criminal). Everyone in my family has a special place in their heart for this car. It was the first car my mother bought by herself after my father passed away, and she took particular pride in having negotiated a better deal than a family friend who independently sought to grease the skids on her behalf. It took the family on innumerable trips back and forth between our old haunts on Long Island and our new digs in western Massachusetts. And it was the car that my sister and I both learned to drive on. Sadly, images of the car only exist in our memories.

1974 Fiat 128 Sedan

When the Satellite’s 100,000 miles qualified it for membership in the repair-of-the-week club, it began rusting away, and the first Arab oil embargo caused fuel prices to spike, the trifecta of events caused my mother to sell it and buy a white 1974 Fiat 128 two-door sedan. I begged her to buy a BMW 2002 instead, as I’d seriously imprinted on one owned by a college student who lived with us for one summer a few years prior, but the cost difference was too big. Although Fiat was front-wheel drive instead of RWD like the 2002, it was a similar size and weight, and it had a four-speed stick. My mother, who drove the family’s ’63 three-on-the-tree Fairlane before the Satellite, picked up the stick immediately, and taught me. The Satellite may have been the car I learned to drive on, but the Fiat 128 was the family car when I got my license. I treated it as if it was a BMW 2002, which is to say that I pretended I was Nikki Lauda and beat the crap out of it. It was a fun, nimble little car, even if it did live up to its “Fix It Again Tony” reputation. These 128 two-door sedans, particularly in the U.S.-spec big-bumpered configuration, definitely aren’t one of Fiat’s set-your-heart-aflutter designs, but I enjoyed ours after I got my license. Like the Satellite, I can’t find a single family photo of the car.

1970 Triumph GT6+

As I wrote several years back, the first car I owned outright was a 1970 Triumph GT6+, the car that taught me that everything bad you’ve ever heard about British cars is true—the electrical problems, the rust, the metal fatigue, all of it. And, to make it worse, the GT6 had a dual affliction. First, the car was basically a Spitfire with a hatchback and a de-stroked six-cylinder TR6 motor, so everything behind the engine would break from the additional torque. Second, the weight distribution and the rear suspension design resulted in handling characteristics that would make the car swap ends on a moist road if you so much as coughed. But it was girl-magnet cute and could eat a BMW 2002’s lunch in second gear, so I loved it, even though it ran perhaps half the time during the 2.5 years I owned it. The repair costs ate me alive while I was a poor college student, and the car rusted while I watched, so I sold it while it still had some value. The secret is out that GT6s look like little E-Type Jaguars, so the days of being able to find solid cars for short money are pretty much gone, but I still reflexively type “GT6” into Craigslist and Facebook Marketplace. Who knows? There may come a day when my Lotus Europa doesn’t give me enough pain and I seek to relive those glorious times when shifting and nailing the gas posed the real risk of creating expensive metallic banging sounds and stranding you until the tow truck arrived.

1963 Rambler Classic

After I sold the GT6, I was without a car for my last two years of college. Then my best friend and housemate got married, I was the best man at his wedding, his parents bought him and his wife a new VW Rabbit, and as a groom-to-best-man gift, he sold me his and his fiancé’s current car—a 1963 Rambler Classic 660—for a dollar. I still have the bill of sale. Note that this wasn’t the weird frumpy-looking Rambler American. The Rambler Classic and its upmarket sibling the Ambassador were a fresh new design that won Motor Trend’s Car of the Year award for 1963, and ’63 Classics / Ambassadors are unique in their one-year-only electric razor-style front grille. The 660 trim level was pretty basic—straight six, power nothing—but after the drama of the Triumph GT6, I warmed to the Rambler. When my then-girlfriend’s job at Harvard moved to the University of Texas in Austin and we planned to move there, I struggled with whether or not to take the Rambler, but it relieved me of the decision by overheating on a final drive out to Amherst. I left it by the side of the road, something I’ve always felt badly about. I keep my eye out for a fully loaded Ambassador with two-tone paint, V-8, factory air, and power everything.

1971 Volkswagen Bus / 1969 Westfalia Camper

When I was still living in Amherst in 1981, attending graduate school at UMass, my then-girlfriend Maire Anne, who had since graduated and moved to Cambridge, surprised me by driving up in a ’71 Volkswagen bus. I thought, how cool is this? My hot girlfriend just bought the car synonymous with all the most sensational parts of the ’60s. Although it was definitely her car, not mine, the bout with owning the Triumph had left me mechanically inclined, and when we moved in together, it was my responsibility to keep the bus running. This responsibility was severely tested when we piled into the bus (which, of course, like any lifelong New England Volkswagen, had no heat due to the rotted-out heater boxes) and left on New Year’s Day 1982 for her new job in Austin. Unfortunately, the bus’s New England provenance caught up with it, and one day, while I was working on it, the floor jack went through the frame rail. I was able to find a ’69 Westfalia camper with a near-perfect body but a blown engine, so I did the Frankstein-like transplant in the driveway of our little rented duplex in Austin. The resurrected Westfalia camper came with us when we returned to Boston in ’84 and was Maire Anne’s daily driver until our first child was born in 1988, so the bus (well, the engine in two different buses) was with us for seven years. Whenever we see an old air-cooled bus, the pull we feel isn’t simply cannabis-soaked nostalgia; we logged some serious miles in those two that were joined at the crankshaft. The herd of Vanagons that followed were my attempt to forestall the inevitable future of white-bread conventional minivans, and they were OK, but they’re nothing we get weepy about. However, the fact that the little RV we own is a Winnebago Rialta, which is a Volkswagen Eurovan with a Winnebago camper body on the back—sort of like a pumped-up next-generation Westfalia camper—is far from accidental.

1971 BMW 2002

Moving to Austin and getting my first real software engineering job enabled me to scratch that itch that began when that college student who owned the BMW 2002 lived with us that summer. So in 1982, I bought the cheapest, rattiest 2002 that I could find, a ’71 that was equal parts orange paint, rust, and bondo. It was this car that established the pattern of buy ’em cheap, fix ’em, and sell ’em when you find something better. Forty years and 40 2002s later, the pattern is still repeating. But this was ground zero. I currently own three 2002s, including another one I bought before leaving Austin, but some of the memories I have of that first 2002, including rebuilding its transmission and taking it for its first drive with a crunch-free gearbox and brand-new Pirelli P3s (while the stereo cranked out The Ghost In You by the Psychedelic Furs over the just-installed ADS 200 speakers), are unrivaled.

I’m sure I’m not the only one who feels that those first few cars are special. It doesn’t necessarily mean we regret selling them, or that we’d buy them back if we had the chance. It’s the memories, not the cars, that are irreplaceable.

***

Rob Siegel’s latest book, The Best of the Hack Mechanic^TM: 35 years of hacks, kluges, and assorted automotive mayhem, is available on Amazon. His other seven books are available here, or you can order personally inscribed copies through his website, www.robsiegel.com.

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There was no sign of the 2022 Volkswagen Arteon at the Pike’s Peak International Hill Climb in Colorado this year, but VW’s flagship must feel like it’s at the base of the 14,000-foot peak.

Here’s the hill that the Arteon needs to climb:

Its flagship predecessor, the over-engineered Phaeton, was a lovely car but a sales fail ranking somewhere between the Edsel and the Daihatsu Rocky. The Phaeton raised the question that the Arteon is still trying to answer in the positive: Do buyers even want a flagship Volkswagen four-door?

So far, no. Sales of the Arteon have been grim. The Arteon is a big car, not a big SUV, though its MQB architecture also underpins the mid-size Atlas. And as we all know, big-car futures are selling low. VW has already confirmed it will kill the mid-size Passat, though the bargain-priced Jetta compact remains in the corral; how much room was left in there when the Arteon debuted in 2019 is unclear. But with large cars like the Passat and Toyota Avalon going away, VW is perhaps betting there are enough customers left to find their way into an Arteon.

There’s no arguing that it is a pretty car, carrying through the design language of the CC. Outside, there’s little to complain about. The “Moonstone Gray” exterior color made the attractive styling seem a little drab, but the alloy wheels helped dress it up. From the front, rear or side, this is a handsome liftback sedan; all versions for 2022 come with the sportier R-Line bodywork. But the interior—at least on our 2022 Arteon 2.0T SE R-Line—wasn’t as upscale as you’d expect on a $41,945 car, which is the least expensive baseline model offered. It’s possible to nudge an Arteon up to about $50,000 with the all-wheel-drive SEL Premium R-Line. VW has priced itself here into the shallow waters of Audi and even Mercedes-Benz’s pool, not to mention those of Lexus and Genesis. Arteon press materials name the Acura TLX, Infiniti Q50, Kia Stinger, and Nissan Maxima as its four central competitors—each of which offer V-6 engines on upper trims.

For 2022, the freshened model gets an extra 32 horsepower, and a seven-speed dual-clutch automatic replaces the conventional eight-speed. These are welcome changes to help justify the slinky four-door’s premium position, but VW essentially dulled the impact of those gains by increasing the price on a car that dealerships are already discounting to move from lots. And can you blame buyers, who despite the Arteon’s smooth, willing 300-horse powertrain, are wondering if it’s worth spending more than $40,000 on a 2.0-liter turbo-four with front-wheel drive?

(Fuel mileage, by the way, is 24 mpg city, 34 mpg highway, 28 mpg overall, which we fell just short of in our tests. But while the Arteon runs happily on regular gas, VW says if you want all 300 horsepower, you’ll have to buy premium.)

Acceleration felt brisk; the extra kick from the Golf R-sourced engine perk up the Arteon’s performance, and the seven-speed dual-clutch transmission (DSG in VW-speak) shifts with authority but is never intrusive. Handling is crisp but falls short of sporty, with quite a bit of understeer in corners. Our test car came with standard 18-inch wheels and all-season tires; I suspect the available 20-inchers on the SEL would make the car feel a bit more German, more eager on turn-in. (It is German, by the way, built in the Emden factory.)  The composed ride on the 18s, however, feels suited to a premium people-mover such as this. Braking performance, from the vented four-wheel discs, is similarly confidence-inspiring.

On the whole, the Arteon balances eye-catching styling with a fuss-free interior and competent dynamics. It’s also usefully spacious, with roughly the same length and height as a Toyota Camry but two inches of additional width. Those two inches are evident in hip and elbow room. Five actual six-footers will fit in the Arteon; while you can say that about some SUVs, there aren’t many cars that compare. Trunk space is absolutely cavernous with 27.2 cubic feet of room, and a low lift-over under the big liftback hatch. Rear seats are a 60/40 split and there’s a pass-through to the trunk.

Inside, upholstery in our test car was VW’s trusty V-Tex synthetic leather, in “Titan Black.” Nappa leather is standard in the SEL models. Seats are just fine—supportive and comfortable even on long stints. The cabin remains quiet on all but the roughest pavement. The sound system is a passably good eight-speaker unit, whereas a 12-speaker, 700-watt Harman Kardon is offered on the SEL. Again, for $42,000, you might expect a more dynamic stereo. And you might expect a sunroof, but that’s a separate issue.

Instruments and controls are intuitive and easy to learn, unlike in other modern VWs, and few of the essential controls require fiddling with the eight-inch touchscreen. The steering wheel is wonderful to touch and wrapped in (real) leather. One of the big problems I had—and maybe it’s just me—were all the “switch blanks” on the left and right sides of the center-mounted gearshift lever. These are the little rectangular pieces of plain black plastic that fill in when your car doesn’t come equipped with a certain feature that otherwise requires a switch. Five switch blanks in the eight positions on the center console reminded me that this car lacks a whole lot of stuff. What am I, an Uber driver? Some manufacturers are artistic about camouflaging switch blanks— Volkswagen isn’t. In Europe, remember, VW has the premium reputation and stature to price the Arteon a bit higher and include more features. In the U.S., the land of cutthroat cost competition, a car like this is a very tough sell.

Bottom line: There’s really nothing wrong with the 2022 Arteon SE, except that—at this entry level, anyway—it just doesn’t feel like $42,000 worth of car. If that doesn’t bother you, and you’re looking for a pretty, roomy, quick four-door with German bonafides, the Arteon is a fine pick. The SEL and SEL Premium R-Line may offer a more convincingly luxurious package, but with prices edging toward $50,000 the four-cylinder Arteon is stuck competing with V-6s and more established luxury nameplates. And before long, VW will be stepping away from gas engines entirely, meaning an EV in the vein of the ID.Aero concept is all but inevitable. It’s a steep grade for the Arteon, no matter how you slice it.

2022 VW Arteon SE R-Line

Price: $41,945 (including $1165 destination)

Pros: Style and substance, sober-as-a-judge performance.

Cons: Pricey, plain on the inside, base model would have more verve with all-wheel drive and 20-inch tires.

Takeaway: The Arteon has good looks and adequate performance, but $42,000? A dealer discount would make us a lot more interested.

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The Volkswagen Beetle’s enormous success—globally, but particularly in the United States—was because it was affordable, and in no small part because it was marketed brilliantly.

We don’t know how well the Kawasaki KZ-400 sold in the mid-1970s, but the brand’s 1975 advertisement was very much from the “sincerest form of flattery” school of thought, and traded very much on the qualities that had made Volkswagen’s small car a massive hit when it first arrived on U.S. shores.

Even if there wasn’t a Beetle right there in the frame, the simplistic layout, the font, and the straightforward ad copy are very much cribbed from VW’s legendary ad agency, DDB (to the extent we’d not be surprised if Kawasaki went to DDB itself and said “more of that, please”). The tagline, “Think even smaller”, was a direct reference to Volkswagen’s “Think small” Beetle ad first seen in 1959.

But the brand was obviously trading on the Beetle’s common sense too, illustrating how much you could get for your $995, and how much you could save as a result in this post-fuel crisis world.

Even a Beetle, implied the copy, could start to get a bit expensive given the cost of fuel and inflation (starting to sound familiar, this), whereas for less than a thousand bucks a shiny new Kawasaki could save you on purchase costs, fuel economy and maintenance.

And be a lot more fun, which is another reason people bought Beetles. You got half the cylinders with a KZ-400 compared to a Beetle, but the 399cc parallel twin was good for around 35 hp for its 397 pounds (sans rider). A 1600 Beetle, in comparison, gave you only 13 extra horses but had to push another 1450 pounds. Power-to-weight beats flower power every time.

Another feather in Kawasaki’s cap, albeit not mentioned in the ad, was that from 1974 the company actually started building bikes in the U.S.—the first foreign motorcycle manufacturer to do so. Whether home pride or favorable costs, it gave Kawasaki the edge over Honda, and the KZ-400 outsold its Honda equivalent.

Maybe it did beat the Beetle too, which was already in decline by the mid-‘70s and finally rolled over onto its back in 1977. The KZ-400 would last until 1980, by then with a four-cylinder engine. But with no Beetle to compare to, we don’t remember its advertisements ever being so clever.

Via Hagerty UK

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Based on Volkswagen’s first-generation Golf (badged as the Rabbit in America) and named after a warm Mediterranean wind, the Scirocco debuted in North America in 1975 as an economical sport coupe with smart styling by Giorgetto Giugiaro. Essentially, it was to the new front-engine, liquid-cooled Golf as the previous Karmann Ghia was to the Beetle. Propelled by a transverse 1.5-liter SOHC inline-four, the Scirocco was a satisfying ride. And it was a substantial success, with a global production run exceeding 500,000 units through 1981.

Following the end of first-gen Scirocco production, VW immediately replaced it with the Mk II Scirocco for 1982. Longer and wider but based on the same chassis, its eight-valve inline-four SOHC engine grew from 1.5 liters and 74 horsepower at launch to 1.8 liters and 90 horsepower by 1984.

A pivotal moment for the Mk II Scirocco came in mid-1986, when Volkswagen dropped in its first-ever 16-valve inline-four. I attended the Mk II Scirocco’s press launch for Automobile, and compared with Volkswagen’s previous eight-valve Golf and Scirocco offerings, the 16-valve upgrade ignited the drive experience. Accompanying the new engine were a full aero body kit, a larger spoiler fitted midway up the backlight, and teardrop-shaped slotted wheels. New four-wheel disc brakes were standard; a power package, a sunroof, leather seating, and air conditioning were optional.

It’s hard to believe now, but four-valve combustion chambers in an alloy DOHC head were exciting technology at the time, and in the Scirocco 16V’s case, this resulted in 123 horsepower (37 percent more than its predecessor). Those ponies pulling 2287 pounds gave a power-to-weight ratio of 18.6 pounds per horsepower, theoretically netting the fastest, most powerful VW ever built. Despite the factory’s 124-mph top-speed claim, I saw just 110 mph in fourth while thrashing the Scirocco 16V on Phoenix International Raceway’s longest straightaway.

Shifting was improved, too, owing to a revised five-speed transaxle. On street duty, the 16V proved nearly as fun to row as a Toyota MR2.

Thanks to its performance-calibrated suspension and firm chassis, the Scirocco 16V made the most of its 185/60R14 Pirelli P6 tires. Today, adding a passenger and luggage will only further improve the ride. It helps that the power-assisted rack-and-pinion steering makes the 16V feel light, with only mild understeer at the limit. Aggressive driving still brings a trait familiar to certain FWD pilots—lifting the inside rear wheel while cornering.

A Mk II Scirocco of any year is a truly mechanical experience. Sure, the Bosch KE-Jetronic fuel injection and ignition contain electronics, but the rest of the car is all you. The steering offers good feedback, and the independent front and torsion-beam rear suspension will help you hustle the Scirocco through any twisties you encounter. Plus, the beam axle allows a low cargo-area floor, which expands the car’s utility.

Mk II Scirocco sales continued through 1988, with 291,497 units produced globally before the model was replaced in the U.S. by the upscale Corrado. Then a Scirocco Mk III arrived for 2008, lasting seven years and adding 280,000 more units. For a vintage experience on a budget, the 1986–88 Scirocco 16V remains as hot as its namesake wind. “Maserati? Ferrari? Lamborghini?” challenged a period Volkswagen ad. “Scirocco!”

This article first appeared in Hagerty Drivers Club magazine. Click here to subscribe and join the club.

The post What replaced the Karmann Ghia? VW’s <em>other</em> hot hatch, the Scirocco appeared first on Hagerty Media.

For 39 years, VW has been spicing up its utilitarian Golf hatch with a GTI version for the United States. The result is perhaps the least polarizing of all enthusiast cars, as it is based on a hatchback designed for a life of commuting, grocery-running, parent-visiting, passenger-toting, highway-cruising, and parallel parking. Other “hot” hatches have come and gone—Lancer, Focus, Veloster—but the GTI has remained, a master of feisty, all-round usability.

Mechanically, the eighth-generation GTI is only a half-step change from its predecessor (2015–2021), which suggests that VW has refused to fix what ain’t broke. The Mk. 8 ultimately possesses a tinge of bittersweet: Customers, spoiled for choice in high-riding, ruggedized crossovers, still want to buy this low-slung, manual-equipped hatchback—and, despite a portfolio glutted with profitable crossovers, VW still makes it. The Volkswagen Group even kept the GTI around when it axed all lesser Golfs from its U.S. catalog for 2022. Despite this, the Mk. 8’s interior can’t hide compromise. Though a cost-cut and touchscreen-dominated cabin doesn’t dilute the Golf’s beloved personality, that interior risks distracting from it.

First, the good things, the vast majority of which are shared with the Mk. 7. Four passenger doors plus a hatch, underpinned by Volkswagen’s modular, front-drive MQB platform. A turbocharged, 2.0-liter, iron-block four cylinder (dubbed EA888 in VW-speak). An available six-speed manual on every trim (S, SE, and Autobahn, same as before).

The sheetmetal now looks bulldoggier, but the mechanical changes under those panels are incremental. The “Evo4” version of the EA888 is now blessed with a higher-pressure fuel system and 4.3 more pounds of boost: Horsepower increases by 13, to 241, and torque grows by 15 lb-ft, to 273. An electronically locking differential, optional on early Mk. 7s and standard on late ones, is standard here.

Fun fact: Any GTI you buy in the states is now built in Germany, not Mexico, as with the Mk. 7. Unsurprisingly, price jumps—$1855 from the 2021 to 2022 model year. Our mid-level, automatic-equipped, plaid-upholstered SE tester stickered at $35,095 while carrying just one option: Moonstone Gray paint, a trendy nonmetallic shade similar to rain-dampened asphalt. Destination charge counts for the remaining $995. (As of this writing, that fee has jumped by another $100, according to VW’s online configurator.)

As you’d expect with a hatchback, the GTI proved an accommodating hauler. With rear seats folded, it swallowed a load or two of moving boxes (Home Depot, mostly size medium), plus a vacuum cleaner, a broom, a trash bin, and a sloppily rolled oversize sleeping bag. No shins were banged on bumpers in the process, either. (Adult rear-seat passengers fare equally well when entering and exiting.) Inflatable stand-up paddleboard (deflated), the paddle, and an electric pump, rear seats upright? Not an issue—there’s even a 12-volt socket in the passenger-side trunk wall to power said pump. Interior cubbies behind each rear wheel even accommodated chunky 32-ounce Hydroflasks, restraining them from rolling about like grenades.

On back roads, the GTI is equal parts friendly and spunky. It doesn’t sound or ride much like Volkswagen’s all-wheel-drive Golf R hot rod, minus that car’s whooshing turbo noises and seam-hunting suspension. If you just want to cruise around, crank the stereo, and stick a hand out the window, the GTI’s powertrain complies, no drama. Not that experimentation isn’t rewarded. A tug of the shifter into Sport prompts the transmission to hold gears, leaving you free to go hunt for the powerband sweet spot. The suspension falls on the taut side of everyday comfortable. The high-ceilinged cabin feels airy and open-eyed.

This car does a great job of meeting the driver where they are. Not only will it run to the pharmacy without complaint; it will put a smile on the face of a novice and engage a GTI devotee with years of track experience.

In most circumstances, anyway. To Volkswagen’s credit, the development budget favored performance. Screens are cheap to make. In three or so years, when VW needs to attract new GTI buyers, the car’s large flat panels will be easy to update in ways customers will notice. But financial logic or that front diff lock aren’t likely to cool your temper when you briefly deactivate the entire air-conditioning system and the software is so maddeningly unintuitive that you can’t reawaken it.

There is too much screen here. A near-complete absence of buttons. Not all touchscreens are distracting; a good infotainment system, like a good smartphone, can be executed to demand a minimum of user attention. If you’re willing to adapt to a digitized ecosystem, the learning curve with most of them tapers quickly. This car, on the other hand, could (did) make a 25-year-old reviewer with ten unbroken years of Apple product ownership feel illiterate in the language of icons, submenus, and swipes. Those of older generations may feel alienated, if not insulted, no matter their patience.

The system’s pain points did narrow after a week. If you have an iPhone, you spend a lot of time in the friendly confines of Apple Carplay, for one. But you also come to learn the infotainment system’s confusing hieroglyphics: that square symbol means home, power button means all climate control off, and no other icon will reactivate the system. You become a veritable ninja at the tap-tap-tap process required to deactivate the annoying auto stop/start system each trip. One time’s the charm, once you decode the black-plastic steering-wheel buttons, to deactivate the prudish “ecotips” that intrude at the top of the GTI’s digital instrument panel. Yes, I do indeed want to cruise at 75 with the windows down and the AC on low, set 68 degrees. Let me be captain of my own damn destiny.

Other irritations faded much slower. The groove of tappable, brushable dash controls that’s used to modulate volume and temperature? Why isn’t it backlit, so you can see it at night? Why does the climate-control system demand you take eyes off road for anything more than “warmer” or “cooler,” anyway? Headlights tell the same story: “Auto” keeps you safe from tickets, but the front lights are adjusted not by dial, but by a smooth tab of glossy black plastic with no indents or ridges.

The GTI’s good name has been built over an unbroken stretch of nearly 50 years (39 in American history). Five or six years of a gimmicky interior won’t ruin that. It may, however, frustrate first-comers who would have found a Mk. 7 satisfying and without a single grumble. That interior might prompt internet-research fiends to shop lightly used Golf 7s instead of buying a new 8. (There are certainly enough 7s out there—VW built over 80,000 for the U.S. alone.)

Or they’ll chase alternatives. They might, just might, look at the Hyundai Veloster N, which is several thousand cheaper… and has exactly one model year to live before Hyundai discontinues the model entirely. The newly introduced Honda Civic Si has a far more intuitive and upscale interior and starts below $30,000, though many enthusiasts will dismiss its powertrain as lacking the GTI’s spirit. The Acura Integra A-Spec is the GTI’s freshest and most promising contender: Though Acura restricts the manual transmission to a single, $36,895 configuration, the car comes with an electronic locking diff (a feature Honda refused the Civic Si) and an interior that, though shared with the Civic, at least has a few real buttons.

The VW’s cape may have a wrinkle or two, but the GTI’s understated and well-rounded talent remains intact. You’ll only want something better if you’re willing to compromise—on door count, cargo space, or performance. For now, bless the Wolfsburg gods that the GTI is still an option on our shores. Probably the best one, too.

***

2022 VW Golf GTI 2.0T SE (DSG)

Price: $35,095 / $36,485 (base / as-tested)

Highs: Down to clown, or not, at any time—even with an automatic. Spacious, quiet, fuel-efficient.

Lows: Chunky-monkey frowny LED face. Infotainment system distracts more than satisfies. Interior materials feel cheapskate.

Summary: A frustrating infotainment system in a lackluster interior irons a few wrinkles into this vaunted all-rounder, but the good stuff remains.

The post Review: 2022 VW Golf GTI 2.0T SE (DSG) appeared first on Hagerty Media.

A trio of LaFerrari prototypes is headed to auction

Intake: Three test mules used in the development of Ferrari’s LaFerrari will take center stage at Mecum Auctions at Monterey Car Week. The first prototype, dubbed M4, is from 2011, uses the platform from the 458 Italia, but somehow squeezes in the V-12 engine. It was built to test the main mechanical components of the car and check emissions. Next up is the 2012 phase two F150 Mulotipo MP1 which has moved on to a pre-production carbon tub and gets a second-generation version of the V-12 plus the HY-KERS hybrid system. Lastly comes the 2014 F150 Prototipe Preserie PS1 which is a pre-production model complete with final bodywork and a leather-lined interior. Each car comes with Ferrari Classiche certification to prove its authenticity. Oh by the way, if front-engined Ferraris are more to your taste, Mecum also has a pre-production F12 tdf from 2014 up for grabs.

Exhaust: It’s rare for carmakers to sell prototypes, but Ferrari seldom loses the opportunity to make money. Each car represents a different phase in the program, so if you already own Ferrari’s first hybrid hypercar, scooping these mules could enable you to end up with the complete LaFerrari story. Although the cars have racked up the miles in testing it’s unclear whether their new owner will be able to register them for road use. —Nik Berg

Toyota’s EV tax credits enter going, going, gone phase 

Intake: Surpassing the 200,000 unit allotment of government subsidies for EVs is a right of passage for the major manufacturers. GM is already there, Tesla too. Now Toyota, on the brink of launching its first BEV, the bZ4X, has also cleared the threshold, according to Bloomberg. The company sold 3,876 plug-in hybrid cars in June, bringing its total number of partial electric vehicles (which meet the criteria to qualify for the full $7500 tax rebate offered by the federal government) to more than 200,000. The eligibility phase-out begins two quarters after the 200,000th vehicle is sold, which means there is still time for buyers interested in the bZ4X to reap the full benefit. That said, only certain dealers in certain states even have bZ4Xs currently, so sourcing one in a timely manner might be tough. Toyota will have to navigate the rest of the bZ4X rollout—and its foibles—with the prospect of weakened incentive in the near-term. According to Automotive News, that means Toyota’s rebate could be knocked down to $3750 as soon as January of next year and reduced to zero by October of 2023. Lobbyists are hard at work in Washington trying to raise that 200,000-unit eligibility cap, but for the time being, Toyota’s waning credits will be a hurdle in the sales room for the bZ4X.

Exhaust: In a weird way, you could view Toyota’s situation as the marque becoming a victim of its own success. Toyota’s plug-in hybrid dominance with models like the Prius Prime and the RAV4 Prime effectually proved that its offerings would have sold regardless of the added incentives in tow. Heading into uncharted all-electric waters, exhausting the kickback isn’t ideal for a nationwide ramp-up of a new BEV. On the plus side, CUVs have sold incredibly well under the Toyota’s badge. In an interview with Automotive News, Bob Carter, Toyota Motor North America’s executive vice president of sales said that the company is considering lowering the price of the bZ4X to combat the lost incentives. “When you’re out [of tax credits], you enter a step-down phase, so we’re planning for that.” — Bryan Gerould

Meet the VW Phaeton successor axed by VW

Intake: Volkswagen’s ambitious assault on the upper echelons of the auto market is now 20 years old. It was 2002 when the over-engineered, but ultimately under-performing, Phaeton was launched. Chairman Ferdinand Piëch wanted the Phaeton to lift the entire VW brand with a model that featured a truly luxurious cabin of 30-layer wood veneer, leather, and chrome. Pneumatic suspension with adaptive damping provided a plush ride, while effortless performance came from the range-topping W-12 engine as seen in Audi’s A8. However, in its bid to keep the VW family resemblance, the Phaeton ended up looking like a slightly bloated Passat. What captain of industry would want to arrive at a meeting in a car that could be mistaken for one driven by their sales staff?

The Phaeton was phased out in 2016, but VW had a successor all ready to go. As you can see in the photos, the D2 was far more svelte than the first generation. It was built on the brand’s MLB platform to take a wide range of engines, and pioneered the Innovision Cockpit that would make its debut in the 2018 Touareg—a vehicle that buyers actually wanted.

Exhaust: Piëch’s plan for the Phaeton gave it a sales target of 20,000 a year but it never came close. In 2013,  for example, less than 6000 cars were built, which meant the VW lost money on every one of them—by some calculations as much as €28,000 ($28,454) per unit. According to analyst Max Warburton, the Phaeton was one of the “most loss-making European cars of modern times.” Canning Piëch’s pet project was clearly the right move, even if the D2 did look more desirable. — Nik Berg

SEMA will place a greater emphasis on EV conversions this year

Intake: SEMA’s North Hall will feature an expanded section dedicated to electric vehicles including new EV platforms and conversions. “The EV aftermarket is evolving quickly and continues to change; we’re curating a unique collection of the latest products related to electric vehicles and the aftermarket,” said Tom Gattuso, SEMA vice president of events. “SEMA Electrified will help businesses see the latest trends and understand how the EV market has evolved. Visitors will gain an understanding of the advancements and opportunities for the future.” SEMA was a key sponsor of a new bill in California that would provide eligible motorists who EV-swapped their vehicle that was originally powered by a gasoline- or diesel-burning engine with a $2000 rebate to help offset the cost. That bill passed unanimously in the lower state legislature, the California Assembly, last June. The bill now awaits a vote in California’s upper state legislature, the California Senate.

Exhaust: There have been increasing numbers of EV conversions on display at SEMA, some of which we’ve covered at previous shows, but the aftermarket for EV conversions is still in its infancy, making the swap to electric power far more daunting than your typical engine swap. While many enthusiasts are turned off by the silent powertrains, it’s in SEMA’s interest to help the fledgling companies that enable hobbyists to complete these kinds of conversions. Doing so makes for a bigger tent and SEMA needs all the support it can get to help fight for all enthusiasts. Strangely, both General Motors and Ford will be absent at SEMA 2022, which is unfortunate as both are gearing up to offer electric crate motors to help such conversions along. — Brandan Gillogly

Kanye West wants to build a car … out of foam?

Intake: Donda Industrial Design, musician Kanye West’s newest business venture, teased a potential concept vehicle yesterday. Lead by newly-appointed Head of Industrial Design—and famous footwear designer—Steven Smith, the rapper’s industrial design arm was rather reticent in the details about its concept ride. According to the teaser, though, which includes a crude rendering of the cab-forward truck, the “Donda Foam Vehicle” is conceptualized, designed, and manufactured in the United States. Donda, an in-house agency named after the musician’s late mother, was founded in 2011 by West. While the firm has dipped its toe in everything from footwear to professional athletics, this is the first foray into vehicle design.

Exhaust: Let the speculation—and subsequent hype—over Kanye West’s Donda Foam Vehicle begin. The last great American diva has a knack for staying in the spotlight between albums. His foam roller certainly has the rumor mill churning, from hypothesized powerplant to expected materials. First, it’s important to know that the rapper has a history with off-road vehicles, as he amassed a fleet of ATVs and 4×4 trucks at his Wyoming ranch. Most notable among West’s fleet is at least one Ukrainian Sherp—he was filmed driving the extreme off-road buggy through a McDonalds drive through for a Super Bowl commercial. It’s no surprise, then, that his concept vehicle borrows a similar cab-over design. Second, ’Ye is tight with Elon Musk, who was reportedly at the rapper’s listening party for his latest album Donda 2. In addition to looking wildly similar to Musk’s Cybertruck, EV devotees are pointing at Tesla as possible powertrain provider. And finally, head of Donda Industrial Design Steven Smith is revered in the footwear industry as the “Godfather of Dad Shoes.” His chunky foam-heavy designs will likely play into the overall look and composition of the Donda Foam Vehicle. — Cameron Neveu

Hyundai is testing a performance version of the Ioniq 5 at the ’Ring

Intake: YouTube channel CarSpyMedia has spotted what appears to be a performance version of the Hyundai Ioniq 5 EV testing at the Nürburgring. It’s possible that what you’re seeing here will eventually be called the Ioniq 5 N, the initial foray into pure EVs for Hyundai’s fledgling N performance brand. The looming question, of course, is whether the new EV can capture some of the magic that made the now-departed Veloster N so special, but from this video, we at least know it can take some abuse from the Green Hell. The Ioniq 5 shares its Electric-Global Modular Platform (E-GMP) with Kia’s EV6. We know that Kia is planning a sportier version of the EV6, dubbed the EV6 GT, that will boast 576 hp and a 0–60 time of around 3.5 seconds. Expect the Ioniq 5 N to post similar performance numbers.

Exhaust: Unlike some of the other marques building performance EVs in-house, Hyundai has a competitive advantage in its still-standing partnership with Croatian EV powerhouse Rimac. The technical agreement has already produced some promising fruit, such as the all-electric 810-hp RM20e and a mad-scientist coupe that pairs a plug-in Rimac drivetrain with a hydrogen fuel-cell converter. While both of those projects still feel a bit pie-in-the-sky, an Ioniq 5 N seems like an attainable, near-term goal. Expect to learn more on July 15, Hyundai’s “N Day.” — Nathan Petroelje

The post Buy a LaFerrari prototype, VW’s lost Phaeton, Kanye’s foam car appeared first on Hagerty Media.

If you own and enjoy a newer front-drive compact, you probably owe a measure of gratitude to Volkswagen.

For a good fifteen-year stretch starting in the late 1990s with the debut of the Mk IV Golf, VW set the benchmark for refinement and sophistication in the compact segment. There was a heavy dose of German engineering: Consider that as far back as 2008, you could spec a GTI with a turbocharged, direct-injected engine and dual-clutch transmission—kit even most luxury cars of the day had yet to obtain.

It was more than just components, though. There was was character. The interior quality of these small VWs was not just best in class but better than most cars in the class or two above. I drove a Jetta from Michigan to Boston in 2009. I remember not only being impressed but also being unimpressed by most of what I drove in the months after. Automakers everywhere took note and developed a generation of compact cars and crossovers in their image. The Honda Civic Sport Touring I recently reviewed more closely resembles a Mk VII (2015–2021) GTI in its styling, refinement, and driving character than it does any previous Civic.

The 2022 Jetta GLI in many respects benefits from the blueprint established by its great predecessors, yet it also lives in their shadow.

If you haven’t been keeping up with VW’s lineup changes, a recap: Starting in 2010, Jettas diverged from the Golf, becoming larger, less expensive, and generally more suited to the budget-conscious American compact car shopper. This was part of the automaker’s larger ambitions to sell 800,000 vehicles in the United States. That plan didn’t quite pan out, but the Jetta remains a relatively large, affordable entry point to German car ownership. The GTI  is now entering its eighth generation as the only Golf in this country, leaving the refreshed Jetta as the primary compact offering. The GLI, which has long been a GTI with a trunk, is now very much a different car.

Let’s start with the size. The new GLI Autobahn comes across like a midsize sedan. This is partly a tribute to the creeping growth across the industry (have you sat in a 3 Series recently?). Yet the Jetta’s design seems intended to draw attention to its larger dimensions. The roofline is upright, traditional. Busy styling in the grille and superfluous creases on the hood add visual weight to front end. One editor saw hints of the last Ford Taurus in the squared-off rear bumper. As a result, even though the GLI has a similar footprint to the latest Civic, it looks both bigger and frumpier. Picture how you look in pleated pants, and you’re not far off.

VW product planners clearly assume bigger is always better in America and, well, they’re not wrong. This American duly appreciated being able to stick two child seats in back and still have a cavernous trunk for their stuff. It’s the “less expensive” part where VW continues to miscalculate. The hard plastics and seemingly sprayed on carpets in our test car are well behind most of the competition even at the Jetta’s $21,460 entry point; for the test car’s $32,685 sticker, they’re almost insulting. GLI-specific upgrades such as comfortable leather bucket seats and a leather-wrapped, flat-bottom wheel elevate things a bit but also serve to illuminate how cheap the rest of the cabin is. Have you ever redone the chrome on a car only to realize it calls more attention to your crappy paint? Some consolation: The Jetta hasn’t yet followed the new GTI off the touchscreen deep end. It has a screen, of course, but buttons remain for key radio and climate-control functions.

Volkswagen has also attempted to add back in costs they’ve cut from the Jetta’s mechanicals, here to much greater effect. Aside from a bigger engine than the standard Jetta—the great 2.0-liter EA888 engine in 228-hp spec—the GLI gets a multilink (versus torsion bar) rear suspension, stiffer and lower springs, and an electronically controlled limited-slip differential. These are pretty significant upgrades for what amounts to a niche trim package on a model of waning importance (the Jetta, long VW’s bestseller in the United States, now trails the Taos and Tiguan). Herein lies the brilliance of the MQB components set—it allows VW to swap parts and even change dimensions at minimal cost.

Given the hardware, you’d expect the GLI to drive something like a GTI and indeed it does. The EA888 is far from the only direct-injected turbo four on the market these days, but it’s still one of the best, providing near instant torque and plenty of power throughout the rev range. The six-speed manual (a dual-clutch automatic is optional) has longer throws than you might expect for a sport sedan, but the shifter glides through the gates with minimal slop and clutch engagement feels smooth.

We tested the GLI’s mettle at GingerMan Raceway in South Haven, Michigan. The track has several long corners that punish a driver for jumping on the throttle early, a potential trap for a heavy, powerful front-drive car. Yet with a smooth right foot and some help from the limited-slip diff, the VW bounded onto straights with verve. The steering wheel likes similarly easy, deliberate inputs, as the 3272-pound GLI has plenty of weight to transfer. After a day of lapping, I wished for all the track-friendly stuff, like summer tires (offered when the car launched but no longer available), bigger brakes, and even stiffer springs. On the way home, navigating highway construction and potholes, I reconsidered. Even when Mitsubishi Evos and Acura Integra Type Rs sat at the top of the sport compact food chain, Volkswagen took a more relaxed approach, and for most drivers most of the time, it was the right approach. It still is.

Indeed, a lot about the Jetta GLI feels right. The problem is that the remaining players in America’s compact car market are cold-blooded killers. In particular, the Honda Civic Si and the turbo, all-wheel-drive Mazda 3 start for less money than the GLI and provide levels of refinement and style on par with stuff costing ten grand more. VW should recognize those cars—it used to build them.

***

2022 Volkswagen Jetta GLI Autobahn

Price: $32,685/$32,685 (base/as-tested)

Highs: Just-right balance between performance and comfort for a family-friendly sport compact.

Lows: Frumpy styling, downmarket interior at an upmarket price.

Summary: A fine car that falls short of the bar VW itself set.

The post Review: 2022 Volkswagen Jetta GLI Autobahn appeared first on Hagerty Media.

Odds are, every Hagerty reader either owns an older car or dreams of owning a vehicle that has clearly survived past the manufacturer’s intended expiration date. Many times these cars neither have a fully comprehensive aftermarket support system, nor do they have factory support on par with a late model vehicle’s overabundant supply of spare parts.

So we asked you, the Hagerty Community, what part you would consider a dream come true were you to find it for sale, and the answers were diverse and enlightening. Haven’t joined the Hagerty Community yet? You should consider registering, and getting in on the fun next time around! No matter, let’s see what part you wish was still available for your car.

Anything Zeta, everything Zeta

Perhaps this is low hanging fruit, as a large amount of parts for the GM Zeta platform were thin on the ground even when the Pontiac G8 (and Chevrolet Caprice) were new vehicles. I recall Caprice cop cars were parked waiting for parts to arrive from Australia even during the warranty period, and Hagerty Community user tabboo wishes everything GM discontinued for his 2009 Pontiac G8 GT would come back into local warehouses. While many parts are available if you can stomach the wait for international shipping, this is a very valid concern for all G8 owners.

Window “tape” for the Italian Cadillac

Hagerty Community user TG has a specific request for his Cadillac Allanté, looking for “the plastic ‘tape’ used by the power window mechanism.” As he states, the part used on a run-of-the-mill GM product is “about half an inch thinner.” Since the Allanté was about as bespoke a vehicle can be in the modern era, we wish TG all the luck in the world. That part will likely have to be rebuilt using the original part as a core for someone to conjur a workable replacement.

Speaking of rare Cadillacs…

Let’s stick with Cadillacs and discuss Hagerty Community member RobHarris’ concern. Rob needs a horn ring for a 1959 Cadillac, preferably one that is “much stronger than original.” Rob is also looking for cruise control-related parts that are priced for “an average consumer like me” which he knows is a big ask—parts with less than 1957 Chevrolet appeal will be expensive to scale, and have a limited audience. Or as he put it, “owning an expensive to restore car is not for average people.”

Euro-spec everything

I have a feeling this need is common for any European car owner from the 1970s-1990s, as American bumpers never looked as good as what was available in the home market. More to the point, Hagerty Community member Monstrodamus is looking for “stainless euro bumpers” for his Alfa Romeo Alfetta, as they clearly look better than the 5-mph friendly battering rams we got in America!

Pulling a thread on retired fabric designs

This one is more of a general grievance, as Hagerty Community member bblhed lamented that he’s had a hard time getting replacement cloth material for his seats. Or as he put it, “I have no idea what the deal is with the fabric (or patterned vinyl), but this has been a problem with just about every car I have ever owned.” I am sure there are plenty more folks out there that will agree; matching fabric can be almost impossible to find, even for late model vehicles (outside of a junkyard).

The grilles of classics past

This one might be too close to the aforementioned 1959 Cadillac horn ring, but it’s still worth mentioning. Hagerty Community user hunternicholas longs for the opportunity to “buy a new grille and other exterior trim” for his 1948 Chrysler Windsor Sedan. The problem is well known, as his car “is an example of not being a very popular car like a Mustang or Tri-Five Chevy.” This is the issue with cars that were never terribly popular, and it takes me back to my regular searches for automotive unobtainum. More to the point, it reminds me in need to be on top of things when the right part surfaces either online or at a junkyard: get it while you can, before your car gets as old as hunternicholas’ Chrysler Windsor.

The aftermarket home run

Here’s something I didn’t expect: a very cool, extremely unique, totally aftermarket part added to our list!  Hagerty Community user Bubbat would just “love to find a PowerLite power rear window for the 73-87 Chevy C-10s.” Made by C.R. Laurence in the 1980s, it predated the power rear window of the Toyota Tundra, and looks like a wonderful addition to any GM Squarebody. This part needs to be reproduced for this increasingly large community, and with great haste!

Mixed (and matched) signals?

Rare parts for equally rare vehicles also get a special mention, as Hagerty Community user Studebacher is looking for a turn signal/high beam dimmer switch for a Porsche 356. While I have seen conversions using more commonly available VW parts, I suspect the right switch for the right year is beyond important for owners/collectors of these rare Porsches. It could be the last part to ensure a perfect restoration!

More love for the Fox-body, please

Back to something more conventional, as its still not completely mindless to procure all the parts needed to restore a Fox Body Mustang. Hagerty Community member 85SVO is looking for the door skins to restore a rusty Fox Mustang back to its former glory. Apparently the Fox Mustang aftermarket sells “every other panel except the doors.” Considering how many Fox Bodies made a name for themselves across the country, and especially in the Big Three’s home turf of the Rust Belt, we agree when 85SVO says that it “seems pretty insane to me considering the amount of people who are working on restoring these cars.”

Vanlife needs OEM blessings?

The VW Vanagon has a loyal following, but apparently some unexpected parts are thin on the ground. Often you can take a risk on a used part, but not when it comes to the internal bits of a gearbox.  And that’s where Hagerty Community member Bleyseng comes into our tale, as he is motivated to ask VW to make “Vanagon Syncro transmission parts” so he can get a factory-fresh rebuild.

2002 problems, including a delayed relay

Hagerty Community member skyking96w has a wish that’s not too far from the Porsche 356—or is it? The 1971 BMW-Alpina 2002 in his possession needs a wiper delay relay, and they are proving tough to come by. While skyking96w says this part was made by the world-famous Hella brand, it has long since gone out of production. Perhaps someone is willing to make a new part using a well-documented template? How many people would mind a new, far superior part if it’s impossible to spot by the casual observer?

H-body interior guts

Let’s wrap this up where we began: GM products that are very hard to source, only because they aren’t the famous ones everyone remembers and/or wants. Hagerty Community user BillyD owns a 1979 Chevy Monza, a vehicle that acquiring “anything for them is pretty difficult to come by.” His biggest concerns right now are interior parts. The Monza had no peer in GM’s lineup, though as he says, “some things interchange with Corvette or Camaro, but not all.” We hope BillyD remains vigilant in his hunt in the future, as “a lot of scrounging on FB groups or eBay sometimes will reveal some NOS items.” Perhaps one day he will get everything needed for that Monza. We’re pulling for you, BillyD!

Any other parts you dream of coming across? Do you have some stock in your collection that could help one of our beloved readers above? Be sure to let us know in the comments below!

The post 12 parts you wish were still available for your car appeared first on Hagerty Media.

Welcome, Drivers.

This newsletter is for people who love to drive and who share Hagerty’s purpose to preserve driving and car culture for future generations. Think of it as your all-in-one, weekly source of everything you need to know about the world of cars—from inspirational stories to collector-car sales to industry gossip—as curated by a lifetime car geek. I’ll comb the automotive landscape for the most interesting and relevant news and opinions and provide links and my own commentary. I’ll also keep an eye on autonomous vehicle development and its potential future impact on us car enthusiasts.

While I would not mind an autonomous pilot myself from time to time, I am first and foremost a driver. As Editor-in-Chief of Hagerty Media, I work with dozens of passionate car folks who love producing engaging material across all mediums: web, print, social, video, podcasts, etc. It sure is a different world from when I started at Car and Driver in 1995, isn’t it? After CD, I was the Automotive Editor for Popular Mechanics magazine before a stint as Editor-in-Chief of Road & Track, and then I joined Hagerty in 2016. The one thing I’ve had in common at all my gigs is that I have no off-hours from cars. I spend nearly every waking minute either working on cars; driving cars, whether around town or, my favorite, long road trips; racing; or passing on my enthusiasm to my three kids. Your humble narrator is fathoms deep in the car thing.

Today, two things are on my mind: A recent sale of a used Volkswagen and a podcast in which Elon Musk said Tesla cars will have Level IV autonomous capability in 2023. I think the two are related. Let me explain.

That VW was a far-from-pristine 1984 GTI that sold for nearly $20 grand on Bring a Trailer. I love GTIs and have owned three. I bought the first in 1990, a 1983 model for $2300, while I was an engineering student at Lehigh University. The time I spent bombing around Bucks County, Pennsylvania, back roads rather than studying shaped my life. My memories of those years are so rose colored, I bought and restored a second GTI just to drive to my 20th college reunion.

For all its charms, that original GTI was basically an upgraded economy car. Worse, those early GTIs were built at a western Pennsylvania factory that was shuttered for a variety of reasons, one of them being poor quality. That second GTI, although freshly restored, was a buzzy, slow little thing. I quickly sold it, never imagining that it would soon be worth tens of thousands of dollars or about the same as the underappreciated Subaru BRZ.

The classic-car market is indeed hot right now, as detailed in this Hagerty article. There are various reasons behind the rise in classic-car values—Gen Xers now have money to spend on nostalgia, the pandemic prompted a general awareness that we’re all not going to live forever, and more—but in my mind the biggest driver is what Musk, and others, are up to: Driverless cars.

While today few agree with automotive executive Bob Lutz’s prediction that driving will be outlawed altogether, the number of engaging new cars is shrinking even while autonomous technology is progressing. Level IV means a car can operate with no human input within defined areas. The technology required, as Musk explained, is fascinating.

That said, more people realize that this technological change might mean the loss of something valuable. Therefore, there’s a renewed rush toward what we call “analog” cars, or machines with few or no electronic driver aids. This is good. It means people aren’t so in love with their smartphones that they’ve forgotten all the richness cars can offer. Here at Hagerty, we know this intrinsically. Heck, we even wrote a book about it. Here’s hoping the $20 grand GTI means many others agree.

Thanks for reading. See you next week.

Hear from me every Friday by subscribing to this newsletter.

The post Never Stop Driving #1: Used VWs and autonomous cars appeared first on Hagerty Media.