A glowing review? Sure, you can call it that. We published it on April 2, 2023. The second-generation BMW M2 is “The M car to get, and the one that tracks most closely to enthusiasts’ image of the brand,” we wrote. The M2 “remains the pure driving enthusiast’s choice in BMW’s lineup.”

So what can the 2025 BMW M2 do for an encore? An extra 20 horsepower, for one thing, upping the muscle from 453 horses to 473. Which lowers the 0-to-60 mph time to 4.1 seconds, a tenth of a second quicker with the manual transmission, and quicker still with the M Steptronic automatic transmission at 3.9 seconds.

Called in the business a “mid-cycle refresh”—which happens when a manufacturer updates a current vehicle to keep it interesting until the arrival of the next-generation model— BMW has tweaked that second-gen M2, introduced in 2023. The worldwide launch of the ’25 model happens this August. It will continue to be built in BMW’s plant at San Luis Potosí in Mexico, alongside a similarly-refreshed 2 Series Coupe.

As far as increased performance goes, that added horsepower can come with more torque, too, but at an experiential price. Torque remains a healthy 406 lb-ft in the manual, but opt for the M Steptronic plus the no-extra-cost Drivelogic feature that enhances the Steptronic’s shifts, and the torque jumps to 443 lb-ft. BMW also says that “advances have been made with the accelerator mapping and response in all the drive modes selectable via the M Setup menu,” resulting in a quicker response when you hit the accelerator, regardless of which transmission you have.

Aside from that, the powertrain is untouched—it remains a twin-turbo 3.0-liter inline six-cylinder engine, connected (thankfully) to a standard six-speed manual transmission, or the eight-speed M Steptronic.
Other updates for the ’25 model include new design accents for the exterior and interior, four new exterior colors, and the introduction of BMW Operating System 8.5 to support the latest generation of BMW iDrive. We’ll be interested to see how OS 8.5 works; in our review of the 2023 model, we reported that the “iDrive 8 interface is reasonably intuitive,” but that leaves some room for improvement.

More digital controls have been added, including for the seat and steering wheel heat and the climate control system itself, thus reducing the number of buttons and switches. The instrument panel has also been redesigned, and there’s a new flat-bottomed steering wheel. Apple CarPlay and Android Auto remain as standard equipment.

Wheels are double-spoke alloys in Jet Black or a bicolor finish, or—and this is new—a bright silver finish. The M quad tailpipes will be finished in black, and the model designation badges, located on the trunk lid and grille, are also now black, bordered in silver.

And those four new colors we mentioned: Java Green metallic, Voodoo Blue, Grigio Telesto Pearl Effect metallic and Twilight Purple Pearl Effect metallic. If you can guess exactly what those colors look like from their names, congratulations.

In all, probably not enough enhancements here for 2025 to make you trade in your 2023 or 2024 BMW M2, unless 20 more horsepower means that much to you. As expected, the price goes up, but not by a whole lot: The 2025 M2 starts at $64,900, plus $1175 destination and handling. The second-gen model was introduced for 2023 at a base price of $62,200, plus $995 destination and handling.

When it comes to four-wheel transportation that just makes you smile, the BMW M2 has been doing that since it was introduced as a 2016 model. We see no reason why that won’t continue.

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British race car driver Jamie Chadwick continued her American invasion last weekend with a history-making win in the Indy NXT Series, which used to be called Indy Lights. It’s the developmental feeder series for IndyCar, and many of its graduates have gone on to solid IndyCar careers, recently including Kyle Kirkwood and David Malukas, and in less recent history, Josef Newgarden, Scott Dixon, Helio Castroneves, Pato O’Ward, Marco Andretti, James Hinchcliffe, Colton Herta and Tony Kaanan.

Chadwick, who drives for Andretti Global, qualified on the pole for the Grand Prix of Road America, a 20-lap race on the tough Wisconsin road course. She is only the third female driver to win in the NXT/Indy Lights series, with the first being Ana Beatriz, who won in 2008 and 2009, and Pippa Mann, who was the most recent winner in 2010. Those wins were on oval tracks, so Chadwick becomes the first female driver to win on a road course.

“I have no words,” Chadwick said after her victory on Sunday. “Honestly, I’m a bit emotional. We’ve had an unbelievable car this year and just haven’t been able to do anything about it. I’m just so happy we held on there.”

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She beat Andretti Global teammate Louis Foster by 0.82 seconds, with Jacob Abel in third. Foster and Abel already have two wins each this season, and are the top two in the points, with Abel leading.

This is the second NXT season for Chadwick, 26, after winning three championships in the Europe-based, all-female W Series. That series was cancelled after three seasons for lack of finances, and last ran in 2022, when Chadwick returned with support from Caitlyn Jenner to win her third championship, this time for the newly-formed Jenner Racing team. The W Series was essentially replaced by the female-only, F1-backed F1 Academy in 2023. F1 Academy is on the Formula 4 level, considered a step down from the competition in the W Series.

Prior to racing in the W and NXT Series, Chadwick competed mostly in Europe, but she had several starts in the F3 Asian Championship. She has also been a development driver for the Williams F1 team, and a test driver for the NIO Formula E team. Chadwick co-drove an Aston Martin to a win in the Silverstone 24 Hours in 2015, and to fifth in class in the 2019 running of the 24 Hours of Nürburgring. She’s also competed in Extreme E, the electric off-road series.

Additionally, Chadwick is also the official advisor for 17-year-old Lia Block, daughter of the late stunt driver and rally racer Ken Block, as she competes for Williams in the F1 Academy series this season. After four of the scheduled 14 races, Lia is 14th in points out of 17 drivers.

Chadwick moved to the NXT series in 2023, where she had a best finish of sixth, and ended the season 12th in points. It took her a while to get acclimated to U.S. tracks and the NXT car, which is a Dallara chassis with a turbocharged 2.0-liter Mazda-AER four-cylinder, with six-speed gearbox. The series is owned by IndyCar, which means it’s owned by Roger Penske. Her best finish this season had been third on the Indianapolis Motor Speedway’s road course.

While Chadwick led Sunday’s race from the pole and never gave up the lead, it wasn’t easy. A crash on lap 16 caused officials to fly the red flag, stopping the race to allow for a clean-up and ensure that it wouldn’t finish under a caution flag. It was restarted with two laps to go.

“With the red flag at the end, I was like, ‘Come on!’” Chadwick said. “We started to lose the tires a little bit. I just knew I had to be aggressive. I knew they [Foster and Abel] have a championship to worry about, and I just had to get my head down. I really wanted to win today.” The victory moved Chadwick up to ninth in points.

This was the sixth race in a 13-race NXT season. Next up is a doubleheader at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca on June 22-23.

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Yes, of course, we miss the Subaru WRX STI, even though it could be a bit, well, frantic. An acquired taste, and arguably a bit extreme as a daily driver, unless you live on a dirt road in the mountains of Colorado. But knowing it was out there was a comfortable confirmation that extreme performance vehicles were still available without a six-figure buy-in. Subaru dropped it from the U.S. lineup in 2021, and there are no immediate plans to bring it back.

As a consolation prize, though, meet the 2025 Subaru tS, which, we’re told, stands for “tuned by STI.” It will make its first appearance Sunday at Subaru’s Wicked Big Meet at the Stafford Motor Speedway in Stafford Springs, Connecticut, a legendary half-mile oval owned by the Arute family, a name familiar to most racing fans in New England. The annual Wicked Big Meet is the world’s largest gathering of Subaru enthusiasts.

If you’re headed there, here’s a primer on the WRX tS so you can ask informed questions when you see it.

The Wicked Big News is that the tS features a new STI-tuned suspension with electronically-controlled dampers. It has Brembo brakes—six-pistons up front, two in the back—in the signature gold color, with larger pads and rotors. Rubber is the 245/35 R19 Bridgestone Potenza S007, chosen for their increased wet and dry grip and improved braking performance. Its wheels are finished in satin gray.

The outside mirrors, roof-mounted shark fin antenna and rear spoiler are painted Crystal Black Silica. There’s a tS badge on the rear deck, next to taillights that “glow with a look inspired by volcanic magma,” Subaru says.

Under the hood: The familiar 271-horsepower, 2.4-liter turbocharged Subaru boxer engine, connected to a six-speed manual transmission. Active Torque Vectoring is also standard as is, of course, Symmetrical All-Wheel Drive.

Inside, there’s a new 12.3-inch digital gauge cluster, which offers improved legibility and the capability to show additional information to the driver, including map display and route guidance. Gone is the power moonroof, deleted to save weight and provide some headroom for helmeted occupants. There’s also an 11.6-inch center information display and touchscreen for multimedia, climate control, and vehicle configuration settings. Drive Mode Select, which you could previously get only on the WRX GT, controls those dampers by offering Comfort, Normal and Sport settings.

WRX tS owners will be sitting on Recaros, which have a “Y-shaped design at the center of the seat backrest that embodies a design concept in which the sides and shoulder blades of the occupant are securely supported to maintain proper driving posture.” Upholstery is charcoal Ultrasuede with blue accents and a WRX tS logo embossed on the front headrests and carpeted floormats. The driver’s seat is eight-way power adjustable.

Subaru says the WRX tS will be at dealers the first quarter of 2025. Price? Doesn’t say. The base WRX starts at $32,735, plus $1120 for shipping. Prices rise for the Premium, Limited, TR and GT models, with the GT topping out at $44,215, much of that going towards the automatic transmission that has an eight-speed manual mode.

The existing TR is closest in content to the tS, including the moonroof delete, Brembo brakes, 19-inch tires and wheels, the six-speed manual transmission and Recaro buckets, and it starts at $41,655, before shipping. So we’d guess the new tS might start at a price close to the GT, somewhere around $45,000.

It’s still not an STI, but it’s probably the closest we’ll get until the next-generation model shows up.

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On Tuesday, NASCAR team owners Tony Stewart and Gene Haas made a joint announcement that Stewart-Haas Racing would be closing at the end of the 2024 season, leaving six NASCAR drivers and hundreds of support personnel out of a job.

What went wrong? Why is one of NASCAR’s most prominent teams leaving the sport? We’ll explain. But let’s start with a brief look at how Stewart-Haas Racing reached the breaking point.

In 2002, beyond-wealthy businessman Gene Haas decided he wanted to enter the world of NASCAR. He started Haas-CNC Racing as a way to promote the company he owns, Haas Automation, which manufactures CNC (computer numerical control) machines, which use computers to operate tools, such as lathes and grinders, with far more precision than an operator can manage on his or her own.

Haas-CNC Racing was, at best, a mid-pack runner, and by 2008, its drivers were averaging a 27th-place finish. Haas knew he needed to make some changes, so he made two-time NASCAR Cup series champion Tony Stewart an offer he couldn’t refuse: Leave Joe Gibbs Racing and move to Haas-CNC Racing, and Haas would give Stewart half the team. Thus was born Stewart-Haas Racing. In 2009 the team brought aboard Penske Racing driver Ryan Newman, the year after he won the Daytona 500.

The team matured and grew. Stewart won his third Cup championship in 2011. In 2013, with great fanfare, Stewart-Haas Racing hired IndyCar driver Danica Patrick who, despite lackluster performance on the track, consistently made headlines as the only female driver to make an actual living in the NASCAR Cup series.

Fast forward to the 2024 season: Tony Stewart quit NASCAR Cup racing in 2016, and his interest in NASCAR gradually faded. Also in 2016, Gene Haas, who had bought what was left of the bankrupt Marussia Formula 1 team, started his own F1 effort, called Haas F1 Team, which is still looking for its first win, having never finished higher than fourth. This year, Haas’ two F1 drivers are presently 13th and 17th in points out of 21 drivers. Haas, 71, is still running Haas Automation, has been sick for much of 2024, and is still struggling to make Haas F1 into a contender, or at least improve on 2023’s dead-last finish in the standings.

Other factors are at work here, too. Stewart-Haas driver Kevin Harvick retired from full-time racing at the end of 2023, which meant the end of his lucrative Anheuser-Busch sponsorship. Driver Aric Almirola also left Stewart-Haas after the 2023 season, meaning the loss of his Smithfield Foods sponsorship.

Still, Stewart-Haas entered the 2024 NASCAR season with four Cup entries for drivers Noah Gragson, Josh Berry, Chase Briscoe and Ryan Preece—none of them household names in the world of NASCAR. Stewart-Haas also has a pair of NASCAR Xfinity series drivers: Riley Herbst, who has one win in the series and sponsorship from Monster Energy, and Cole Custer, who is the 2023 Xfinity champion, and the son of Joe Custer, Stewart-Haas Racing president, and the man who has mostly been running the day-to-day operations of the company.

None of the Stewart-Haas drivers have won this season. Among its Cup drivers, only Chase Briscoe has won a race, and that was in 2022. In addition, Stewart-Haas’ deal with Ford ends this year; it had been one of the top Ford teams since it switched from Chevrolet in 2016.

It hasn’t helped that Ford has had a terrible 2024 season in all three NASCAR series. By the time Ford won its first and only Cup race of the season, which was Brad Keselowski’s victory on May 12, Chevrolet had already won seven races, and Toyota five. Besides inexperience in the Stewart-Haas Cup driver lineup, that has been a crippling factor for the team.

Finally, Stewart, who has been spending less and less time at NASCAR races, discovered drag racing when he began dating NHRA Top Fuel driver Leah Pruett in 2020, and they got married on November 21, 2021. He promptly founded Tony Stewart Racing, fielding a Top Fuel car for Pruett, and a Funny Car for four-time champion Matt Hagan. Stewart, 53, began drag racing himself, competing in the second-tier Top Alcohol Dragster class in 2023, scoring two wins and a runner-up finish in the season championship. He and Pruett, 36, are trying to start a family, which led Pruett to quit driving in 2024, turning over her 330-mph Top Fuel car to drag racing novice Stewart. He has yet to win a race, but he is a legitimate contender.

Bottom line: Stewart and Haas have lost interest in NASCAR. In a joint statement issued Tuesday confirming the long-standing rumors that they would close shop, the pair said, “Racing is a labor-intensive, humbling sport. It requires unwavering commitment and vast resources, with a 365-day mindset to be better than everyone else. It’s part of what makes success so rewarding. But the commitment needed to extract maximum performance while providing sustainability is incredibly demanding, and we’ve reached a point in our respective personal and business lives where it’s time to pass the torch.”

That torch will be passed to the highest bidders. The relatively modest Stewart-Haas shop is rumored to already be sold to Front Row Motorsports, which currently has two full-time Cup teams with drivers Michael McDowell, who is moving on after 2024, and Todd Gilliland.

Along with a lot of cars and parts, Stewart-Haas also has four valuable NASCAR Cup series charters to sell, which are essentially guarantees that no matter how poorly a charter team qualifies for a race, it is always awarded a starting spot. It’s invaluable when trying to attract sponsors to be able to assure them that their car will always be in the race, and should spend at least some time on the TV broadcast. There are 36 charters and 40 starting spots available, meaning non-charter teams have to try to qualify for one of just four open positions.

The price for a charter has varied wildly the past few years, with the high coming last year when Spire Motorsports reportedly paid $40 million for another team’s charter. The four Stewart-Haas charters won’t bring that much, but $25-$30 million apiece is not out of the question. Rumors suggest that Trackhouse Racing wants one of them, as does Denny Hamlin’s 23XI team, and maybe Front Row. The fourth charter might go to Joe Custer, as he tries to create a job for his son Cole in 2025.

All six Stewart-Haas drivers are talented, and should be able to land a job in one of NASCAR’s top three series. Still, pending unemployment is a bitter pill. Tweeted driver Chase Briscoe: “Stewart-Haas has been home to my family and I for the last 7 years and at the end of the year myself and the entire organization will be looking for a new home and new opportunities in the Cup series.” Tweeted Josh Berry: “Today was a tough day for all of us. It is pretty hard to find the right words.”

We’ll leave the final word to the two, with this comment from their Tuesday statement: “We’re proud of all the wins and championships we’ve earned since joining together in 2009, but even more special is the culture we built and the friendships we forged as we committed to a common cause—winning races and collecting trophies.”

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This should be much-needed shot in the arm for rallying, and specifically the FIA World Rally Championship: Lancia, a legendary brand within the sport, is returning the WRC.

Lancia quit rallying, all forms of motorsports for that matter, in 1992. This past year, the rumor mill has run at full tilt that the company would have a new entry in rallying, something that parent entity Stellantis confirmed on Monday.

The vehicle will be loosely based on the Ypsilon HF, which Stellantis calls “a high-performance version of the first car of the brand’s new era, a 100-percent electric model that will be launched in the market in May of 2025.” Which is kind of confusing, because the rally car, the Ypislon Rally 4 HF, is decidedly an internal-combustion vehicle. It will be powered by a 1.2-liter turbocharged, 212-horsepower three-cylinder engine, mated to a five-speed manual transmission and a mechanical limited-slip differential.

Lancia also announced the revival of the high-performance HF designation with both the new electric model and the rally version of the Ypsilon. Lancia will be introducing an HF version for each of the brand’s new models.

The Ypsilon Rally 4 HF “is the ideal solution for all rally enthusiasts to enjoy,” Stellantis claims, “but is also a serious candidate for drivers aspiring to victory in the Rally 4 class and in the two-wheel drive championships.” The Rally 4 class is essentially an entry point into pro rallying, populated by “young drivers beginning their careers with a passion to become the professionals of the future.”

The Rally 4 class was created in 2019 as part of the “rally pyramid”—a clear blueprint of how a driver and team can climb the pyramid up to Rally 1, the elite class in the WRC.

The Lancia will be competing with models from manufacturers that include Stellantis-owned Peugeot and Opel, as well as Renault. The announcement was made during the WRC Rally Italia Sardegna, Lancia’s home rally and the sixth event on a 13-event calendar.

Despite not competing for more than three decades, Lancia is still the most successful brand in the sport, with 15 World Rally Championships (11 constructor’s titles and four driver’s titles), as well as wins in the Mille Miglia, the Targa Florio and the Carrera Panamericana. Martini Racing teamed with Lancia in 1982 for the then-new Lancia 037 and drivers Attilio Bettega and Markku Alén, creating the famous red, white and blue exterior color scheme.

This could be just the start of a serious effort on Lancia’s part to return to glory on the rally circuit. According to DirtFish.com, it’s possible that Lancia could absorb Citroën’s C3 Rally 2 effort, which is plausible since that company is also controlled by Stellantis. Its customer racing manager Didier Clements “was one of the masterminds of Citroën’s generation of world championship domination with Sébastien Loeb.”

Regardless, it’s a happy day for Lancia enthusiasts, said company CEO Luca Napolitano, in this slightly awkward translation: “Lancia has always been in people’s hearts, also thanks to its competitive soul represented by some iconic models from a past that made the brand the most successful one of all time in the rally world. And that sporty heart is starting to beat again today!”

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To say the Ford Mustang GTD has been eagerly anticipated is an understatement. Ford closed the GTD’s application window in North America for the 2025 and 2026 model years on May 21, with over 7,500 applications filed for the $325,000+ limited-production supercar. It appears that you can’t even buy Mustang GTD merchandise any longer: Everything, including the $80 T-shirt that was offered by Ford, is sold out.

If you missed the North American window on the car itself, there’s one more path left to buying a GTD—but you need to be willing to move to Europe. “Mustang GTD’s arrival in Europe comes as the continent prepares to begin accepting applications from prospective owners,” Ford says. You can’t apply yet, though—details on how you can will be released in June.

Meanwhile, by “Mustang GTD’s arrival in Europe,” Ford means that the car will cross the Atlantic for the 24 Hours of Le Mans, which runs on June 15-16, and then the Mustang GTD “will also take to the roads of Europe for testing that will pave the way for an official timed run in the fourth quarter of 2024 at the famed Nürburgring Nordschleife.”

Last September, Ford essentially promised a sub-seven-minute lap at the Nürburgring, thanks in part to “active aerodynamic tech never before used on a street legal Ford car and illegal in GT3-class race cars. The heart of Mustang GTD’s aerodynamic performance is its Drag Reduction System, which uses a hydraulic system that can change the angle of the rear wing and activate flaps under the front of the car to find exactly the right balance between airflow for speed and downforce for grip, depending on performance conditions,” Ford says. The top speed, according to the company, is over 190 mph.

A certified lap of under seven minutes would likely put the Mustang GTD on the roster of the 10 fastest production cars ever at the ‘Ring, according to this list. The 1049-horsepower Mercedes AMG ONE, with a lap time of 6 minutes, 35.18 seconds set on October 28, 2022, remains the fastest production vehicle on the circuit.

None of the cars on the top-10 list are American-made. The GTD team wants to change that.

“With Mustang GTD, we set out to build a road-going race car with the heart of a Mustang and the will to beat Europe’s best. Since opening applications to North American consumers, we’ve seen customers respond to that motivation,” says Mustang GTD Brand Manager Jim Owens. “Whether they own a rival’s sports car or have another Mustang in the stable, the Mustang GTD’s race-derived performance is registering.”

To that end, “Every surface, body opening and vent on and under Mustang GTD’s body is functional,” says Greg Goodall, Mustang GTD chief program engineer. “Some air is directed for cooling, other for aerodynamics and downforce. All of it to help GTD go faster or stick to the pavement no matter what the conditions are. Our Le Mans drivers would love to have the technology Mustang GTD has for the track and street.”

Of course, having in excess of 800 horsepower available from the 5.2-liter, supercharged V-8 doesn’t hurt, either. “Mustang GTD shatters every preconceived notion of a supercar,” says Jim Farley, Ford president and CEO. “This is a new approach for us. We didn’t engineer a road car for the track, we created a race car for the road. Mustang GTD takes racing technology from our Mustang GT3 race car, wraps it in a carbon fiber Mustang body and unleashes it for the street.” It will be the most powerful street-legal Mustang in the car’s 60-year history.

There are, as we’ve told you before, Brembo ceramic brakes to make it stop, and an eight-speed rear transaxle connected to a carbon fiber driveshaft to make it go. “Recaro front seats optimized for track days are complemented by available 3D-printed titanium paddle shifters, rotary dial shifter and serial plate, all made from retired Lockheed Martin F-22 titanium parts. The rear seating area has been removed to reduce weight and provide cargo space,” Ford says.

The Mustang GTD will be built at the Ford Flat Rock Assembly Plant near Detroit, and then transported to Multimatic facilities in Markham, Canada, where it will be “handcrafted for racing-inspired precision by the Ford Performance and Multimatic teams,” Ford says.

As for that trip to Europe: “We’ve tested the Mustang GTD in North America extensively, including laps at Sebring International Raceway and Virginia International Raceway. This has all been in service of engineering a car that can lap the Nürburgring in under seven minutes,” says Goodall. “Moving onto European roads and dedicated test sessions at the Nürburgring is the next step, ahead of a timed run later this year.”

According to the ever-present spy photographers stationed around the track, the Mustang GTD is already there.

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The mid-cycle refresh for the eleventh generation Honda Civic, which debuted in 2022, has just been released. It sports a more aggressively styled front bumper, tweaked tail lights, and a new hybrid powertrain in the Sport Hybrid and Sport Touring Hybrid trim levels. The hybrid has a combined 200 horsepower and 232 lb-ft of torque thanks to a 2.0-liter Atkinson-cycle four cylinder paired with two electric motors. The result is the most powerful Civic ever, aside from the range-topping Type-R.

The hybrid powertrain is mated to a CVT transmission that provides “vehicle speed-linked rev feel typically associated with a conventional drivetrain shifting gears under acceleration.” Further reading between the lines yields the bigger news: The Civic’s manual transmission, once available in the Sport and Sport Touring trim levels, is no longer available.

The manual, a mainstay in Civics since their inception, will likely still be present in the forthcoming Si and Type R (we can’t imagine the latter without one). And value is still in the Civic’s equation: The cheaper LX and Sport trim levels remain, powered by a 158-horse, 2.0-liter four-cylinder engine and no battery-electric motivators. The simple, ICE-only powertrain is a clear play to keep costs down and retain its younger audience with an attractive price point. For those looking for a more tech-friendly economy car, the top-trim Sport Touring Hybrid has the Civic’s first implementation of Google built-in architecture, promising a seamless experience between smartphone connectivity and automotive interfaces. All models now receive multiple USB-C ports for maximum functionality with modern electronics.

Pricing hasn’t yet been revealed, but Honda expects 40% of Civic buyers to opt for the new hybrid powertrain—a significant amount, but still showing just how bread-and-butter the entry-level trims are. With the bump in power in the middle of the Civic lineup, we’re curious to see what this refresh holds for the Si and Type R. Let’s just hope that three pedals remain in their future.

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For Rick Hendrick, owner of the Hendrick Motorsports NASCAR racing team, it represents a milestone. “I never thought I’d get to have an entry in the Indy 500 in my life,” he said. But he does, and his car will start Sunday’s Indianapolis 500 from fifth place on the grid.

It began when one of his NASCAR drivers, Kyle Larson, expressed a persistent interest in adding IndyCars to the list of vehicles he has raced. And that’s a long list, ranging from IMSA prototype sports cars to dirt late models. “Everybody knew that Kyle wanted to run the Indy 500,” Hendrick said, so he started talking to Zak Brown, CEO of McLaren Racing, about entering Larson in one of Brown’s Arrow-McLaren IndyCars. “We put a deal together,” said Hendrick, and so far, “It couldn’t have gone any better.”

“Yeah, it’s been awesome from day one. Mr. H and his entire organization are absolutely legendary in motorsports,” Brown said. He and Hendrick met the media Tuesday on a Zoom call.

Larson is doing “the double”—racing at Indianapolis early Sunday, then jetting and helicoptering to Concord, North Carolina and the Charlotte Motor Speedway for the NASCAR Coca-Cola 600. He’ll be the fifth NASCAR driver to attempt the feat. Only Tony Stewart, in 2001, completed all 1100 laps. Larson will be the first driver to try it since Kurt Busch’s attempt in 2014.

And yes, it’s hard to imagine that things could have gone any better—so far. Larson, 31, took to the Indianapolis Motor Speedway quickly, increasing his speed as he practiced for last weekend’s qualifying. As mentioned, Larson qualified the HendrickCars.com Dallara/Chevrolet fifth out of 34 cars, with a four-lap average speed of 232.846 mph.

“Nervous as I’ve ever been watching qualifying,” said Hendrick. “The pressure of running four laps is something I’m not used to. One lap maybe at Daytona, or two. It’s just biting your fingernails. But Zak and his whole group have just done an amazing job, and we’re very fortunate to be partners with him and his team.”

Still, “I’m not used to watching a car go into the corner at 241,” Hendrick said.

Brown said that prior to qualifying, “I would have said the front half of the field would have been an awesome result. I wouldn’t have put much money on qualifying fifth. I think that’s a testament to Kyle’s ability and the collective effort of both teams to give him a race car and an environment to compete at the front.”

Well, true, but he hasn’t exactly competed yet. But given Larson’s raw talent, a very fast car and hopefully a competent pit crew, he may indeed run at the front. That said, there may still be obstacles ahead. Larson is the NASCAR Cup series points leader, so it’s important for him to make it to Charlotte on time. Driver introductions are at 5:25 p.m. ET.

But what if there’s a rain delay at Indy? This is Weather.com’s forecast for Sunday in Indianapolis, as of Wednesday morning: “Thunderstorms likely. Potential for severe thunderstorms. High around 75F. Winds SSE at 10 to 20 mph. Chance of rain 90%.”

Would Hendrick pull Larson out of the Indy 500 and insist that he head to Charlotte? “It would be very hard,” Hendrick admitted. “It would be very tough. It would be very disappointing because of all the effort that everyone has put in.” Not to mention the fact that Hendrick is flying in a huge number of guests—five airplanes’ worth, he said.

“It’s going to be pressure all day,” Hendrick said. “How does the race go? Is it going to rain? What time do we have to leave to get back to Charlotte? This is going to be a tremendous amount of pressure, but we signed up for it.”

The one thing Hendrick and Brown are not worrying about is Larson. “He’s just a die-hard racer,” Hendrick said. “He’ll race in this race just like he would when he flies somewhere and gets in a sprint car or a midget. He just wants to get in the car and race. I think all the racing he’s done has kind of built his confidence so much that he believes in himself and he believes in the team and what the team tells him the car will do, and then he figures it out on his own, and he’s off to the races.”

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Further cementing the contention that he is America’s most versatile race car driver, Kyle Larson turned in the fastest qualifying lap by a rookie in Indianapolis 500 history Saturday with a pass of 233.453 mph. He formally qualified fifth of 34 drivers on Sunday with the second-fastest four-lap average at 232.846 mph, just shy of Tony Stewart’s record rookie run of 233.100 in 1996.

After qualifying, Larson jumped on a private jet and flew to North Wilkesboro Speedway in North Carolina, where he ran as high as third before finishing fourth in Sunday night’s NASCAR All-Star race. Larson, the 2021 NASCAR Cup series champion, is currently leading the series in points.

Larson will be the fifth driver to attempt “the double”—racing in the Indianapolis 500 and the NASCAR Coca-Cola 600 about 430 miles away at Charlotte Motor Speedway in North Carolina on the same day. The other drivers who’ve done the double are John Andretti, Robby Gordon, Kurt Busch, and Stewart, who is the only one to complete all 1100 miles of racing.

At Indy, Larson will be driving a Chevrolet-powered Dallara jointly entered by his NASCAR team owner, Hendrick Motorsports, and Arrow McLaren. Larson’s resume already includes wins in a dirt-track midget at the Chili Bowl, in a sports car at the Rolex 24 at Daytona, and he won the Knoxville Nationals twice in a sprint car. As his schedule permits he continues to race 800-horsepower dirt sprint cars in the World of Outlaws and the High Limit series, which he co-owns with brother-in-law Brad Sweet.

The pole winner for the Indianapolis 500 is Scott McLaughlin, who averaged 234.220 mph for his four qualifying laps, a new track record. It is the first Indy pole for McLaughlin, whose previous best start was 14th. “Indy hasn’t been kind to me,” McLaughlin said, “and a lot of it was my doing. I need to work on things. This is the first step.”

The entire three-car front row is Team Penske, with Will Power starting second and defending race champion Josef Newgarden starting third. Team owner Roger Penske also owns the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, and the sanctioning body, IndyCar. The three front-row cars are powered by Chevrolet. Starting fourth is former winner Alexander Rossi, an Arrow McLaren Chevrolet teammate to fifth-place starter Larson.

The Sunday before the race has long been called “Bump Day,” because there are typically more entries for the 33-car field than can be accommodated. This year, there were only 34 entries, so one team had to go home. That was decided late Sunday, between British racer Katherine Legge, former winner Marcus Ericsson, 19-year-old rookie Nolan Siegel, and veteran Graham Rahal, who was the only driver bumped in 2023.

This year, it’s Siegel who will be watching from the sidelines. His Dale Coyne Racing car failed in a last-minute qualifying attempt, when Siegel crashed into the Turn 2 wall. He was uninjured. “I’m fine but I don’t really care if I’m fine at this point,” he said. “That’s somewhat irrelevant.”

Rahal ended up with the final spot. He knows how Siegel felt. “I’ve been there—last year, it still stings,” Rahal said. “It’s not much better being 33rd, I can tell you that. At least we’re in the field, and we’re going to go racing.”

Both engine manufacturers—Chevrolet and Honda—faced problems in qualifying. With Chevrolet, the problem was plenum fires. With Honda, it was simply trying to make a little more speed. The top eight qualifiers were Chevrolet-powered, and the four cars that had to run on Sunday in last-chance qualifying were all Hondas.

Chevy’s plenum-fire issue shouldn’t be a problem for the race. The plenum is a carbon-fiber box atop the engine. It’s fed by fuel and pressurized air from the twin turbochargers. Under pressure, the fuel/air mix is crammed into the injectors. If an engine valve stays open for a millisecond longer than it should, a spark can climb back up into the plenum and ignite the mixture before it reaches the injectors. On at least six Chevrolet-powered cars, a plenum fire occurred on Saturday. An article at Racer.com has a comprehensive explanation.

Really, it isn’t as serious as it sounds—the engine loses power very briefly, then picks back up where it left off. But it is a big deal during qualifying, where it is more likely to occur due to the high level of turbocharger boost being used. At Indy, the plenum fires mostly happened when the driver was shifting gears at near 12,000 rpm. With the milder engine tuning used for the race itself, it isn’t likely to happen, although it has: In last year’s season opener in St. Petersburg, Pato O’Ward was leading when his car suffered a plenum fire with three laps to go. The momentary loss of power was enough to let Ericsson get by and take the win.

At Indianapolis, it was important enough for Chevrolet to address the issue in a press conference late Saturday, where GM motorsports head Jim Campbell said he would have engineers around the world work around the clock to investigate the plenum fires.

As for Honda, there was no report of plenum fires, but for a company that qualified on the pole for the last four years straight, Indy qualifying was a bitter bill. The fastest Honda, driven by Felix Rosenqvist, had a four-lap average of 232.305 mph. Pole winner McLaughlin’s Chevrolet ran, as mentioned, 234.220 mph, nearly 2 mph quicker than Rosenqvist. Honda will need to find a bit more power before next Sunday.

Speaking of which: The 108th running of the Indianapolis 500 takes place May 26, with coverage beginning at 11 a.m. on NBC. Here’s a link to the starting lineup.

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In May of 2019, IndyCar announced that it would be moving to a hybrid powertrain. That August, IndyCar finalized its plans, confirming that the hybrid system would debut in 2022.

The new system was expected to do three things: First, it would allow drivers who stall out on track to re-start their cars and rejoin the race, rather than have to bring out a caution flag and summon a safety team to drive to the stalled car and re-start it. Second, it would boost the powertrain’s total output to over 900 horsepower.

And third, certainly having the real-world relevance to hybrid power in passenger cars would attract a much-needed third manufacturer to sign up for the IndyCar series, joining Honda and Chevrolet.

On Tuesday, five years after that original announcement, IndyCar said that the hybrid package would debut at the Honda Indy 200 race at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course, which is set for July 5-7. Obviously, it has been delayed multiple times.

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Addressing IndyCar’s expectations of the new hybrid systems: The drivers will indeed be able to re-start their cars without the aid of the safety team. This will mean fewer caution flags.

Second, in Tuesday’s announcement, IndyCar said the hybrid system would boost horsepower to “800+ for the first time in two decades,” and though it did say more power might be possible down the line, it’s still short of the promised 900.

That 800-horsepower figure will be achieved when the driver presses two buttons: One will deploy the available electricity to supply additional power. The other is the existing Push to Pass feature, which lets the turbochargers briefly increase the boost, itself worth about 50 hp. (Push to Pass has been around since 2004, when the competing ChampCar series introduced it on its Ford Cosworth engines.)

The two power enhancers come with different rules. Push to Pass will still have a restriction on amount of time per use and total time used over the course of a race. Rules for the hybrid power unit will limit the amount of energy deployed per lap based on track length. Drivers will be able deploy the electric boost on all the circuits that the series visits. They will be able to combine it with Push to Pass on road and street circuits, but not ovals since Push to Pass is not available on those tracks.

The new hybrid system, jointly developed by Chevrolet and Honda, was more of a challenge than they were expecting, but the end result is a low-voltage, 48-volt unit that stores energy in 20 ultracapacitors instead of batteries. Capacitors work well for storing energy for brief periods, but aren’t great at long-term energy storage, which is fine for this application.

The hybrid equipment, called the ERS for energy recovery system, weighs in at about 120 pounds, a significant increase given the cars weigh 1630 pounds on most tracks, slightly less on ovals. It is contained in the bellhousing, located between the 2.2-liter, twin-turbocharged V-6 engine and the gearbox. IndyCar has done 23,518 miles of testing on hybrid-equipped cars, with more planned at the Milwaukee Mile in June.

Oh, and that third thing the hybrid system was supposed to do? Attract at least one more OEM, or original equipment manufacturer, besides Honda and Chevrolet to the IndyCar series? Hasn’t happened.

“This technology is very important to our current OEM partners, Honda and Chevy,” IndyCar President Jay Frye told the Indianapolis Star in 2019, “so if it’s important to them, then you can logically conclude it’s important to other OEMs.”

Perhaps, but it seems only IMSA, the sports car series, has been able to attract many new manufacturers, as it currently has 18. The competing SRO series, in the GT3 sports car class alone, has nine.

So we’ll see if another manufacturer will sign up for IndyCar. Regardless, the series is pretty strong now, and excitement is building for the 108th Indianapolis 500 on May 26. Maybe the hybrid system will keep IndyCar in the conversation well after its biggest race.

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Screech!

That noise you heard today was the Biden administration trying to put the brakes on the sale of Chinese EVs in the U.S. by quadrupling the existing tariff from 25 percent to 100 percent. The White House has also slapped a 25 percent tariff on Chinese-made batteries that are used in electric vehicles. The tariff was previously 7.5 percent.

As he announced the EV tariffs, President Biden accused China of unfair labor practices. “It’s not competition. It’s cheating,” he said, during a ceremony in the White House Rose Garden.

So what will be the immediate effect?

“It’s not going to make much of a difference at the moment,” said Sam Fiorani, vice-president for global vehicle forecasting at AutoForecast Solutions. “The current level of tariffs was already preventing most vehicles from coming in from China, and raising it isn’t going to make much difference. There are some companies in China that are targeting the U.S. at any cost, and it’s likely their plans will be delayed as they find alternate routes. But in the near term, there will be little to no effect.”

“Alternate routes” could be assembling vehicles outside China, and then importing them to the U.S. “Presuming the government doesn’t find some way to prevent Chinese-branded vehicles from coming in, they are likely to find factories in Mexico or South Korea or some other friendly nation in order to bring their vehicles into the U.S.,” Fiorani said.

The added tariff on Chinese-made EV batteries may be an issue for U.S. manufacturers that use them, which includes Tesla and Ford. “There are a number of vehicles that are using Chinese batteries,” Fiorani said, “and it will hamper the profitability of those vehicles, and potentially speed up the production of batteries sourced from other countries.”

Chinese-built electric vehicles may not be an immediate threat to the U.S. automotive industry, but in the future, that may not be the case. An Associated Press story was distributed May 13 with this headline: “Small, well-built Chinese EV called the Seagull poses a big threat to the U.S. auto industry.”

The story is about a car manufactured by the Chinese company BYD, which stands for “Build Your Dreams.” The Seagull sells for about $12,000 in China, has a range of 252 miles, and is available with six airbags, disc brakes, and electronic stability control. It has “American automakers and politicians trembling,” the story says.

A company named Caresoft Global, which does automotive benchmarking, imported a BYD Seagull and dismantled it at their Livonia, Michigan, facility. The company president, Terry Woychowski, was so impressed with the quality of the Seagull that he told AP it should be a “clarion call” to U.S. manufacturers. “Things will have to change in some radical ways in order to be able to compete,” he said.

A Reuters story cited federal data that said only four vehicles presently sold in America are made in China. They are the Lincoln Nautilus, the Buick Envision, the Polestar 2, and Volvo’s S90 sedan. Polestar and Volvo are “affiliates” of Chinese automaker Geely, the story says. Geely also has a controlling stake in Lotus and multiple other brands.

We’ve tested the China-built 2025 Volvo EX30, a small electric SUV that was supposed to come to market in the U.S. by the end of this year at a base price of $36,245. No word yet on how Volvo is reacting to the new tariff. The company will build the EX30 in a plant in Belgium beginning in 2025, but early models will come from China unless Volvo’s plan changes.

Make no mistake, said analyst Fiorani: Tariff or not, “The Chinese are coming. It may take a third country, but the U.S. market is so desirable by any nation whose economy relies on the automotive business. These vehicles are going to find their way here.”

That’s because America is “the goal market” for the Chinese, Fiorani said. “To bring a vehicle into the U.S. shows that you have made it.”

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NASCAR is hoping to drive fans to some new television partners in 2025 by instituting a mid-season bracket tournament, with the winner taking home $1 million.

The sport’s new TV deal has the first 12 NASCAR Cup series races of the season televised by Fox Sports. The final 14 races will appear on NBC Sports. It’s the 10 races in the middle of the 36-race season that figure into the bracket tournament—the first five will air on Amazon Prime and the second five on TNT.

The drivers will compete for race wins and points as they do now, with the bracket tournament being a separate component. Here’s how it will work: The bracket will feature 32 drivers. They will be determined by how they do in races 15 through 17, aired on Amazon Prime. The actual competition among those 32 drivers will take place in races 18 through 22, aired on TNT. Drivers will compete head-to-head, with the top-finishing driver of each race advancing over five rounds.

NASCAR has not yet announced its 2025 season schedule, so it isn’t known what tracks will be represented in the 10 races airing on Amazon Prime and TNT.

“With the launch of our new media rights partnerships in 2025, we were excited to partner with Prime Video and TNT Sports to collaborate on fan engagement concepts that drive storylines in our sport and innovation from a production perspective,” said Brian Herbst, NASCAR senior vice president for media and productions.

“The idea of an in-season tournament has been discussed within the NASCAR industry, and as we started to focus on adding promotional elements that drive interest throughout the season, we were excited by the opportunity to leverage the marketing weight of Amazon and TNT Sports to bring this concept to life,” Herbst said.

The new seven-year TV deal is reportedly worth $7.7 billion, which includes an agreement with The CW network to air the entire 33-race NASCAR Xfinity season each year from 2025 to 2031.

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We’ve learned a bit more about the powertrain in the next Bugatti hypercar since our last update, and it seems that turbocharging is no longer in the equation for this exclusive brand. The V-16 in the upcoming Bugatti will be naturally aspirated, offset with a hybrid power pack. The end result chimes in with some impressive numbers: a 9000-rpm redline, three electric motors, and a combined power output that could reach 1800 horsepower.

This amazing engine is claimed to make 1000 horsepower on its own, which is no small feat for a naturally aspirated mill. The news comes directly from Bugatti-Rimac chairman Mate Rimac, announced during the Future of the Car Summit in London (via Motor1). The annual conference features a wide variety of guest speakers from automobile and automobile-adjacent industries, and Rimac’s news was likely a shock to everyone in attendance.

Motor1 also reports that two of the three electric motors are likely to drive the front wheels. This layout is similar to that of the Ferrari SF90. The third motor assists the V-16 at the rear, likely with an eight-speed dual-clutch automatic putting the power down. Motor1 is also reporting that “Bugatti’s engineers are cramming in a 24.8-kWh battery good for 37 miles of electric range.” That could ensure the next Bugatti earns the right to drive in congested parts of Europe with the same freedom as a modern EV.

A congested city isn’t exactly the best place to enjoy an 1800-horsepower Bugatti, but don’t we all need to catch a show and eat at a Michelin-starred restaurant every now and again? The next Bugatti promises the best of all worlds, and it might just provide the naturally aspirated thrills you see and hear in this V-12 McLaren F1 video. Fingers crossed on that.

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Aston Martin has a 25-year tradition of powering its flagship model with a V-12 engine, and apparently that will continue. The British manufacturer has released some details about a new twin-turbocharged V-12 that will debut in Aston’s upcoming flagship, which apparently will be called the Vanquish, reviving a name first used 23 years ago.

The new engine, Aston says, pumps out 824 horsepower and 738 lb-ft of torque. That’s 64 more horses than you’ll find in the company’s most powerful current V-12, used in the limited-edition DBS 770 Ultimate. ”One last tour before extinction,” says the Aston Martin website for the 770 Ultimate, so get it while you can. Actually, you can’t, at least from Aston: The 300 coupes and 199 convertibles Aston is producing are already sold.

The new V-12 uses a strengthened cylinder block and connecting rods, redesigned cylinder heads with new camshafts, plus new intake and exhaust ports. Spark plugs were repositioned, and there’s new higher flowrate fuel injectors.

“The V-12 engine has long been a symbol of power and prestige, but it is also a statement of engineering passion and technical prowess,” said Aston Martin chief technical officer Roberto Fedeli. “This unparalleled engine represents nothing less than the dawn of a dazzling new V-12 era for Aston Martin.”

The flagship that will be powered by the new V-12 apparently won’t be the Vanquish Vision Concept that the company displayed in March of 2019 at the Geneva Motor Show. That car, which Aston told us “previews the design language of Aston Martin’s first series production mid-engine supercar,” has apparently been shelved, along with its planned V-6 turbocharged hybrid engine. The upcoming Vanquish, we hear, will be a conventional front-engine, rear-wheel-drive GT car. It’s expected to break ground later this year.

It’s likely no coincidence that word of the new V-12, and its accompanying mention that a fresh flagship model is on the way, arrives about the same time Aston Martin’s first-quarter financial report was released. It shows that Aston, according to Reuters, “made fewer cars and burned more cash than analysts anticipated, sending its shares 7 percent lower.”

In fairness, that reflects in part the downtime required to change over from one model to the next, as Aston has been busy building new or freshened models this year. According to Motor Trend, by the end of this year, “Aston Martin will have on sale four models that will have been redesigned or heavily refreshed in the previous 18 months.”

“Our first-quarter performance reflects this expected period of transition,” Aston chairman Lawrence Stroll said. According to Forbes, fashion mogul Stroll has a personal net worth of $3.9 billion; with that Aston Martin the car builder, and Aston Martin the Formula 1 team, should be on firm ground, though it’s rumored he’d like to sell 25 percent of the latter.

Regardless, we can’t wait to see what Stroll has up his sleeve for Aston Martin, both in the showroom and on the track.

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Five men, heroes all to the automotive culture in general and the Corvette community in particular: Zora Arkus-Duntov, Dave McLellan, Dave Hill, Tom Wallace, and Tadge Juechter.

The Chevrolet Corvette has only had five chief engineers, and Tadge Juechter, the current one, announced his retirement today. It will take place later this summer.

Juechter, 63, will leave behind a 43-year career working for General Motors. He started with GM in 1977, at the Lordstown, Ohio, assembly plant.

He transferred to Corvette in 1993. “It’s been the honor of a lifetime to work at this company, leading the men and women who have brought to life one of the most iconic and recognizable vehicles in recent American history,” Juechter said in a statement. “Their tenacity and ability to push what is possible with every variant and generation of Corvette was inspiring to see. I know the future of the nameplate is in the right hands.”

Juechter worked for chief engineers Dave Hill and Tom Wallace before being named to the job himself. Juechter did not bring as strong of a motorsports background to the job as some of the chief engineers he succeeded, but he’s responsible for the biggest change in Corvette history—moving the platform from front-engine to mid-engine—and seamlessly dovetailing that into the Corvette C8.R mid-engine race car.

After launching the C5 and C6, Juechter was appointed to what he described as “the promotion of a lifetime,” as executive chief engineer for Corvette. In this role, he led the development of the 7th- and mid-engine 8th- generation cars, including the Corvette E-Ray hybrid.

“His most recent involvement will be reflected in the upcoming ZR1, which Chevy teased earlier this month and is expected to be revealed this summer,” said Chevrolet, but you can be certain that when the C9 Corvette debuts, it will have Juechter’s fingerprints on it.

Chevrolet has not named Juechter’s successor, and it may be a bit complicated, as Josh Holder was named Corvette chief engineer in 2020, while the retiring Juechter is, as mentioned above, executive chief engineer. Whether Holder gets Juechter’s job, and his title, remains to be seen.

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This may come as a bit of a surprise to those of you who like to patronize your neighborhood pizzeria, but actual Italians—the ones who live in Italy—are a bit sensitive about the use of “Italian Sounding” brand names for products that are not actually made in Italy. Their government is, anyway: A consumer protection law passed there in 2003 that makes it illegal to give misleading indications of the geographical origin of products. Italy has even taken the issue of “Italian Sounding” to the regulators of the European Union.

As a result of public pressure over that law from Aldolfo Urso, who holds the portfolio for the Ministry of Economic Development and Made in Italy (yes, that’s the ministry’s real name), Stellantis has announced that its all-new Polish-built EV will be renamed Junior instead of selling it as the Milano.

Last week, according to to the ANSA news agency, Urso said, “A car called Milan cannot be produced in Poland. This is forbidden by the Italian law that defined “Italian Sounding” in 2003, a law that states that you must not give indications that mislead the consumer. They would be fallacious indications explicitly linked to geographical indications. So a car called Milano must be produced in Italy, otherwise you are giving a fallacious indication that is not allowed by Italian law.”

On April 15, in response to Urso’s raising the issue of the 2003 law, Stellantis issued a slightly snarky press release:

During one of the most important weeks for Alfa Romeo’s future, an Italian government official declared that the use of the name “Milano”—chosen by the Brand for its recently unveiled new compact sports car—is banned by law.

The name “Milano,” a public favorite, was chosen to pay tribute to the city where our history all began in 1910. This was not the first time that Alfa Romeo has asked the public’s opinion when choosing the name of a car. It was previously done in 1966 with the Spider 1600 when the name chosen by the public was Duetto.

Despite Alfa Romeo believing that the name met all legal requirements and that there are issues much more important than the name of a new car, Alfa Romeo has decided to change it from “Milano” to “Alfa Romeo Junior” in the spirit of promoting mutual understanding.

The Alfa Romeo team would like to thank the public for the positive feedback, the Italian dealer network for their support, journalists for the enormous media attention given to the new car, and the government for the free publicity brought on by this debate.

With a unique story and an endless list of names to choose from, the name change was not an issue. Indeed, it was a pleasure to go over the list of names selected as favorites from the public’s suggestions, one of which was “Alfa Romeo Junior.”

Putting aside the question of whether or not the chunky little battery-powered compact crossover can accurately be described as a “compact sports car”, like the Milano name, Junior is part of Alfa Romeo’s heritage. After the success of the Giulia and its Sprint GT coupe iteration, for the 1967 model year, Alfa Romeo took aim at a younger audience when it introduced the GT 1300 Junior, a less expensive version with a smaller motor and fewer luxury bits.

It’s likely that Urso was using that 2003 law and the brand equity Stallantis has in “Milano” for leverage to get the multinational automaker to make more cars in Italy. His remarks about the Made-in-Poland vehicle were in the context of trying to keep Italy’s automotive supply chain healthy, and in response to Stellantis CEO Carlo Tavares’ remarks earlier this week that there could be possible plant closures if Chinese manufacturers started building cars in Italy.

Urso said that if Stellantis fails to build a million or more cars a year in Italy that it will be “inevitable” that an international car maker will step in to build cars there. The Italian government is already in talks with Tesla and three Chinese firms.

“We are working to enable Stellantis to produce at least one million vehicles in our country, Urso said. “To support the supply chain system, it is absolutely necessary to reach 1.4 million vehicles. If Stellantis believes it can do so, well and good, otherwise it is inevitable that there will be room for another car manufacturer or companies. We are a free market and we can and must incentivize Italian or foreign investment, obviously within the rules of the free market, and on this we are talking to those who consider building production plants in Europe.”

Urso jawboning Stellantis over the issue of the 2003 law was apparently not sufficient incentive to get the company to move production of the new vehicle to Italy.

It’s probably a good thing that we don’t have a similar law here in America about products’ “geographical indications” or we would have been deprived of such classic nameplates as the Chevy Malibu, Pontiac LeMans, or Ford Torino. Also, I wonder what those who crafted “geographical indications” legislation in Italy would have thought about more prestigious models like the Ferrari California and Superamerica not using Italian-sounding names.

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As seen elsewhere, the trend towards mass adoption of electric vehicle is slowing down. In a report from AutoCar, we learn that Aston Martin is delaying their transition to electric propulsion, instead looking to hybrids powertrains for the next 10+ years of production.

Aston Martin Executive Chairman Lawrence Stroll has plans for plug-in hybrids that go far beyond the timelines contemplated by mainstream automakers who intend to use the technology as a bridge to an EV future. Stroll suggests that Aston Martin customer feedback includes having the “sound and smells” of an internal combustion engine, which further cemented their plan to go hybrid for both V-8 and V-12 models.

While Stroll suggests that electric cars will eventually happen at Aston Martin, their previous plans are no longer relevant. This included an EV Aston to be made by 2025, which has been cancelled. Stroll told Autocar that “demand for electric cars is particularly weak in the luxury segments as Aston Martins were typically not ‘first’ cars for their customers.”

This reality check from Aston Martin mirrors that of their intention to keep physical controls in their decadent interiors, and keeping loyal customers happy seems like a good plan when considering the current financial struggles of Lucid and Rivian. While Lucid recently received an astronomically huge cash infusion from a Saudi investment firm, Rivian is feeling the heat in the EV market.

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In the history of cars, few models have stuck to evolution and eschewed revolution quite like the Morgan Plus Four. First introduced in 1950, the original Plus Four is hauntingly similar to the one you find in dealer showrooms today. Time does march on, however, and Morgan just announced another small step toward the future with new updates to the tried-and-true model.

The most obvious changes are found on the exterior: new lighting, fenders, front splitter, rear diffuser, and mirrors. Interestingly, reading deeper into Morgan’s announcement, the evolution of the fenders is more an outcome of a change in how they’re manufactured more than any desire to visually update the car itself. The new lighting implements larger eight-inch round headlights that feature integrated turn indicators, further simplifying the car’s straightforward design. The splitters have a similar clean impact, taking visual weight off the lower part of the car, instead letting your eye focus on those flowing fenders.

The body’s changes might be subtle, but the chassis updates ought to be readily apparent out on the road. The standard suspension gets updated spring rates and dampers, while a new “Dynamic Handling Pack” will also be available for those seeking a sportier setting. Consisting of special springs combined with single way adjustable damping, adjustable spring platforms, as well as the addition of a rear anti-roll bar, this package will likely sharpen the car’s sporting pretenses significantly. That’s an interesting addition for a brand that’s traditionally prioritized driving experience over speed or performance.

The last update impacts the Sennheiser audio system that was first introduced in 2022. It gains handy functionality to improve the user experience with minimal visual change. In addition to the visible speakers in both doors, there are now additional speakers hidden beneath the seats. The LCD readout between the gauges will now scroll the volume and music information.

The Morgan Plus Four might be slowly evolving, but from where we sit it seems to be pleasant progress. The updates are included in the new £62,500 ($78,378 plus taxes) price tag and the +4 is available for order now via morgan-motor.com.

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The Corvette has been “America’s sports car” for decades but like anything, some versions are more coveted than others. Preferences are part of nature but certain expectations come with a title like America’s Sports Car; mainly, that the car will indeed be sporty. Lingenfelter has long been one to help ensure that, and its latest set of upgrades for the C8 has finally made the midengine Corvette acceptable in my eyes.

Every good Corvette needs an engine displacing 427 cubic inches. The 427 has been an off-and-on again option since 1966, when the first 427 big-blocks were dropped between the fiberglass fenders on the assembly line in St. Louis, Missouri. The on-again, off-again relationship with the sacred seven-liter was worth celebrating multiple times, but the direction in which Chevrolet has indicated it is headed with the eighth-generation Vette means that any hopes of listening to a 427 lope through the quad exhaust of a C8 is a pipe dream.

The team at Lingenfelter decided that couldn’t be and created the “Eliminator Spec” 427, which is drop-in ready for the C8. The engine is based on the LT2 that can already be found in the C8, and displacement is bumped from 376 cubic inches to the magic number by re-sleeving the block, swapping the crank, and tapping in a set of 4.125-inch Mahle pistons. Thanks to some cylinder head porting and a custom camshaft from COMP Cams, the naturally aspirated package makes a smooth 700 horsepower and 600 pound-feet of torque while still playing nice with the stock, eight-speed DCT.

The package requires you to stroke a check for just under $30,000, but the price does include installation, so you aren’t left with a cheap engine hoist and your friend’s set of box wrenches. Is it the cheapest way to make 700 hp in a C8? Probably not. Lingenfelter’s reimagined LT2 also puts out just 30 more horsepower than the LT6 in the Z06, and you don’t get the extensive chassis and brake upgrades of that flat-plane monster. Sometimes numbers matter, though, and for some Corvette faithful those numbers are 427.

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In an interview with Motor 1, Alfa Romeo CEO Jean-Philippe Imparato shared preliminary details about the next Alfa Romeo Giulia. We previously reported on how the 2025 Giulia Quadrifoglio transitions to an electric future with a hybrid powertrain, and now we know that transition includes an all-new model for the 2026 model year based on Stellantis’ STLA Large platform. Yes, that’s the same platform that underpins the 2025 Dodge Charger sedan and coupe.

Imparato was quoted at a press event at the Alfa Romeo Museum saying, “What we designed is a bomb, we couldn’t finalize the style of this car without being absolutely in love with it. And now we are!” Bombastic statements aside, the Charger’s eye-catching, retrofuturist design on the STLA Large platform bodes well for the smaller Italian performance sedan. Or will it look more like a smaller derivative of the Jeep Wagoneer S, an electric vehicle that also rests on this platform?

Odds are the Alfa’s flagship sedan will remain a sedan, and it will likely be significantly smaller than its American counterpart to fit in the tighter parking spots of the EU. A perk of using a modular platform like STLA Large is that many parameters can be adjusted in a cost-effective manner: wheelbase, length, height, and width.

Powertrains are likely to be similar to the Charger’s, which include the 3.0-liter Hurricane twin-turbo straight-six and, for the EV model, electric motors at each axle. Perhaps a hybrid setup might also come into focus for the Giulia, and that Hurricane mill could lose two cylinders to turn into a 2.0-liter four. An inline-four would work well in Europe, but the main reason for this is China’s tax on ICE vehicles with engine displacements larger than 2.0 liters.

Considering the buying power of Chinese motorists who need 2.0-liter engines, there’s a good chance that the Hurricane’s six-pot had a 3.0-liter displacement for good reason: Tooling up a 2.0-liter engine from a 3.0-liter inline six sounds downright affordable.

The shorter length of a two-liter four also makes for a trimmer, sleeker Alfa Romeo. And a smaller STLA sedan would certainly be a sweetheart in Stellantis’ global product portfolio. Watch this space, as we’ll keep an eye on the next Giulia for you.

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It’s been 20 years since Cadillac’s V-Series made its debut at Sebring International Raceway in March 2004, with the CTS-V race car in the SCCA Pro Racing World Challenge GT race. Cadillac is celebrating this pivotal moment for the entire year, in an effort to highlight the brand’s shift from stuffy luxury to world-beating performance.

Times have certainly changed, and the high watermark for luxury performance sedans has risen significantly in the last 20 years. The naturally aspirated CTS-V of the aughts was eclipsed by supercharged variants, culminating in the 668-hp monster that is the current CT5-V Blackwing. While horsepower isn’t the only metric on the planet, the straight-line performance of the Tesla Model S Plaid and the driving dynamics of the Lucid Air Sapphire mean that internal combustion engines could soon play second fiddle in the world of automotive bragging rights.

But close the door on a Tesla Model S Plaid, and the rattle you hear suggests there’s room for an established automaker to improve upon the concept. So what should GM’s flagship do to get a piece of that action?

Enter Cadillac’s brave new world of Opulent Velocity. The hints of speed presented in the video come from a vehicle with a ride height lower than a CUV, matched with furious electric motor sounds as the Cadillac rushes toward and past the camera.

The signature V-series emblem morphs into the “V” in Opulent Velocity, suggesting that future V-series Cadillacs shall have performance paired with opulence. That’s a stark contrast to the harder edged mission of V-Series past; but a return to the days of Broughams and DeVilles is unlikely. Perhaps Opulent Velocity’s front light signature suggests this is the second coming of the 2002 Cien concept supercar?

Light signatures can be misleading, but the Cien’s failure to launch was a tragedy for all enthusiasts. No matter what this future Caddy looks like, Cadillac executive director Bryan Nesbitt suggests that “Opulent Velocity is designed to foreshadow a zero emissions expression of performance and modern luxury leadership.”

Nesbitt ensured this teaser has a little more legs by suggesting, “We will share more later this year, so stay tuned.” So we will, and we shall keep you in the loop.

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Pardon the prewar pun, but the storied French-German automaker Bugatti just dropped a doozy of a teaser video for its next vehicle, due in June. The star of the 25-second clip is a sixteen-cylinder engine with an achingly beautiful carbon-fiber intake manifold and an exhaust note that will haunt your soul. But unlike the Chiron and the trend-setting Veyron before it, this yet-to-be-named Bugatti forgoes the “W” engine configuration in favor of a traditional “V.”

That sound is sensational, but look a little closer and this V-16 clearly sports four individual throttle bodies. They suggest that this future Bugatti is an apple that doesn’t fall far from the tree, as the engine could should have four turbochargers to feed that intake, like the quad-turbo Veyron. However, what’s really impressive is Bugatti’s hint that this engine will be mated to a hybrid powertrain.

Odds are this electrified setup will be similar to the party tricks found in the Ferrari SF-90, ensuring the next Bugatti can slow-roll on any street in the EU and the UK. But the similarities are likely to end there, as any Bugatti, even a hybrid one, is designed with the most amount of power and performance possible from an OEM.

While the new, V-shaped engine marks a delineation from VW Group’s past insistence on “W” cylinder configurations, the passion present in that video makes it clear the new Bugatti-Rimac joint venture is paying homage to the Veyron and Chiron, icons that made the brand relevant for the 21st century. Bugatti dates back over 100 years, and it’s clear this V-16 hybrid powerplant is the start of something special.

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As demand for new EVs slows in the U.S., James Mills’ recent screed for Hagerty U.K., concerning the dearth of demand in that market, adds perspective to the phenomenon. Enjoy! -Ed.

What’s this? Shock horror! Those crazy car-driving Brits aren’t exactly flocking to showrooms to buy an electric car.

Goodness. Who’d have thought it? Does the nation need its head testing?

According to the latest figures from the lobbying body known as the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT), things are not entirely good in the gin-palace showrooms that cluster around industrial estates like mold in an airless bathroom.

Last month, the number of private buyers—that is to say someone buying a car personally, rather than being handed it through a company car scheme or purchasing it through their own business—tumbled like the range of an EV on the motorway.

January saw 4000 electric cars bought by private buyers, a drop of 25 percent compared with 5300 the previous year, says the SMMT.

Are you surprised? As a car enthusiast, probably not. You’ll know better than most that the government has done an outstanding job of giving consumers mixed messages and shaking their confidence, one minute offering incentives, the next removing them without notice, then declaring that civilization will end if we’re not all buying electric cars by 2030, only to change its mind and knock back the date of the apocalypse by another five years.

The good news: As choice improves, the electric car market continues to grow as a whole. But it would be growing further still if those paying with their own money weren’t feeling so hesitant.

The issue, presumably, is that while company car drivers are being showered with tempting tax breaks, gold, frankincense, and myrrh, there’s pretty much no sweetener to tempt those contemplating buying a new electric car.

And car salesmen, already a little miffed at being rapped over the knuckles for stitching us up with over-inflated finance in return for a nice backhander, are upset. It’s hard not to feel sympathy toward their plight; the poor buggers had worked tirelessly to earn the reputation for being the most cocky so-and-so’s of the automotive industry. Worse, even, than the patronizing car mechanics or unresponsive breakdown companies.

Salesmen are having to unlearn an entire skillset and watch as their commissions disappear in smoke, because there aren’t as many unwitting mugs walking through their doors announcing, “I’d like to pay well over the odds for a new car, please.” Hopefully, the Financial Conduct Authority will see consumers right.

It doesn’t have to be like this. Consumer confidence could be nurtured back to health. A template of how to efficiently electrify the vehicle fleet on the path to net zero has already been mapped out and shown to work. When not gazing up at the night sky and trying to find a bar serving a beer for less than £500, the Norwegians have set aside half a lifetime to figure out how they can make it worthwhile to drive electric. The dried-cod–loving Nordmenn kicked things off in 1990, when they announced they’d do away with import tax on electric cars, followed six years later by ditching road tax. Then things started to get really interesting. From 1997, if you drove an EV, they’d wave the many toll road charges, and from 1999 you could park for free. If you want to drive into London and spend your money in the shops, you need a second mortgage to afford to the parking fees.

Good, huh? It gets better. Next came cuts to company car tax, then VAT was dropped from the purchase price for private buyers. By 2005, those crazy cats did the unthinkable and allowed EVs to drive in bus lanes, then later dropped ferry charges and removed VAT from leasing. In 2017, they legislated for a right to charge, addressing the issue of charging when living in high-rise flats—a concept our politicians still can’t get their heads around.

This enduring commitment to carrot dangling—two decades or longer, in some areas—has worked a treat. In 2023, 82 percent of new cars sold in Norway were electric. And because 90 percent of its electricity comes from hydroelectric sources, with the remainder mostly wind power, the switchover doesn’t come with as many uncomfortable truths about the environmental benefits of battery-powered cars.

Contrast this with what Britain’s private drivers have been offered. There was the plug-in car grant, introduced in 2011 and gradually watered down until it was unplugged last spring. Doubtless, EV evangelists will shout about the exemption from road tax, but we can all kiss goodbye to that from 2025, when all of today’s EVs will cost £180 a year to tax, the same as gas guzzlers. There was also a contribution to installing a charging point, but in another act of great stupidity, that is now only available to homeowners who live in a flat and have off-street parking. About 11 people, then.

It’s rubbish, frankly. We all know how expensive electric cars are to buy compared with the petrol and diesel things we’ve grown up driving, but that seems to be lost on the government.

A new report from the House of Lords Environment and Climate Committee warns that the government needs to “put its foot on the accelerator” if the U.K. is to meet its self-imposed target for net-zero by 2050. It wants a new package of electric car purchase incentives, and says the government must act in three areas to move its strategy forward: consumer confidence, infrastructure, and industry support.

But they left out the most important recommendation of all: Organise a Zoom call with their opposite numbers in Norway, and ask them how they pulled it off.

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Despite nearly two decades of amateur racing under my belt, setting up a race car’s suspension remains something of a dark art to me. Getting all the variables on my Miata or even the much more limited ones on my kart just right for a given track usually requires describing what the vehicle’s doing to a knowledgeable pro and making incremental changes based on their advice. With the ability to adjust toe, camber, caster, and wedge, it is far too easy to take a chassis in the wrong direction while hunting for a setup that behaves predictably. Finding that perfect combination will yield a better-behaving car at speed and ultimately produces better lap times.

Knowing the complications that come with making chassis adjustments, I was quite intrigued when Lamborghini recently unveiled its Active Wheel Carrier, or AWC for short. It might have nothing to do with karting or SCCA club racing Miatas, but this tech actively adjusts two aspects of rear suspension geometry up to 60 times per second, shaving massive chunks of time from the pace of pros and novices alike. Let’s look at how it works and what it can do for you.

Toe, or the angle of the wheels relative to a straight line running from the front of the car to the back, is the first axis of adjustment. Zero toe is when the wheels are pointed perfectly straight—this positioning makes for the least rolling resistance (and therefore the least amount of tire wear). However, for spirited driving, even tiny changes in toe angle can make a world of difference. Small increments of toe out—where the leading edge of the tires is slightly further apart than the trailing edge—can make the car more eager to change direction (some drivers call this “twitchy”), while toe in, especially at the rear of the car, can help induce stability. AWC’s variable toe enables razor-sharp turn-in and confidence-inspiring stability throughout the corner. It’s also able to use this adjustable toe mechanism to induce minute amounts of rear-wheel steering to help the car feel more nimble, as well.

The second axis that Lambo’s AWC can alter is camber, which is the extent to which the top of the wheel is leaning in (negative camber) or out (positive) relative to horizontal. Optimal camber, like toe, is dependent on what a car’s doing at any given moment. For applying power down a straight, zero camber maximizes the tire’s contact patch. In a corner, negative camber on the outside wheel compensates for the vehicle’s lean and enables ideal grip on side of the car that is loaded up with the most weight.

AWC’s active camber adjustment provides the optimal contact patch at all times. This is most important in cornering, where not only is the outside tire ideally set up for the turn, the one on the inside—which in a traditional setup would have the smallest contact patch in this situation—is now able to employ the full width of the tire and greatly increase mid-corner grip.

The AWC system moniters data from a number of sensors including steering angle, throttle, and g-forces to add or subtract camber and toe independently at both rear corners. The outcome was dramatic—according to the OVERDRIVE YouTube channel, journalists testing the car improved their lap times by 4.8 seconds, and Lamborghini’s own test drivers saw a 2.8-second reduction in lap times when AWC was on.

Of course, there’s a lot of load placed on wheel hubs, especially with the monster power and sticky tire compounds found on today’s Lamborghinis. As a result, it may be some time before this tech reliably finds its way to the streets on supercars or otherwise. I think I’ll keep my racing rides old school, but I am constantly amazed at the technology that makes speed ever more attainable.

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A new Lotus sports car, codenamed Type 135, is confirmed for production in 2027 to become the fifth car in an all-electric line-up.

When the Emira ends its run the Type 135 will take its place as the brand’s accessible sportster and be sold alongside the Evija Hypercar, Eletre Hyper SUV, Emeya Hyper GT and a more compact Type 134 SUV. Unlike its more mainstream stablemates, which are built in China, the Type 135 will be assembled at the Chapman Production Centre in Norfolk, U.K where the Evija is also produced.

While the SUVs and sedans will make up the vast majority of Lotus sales, the Type 135 will play a vital role in the company’s future. “We need the bullseye of the brand, which has to be that two-seat sports car,” Lotus Chief Commercial Officer Mike Johnstone told Autocar. “Otherwise we’re just a brand with a Lotus badge. The sports car is an essential part of our future.”

So what do we know about the upcoming two-seater? It will be designed and built in Britain on a unique platform known as Project LEVA (Lightweight Electric Vehicle Architecture), with its batteries mounted amidships for better weight distribution. Both rear-drive and all-wheel-drive will be available and advanced aerodynamics will be a key component. Lotus has set ambitious targets for range and price. A 66.4 kWh battery pack would allow for 300 miles on a charge, while the top-spec 99.6 kWh pack would extend that to 450 miles. The entry-level model will sell for around $95,000 which is on a par with the current Emira.

As to what the car will look like, there’s a strong chance Lotus could be inspired by its past for this future sports car. At the launch of the Emeya Chief Creative Officer Ben Payne told Hagerty that the classic Giugiaro wedge is already major influence on the design team. “We had an Esprit in the studio and everyone was drooling over it,” he said. “Designers love that Esprit definition, the join line—it’s super iconic.”

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Chevrolet has taken its pricing configurator live at Chevrolet.com for the three 2024 Corvette models.

Well, most of it.

The E-Ray starts at $104,495 for the coupe and $111,495 for the convertible, and you can price out a specific model. The Z06 starts at $108,100, and “as shown, $128,650,” but when you try to price the Z06 coupe and convertible out, you get, “See dealer for pricing,” perhaps suggesting Chevrolet knows that there’s still going to be a healthy markup added to the list price due to supply and demand.

For 2023, the Z06 coupe started at $106,695, and the convertible at $114,195. You can still price out the 2023 models, just not the 2024 cars.

By comparison, the base 2024 Stingray coupe starts at a relatively bargain price of $66,300 (just $405 more than 2023) or $67,895 with shipping. The convertible starts at $74,895 with shipping. The Manufacturer’s Suggested Retail Price does not include “tax, title, license, Dealer Fees and optional equipment.” We capitalized Dealer Fees for effect.

Clicking almost all the options for the Stingray coupe, including the $6345 Z51 performance package, took us to $99,650, but you can have a very nice Stingray for far less. The configurator automatically adds in the $1595 destination charge.

Adding up the $74,895 convertible the way we’d configure it—the Z51 package and mostly standard equipment for the rest—took the price to a more sensible $88,235.

As for the E-Ray, we went middle of the road with the coupe, adding a handful of accessories including the ZER performance package (just $500), and ended up at $131,385. As for the convertible, we again added a modest amount of features, including the cheapest package, the 1LZ, which took the price to $111,495. We then selected the killer Amplify Orange Tintcoat for $995, the carbon fiber wheels (a whopping $13,500), a base interior, and that ZER package, which took the price to $125,900.

As mentioned, you’ll have to see your dealer to completely price out the Z06. We wish you and your pocketbook the best of luck.

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What better birthday to celebrate right before America’s than the Corvette’s? 70 years ago today, the first example of America’s sports car rolled out of the factory in Flint, Michigan.

Building that first car was an interesting process. The Ford Model T might have brought the production line to popularity 45 years earlier, but the first Corvette was hand-assembled. Workers at the Flint factory took the parts, pieces, and materials and painstakingly combined them into a functional automobile. That 1953 model was equipped with a Blue Flame inline-six engine mated to a two-speed Powerglide transmission—ironic, considering how many of the Corvette faithful consider the lack of three pedals in the eighth and latest generation to be an atrocity.

No matter how polarizing that drivetrain might be now, it was the Corvette’s body construction, not its transmission, that made waves at the time. Fiberglass was best known as a boat hull material; it was not yet widely used for car production.

Chevrolet’s fiberglass molds shaped a curvy little roadster, complete with plastic curtains, instead of windows, that snapped into place. All 1953 Corvettes were sprayed Polo White, with interiors upholstered in red. Despite the lack of color options, it took two days to assemble the first models. For comparison, it takes the Corvette factory in Bowling Green, Kentucky, three shifts to build a C8—roughly, a day and a half. Considering how much the Corvette has changed since those very simple, white-wall-tire cars of the ’50s, let alone how many more options are on the C8’s build sheet, that pace is pretty darn impressive.

What the Corvette would become could have only been a dream for those early owners. A new C8 Z06 can clear a quarter-mile at 131 mph before a 1953 Corvette has even reached 60 mph. What or where will the Corvette be next is certainly a great debate, but one thing is clear: Few American cars have such a beloved, long-running lineage.

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Porsche’s battery-powered future includes bigger SUV

Intake: Automotive News is reporting that Porsche gave a “glimpse” of upcoming electric models, including a flagship crossover positioned above the Cayenne, joining the existing electric Taycan sports car. The big SUV will use the VW Group’s SSP Sport platform, which Porsche is developing. “We are observing growing profit pools in this segment, in particular in China and the U.S.,” CEO Oliver Blume said in the statement. Other battery-electric vehicles (BEVs) on tap: An all-electric Macan crossover available to customers in 2024; full-electric versions of the 718 Boxster und Cayman, planned for the middle of the decade; and an all-electric Cayenne, due for 2025 or 2026. The 911 will get a plug-in hybrid system, as the company plans to keep the model’s ICE engine “as long as possible.”

Exhaust: The plan, says Automotive News, is part of Porsche’s goal to deliver more than 80 percent of its new vehicles as full-electric models by 2030. The SUV model, internally known as the K1, is expected to have three rows of seats and over 750 horsepower. This was part of Porsche’s annual news conference, in which the company said it delivered 309,884 vehicles in 2022, a slight increase over 2021. —Steven Cole Smith

Rivian, Amazon may end exclusivity partnership

Intake: According to the Wall Street Journal, Amazon and Rivian, which received an order from Amazon for 100,000 electric delivery vans in 2019 provided it only sells to Amazon, may end the exclusivity part of the partnership, which presumably would allow Rivian to sell its vans to other companies, and allow Amazon to buy vans from other manufacturers. Amazon informed the EV maker it wanted to buy about 10,000 vans this year, which was at the low end of a range it previously provided to Rivian, the report said, and Rivian asked to be freed from the exclusivity portion of the contract.

Exhaust: The vans appear to have served Amazon well, having delivered over 10 million packages. The consumer Rivian R1T truck and R1S SUV are built separately from the Amazon vans. —SCS

Toyota, NHRA introducing baby Supra to Junior Dragster field

Intake: The National Hot Rod Association’s important Junior Dragster program, which allows kids to race Top Fuel–style mini-dragsters powered by Briggs & Stratton on the same tracks the big cars race on, have long used the one, rail-dragster style of car. Toyota and the NHRA are introducing a roadster-style junior dragster, modeled after Ron Capps’ full-sized nitro Supra Funny Car. It should give some brand identity to the class, which has been lacking since the program began.

Exhaust: A roadster raced against the familiar rail-style junior dragster in the finals at Gainesville Raceway on Sunday, and it did quite well. This is a welcome addition to the NHRA roster. —SCS

Guess who’s embracing electric bikes? The Amish

Intake: Amish communities, more often known for black buggies pulled by horses, have been increasingly turning to electric bikes as an alternative form of transportation, according to Electrek.co. It’s a common misconception that Amish communities entirely shun electricity and technology. Rather, each Amish church and its surrounding community decides its own rules regarding how much technology is integrated into daily life.

Exhaust: Electrek.co quotes electric-bike dealer David Mullet, a member of the Old Order Amish Church and the owner of e-bikes of Holmes County, a popular bicycle shop in a heavily Amish-populated area of Ohio. He said that e-bikes are simply faster and easier than horses: “It’s a lot quicker to jump on your bike and go into town than it is to bring your horse into the barn, harness it to the buggy, and go. It’s a lot quicker and you travel faster too.” —SCS

Buy this 1000-horsepower Camaro for $160,000

Intake: Hennessey Performance, the Texas-based tuner, has created a 1000-horsepower Chevrolet Camaro Exorcist with six-speed manual transmission (go easy on the clutch, OK?) with 966 lb-ft of torque, should you want to, say, tow your yacht. For a (seemingly) bargain price of $160,000, the Rapid Blue 2023 Camaro ZL1 even comes with a 24-month, 24,000-mile warranty. A thousand horsepower with a manual transmission—what could go wrong? Hennessey claims a 0-to-60-mph time of 2.1 seconds, a quarter-mile E.T. of 9.57 seconds at 147 mph, and a top speed of 217 mph.

Exhaust: If you’re more of a Mopar enthusiast, Hennessey also has a 1000-hp Dodge Challenger Jailbreak for sale. We’d pay to watch that drag race. —SCS

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“They say I’ve helped a lot of people,” said former NHRA Top Fuel racer Darrell Gwynn. “I say a lot of people have helped me.”

With that closing comment, Gwynn got the evening’s only unanimous standing ovation at the Motorsports Hall of Fame of America. Paralyzed in a crash in England in 1990 when his dragster literally broke in half, Gwynn has worked tirelessly to raise money for paralysis research, and to donate customized wheelchairs to paralysis victims.

Gywnn was being inducted into the Motorsports Hall of Fame of America Tuesday night, to a standing-room-only crowd that included a startling number of motorsports luminaries. Unlike most specialized halls of fame, the Motorsports Hall of Fame—founded in Novi, Michigan in 1986 and now based in Daytona Beach, Florida—recognizes most all forms of motorsports, from desert racing to air racing to boat racing, as well as more widely-recognized forms of racing.

For that reason, the annual event, which has grown dramatically over the years, attracts the widest range of motorsports personalities and executives of any single gathering.

The Hall of Fame is situated within a 20,000 square-foot museum outside of Daytona International Speedway’s fourth turn. Its annual induction ceremony is wisely held immediately after The Amelia and the season opener for the IndyCar series in St. Petersburg, and shortly before the NHRA season opener in Gainesville and the Twelve Hours of Sebring IMSA race, and during Bike Week in Daytona (as the rumble of countless Harley-Davidsons outside could attest).

Besides Gwynn, inducted for his too-brief-but-stellar NHRA career, inductees included former NASCAR crew chief and team owner Ray Evernham, motorcycle endurance racer Dick Burleson, and motorsports trauma surgeons Drs. Steve Olvey and Terry Trammel.

Those inducted posthumously were airplane racer Art Chester, Corvette designer and engineer Zora Arkus-Zuntov, land speed record holder Ab Jenkins. The Hall of Fame also featured historic inductees Henry Banks, a midget and IndyCar racer, and NASCAR champion Fonty Flock.

Among the previous inductees in attendance: Donnie Allison, Derek Bell, Peter Brock, Chris Carr, Tom D’Eath, Larry Dixon Jr., Walker Evans, Elliott Forbes-Robinson, Dario Franchitti, Chip Ganassi; NHRA legend Don Garlits, 91, who inducted Gwynn; Chip Hanauer, Hurley Haywood, David Hobbs, Tommy Kendall, Jim McGee, Hershel McGriff, Fran Muncey, Scott Parker, Don Prudhomme, Brian Redman, Freddie Spencer, Jay Springsteen, Judy Stropus, Linda Vaughn, and Rusty Wallace.

They were joined by former IMSA head Scott Atherton, Indianapolis Motor Speedway head Doug Boles, tuner Reeves Callaway, GM Motorsports head Jim Campbell, World of Outlaws head Brian Carter, SCCA head Michael Cobb, NHRA head Glen Cromwell, IMSA head John Doonan, former GM Racing head Herb Fishel, NASCAR and IMSA Chairman Jim France, NASCAR President Mike Helton, Daytona International Speedway head Frank Kelleher, tuner Ken Lingenfelter, Bass Pro Shops founder Johnny Morris, SCORE owner Roger Norman, Global GM Chairman Mark Reuss, IROC founder Jay Signore, Amelia Concours founder Bill Warner and Fantasy of Flight founder Kermit Weeks.

See what we mean? Motorsports’ brightest stars were out in Daytona.

For more information on the Motorsports Hall of Fame, visit mshf.com.

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Lambo’s new hybrid supercar will keep V-12 promise

Intake: Props to the folks at Sant’Agata. As Lamborghini’s then-CEO Stefano Domenicali promised in March of 2019, the successor to the V-12 Aventador supercar (2011–22) will have a twelve-cylinder, naturally aspirated engine … that spins to 9500 rpm (!). Code-named L545, the V-12 has the same displacement as the Aventador’s (6.5 liters) but is 37 pounds lighter and has a higher compression ratio (12.6:1 compared to 11.8:1 for the final Aventador variant, the Ultimae). Its 814-hp maximum nearly tops that of the most powerful Aventador engines, which generally made less than 800, with the exception of the ram-air-induction-equipped, track-only Essenza SCV12 (819 hp). Factor in displacement, however, and this new mill does squeeze out a superlative: the highest specific output of any Lambo V-12: 125 hp per liter. The engine will be supplemented by no fewer than three 110kW electric motors, as the world learned this morning—one integrated into the double-clutch, eight-speed transmission, and one motor on each front wheel. Total system output is nearly 1000 hp. The car, code-named LB744, is not the first hybrid Lambo (that would be 2019’s super capacitor-equipped Sían) but it is the company’s first model with an all-electric, four-wheel-drive mode. Another first of the LB744: The transmission is mounted behind the engine. Lambo’s PR department is calling this a “brand-new” engine, but we’ll believe that when we hear an engineer say it.

Exhaust: If this plug-in Lambo excites you, you’re either a die-hard fan of the magnanimous sort, who’s thrilled that another V-12 exists even if you will never own it; or you’re independently wealthy, and relieved that the all-electric mode allows this new Lambo to crawl scot-free through London’s Ultra Low Emission Zone so you can shop at Gucci. —Grace Houghton

Chase Elliott undergoes successful surgery

Intake: Past NASCAR Cup champion Chase Elliott, 27, underwent successful surgery after a snowboarding accident in Colorado broke his left tibia. Elliott, the 2020 champ, was replaced in Sunday’s race at Las Vegas by NASCAR Xfinity series driver Josh Berry. Hendrick Motorsports president and general manager Jeff Andrews said that Elliott is expected to miss multiple races while he recovers, and there is currently no timeline for his return. The #9 Chevrolet will continue to compete for the owner’s championship, and the organization can apply to NASCAR for a medical waiver that would keep Elliott eligible for the driver’s title.

Exhaust: Berry, 32, had just two Cup starts to his credit, both in 2021, and he has never driven NASCAR’s Next Gen car, introduced into the series last year. He finished 29th out of 36 cars Sunday. “Without a doubt, it’s going to be a great challenge for me,” Berry said, “but with great challenge comes great opportunity for me to learn and grow as a driver and work around a lot of really talented and smart people here at Hendrick Motorsports.” —Steven Cole Smith

Tough times at Lordstown Motors …

Intake: Electric pickup manufacturer Lordstown Motors posted a net loss of $102.3 million, up from $81.2 million a year earlier. The results included an impairment charge of $36.5 million caused mainly by a decrease in its stock price. The company has been struggling with delivery of its $65,000, all-wheel-drive pickup designed for the fleet markets, says Automotive News. At the start of production more than six months ago, the Ohio-based plant had set a target to deliver 50 vehicles in 2022 and more in 2023 out of the planned first batch of 500 units. However, it stopped production last month due to performance and quality issues and reported sales of only six vehicles. The supply chain constraints, especially in motor components, are also expected to hurt production in the current quarter. “We will continue to execute a capital constrained business plan,” CFO Adam Kroll said, adding that Lordstown will need to raise “significantly more” capital.

Exhaust: We like the Endurance pickup, but with major manufacturers (especially Ford) also targeting the fleet market for electric trucks, Lordstown’s future does not look bright. —SCS

… and there are also issues at Rivian

Intake: Rivian Automotive plans to sell bonds worth $1.3 billion, “as weakening demand and lofty costs tighten a cash crunch around electrical vehicle makers,” said Reuters. Shares in Rivian fell nearly 7 percent in after-hours trading. The capital from this offering will help facilitate the launch of Rivian’s smaller R2 vehicle family, a Rivian spokesperson told Reuters, adding that convertible debt was “optimal cost of capital versus selling equity at today’s levels.”

Exhaust: Rivian is in far better shape than Lordstown Motors, with the Illinois plant actively manufacturing the R1T electric pickup truck and the R1S SUV. But Rivian has been burning through a lot of cash, and apparently needs this infusion. —SCS

Dodge’s second “Last Call” video a puzzler

Intake: Dodge has released its second “Last Call” teaser for the new presumed supercar it will debut on March 20, 2023. “Last Call” is the marketing tag for the last run of Dodge Challengers and Chargers, and previous Last Call models leading up to the debut of the final one have all been high-performance models. This last one is rumored to have at least 900 horsepower. Any less will be a disappointment.

Exhaust: This second video ends with a scale reading 7.1 pounds. Is it the extra boost the new car will get? Some sort of power-to-weight ratio? See what you think here. —SCS

One-of-a-kind DB5 wannabe is for sale

Intake: If an old car given a modern makeover is a restomod, what do you call a modern machine with classic looks? “Retromod” seems about right to describe this BAE Vantare, an Aston Martin DB9 that’s been rebodied to resemble a DB5. Launched in 2021 by startup British Automotive Engineering, it was fronted by comedian Bradley Walsh but was no joke. The company planned to build ten of them and charge over $330,000 for each one. The Vantare’s bodywork was created from “hybrid modern materials,” such as carbon fiber; wire-style alloys were fitted; and the Aston Martin interior was also revamped with a revised center console, new steering wheel, and vents sourced from Mercedes. It’s not clear what has happened to BAE since it announced the Vantare as the firm’s website is currently offline, and it hasn’t posted to social media for a year. In all likelihood chassis number one, based on a 2005 DB9, which is currently for sale at London dealer DD Classics, is the only example ever built. DD Classics describes it as “an Aston Martin collector’s dream,” but we’ll let you decide.

Exhaust: It’s not a completely crazy idea. After all, David Brown Automotive has seemingly made a success of its $700,000 Jaguar XKR–based Speedback GT, although that design does seem a little more complete and the level of craftsmanship significantly higher. Scale down your expectations and The Little Car Company might offer the most fun attempt to recreate the DB5. —Nik Berg

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Your six-speed Jeep may have a bad pressure plate

Intake: Jeep is recalling over 69,000 Wranglers (2018–23) and Gladiator pickups (2020–23) with manual transmissions because a problem with the clutch pressure-plate could cause a fire, says Consumer Reports. If the pressure plate for the clutch overheats, it could break, and hot debris could be expelled from the transmission case. This debris could cause a road hazard for other drivers, and could also cause a fire in the vehicle or the surrounding area if it comes into contact with an ignition source.

Exhaust: Before the clutch pressure-plate fails, drivers may notice a burning smell, clutch slippage, and/or a warning light on the instrument cluster. There is currently no repair available for the problem, but Jeep tells the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration that one is under development. If the clutch in your Jeep doesn’t feel right, stop driving the vehicle. —Steven Cole Smith

The electric Telluride cometh

Intake: OK, maybe Kia’s not calling this battery-powered SUV an electric Telluride, but the EV9 will be roughly the same size as that three-row best-seller. You’re looking at your first official teaser images of it here. No word yet on when you can buy an EV9, but at least we know that Kia wants to build it. The automaker will give us a timeline for availability and hopefully range/power details in late March. (We’ll know what it looks like, inside and out, in a few weeks.) Kia first hinted it would build this boxy electric SUV in November of 2021, with the Concept EV9 shown off in L.A. (Locale says a lot, huh?) As a one-off, the concept’s specs are hardly guaranteed to match those of the real-world version, but they at least signal intent: 300 miles of range, and a 350-kW charging system that can zap the battery from 10 to 80 percent in 20 to 30 minutes. Good luck finding a compatible charger that powerful …

Exhaust: You can learn a lot about an automaker’s culture by watching its concepts: Which ones make production, in what timeframe, and with what changes. Nobody was expecting the Concept EV9’s swiveling seats or B-pillar-less cabin to become reality—one’s expensive, the other defies crash standards—but, based on these black-and-white images, the profile, headlights, and taillights are almost copy-paste from the 2021 concept. Two years between concept and announcement of the real thing? Kia’s serious. —Grace Houghton

Production to resume on Ford Lightning

Intake: Ford said Thursday it will restart production of its F-150 Lightning on March 13 after it halted output of the electric truck after a battery fire in early February, says Automotive News. Ford has not set a date for resuming deliveries. Ford said as it “ramps up production, [it] will continue holding already produced vehicles while [it works] through engineering and parts updates.” Ford said a vehicle caught fire February 4 during a pre-delivery quality inspection in a company holding lot in Dearborn, Michigan, and the flames spread to two other trucks. The automaker halted production the next day.

Exhaust: Ford apparently traced the problem to the South Korean battery supplier, SK On. Ford previously said it was targeting annual production of 150,000 Lightnings by the fall of 2023, and it’s unknown if it will be able to reach that figure. —SCS

For sale: 1902 car that thinks it’s a train

Intake: The early 1900s were an interesting time for the automobile. It was caught between a rich person’s novelty toy and a practical machine to be used by the masses. Leaning hard to the former is this Sterand Loco listed on carandclassic.com. A car playing dress-up as a locomotive is always fun, and this one includes features that all steam enthusiasts love, like the air whistle, bell, single headlight, and connecting rods that make the rear wheels appear to be turned by steam power—though they are actually driven by a Rutenber gasoline engine.

Exhaust: While at first glance this Sterand is a mix of a misunderstanding and a Wish.com version of a Bentley Blue Train, it’s growing on us. Weird, but interesting … and unlike anything else you might see on the road. The selling dealer claims the loco-car has driven 12,000 miles so maybe there is some practicality, too. —Kyle Smith

Consumer confidence dropping in autonomous vehicles

Intake: Concerns about self-driving cars are significantly higher than they were last year, according to an annual automated vehicle survey just released by AAA. The survey reveals 68 percent of drivers are afraid of riding in a self-driving vehicle. That’s up from 55 percent in 2022, and the largest annual increase since 2020. “We did not expect such a dramatic shift in consumer concerns from previous years,” said Mark Jenkins, public relations manager for AAA, The Auto Club Group. “Though it isn’t entirely surprising, given the number of high-profile crashes that have recently occurred from over-reliance on current vehicle technologies.” AAA’s survey found that nearly one in 10 drivers believe they can buy a vehicle that drives itself while they sleep. AAA found that 22 percent of Americans expect a driver-support system—with names like Autopilot (Tesla), ProPilot (Nissan/Infiniti), or Pilot Assist (Volvo)—to drive the car by itself without any supervision.

Exhaust: The survey results highlight what a lousy job the manufacturers have done to educate consumers about autonomous driving. “Most new vehicles are equipped with some level of advanced driver-assistance technology, which can enhance the safety of motorists if used properly,” Jenkins said. “However, it’s important to clarify that there are currently no vehicles available for purchase that allow someone to fully disengage from the task of driving.” —SCS

Pair of “new” Honda motorcycles for 2023

Intake: U.S. riders will have two more options for mix-use fun with Honda’s announcement of the XR150L and CRF300LS. The first is a simple and durable 150cc single-cylinder model that is only new to the U.S. market. This XR150L has been for sale in the Asia, Australia, and New Zealand markets for some time and Honda hasn’t changed marketing strategy for the states. Its designed as an “affordable additional motorcycle for veteran riders, campground passage for outdoor-enthusiast families, or around-town transportation for those still relatively new to the world of powersports.” The CRF300LS is similar, but uses the established CRF300L and lowers the seat height to make it more welcoming to shorter or newer riders.

Exhaust: The exact seat height of the CRF300LS is yet to be released, but this is following a trend set by Kawasaki, which started offering lower seat-height versions of its KLX230 and KLR650. The stock height of a CRF300L is nearly 35 inches, so even riders with inseam to spare might find the “S” model a little more comfortable in off-road situations. The XR150L is a great value play for a person hunting for a basic motorcycle to have simple fun with both on- and off-road; MSRP is just $2971 and deliveries are expected to begin in April. —Kyle Smith

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Happy holidays, readers. To allow our staffers to spend time with their families (and project cars and cats and dogs), The Manifold will be on hiatus, beginning tomorrow, through the end of the month. See you in 2023!

Back to the Future DeLorean lands in court

Intake: We’ve told you about the controversy over the DeLorean name, important since there are two separate companies seeking to build the next DeLorean sports car. But now comes word that the DeLorean used in the Back to the Future movies has landed in court. “In a federal lawsuit filed in Los Angeles this week, the DeLorean Motor Company said it acquired intellectual property and trademarks for the DeLorean in 1997, and that NBCUniversal is in breach of its contract,” according to the Los Angeles Times. The Texas-based owners of DeLorean Motor Company claim they are entitled to five percent of the revenue generated by the car, “from merchandising and commercial tie-ups connected to the films.” NBCUniversal has denied the claims.

Exhaust: A mechanic who specialized in DeLoreans evidently acquired the name decades ago, when it had essentially no value. It transferred to the DeLorean Motor Company, headed by current CEO Joost de Vries, and chief marketing officer Troy Beetz, both of whom came from the EV company Karma. Apparently they are the ones going after the five percent of merchandising and commercial income that NBCUniversal has earned, presumably from Back to the Future (1985), Back to the Future Part 2 (1989), Back to the Future Part 3 (1990), the Universal Back to the Future ride, and a ton of additional stuff. We’ll be watching this one. — Steven Cole Smith

Kia Stinger Tribute Edition will be sport sedan’s swan song

Intake: Kia will build just 1000 examples of the Stinger Tribute Edition as production of the RWD/AWD sedan comes to an end. Buyers will have the option of Moonscape matte gray, shown here, or Ascot Green, both of which will be contrasted with black Brembo brake calipers, black 19-inch wheels, and black exterior mirrors. Inside, Terracotta brown leather upholstery wraps the seats, steering wheel, door side trim, and door handles, while “carbon-effect finish” is used on the console and door panels. “The Stinger Tribute Edition denotes an important chapter in the story of Kia’s high-performance ethos. Featuring an exclusive color and interior trim never before seen on the sedan, it also serves as a fitting celebration of the Stinger’s contribution to the Kia brand,” said Chang Sung Ryu, Senior Vice President and Head of Purchase CX Design Sub-division. It will have the 3.3 twin-turbo V-6, with 368 horsepower. No word on price, but the 2023 GT2 model starts at $53,990, plus $1145 destination.

Exhaust: We’ve appreciated the niche that Kia has carved out with the Stinger in between sports sedan and luxury cruiser, not to mention its pleasing, athletic looks. Unfortunately, it doesn’t seem like there’s an immediate successor in the works, at least not a second-generation Stinger. We hope that Kia continues to take risks by building vehicles that are clearly aimed at enthusiasts, and perhaps a future product can once again bring a Genesis platform to a more affordable, sporty market. — Brandan Gillogly

Ferris wheels: Bueller’s fake Ferrari sells for $337,500

Intake: “The 1961 Ferrari 250GT California. Less than a hundred were made. My father spent three years restoring this car. It is his love, it is his passion,” says the highly strung Cameron Frye in the 1986 cult movie Ferris Bueller’s Day Off. Except, as we all know the car featured isn’t actually a Ferrari at all. That didn’t stop a buyer shelling out $337,500 at Heritage Auctions to buy one of three replicas built by Modena Design and Research for the film. While two were assembled using Ford Mustang running gear this one was the famous crash car, launched through the plate glass of Cam’s dad’s garage, so it has never had a drivetrain. It was repaired and used to promote the movie, and will now be the centerpiece of one Bueller fan’s collection.

Exhaust: Despite being a non-runner the car fetched almost as much as one of the Matthew Broderick-driven hero cars which sold for $396,000 at Barrett-Jackson’s Scottsdale auction in 2020. A genuine 250 GT California went for $18.5 million in 2015, so it’s a good thing director John Hughes didn’t use a real one. — Nik Berg

Bertone bounces back with hypercar for 110th anniversary

Intake: Italian automotive atelier Bertone is back in business. Having gone bankrupt in 2014, Bertone was rescued in 2016 by Mauro and Jean-Franck Ricci’s Akka technology consultancy, but all we’ve seen since has been the bizarre Smart Bertone, which added a Formula 1-style KERS system and an extra 200 hp to the electric runabout. Now the styling house has revealed an all-new hypercar called the GB110 to celebrate 110 years of the brand. There are hints of past Bertone success stories in the design, such as the Stratos Zero style side vents, and it looks like Bertone’s aerodynamicists have been studying the latest work of Lotus as well, with some clever tricks to manage airflow. The all-wheel drive hypercar has a seven-speed transmission and double wishbone suspension with adjustable dampers. The GB110 is said to have over 1100 hp so that it can reach 62 mph in 2.79 seconds and 124 mph in 6.79 seconds. Top speed is a claimed 236 mph and all this performance comes from a sustainable fuel made from recycled plastic.

Exhaust: This is the Bertone that we all imagine, designing dream machines to follow on from such legends as the Alfa Romeo B.A.T. cars and the Lamborghini Miura and Countach. Owners Akka have the know-how to build it, but no timeline or price tag has been offered yet. Billionaires looking for a Bugatti alternative will just have to wait. — NB

Auto execs less bullish about EV adoption by 2030

Intake: According to the annual survey of global automotive executives by KPMG, the international consulting company, the execs are less confident about a prompt adoption of electric vehicles than they were one year ago. “KPMG reports automotive executives are less bullish about the prevalence of all-electric vehicles in the U.S. and globally by 2030,” says CNBC. According to the survey: “In just one year, the outlook has changed appreciably. The survey in 2021 showed that auto executives were very optimistic about the prospects for global EV sales. They estimated that EVs could capture as much as 70 percent of the market share by 2030. Since then, the top estimates have fallen to around 40 percent, which still indicates confidence,” but certainly less confidence. Note that this is an international survey, not just of U.S. executives. Thirty-seven percent of U.S. responders though, in both 2021 and 2022, answered the year 2030 to the following question: “When do you believe battery electric vehicles will reach cost/affordability parity with ICE without any subsidies?”

Exhaust: It’s an interesting, wide-ranging study. You can read it here. — SCS

Chevy Bolt recalled over seat belt pretensioners

Intake: Chevrolet has recalled the Bolt electric car again, this time for the possibility of gases emitted when the front seat belt pretensioners fire as the result of an accident. The escaping gases could potentially ignite the carpeting. The recall is for 140,000 Bolt EVs in North America.

Exhaust: There are some important recalls for the Bolt, but this one seems pretty incidental. Still, a recall is a recall, so Bolt owners, get it taken care of. — SCS

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Donkervoort F22 is a jet fighter for the street

Intake: It shares its name with the U.S. Air Force’s Raptor, and Donkervoort’s all-new F22 isn’t much slower either. Its Audi-sourced five-cylinder turbo engine makes 500 horsepower, yet the whole car weighs just 1650 lbs, giving it a power-to-weight ratio better than a Bugatti. The chassis is a hybrid of thin-wall steel tube and Ex-Core carbon fiber, while the Hot Wheels bodywork is all carbon as well. A five-speed gearbox is fitted, there’s height-adjustable suspension, and AP Racing brakes. Although it’s longer than the outgoing Donkervoort D8 to give more room for passengers the F22 is still the lightest supercar out there, and it’s lighter still if you remove the twin targa roof panels and opt for carbon fiber wheels. “The key to everything we do is weight. The less weight you carry, the less weight you have to stop, turn and accelerate, and the less fuel you use and the more intimate the car can be,” says managing director Denis Donkervoort. Although Donkervoort hasn’t revealed the F22’s top speed or acceleration numbers the Dutch company has confirmed the car’s cornering capability, stating that it can pull 2.15 lateral g.

Exhaust: Want one? We’re afraid you’re too late. The planned run of 50 cars was sold as soon as Donkervoort shared sketches. Production was upped by 75 units and those were snapped up too—even at a price of €245,000 ($258,000). It’s a long way from the Lotus 7 which founder Joop Donkervoort bought the Dutch rights for in 1978. —Nik Berg

Maybach goes Haute Couture, again

Intake: The S-class (W223) based Maybach flagship has a new trim level of limited production (150), unique style and a flashy name: Mercedes-Maybach S-Class Haute Voiture. This range-topping range topper from Mercedes-Benz takes the French phrase for high fashion (Haute Couture) clothing and reimagines it for the automobile (Voiture). The Maybach Haute Voiture is finished in a charcoal black over rose gold exterior paint scheme, with matching black wheels. A host of interior trim upgrades are present, including “a bag collection” for the trunk, and interior accents of a black and gold mid-century, tweedy fabric worthy of a piece of high-end furniture in Roger Sterling’s office. Prices have yet to be released, but the Haute Voiture Maybach will sell alongside mere $200,000+ Maybachs in early 2023.

Exhaust: The Haute Voiture Maybach sure looks impressive inside, even compared to a regular example. And this brand is no stranger to special editions, as the Maybach Virgil Abloh Edition (of Louis Vitton fame) made a big splash in haute couture circles earlier this year. It’s a world most of us can’t even imagine, but perhaps the aforementioned Mr. Sterling said it best, “When a man gets to a point in his life when his name’s on the building, he can get an unnatural sense of entitlement.” Not that I’d know anything about that. —Sajeev Mehta

New Zealanders blow past 138 mph for a new land speed record

Intake: A team from New Zealand has just gone faster than all before them, using only the power of the wind. Emirates Team New Zealand and their Horonoku machine clocked 222.4 km/h (138.1 mph) on the dry salt bed of Lake Gairdner in South Australia. The unusual craft has three wheels: one at the front, one at the rear, and one on an outrigger that effectively acts as a keel. Instead of a sail it has a two-part solid vertical wing which is amazingly efficient at shifting a breeze into forward motion. The sleek land yacht need only 22 knots (25 mph) of wind to reach its top speed and smash the previous 202.9 km/h (126 mph) record which had stood since 2009.

Exhaust: The team is also responsible for New Zealand’s 2021 America’s Cup winner and has a long-standing sponsorship with  Toyota which provided support vehicles, including a GR Yaris chase car. All-wheel-drive and 268 hp would certainly have been handy in keeping up with Horonoku on the slippery desert surface. —NB

Belvidere plant shuttered, Cherokee to Mexico?

Intake: It opened for business in 1965, and Chrysler’s Belvidere, Illinois started out building the Dodge Monaco and Polara, and later the Dodge and Plymouth Neons. Parent company Stellantis is closing the 5.3-million-square-foot plant, which builds the Jeep Cherokee, possibly sending Cherokee production to Toluca, Mexico, if the product survives. Belvidere goes into “indefinite closure” next February.

Exhaust: The plant has been tapering off its production for years, with the Jeep Compass and Patriot ceasing there in 2016. The writing has been on the wall, and we feel for the employees there about what that writing says. It was the first plant in the Chrysler system to go fully robotic in the body shop, and has its own stamping plant next door. So long, Belvidere. We still miss the Neon ACR. —Steven Cole Smith

Speed Sport News ceases print publication

Intake: The December issue of Speed Sports News, the successor to the 88-year-old National Speed Sport News, is the last, as the magazine and its sister publication, Sprint Car and Midget Magazine, will continue on only as digital publications. National Speed Sport News, once named National Auto Racing News, was published weekly under editor and broadcaster Chris Economaki for decades. He died in 2011. Then a consortium bought the title and continued to publish it in the same format it had used since 1934, with a mix of racing news and profiles.

Exhaust: Plenty of us watched the mailbox until the weekly edition of NSSN arrived. We’re sure the digital version will be solid, but we’ll miss holding the publication in our hands. —SCS

Rivian has a bedbug problem

Intake: Rivian has called a pest control company into its Normal, Illinois plant to rid it of bedbugs, says Automotive News. It has quarantined forklifts in areas where the bedbugs were found. Additionally, transportation shuttles have been treated, and all warehouse spaces will be treated by the end of the week, although no bugs have been found in either location, a spokesman said.

Exhaust: No company wants bugs in its products, especially ones you can bring home. We are unaware of any reports of forklift drivers sleeping on the job. —SCS

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After nine days in the hospital for burns sustained to his face, hand, and chest, comedian and car collector Jay Leno is back at work. For Leno, that means driving cars and doing comedy, which he’ll perform Sunday night in a Los Angeles club.

The Daily Mail showed Leno driving his 2002 Mercedes, a C3 Chevrolet Corvette, and a vintage Maserati since he was released from the hospital. He got out Monday, and Tuesday, he was behind the wheel.

Leno was hospitalized at the Grossman Burn Center after he was working on a White steam car’s gasoline line that had become clogged. Gas, which is used to heat the White’s burner, splashed on him and ignited, producing third-degree burns. One of the photos clearly shows a burn to the left of his face, but he already looks far better than he did when released from Grossman.

Leno joked with photographers outside the Burbank airport hangars that house his car collection that, since the incident, he has been craving barbeque.

Leno, who writes a column for Hagerty, should return to these pages soon. Happy Thanksgiving, Jay.

Jay Leno is heading back to his garage less than two weeks after getting burned badly in a car fire accident. https://t.co/sUuoCH6gK2

— TMZ (@TMZ) November 22, 2022

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Mazda bankrolls electrification—including the Miata?

Intake: Mazda has always preferred to take its own path, but now looks set to follow the herd into electrification. The Japanese carmaker which continues to persevere with the rotary engine, and pushed ahead with spark-free ignition in its Skyactiv-X motors is investing almost $11 billion in electrifying its line-up. The cash comes alongside an updated mid-term business plan which includes partnering with battery maker Envision AESC Group. Mazda now estimates that up to 40 percent of its sales will come from battery electric vehicles in 2030 and some of those could well be built in the USA to benefit from tax credits. “Given the importance of the market, we hope to manufacture EVs in North America at some point,” said CEO Akira Marumoto. “But at the moment, we are thinking of the possibility in the second half of phase two.” Even more exciting is the concept car that came with Marumoto’s announcement. The Vision Study Model hints at what an electric Mazda sports car could look like, and while it’s tricky to judge the size from the images, it appears to have the compact proportions of a Miata successor.

Exhaust: Mazda’s only electric offering so far is the quirky MX-30 which hasn’t exactly stormed the sales charts, thanks to its very limited driving range. This huge investment will mean that the company’s future EVs will be much more competitive, but we hope Mazda doesn’t lose sight of the things that make the Japanese brand stand out from the pack. The Vision Study suggests that lightweight, fun-to-drive Mazdas are here to stay, even if they are electric. —Nik Berg

Logo no-go: people are confused by the new Kia badge

Intake: Kia’s incredible re-invention has seen the South Korean brand go from a maker of budget runabouts to some of the best SUVs and EVs out there, including the 2020 World Car of the Year-winning Telluride and the 2022 Car of the Year EV6. In 2021 Kia refreshed its logo from a bland oval with its name clearly visible inside to a more stylized silver badge with the three letters conjoined, but it appears to be baffling people. Google search data reveals that 30,000 people each month are now searching for “KN” instead of Kia, with many seeming to believe that it’s a completely new car maker. Which, in a way, it is.

Exhaust: This could be seen as a catastrophic graphic design fail, if the brand can’t even be recognized by the public. However, the very fact that so many people have been inspired to search for “KN” shows that Kia’s cars are really attracting attention. —NB

Formula 1 viewership way up

Intake: If we need another example of the burgeoning popularity of F1, we present the TV ratings from ESPN. Not long ago it was unheard of for an F1 race to top a million viewers, and this year that happened 17 times. The season averaged 1.21 million viewers per race across ESPN, ESPN2 and ABC, a 28 percent increase over the previous U.S. television record of 949,000 average viewers that was set in 2021. The 2022 season also became the first in U.S. television history to average 1 million or more viewers per race. In addition, more female and younger viewers watched F1 races on U.S. television than ever before. The season included a record 2.583 million average viewers for the new Miami Grand Prix, setting the mark for the most-viewed live F1 telecast ever in the U.S.

Exhaust: The presence next year of American Logan Sargeant in a Williams car will only help the ratings; we expect another record year in 2023. —Steven Cole Smith

Goodwood Members’ Meeting to host GT1 machines

Intake: “Goodwood is delighted to announce that the 80th Members’ Meeting presented by Audrain Motorsport will for the first time host a collection of top-flight GT1 cars from the early 21st Century in a spectacular on-track demonstration set to be one of the loudest and most exhilarating ever held at a Members’ Meeting,” says a press release from the British track. “Taking to the historic Goodwood Motor Circuit, which celebrates its 75th anniversary in 2023, will be Le Mans Class and GT1 race winners, including the likes of the Aston Martin DBR9, Ferrari 550 GT1, Maserati MC12, Chrysler Viper GTS-R, Lister Storm and many more.” We indeed expect many more, since these cars were so recently raced. The event is scheduled for April 15-16. Tickets are available now for Fellows of the Goodwood Road Racing Club: You can join here.

Exhaust: It’s a good way to visit a Goodwood event if you don’t want to fight the massive crowds that should be present at the Goodwood Festival of Speed in 2023, which will feature cars of 24 Hours of Le Mans in the year of its 100th anniversary. It will be, Goodwood says, the largest collection of cars it has ever hosted. It will be held July 13-16. It’s also the 30th anniversary of the Festival of Speed. Said Tom Kristensen, nine-time Le Mans winner: “It’s amazing that Le Mans has been holding this great race for 100 years. Goodwood and Le Mans are so much fun, I always enjoy visiting and have had the privilege of driving fantastic cars there. I’m already looking forward to the reunion next year. I’m sure it will be a remarkable celebration.” —SCS

eBay becomes latest place to tighten policy and stop sales on tuning devices

Intake: In a change to its policy regarding the sales of vehicles, parts and accessories, eBay has now begun removing and restricting sales of tuning devices that can be used to defeat or remove government-required emissions equipment, citing an EPA enforcement alert from December 2020. This includes everything from block-off plates to the computers and connectors needed to re-tune ignition and fuel curves. To read the whole list of restrictions on eBay’s site here.

Exhaust: eBay likely saw the EPA’s widespread crackdown on independent shops which were selling these devices under the guise of “off-road or race use only.” While it is not clear if the EPA would ever come down on eBay for hosting the selling of these items, it appears it has chosen to be proactive in limiting access for both sellers and buyers. The policy is wide-ranging though, and includes items like fuel injection conversion kits and standalone ECU modules that actually serve to improve emissions of vintage cars. Balance was always going to be tough to find in limiting access to ways to de-regulate modern cars while enabling DIY enthusiasts to still enjoy the hobby, and this is one step that makes life just a little tougher. —Kyle Smith

Scout website finally has something worth looking at

Intake: And this is it: A teaser profile of the new SUV. It looks pretty interesting, and certainly takes the Volkswagen-owned brand back to the glory days. We await more than this smidgen of copy: “To honor where we’ve come from. To unlock the potential of what lies ahead. To show our land the respect it deserves. To lift up our communities and haul their heaviest burdens. To lead the charge into the great unknown. Scouts go first. Scouts go farther. Scouts always come back to lead the way.” Wow, heady stuff.

Exhaust: The “rugged” theme keeps coming up. But then, we’re currently driving a “rugged” version of the Kia Sportage. “We’re making the next generation of all-electric trucks and rugged SUVs for American drivers,” the site says. OK, we’re holding you to that. —SCS

Mecum Kissimmee closes in on 4000 vehicles

Intake: With the recent addition of 50 investment-grade vehicles from the main attraction Rick Grant III Estate Collection, along with several other private collection offerings, the tally board of consignments for Mecum Kissimmee 2023 continues its climb to 4000 vehicles for the world’s largest collector car auction this  January 4-15 at Osceola Heritage Park in Kissimmee, Florida, just south of Orlando. If you can’t go, the event will be featured on MotorTrendTV and MotorTrend+. At last count, the number was 3156 vehicles consigned.

Exhaust: If you’ve never been, it’s worth the trip, especially if you’re looking for warm weather in January. During the early days of the auction, there are bargains to be had. Not so much on the featured weekends, though, when TV bidding frenzy takes over. —SCS

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Less than a day after Formula 1 wrapped its 2022 season, it was announced that Florida-born Logan Sargeant will compete in the series for Williams Racing. Sargeant becomes the first American to race in F1 since Alexander Rossi graced the grid in 2015. He joins the legendary Williams F1 team as it attempts to evolve from a backmarker into a competitive organization.

“It’s a huge honor and a dream come true to be given this opportunity to compete in Formula 1 with Williams Racing,” he said. “A massive thank you to every person at Williams Racing and [owner] Dorilton Motor Sports for the support they’ve given me since the day I first joined the team at the 2021 United States Grand Prix.

“Being a part of the Williams Driver Academy for the past year has given me an important platform to develop as a driver and prepare me for this next chapter. I’m ready and excited to be a part of this journey as the team looks to progress up the grid.”

Sargeant completes the team’s two-car line-up for the 2023 season alongside Alex Albon. He replaces Canadian driver Nicholas Latifi, who finished 21st, 17th, and, in 2022, 20th in points during his three years for Williams.

Jost Capito, CEO and team principal, is pleased to have locked in his driver line-up for 2023. “We’re delighted to officially announce Logan as our driver for next year after qualifying for a super license following the final F2 event of the season in Abu Dhabi,” he said.

“Since joining our Driver Academy at the end of 2021, Logan has been able to fully integrate with the team while on the simulator and more recently at track during the four Free Practice sessions he’s participated in. He’s had a strong rookie season in Formula 2, and we are excited to watch him make the step up in Formula 1. We are here to support that journey with him.”

Capito is the former director of racing at Volkswagen, which he left in 2016 to join McLaren. He went to work for Williams in 2020 as CEO.

Sargeant was born on New Year’s Eve of 2000, in Ft. Lauderdale. The youngster began his kart racing career in 2008 in his home state of Florida, and moved to Europe to race there in 2012. He worked his way up through Formula 4, then Formula 3, then into FIA Formula 2 in 2021.

Sargeant, like previous American F1 drivers Alexander Rossi and Scott Speed, is virtually unknown in the United States. In order to get in line for a Formula 1 seat, you have to either have fabulously wealthy backers or do your seminal racing in Europe. Sargeant engaged in the latter. While his time across the pond has diluted his star status in his homeland, F1’s current popularity among Americans may be enough to vault Sargeant’s popularity into the stratosphere.

With three races scheduled for the U.S. in 2023, it’s a perfect time to have an American driver to root for, although Capito said that is not why the team chose Sargeant.

The young driver’s F1 journey starts tomorrow, at the postseason Yas Marina test.

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VinFast going hard after electric SUV market

Intake: VinFast, the young (2017) Vietnamese auto builder, made a full-court assault on the Los Angeles Auto Show, displaying four electric SUVs. From the smallest to the largest, they were the VF6, VF7, VF8, and VF9, and the company offered ride-alongs in the five-passenger VF8 outside the convention center to prove it was real. The 6 and 7 should be available in 2023, but the 8 and 9 are pretty much ready—in fact, VinFast just delivered the first VF8s to customers in Vietnam, with the next batch of 5000 headed out globally, including to California, a state in which the company has six stores. The VinFast VF8 has two versions, Eco and Plus. The VF 8 Eco version is equipped with a 260-kW electric motor with maximum torque of 369 lb-ft. The SUV’s maximum range is 260 miles. The VF8 Plus is equipped with a 300-kW motor with 457 lb-ft of torque and can run up to 248 miles.

Exhaust: VinFast is a very aggressive company with lots of money backing it. It also has a lot of fresh ideas, such as a 10-year, 125,000-mile warranty and a battery subscription option that basically keeps you in batteries for the life of the car. It is a company to watch as it spread east of California. –Steven Cole Smith

Abarth unveils factory restomod 500

Intake: Abarth has built a special one-off to pay tribute to the 100th anniversary of the speedy Autodromo di Monza. Based on a 1970 Fiat 500, the car has a name longer than its wheelbase: Abarth Classiche 500 Record Monza ’58, which also commemorates a unique week in February 1958 when Abarth broke six-speed and endurance records at the famous Italian circuit.

The car is painted in the same green as the ’58 record-setter, while the interior fabrics and trim have reverted to that of the very first 1957 Fiat 500. There’s a single racing seat inside, a wonderful wooden steering wheel, and Jaeger dashboard that features a unique clock. The floor is bare and the fabric roof is replaced with sheet metal to aid aerodynamics, while a pair of extra spotlamps add illumination. The tiny, twin-cylinder motor was used to develop an updated Abarth Classiche 595 tuning kit, increasing capacity to 595 cc. It’s based on the original version from 1963. Included are new pistons and cylinder liners, valve springs, camshaft, a Weber carburetor, new sump, and exhaust, all delivered in a wooden box for €1952 ($2001). The car is the latest creation from Stellantis Heritage as part of its Reloaded by Creators project.

Exhaust: Fair play to Stellantis, née FCA, for embracing its heritage and supporting fans of its classics great and small. The conglomerate offers not only a crate Hellephant engine for Mopar lovers but this tuning kit for the tiny 500–and if you don’t want to get your hands dirty you can even get Officine Classiche technicians to fit it for you. —Nik Berg

Hans-Joachim Stuck’s Batmobile could be yours

Intake: German racer Hans-Joachim Stuck was BMW’s original Batman, piloting the 3.0 CSL to victory in the 1973 Nürburgring 6 Hours, before going on to Formula 1 and World Sports Car duties. This second-generation CSL in Chamonix White was the 31st of 57 examples built, and it was delivered to BMW’s M division for test purposes and then provided on a long-term loan basis to Stuck, who told Auto Motor und Sport magazine that it “felt as if it were a piece of myself.” In 1974 BMW sold the car to Stuck’s friend, World Cup Alpine Ski racer Christian Neureuther, who kept it for three years. It has since had a number of enthusiastic owners, been exhibited at the prestigious Villa d’Este concours, and had much money spent on it. Classic car specialist Kidston has it listed with price on application.

Exhaust: As a race car the 3.0 CSL was unbeatable, thanks in no small part to the wings that earned it the Batmobile moniker. “Our Capris then had no chance. I watched the BMWs disappear into the distance,” said works Ford driver John Fitzpatrick. To own a road car that was driven by a BMW works driver is a rare opportunity indeed and will, no doubt, be reflected in the asking price.—NB

And now for a real fake Batmobile …

Intake: This isn’t a real Batmobile, and we know because it’s right-hand-drive. Otherwise, this is a 2001 Toyota Avalon that someone went to a lot of work and expense to create something that is, we’ll admit, different. It’s up for auction in England on December 7. “Here is something you don’t see everyday,” understates the listing. “Fitted with fabricated rear wings and painted in black with red decals, side exhaust pipes, custom interior and a flashing flame thrower light and siren. This “Batmobile” was driven some 182 miles to the sale room; it is reported that, as expected, the car turned heads everywhere it went. The 3.0-liter V-6 provides plenty of power and provides a fabulous noise through the exhaust pipes, paired with famous Japanese reliability.”

Exhaust: Luckily, it’s a no reserve auction! —SCS

Volkswagen pickup a no-go

Intake: VW dealers have been waiting (im)patiently for a pickup truck of any sort to sell, and they thought was they might get one based on the upcoming Scout platform. Ain’t happening, says Automotive News, after a roundtable with VW executives at the L.A. Auto Show. “Thomas Schäfer, newly installed global head of the Volkswagen brand, says the platform being developed for the nascent Scout brand is not in VW’s future, at least not in this decade.

“‘At the moment, our focus on the lineup doesn’t include it,’ said Schäfer, who started his new job three months ago. ‘Then again, in the American market, if you don’t play in certain segments, then you have to stay in a certain market-share area. But the question of [using the Scout platform] is not our priority at the moment.'”

Exhaust: Too bad. After seeing what VW did with its new minivan, we’d love to see its take on a small pickup. —SCS

Ford recalls 453K F-150s, Tesla recalls 321K Model 3s and Model Ys

Intake: Ford is issuing a recall for nearly 454,000 F-150 pickups from the 2021 and 2022 model years due to a potentially faulty windshield wiper motor that could burn out and stop working. This is the second recall issued around the wiper motor faults—Ford also issued a recall back in March for 157K F-150s for the same problem, but it appears that the first one did not cast a wide-enough net. Ford told the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) that it would begin sending letters to owners of potentially affected trucks beginning early next year. The company said that it is not aware of any injuries or crashes related to the issue, and it believes only about one percent of the total vehicle count could contain the faulty component.

Meanwhile, Tesla is issuing a recall for nearly 322,000 Model 3 and Model Y electric vehicles. This recall is due to tail lamps that could fail to light up under normal operating conditions. According to the NHTSA recall document, the issue stems from a “firmware anomaly that may cause false fault detections during the vehicle wakeup process” which could cause the tail lamps to intermittently illuminate. The recall notes that brake lamps, turn signal lamps, and backup lamps are not affected by this issue. The issue was first reported in foreign markets in late October, and following an internal investigation, Tesla issued the voluntary recall earlier this month. Tesla will deploy an over-the-air (OTA) update to correct the firmware anomaly that caused this failure.

Exhaust: Both these recalls have safety implications, so it’s good to see the automakers wasting little time to get them remedied. Ford’s recall still requires a dealership visit, but that Tesla fix is rather impressive; an automaker able to rectify a firmware issue with a few lines of code blasted out over the interwebs? Welcome to the future, baby. —Nathan Petroelje

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Electric Fiat 500 making a U.S. comeback

Intake: Come stai, Fiat 500e? As part of its Los Angeles Auto Show festivities, Fiat announced the current-gen electric Fiat 500e city car will return to the U.S. market for the 2024 model year. The Italian automaker previously pulled the plug on the stateside 500 back in the 2019 model year, leaving us first with only the 124 Spider, 500L, and the 500X—the latter of which now remains the only Fiat model still sold in the U.S. Until now! Or, uh, sometime next year. The Fiat 500e currently for sale overseas is a significantly refreshed car that appears far more upscale and well-appointed than the compliance appliance that was the prior 500e. As for range, pricing, and power, we’re mostly in the dark, as Fiat CEO Francois Olivier claims the real-deal U.S. debut of the 500e will happen at next year’s LA Auto Show. Until then, some educated speculation says the new itty-bitty EV likely mirrors the spec-sheet available on Europe’s iteration. This means a 24-kWh battery pack with around 115 miles of range, built around a 400-volt architecture that brims the battery after four hours hooked up at 11 kW, and is rated up to 85 kW of charging input. Not enough? An optional 42-kWh juicebox nets more miles of range.

Exhaust: We’re very excited to see such the return of the tiny 500 to our shores, but this is likely the make-or-break move for Fiat in the U.S. market. If this one fails to launch, odds are it’s out for good. That’s (potentially) a shame, since the new 500e looks mighty chic-‘n-sharp in photos. Our gut tells us only the big-battery 500e is coming to our shores — probably a good thing — and the finalized EPA-certified range should be closer to the 150-mile mark. Performance won’t be Tesla (or even Chevy Volt) quick, but zap-heads can look forward to an electric Abarth variant that’s buzzing just around the corner. —Conner Golden

Toyota shows scaled-down battery SUV

Intake: It’s no show-stopper but the ‘does what it says on the tin’ Toyota bZ Compact SUV Concept unveiled at the Los Angeles Auto Show will play an important part in Toyota’s electrification plans. Sitting below the recently-launched bZ4X as the second model in the Japanese firm’s “Beyond Zero” range it appears to be a battery-powered equivalent to the C-HR crossover. The execution is slick, there are eco materials inside, and Toyota promises “dynamic performance.” You’ll also see that it has a yoke to control a steer-by-wire system just like bZ4X. More information is due in a month’s time.

Exhaust: What can we say? It looks… fine. Fit for purpose and presentable. Let’s just hope the wheels don’t fall off this one. —Nik Berg

Public Citizen is at it again

Intake: Regular readers will recall that a week ago, Public Citizen, the Ralph Nader-founded advocacy group, shamed Toyota for a statement from an executive that said we may be rushing electric vehicles — that hybrids could be an effective transition. Public Citizen insisted that Toyota stop building any vehicle with an engine, and go all electric, by 2030. They are at it again, chastising Toyota for it’s brand-new Prius introduced yesterday at the LA Auto Show. “The new Prius model asks: What if we took the look of a Tesla, but instead made it pollute with an internal combustion engine? Despite over a decade of record-setting global temperatures, Toyota’s new Prius missed an opportunity to take a fully-electric step toward the future. This ‘hybrid reborn’ relies on a combustion engine, connected to a gas tank, further polluting our communities and atmosphere.”

Exhaust: Sigh. —SCS

The last NSX has left the line

Intake: Acura has assembled its final NSX. The Type S, finished in Gotham Gray matte paintwork is the 350th example of the more powerful, 602-horsepower model which arrived for the last year of production. Built at Acura’s Performance Manufacturing Center in Marysville, Ohio, the hybrid supercar has sold just shy of 3,000 units since its introduction in 2016, when it was priced at $156,000. Featuring a 3.5-liter twin-turbo V-6, three electric motors, and a nine-speed dual-clutch transmission the NSX was supposed to be the pinnacle of Acura technology, but as result was a more clinical, less involving driver’s car than the original. Famously developed with the help of Ayrton Senna, the first generation sold almost 19,000 examples in 15 years of production.

Exhaust: It could have been very different indeed. Back in 2007 Honda America’s boss Tetsuo Iwamura said a V-10 NSX successor was under development. However, when the NSX Concept was finally revealed at the 2012 North American Auto Show, times had changed and it had evolved into a more socially-acceptable hybrid. Getting it production-ready took almost four more years and despite high-profile marketing with a Superbowl ad featuring Jay Leno and Jerry Seinfeld competing to get the first one, and an appearance in Marvel’s Avengers it never quite captured the public’s imagination. Heroic failure or missed opportunity? —NB

Where will all the coming electric 18-wheelers recharge?

Intake: A story from Bloomberg via Automotive News paints a scary picture of what it will take to recharge electric 18-wheelers on the road. Citing a survey by National Grid Plc.: “Researchers found that by 2030, electrifying a typical highway gas station will require as much power as a professional sports stadium — and that’s mostly just for electrified passenger vehicles. As more electric trucks hit the road, the projected power needs for a big truck stop by 2035 will equal that of a small town.” Even more sobering: “A connection to the grid that can handle more than 5 megawatts takes up to eight years to build, at a cost of tens of millions of dollars.”

Exhaust: It’s a very real question: Where are all the coming electric trucks going to recharge? Will they be limited to local runs where they are back at the terminal every night? “We need to start making these investments now,” said Bart Franey, an executive with National Grid, which is a power company. “We can’t just wait for it to happen, because the market is going to outpace the infrastructure.” —SCS

Ram recalling 280,000 diesel trucks

Ram is recalling 280,000 heavy-duty diesel trucks worldwide — 248,000 of them in the U.S. — for fire risks. The recall covers 2020-2023 Ram 2500 and 2020-2022 Ram 3500 trucks. Pressure and heat inside the transmission may result in a transmission fluid leak that could cause a fire. The company has reports of 16 vehicle fires and one minor injury that may be related to the recall. The recall covers trucks with 6.7-liter Cummins diesel engines and automatic transmissions. Ram is working on a fix.

 Exhaust: The leak may be tipped off by a warning light. Owners seeing that light should contact their dealer ASAP. —SCS

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Want a manual Mini but can’t drive one? They’ll have a school for that

Intake: Just two weeks after Mini USA announced that it’s bringing back manual transmissions for most Mini models, the company has announced some instruction on the art by launching a new Mini Manual Driving School at the BMW Performance Center in Thermal, California. “While the manual transmission has fallen to the wayside for many drivers over time, the excitement and passion for driving a manual has never faltered. To expand the accessibility and fun of driving a manual, Mini USA is offering a manual driving school that is open to any drivers looking for the opportunity to learn to drive manual in an engaging and safe atmosphere,” the company said. The BMW Group Performance Center West will be the exclusive location for the Mini Manual Driving School. The school will incorporate both a classroom portion and a hands-on driving experience at the on-site test track which, since 1999, has instructed over 500,000 participants at its two locations in Thermal and Greenville, South Carolina. In 2016 it added Mini driving programs, and now plans to expand its instruction to teach students “the fun of driving a manual.” The curriculum will focus on vehicle controls, finding the friction point, practicing smooth starts, stops, acceleration, and more. At the conclusion of the course, participants will be tested on a timed course to assess the driver’s knowledge. No word on when the classes will start, or the price. “We haven’t set a cost for the school yet but will communicate it once it’s confirmed,” said Andrew Cutler, Mini communications director.

Exhaust: Details are sketchy as to when the school starts and how long it takes. We assume you’d be using Minis for the class; it will be interesting to see what kind of wear the clutches show after a few hundred beginners learn to drive a manual on the school cars. Stay tuned for more information. –Steven Cole Smith

Z06 order banks reopen as deliveries begin

Intake: The 2023 Chevrolet Corvette Z06 has been in production since late September, and Wednesday, the first models off the assembly line began shipping to customers. Apparently construction and the parts flow have been going smoothly, because Chevrolet has reopened the order banks after closing them earlier this year. The first retail Z06 that rolled off the line was a 70^th Anniversary Edition Z06 with Z07 package in Carbon Flash Metallic. Operation Homefront received $3.6 million from the sale of the first retail Z06 70th Anniversary Edition at the Barrett-Jackson Scottsdale Auction in January 2022. The car was purchased by Chairman and CEO of Hendrick Automotive Group Rick Hendrick to add to his massive Corvette collection. “Although we previously announced we were no longer accepting additional 2023 Corvette Z06 orders for production through the end of calendar year 2022, we will resume scheduling new Corvette Z06 orders for production this month,” Chevrolet spokesman Trevor Thompkins said.

Exhaust: Even if you order your Z06 today, don’t wait at the dealership for delivery – there are still a lot of cars ahead of yours. We know, you can hardly wait … –SCS

Portal axle Porsches reach new heights on a Chilean volcano

Intake: A pair of prototype Porsche 911s have climbed to almost 20,000 feet on a grueling off-road excursion up the highest volcano in the world—Chile’s Ojos del Salado. Boasting near-14-inches of ground clearance thanks to the fitment of portal axles and off-road tires the two Carrera 4S-based machines also gained lower gear ratios, Aramid underbody protection, and modified bodywork, although the 443-horsepower turbocharged flat-six engine was unaltered. A traction-gaining Porsche Warp-Connector was installed which forms a mechanical link between all four wheels, switchable differential locks were added, and a winch was fitted, just in case. Inside, the cars were caged, and fitted with carbon seats and race harnesses for safety. Conquering bolder-strewn slopes, ice fields, temperatures at 22 degrees below freezing, and oxygen levels half those at sea level, the two 911s hiked to a height no Porsche has ever reached before. “Projects like this one are vital to who we are at Porsche. As they began their journey, the team literally aimed sky high. The first of what I hope will be many adventures,” says Dr. Frank-Steffen Walliser, Vice-President, Complete Vehicle Architecture and Characteristics.

Exhaust: There have been rumors of a Porsche factory Safari for over a decade, but more recently a lifted 992 has been spied in testing, and now this extreme adventure all but confirms that 2023 will see a trail-ready Elfer. Given the location for the expedition we can’t help but wonder if it was powered by e-fuel from Porsche’s plant in Chile as well, testing its performance in far-from-favorable conditions. –Nik Berg

Entry-level Lucid starts at $89,050

Intake: To better compete with Tesla and other premium electric car manufacturers, Lucid Motors will launch a less-expensive version of its Air sedan, the Air Pure, during an online event November 15 prior to the Los Angeles auto show. The California-based EV brand launched last year with the limited-run Dream Edition, starting at $170,500 with shipping, before launching the Grand Touring with a starting price of $155,650. Next year, the EV maker will sell the Air Sapphire, with a starting price a bit more than $250,000, says Automotive News. The Pure “is distinguished by its metal roof and Mojave PurLux interior,” Lucid said. “Air Pure will initially launch with a dual-motor, all-wheel-drive configuration, with full specs including EPA-estimated range and additional details on the model to be shared on November 15.”

Exhaust: What we’ve seen from Lucid Motors so far has been excellent, but pricey. It will be interesting to see what the fledgling manufacturer can do for under $100,000. –SCS

“Do not drive” order for 276,000 Stellantis cars with Takata airbags

Intake: The never-ending Takata air bag controversy rears its head again, this time affecting  276,000 Dodge and Chrysler models, which include 2005-2010 Dodge Magnums, Chargers, Challengers and Chrysler 300s. NHTSA is telling all of the owners to check NHTSA.gov to see if their vehicle has an open Takata recall. It comes after two such airbags exploded in two separate incidents involving 2010 Dodge Chargers, killing two. A third death is expected. NHTSA and Stellantic suggest you park your car until you know.

Exhaust: And as if you don’t know by now, NHTSA says: “Tens of millions of vehicles with Takata air bags are under recall. Long-term exposure to high heat and humidity can cause these air bags to explode when deployed. Such explosions have caused injuries and deaths.” –SCS

The last-ever Escort Cosworth could be yours

Intake: Ford’s fabulous bi-winged rally special of the Nineties not only took the world’s special stages by storm, it was a huge hit with customers. Homologation rules required 2500 examples of the Escort RS Cosworth to be built, but over four years from 1992-96 7145 were assembled. Actually, make that 7147, for after production officially ended Karmann, which had been putting the cars together, noticed it had enough parts left over to build two more. The final example was used by the firm’s chairman for two years, and was then sold on to Dieter Hahne of Ford Special Vehicle Engineering, who kept it for the next 24 years. Recently given a mild restoration, fresh Auralis Blue paintwork and a new clutch and cambelt the car is for sale now on Collecting Cars. What’s more it will be 25 years-old in 2023 so can be road registered in the U.S.A soon.

Exhaust: The ‘Cossie’ was Jeremy Clarkson’s favorite car of the 1990s, despite his being stolen on more than one occasion. Whether you’re a rally addict or a Top Gear fan this unique Escort might be the best example… in the world. –NB

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GM may build a smaller Hummer truck

Intake: According to Bloomberg, General Motors may build a smaller electric Hummer pickup, down a size from the massive, $110,000 Hummer truck that has been on the market, with great success, since 2021. “A smaller, electric Hummer is still a design concept in GM’s California studio, but has a good chance of going into production and is seen as a priority project, said the people, who asked not to be identified because the plans are private. GM already builds the large electric Hummer pickup and will begin building a full-size SUV early next year,” Bloomberg said.

Exhaust: It makes sense, following the original Hummer strategy that had Hummer sell the military-style H1, then the smaller H2, and the still-smaller H3. The smaller electric truck would certainly help GM if it decides to take the brand to Europe, Bloomberg noted. —Steven Cole Smith

Lotus Emira and Evija get the Hot Wheels treatment

Intake: You can now buy the last gas-powered Lotus and the British firm’s first electric car in Hot Wheels form. The Emira comes in Seneca Blue with the Evija being delivered in a two-tone British Racing Green and Lotus trademark yellow. As Hot Wheels Collectibles they won’t be in unlimited supply, but according to the Hot Wheel Wiki there’ll be a second release of an Atomic red Evija in 2034 if you do miss out.

Exhaust: The Emira has experienced production delays so the 1:64 scale model might be the only version customers can get their hands on for some time. Meanwhile, just 130 examples of the $2 million Evija electric hypercar will be sold, so zooming the Hot Wheels version along the ground will be most people’s only chance of getting their hands on one. —Nik Berg

Brits add a supercharger for a faster Miata

Intake: Brodie Britain Racing has been tuning Mazda Miatas since the day they first landed. The British firm, based in the heart of “Motorsport Valley” has fettled every generation of the world’s most popular roadster, and its latest effort adds a supercharger to the 2015-2019 ND. The Rotrex charger and EcuTek engine remap combine to deliver 222 hp and a chunky 200 lb-ft of torque, cutting the car’s 0-60 mph down by two seconds to 5.3 seconds. That’s Stage One. Opt for Stage Two with a TIG-welded stainless steel high-flow exhaust and a Forge Motorsport intercooler and you’ll get 247 hp and shave another couple of tenths off the acceleration run. Prices are from $5415, and kits for later models are currently under development.

Exhaust: If it’s ultimate power you’re after then BBR’s Stage One turbo kit actually has a little more to offer, with 251 hp. It’s also a tad quicker to 60 mph, but the tractability of the supercharger probably make it the better real-world performer. If you want to go even further then you’ll be better off staying Stateside and shoehorning in a V-8. —NB

New Jersey Assembly takes a stab at in-vehicle subscriptions

Intake: A short, 705-word bill introduced in the lower house of New Jersey’s state legislature is picking up on a global debate: Should automakers be allowed to charge customers subscription fees for certain vehicle options? The most notorious example in recent history concerned heated seats. The automaker in question was BMW, who implemented an “on demand” subscription approach in South Korea for things like a heated steering wheel, automatic high beam headlights, maps, and music partnerships. Though this “micro transaction” subscription approach was aimed at the South Korean market, Americans were outraged. (So much that BMW published a statement to clarify that it would never revoke or block access to options—like heated seats—ordered on a new, U.S.-market car.) As of September 22, 2022, two New Jersey assemblymen sketched out a solution: Bill no. 4519, if signed into law, would forbid vehicle manufacturers to charge a recurring payment for a feature that “utilizes components and hardware already installed on the motor vehicle at the time of purchase of lease.” It does provide an exception if the dealer, manufacturer, or third party can prove that the feature requires ongoing expense on its part. Fines would range between $10,000 and $20,000. As of September 22, #4519 was introduced and referred to the New Jersey Assembly’s consumer affairs committee.

Exhaust: If you’re on the warpath against subscription-style vehicle services, don’t pop the champagne. This bill would apply only to New Jersey—and, as of this writing, it’s a long way from becoming law. One note: This bill’s phraseology would not forbid manufacturers of EVs from charging a one-time fee to digitally “unlock” additional output from the battery. —Grace Houghton

BMW to invest $1.7 billion in domestic electric vehicles

Intake: On Wednesday, BMW Chairman Oliver Zipse announced that the company will invest $1.7 billion in American EV manufacturing, with $1 billion going to BMW’s factory in Spartanburg, South Carolina, and the remaining $700 million to build a battery assembly plant in Woodruff, South Carolina. “For decades, Plant Spartanburg has been a cornerstone of the global success of the BMW Group. It is he home of the BMW X models that are so popular all over the world. Going forward, it will also be a major driver for our electrification strategy, and we will produce at least six fully electric BMW X models here by 2030. That means: The ‘Home of the X’ is also becoming the ‘Home of the Battery Electric Vehicle’,” said Zipse.” Plant Spartanburg currently produces 11 models including the BMW X3, X4, X5, X6 and X7 Sports Activity Vehicles, four BMW M models and two plug-in hybrid electric models.  Production of the all-new hybrid-electric BMW XM will begin later this year.

Exhaust: Interesting, though, that Zipse told Reuters in an interview Wednesday that manufacturers or governments shouldn’t force a final date for selling ICE vehicles on the public, warning that “setting a date to phase out gas-powered vehicles could remove ‘cheap cars’ from the market, putting ownership out of reach for many,” Reuters said. “We don’t want cars to be taken away out of the base segment, politically that’s super dangerous,” said Zipse. “If you all of a sudden make car ownership only for rich people, it’s a dangerous thing.” So despite the massive investment in EVs, it sounds like gas vehicles will be a part of BMW’s portfolio for some time. —SCS

Ford announces a driveshaft fix for the Bronco

Intake: Ford Customer Satisfaction Program 22B27 is welcome news to owners of Ford Broncos that were built between September 23, 2020, and September 17, 2021. The problem is the driveshaft boot can crack and allow grease to leak out and dirt to seep in, thus causing “unwanted noise and vibration” while driving. Ford is replacing the front driveshaft for all the affected vehicles.

Exhaust: There’s no denying the new Bronco is a hit, but there’s no denying that it has suffered more than its share of teething problems. Ford is only offering the free driveshaft fix through October 12, 2023, so it’s a good idea not to wait until the last minute to schedule your repair. Replacing the driveshaft should take about an hour, Ford says. —SCS

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VW ID. Buzz gets first camper conversion

Intake: Volkswagen #vanlife has been electrified. Mere months after the ID. Buzz was unveiled German firm Ququq has released a plug-and-play camper conversion that costs less than $3,000. The BusBox-4 slots into the rear cargo area and features a slide-out camp kitchen, and a lofted bed for two. There’s room for freshwater storage and a coolbox as well. The box weighs less than 150 pounds so shouldn’t impact the range of the ID. Buzz too much. In fact to prove its practicality the company has already covered almost 22,000 miles on a road trip through 20 different European countries.

Exhaust: This is a neat and cheap solution for those who can’t wait to explore the outdoors in their new ID. Buzzes, but realistically it’s more suited for quick getaways than grand adventures. Expect many more conversions to follow, with pop-tops, awnings and sleeping for the whole family. —NB

Kia shows second-generation Niro

Intake: Kia’s versatile second-generation Niro SUV plug-in hybrid goes on sale this fall with slightly larger dimensions and a roomier cabin, but despise its beefier size, has a 25-percent greater all-electric range of 33 miles. It’s powered by a 1.6-liter four-cylinder engine coupled with a 62 kW electric motor, giving the Niro Plug-in Hybrid a combined 180 horsepower and 195 lb.-ft of torque. Power is sent to the front wheels via a six-speed dual clutch transmission. When connected to a Level 2 charger, the Niro PHEV can refill its 11.1-kWh lithium-ion polymer battery in under three hours. It’s priced at $33,740, excluding a $1,295 destination charge.

Exhaust: Stronger, lighter and more powerful for 2023, the Kia Niro plug-in hybrid is a nice starter car for customers moving gingerly away from ICE vehicles — it’s a hybrid, but it also offers 33 miles of all-electric driving, which is more than the average American drives in a day. Kia hasn’t announced pricing on the all-electric Niro model for 2023, but Automotive News claims the regular Niro hybrid will be priced at $27,785, including destination, an increase of $1800 over 2022. —Steven Cole Smith

BMW partners with AirConsole to bring gaming inside the cockpit

Intake: “Collection of single- and multiplayer games to make every waiting situation in the vehicle an entertaining experience,” says the press release, which kind of sums it up. AirConsole is a gaming platform which fits the BMW Curved Display and offers a “large and diverse catalogue of games.” The games run directly inside the vehicle entertainment system. The AirConsole technology enables games to be instantly delivered over-the-air, and you can control them using smartphones. “This will make every waiting situation inside the vehicle, such as charging, an enjoyable moment,” said Stephan Durach, senior vice president, BMW Group Connected Company Development. Scan a QR code in the vehicle, and you’re hooked up. The games play only if the car is in Park.

Exhaust: Games on the AirConsole roster include “Real Estate Challenge,” “ClusterPuck Challenge” and “Zombie Annihilation.” Oddly missing is “Pong” and “Super Mario.” AirConsole will roll out first on the 7 Series, then trickle down to the other 2023 models. —SCS

GM’s new business unit wants to transform your Ultium EV

Intake: General Motors unveiled a new business unit yesterday, called GM Energy. The new business unit will provide customers with “energy management services” that will enable you to interact with your Ultium-powered EV, your home, and the broader energy grid to help improve your electric experience. GM Energy will offer solutions like bi-directional charging, vehicle-to-home (V2H), and vehicle-to-grid (V2G) applications. If your EV is topped off at night, the new solutions will allow your EV to charge your home, or even sell power back to the grid if you have a surplus at any given time. If your area experiences a power outage, your Silverado EV will one day be able to keep the lights on at home. GM says it already has several large-scale companies such as SunPower, a solar technology firm, signed on to help develop home battery, solar panel, and energy systems.

Exhaust: The American power grid has been a hot topic of discussion as electric vehicles continue to grow in popularity and severe weather events, such as Hurricane Ian, become more frequent. We’ve all seen the stories of Ford’s F-150 Lightning powering homes during power outages, and GM isn’t about to let Ford have all the fun. A business unit offering integrated, easy-to-use solutions that help mitigate the effects of power interruptions sure seems like a solid pursuit in our eyes. Earning a few extra bucks by selling extra power back to the grid doesn’t seem so bad either. As EVs continue to shift the role that vehicles play in our lives, expect to see these sorts of expanded business units pop up with greater frequency at the hands of automakers. —Nathan Petroelje

Jeep Avenger to debut at the Paris Auto Show

Intake: The good news: The cute little Jeep Avenger, the brand’s first battery electric vehicle, will debut at a press conference at the Paris Auto Show on Monday. The bad news: That’s about as close as we’ll get to it. The Avenger’s stand “will display an energetic, vibrant, and visually dynamic look featuring a rock crawling display, to provide the right staging for the media and public reveal of the Jeep Avenger.  The all-electric Jeep Avenger will offer Jeep brand capability that is rightsized for the European market delivering a targeted electric range of 400 kilometers (249 miles), combined with modern and technologically advanced interior, with plenty of space for people and cargo.”  The Jeep Avenger is a “milestone for our growth plans in key European markets, such as France, and on our path to becoming the leading zero-emission SUV brand in the world.”

Exhaust: Jeep is serious about this electric business. In countries such as Germany and France, the Jeep brand offers only electrified SUVs and by the end of the year in almost all of the major markets in Continental Europe will offer only electrified SUVs. “As a result of this product onslaught, all the Jeep vehicles on sale in the region will be 100 percent electric by 2030.” —SCS

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The story of the GranTurismo started 75 years ago with the Maserati A6 1500, Maserati says. “The concept of granturismo (“grand touring”) was created after World War II, during the Italian economic boom, when we showed the world our outstanding products, our strength, optimism and carefree attitude, the will to work but also to enjoy ourselves.”

In short, it’s a sports car that doubles as a luxury car.

While Maserati didn’t use the name “GranTurismo” until 2007, when the car debuted at the Geneva Motor Show, it quickly became a flagship for the brand until it ceased production in 2019.

And now comes a new chapter: The return of the GranTurismo, with styling that is decidedly derivative of the previous model, but far sleeker and sexier.

The new coupe is equipped with the MC20 supercar’s V-6 Nettuno engine (the Ferrari-derived V-8 is gone), available in two versions: the Modena, with the 483-horsepower, 3.0-liter V-6 twin turbo, and the Trofeo, which has the same engine but hyper-tuned to 542 horsepower. Transmission is an eight-speed automatic. There are four driving modes, including launch control. At introduction, the GranTurismo is also available in the PrimaSerie 75th Anniversary Launch Edition, a limited series featuring exclusive content and dedicated to its recent 75th anniversary.

But it’s the all-electric GranTurismo Folgore that appears to be the engineering marvel: The “100 percent electric battery-based powertrain” uses 800-volt technology “and has been developed with cutting-edge technical solutions derived from Formula E.” After all, by 2025, all Maserati models will come in a full-electric version, and the entire Maserati range will run on electricity alone by 2030.

The Folgore has three 300-kW permanent-magnet motors. They’re connected to a battery that has a nominal capacity of 92.5 kWh, and a discharge capacity of 560 kW, “to continuously transmit around 760 horsepower to the wheels.” The battery pack sits low and does not compromise the Folgore’s relatively low height, which is just 53 inches. The shape of the battery pack, known as a “T-bone,” forms part of Maserati’s “zero compromise” approach and avoids placing the battery modules under the seats, mainly moving them around the central tunnel and therefore considerably lowering the car’s hip-point. The Folgore, Maserati says, sits lower than any other electric car on the market.

Sound has long been an integral element in Maserati’s DNA, which presented a challenge with the all-wheel-drive, electric Folgore. “The natural acoustic dynamics of the electric motors driven by the inverters have been digitally shaped and integrated with the typical sound taken from the Maserati V-8 tradition,” the company says. “All this in-depth analysis has made it possible to integrate know-how of the Maserati sound with the noise the vehicle naturally generates, to produce a unique acoustic experience, closely linked to the car yet innovative at the same time.” The sound is delivered by “refined synthesizers and released into the space by high-quality speakers on the inside and out.”

The technical architecture of the new GranTurismo makes extensive use of lightweight materials such as aluminum and magnesium, together with high-performance steel. This multi-material approach required that a new manufacturing process to be created, but the result is best-in-class weight levels.

The Trofeo and Modena weigh in at 3957 pounds. The Folgore, despite the lightweight components used, is still no lightweight at 4982 pounds, but Maserati says it can go from 0 to 100 km/h (62 mph) in just 2.7 seconds.

No specific on-sale dates have been announced, but we’re hearing mid-2023. Currently, the four-seat Maserati lineup starts with the Grecale at $63,500, up to the Quattroporte at $104,700.

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Analysts warn rising interest rates may squash new car sales

Intake: Tight supply chains and low inventory may be hampering new car sales currently, but there’s a storm on the horizon that may compound the headache that automakers are feeling around the world: interest rates. “It seems likely that much of the pent-up demand from limited supply is quickly disappearing as high interest rates eat away at vehicle buyers’ willingness and ability to purchase,” Charlie Chesbrough, a senior economist with research firm Cox Automotive, told The Wall Street Journal in an interview this week. Cox Automotive lowered its 2022 U.S. sales forecast to 13.7 million new vehicles—which would be a nine percent drop from the previous year. That’s a stark drop from the five years leading up to 2020, where the industry was moving more than 17 million vehicles annually. Profitability remains high thanks to record sales transactions for new vehicles, however; the average price paid for a new car in the U.S. in Q3 hit $45,971, up 10 percent from the previous year and the highest figure on record, according to figures provided to the WSJ by research firm J.D. Power. But interest rates are rising along with those prices—September’s average rate was 5.7%, versus just four percent the year prior.

Exhaust: With the Fed promising additional hikes in the coming months to combat inflation, it’s looking like things will only get worse in the short term. Despite the prevailing market conditions, automakers remain confident that pent-up demand can overcome what’s ahead. “There is still really strong consumer demand, and huge replacement demand,” said Duncan Aldred, head of the Buick and GMC Brands in an interview last month in Detroit. “I think that will probably overcome a lot of the economic headwinds.” Will buyers share those same optimistic sentiments? – Nathan Petroelje

Centenary celebrations for the first “owner-driver” Rolls-Royce

Intake: October 6 marks 100 years since Rolls-Royce launched its 20 H.P. model. The Twenty was a car for a new post-war world that needed neither the regular weekly maintenance of the Silver Ghost, nor a chauffeur to service and drive it. Instead, the Twenty was a car for owner-drivers, with a 3.1-liter six-cylinder engine less than half the size of the Silver Ghost’s 7.5-liter unit, and a chassis that was at least one-third lighter. Rolls-Royce advertised the car as providing  “everything a motorist can want … motoring with a high degree of refinement and its simplicity of construction will delight the driver.” It was a roaring success, with 2940 units being built by the time production ceased in 1929, while the Twenty’s engine, with its detachable cylinder head and overhead valves, would continue to be developed over the next 30 years.

Exhaust: There was a slight problem with Henry Royce’s plan. Like all Rolls-Royce cars of the time, it was sold as a rolling chassis which customers would hand over to coachbuilders for bodywork. Many of those customers and coachbuilders failed to move with the times and an awful lot of Twenties ended up with overweight traditional bodies that went against Royce’s principles and blighted the car’s performance. The only way to solve this was to introduce a larger capacity 20/25 H.P. model, but even that wasn’t quite enough and by 1935 the base Rolls-Royce motor had grown to 4.25 liters. — Nik Berg

Ettore Bugatti’s boat, hat and Baby are up for auction

Intake: One of Bugatti’s biggest fans is putting his collection of automobilia up for sale at a Gooding & Company auction in November. Among the lots are the trophies won by William Grover-Williams at the 1928 French Grand Prix and by Jean-Pierre Wimille and Robert Benoist at the 1937 24 Hours of Le Mans, plus a photo album documenting Elizabeth Junek’s remarkable fifth place finish at the 1928 Targa Florio. There are handwritten pages from Ettore Bugatti’s memoirs, his baptism document, together with various contracts, design drawings, and notes. While these would be wonderful to display, there are three items that could be put to more practical use. There’s a 1946 Type 75 You-You Boat, designed by Bugatti and built at the Maisons-Laffitte boatyard, that you (and you) could bob about in, a 1933 Type 52 Bebe for your kids to drive, and Bugatti’s E Motsch Fils top hat to tip at the next concours dinner.

Exhaust: For Buggatiste this is an incredible opportunity to obtain items closely connected to the great man himself, but should you miss out on the auction don’t worry as you can still buy a Bugatti Baby II brand new from The Little Car Company. – NB

Nearly 120 plug-in vehicles will hit the market by 2026

Intake: A comprehensive study in Automotive News lists almost 120 new plug-in vehicles that are expected to arrive by 2026. That’s in addition to the battery-electric vehicles that have already gone on the market this year. Twenty manufacturers, Automotive News says, are expected to markets EVs for the first time in the next five years. They are Subaru (2022), Lexus, Maserati, Ram, Rolls Royce (2023), Acura, Alfa Romeo, Buick, Dodge, Honda, Jeep, Land Rover (2024), Aston Martin, Bentley, Chrysler, Infiniti, Lincoln (2025), and in 2026, Ferrari, Lamborghini and Mitsubishi.

Exhaust: Like it or not, almost every automaker who does business in the U.S. will have an electrified offering on the market by 2026. It’s still expected to make up a small-to-moderate impact on overall sales, but the trend that 120 plug-ins represents can’t be denied. Think of it like this: The next president will only be halfway through his or her term when all these electric vehicles will be on sale. — Steven Cole Smith

Petit Le Mans race the end of an era for IMSA

Intake: The season-ending 25th annual Petit Le Mans, the 10-hour endurance race at Michelin Raceway Road Atlanta, was the end of an era for IMSA’s top class. After six years of leading the grid, the Daytona Prototype international (DPi) cars ran their last race before being replaced next year by the all-new GTP cars that will debut in January at the Rolex 24 at Daytona. Coming out on top was the number 60 Meyer-Shank Racing Acura, with drivers Helio Castroneves, Oliver Jarvis and Tom Blomqvist. Actually, a couple of incidents made it a relatively easy race for the Acura: With 51 minutes left, the two Chip Ganassi Racing Cadillac DPis, which were the class of the field, were battling for the lead when they collided in turn 1, leaving both cars in the gravel, which likely made for a tense flight home in the Ganassi airplane. That left the Meyer-Shank Acura fighting the number 10 Wayne Taylor Racing Acura. With 14 minutes left, the Taylor Racing Acura was going for the lead when it brushed against a lapped GT car, damaging the rear suspension. Thus ended the DPi era, with the number 60 Acura winning both the race and the season championship.

Exhaust: The DPi cars served well as IMSA’s flagship class, but it’s time for the new GTP cars to take the stage. Cadillac and Acura will be back, joined by Porsche and BMW, and in 2024, Lamborghini. Some of the manufacturers, including Porsche, are selling customer cars to privateers which should help fatten up the grid for 2023. — SCS

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Reading about Porsche’s recently announced intention to go public, first hinted at earlier this year, my mind turned to glue. That’s not some metaphorical allusion to my inability to understand it all, although I’ll admit the minutiae of how Porsche’s corporate governance would work is a bit complex (things get even more confusing when one remembers that while Porsche the automaker is owned by Volkswagen Group, a Porsche-controlled holding company—Porsche SE—actually owns a significant share of Volkswagen Group).

Rather, I’m talking about actual glue, specifically the stuff I’ve used to MacGyver my 1993 Miata’s rear window into place for the better part of a decade. I noticed recently that the fix is failing (again), leading me to contemplate whether to go whole hog and replace the top to avoid getting drenched in a downpour (again). In the past, the personal-finance math hasn’t worked: I paid about $3000 for the car, and a decent aftermarket top goes for around $600, assuming I’m willing to become proficient with a rivet gun and sealant and perform the work myself. Twenty percent of the car’s value for a non-essential (to me) repair never made sense.

Until now. My Miata has quietly outperformed my 401k in recent years and, per the Hagerty Price Guide, is worth somewhere close to $5K in its present condition (fair or “#4” in valuation parlance). A watertight top would, in my estimation, elevate the car to condition #3 (Good)—worth more than $9K per the latest guide. Suddenly a new top seems not just justifiable but downright prudent.

These calculations are not all that different from what’s driving Porsche’s sale. As VW, like every automaker, contemplates the cost of transitioning to electric propulsion, someone in Wolfsburg seems to have noticed that the sports car producer it bailed out in 2009 might now be worth some $75 billion (for context, Ford’s current market cap is less than $60 billion, while Telsa sits close to a cool trillion). Given this state of valuation, why not consider a public offering to leverage Porsche’s upward trend?

You might be the sort who reads this and thinks the “money talk” is ruining car enthusiasm. If a new top for the Miata will allow me to drive the car more, I should just buy a top. If you love a 911, it shouldn’t matter how much the car—let alone the company that built it—is worth. I sympathize with such sentiments but would gently suggest they miss the broader picture.

On an individual level, money is relevant to most enthusiasts precisely because our cars are for fun. I’ve met collectors at all income levels and phases of life; very few are able to spend blindly on an extra-curricular activity, even one they love. So, the fact that we can anticipate getting some of our fun money back is what sustains the activity and, ultimately, preserves the cars.

On a larger scale, it’s high time enthusiasts embrace the fact that the cars and the brands we love are going up in value because—at the risk of getting all Stuart Smalley here—we have value. No, our 911s aren’t likely to appreciate because of Porsche’s IPO. That didn’t happen with vintage Ferraris after its IPO and it’s not happening here. Rather, it’s the opposite: Ferrari’s IPO in 2015 was viable because of the people who had already driven appreciation for 250 GTOs, Daytonas, and the like, just as Porsche’s IPO is viable because of the strong following who have already driven appreciation for 911s old and new. (Indeed, the average value for Porsches in Hagerty’s book of business has gone up 150 percent in the past decade.)

We’ve seen smaller, yet more direct efforts from automakers to monetize their enthusiast followings and, more specifically, their pasts, from factory-backed restoration programs and “continuation” cars to outright sales of older vehicles, most notably Mercedes’ record-setter earlier this year. Beyond actual monetary returns, these efforts are worthwhile to automakers as a way to remind consumers and investors alike of their brands’ appeal. Of course, there are passionate enthusiasts working at automakers who genuinely want to preserve history through these actions, but multinational corporations tend not to act out of altruism alone.

During my time covering the new car industry for so-called buff books (first Automobile, then Road & Track), I frequently encountered auto executives who regarded enthusiasts as juvenile distractions from the modern business of building cars. Here’s the thing, though: The modern business of building cars is a grim one, requiring large investments and typically returning slim margins. That makes the added value that comes with a vibrant brand all the more important. Our passion and enthusiasm—and ultimately our spending and our old cars—is a big part of what powers that.

Put it another way: In the automotive business, we enthusiasts are no mere sideshow. We’re the glue.

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GM considering factory restoration shop, trademark filing suggests

Intake: A recent filing with the United States Patent Office (USPTO) by General Motors may hint at an exciting new chapter for the beloved Detroit brand. The patent trademarked the phrase “GM restoration,” which implies that The General is eyeing an in-house restoration business akin to the ones offered by Porsche, Land Rover, and a few other OEMs. Or perhaps the filing precedes the announcement of a new run of parts for certain classics. Details are sparse, but the fine text mentions that all sorts of components could fall under this trademarked entity’s purview, including mechanical bits like camshafts and exhaust manifolds as well as certain electronics, body panels, and rubber components. In the not-too-distant future, you maybe be able to head straight to the source for a full-blown revitalization of that barn-find ’68 Chevelle SS (or 1967 L88, as shown here).

Exhaust: But should you? High-quality restorations are not simple undertakings—even if you’re the company that built the thing in the first place. “The restoration program will have to offer a service that essentially hands you back a perfect car when finished to be in consideration over the well-established restorers like Kevin MacKay, whose shop has a proven track record of restoring concours-quality cars,” says Hagerty Price Guide editor Greg Ingold. It might be more logical that this new branch will specialize in the (re)production of older, hard-to-find parts, akin to Toyota’s GR Heritage Parts or the Nissan equivalent. Regardless, all signs point to the General making an effort to help keep the classics we know and love on the street. How ya gonna say no to that?

VW’s flagship EV … is not a crossover

Intake: Meet the Volkswagen ID.Aero concept, the latest salvo in the German brand’s ongoing electrification onslaught. As most good concept cars do, the ID.Aero offers some hints the production version of VW’s new global-market flagship sedan. For starters, VW’s MEB platform will underpin this 16-plus-foot chariot—bones shared with the ID.4 crossover and the forthcoming ID.Buzz electric van. Short overhangs and a long wheelbase bolster cabin space, though how that space is used is anyone’s guess–there are no interior photos as of now. Sleek bodywork and a sedan profile help the ID.Aero achieve a drag coefficient of 0.23, which still lags behind the Tesla Model S’ 0.208 and the 0.20 figure claimed by the Mercedes-Benz EQS. That said, 0.23 is a far better than what most crossovers can achieve these days, and is especially advantageous for the battery-electric ID.Aero. That slippery shell helps the car maximize the range of its 77-kWh lithium-ion battery pack, which VW says achieves up to 385 miles of range on the WLTP test cycle. (That figure may diminish slightly as the car makes necessary concessions to production-spec vehicle regulations.) VW says that production for the ID.Aero for the Chinese market will begin in China in the second half of next year. European-spec models will begin rolling off the firm’s Emden production facility in Germany around the same time. No word on U.S. production yet, but we’d anticipate it’s not far behind—think late 2023 or early 2024.

Exhaust: Flagship sedans in a crossover-crazed world? Haf ze Germans lost zier mahbles? Not entirely. Low drag coefficients are easiest to achieve with low-slung, rounded shapes; the more your new ride looks like a river rock, the better. (Yes, even the floorpan.) Sorry crossovers, ultra-low drag coefficients are gonna be a bit tougher for you. That said, if the new ID.Aero arrives in the U.S. before the ID.Buzz’s return in 2024—according to VW, it will—we can’t help feeling like some resources were misallocated. Folks seem genuinely excited about a delightfully retro electric van; we’re skeptical that the same could be said for another sedan.

Euro looks with an American heart: Jay Leno drives an Apollo GT

Intake: Of all the ideas an enterprising twenty-something may have, starting a car company has to be one of the more far-fetched. That didn’t stop Milt Brown during the mid-1960s, though. The Apollo GT first saw the light of day in 1963 as an Italian-built body that was shipped to the U.S. where it received a Buick 215-cubic-inch V-8. Its blend of European panache and American power has long been a hit worldwide. Just 88 were produced, so if, after this video, an Apollo is something you want, know you might be searching for quite some time for the right car.

Exhaust: The early prototypes were all aluminum, but when production ramped up, the bodies became steel with aluminum hoods and doors. That changes the weight a bit, but this is still a fairly lithe car, considering the 225-horsepower produced by that Buick V-8. Claimed top speed in period was 150 mph, which was very good performance for the $6000 base price. Of course these days $6000 won’t get you one of these American exotics—a #3, driver-quality car can easily fetch over $100,000. Crazier dreams have been realized, though …

F1 extends ESPN contract, price skyrockets

Intake: According to a report in Sports Business Journal, Formula 1 has agreed to renew its broadcast contract with ESPN for three more years, through the 2025 season. How much money? Sit down: Between $75 and $90 million a year, up enormously from the approximately $5 million a year ESPN pays now. The deal reportedly gives the broadcast company the right to put a small number of races on its ESPN+ streaming service, though most will air on ABC or ESPN. The races on ABC are likely to be the two U.S. events, in Miami and Austin, and possibly Montreal and Mexico City. In renewing with ESPN, SBJ says F1 turned down offers from Comcast, Amazon, and Netflix.

Exhaust: What is the reason for the steep climb in F1 popularity in the U.S.? That would be Netflix’s Drive to Survive series, which follows multiple drivers and storylines during an F1 season. Premiering in 2019, Drive to Survive is a top-10 show in 56 countries. ABC’s coverage of the F1 race in Miami peaked at 2.9 million viewers and averaged 2.6 million during the actual race. F1 even beat out NASCAR’s audience for the Darlington event in the critical 18–49 age demographic. Formula 1 is red-hot, finally, in the U.S. And it makes you wonder just how much TV rights will be worth when ESPN’s contract is up in three years, after the Las Vegas race debuts in 2023.

Wayne Gretzky’s custom boat is a sight to behold—just like #99

Intake: Idaho’s beautiful Lake Coeur d’Alene is known for its classic boats, and even though summer has just begun, it’s going to be difficult to unseat this newbie as the most talked-about vessel on the water this year. Hockey Hall of Famer Wayne Gretzky and his wife, Janet, will soon launch—or relaunch—their new 34-foot, custom-built Steinway 340 HT powerboat after taking possession of it last September (two days before shutting things down for winter). According to the Robb Report, the Steinway was designed and hand-built for the Gretzkys by Coeur d’Alene wooden-boat specialists Coeur Custom. Crafted from Sapele hardwood using traditional double-planked construction, the open-bow day cruiser glows with its 16 coats of varnish and shiny stainless-steel trim. It seats up to 12 passengers and has a galley and toilet. The cushions are embroidered with Gretzky’s iconic 99 jersey number.

Exhaust: Gretzky, arguably the greatest hockey player ever to lace up skates, forged his record-setting career by being ultra-competitive on the ice. Off it—just like his idol, Gordie Howe, who also loved boating—Gretzky is one of the most approachable and down-to-earth superstars you’d ever want to meet. So it should come as no surprise that despite Gretzky being able to afford whatever he wants, he settled for a lake boat instead of an ocean-going yacht. Forever known as The Great One, perhaps his boat will be too.

Ford institutes draconian EV lease restrictions?

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“To be honest, I don’t see Europe as being inaccessible…most of the Brexit challenges have been resolved.”  Tom Wood, CEO of classified and timed auction juggernauts Car and Classic should know: His company trades across Europe with around 15 percent of sales (and growing) taking place in the EU.

Car transport specialist Paul Blakey has experienced things a bit differently. “I don’t quote for European business anymore. The costs just aren’t viable for me as a single operator.”

Much of the punditry regarding Brexit focused on the notion of there being two Britains—the wealthy, urban set in London that heavily benefited from European integration and the poorer, post-industrial citizenry that blamed the EU for many of their woes. The reality, at least in the classic car industry, presents a mirror image of that narrative, wherein large operations have adapted with relative ease, but the little guys are still sorting through the paperwork.

If you’re reading this outside the U.K., you’d be forgiven for having forgotten all about Brexit. Even when I wrote about its immediate impact early in 2021, the COVID-19 pandemic was dominating headlines. A year on, Europe and the rest of the world is more concerned with Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

Yet for day-to-day business in the U.K., Brexit is still having an impact and forcing businesses to change the way they operate. Big international car transport companies, auction houses and event organizers operating between the U.K. and EU are now used to dealing with the paperwork (called ATA Carnet) that gives them permission to temporarily import cars and have banking facilities in hand to cover the deposit bond that can run in to tens of thousands of pounds. Big dealers have hired staff to deal with the additional paperwork and are used to adding 20 percent VAT to any imported car under 30 years old. Parts retailers, too, have changed their business models.

“What we’ve realized in the last few years is that we have to rely on ourselves… today almost nothing is made outside the U.K.,” said Mark Burnett, MD of Burlen Limited, the classic fuel systems specialists who are custodians of SU, Zenith and AMAL carburetors. “The cost of making parts abroad used to be the reason companies went there, but [today] it’s not cheaper.”

That said, Burnett told me that the catalyst for bringing manufacturing in-house started well before Brexit and was prompted by demographic challenges. “For us, business is all about people,” he said. “We trade in relatively small numbers of high-quality parts and in the past there were quite a lot of “Fred in his shed” manufacturers making them for us. But what happens when Fred wants to retire? We have to make the parts ourselves.” For Burlen, the investment in 3D printing machines, CNC machines and, critically, training of younger specialists was well underway by the time Brexit and COVID hit.

Other major parts retailers pre-empted Brexit challenges in different ways. “We already had a presence in Europe but have had to invest in building bigger storage and distribution hubs in both France and Holland,” said Julian Barratt of British classic car parts supplier SNG Barratt whose export sales are around 80 percent of their total. “Before January 2021 [when the post-Brexit regulations came into force] we massively filled up our stocks in those warehouses. We are used to shipping internationally, so we already knew the weights and dimensions [of our stock] but even so the start of last year caught us out. Our paperwork was good, but if the paperwork for someone else’s pallet on the same truck was wrong, then the whole lot was impounded. We had some shipments taking 8-12 weeks. Our EU customers weren’t very understanding, seeing Brexit as something we [the U.K.] have imposed on ourselves.” SNG Barratt now employs staff at their European sites and has developed a different area of their website specifically for EU customers, with the money they spend going into an EU- based subsidiary.

But some companies, especially those smaller than SNG Barratt, needed to start from scratch. “No one in the business had experience [of exporting] so we had to learn whilst going through it which added costs,” said Kelly Wright of Austin-Healey and Sprite parts specialist AH Spares. “All countries have different fees and demands so it’s a constant learning curve. All [of our stock items] now must have accurate commodity codes which again took staff a lot of time and we have to input these into the courier’s database for every shipment. With the custom charges added [the cost] is probably more than what the parts themselves cost.”

There are other complexities that only became apparent once the U.K. had left the EU. “There were some U.K.-based suppliers we had been buying from for years,” said Julian Barratt. “But post-Brexit we found that the country of origin of these parts was abroad. Now each of these is subject to a different duty tariff if we export them to the EU. This often means that the EU customer won’t know exactly how much duty they will have to pay until it arrives. That’s a massive barrier to retail – many just wouldn’t bother and would buy from somewhere else.”

The delay in customs processing and increased costs have affected other areas of the industry. “The paperwork is one thing—export documentation and carnets start at about £500 [about $600] and can be much more,” said Blakey, the car transport specialist. “But the big problem is the customs delay, which is unpredictable. One day the paperwork seems to be OK but the next it can lead to a long delay as everything gets checked. To make sure I’m at the destination on a dedicated day [for instance at the start of an event] I have to leave at least a couple of days earlier than I would have done before. That all adds to the cost. Then there’s the time taken to get the paperwork stamped—before you leave the U.K., at the port of arrival, in the country of origin and then making sure you get a formal receipt that is acceptable to customs. If someone has a road-registered car, I just recommend they drive it over on the Eurotunnel!”

Events are another area that have been hit hard. There used to be a thriving network of static car shows throughout Europe and the U.K. that attracted small traders from all across the area. Brexit regulations make this an almost impossible activity, as Kelly Wright explained. “The carnet had to have a list of everything on the van including weight, quantities, cost price etc. [This included] our giveaways such as brochures and business cards… we had to pay a duty on them and get refunded for what we didn’t give out and brought back home.”

It is no wonder that AH Spares’ experience meant that they were one of only a handful of companies I could find who travelled from the UK to this year’s Techno Classica show in Essen, an event that used to have a strong British presence. It works the other way, too: The chances of an EU trader itemizing, weighing and pricing a vanload of parts to bring across to a U.K. swap event is very low. The staff at the Beaulieu chose not to comment on their expectations until after the Spring Autojumble, but a much-reduced field is expected at that show.

It is clear that the effects of COVID 19 did have an effect on the classic and collector car industry across Europe and the U.K., but most of the enduring problems are the result of Brexit and the new regulatory framework that was created by U.K.’s divorce from the EU. Bigger companies have invested in staff, facilities and processes to deal with this, but it is the smaller traders who have really suffered. Fundamentally, it’s the classic vehicle owners who have been most affected: those increased costs have to be added to retail prices, and the reduction in UK/EU trade has meant that some parts are much harder to source.

So, how do we deal with these challenges? One way is for the industry to lobby for changes to legislation. The Historic & Classic Vehicles Alliance (HCVA)—of which Hagerty is a founding partner— engages on behalf of British companies, said CEO Garry Wilson. “The U.K. is one of the global leaders, with the skills and crafts to repair and restore classics vehicles. A reduction in the number of cars and parts crossing the English Channel impacts shows, events and racing series and the effect is reciprocal. This impacts the less well-off owners and enthusiasts most as they will often do the transportation and documentation themselves. The HCVA has a large agenda of actions to try to improve this situation. We have been in contact with the Department for International Trade and this remains a high priority for action.”

Others have taken a more pragmatic approach. “We’ve offered some of our more well-established small, U.K.-based parts suppliers the chance to hold their stock in our European warehouses,” Julian Barratt told me, with SNG Barratt effectively drop-shipping the items for them. It’s a great idea; cooperative groups of traders supporting each other may be the future, and possibly the current situation could encourage a rise in U.K.-based parts manufacturing, but I can’t help feeling that the process of keeping my classic car on the road has just become more difficult and expensive, with my freedom to use it in Europe reduced.

***

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For the past few April Fool’s Days, Holley Performance Products has cooked up some great fake products and created some well-produced promo videos to highlight them. For 2022, their bizarre product was an intake manifold with ridiculously long runners. Dubbed Sky-Ram, the manifold was a take on the Hi-Ram, a tunnel ram system that the company builds for several engine families. To make it a true spectacle, Holley stretched the intake port length from just over six-and-a-quarter inches in the Hi-Ram to more than 30 inches in the Sky-Ram! Rather than manipulating a photo or showing a digital rendering of the Sky-Ram for the prank, Holley 3D-printed the lower manifold and finished it to look like a production piece. The hot-rodding community loved it, and comments on YouTube and social media sites called for the engine to hit the dyno. Lucky for them, Holley was already planning to do just that.

Holley brought the Sky-Ram to Westech Performance Group in Jurupa Valley, California, to see just how the mega-tunnel ram would stack up against an off-the-shelf intake. The recipient of the towering manifold was a 6.0-liter GM LS-style V-8 based on an iron LQ9 block. The block is the same one that you’d find in high-output Chevrolet, GMC, and Cadillac SUVs, where they made 345 hp at 10.1:1 compression. This engine ditched its factory, cathedral-port heads in favor of high-flowing LS3-style heads from Engine Quest. Compression was set at 9.8:1 and it was given a free-flowing set of headers and a healthy Comp cam with 227/243 degrees of duration and .613 inch/.623 inch of lift on the intake and exhaust, respectively.

Topped with a production Holley Hi-Ram and warmed up to operating temp, the engine made its baseline dyno pull to have numbers to compare against the Sky-Ram. With Westech’s Steve Brule at the helm, the engine ran smoothly to 7,000 rpm, making 536 horsepower at 6,900 rpm and 457 lb-ft of torque at 5,000 rpm. With 1,900 rpm between peak torque and peak power, this would make a fantastic street or performance engine. The torque curve is incredibly flat. In fact, the engine produced 90 percent or more of its peak torque from about 3700 rpm until just shy of its 6900 rpm power peak.

Baseline data in the bag, the stage was set for the Sky-Ram. With the wild manifold in place and the Holley HP ECU tuned for the new fuel demands, it was time to see whether this monstrosity could deliver. As you can see, it could barely fit in the dyno cell.

Once again, Brule warmed the engine up and made some pulls. The results were impressive.

The Sky-Ram outperformed the off-the-shelf intake all the way to about 5200 rpm but left a lot of power on the table. Peak power was 464.5 hp at 5100 rpm. Peak torque, however, was way up, peaking at a stump-pulling 510.8 lb-ft at just 3700 rpm. That’s the kind of torque curve that would make a muscle-car-era big-block blush. Just take a look at that huge jump in the curve that really comes on 3500 rpm. That’s exactly what a long runner is built to do, and highlights how the length of the runner can be modified to tune the engine speed at which peak torque occurs. How does it do that? The intake charge has momentum as it heads down the runner into the combustion chamber. When the intake valve closes, that charge suddenly stops and creates a pressure wave that heads back to the plenum at the speed of sound. When the pressure wave hits the plenum, it bounces back, sending higher pressure back down the runner toward the intake valve. That pressure wave will bounce back and forth, losing energy each time. Timing the reflection of that pressure wave to the opening of the intake valve can result in increased volumetric efficiency, which is obviously what we’re seeing in the Sky-Ram’s dyno chart.

To put the Sky-Ram’s output into perspective, that’s the same peak torque as an early Duramax diesel V-8, with 10-percent less displacement and 100-percent fewer turbochargers. Granted, it’s also using high-flow headers and no accessories, but it’s still very impressive. For a low-revving application like a truck or boat, the Sky-Ram manifold would actually perform quite well. We might not want to put one on one of our vehicles, but we think the dyno test was well worth Holley’s effort and provided a great visualization of engine theory. Now we’re just wondering what they’re cooking up for next April Fools.

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Editor’s note: Dear readers, be advised that there will be no Manifold tomorrow, November 25, or Friday, November 26. We simply couldn’t make an editorial case for Big 10 rivalry results or the time-honored debate over boxed vs. homemade stuffing. Enjoy your Thanksgiving, and if you want to kick back over the holiday weekend with some longer automotive reads, make sure you’re signed up for our email newsletters.

Porsche is frying up an even bigger SUV

Intake: A plan is in the works at Porsche to develop an SUV that is larger, longer, and wider than the Cayenne crossover (shown above), according to Automotive News. U.S. Porsche dealers were shown a rendering of what the vehicle may look like last week, and one dealer described it to AN as “part sedan, part crossover.” A Porsche spokesperson told AN that while the company doesn’t speculate on specific future models, the automaker has become “very open in sharing ideas under an initiative—Porsche Unseen—the majority of which don’t make it beyond the ideas stage” but can serve as inspiration for future products. The new vehicle will likely arrive sometime after 2025 and may offer three rows—the first Porsche to do so.

Exhaust: Are we on the brink of another Cayenne moment? Although the large SUV is hardly integral to Porsche’s ethos, the Cayenne pays the bills that the 911 and 718 Boxster/Cayman ring up. From January of 2019 through September of this year, Porsche sold more than 52,000 Cayennes; for context, the 911 sold less than half that. BMW and Mercedes have ventured into the three-row SUV game—why shouldn’t Porsche raise an XL cash cow?

Bolt plant pauses through 2021 as recalls take priority

Intake: As first reported by the Detroit News, production for the Chevrolet Bolt is done for the year. GM’s Dan Flores states: “This decision will enable us to continue prioritizing recall repairs. We will continue to inform employees at the appropriate time of any additional production schedule adjustments in early 2022, as we continue to focus on battery module replacements.” Earlier this fall, production resumed only briefly to make backup Bolts for customers who needed a vehicle while theirs was under repair. That order has since ended as of November 15. GM informed its Orion plant employees (on “downtime”) that future production schedules hinge on satisfying the terms of the recall requires rather than filling new orders.

Exhaust: It’s been a long year for the Chevrolet Bolt. A chapter that’s finally coming to a close, but unfortunately at the expense of increased idle time at Orion. GM appears intent on not getting too far ahead of itself and ensuring that the recall woes get zapped as quickly as possible heading into 2022. Wise. 

LS6 stands for performance, and this one is ready to bolt (in)

Intake: Talk ’60s muscle cars and one engine code reigns supreme: LS6. The biggest and baddest big-block to come bolted between the frame rails of Chevrolet production cars. The engine garnered such a following that Chevrolet eventually released the build as a crate offering, since only a handful entered the wild in Chevelle and Corvette models of the late ’60s and early ’70s. We found one that was minted in 1990 on Craigslist in Reno that might be perfect for display or your next project.

Exhaust: It is a kicker of an engine, but don’t be so quick to believe the hype that these were substantially underrated from the factory. That myth was parroted for years to the point that Super Chevy magazine strapped a correct LS6 Chevelle to a dyno and turned the roller to the tune of 283 wheel horsepower. Factor in powertrain losses and the LS6 is awful close to its 350-hp factory rating. Regardless, the 500 lb-ft of torque is perfect for a big-body muscle car and this un-started crate might be the perfect one to shove in your project.

This electric Lancia Delta Integrale is going rallycrossing

Intake: A French racing setup is hoping to emulate the historic success of the Lancia Delta Integrale by fielding an electrified resto-mod in the 2022 World Rallycross Championship. The GCK Motorsport EVO-eRX looks almost identical to the car that won eight FIA World Rally Championships between 1988 and 1992, but will ditch the original two-liter turbo motor for a 690-hp electric powertrain. The Kreisel Electric RX1e kit is the control power system for the 2022 WRX and should ensure close racing across the field. Whether anyone else will go retro remains to be seen, as the line-up of teams for 2022 has yet to be announced.

Exhaust: Who else can’t wait to see an Integrale drifting in the dirt again? Well, there’s GCK president Guerlian Chicherit for starters, who said, “We chose the Lancia Delta Integrale because it’s a vehicle that made us all dream. It’s the rally car par excellence—without doubt the most incredible of its era—and one that remains hugely popular to this day.”

Polestar’s Model S fighter is officially set for 2024

Intake: Polestar already makes electrified cars under the 1 coupe and 2 sedan, but the jump to 5 for a flagship sedan is now cemented for 2024. (Models 3 and 4 will be SUVs.) Polestar released a documentary style video showing the exterior design of the Precept concept, and how it will translate into the production-spec Polestar 5. The LIDAR module mounted proudly atop the roof suggests that Polestar is taking autonomous driving to the next level, and looking to elevate the Polestar brand to a true luxury automaker status.

Exhaust: Curated videos of OEM studios are usually marketing tools and not a deep dive into car design, and this one is no different. But behind the filler words, minimalist spaces, and inspirational music is a documentary showing what goes into making a car with very little brand equity. We are seeing the next step in the evolution of Polestar’s design DNA, but this is just one installment of the Precept video series on Polestar’s YouTube channel. There’s something to be said about seeing Precept/5 unfold before our eyes, becoming what the Model S was for Tesla.

Limited-run Icona specials could keep Ferrari’s V-12 alive

Intake: Ferrari plans to follow the newly-released Daytona SP3 with up to five more Icona series cars, taking inspiration from the marque’s past glories. At the unveiling of the Daytona SP3 chief communications and marketing officer Enrico Galliera said there are “four or five potential concepts we could work on.” These models could also be an opportunity to keep the V-12 alive for longer as higher-volume models are electrified. Design boss Flavio Manzoni told Autocar, “It’s a good opportunity, it’s matching 100 percent our customers’ requirements and it has a limited impact on the discussion of CO2.” The Daytona SP3 follows the Monza SP1 and SP2 Icona models, both of which had their V-12s mounted up front.

Exhaust: There are few engines more exotic than a Ferrari V-12 and if limited-run Icona models are the only way to keep them roaring then keep ’em coming. “I personally believe we have to fight for this engine. From a technology point of view, it’s not the most efficient. A V-8 turbo could make it better in terms of performance. But from an emotional point of view, it’s the best you can have,” said Manzoni.

The post Porsche’s frying up an even bigger SUV, crate LS6 surfaces, Bolt production done for year appeared first on Hagerty Media.

We’ve seen more Mini conversions than we’ve eaten hot dinners—and trust us, as former road testers who have spent decades on the circuit, we’ve had plenty. But few powertrain swaps have been as eye-catching as this project that turns the humble Mini from a front-engined, front-drive runabout to a rear-engined, rear-wheel-drive rocket.

What began life as a 1982 Austin Morris Mini City with a 1-liter engine and just enough speed to nose ahead of a London double decker has been transformed into a high-revving, 2-liter buzzbox that will surprise unsuspecting sports car drivers in any traffic-light Grand Prix.

As you’ll hear from YouTube presenter Petrol Ped, at the heart of the conversion is a Honda engine from a Civic Type R, which boasts 212 hp, and is wedged in just ahead of the rear wheels  The work was initially carried out in 2014, by Z Cars—a Kent-based tuning company that has been meddling with Minis and more for the past 20 years—but the Mini’s owner found he was having so much fun that he couldn’t stop using it—come rain, shine, or even salt-gritted roads. That took its toll on the body, so a restoration was called for, which has just been completed.

The conversion uses the K20A2 engine from a 2002 Honda Civic Type-R, which offers 212 hp at 8000 rpm, and 149 lb-ft of torque at 7000, making for the sort of driving experience where you have to roll up your sleeves and get stuck in. Hang in there and the rev limit arrives at 9000 rpm.

According to Z Cars, the stripped-out Mini weighs about 1630 pounds (or 740 kilos), giving it a power to weight ratio of 260 hp per ton. However, anyone feeling adventurous can opt for forced induction; a supercharger kit could take that to 335 hp if desired. We’ll happily settle for a “mere” 236 bhp in a tiny thing like this.

The Mini may have made a name for itself through the use of a transversely-mounted inline-four-cylinder driving the front wheels, but Z Cars tears up that template and fits a tubular steel frame to accommodate the Honda engine and six-speed gearbox. Other engine options include a Suzuki Hayabusa and a Subaru flat-four.

Other changes include increased track width and accompanying flared wheel-arches, a new cooling system, uprated brakes, suspension that’s adjustable for camber and toe, Gaz coilover shock absorbers and a bespoke fuel pump and fuel system. Completing the picture are 13-inch alloy wheels with sticky Yokohama Advan tyres.

If you are stuck for something to treat yourself to this Christmas, we humbly suggest adding a Z Cars Mini to your wish list for Santa.

Via Hagerty UK

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Lamborghini is usually all about looking ahead, pushing forward with the most outrageous performance it can muster. Only rarely does the company indulge in nostalgia. Apparently 2021 is one of those moments, and the return of the Countach nameplate is perhaps the biggest news to come out of this year’s festivities at Monterey Car Week. Our early verdict? This reborn version of the seminal ’70s supercar looks downright outstanding.

Before we get too deep into design, however, let’s start with the mechanicals. The Countach LPI 800-4 is in many ways a reskinned expression of the limited-run, $3M Lamborghini Sián. It rides on the same modified Aventador architecture, which combines the firm’s 6.5-liter V-12 with a supercapacitor-based 48-volt mild-hybrid system. What does that actually mean? A supercapacitor is an energy storage and delivery system that is highly efficient and lighter-weight than comparable lithium-ion batteries. In this case it is stored in the rear bulkhead, where it powers an electric motor mounted directly on the gearbox.

The Aventador’s V-12 in this application makes 769 hp at 8500 rpm, which is 5 ponies fewer than it does in the Sián. Combined with a 34-hp electric motor, total output for the Countach is 803 horses and 531 lb-ft of torque. The same single-clutch automated manual transmission sends that power to all four wheels by way of a Haldex IV permanent all-wheel drive system. It’s here where the electric motor and its position on the gearbox is most useful, providing instantaneous torque to help smooth shifts. If all this sounds way too high-tech, take solace in the fact that this apex predator of Italian engineering has hydraulic-assisted steering. Hurrah!

Performance from the Countach, as you might expect, is tantalizing. The sprint from 0 to 62 mph is over in a mere 2.8 seconds, 124 mph in 8.6 seconds, all on the way to a top speed of 220.58 mph. The monocoque and body are both made of carbon fiber, as is the rear diffuser, helping keep weight down to 4630 pounds with all fluids. An electronically controlled and deployable spoiler helps manage downforce with three stages of functionality. Carbon-ceramic brakes are standard, bringing this hypercar to a halt from 62 mph in 98.4 feet (30 meters) by way of six-piston front and four-piston rear calipers. Independent, aluminum double-wishbone suspension sits at all four corners, along with adaptive magnetorheological dampers. All that is nestled behind 20-inch front and 21-inch rear wheels, shod in Pirelli P Zero Corsa rubber. Rear-wheel steering is standard and adjustable depending on the selected driving mode.

According to Lamborghini CEO Stefan Winkelmann, the new Countach “imagines how the iconic Countach of the ’70s and ’80s might have evolved into an elite super sports model of this decade.” In that respect, the styling of this car most certainly succeeds. Though the Aventador’s shape and some of the Sián’s design elements, such as the triple taillamps, are unmistakable, the Countach’s slab-faced front end is a convincing reinterpretation of the 1970s original. Lamborghini says that the nose’s look primarily drew upon the QV model of the mid-1980s, combining elements from other variants such as the Periscopio-style roofline that evokes the NACA duct on the original. We’ll leave the detailed design analysis to the talented Sajeev Mehta, but suffice to say for now that this Lamborghini is recognizably a Countach without being annoyingly retro.

Fun detail: The color shown here, Bianco Siderale, apparently has a blue pearlescent hue to it as an homage to Ferruccio Lamborghini’s own Countach LP 400 S. Other colors will include the more classic yellow, pure white, and green, but more “contemporary” (read: outlandish) purple and blue metallic paints will also be available. Realistically though, at this price point a customer can get just about any paint on the color wheel—provided they are willing to pay for it.

Inside the Countach’s cabin you’ll find an 8.4-inch touchscreen complete with Apple CarPlay. Lamborghini says that the car’s interior contains several nods to the original car, with “geometric stitching on the specially designed comfort seats and dashboard, sporting a square motif referencing the bold style and optimism of 1970s design and technology.”

No doubt the new Countach has much to live up to, but so far we’re wholly impressed. A price tag similar to that of the Sián would make sense, and Lamborghini indicates that it will build 112 examples as a reflection of the internal “LP 112” designation used on the original 1970s car. That will make the Sián a rarer beast, with 69 coupes and 13 roadsters built for a total of 82 examples. Countach deliveries are currently slated for the first quarter of 2022. After a debut like this at Monterey Car Week, those slots are sure to fill up fast.

The post Countach returns after three decades of slumber with hybrid power and retro flash appeared first on Hagerty Media.

If you’re a club racer or endurance-race participant, chances are you’ve heard about Lemons Of Love. The organization gives away a fully-built, ready to race Mazda Global MX-5 Cup Car every year. All you have to do is buy a ticket, and you’ll have a decent chance of winning.

This year’s car is Soul Red with the traditional lemon-yellow rollcage. Winning a “GMX5” doesn’t just mean you picked up $70K worth of race car for a $100 ticket; it also means you have multiple choices for a race series. The Global car is eligible for Mazda’s pro series, of course — but it’s also eligible for SCCA, NASA, and pretty much all the cheap-car endurance series out there. (Although I can’t recommend you run this gorgeous and very expensive car in the 24 Hours of Lemons!)

Friday’s your last day to buy a ticket. Check out the press release below for more details.

Lemons of Love, a non-profit organization whose mission is to share love with those impacted by cancer, is giving away a fully-built Mazda MX-5 Cup race car. Proceeds raised from this event will enable Lemons of Love to share care packages and support to cancer patients.

Lemons of Love was created when Jill Swanson was diagnosed with colon cancer. As she began chemotherapy, a friend gave Jill a small gift with items to help her through treatment. Inspired, Jill began her own little lemonade project of filling and sharing thoughtfully selected items with others in treatment. Today, Lemons of Love delivers care packages, offers free programs for anyone impacted by cancer, and provides one-on-one family support.

Each entry ticket is $100. The winning ticket will be drawn at 11:00 a.m. EST at Flis Performance in Daytona, FL.

The winning ticket holder will not only take home a new car, but also additional items from our generous donors. Along with the brand-new car, the winner will receive a trunk full of Pagid Racing brake pads, HANS device head & neck restraint from Simpson, Bell Racing carbon fiber helmet, one-year magazine subscription of Racer Magazine, Racequip 365 Outseam racing gloves, FAST cooling shirt, 24 Hours of Lemons entry fee for a 2021 Lemons race, Speedcom intercom, Roux gear bag, two-night stay at an exclusive Luxury Motor Courts Villa, set of Safecraft racing belts, $50 Winding Road Racing gift card, and CarbonX fire rated underwear (top and bottom).

The post It’s the white flag lap for your chance to win a Global MX-5 Cup Car with Lemons of Love appeared first on Hagerty Media.

Now that your bank balance has topped seven figures, the time may be right to indulge your favorite fantasies. If one of those dreams is owning your own race track, you’ve got until the end of July to rescue Michigan’s Milan Dragway from receivership.

Royal Oak, Michigan, attorney, and car enthusiast David Findling is the court-appointed receiver responsible for identifying those with the means and the will to restore Milan to its previous glory. Thus far he has received a half-dozen or so bids to shoulder Milan’s debts topping $2,500,000. Findling notes his task is three-fold: identifying the highest-dollar and best offer, confirming the viability of those funds, and determining the likelihood the new owner will fulfill future obligations related to Milan’s operation.

Findling adds that once his determination is made, the judge who appointed him must approve the sale in an open hearing. Since the final closing is unlikely before October 1, there’s little chance racing activities will resume until next year. Revenue exceeding the amount needed to settle the track’s debts will go to the current owner Bill Kapolka.

After Kapolka suffered ill health 18 months ago, Milan’s maintenance activities were suspended. In addition to repairing the strip’s weathered pavement and cleaning up spectator facilities (grandstands, parking lots, restrooms, food stands), the new owner faces two additional hurdles: remediating any environmental damage identified on the Dragway’s property and diminishing some of the noise radiated during racing to appease neighbors. An excavation crew to remove soil contaminated with traction compound, fuel, and drain oil will have its hands full; some combination of vegetation and earth berms may help reduce the din escaping the track.

In addition to IHRA sanctioned weekend drag racing, Milan has potential as a swap-meet, campgrounds, and rock-concert venue. There’s ample real estate to support motocross, go-kart, and speed boat competition. Michigan-based car makers and suppliers may be interested in renting these safe and secure facilities during the week for private testing. What better place is there to develop Amazon’s air-delivery drones?

If Milan piques your interest, don’t waste a moment getting in touch with Findling. Send your sincerest pitch and most generous offer to david@findlinglaw.com. And when you get Milan back on its feet, we’ll report that great news to the waiting anxiously fan base.

The post Milan Dragway to remain dormant for 2021, hope lingers on horizon appeared first on Hagerty Media.

Welcome to The Manifold, our fresh daily digest of news and what’s happening in the car world.

Chevy’s Colorado Trail Boss is a ZR2-lite

Intake: Chevrolet has announced a Trail Boss package for the 2022 model year. This dealer-installed package will include a 1.0-inch suspension lift, 17-inch wheels straight from the hardcore Colorado ZR2, underbody skid plates, and a few other visual goodies to set it apart from more sedate versions of the mid-sizer. The package will be offered for LT and Z71 models for $2995 and $2985, respectively. Chevy says the package will go on sale later this summer.

Exhaust: A Chevy spokesperson noted that Trail Boss is among the most popular trims for the Silverado 1500, so we know there’s an appetite for that level of capability. As the Silverado team prepares to fill out their lineup with a hardcore ZR2 of their own, it’s fitting that the Trail Boss trim makes an appearance on the Colorado to fill out that lineup as well. Off-road-focused trucks continue to skyrocket in popularity, and Chevy seems up to the task of meeting those buyers at multiple sizes and price points.

Meet Hennessey’s new 405-hp Ford Bronco VelociRaptor 400 

Intake: Hennessey wants to take the 2021 Ford Bronco to the next level with the all-new VelociRaptor 400 Bronco performance package. With the help of new intake and exhaust systems, the Texas tuner tweaked the range-topping Bronco Wildtrak’s 2.7-liter twin-turbo V-6 engine to deliver 405 horsepower and 503 lb-ft torque, gains of 75 ponies and 88 lb-ft, respectively. Those increased power figures help this off-roader achieve a 0–60 time of just 4.9 seconds. More than just a hotted-up engine, the off-road package also adds 18-inch wheels, massive 35-inch tires, special front and rear bumpers, and retractable side steps. Pleasantly, the tweaks don’t impede on any of the engine modes or off-road systems that Ford already bolsters the Bronco with. Just 200 units will be made this year, with 250 more joining the stable in 2022.

Exhaust: As the popularity of SUVs and trucks continue to rise, we’re seeing famous tuning houses like Hennessey and Shelby offer performance kits for them, and we don’t expect that to slow anytime soon. If, for some reason, you didn’t want the 35-inch tires offered directly by Ford via the loveable Sasquatch package, here’s another route that offers a bit more shove to boot.

Nissan commences 2022 Frontier production stateside

Intake: Bits and pieces of the new 2022 Nissan Frontier are finally coming together, as production of the redesigned truck commences today at Nissan’s Canton Assembly Plant in central Mississippi. This latest generation of the mid-sized pickup arrives on the heels of a long 15-year stretch for the humble second gen. Tim Fallon, VP of the plant has this to say regarding their new kid on the block, “The all-new Frontier has surpassed our expectations–setting new standards for mid-size truck capability, technology and power. The Canton plant team is full of pride and ready to produce the next generation of one of the strongest, most rugged trucks in the market.” 2022 Frontiers are slated to hit dealer lots later this summer.

Exhaust: Buzz is a brewing around the tastefully modern yet conservative new Frontier, poised to challenge the notion that every mid-sized pickup must be larger than the last, by possessing narrower proportions than the rest of the field. Fans of the old Frontier have been waiting years on this long overdue redesign, what’s a few more months? 

IndyCar is getting its own video game

Intake: Motorsport Games, a racing game developer out of Miami, Florida, has inked a deal with IndyCar to develop an all-new video game for console and PC players alike. The game is expected to launch in 2023, and will open the door for a host of esports championships to take place using the cars we know and love from the real IndyCar series. “After decades of world class racing, we cannot think of a more deserving league for a video game franchise,” said Motorsport games CEO Dmitry Kozko.

Exhaust: Likewise, Mr. Kozko. Giving fans the opportunity to play as their favorite drivers on iconic American tracks seems like a win-win to us. Like the esports mania that has sprung up around Formula 1, don’t be surprised to see fiercely-contested championships and special tournaments blossom around IndyCar as well. Imagine an Indianapolis 500 tournament leading up to the real-deal race! Sign us up. 

Houston Raceway Park will close its doors after next year’s NHRA Spring Nationals

Intake: After more than three decades of racing, hosting some of South Texas’ largest drag racing events, Houston Raceway Park announced that it will close its doors for good after next season’s Spring Nationals, which take place April 22–24, 2022. The facility, which is owned an operated by the Angel family and has been leased to the NHRA each of the last four years for competition, will be replaced by an industrial park, according to Autoweek.

Exhaust: The temporary closure of the track for storing hurricane Harvey flood cars was an indication of just how valuable the land was, and it’s likely no coincidence that the offer to buy the property came shortly after. This is a big loss to the Houston area as the track has been the primary legal outlet for racers in South East Texas, hosting events like TX2K and a litany of local track nights year-round. Losing the nitro cars of the NHRA makes headlines, but the real loss is to the locals who want safe locations to race.

GM expands design and technology footprint in southern California

Intake: GM plans on investing more than $71 million in a new, 149,000-square-foot Advanced Design Center in Pasadena, California. The eight-acre design and technology campus will focus on concept and future mobility projects and be outfitted with state-of-the-art design tools and equipment. “The collaborative nature of this facility will provide our advanced design team, cross-functional groups, prospective employees, and external partners with the environment they need to continually redefine the boundaries of future mobility,” said Bryan Nesbitt, GM executive director, Global Advanced Design and Global Architecture Studios. GM will continue to operate its current design facility in North Hollywood until the new Pasadena complex is completed in “the second half of 2022.”

Exhaust: Aside from being three times the size of the current North Hollywood location, having a design and tech center in Pasadena will be a great recruiting tool. It’s close to lots of great schools, including ArtCenter College of Design, so it may give GM a leg up on getting top design talent.

The post Chevy’s Colorado Trail Boss, Hennessey’s 405-hp Bronco, IndyCar in a video game appeared first on Hagerty Media.

Welcome to The Manifold, our fresh daily digest of news and what’s happening in the car world.

Mercedes-AMG reveals new SL interior

Intake: Mercedes-AMG is working up to the launch of the new SL by giving us a good look at the car’s cabin. Clearly inspired by the AMG GT and GT 4-Door Coupe, there’s no denying that it looks like a delightful place to cruise down the PCH or make a desert dash to Las Vegas. The center console is dominated by a giant 11.9-inch touchscreen which can be tilted towards the driver to reduce glare from the sun when you’re driving with the roof down. The instrument panel is a 12.3-inch screen that can be customized to display whatever information you fancy, and an optional head-up display will show not only speed and navigation but also project the car’s surroundings in three dimensions. As you can see from the photos the next SL is s 2+2 again, so there’s room in the back for small kids or trophy dogs. If you’re carrying either you may well want to throw a blanket over those lovely quilted leather seats.

Exhaust: So the SL has gone fully digital, which may not please some fans. However, the return of rear seats, a quick-folding fabric roof, and the use of aluminum, magnesium and composites to add a bit of Sports Leicht again can only be good news.

Meet Marsien, the off-road 911 Turbo S that evokes the Porsche 959

Intake: Marc Philipp Gemballa has taken a Porsche 911 Turbo S and turned it into a desert storming supercar. Gemballa, whose father Uwe was a legendary Porsche tuner, named the car Marsien (French for Martian) and is apparently inspired by the dunes of the United Arab Emirates where it was developed. Gemballa brought in the boffins at RUF to uprate the engine to 750 hp, with a Stage 2 tune of 830 hp also offered. The car’s lifted suspension is by KW automotive, featuring double wishbones at the front and solid piston dampers with intelligent control. In road mode the car hunkers down to 4.7-inches above the ground, but can be raised to almost ten inches for off-roading. Pre-set driving modes for snow, gravel, mud and, of course, sand are added to Porsche’s regular road driving settings. If the standard car isn’t enough for customers’ off-road antics then Gemballa will fit Reiger rally suspension which adds even more travel and ground clearance. A carbon-fiber body is also available at extra cost. The cabin can be fully tailored to customer desires, with full leather or Alcantara trim as a starting point. Just 40 Marsiens are to built and they’ll be homologated for Europe, the Middle East and the U.S. You’ll need to find around $580,000, plus the $207,000 price of a new Porsche 911 Turbo S, to get started.

Exhaust: Lifted Safari-style 911s are on the rise, and even Porsche is believed to be getting in on the game, but nothing we’ve seen compares to this 959-echoing dune-basher. Mars, Earth, wherever—this looks like a blast.

2022 VW GTI and Golf R see price creep to match added performance and equipment

Intake: The all-new 2022 VW Gold GTI and Golf R both come with more potent 2.0-liter engines, more standard equipment, and bigger price tags. The GTI, identified by its red-trimmed grille, packs 241 horsepower and starts at $30,540 including destination for the manual S model, about $1000 more than its predecessor, but comes standard with goodies like heated cloth seats, Digital Cockpit, and wireless phone charging. The GTI SE ($35,290) adds premium sound, LED front lighting, voice control, and an optional leather interior package with a power driver’s seat. The Autobahn trim ($38,990) loads up the GTI with heated rear seats, ventilated leather front seats, summer tires on 19-inch wheels, and adaptive dampers. The 315-hp, AWD Golf R, identified by its quad exhaust tips and blue-trimmed grille and calipers, starts at $44,640 for the six-speed manual and $45,440 for the dual-clutch seven-speed.

Exhaust: Both the GTI and Golf R seem to be giving buyers more of what they already love. The Golf R is seriously pricey, although it does come in just one fully-loaded trim. Buyers looking for a hot hatch with VW levels of refinement and performance won’t have much to cross-shop.

Harley-Davidson packs Sportster S with Revolution Max 1250T engine

Intake: Harley Davidson went aggressive with the all-new 2021 Sportster S. The styling is a departure from HD tradition while also giving nods to the brand’s history. The exhaust and tail section, for example, recall XR750 vibes quite vividly. But it’s the powerplant that represents the most radical change. The Revolution Max 1250T is a V-twin first seen in the Pan America adventure bike. The compression ratio is 12:1, down from the Pan’s 13:1 which likely explains why the Sportster is down 29 horsepower from the ADV machine. Even “tuned down” the Sportster packs 121 horsepower and Harley is claiming a very handling-focused chassis.

Exhaust: The Sportster has been a staple of the Harley lineup for over 60 years, but this new direction leaves a lot of the heritage angle behind. Buyers of the Sportster seemed to be chasing the nostalgia of an air-cooled simple lump, but that will soon be history. Leaving what has previously defined Sportster put this new S model into more direct competition with bikes like the Honda Rebel 1100 and Indian Scout. While the Sporty packs more power, it might be tough to get buyers from the competition to swing their legs over a Harley.

Ram adds BackCountry Edition option package to 1500 Big Horn and Lone Star 4x4s

Intake: Ram is giving 1500 Big Horn and Lone Star 4×4 buyers the option to add off-road prowess as well as some aesthetic upgrades. The new BackCountry Edition includes hardware from the 4×4 Off-Road Group: shocks tailored to off-road driving, all-terrain tires on 18-inch wheels, skid plates, and an electronic locking rear differential. It pairs those off-road tools with the useful features of the Bed Utility Group like tie-downs and a spray-in bedliner. Black two-tone paint, black mirrors, black headlight bezels, black “BackCountry” badging, a tonneau cover, and body-colored grille surround help differentiate the BackCountry from other Rams. The package will be available on 4×4 Quad and Crew Cab models with the 5.7-liter Hemi as well as the 5.7-liter Hemi eTorque mild-hybrid. Production begins in the third quarter of 2021 with a starting MSRP of $41,780.

Exhaust: Ram buyers normally have to add a convenience package in order to equip the 4×4 Off-Road Group and Bed Utility Group. As it stands, a Ram 1500 Longhorn Quad Cab 4×4 has an MSRP of $42,485 without any additional options. By pairing some useful groupings of hardware with the popular 5.7-liter Hemi V-8, Ram has created a serious value proposition for those looking to hit the trail in style.

35 years ago, we said goodbye to Avanti designer Raymond Loewy

Intake: Raymond Loewy was a multi-faceted industrial designer of everything from streamlined locomotives and Greyhound buses to the Shell logo and USPS emblem. At age 86, he even took a stab at creating a Soviet “world car” called the Moskvich XRL. Loewy was perhaps best known, however, for the Studebaker Avanti, his 1960s jet-inspired creation with the long nose and no grille. On this date in 1986, the legendary Loewy died at the age of 92.

Exhaust: Although born in France, Raymond Loewy had a profound influence on American life, and his legacy lives on in familiar brands and products throughout the world.

The post Mercedes SL goes 2+2, Marsien is a modern-day 959, Harley Sportster breaks cover appeared first on Hagerty Media.

Welcome to The Manifold, our fresh daily digest of news and what’s happening in the car world.

F-150 will drop Power Stroke Diesel powertrain

Intake: Ford will soon be pulling the plug on the Power Stroke V-6 offered in the F-150, according to a report by Ford Authority. With 250 horsepower and 440 lb-ft of torque, the 3.0-liter diesel didn’t quite match the economy of 3.0-liter diesel engines from GM and Ram, both of which returned an EPA average of 26 mpg on two-wheel-drive models compared to Ford’s 24 mpg.

Exhaust: The PowerBoost hybrid drivetrain pairs a 3.5-liter EcoBoost V-6 with a 47-horsepower electric motor powered by a 1.5-kilowatt-hour lithium-ion battery. Despite the added motor and battery, the hybrid powertrain is less expensive than the diesel and makes a strong case for itself by delivering more torque and 180 more horsepower. Fuel economy is only better on the diesel F-150 in two-wheel-drive applications, but according to fueleconomy.gov, the added expense of diesel fuel eliminates the savings. In 4×4 applications, PowerBoost beats Power Stroke fuel economy outright. Ford knows a thing or two about selling half-ton pickups, so it must believe its flagship product will do just fine without a diesel engine, and the PowerBoost hybrid powertrain seems like an excellent replacement. Resale prices will tell the tale of whether diehard diesel fans will clamor for the 3.0-liter Power Stroke in the future, but drivers should definitely appreciate the improved performance and economy of the hybrid powertrain.

Watch Lamborghini celebrate 50 years of the Countach

https://youtu.be/1PKN2JsJrw8

Intake: Lamborghini has launched a new series of videos to celebrate a half-century of the iconic Countach. The first episode features Marcello Gandini talking about how the space race inspired his incredible UFO design. Gandini describes how he felt it was so important to have the car drive into its Geneva Motor Show debut rather than just be a static display and how, after the initial shock of seeing this supercar, people soon realized the world would never quite be the same again. “One might even say that the Countach was the harbinger of a new education of taste,” he says.

Exhaust: It’s hard to believe that a car that still looks futuristic is actually 50 years old. The Countach was a poster car for so many kids growing up in the ’70s and ’80s . The films will drop on Lamborghini’s social media channels every Monday for the next three weeks. We can’t wait to watch them.

Driving gives clues to Alzheimer’s disease

Intake: The way you drive could give an early indication of Alzheimer’s disease according to a study by the University of Toronto. Researchers monitored 139 drivers in Washington State over the age of 65 for a year using GPS devices fitted to their cars. Around half of the participants had very early Alzheimer’s and the differences between their driving styles and the rest of the group were easy to detect. Drivers with preclinical Alzheimer’s tended to drive more slowly, make abrupt direction changes, drive fewer miles, and less often at night. They also visited fewer destinations, preferring to stick to known routes. “Using these very few indicators you can really, with very high confidence, identify whether a person has preclinical Alzheimer’s disease or not,” study leader Sayeh Bayat told BBC News.

Exhaust: This breakthrough has the potential to offer much earlier diagnosis for Alzheimer’s, which affects more than six million Americans. Whether older drivers would be willing to be monitored, even if it could have health benefits, is a question that may be harder to answer.

Standard Veloster is dead, N survives for 2022

Intake: Due to market demand, Hyundai’s confirmed a decision to vanquish all of the Veloster trim levels underneath its high-performance N model. Back in early April, a report by Car and Driver revealed not all Velosters would make it to 2022, but Hyundai was at that point unwilling to confirm the guillotine had fallen. Now, according to a Hyundai representative, the automaker will slash the Veloster 2.0, 2.0 Premium, R-Spec, Turbo, and Ultimate, leaving only the 275-hp N model for 2022.

Exhaust: Enthusiasts were to quick to rave about the N, but the general public (yet again) wasn’t quite sure what to make of the quirky Veloster and its three-door setup. Consumer sentiment, combined with low sales, is often the force that makes a vehicle go poof, but consider the N’s survival a win for the dedicated hot-hatch crowd. The decision more or less echoes Volkswagen’s decision to kill the standard Golf but retain the GTI and Golf R.

VW: Internal combustion car market will drop 20 percent in next decade

Intake: Earlier today, Volkswagen presented its NEW AUTO strategy, in which the VW Group will become “a software-driven mobility company”—that’s code for EVs and autonomy—by focusing on a “combination of powerful brands, scaled technology platforms, and new service offerings.” By 2030, VW expects battery-electric vehicle production to rise to 50 percent—and nearly 100 percent by 2040. In the next decade, it expects the internal combustion car market to slide by 20 percent. In order to reach its goals, VW Group is introducing one unified battery cell format that could reduce costs by up to 50 percent. Six giga factories in Europe with a total production capacity of 240 GWh by 2030 will help to secure battery supply.

Exhaust: VW CEO Herbert Diess is confident that Volkswagen is “well on track” in its quest “to become global market leader in electric vehicles.” Both VW and GM are leaning hard into these ambitious plans, but whether infrastructure—to say nothing of actual customer demand—can support these goals remains to be seen.

The post Ford to ditch F-150 diesel V-6, 50 years of the Countach, Alzheimer’s clues from driving appeared first on Hagerty Media.

Via a teaser video released at the beginning of the week, Hyundai has confirmed what we’ve long expected: The Kona compact crossover will get an N variant, making it the third and final full-fledged N car in the Hyundai stable.

Hyundai’s N performance division is one of the most exciting skunkworks divisions in recent memory. Its headliner, the Veloster N, is a riotous little hot hatch purpose-built for the 16-year-old goofball in all of us. We’ve known that there are more models coming down the pipeline: either all-out N cars—in the case of the Veloster, the Elantra, and now the Kona—or as moderately massaged N line cars, such as the Sonata and (again) the Elantra.

The N treatment goes something like this: bigger engine, bigger boost, and bigger attitude. The Veloster N boasts a turbocharged, direct-injected 2.0-liter inline-four good for 275 hp (Hyundai made the Performance Pack standard for the 2021 model year). We expect the Kona to offer a similar powertrain combo, but there’s an outside chance that it will crib the 290-horse, 2.5-liter turbo-four from the Sonata N Line.

While the Veloster N gets a manual—a feature we expect to see on the Elantra N—we’re skeptical that the Kona N will. With the introduction of an eight-speed dual-clutch automatic to the Veloster N, the Kona N will likely be automatic-only.

Bummed? Don’t be. A recent stint behind the wheel of a DCT-equipped Veloster N showed us that the nothing could dim the joy of the Veloster’s well-sorted powertrain and suspension. Expect the Kona to be a snarly bugger, automatic aside. Hyundai has not released any details on pricing or on-sale date at this time.

As more and more automakers send small, fun cars the way of the dodo, we applaud Hyundai for doing the exact opposite. Long live fizzy buzzboxes and their new, slightly taller siblings.

The post Hyundai teaser video confirms that the Kona N is en route appeared first on Hagerty Media.

Jeep’s best-selling model is growing up, and not a moment too soon. Amidst a mid-size SUV battle that’s red-hot and getting hotter, the automaker just announced its next-generation Grand Cherokee. The big news? A new variant with, at long last, a third row of seating. (The “normal” two-row model, plus a hybrid version, will debut later this year.) The seven-seater will be called the Grand Cherokee L, and it’s aimed squarely at the Chevy Traverse and Ford Explorer.

As first impressions go, the new Grand Cherokee is promising. The SUV is handsome, free of fussy body lines. Compared to the current Grand Cherokee, the 2021 model is more upright, but the design evolution feels like a measured progression rather than a jarring case of punctuated equilibrium. As with the Grand Wagoneer concept, the seven-sectioned grille is canted slightly forward. Here, it features active shutters to alter airflow in the name of efficiency. The vehicle’s squared-off design and low beltline come courtesy of an all-new vehicle architecture.

You can have your Grand Cherokee L in one of four trims: Laredo, Limited, Overland (pictured in red), or the aptly-named Summit (pictured in grey), in ascending order of poshness. The Summit and Overland trims, in particular, seem stacked with every ritzy feature imaginable. Judging by the sheer amount of available options, we suspect the Grand Cherokee L is aiming further upmarket than just the Traverse or the Explorer—we’re getting major stealth-wealth vibes (especially with the range-topping Summit Reserve package), so don’t be surprised if one pops up in your country club parking lot.

This being a Jeep, there must be at least the potential for off-road shenanigans. To that end, the new Grand Cherokee L will offer three different 4×4 systems: Quadra-Trac I, Quadra-Trac II, and Quadra-Drive II. All three systems feature an active transfer case to shuffle torque front and back, depending on which axle can more effectively use it. Quadra-Trac I features a single-speed transfer case, while Quadra-Trac II offers a two-speed transfer case with a 2.72:1 low gear ratio. The top-shelf Quadra-Drive II includes the two-speed transfer case plus an electronic limited-slip rear differential. Quadra-Drive II will be optional on Overland 4×4 models as part of the Off-Road Group (which also nets you steel underbody armor and 18-inch wheels with all-season performance tires) and comes standard on all range-topping Summit models.

All Grand Cherokee Ls come with four-corner independent suspension. With the optional Quadra-Lift air suspension, owners can raise and lower their Grand Cherokee Ls up to 4.17 inches thanks to five different height settings: Normal, which offers 8.3 inches of ground clearance; Off-road 1, which offers 9.9 inches of ground clearance; Off-road 2, which brings 10.9 inches of ground clearance (and up to 24 inches of water fording depth); Park mode, which lowers the vehicle down to just 6.5 inches off the ground; and Aero mode, which drops the ride height to 7.5 inches to bolster fuel economy. Riding high in Off-Road 2, the Grand Cherokee L boasts approach, departure, and breakover angles of 30.1 degrees, 23.6 degrees, and 22.6 degrees, respectively.

Jeep’s Selec-Terrain traction management system is included, as well. The five-mode system (Auto, Sport, Rock, Snow, Mud/Sand) acts as the nerve center for the driving experience, modulating everything from the steering to the throttle responsiveness to the shift mapping. Hill-descent Control comes standard on Overland and Summit models and does exactly what you’d expect. It works in both forward and reverse, too.

Buyers can choose from two powertrains: The ubiquitous 3.6-liter Pentastar V-6, or a 5.7-liter V-8. Ye olde Pentastar is good for 290 horsepower and 257 lb-ft of torque and a 6200-pound max towing capacity. The better news is the 5.7-liter V-8, available only on the Overland and Summit trims and good for 357 horsepower and 390 lb-ft of torque. This burly V-8 will bring a class-leading towing capacity of 7200 pounds. The only gearbox offered is—you guessed it—the TorqueFlite eight-speed automatic.

Inside, occupants will be swaddled in all manner of luxurious accoutrements. A slick metal accent stretches the width of the instrument panel, sweeping upward at either end as it nears the door. Overland and Summit trims enjoy nifty open-pore wood inserts on the dash and front doors. Massaging front seats are available in the Overland trim and standard on the Summit. Because just one or two temperatures won’t satisfy a herd of fussy kids, the Summit trim offers four-zone climate control.

There’s heaps of tech—useful tech, too. For the driver, a 10.25-inch digital cluster full of two dozen menus and a large heads-up display to keep pertinent information at eye-level with the road. For both driver and passenger, a 10.1-inch centrally-mounted touchscreen to manage all infotainment duties including the important things like the wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto. Audiophiles can opt for the Overland or Summit trims and spec the 950-watt, 19-speaker McIntosh audio system.

You have a choice of two captain’s chairs or a single bench seat in the third row. With the 50/50-folding third row laid down, there’s 46.9 cubic feet of storage; fold the second row flat too, and you’ll get 84.6 cubic feet of gear-swallowing capacity. You’re more likely to need those seats for child stowage, however, which makes Jeep’s rear-seat-monitoring camera a thing of beauty for concerned parents worried about their spawn quarreling on the way to the next national park. If you reach mission critical, you can plug Jimmy’s tablet into one of twelve USB Type A or Type C ports located around the rear cabin.

You’re forgiven if you’re getting flashbacks to the Grand Wagoneer concept unveiled last fall; we thought the same thing. Nevertheless, Jeep assures us that while the two rides may share some of the same boxy design language, these are two separate vehicles built on their own platforms to serve different sets of customers.

“We are confident Wagoneer will make ‘American Premium’ the standard of sophistication, authenticity, and modern mobility,” says a Jeep spokesperson. A helpful point of delineation: The Grand Wagoneer is expected to be a body-on-frame vehicle (likely utilizing the Ram 1500 frame), while the Grand Cherokee L rides on a steel unibody frame. To draw another parallel, expect this to play out something like the Chevy Tahoe and the Chevy Traverse.

The Grand Cherokee L will be built in FCA’s new Mack Assembly plant right in Detroit. Jeep says the first units will arrive in dealer showrooms the second quarter of 2021. As of this writing, Jeep made no mention of pricing for the Grand Cherokee L, but we expect the price to vary significantly based on which trim level you specify. The debut of the two-row Grand Cherokee and its 4xe electrified powertrain will arrive later this year.

When you aren’t first—or even mid-pack—you better bring it in this fiercely contested segment. By the looks of it, Jeep came ready to battle.

The post Jeep unveils new, three-row 2021 Grand Cherokee L appeared first on Hagerty Media.

Jim Pace, the overall winner of the 1996 24 Hours of Daytona and a much-beloved figure in motorsport, died on November 13 in Memphis, Tennessee, after contracting COVID-19. He was 59 years old.

Born on February 1, 1961, in Monticello, Mississippi, Pace’s racing career began in 1988 in the Barber Saab Pro Series. He next moved to sports car racing and won the GTU class at the 1990 24 Hours of Daytona. In 1996 at the Rolex 24, he codrove with Wayne Taylor and Scott Sharp to overall victory piloting a Doyle Racing Oldsmobile Riley & Scott Mk III campaigned by Riley Motorsports.

Pace followed up that overall Rolex 24 victory in 1996 by winning the 12 Hours of Sebring in the same car with Taylor and Eric van de Poele. He earned his third victory of that season at Texas World Speedway, codriving with Taylor. Pace also raced in the 24 Hours of Le Mans in 1996, teamed up once more with Taylor and Sharp. They finished 33rd when their car went out with transmission problems.

After years of competing only at Daytona, in 2007 Pace returned to regular drives in the Rolex Sports Car Series GT class. In 2008 he drove a Porsche 911 for The Racer’s Group, and in 2009, he drove for Farnbacher Loles Racing.

In addition to his long list of racing accomplishments, Pace recently also had become interested in vintage and historic sports car racing. In 2015 he acquired an ownership stake in the Historic Sportscar Racing series. At this year’s historic races at Road America in Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin, Pace survived a crash in a vintage 1974 Shadow DN4 Can-Am car, which flipped over and skidded upside down for nearly a quarter-mile before coming to a stop. Pace walked away.

Noting Pace’s passing, IMSA President John Doonan says: “Racer, teacher and loyal friend. These are the words to describe Jim Pace and the loss our sport feels today due to his passing. When it comes to racing and driving, Jim did it all and saw it all.”

“It’s shocking,” Taylor says in a post on the Facebook page of Historic Sportscar Racing. “He was probably one of the best teammates I ever had.’”

The Pace family has asked that any donations be made to Wounded Warriors or Alzheimer’s research in his name.

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A couple months on from the official unveiling of the fourteenth-generation Ford F-150, the truck fiends at Dearborn have revealed a few key specs for the upcoming version of America’s best-selling pickup. This being Ford’s soldier of fortune in The Truck Wars, it should come as no surprise that the 2021 F-150 tops the towing and payload charts.

The 2021 F-150 can tow up to 14,000 pounds when owners spec the 3.5-liter EcoBoost (the non-hybridized version; the hybrid version is called the PowerBoost) and the Max Trailer Tow Package and a rear-wheel drive configuration. Impressively, buyers can opt for the max hauler with either the SuperCab (cab-and-a-half) or the SuperCrew (crew cab). On the payload battlefront, Ford’s 5.0-liter V-8-equipped F-150 can lug a whopping 3325 pounds when outfitted with a regular cab, 8-foot box, rear-drive layout, and the Max Trailer Tow and Heavy-Duty Payload packages.

The biggest news of the next-gen F-150 is the hybridized PowerBoost setup, which pairs together Ford’s 3.5-liter twin-turbo V-6 with a 47-horse electric motor built into the 10-speed automatic transmission. The 1.5-kilowatt-hour lithium-ion battery charges via regenerative braking, helping to boost fuel economy. The one thing missing from the prior product launch? Full output figures for the new PowerBoost drivetrain; thankfully, the wait for those numbers is now over: 430 horsepower at 6000 rpm and a hefty 570 lb-ft of torque at 3000 rpm.

The hybrid tech is more than just a twist-enhancer. The Pro Power Onboard package—standard on all PowerBoost F-150s—offers 2.4 kilowatts of power or an optional 7.2 kilowatts of power through a 240-volt 30-amp outlet, for all of your plug-in hand tool needs while out on the job. Gas-only F-150s can enjoy a 2.0-kilowatt version of this built-in generator tech.

Ford massaged the 3.5-liter twin-turbo mill to produce 400 horsepower at 6000 rpm and 500 lb-ft of torque at 3100 rpm, jumps of 25 hp and 30 lb-ft, respectively. The 5.0-liter V-8 increases output by 5 horsepower and 10 lb-ft of torque, up to 400 horses and 410 lb-ft of torque. All six engines, from the fleet-favorite 3.3-liter V-6 up to the tech-savvy PowerBoost 3.5-liter Hybridized V-6 will have 10 forward cogs to dance through.

Ford says the 2021 F-150 should arrive in dealer lots this fall. There’s also a fully-electric F-150 coming in the next two years, which Ford says will boast a giant frunk and range-topping power numbers, like its gas and diesel brethren. Last July, Ford trotted out a battery-only F-150 prototype and lugged 1.25 million pounds of train cars stacked with additional F-150s, as a publicity stunt.

In the meantime, it certainly seems like the next-gen F-150 will have a model for everyone, and the capability to boot.

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After Fiat-Chrysler Automobiles (FCA) and the Peugeot Société Anonyme (PSA) Group announced their merger back in December of 2019, the companies announced via press release today a new parent company with a, let’s say, unique name: Stellantis. The name supposedly has astrological ties, according to the statement:

“Stellantis is rooted in the Latin verb ‘stello’ meaning ‘to brighten with stars’. It draws inspiration from this new and ambitious alignment of storied automotive brands and strong company cultures that in coming together are creating one of the new leaders in the next era of mobility while at the same time preserving all the exceptional value and the values of its constituent parts.”

This move is largely a symbolic and logistical one. Corporate housekeeping. FCA and PSA makes and vehicles will retain their current branding, leaving the Stellantis Group as the umbrella for the two conglomerates. (Although a minivan called the Stellantis Pacifica is almost so bad it’s good. Actually, nevermind.) The intent is to reinforce the intended equal partnership of the new automotive supergroup. At least for now, most people are making jokes that it sounds like one of the medications advertised between Wheel of Fortune and Jeopardy!

The “50:50 merger” verbiage in the release carefully sidesteps the infamous “merger of equals” between Chrysler and Mercedes-Benz back in 1998. The fateful combination ended up looking more like a takeover of Chrysler by the end, with Mercedes’ stake in the American automaker having grown to 80 percent. However, the clash of cultures and indifference towards each others’ products led to a resolute split; Chrysler was sold off to the Cerberus holding company, which would lose billions when Chrysler was ultimately scooped up by Fiat to form Fiat-Chrysler. While the FCA-forming merger brought Chrysler many much-needed small-car platforms, even their combined sales figures globally still trailed leaders like Toyota and Volkswagen. Bringing PSA Group’s volume into the mix means that Stellantis is now the fourth-largest automaker in the world, behind Volkswagen, Toyota, and General Motors (respectively), and about square with Ford Motor Company’s global sales.

Don’t worry, Stellantis’ promises there’s more to come—the next move is to reveal a logo “that will become the corporate brand identity.” If it’s some sort of astrological hybrid mash-up, let’s pray it never appears on a car.

The post PSA + FCA merger forms parent corporation called … Stellantis? appeared first on Hagerty Media.

A lot can happen in 50 years. Communist global superpowers can wither into dissolution, music can morph from a pizza-size record to an entirely digital medium, and an automaker from British Leyland can watch its most significant contribution to the automotive realm trade mud ruts for mall parking spots. The Range Rover turns 50 this year, and Land Rover has announced a highly-limited special edition model to commemorate the classic 4×4’s Golden Jubilee. It will be dubbed the Range Rover Fifty, and just 1970 examples will be made.

When the original Range Rover first broke cover on June 17, 1970, it was the brainchild of Rover Car Company’s engineering chief of new vehicle projects, Charles Spencer King, (who also happened to be the nephew of Land Rover’s founders.) He was searching for a middle ground offering between the on-road behavior of the Rover sedan and the off-road aptitude of the tractor-like Land Rover SUV.

Hailed from the get-go as the original luxury 4×4, the Range Rover has been the delivery vessel for some significant firsts for the automotive industry. In its debut 1970 model year, the Ranger Rover offered the first full-time four-wheel drive system. The following year, Range Rover would lead one of the boldest PR stunts ever by successfully traversing the Darién Gap. The 1989 update was the first 4×4 to feature anti-lock brakes, while the 1992 Range Rover brought about the first 4×4 with electronic traction control, as well as automatic electronic air suspension.

More than that, the 1970 Range Rover set the visual precedent that the brand still adheres to half a century later. The clamshell hood, floating roof, and split tailgate are all staples of the Range Rover visual ethos. That original shape was so desirable that the Range Rover became the first vehicle to be featured in the Louvre art museum in Paris, France, in 1971. Today, early Range Rovers are highly sought after—so much so that we gave it a spot in our 2020 Bull Market List.

Half a century after the original broke cover, the Range Rover Fifty arrives. It’s based on the ultra-luxurious Autobiography trim-level, and will be offered as either the regular- of long-wheelbase variants. Plebeian onlookers, ideally from the driver’s set of a standard Range Rover, will know you are one of the 1970 elite owners thanks to one of four exterior colors—each Fifty will wear Carpathian Grey, Rosello Red, Aruba, or Santorini Black exterior paint.

In true luxury fashion, there’s a level of exclusivity above the standard four-color palette. An extra-limited allotment of the Range Rover Fiftys will fall to the hands of Land Rover’s Special Vehicle Operations (SVO) team, who will slather them in 1 of 3 heritage exterior solid paints reproduced from the original Range Rover Palette: Tuscan Blue, Bahama Gold, and Davos White.

Additional exterior trimmings include two unique 22-inch wheel choices, and exterior contrast trim in what Range Rover calls “Auric Atlas.”

Inside, a bevy of “Fifty” badges—designed by Gerry McGovern, OBE, Land Rover’s Chief Creative Officer—adorn every surface you can think of, including the center console, the headrests, the dashboard, and the tread plates in the door sills. Each badge reminds passengers that the vehicle is “1 of 1970” around the world.

North America-bound examples will boast the 518-horsepower 5.0-liter supercharged V-8 found in other upper-echelon Rovers. Although there are no specifics on pricing yet, you can bet your well-curated record collection that this commemorative luxury off-roader will command a princely six-figure sum. For reference, the cheapest Range Rover Autobiography—upon which the Range Rover Fifty is based—starts north of $130,000.

Range Rover expects to announce pricing and additional specifications later this year, closer to the vehicle’s on-sale date.

Would you rather have the ultra-exclusive Range Rover Fifty, or one of the original 1970 Range Rovers? For our money it would have to be the latter, which has a timeless allure, but a long road-trip in the back of a Fifty sounds pretty outstanding right about now.

The post Range Rover celebrates 50 years with a limited run of 1970 “Fifty” models appeared first on Hagerty Media.

We’re really doing this, aren’t we? Earlier today, the Instagram page “contentment_cars” posted a photo of what appears to be the upcoming 2021 BMW M4.

Yep, there’s that grille.

https://www.instagram.com/p/CBDbFDkAsZC/

This past Monday, BMW pulled the silk off the next-generation 2021 4 Series, gaping grille and all. Munich’s reserving the reveal of the top-shelf M4 for a later date, but we’re expecting official tidbits about the spicier M4 to follow soon. Until more concrete details emerge, we can still glean a few details from the leaked photo above.

First, that massive grille, which was initially teased in the Concept 4 at last year’s Frankfurt Motor Show. It’s a squirrel-swallowing, black-straked void here, flanked by correspondingly blacked-out side skirts and wheels. From what we can see, it looks like the M4 will share headlights with its big brother the M8. The aggressive front bumper is certainly structured to breathe deeply, likely to huff as much air as possible for twin turbo chargers. (Why two? We expect BMW to continue the current M4’s twin-snail setup.) Towards the outside edges of the front clip, vertical channels are ready to funnel air towards massive brakes, which will likely come with carbon-ceramic rotors as optional, if not standard.

No word yet on the particulars of what powertrain we may see under the hottest 4-Series’ hood. In the past, the two-door M4 boasts the same mill as the four-door M3; currently, that’s a 3.0-liter, twin-turbo straight-six good for 425 hp and 406 lb-ft of torque. There’s a strong chance the new M4 will use the same six-pot that’s in the current X3 M and X4 M crossovers, meaning there’s potential for 473 hp and 442 lb-ft of torque—at the least, since that same powerplant clears the 500-horse mark in the X3 M Competition. If the rumors about the forthcoming M5 are true, could we see electrification come into play with the M4? That remains merely a question at this point, until BMW hands out official details.

Regardless, it looks like the buck-tooth grille is what we’ll see going forward. If you’re like me, it’s all you see; but beauty is in the eye of the beholder (hello, 2017-and-later Civic Type R owners). What do you think about the new M4? Let us know in the Hagerty Community below.

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Budding car designers usually interact with automakers once they join a well-established design school, but FCA’s outreach goes further. Founded in 2013 by Mark Trostle, head of design for Ram and Mopar, the Drive for Design contest awards prizes and a scholarship for the College for Creative Studies’ Pre-college Summer Experience in Detroit. The top three winners are invited to attend. This year’s theme was to advance the Ram truck brand, a valid notion considering just how popular/profitable trucks are these days.

First place winner (above) Job Skandera is a high school senior from Santa Clara, California. His theme includes Ram’s signature headlights and grille taken to the next level on a lifted, heavily tapered crew cab, short-bed body.

Second place went to Vincent Piaskowski, a high school junior from Birmingham, Michigan. His electrified truck design shows excellent surface rendering lines at every corner, with a front end paying homage to the Ram Rebel. The body sports an innovative use of painted panels and a lightweight bed, not to mention a pretty radical A-pillar treatment.

Third place went to Alex David Kirschmann, a high school junior from Auburn Hills, Michigan. His creation eschews the traditional pickup hood, taking the Ram brand’s DNA to the world of cab-over trucks. His design transforms the cab-over from a workhorse appliance to an activity vehicle heavily influenced by radical angles and geometric shapes. The Challenger-worthy rear taillight is an excellent touch, too.

FCA’s Drive for Design is a wonderful initiative that, quite frankly, I wish I could have experienced when I was a high school student. Perhaps Mark Trostle said it best:

“Automotive design is a growing field and often overlooked by parents and students, our goal is to inspire and change that perspective. There are many career paths available within automotive design where young designers will have the opportunity to create some of the most exciting and technologically advanced products on the road today, as well as create what’s possible for the future.”

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Continued caution over the COVID-19 outbreak has forced the postponement of The Great Race rally for two months in the interest of public safety. With many events hitting the pause button and moving directly to 2021, Great Race officials hope that the field of drivers and navigators will band together and make the slightly delayed event successful, if participants can adhere to CDC guidelines.

The rally was originally scheduled for June 20–28, along a route that begins in San Antonio, Texas, and ends in Greenville, South Carolina. Now the organizers and sponsors have selected an August 22 start. A final decision about whether or not the event can be held will be made on July 1.

“We admire our sponsors Hemmings, Hagerty, Coker Tire, and Reliable Carriers for their commitment to getting everyone back in their cars as safely as possible,” says Legendary Companies, which owns TheGreat Race CEO Wade Kawasaki. “After all, there is no place safer than your own car, and that’s where Great Racers are 90 percent of the time during this great backroad adventure.”

The Great Race has been in close communication with state and local officials along the route to discuss how the event—which typically gathers significant crowds at the lunch and dinner stops—can still occur while ensuring public safety. The core of the event is the driver and navigator pairs executing the precision driving alone on the road, but the character of the event is really captured in the lunch and dinner stops, where the public gets to interact with the cars and participants.

“I’m pleased to announce that all of our Grand Champions, as well as a majority of the race teams, volunteers, and staff, have agreed to the new schedule,” says event director Jeff Stumb. “We look forward to having a full field for the start of the 2020 Great Race in front of the Alamo on August 22.”

As a two-time participant (once successfully, the other time less so) while driving Hagerty’s 1917 Peerless Green Dragon, it is exciting to still have a chance to go “on the clock” again this year, but the restrictions may hamper what some participants see as the most fun part of the event. If public contact is limited, this year could potentially be more competitive than ever, with drivers and navigators getting more rest and having to deal with fewer distractions and less fatigue on the course.

Whether or not the rally happens this fall, solo and household drives are keeping some folks sane currently, so I have no doubt that the drivers and navigators will happily be preparing for the delayed rally. With the highly interesting array of cars that typically gathers at the start line, communities across the country will be enjoying one-car parades for some time. And that isn’t so bad.

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Audi recently announced a slew of updates for many of its 2021 model year cars. The name of the game? Technology. While nearly all of Audi’s existing models are getting some type of tweak, we’ve identified a few noteworthy changes to specific models.

Both the low- and high-output variants of the turbocharged 2.0-liter turbocharged four-cylinder engine that power the Audi A4, and its sleeker A5 sibling, receive a 12-volt mild hybrid system and a 13-horsepower bump, bringing their outputs to 201 and 261 horsepower, respectively. (The low-output version is denoted by the 40 in an A4/A5’s nameplate, and the high-output version brings a 45 badge on the back. Yes, it’s as confusing as it sounds.) The 2021 A5 model range also grows, adding a lower-output A5 40 Sportback to join the existing A5 45 Sportback. Also new for 2021, even the lowliest of A4s will receive Quattro all-wheel drive, which comes standard on every A5 model.

Inside, revised equipment packages will bring wireless Apple CarPlay standard to across the A4 and A5 model line. There’s also a slick integrated toll module built into the rearview mirror, which, for compatible toll roads, will take the place of those cumbersome plastic transponder boxes.

For larger sedans like the A6, and its better-looking cousin, the A7, adaptive cruise control and Audi Lane Assist are now standard on the mid-level Premium Plus trim. The sportier S6 and S7 now arrive on 21-inch wheels and summer tires as standard, along with Audi’s brilliant Virtual Cockpit Plus digital instrument cluster.

The Audi TT soldiers on another year, contrary to a rumor that circulated in March of 2019, gaining some impressive standard features for 2021. The TT and TTS will now get S sport seats trimmed in Nappa leather, MMI Navigation Plus, and a Bang & Olufsen sound system, among other tech features. The standard TT’s standard 18-inch wheels will now be fitted with all-season tires, but should buyers want that extra grip, there is now a standalone option for 19-inch wheels with summer tires. Step up to the sportier TTS, however, and 20-inch wheels clad in sticky summer rubber are standard. Buyers of the drop-top TT Roadster will now be able to enjoy open-air cruises deeper into the fall, thanks to standard neck-level heating, which is far less creepy than it sounds.

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You’ve got to admire the earnestness with which a five-year-old moves through life. At that age, decision trees have two, maybe three branches. “Can I have this?” is the question often posed to an authority figure, and for the most part, the matter is settled one way or the other. For five-year-old Adrian Zamarripa from Ogden, Utah, however, the gears of a a workaround started turning after a parent said “no.”

On Monday afternoon, a trooper from the Utah Highway Patrol (UHP) pulled over a white Dodge Journey on Interstate 15, suspecting an impaired driver. Instead, the police officer found Adrian behind the wheel. His explanation for his escapade? He flew the coop with the family SUV after an argument with his mom, in which she told him she would not buy him a Lamborghini. He had simply decided to take matters into his own hands, explaining that he was headed to California to buy one himself. Turns out, he may have had some difficulty actually procuring the Lambo once he got to California—he had just $3 in his wallet.

His story is that he left home after an argument with Mom, in which she told him she would not buy him a Lamborghini. He decided he'd take the car and go to California to buy one himself. He might have been short on the purchase amount, as he only had $3 dollars in his wallet.

— Utah Highway Patrol (@UTHighwayPatrol) May 4, 2020

Adrian might get some points for his can-do attitude, but we’re glad this ill-advised adventure didn’t result in anything worse than a confused cop and an awkward discussion with the kindergartner’s parents. According to a local KUTV news story on the matter, the police are interviewing Adrian’s parents to gather evidence in the case, and it is unclear whether anyone will face charges on the matter.

The UHP dash cam footage of the stop is posted below:

As often happens in the car world, the story has sparked an outpouring of support for the five-year-old’s ambitions. Adrians’ family has received multiple offers from Lamborghini owners inviting the young boy to come for a ride-along, this time in the passenger’s seat, and as KUTV reports, Adrian has since gotten the chance to experience what his three bucks and strong will almost netted him earlier this week.

ICYMI: A day after 5-year-old Adrian stole his parents' SUV to drive to California to buy a Lamborghini — he got to take a ride in one.https://t.co/FLjRaFCKbp

— KUTV2news (@KUTV2News) May 6, 2020

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Sporting events all over the world have been canceled due to the coronavirus pandemic, and that includes NASCAR, which hasn’t held a race since March 8. That might be changing in the next few weeks, however, as NASCAR is apparently intending to resume racing on May 17.

According to multiple team sources, NASCAR has floated a variety of plans on restarting racing, and earlier this week the series distributed a schedule to teams that is likely to be announced officially later this week. This schedule points to a May 17 start—without fans—at Darlington Raceway in South Carolina, where the NASCAR Cup Series will hold a 400-mile race.

Darlington Raceway is a strategic choice of location. Restrictions related to the pandemic aren’t as stringent in South Carolina as in some neighboring states, and some government officials in the region are reportedly in support of NASCAR’s plans. According to SCnow.com, North Carolina Governor Roy Cooper is permitting teams to begin preparations for racing on May 1, provided social distancing measures are followed. On top of that, NASCAR’s approach hinges on minimizing travel; most of the first few events on the calendar—including Darlington—are within driving distance of Mooresville, North Carolina, which is the area where many of the team shops are located.

Based on the information from our sources, NASCAR is planning to host races at Darlington, Charlotte, Martinsville, Bristol, Atlanta, and Miami with the schedule tentatively set as follows:

May 17th – Darlington – 400 mile race

May 20th – Darlington – 310 mile race

May 24th – Charlotte – 310 mile race

May 27th – Charlotte – 600 mile race

May 30th – Martinsville

June 3rd – Bristol

June 7th – Atlanta

June 14th – Miami

Keen observers will notice a few details in the schedule above. First, there are midweek dates, and NASCAR plans to run some races on Wednesdays. Another detail—the first four races have a set distance, which suggests detailed plans in place for these four events. The second half of the schedule is likely still in the planning stages, working within the demands state rules as well as travel demands. The Martinsville date of May 30 is still in question; one of our sources states that NASCAR has yet to receive support from the Virginia government for the event.

[UPDATE: According to a report from Autoweek, NASCAR is expected to make its schedule announcement later today, and in addition to the dates indicated above there will be an Xfinity race at Darlington on May 19, as well as an ARCA race at Charlotte on May 23.]

Darlington is just over a two-hour drive from the Mooresville area, which makes it a prime choice for the first event. Since it is within driving distance, teams should be able to drive directly to the track. Such an arrangement allows for a one-day event instead of a two- or three-day affair, as usual, which will mean that practices and qualifying will be reduced or even eliminated.

Holding back-to-back races at the first two tracks should also allow teams to load up multiple cars and leave them at each track after the first event, minimizing time in the shop. The teams already have intermediate cars ready and loaded up (they were prepared for the races at Atlanta and Homestead) which should minimize initial prep for Darlington. In general, however, the truck drivers are likely to be the busiest over the course of this proposed schedule; they’re responsible for hauling the equipment to each track, unpacking it, and then packing everything up the same day before heading back to the shop in order to switch cars out for the next race.

The exact plan for sessions at the tracks is still up in the air, but the likely approach is to hold a single practice/qualifying session and then impound the cars after technical inspection so that teams don’t spend time working on them prior to the race.

According to one of our sources, the plan for Darlington is to host it as a Cup-only event and to split the teams between the Cup and Xfinity garages on site. Splitting the teams in this manner would allow for enhanced social distancing procedures, with an empty garage stall between each car and minimized contact between teams.

Additional social distancing and testing precautions are expected, but it is not clear how NASCAR plans to conduct testing. Team limits are also expected to be put in place, with some estimates stating that each team will be limited to 10 personnel. Such measures might be further enhanced if pit stops or other procedures are adjusted to make it less necessary for certain crew members to be present. NASCAR has 36 charter teams, so even with 10 people per team, that’s already 360 people without including any of the NASCAR officials, track and safety personnel, and many others, which make the total number of people on site rapidly climb.

Governor Cooper of North Carolina stated that they “believe, unless health conditions go down, that we can have the Coca-Cola 600 on Memorial Day weekend in Charlotte,” which is promising for the event’s running, provided conditions do not degrade in that state. All of that, however, comes with the caveat of county-level approval. There are many local “Stay-at-Home” orders, and Charlotte Motor Speedway lies in Cabarrus County, which is currently under a “stay-at-home” order that is set to expire on April 29.

Teams will likely need 8 to 10 days in order to prepare for the first race, so all teams would need to return to their shops by around May 9. We’re already seeing some counties loosening up their restrictions, as Mecklenburg county has allowed Joe Gibbs Racing to return to its shop.

County Manager Dena Diorio says Joe Gibbs Racing (the only racing team based in Meck County) is allowed back into their shop to get ready for the Coca-Cola 600

— Joe Bruno (@JoeBrunoWSOC9) April 28, 2020

NASCAR’s focus on returning to Cup Series racing would allow it to get races back on television as quickly as possible, satisfying their contracts as well as ensuring the business interests of their teams, many of which are waiting on payments from sponsors until they can go back to racing. Not much has been publicly stated about the Xfinity Series or the Truck Series, but according to our sources, NASCAR is considering staging the first races for those series in the days following the Coca-Cola 600 at the end of May.

All of these plans are very contingent on the overall situation in North Carolina and South Carolina. The landscape could suddenly change if things turn for the worse, or if NASCAR is unable to come up with a testing solution that satisfies local health officials near each track. We’ll be following along, and we freely admit that it would be comforting to see these cars turning laps again, even without a live crowd to enjoy the spectacle.

The post NASCAR prepares to resume racing May 17 appeared first on Hagerty Media.

In case you missed it last week, Ford Performance put the word out that it was having difficulty identifying an old mid-engine Mustang prototype from a series of images dating to 1966. Several ex-Ford employees and experts were stumped, but according to Jalopnik, Ford’s current archivist put the word out to the right people and came through with an answer.

Click above for the full background, but in short, there were several theories going around as to the origin of this unknown mid-engine pony, photographed at Ford’s International Design Center in Dearborn—but none of them really fit.

Ford’s retired Archives manager, Dean Weber, had tried for several years to figure out the story behind the prototype, unfortunately to no avail. If you’re wondering why Ford didn’t look up the images according to the ID numbers and match them up with its internal records, you’re not alone. Unfortunately, some years ago the original inventory was lost in a flood. Of the 350,000 styling negatives still in cold storage (currently inaccessible due to coronavirus quarantine), only 50,000 have been scanned, and the Archives team hasn’t gotten to 1966 yet as it works through the backlog.

Current Archives manager Ted Ryan hit up Jim Farrell, writer of a book on the Ford Design Department, hoping he’d recognize it or at provide a lead. As Jalopnik explains, Farrell responded:

“I’ve sent photos of the car to 13 designers or clay modelers that were at Ford in ’66. Bud Magaldi called and sent the attached 2 photos of the Mach 2. He says the license plate has the name on it. He got to Ford in June 1966. He says the chassis was started in ’66 and it took some time to get everything right. Several years later he sketched the body for the car, and the fiberglass body was built and put on the car. He says he remembers the chassis with the “roll bar” at the back of the doors, the slope of the windshield and the bumpers as Mustang. The photos are from Bud. To his recollection it’s the only mid-engine made at Ford. He also says it was an engineering project.

“Bud Magaldi also remembered the following: Car was done by Larry Shinoda in a small basement studio in secret. Bud helped design it in the evenings. Jerry Morrison was another designer involved, and Bob Huzzard was the studio engineer.”

One of the early theories about the ’66 prototype was that it was later re-skinned as the ’67 Mach 2 concept, but evidently what we’re dealing with here is a related but ultimately separate project. More from Bud Magaldi, via Jim Farrell:

“Bud looked on the internet and found pixs of the ’67 and ’70 Mach II. He says a whole bunch of memories came back to him after seeing the 2 cars. He says the 1967 car was done because Bordinat wanted to market a sports car. The Mach II, or whatever they called it back in ’67, was another bite at the apple by Bordinat, but less expensive. Magaldi and Morrison worked on the first car and it was supposed to be done in secret. Bud says they were not supposed to talk about it. Magaldi says he needed the overtime because he and his wife were expecting a child. He said he liked the proportions of the first car. He thinks the 1970 car done by Shinoda may have been built on a bigger chassis (maybe GT40). He (Bud) often looked in on the Shinoda car because he had done the first one.

“According to Bud, Jerry Morrison was the lead designer on the ’67.”

The revelation that this was a hush-hush engineering project explains why it wasn’t widely recognized, but the Shinoda connection is fascinating, as well. Clearly there were a whole bunch of mid-engine Mustang ideas floating around at Ford in the late 1960s, none of which bore fruit to customers.

Thanks for sending in all of your ideas and posting them to the Hagerty Community! Hopefully we’ll hear back soon from Ford Performance to confirm the theory.

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With all evidence suggesting that future BMWs will inevitably arrive with the massive grille introduced with the 7 Series facelift and the X7, an image popped up on Twitter revealing what appears to be the front of the much-awaited 4 Series. Coming to you from Belgium, this leak also confirms where customers are supposed to mount their standard European license plates: right in the middle, breaking those huge twin intakes in half.

FUTURE BMW SERIE 4 ENFIN APERÇUE!
Attendue en 2021, cette future génération fait polémique, surtout après la présentation de la BMW Concept 4 et de ses grandes calandres.
Mais cette photo confirme donc que la future série 4 disposera bel et bien de cette nouvelle calandre.. pic.twitter.com/RZok7PyZ3G

— 𝖢 𝖮 𝖲 𝖳 𝖠. (@costa_carphoto) February 6, 2020

Of course, once BMW revealed its i4 EV concept and revamped logo (which won’t appear on any actual cars), it became fairly clear where the standard 4 Series would be heading. On the plus side, regardless of how you feel about this facia, this much real estate means engine and brake cooling shouldn’t be a problem, regardless of whether we’re talking about a 530-horsepower electric powertrain or the next M3/M4 pair packing over 500 of forced-induction horses.

In the past, BMW has indicated that this styling trend toward gigantic grilles is the result of demands from Chinese customers for more demonstrative design evolution between generations. The BMW Group’s design director remains Adrian van Hooydonk.

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Mazda is continuing to celebrate its centenary this year, and the Japanese brand’s heritage-flexing will include a new lineup of special-edition 100th Anniversary models. All vehicles done up in this Snowflake White Pearlescent exterior and burgundy interior pay homage to the upper-tier versions of the Mazda R360 microcar—the brand’s first passenger car, released in 1960.

Of course, a special edition would be utterly incomplete without badging, and on this front the Mazda 100th Anniversary models deliver. Don’t expect Jeep-level easter eggs and conspicuous badging, but the Mazda 100th Anniversary logo can be found on the sides of the vehicle, wheel centers, floor mats, key fob, and embossed into the headrests. The standard (non-RF targa) Miata will also get a sweet-looking Dark Cherry fabric convertible top. Really geeked out about that badge? Here’s what Mazda has to say about its significance:

“This special 100th Anniversary symbol overlays the current Mazda badge atop the original round logo of the Toyo Kogyo company. The design of which reflected the desire of Mazda founder Jujiro Matsuda to contribute to the world through engineering and the determination to constantly strive forwards.

Returning to his native city of Hiroshima having had a successful career in engineering in Osaka, where having started as an apprentice blacksmith, he founded his own foundry company, Matsuda joined the Toyo Cork Kogyo cork company. After renaming the company Toyo Kogyo in 1927, he led the company into machinery manufacturing, which ultimately led to the production of three-wheeled trucks, building the basis of the Mazda we know today.”

The full lineup of 100th Anniversary models will be, naturally, offered in Japan. Zoom-zoomers in the U.K. will start off with the Miata (MX-5) Convertible, CX-30, and CX-3, with the Mazda6 and CX-5 remaining under consideration for now.

As for those of us in North America, availability for these handsome-looking special editions is up in the air, courtesy of the coronavirus pandemic. “In the midst of the global crisis,” reads Mazda’s American press release, “U.S. availability of the 100th Anniversary Special Edition models has not been announced. Keep up to date with Inside Mazda for future information and news.”

Given the absurd speed with which the 30th Anniversary Miata sold out, we have little doubt that Mazda fans in North America would snap up these centennial models in no time. And if you’d like to toast Mazda’s twisty road to success on your own, this mega-gallery of archival images should sate your appetite for a while.

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Imagine having a name like “Mac Rebennack” and thinking that you probably needed an even cooler name to play music. That’s how Mac became “Dr. John, the Nite Tripper”. Most of you probably know him as the fellow who sang

I been in the right place/but it must have been the wrong time

Is this the wrong time to introduce a brand-new place to talk about cars? Let’s hope not, because that’s what we have right here, along with a new name. You’ve known this site as “Hagerty” for a while now. That’s cool, but “Hagerty Media” is even cooler—and from now on, you can just type in www.hagerty.com/media to visit us directly. As the director of this site, I’ll be your Dr. John and your guide to what we’re offering, both here on the Hagerty Media site and in our astounding (FREE ADVICE) and interesting (FREE ADVICE, TOO!) new community site. It goes a little something like this:

You can expect that we’ll have a lot more daily news, delivered earlier and later in the day. We will continue to bring you great car stories by all the contributors you’ve come to know: Jay Leno, Wayne Carini, Larry Webster, Don Sherman, Aaron Robinson, Patrick Bedard, and many others. We will be helping you share the story of your own cars and adventures with your friends and with the rest of the Hagerty Media community. More than a million and a half of you are already reading every month. That’s great! Bring your friends.

Want more? The new community site at community.hagerty.com is the place. If the old Web forums were Optisparked LT1 engines from the Nineties, this place is like an LS9. You can talk to us, talk to each other, and talk to the community of experts we will be bringing in to give you real-world-experience answers to your questions. Once we’re up and running, we will be selecting a Commenter of the Day each and every weekday. The other sites do that, too—but we are going to be handing out real prizes. Here’s an example: What if we could give you a new Ferrari 488GTB? That would be great, right? Well,  we can’t do that… but we might give you a chance to drive one at 150mph or beyond.

Oh, and we are finally giving you the chance to comment directly on the articles. That was long overdue.

In the months to come, we’ll be listening to your feedback and making the appropriate changes. So don’t be shy about speaking up.

Thanks for joining us on this journey. When I joined Hagerty a year ago, I knew that we’d eventually be able to offer our dedicated readers, members, and fans a way to build a community like no other. Thanks for your patience. Is this the wrong time for a new approach to automotive enthusiasm? That’s not for me to say—but I’ll tell you this: you’re in the right place.

The post Housekeeping: Welcome to Hagerty’s New Website And Community appeared first on Hagerty Media.

Chassis s/n 5076 is a special Lamborghini Miura not only because it’s a very late-model SV—and thus one of just 96 to utilize the far more reliable split oil sump system—but also because equipped with engine s/n 30745, it was delivered to the Saudi Royal Family featuring a pair of special aero canards at the front. When it left the factory on the 14th of September, 1972, this Miura SV was originally finished in Giallo Flay (yellow) with a black interior—only to be found in Riyadh under a stack of cardboard boxes in a warehouse in the early 2000s, showing just 2361 miles on the clock.

As it turns out, only two Miuras left Sant’Agata with these canards, with this former Saudi example landing in the U.S. in 2005 to get a full nut-and-bolt restoration at Boblieff Motorcars. During that two-year process, the car was changed from yellow over black to a metallic grey exterior with a two-tone orange cabin. In the spring of 2008, this immaculate SV was sold to an heir of a sprinkler manufacturing company living in the Pacific Palisades, only to change hands once again in 2010 and end up being registered in the UK by 2011.

Now offered by high-end specialist Joe Macari of London with 3578 original miles for an eye-watering $3.2 million, this is probably the lowest-mileage example of the 150 original Miura SVs made—and a Saudi Royal Family car that, despite the canards, wasn’t ordered with air-conditioning back in 1972.

The post Get yourself the unique Miura SV of the Saudi Royal Family appeared first on Hagerty Media.

This year was supposed to mark the North American International Auto Show’s new June event in Detroit, since show officials changed the longstanding January date traditionally held at the beginning of the auto show season. Instead, the 2020 show is canceled. According to an official statement from NAIAS, the Federal Emergency Management Agency is planning to convert the show’s venue—the TCF Center, formerly known as Cobo Hall—into a temporary field hospital to help deal with the COVID-19 pandemic.

“Although we are disappointed, there is nothing more important to us than the health, safety, and well-being of the citizens of Detroit and Michigan, and we will do what we can to support our community’s fight against the coronavirus outbreak,” said NAIAS Executive Director Rod Alberts. “With the more than 100 convention centers and facilities around the country being considered to potentially serve as temporary hospitals, it became clear to us that TCF Center would be an inevitable option to serve as a care facility to satisfy our community’s urgent health needs.”

According to the Facebook page for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Detroit District, various government officials were on location at the TCF Center over the weekend planning next steps for the repurpose plan. Yesterday, the Corps announced that FEMA issued its official assignment for the alternate care facility: “USACE is well underway in its coordination and planning efforts to adapt more than 250,000 square feet of the convention facility into medical care space.”

Those who purchased tickets for the 2020 NAIAS (whether for the public show, the industry preview, or the charity preview) will have the option to receive a refund or donate their paid fees to one of the nine organizations designated in the charity preview list of beneficiaries. Plans are moving forward for the June 2021 NAIAS in Detroit.

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The Greenwich Concours d’Elegance will have to wait until its 26th year to celebrate its 25th anniversary. Connecticut’s annual celebration of automotive excellence has been canceled for 2020, due to the outbreak of the COVID-19 virus. The event had been scheduled for May 30–31 at Roger Sherman Baldwin Park.

“We all love cars and the Greenwich Concours d’Elegance, which is a highlight of the year for thousands of car fans across the region and nation,” says McKeel Hagerty, chairman of the event. “But what matters most is the safety and well-being of our friends, families, and loved ones.”

Hagerty, whose company acquired the event last year and was preparing for its first go-around in May, says the Greenwich Concours d’Elegance will return in 2021 “with exciting classes and features.” In the meantime, once public health officials agree that it is safe to congregate again, Hagerty plans to “host local car events to engage and energize car and driving fans and whet their appetite for next year’s show.”

Sponsors, local officials, car owners, and vendors have been notified of the cancellation.

“I think everyone understands this is the wisest course of action,” says Mary Wennerstrom, executive director of the Concours and daughter of its founders, Bruce and Genia Wennerstrom. “They’re all disappointed, of course, as are we, because the Greenwich Concours is such a staple on the local event scene. But we’ll pour our energies into making the 2021 event the best ever.”

Showgoers who have purchased tickets will receive a full refund through Showclix.com within 7–10 business days.

The Greenwich Concours’ longtime charity partners, Americares and the Hometown Foundation, will not be forgotten. Hagerty is working to identify ways to raise money to fill the gap created by the event’s cancelation. For information, visit www.greenwichconcours.com.

The post Greenwich Concours d’Elegance canceled for 2020 appeared first on Hagerty Media.

The highly anticipated Sunnyland Antique Boat Festival, considered the unofficial kickoff to the classic boating season, has been postponed due to the “overwhelming impact of the Coronavirus.” It had been scheduled for March 19–22 in Tavares, Florida.

According to event chairman Terry Fiest, as recently as Friday, March 13, the City of Tavares remained in full support of the annual event being held on Lake Dora, as it has for nearly four decades. But after a weekend in which “things amped up considerably, the board [of directors] got together and unanimously voted to postpone,” Fiest says.

After the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) on Sunday recommended banning gatherings of 50 or more people—as well as restrictions and other expected closures by the State of Florida—Fiest says the decision was a “no brainer.”

“We’re disappointed, but it’s necessary. So much goes into preparing for a show like this, so who knows what will happen now,” Fiest says. “Our show is a small part of what the world is facing, and hopefully we can all pull together and get this behind us. With God’s blessing, we’ll defeat this virus and get back to boating.”

Fiest says show sponsors and ticket holders will be reimbursed, and the show will have to absorb what’s already been spent. Hoping to help ease the situation somewhat, woodyboater.com is encouraging supporters to donate their fees to the Sunnyland Chapter of the Antique and Classic Boat Society (ACBS), which sponsors the event.

The Sunnyland Antique Boat Festival has never been postponed or canceled, not even in 2018, when the event was held just a few months after Hurricane Irma wiped out the marina in Tavares, located 36 miles north of Orlando. Temporary docks were installed, and officials turned the festival into a giant beach party.

The show, the largest antique and classic boating event on the East Coast, has attracted as many as 250 boats from 28 states, but Fiest says that was B.I.—Before Irma. A team of 200 volunteers puts on the event each year; this year would have been its 39th.

For updates, log onto the ACBS Sunnyland Chapter website at acbs-sunnyland.org.

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Following the outright cancellation of the 2020 Geneva Motor Show due to the ongoing coronavirus outbreak, this year’s New York International Auto Show will be delayed until August. In an emailed statement, show officials confirmed that health and safety concerns were the main priority. The show generates more than $330M in economic value.

“We are taking this extraordinary step to help protect our attendees, exhibitors, and all participants from the coronavirus,” said Mark Schienberg, president of the Greater New York Automobile Dealers Association, which owns and operates the annual show at Manhattan’s Javits Center.

“For 120 years, ‘the show must go on’ has been heavily embedded in our DNA, and while the decision to move the show dates didn’t come easy, our top priority remains with the health and well-being of all those involved in this historic event. We have already been in communication with many of our exhibitors and partners and are confident that the new dates for the 2020 show will make for another successful event,” said Schienberg.

Many countries have issued instructions to postpone or cancel events with large attendance, and all over the world there are professional conferences, sporting events, concerts, and other gatherings affected by the growing health concern around coronavirus. Today, the World Health Organization officially designated the outbreak as a pandemic.

The show will be rescheduled to August 28–September 6, with the press days occurring August 26–27. New York International Auto Show officials say they will follow up with more information in the weeks ahead.

The post 2020 New York auto show delayed until August appeared first on Hagerty Media.

The first BAC Mono was presented in 2011 at the Retro Classics Show in Stuttgart, and Liverpool-based Briggs Automotive Company has added plenty of upgrades to its original design since. Yet through all of those running changes, the core idea remained the same, as it shall for the next decade: a futuristic single-seater body inspired by Björk’s 1999 All Is Full Of Love music video and made of lightweight composites, plenty of power from a peppy and compact four-cylinder engine, and outstanding performance on track without completely giving up on road usability.

BAC waved goodbye to the first-generation Mono One with this trio of special editions, and now, there’s a new kid in town.

While it might look similar to the previous-generation model, and not unlike the still-available Mono R, the newest Mono is different in some key ways. It sits lower to the ground, and it has a smaller frontal area to be more aerodynamic, as well as sleeker looking. It’s lighter, too, weighing 1256 pounds, thanks to BAC’s advances in the field of graphene-enhanced carbon fiber, new manufacturing technologies, and what the company calls “a ground-breaking generative-design wheel project” designed with software partner Autodesk.

With Ford’s 2.3-liter Ecoboost four-cylinder engine, the now-turbocharged, 336-horsepower Gen 2 Mono packs over 295 lb-ft of torque, while complying with the latest EU6D emissions and European drive-by-noise regulations. This development is a first for the brand and will open up plenty of new markets, something that perhaps wouldn’t be possible using a naturally-aspirated powertrain.

Also new is a 0.78-inch drop in height along with a 0.98-inch increase in length. The redesigned body panels reduce drag, and the Mono’s dry-sump lubrication, uprated chassis, and beefier transmission and driveline components will be more than up to the task on track. The car’s center of gravity has also been lowered, thanks to BAC repositioning the fuel tank.

How about those fancy wheels? Well, the new set is 35 percent lighter than before, saving 2.69 pounds of reciprocating, unsprung mass by weighing just 4.85 pounds at the axle. In other areas, over 40 components are 3D-printed. which in total make the car 22 pounds lighter than the first-generation, despite adding a turbocharger.

To complete the package, BAC threw in new LED lights, twin-strut wing mirrors, and a different rear crash box for a narrower tail, incorporating new combination fog and reverse lights. Tick the optional full carbon body, and you’re looking at a 0-60 mph run in 2.7 seconds, along with a top speed of 170 mph.

All BAC will ask in exchange for this lightweight track machine is a sum north of $215,000. Before making up your mind, you should consider that the new Mono remains a lot cheaper than running an old Formula 1 car, not to mention that it’s also capable of a casual drive to your local coffee shop. Just don’t forget to bring your stylish helmet.

The post New-generation BAC Mono packs a turbo, plus 336 hp in a 1256-pound body appeared first on Hagerty Media.

Given how much I love TVR as a brand, I’ve been trying to keep a close eye on the new Griffith project ever since company boss Les Edgar announced the brand will be “roaring back.” And it all seemed fine at first glance. TVR secured a V-8 deal with Ford and Cosworth, a composite chassis using Gordon Murray’s iStream technology, and after a bit of a delay, the red Griffith prototype got a big reveal at the 2017 Goodwood Revival, surrounded by all of the rarest TVR prototypes. But then came trouble.

Not unlike fellow British startup INEOS, TVR wants to set up its factory in Wales, a country which has been actively lobbying to create new jobs in high-unemployment areas. Initially, TVR plans to hire 80 people, gradually building up its staff to 200 heads once production is at full throttle. Yet when we look at the product that was first promised for “late 2018” deliveries, it’s hard to imagine 200 happy faces at TVR.

With all 500 of the launch edition cars supposed to be “pre-sold,” TVR made a single Griffith so far. On the plus side, the red prototype has been registered as a TVR since, now wearing the British plates UK69 TVR. This makes the new TVR company a valid carmaker, even if only by a hair.

The biggest obstacle between the dream and series production seems to be the proposed plant itself. The former Techboard factory was supposed to be refurbished for TVR’s purposes by now, but experts first found the derelict building to be full of asbestos, which then had to be removed as toxic waste. After this complication, the European Union pointed out that the Welsh government’s three-percent stake in TVR is a touch problematic, not to mention that bidding for the construction work must go out to the entire EU, not just to local firms.

Two and a half years after the Griffith’s public debut, TVR made the following announcement:

“The planning application has now been submitted for our new 200-mph Griffith Supercar Factory in Ebbw Vale (Wales). The application has been sent to Blaenau Gwent County Borough Council detailing refurbishment of the former Techboard factory on Rassau Industrial Estate, which will become the manufacturing home of the new Griffith.”

Those who paid a deposit just keep looking at their calendars.

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America’s Presidential election process could learn a thing or two from the efficient method used to winnow 800 entrants at this year’s Detroit Autorama spectacle down to a single best-in-show Ridler award winner. According to event co-chairman and chief judge Butch Patrico, the first step is thinning the herd of 21 hopefuls down to the Great 8 group of finalists.

That phase took place as entrants arrived at the TCF Center (formerly Cobo Hall) February 27–28 in preparation for the public opening at noon on Friday, February 28. A crack team of six judges inspected the premier hand raisers while they proved their cars capable of propelling, steering, and braking themselves on a several-hundred-foot-long indoor “road course.” Towering Great 8 banners showcased these semi-finalists, which were positioned near the entrance portals to command the attention of every Autorama visitor.

The Ridler winner was announced at the final awards ceremony on Sunday, March 1. From start to finish, the whole process took only three days. And the winner of the $10,000 top prize, sponsored by Meguiar’s car-care products? A radically customized 1963 Chevrolet Bel Air station wagon appropriately named IMPRESSIVE.

Although this is the 68th year for the Detroit show, the Ridler award was inaugurated in 1964 to commemorate the role that Don Ridler played in promoting the event to national prominence. This esteemed Michigan Sports Hall of Fame member was not only a capable athlete and coach, his creativity was instrumental in elevating the visibility of numerous entertainment groups as well as Michigan’s best dead-of-winter excuse to toast custom cars, trucks, motorcycles, and a speedboat or two at the Detroit convention center.

The judging team ultimately agreed that the custom 1963 Chevy wagon constructed by the father-and-sons team of Brad, Brady, and Cory Ranweiler was indeed the most IMPRESSIVE. What’s so impressive about this two-box family hauler? Its tasteful elegance; its long, sleek lines; its conservative use of bright accents; its magnificent oxblood leather interior; and, most of all, the brilliant black paint job. Judges and spectators alike agreed that every IMPRESSIVE detail was perfected to the fare-thee-well.

The Ranweilers’ livelihood is their Show Cars Automotive business, in New Ulm, Minnesota, which sells restoration parts for 1958–64 Chevy Impalas. In 2010, Brad Ranweiler declared the moment right to customize the 1963 Bel Air four-door wagon rattling around their business. The father’s creativity and inspiration, blended with his sons’ hard work and dedication, turned into a decade of effort. Add up their hours of sweat and contributions from sympathetic suppliers and you’ve got a trophy winner they estimate is worth $2.5 million.

Not much of the core car survived the journey to the IMPRESSIVE finished product. The chassis is a custom design by Art Morrison Enterprises on a 121.0-inch wheelbase with Uni-Steer Performance and Chassisworks electrically assisted rack-and-pinion steering. The front suspension is a control arm design, while the live Ford rear axle is located by four trailing links. Evod Custom Industries manufactured the gorgeous 8×18-inch front and 12×20-inch rear aluminum wheels shod with Pirelli radial tires. Wilwood supplied the 14-inch disc brake rotors and calipers.

A 409-cubic-inch Chevrolet V-8 was bored and stroked to 509 cubic inches, in-house. Edelbrock aluminum heads with Hilborn electronic fuel injection, David Walser nose cone air cleaners, and a Joe Hunt Magnetos billet distributor yield 615 horsepower and 685 lb-ft of torque. The multi-layer valve covers provide the clearance needed for the roller rocker arm valve train and a means of hiding the ignition wires. GP Headers built the 2-inch headers and 3-inch exhaust pipes out of stainless steel. The transmission is a GM 4L80E automatic supplied by TCI Automotive. Griffin Thermal Products supplied the custom radiator and cooling fan components. The stainless steel fuel cell is by Rick’s Tanks.

By the time the body shell was switched to a more svelte two-door configuration and channeled over the new frame, only snippets of the factory sheet metal remained. The hood is new, the Dynacorn International front fenders are welded in unit with the main shell, bumpers are modified for a tighter fit with their surrounding sheet metal, and the roof is altered. Dropping the roof height three inches and relocating the B-pillars rearward necessitated totally different pillars, glass contours, and bright trim components.

The grille began as a 1000-pound chunk of aluminum but ended up as 69 separate bar-and-surround pieces. When a dozen or so parts farmed out to fabricators returned with expensive invoices attached, Cory Ranweiler signed up for a two-week training course to polish his CNC machining skills. This allowed him to craft the next 320 metal parts totally in-house. 

The greatest challenge, according to Brady Renweiler, was perfecting the black paint job, which is precisely why that color was selected from the beginning. Brad Renweiler brought to the party 40 years of painting experience and challenged his sons to aim for perfect surfaces before the first drop of PPG paint was sprayed. The sanding and polishing process lasted years. A chunk of aluminum measuring 6-feet long by a half-inch thick, wrapped with sandpaper, eliminated any hint of waviness in the long side-body panels.

M&M Hotrod Interiors created the black, burgundy, and chrome inside trim. Evod Industries machined the steering wheel parts as well as the custom tail lamp rings. The billet switchgear came from Watsons Streetworks, and the custom instruments are by Dakota Digital. Advanced Plating applied a sparkling finish to the custom trim parts, which were made by the Ranweilers. The in-car entertainment system is by Kenwood USA and Kicker Performance.

There’s no doubt that the creative force behind this project exceeded some ambitious goals. The boys made their father proud and vice versa. Their Ridler win proves it was a decade very well spent.

The post IMPRESSIVE: 2020 Detroit Autorama Ridler winner’s name says it all appeared first on Hagerty Media.

Alfa Romeo is celebrating its 110th anniversary this year, starting off with the launch of two new Giulia variants—the GTA and GTAm. Limited to 500 units combined, these street-legal four-doors are the spiritual successors of the aluminum-bodied Gran Turismo Alleggerita Giulias of 1965, which were prepared by works team Autodelta to provide the ultimate in four-cylinder fury. The new cars, however, are based on the already lively 505-hp Giulia Quadrifoglio, now with 540-horsepower V-6s connected to a central Akrapovič exhaust system made of titanium.

Should you choose the GTAm variant, your rear seats will be gone, in exchange for a complete track package including a half-cage. With every option ticked, overall weight is reduced by a respectable 220 pounds, resulting in a 3351-pound sports sedan.

Hardcore variant and base turbocharged 2.0-liter four-cylinder alike, the Alfa Romeo Giulia remains arguably the best-handling sedan out there—and probably the prettiest. So why don’t you see more of them? Bad publicity resulting from too many of the range-topping Quadrifoglios malfunctioning during press loans did not help.

Alfa also remains a niche brand in the U.S., without the years of customer trust and dealer infrastructure that Lexus, Audi, BMW, and Mercedes-Benz enjoy. To combat these factors, GTA and GTAm customers will get special treatment. Throughout a dedicated sales process, Alfa Romeo’s sales pitch for its flagship new product includes a Bell helmet in special GTA livery, a full racing set by Alpinestars (race suit, gloves, and shoes), and a personalized Goodwool car cover. In addition, Alfa Romeo throws in a driving course devised by the Alfa Romeo Driving Academy. After all, between those Autodelta badges, the GTA models pack 540 hp from their Ferrari-based V-6s, all routed to the rear wheels, which means preparation is advisable.

To match the improvements in the power and exhaust sound departments, Alfa Romeo revised the Giulia’s aero and suspension package, ending up with more carbon fiber and additional downforce. Alfa claims the know-how came from its Formula 1 partners at Sauber. The GTA body kit features bigger side skirts, a unique rear spoiler and active front splitter, and a carbon-fiber rear diffuser with the titanium Akrapovič central exhaust integrated into it. Under those carbon wheel arch extensions at the rear, you’ll find 20-inch center-lock wheels. The track has also been widened by almost 2 inches at both ends to work harmoniously with the new springs, dampers, and bushings.

Alfa agrees that on the track-ready GTAm variant, “the aerodynamic front piece has been optimized to an extreme level.” That translates to an even larger front splitter and a real carbon rear wing, something the standard GTA buyer won’t have to worry about in an urban environment.

Those looking forward to spending more time at the track will be happy to know that along with the GTA’s carbon-fiber drive shaft, hood, roof, front bumper, front wheel arches, and rear wheel arch inserts, the GTAms also come with a full Alcantara-trimmed interior, carbon bucket seats with six-point Sabelt harnesses, Lexan side and rear window frames, and a mid-mounted fire extinguisher.

Whether you go with the Giulia GTA or GTAm, Alfa’s launch control and ZF torque converter will send these rear-drive cars from zero to sixty in 3.6 seconds. Yet that’s hardly the main reason why you’d want one. For better reasons, please scroll through the gallery, and try to appreciate the real engineering underneath all the awkward renders obviously adapted from previous Giulia QV press shots:

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The Oscar Meyer Weinermobile has been hot-dogging around our website a lot lately, as we continue to be enamored with the giant sausage on wheels and its antics. Some of those stories are pretty awesome, like the opportunity to sleep in one for a night. Others are less so, like the rolling wiener that was grilled by the Wisconsin highway patrol. However, since most of us can’t cut the mustard and score a job as an Oscar Meyer brand ambassador, we can only imagine what it’s like to drive the amazing machine.

Until now. A listing popped up on Kijiji (Canada’s version of Craigslist) which has a simple headline and a description sorely lacking in salesmanship. That’s because it doesn’t need any.

“Weinermobile. 2 avaliable, once in a lifetime buy. 12000 obo”

What? Not one but two opportunities to live out your meals-on-wheels dreams. Before you get carried away and avert your eyes to the Mr. Peanut-mobile on the left side on the photo, that isn’t for sale. There’s a stern “stop asking!” message at the end of the ad that quashed our nutty dreams of a wild racing series featuring vehicles that look like food (ever seen the Big Banana Car in southern Michigan? No? Maybe it slipped past you).

Still, it only takes two to race. Or demolition derby. Of course, you could always turn one into a food truck. What else are you going to do with it, since all references to Oscar Meyer will be removed from both vehicles prior to their sale?

Are you suddenly scheming to be the most popular ride on Woodward Avenue during the 2020 Dream Cruise, or maybe even thinking this could be the mobile home of your dreams? Tell us what you would do with one or both of these Weinermobiles in the comments below.

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This morning, following an injunction from the Swiss Federal Council today that no events with more than 1000 people are allowed to take place in the country until at least the 15th of March, the organizers of the Geneva International Motor Show had no option but to cancel the 2020 event. The change of course, prompted by international health concerns over the coronavirus also known as COVID-19, comes after show organizers sent out emails just two days ago that said “GIMS will take place as scheduled.”

The show was supposed to open Monday afternoon, so if you are now envisioning millions of dollars and months of planning quietly burning in the background somewhere, you’re not alone. Only time will tell what effect this will have on traditional car shows all around the globe, since automakers in recent years have already been closely analyzing the costs and benefits of such shared events. And in the case of this particular show, there’s no such thing as Switzerland on a budget.

The Geneva Motor Show is Europe’s premier event, held since 1905. Next week, many of us were supposed to attend the 90th show, only to be reminded today that the last time Geneva Show got canceled, neighboring France declared war on Nazi Germany, an invading power that wasn’t satisfied with simply ruining the Geneva Motor Show poster of 1939. But safety is priority, and with nine COVID-19 cases confirmed in Switzerland as of today, this was arguably the only decision officials could make.

Following its previous break from the auto show circuit during WWII, the spring celebration of the international car industry got back on track in 1947, and it has been held annually since. With that in mind, all we can hope for is a brighter 2021. Nevertheless, since most OEMs have already announced virtual reveals as a last-minute solution, next week should still be full of the car news you crave.

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Although Volkswagen, in its infinite wisdom, has canceled the standard Golf for the U.S. market, the German brand still has enough sense to sell the sportier Golf GTI (and upcoming Golf R) on our shores. The new GTI, just revealed at the 2020 Geneva Motor Show for its eighth generation since the model launched in 1976, packs a familiar combination of practicality and performance that should continue to set the benchmark for hot hatches.

There are no major surprises when it comes to the latest GTI, with Volkswagen sticking to largely the same tried-and-true formula with improved standard equipment and an extra dollop of technology and connectivity compared to the outgoing Mk. 7 model. One change that customers will almost certainly notice is that the price of the car will likely go up from the current $29,515 (including destination); primarily because the GTI is now coming from Germany rather than VW’s Puebla, Mexico, factory.

Visually, the biggest changes you’ll notice are up front, where the GTI gains a honeycomb one-piece air intake grille for the lower fascia, complete with integrated foglights in a new X-pattern. LED headlights and daytime running lights (as well as LED taillights) are standard, and there is a new LED strip that runs along the radiator grille. The overall shape of the car is more or less the same as before, but you will notice a new GTI-specific set of 17-inch five-spoke aluminum wheels. (As is the case now, 18-inch wheels will probably be the standard size for U.S. models.) Red brake calipers are once again standard, and around back you’ll notice twin tailpipes position at each end of the rear bumper. Not convinced it’s really a new GTI? VW moved the rear GTI badge from the bottom left of the hatch lid to right below the VW logo.

Inside there are several well-established GTI cues, albeit peppered with dashes of newfangled flavor. Manual-equipped models, thankfully, retain their golfball shift knob. Plaid sport seats are also still included, this time with a fresh checked design VW is calling “Scalepaper.” The GTI again has a three-spoke sport steering wheel, but the design for the Mk. 8 includes touch controls. The most noticeable upgrade, however, are the dashboard displays. The GTI’s interior now boasts a 10-inch center display screen alongside an updated 10.25-inch Digital Cockpit instrument cluster. And if that’s not enough to play with at stop lights, there are 30 different colors to choose from for the interior background lighting. Push-button start comes standard, as do a pair of USB-C charging ports.

At the end of the outgoing Mk. 7 GTI’s lifecycle, the hot-hatch made 228 hp and 258 lb-ft of torque from its 2.0-liter turbocharged four-cylinder engine. The latest version of this engine, the EA888, now makes 241 hp and 273 lb-ft of torque for the European market, and we don’t expect anything too different for the U.S.-market GTI. Though it is becoming increasingly rare in North America, the standard transmission for the GTI will be a six-speed manual, with a seven-speed dual-clutch (DSG) gearbox offered as an option.

The GTI sits 0.6 inches lower on its sport-tuned suspension than the standard Golf, with struts up front and a multi-link setup at the rear. At least for the European model, an electronic differential lock for the front axle is standard, and Dynamic Chassis Control adaptive dampers will be optional, but VW may adopt a different equipment strategy for U.S. models.

With the European GTI expected to launch later this year, it’s a fair bet we won’t see the Mk. 8 GTI in U.S. showrooms until mid-2021 or later. Whenever it gets here, we’re just thrilled there is yet another generation of the world’s most celebrated hot hatch on the road, especially as VW in America is more and more leaning on crossovers rather than traditional cars like the Golf, Jetta, and Passat. The GTI has long been a bastion of practical, affordable performance, and we expect that tradition to continue with the Mk. 8. With that said, even though the all-wheel-drive Golf R will almost certainly cost $40,000 when it finally arrives, 329 hp in a Golf sounds like a blast.

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In order to add a practical cargo bed to Mercedes-Benz’s G63 without sacrificing any cabin space, Brabus extended the truck’s wheelbase by 19.6 inches, ending up with an overall body length increase of 27.1 inches. With a special module relocating the rear suspension mounting points on the ladder frame, the Brabus 800 Adventure XLP needs a parking spot at least 17.42 feet long—and not necessarily on tarmac. Brabus’ self-developed portal axle design grants this G63 with a ground clearance of 19.2 inches, while the front independent suspension features a new subframe, complete with CNC-machined axle links, billet axle housings, and the company’s titanium-coated Ride Control coilover suspension system.

Since Brabus also has a V-8 package on the shelf with bigger turbos for a peak of 789 horsepower and 737 pound-feet of torque, there could be no question what would power this pickup. The cargo bed is made of steel from the functional tailgate to the new cabin wall, yet with carbon-fiber side panels.

Brabus says the 800 Adventure XLP will complete its 0–62 mph sprint in 4.8 seconds and hit an electronically limited top speed of 130 mph, restrained only by its all-terrain tires.

If you’re intrigued, the German tuner’s G63-based pickup will start at $425,000 plus taxes, but can also be purchased as a “First Edition” starting from $625,000. Of course you don’t have to stop there, because the Geneva Motor Show display car is a $725,000-plus affair, complete with its 150-mph Wingcopter drone. Yet without the excessive accessories, this Brabus long-wheelbase interpretation seems a lot more usable than the OEM’s own crack at this genre: the military-based, and quite frankly bonkers Mercedes-Benz G63 AMG 6×6 from 2013.

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If you’re like me, you measure the time you spent in the sandbox playing with Tonka trucks in weeks, not hours. Some of my fondest memories of early childhood involve those toy vehicles and truckloads of sand. That’s why yesterday, while scrolling through one of my favorite Facebook pages, Obscure Cars for Sale, I stopped dead when I saw this: A 2016 Ford F-150 Tonka Edition, for sale by Muscle Motors in Chico, California.

It’s everything I’d hoped it would be. The oversized black wheels, the screaming yellow paint and custom body cladding, the 700-hp Shelby American upgrade kit that straps a Whipple supercharger atop the V-8 engine. There’s nothing subtle about this truck. It’s rare, too; a number plate on the center console of this one indicates this is number 105 of just 200. Further clarification from a Tuscany Motor Company representative indicated that 200 builds of the special truck were planned for 2016, but only 128 were actually completed.

The Tonka Edition is the brainchild of the folks at Tuscany Motor Company. Opting for the Tonka package nets you a whole heap of cosmetic upgrades. First, everything from the fender flares to the tonneau cover to the custom hood gets the Tonka yellow treatment. Tuscany slaps great big Tonka logos all over the truck, and installs an integrated LED light bar up front. If a part escapes the yellow paint gun, it doesn’t outrun the black one—step rails, tow hooks, bumper inserts, are all black. The interior is similarly adorned—black, yellow, and Tonka badging everywhere.

Mechanically, Tonka trucks ascend six inches skyward courtesy of heavy-duty Tuscany-tuned shocks. The truck’s 20-inch black wheels wear knobby BF Goodrich KO2 tires. (This truck has the optional KM2Mud Terrain Tire upgrade.)

The real fun lies under the hood, where buyers have the option to spec the 700-horsepower supercharged Shelby American upgrade for the existing 5.0-liter V-8. The blower and intake manifold are both powder coated in—you guessed it—Tonka yellow. The requisite performance upgrades—injectors, auxiliary cooling fans, and a Shelby-tuned Borla performance exhaust—all come as part of the optional package.

Total cost for the upgraded truck when brand new? An eye-watering $96,304. That price includes a brand-new F-150 chassis sourced by Tuscany directly from Ford, as well as the Tonka package installed by the folks at Tuscany.

Muscle Motors is asking $49,000 for it, which seems like a solid price. Will it be worth more than that someday? According to Hagerty Valuation expert Greg Ingold, there’s a decent chance, but don’t count on cashing in the near future. “I’m sure [this truck] has collector appeal, sport trucks usually do, but I think we’ll have to wait a while before it is worth more than MSRP,” says Ingold.

If you’re a collector looking to turn a quick buck on a rare truck, this one might not be for you. This truck is more than collector candy—it’s meant to take you back to when you were a kid in the sandbox, wasting summer days constructing and destroying castles of sand.

And, as is the case with a lot of cars, that nostalgia makes it worth whatever people are willing to pay for it.

The post This Ford F-150 Tonka Edition is a real-life bro dozer appeared first on Hagerty Media.

Last month, Canadian billionaire Lawrence Stroll agreed to buy up to 20 percent of Aston Martin by pumping $235 million into the company in exchange for a 16.7-percent stake, which could rise to 20 percent upon completion of the company’s plan to raise a total of $635M. This financial shift will result in Stroll’s Racing Point F1 team adopting the Aston Martin name in 2021, which means the British carmaker’s partnership with Red Bull Racing will end with this coming season.

Aston Martin is still committed to deliver the Valkyrie hypercar designed by Red Bull’s Adrian Newey, but the World Endurance Championship (WEC) Hypercar race entry based around this car is now officially on hold. In addition, Aston Martin decided to push its EV program beyond 2025.

Aston says the choice came after the recent decision by the Automobile Club de l’Ouest (ACO) and the International Motor Sport Association (IMSA) to harmonize the Hypercar class with the so-called LMDh prototype category in the WEC from 2021 and the U.S.-based WeatherTech Sportscar Championship from 2022. Aston Martin’s response is to pause its program and re-consider whether to continue in any future prototype class. This means that the Aston Martin Valkyrie race car will neither make its WEC debut at Silverstone in August 2020 nor compete in the 24 Hours of Le Mans in 2021.

While the Vantage GTEs continue in the GT classes, this is a huge blow to both the FIA and racing fans around the world, since Aston Martin seemed most committed to be at Le Mans in 2021 racing against Toyota, SCG, and team ByKolles. Instead of racing at the top with the Valkyrie, the brand will now focus on selling its first SUV and bringing two more mid-engine supercars to the market without the help of Red Bull Advanced Technologies.

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Have you ever looked at the Dodge Challenger SRT Demon and thought, “Yeah, but perhaps it could stand to lose a freighter anchor’s-worth of weight”? Then, ignoring the cumbersome iron block of the supercharged 6.2-liter Hemi under the hood, you perhaps eyed the front quarter-panel and wondered why in the world this wasn’t carbon fiber? If so, you’ll like the Dodge Challenger SRT Demon Carbon Fiber Edition by Speedkore.

Though the previously described thought process is, er, ridiculous, it’s not uncharted waters. SpeedKore, in Grafton, Wisconsin, specializes in carbon-fiber composite parts and custom performance vehicles. They built four such Demons, and one of them is up for sale in Texas.

Frequent visitors of our site will be familiar with the SpeedKore name—these are the same folk who constructed a 1400-hp twin-turbo all-wheel-drive Dodge Charger Widebody and the record-holding twin-turbo Demon, as well as a litany of carbon fiber-bodied classic Mopar cars, like this 1970 Charger and this 1970 Barracuda owned (and crashed) by comedian Kevin Hart.

According to BJ Motors, the selling dealer, the Carbon Fiber Edition Demon in question is the last of four built, the first being the aforementioned twin-turbo record holder. While this one retains its supercharger, we can’t stop ogling those naked carbon fiber body panels. And, with just six miles on the odometer, you’re getting basically a brand-new car.

Although the $169,995 asking price may seem like a lot, according to Hagerty valuation expert Greg Ingold, this price falls right in line with the recent heights the broader Demon market once commanded.

“That price is about where standard delivery-mileage Demons were at a year ago,” says Ingold.

From the moment it was released, the Demon was an instant classic. Demand far outweighed supply, and part of the inflation is actually due to Dodge leaning on dealers to avoid exorbitant markups.

“Since dealers were forbidden from marking them up, individuals lucky enough to pick up [a Demon] right from the dealer could turn around and sell them at auction for anywhere from $120,000–$160,000 almost overnight,” explains Ingold.

Now, however, those price hikes appear to be cooling off. “In the past four to six months, we’ve seen a pronounced decline in what buyers are willing to pay for no-mile examples,” Ingold continues.

Dodge might have done the noble thing in pressuring dealers to eschew markups initially, but they also seemingly undercut the rare air the Demon occupied with subsequent high-horsepower models.

“I think the Challenger Redeye being more readily available and in the neighborhood of 800 hp doesn’t help the Demon either,” Ingold says, “since you can buy a fairly comparable car, horsepower-wise, for less.”

And yet, no Demon or Redeye can quite compare to this carbon-bodied beauty. So while an asking price of nearly $170K might seem ridiculous at first glance, rarity alone might write the check for this one.

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Those who’ve been keeping their fingers crossed for SCG to be allowed to go beyond the Nürburgring 24 with its racing program will be happy to learn that, following the FIA’s rule clarifications and the merger of the WEC Hypercar and DPi classes, Scuderia Cameron Glickenhaus is now committed to enter the top class of prototype racing in 2021, which includes the 24 Hours of Le Mans.

Its tool for this tough job will be the sufficiently-long-wheelbase SCG 007, a new $2.1-million racing car powered by a 3.0-liter twin-turbo V-6 developed for and branded as Glickenhaus.

What these renders can’t show is that the SCG 007 is designed to push out 840 horsepower for 30 hours straight, while being much lighter than any SCG race car before, at a mere 2425 pounds.

To once again achieve for America what Ford last did in 1967, Scuderia Cameron Glickenhaus is aiming for the overall win around the La Sarthe circuit. The V-6 won’t be based on the Alfa Romeo twin-turbo, as previously reported, and SCG says the 007’s engineering should be done by June, with the subsystems assembled in July and the first car built in August. This means the 007 should be on track for its first shakedown by September. That’s one tight schedule, especially knowing that SCG’s VLN and GT3 car, the 004C, goes on track for the first time on the 17th of February, in preparation for its big Nürburgring 24 race in May.

As of today, there are four confirmed manufacturers for the debut season of the WEC Hypercar class officially known as LMH: Toyota with the GR Super Sport, Aston Martin with Adrian Newey’s Valkyrie, the previously-Nissan-powered LMP1 team ByKolles with an as-yet unrevealed entry, and Scuderia Cameron Glickenhaus with the 007. Now without the support of Rebellion Racing, Peugeot is aiming for a 2022 entry with its hybrid.

The team of Scuderia Cameron Glickenhaus includes Luca Ciancetti (a seasoned racing engineer and head of Podium Advanced Technologies), Team Principal Matteo Cavedoni, former Formula 1 engineer Mark Tatham, engine master Chris Hornby, former Porsche and Koenigsegg chassis guru Barry Harvey, Formula 1 chassis ace Mick Lindley, a whole fleet of other talented engineers and mechanics, and of course members of the Glickenhaus family.

One bright red sports car (that could also come in other colors) in exchange for $2.1 million, an 840-horsepower twin-turbo V-6 of mysterious origins, and an American dream centered around a French street circuit. The SCG 007 in a nutshell.

The post This 840-horsepower race car wants to win Le Mans for America appeared first on Hagerty Media.

Bill Fink, 77, widely regarded as the man responsible for keeping Morgan sports cars alive in the U.S. in the 1970s and beyond, died Sunday when his home in Bodega, California, caught fire. According to SFGate.com, the Sonoma County Sheriff’s office says that Fink’s wife and two friends managed to escape, but that the blaze’s flames and heat kept firefighters from being able to access the single-family home, with Fink still inside.

Fink, a former student at Yale and rower at Oxford University, started his adventure in British sports cars in the late 1960s when he began converting the original V-8-powered 1968 Morgan Plus 8 to left-hand-drive and importing them into the U.S. for sale—all while still in school at Oxford. Eventually he went back home to San Francisco, where he set up a proper dealership to import used Plus 8s and other Morgans like the +4 and 4/4. (The dealership, Isis Imports, recently changed its name to Morgan Cars USA to avoid unsavory associations with the terror organization in the Middle East.) When Fink’s efforts to have Morgans exempt from safety and emissions regulations ran out of runway in 1971, he made it his mission to pass EPA and NHTSA rules, famously doing so by converting the Rover/Buick V-8 in the Plus 8 to run on propane.

Working directly with company chief Peter Morgan starting in 1973, Fink also made a go at importing new cars. Red tape meant the first new Morgan sales in the U.S. at Isis Imports couldn’t begin until 1976 and not without considerable modification at Morgan’s Malvern, UK, factory. Here’s the rundown, courtesy of Morgan: First and Last of The Real Sports Cars, by Gregory Houston Bowden:

Fink’s cars have telescopic gas-filled rear shock absorbers, inertia-reel seat belts, four-seater size windscreens and a special steel hoop bolted to the chassis behind the dashboard. On arrival in California, Bill fits steel beams into the doors to comply with the side impact regulations and bolts them on to the steel hoop. Holes have to be cut in the wings to accommodate the 5-mph impact bumpers and modifications to the fuel tank, fillers, carburettor, fuel lines, fuel gauge and distributor are all required to enable the [Plus 8] to run on propane. Probably the worst part of Bill’s work is compiling the necessary 45-page dossier detailing and showing pictures of the modifications on each individual car. What has given him the determination to do all this? Well, you don’t get to row in the Oxford University boat race crew if you are someone who gives in easily.

Later, following Land Rover-engined Plus 8s in the early 1990s, along with a Ford-engined V-6 Roadster and the BMW-powered Aero 8, Fink got creative once more. In 2005 he and his team installed a Corvette V-8 into a Morgan Roadster. “I have a certain bias,” he told British auto journalist Andrew English in a 2018 Telegraph piece, “but I like the smaller body of the Roadster, it’s much narrower than the current cars. We built a Corvette-engined version of the current Roadster for the Morgan agent in Stuttgart about 10 years ago. There was a bit of work to do around the firewall, but it went in fine. The GM engine has the same basic dimensions as the Buick engine.”

Extremely active in the Morgan community both in North America and in Europe, Fink was beloved and respected. He participated in the Morgan Sports Car Club of Northern California since the 1960s, and his undisputed expertise in parts and restoration has kept many Morgans on the road. He was also the “proud custodian,” according to Morgan Motor Company, of the first 1968 Plus 8 Prototype—known as OUY 200E—which he brought to Morgan’s Thrill on the Hill event in 2018 to celebrate 50 years of the Plus 8.

CEO of Morgan, Steve Morris, honored Fink on the company Facebook page: “I am deeply saddened to hear the news about Bill Fink. I can remember Bill as a consistent and prominent Morgan character throughout my 38 years at the Morgan Motor Company. His passion, commitment and dedication to Morgan embodies the spirit of the marque. He was a friend to many here at the factory and will be sorely missed.” 

Andrew English shared his own recollection of Fink with Hagerty. “My main memory is of a man with endless patience to deal with journalists’ damn fool questions and in telling the same story again and again,” he said. “Yet when I met him on a beautiful day in Malvern in 2018 he was by turns charming and charmingly outspoken. We drank beer together in the sun and it was a peaceful and rather wonderful afternoon stood with this lovely man next to his lovely old car while he recalled other days with other Morgans.”

Fink lamented the demise of the Plus 8 in 2018, and now that Morgan only sells the 3 Wheeler in America, he was keen to get four-wheeled models back into this market now that the U.S. Department of Transportation finally issued guidelines for the 2015 Low Volume Motor Vehicles Act following a SEMA lawsuit.

Survived by his wife of 40 years Judy, stepdaughters Tcherek and Amelia Kamstra, grandchild Madison, and siblings Jim Fink and Patricia Drew. Fink will be remembered for his unwavering passion for British sports cars and the people that love them. When he first got approval to import new Morgans back in the 1970s as Isis Imports found its footing, Fink sent out a postcard to celebrate. “It’s high time that folks in these United States got back to some of the Truths about Serious Motoring. Like spirited performance, agile handling, simplicity. And function. A car should work, not just look like it does. The Morgan is Back!”

If Morgan does indeed make it back to America on four wheels, it’ll be in no small part due to the legacy Bill Fink left behind.

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With “first modern-day female Bentley racer” and rally driver Catie Munnings behind the wheel of its entry, Bentley is sending a fairly stock Continental GT to the GP Ice Race, where it will compete in conditions that are somewhat similar to the brand’s Nordic prototype testing. At this historic Austrian race, which spans the first weekend of February, Bentley’s 6.0-liter twin-turbo W-12 is expected to show what 626 horsepower and 664 pound-feet of torque can do in a low-grip situation, regardless of air temperature.

The “Ice GT” retains its three-chamber air springs, 48V active anti-roll control system, and iron brake rotors. However, to have a chance against its fierce competition, Bentley raised the car’s ride height and increased track width by 0.69 inches. Studded Pirelli Scorpion tires, a Lazer light bar, and Akrapovic’s custom exhaust system complete the racing package and, to also keep the marketing team happy, there’s a roof rack featuring a pair of branded skis. Center of gravity and drag figures be damned—we’re looking at ice racing with an oversized luxury car here.

To boost all that social media traffic further, the Ice GT’s livery is an evolution of that on the Continental GT that ran up Pikes Peak to break the production car record with Rhys Millen in 2019.

The GP Ice Race in Zell am See, Austria first ran in 1937 and was only revived last year. Featuring both historic and modern machines, the race will see drivers compete over 0.37 miles of frozen track in two fields. First, there’s standard racing around the circuit. Then, there’s an exhibition of “skijoring”, which is the art of towing a brave skier by car. This challenge dates back to the Olympic Winter Games of 1928 in St. Moritz, when skiers were drawn by riderless horses.

As you know, Bentley’s skier Sven Rauber will have 626 horses to deal with.

The post Bentley sends its twin-turbo W-12 ice racing appeared first on Hagerty Media.

While fully-self-driving cars are not available for sale or use on public roads, there are a multitude of impressive driver-assistance systems that help ease the workload, especially when cruising on the highway. Cadillac’s Super Cruise is among the best systems available today, and it’s about to get even more helpful.

Beginning with the 2021 Cadillac CT4 and CT5 sedans and, afterwards, the 2021 Escalade, Cadillac will roll out Enhanced Super Cruise, a more polished version of the existing (and impressive) system. Enhanced Super Cruise will offer more of what we loved when we used it on the CT6 sedan a while back, and now, the system will safely change lanes for you, on demand.

With Enhanced Super Cruise activated, drivers will simply need to tap or fully engage the turn signal to begin the automated lane-change process. The system—a complicated web of cameras, sensors, and LiDAR map data—will then begin to hunt for an acceptable gap in traffic in the other lane, and make the merge accordingly.

According to Cadillac, some 30 percent of CT6 buyers check the Super Cruise option box. On the 200,000-or-so miles of limited-access highways on which the system is available, customers are engaging Super Cruise around half of the time.

Ironic, then, that the system which debuted in the CT6 won’t spread to the rest of the family in that model’s lifetime. The CT6, which chased the wrong end of the luxurious ideals spectrum, is dead as part of a company-wide restructuring that brings major changes to the Detroit-Hamtramck Assembly Plant. GM announced on Monday that the plant would transition to be exclusively devoted to assembling electric vehicles.

At the end of last year, Cadillac announced that, in roughly two years, all its models will boast real names in place of the existing alphanumeric strategy—a deadline that will coincide with the first of its all-electric vehicles hitting the streets. In the meantime, we’re looking forward to seeing the all-new Escalade, which is set to break cover in a few days, with the help of famed Hollywood director Spike Lee.

The post Cadillac unveils Enhanced Super Cruise with on-demand lane change functionality appeared first on Hagerty Media.

The United States government has seized four supercars, and anyone can place a bid. Intrigued? Here’s the backstory. The cars, two Ferraris and two Porsches which have a combined value of more than $2M, were owned by disgraced gentleman racer Scott Tucker. As explained in an episode of Netflix’s Dirty Money documentary series, Tucker allegedly funded his racing and car collecting with illegal predatory payday lending businesses. 

Seizure of the cars, courtesy of Uncle Sam, followed Tucker’s arrest and prosecution. The list comes from CWS Asset Management and Sales, which is a primary contractor for the U.S. Treasury Department. The company is set to sell the cars February 5 at the Circuit of America’s Event Center in Del Valle, Texas. It seems like an apt venue, considering the cars.

A four-car auction may seem like small potatoes in the grand scheme of things, but these cars are a big deal. (Not quite at the absurd level of the seized supercars, in Geneva last year, though.) First is a 2011 Ferrari 599 SA Aperta, alongside a 2011 Ferrari 599XX. The other two wear Porsche badges—a 2011 911 GT2 RS and a gorgeous black 2005 Carrera GT. Any one of these cars could be a featured lot at a larger auction.

We’ll soon find out if and how Tucker’s ownership history will affect the bidding. Stay tuned.

The post Disgraced racer Scott Tucker’s supercar collection, seized by the U.S. Government, is up for auction appeared first on Hagerty Media.

Volvo claims that, with the invention of the three-point safety belt sixty years ago and all its safety firsts that followed, the brand has saved “more than one million lives” through innovation alone. To celebrate this achievement and all the people benefiting from the Swedish approach, Volvo Car USA has announced “Volvo Safety Sunday, a pledge to give away $1 million in cars if a safety occurs during football’s biggest night on February 2, 2020.”

As you can tell, the rules couldn’t be more straightforward:

For a chance to win, you’ll need to visit VolvoSafetySunday.com to design a 2020 Volvo, and submit your configuration code as an entry, between January 20 and the moment before kickoff on February 2, 2020. Any new Volvo in any trim or color, be that a sedan, a wagon or an SUV. In case a safety occurs on game day, Volvo will award $1 million in those submitted cars to randomly selected entrants.

In case you’re not familiar with the game, a safety is scored in American football when “an offensive team is tackled, loses or fumbles the ball, or commits a penalty in their own end zone. The result of the play is two points to the defensive team, who receives possession of the ball via a free kick.”

Volvo admits this to be a “relatively rare and unpredictable” phenomenon in the game, but since one during the 2020 Super Bowl will be worth a new Volvo for at least eleven contenders (if we base our math on fully-loaded 2020 XC90 T8 Inscriptions), your odds could play out.

To enter the game on top of the big game, hit VolvoSafetySunday.com, spec a red wagon (or anything else you fancy), and keep your fingers crossed for the moment when Jimmy Garoppolo or Patrick Mahomes gets tackled in his own end zone. By that point, a few people in America will have a brand new Volvo.

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In years past, this week of January is reserved for reporting on the big North American International Auto Show held in Detroit. That is not happening this year because after much consideration the Detroit Auto Dealers Association, the show’s promoter, has rescheduled the event to June. Not only will that make for a literal warmer welcome to the five thousand or so journalists that cover the NAIAS, it allows the organizers to expand the event beyond the walls of the TCF Center (formerly known as Cobo Hall), allowing attendees to enjoy more than just displays presented inside.

As part of the run-up to the first summertime NAIAS, which officially opens with a Media Preview on June 9 and 10, the Motor Bella European street festival celebrating Italian and British car cultures will be held June 5-8 next to the Detroit Opera House, just a 20 minute walk from the TCF Center.

From June 8th through the 11th, Dataspeed Inc. and FEV North America Inc. will be providing autonomous shuttle service Detroit Metropolitan Airport to downtown Detroit for media and industry preview attendees as part of the NAIAS 2020 Michigan Mobility Challenge. It has already been announced that at least five makers of self-driving technology will have autonomous vehicles running around downtown Detroit during the NAIAS.

In recent years, particularly since the economic recession a decade ago, the NAIAS, once a de rigueur event for automakers worldwide, has seen many European luxury brands abandon the show. Two years ago, Mercedes-Benz, Audi, BMW and Porsche announced they were joining Maserati and Ferrari on the sidelines of the Detroit show.

Detroit’s economy has turned around quite a bit in the past 10 years, though, with employment in Wayne County now at near record lows. With the changing economic conditions and move to a warmer time of the year, perhaps some of those luxury European brands will return. Maybe that’s why the Motor Bella event has apparently prompted Ferrari to make a semi-official return to the NAIAS. Ferrari will be hosting its own simultaneous event in Parker’s Alley just a few blocks from the Opera House.

It’s a good chance that there will also be some exotics bearing the prancing horse at NAIAS’ “The Gallery”, an invitation-only private event with ultra-luxe vehicles for high-rollers to be held June 7. Formerly sited at the MGM Grand casino, The Gallery will also take advantage of the scheduling change to move outdoors.

Also moving outdoors will be some vehicle debuts during the media preview. While the NAIAS has been the scene of some over the top vehicle introductions, with cars smashing through glass walls and being dropped from the ceiling, going outside will undoubtedly allow some automakers to increase the scale of their debut events. Helicopters are not out of the question.

Another outdoor event will be the annual Charity Preview, which takes place this year on the evening of June 12. In addition to the all-access $400 black-tie event on the NAIAS show floor, the Charity Preview will also have a $200 outdoor-access ticket with a “summer chic” dress code.

The public days for the NAIAS will be June 13-20 this year. In addition to the usual fare inside the convention center, outdoors there will be test rides, demos of autonomous and off-road vehicles, along with a presentation of drift cars on the convention center’s massive roof.

With the change in weather, we would love to see the collegiate Formula SAE teams that have annual displays be persuaded to run a race during the event with a few laps around TCF. With so many journalists in attendance, that seems like a natural way to promote the student engineer/racers. See you this summer in the D!

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The Honda Civic Type R is already a powerhouse of a hot hatch, and now it’s getting a nice bundle of performance improvements, styling and interior tweaks, and tech for the 2020 model year. There’s even a flashy new color.

Hardware upgrades for the refreshed 2020 Civic Type R include new two-piece brake rotors and pads, which Honda says are meant to “reduce fade and improve high-speed braking efficiency.” From there, suspension updates include re-tuned dampers to make the ride more comfortable, stiffer rear bushings to increase grip, and unspecified modifications to the front suspension to “reduce friction and improve steering feel.” 

On its stock 20-inch wheels and low-profile tires, the current Type R is indeed a rigid-riding sports car, so a bit of damper softening makes sense. What the rowdy hot hatch definitely did not need was more grip—Car and Driver recorded 1.02 g on its skidpad test, but clearly Honda figured out there was still some left on the table. Engine performance will not change, which means we’ll get the same boosted 2.0-liter four-cylinder engine good for 306 hp and 295 lb-ft of torque.

On the tech front, Honda Sensing (a package of safety and driver-assistance features) comes standard for the first time in the Civic Type R. In the styling department, there is a larger front grille for better engine cooling. Interior enhancements include Alcantara wrapping for the steering wheel and a new shifter with fresh style and shorter throws that will make the Type R a nicer place to rip hot laps, roast autocross parking lots, or just commute to work.

After launching on the Civic Hatchback, Honda recently adding the popular Sonic Gray Pearl to the Type R, and will now add a zesty Boost Blue hue to its color palette. This paint is exclusive to the Type R. The news of this refresh was announced at the 2020 Tokyo Auto Salon, where the revised Civic Type R was on view alongside an NSX painted in Honda’s old-is-new-again Indy Yellow Pearl.

It’ll be interesting to see how these small adjustments add up in the 2020 Type R. This ultimate Civic was just about perfect the way it launched, but if Honda can even marginally improve this front-drive halo car, we’re on board.

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As a well-preserved, all-original car—and the first of only six chassis produced for 1990—the Nissan NPT-90 GTP race car for sale through Bruce Canepa is a rare ticket into the fastest league of the Group C era. Based on the Nissan R90C, chassis #90-01 packs a twin-turbocharged 3.0-liter V-6, which is good for over 950 horsepower once the air is dense enough to carry extra-loud bangs. Mastering the NPT-90’s Hewland five-speed manual in period were Geoff Brabham, Chip Robinson, Bob Earl, and Derek Daly, a combination that led Nissan to the IMSA GTP constructors’ championship in 1990 and ’91.

Having raced an NPT-90 at Laguna Seca (chassis #90-06), Bruce Canepa confirms its “mind-boggling power, high downforce, [and] excellent handling dynamics,” adding that as reliable as it is, “the NPT-90 package is a perfect storm for a GTP race car.”

Canepa explains where the NPT-90s came from:

“To understand the success of the NPT-90 platform, it’s important to know the driving force behind the team that made it happen. A past winning racer, Don Devendorf was a tenacious scientist, engineer, and racer, designing electronic fuel management systems in 1975 that many manufacturers wouldn’t start using for close to a decade later. Wanting to move up in the racing, Devendorf set his eyes on the IMSA GTP series. With Lola interested in producing a chassis, Devendorf joined forces with Wes Moss and Yoshi Suzuka to create the GTP-ZXT, the precursor to the NPT-90. From 1984–90, the cars made countless upgrades and enhancements as real-world racing revealed design inspiration among the engineers and mechanics alike. By the end of the 1988 season, Geoff Brabham was the GTP driver champion and would continue to win with Nissan GTP cars for another three years. In order to remain ahead of the curve with its competition, the quest began to make the next generation of Nissan GTP car, the NPT-90.”

This particular car, the first NPT-90, entered the scene in May 1990 at the Topeka 300 Kilometers and kept racing all the way until its second-place finish at the Del Mar 2 Hour GTP race in October 1992. This also means it was upgraded to the latest spec by Nissan Performance Technology Incorporated in ’92, a state in which it remains today.

With a racing history that includes two victories, nine seconds, and five thirds, #90-01 is ready for a vintage racing enthusiast to fire up its twin-turbos, grab that five-speed with a firm hand, and show the world how fast these Nissans can be, 30 years into the future.

Looking for even more details? Check out Canepa’s extensive gallery, also available on Flickr.

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By now, having achieved its 2019 goal of 600+ mph in South Africa’s Kalahari desert two months ago, the team behind the Bloodhound LSR project and the jet car itself are back in England. Yet before packing up to get some well-deserved winter rest and start preparing for even higher speeds in the coming year(s), the Bloodhound team also took a video of its daily routine to show us what is necessary for everything to go as smoothly as its simulations suggested.

Reaching 628 mph in a straight line is no walk in the park, and to get there, the Bloodhound team needs to run a car weighing seven tons and pushing out the equivalent of 54,000 horsepower consistently. When the weather forecast and local data shows minimal crosswinds, everybody needs to be in place for driver Andy Green to make his move.

The checklist begins with a morning briefing, during which speed targets and the location of rescue and recovery teams get laid out. The Bloodhound gets towed from the garage, steered by a staff member behind a pickup truck. Positioned on that thin white line at the zero mark, Andy Green then does his final visual inspections, during which the starter engine arrives on a separate trolley.

Once the marshals take their positions, and radio and data connection with race control is confirmed, the jet is fired up and Andy waits for the green light. After he blasts away, support vehicles follow him as closely as they can without jet power. At the finish point and with the parachutes deployed, Mr. Green needs to shut off the engine before support cars can park up next to him, the parachutes can be detached, and the Bloodhound driven back to base.

This may sound like a standard motorsport schedule overall, but on sand in a desert at 628 mph, attention to detail has to go above and beyond the norm. Cheers to an even more successful 2020 for the Bloodhound LSR!

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Ralph Gilles, FCA’s head of design, has spent more than half of his life designing some of the best-selling and best-looking products the Ram and Dodge brands have put on the market. He’s also a certified muscle car fan, so when Dodge announced to the public that it would only sell a limited number—3300—of its dragstrip-spec Challenger Demons, Gilles was already on the list. Rank has its privileges. Now, after nearly two years of ownership, Gilles announced on Instagram that he is selling his Demon with just over 1000 miles on the odometer.

The SRT Demon in question was the fourth Demon produced and has the “004” VIN to prove it.

Like all Challenger SRT Demons, it’s powered by an 840-horsepower supercharged 6.2-liter Hemi V-8 with a specially-designed TorqueFlite eight-speed automatic. A factory first, Demon’s eight-speed is equipped with a transbrake, allowing for aggressive launches at the strip that were made possible by being the first production car to leave the assembly line with drag radials. Another Demon first was the use of the car’s air-conditioning system to chill the boosted intake charge to increase air density and therefore power.

SRT went the extra mile making the Demon a terror on the dragstrip and backed it up when SRT’s own Jim Wilder clicked off a 9.65-second E.T. in the quarter-mile, making the Demon the quickest production car ever built.

Setting the SRT Demon apart visually from the rest of the Challenger lineup is a massive “air grabber” hood scoop. The Demon was also the first use of the “widebody” fender flares that are now optional on the Hellcat Challenger and Charger.

Gilles said he’s never raced the Demon on the dragstrip, which is a shame, because his Octane Red Pearlcoat Demon was ordered up with all of the right options to make it quick on the strip. There are no fancy leather seats, no heavy sunroof, and no back seat, but Gilles did opt to pony up $1 for the optional cloth passenger seat. Way to splurge on sharing the Demon experience with a passenger, Ralph.

Demons came with a base MSRP of about $85,000, but their scarcity led to dealer markups and plenty were sold for more than $100,000. Gilles’ low-mileage Demon is currently for sale at Detroit’s Platinum Motorcars with a sticker price of $139,995. 

Is now the time to pool your resources with your car buddies and become a legend at your local drag strip? That’s up to you, but I know what I’m asking Santa for this Christmas.

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The Brough Superior name means high performance to those in the know. However, the most famous Brough Superior bikes are nearing a century old. In a bid to change that, the brand partnered with Aston Martin for the AMB 001. Is this sleek-styled, high-tech track bike one for the history books?

The futuristic and artful motorcycle is an amalgam of the Aston Martin design team and Brough Superior engineering. The easily visible parts of the bike are swoopy and covered in colors and materials from the Aston Martin catalog. The carbon-fiber fairings are coated in Stirling Green, a color you might recognize from other bespoke Aston Martin creations.

Peeking out from behind the curvaceous panels is a 997-cc V-twin engine developed by Brough Superior. The two chambers are pressure fed by a variable-vane turbocharger, and an intercooler keeps the intake charge to a workable temperature, which (pun intended) boosts output to 180 horsepower. Chunks of billet aluminum pop in contrast to the dark colors of the bodywork while also showing the stout nature of the engine construction. Sadly, the exotic Inconel exhaust largely hides behind the belly fairing.

An engine construction that likely won’t matter. The production run will be “strictly limited” to just 100 models, virtually ensuring that few, if any, of these hand-built AMB 001s will see the track—and that’s without accounting for the hefty $119,500 price tag.

Regardless, the AMB 001 is an amazing piece of kit that aligns nicely with the outrageousness of the Aston Martin Vulcan,  Valkyrie, and even the One 77. There is always a place for  showing what a company is capable of and the inclusion of Brough Superior in Aston’s latest attempt is cool in our book.

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A few years ago, when I was camping around Iceland with my friends in a lifted Defender 110, the local hardcore Land Rover fans who built the rig said they will be fine with the upcoming new model, as long as you can put large enough wheels on it. Well, four years and 750,000 test miles into the making, the all-new Defender is here. So far, it looks like it’ll live up to its promise.

Instead of a traditional ladder frame like used to build the Wrangler or, say, the Suzuki Jimny, Land Rover built the new Defender on what it calls the D7x architecture, which is a heavily modified Discovery platform. (That means it can adopt all the mild-hybrid and plug-in electric vehicle options customers expect as we move into the 2020s.) The unibody aluminum construction and the adaptive air suspension also brings comfort to the table, but Land Rover promises that after 750,000 miles of testing all over the world, the Defender is as tough as nails. This chassis is claimed to be three-times stiffer than a traditional body-on-frame design, which should make the coil sprung version surprisingly capable on any surface.

The four-door Defender 110 comes with 5+2 seating in four Accessory Packs (Explorer, Adventure, Country and Urban) as well as with 170 individual accessories straight from the factory. These include a pressurized rinse system, a modular backpack, a trunk-mounted integrated air compressor, or a side-mounted gear carrier, to name just a few. But fans of short overhangs will be much more interested in the two-door Defender 90 on traditional steel wheels, while businesses can look forward to a wide range of equally pure commercial models in both wheelbases.

While commercial 90s may start at £35,000+VAT in the UK, the U.S. market will get higher trim 110s before the short-wheelbase 90s arrive later in 2020, priced like this:

On the outside, you still get “Alpine light” windows in the roof and a big side-hinged tailgate with an externally-mounted spare wheel. That roof can also take loads of 661 pounds when parked, or 370 on the move, unless you choose the full-lenght retractable fabric roof for the full Safari experience. Land Rover cooked up a range of new color for the Defenders, and for the first time ever, you can spec a Satin Protective Film to give that paint a better chance out there.

The paint is also exposed on a number of structural elements and fixings inside, while the rest of the cabin can be wrapped in anything from durable Robust Woven Textile—which feature Decitex fibers for added strength, along with some recycled polyester—to Windsor leather with the HSE trim, which gets additional Steelcut Premium Textile accents for enhanced durability in the range-topping Defender X.

The Defender 110 offers five, six, or 5+2 seating configurations, with room for 38 cubic feet of cargo behind the second-row seats, or as much as 84 cubic feet when that second row is folded. The Defender 90 will be able to accommodate six occupants, despite its small footprint.

Off the pavement, this new platform gives the Defender a ground clearance of 11.45-inches, with the 110’s approach, breakover and departure angles being at 38, 28 and 40 degrees when off-road height is engaged. And with its new Wade program in the Terrain Response 2 system, it will also plow through muddy waters as high as 35.4-inches. Compared to other Land Rovers, the Defender’s body structure has been raised by 0.8-in, with the battery and cooling circuits also relocated to enhance its capability. But on top of the independent suspension, two-speed transfer case, locking center and rear differentials and permanent four-wheel drive, a wide range of driver aids are there to help you out of sticky situations.

While the configurable Terrain Response is only standard on the Defender X, Hill Launch Assist with Enhanced Hill Hold will come handy at any trim level. Land Rover’s Emergency Braking can also be triggered twice as quickly as before. And since the Defender can also tow up to 8200 pounds, Advanced Tow Assist will let drivers steer trailers using a rotary controller on the center console.

U.S. customers will be able to choose between a turbocharged four-cylinder engine, badged P300, and a six-cylinder Mild-Hybrid Electric Vehicle (MHEV) powertrain, badged P400. The P300 powertrain produces 296 hp, while the P400 MHEV packs 395 horsepower and 406-lb ft of torque, harvesting energy during deceleration to then spool up a 48-volt electric supercharger. In this hybrid model, a belt-integrated starter motor replaces the alternator.

Behind the central 10-inch touchscreen is Land Rover’s new EVA 2.0 infotainment, which supports Software-Over-The-Air updates to keep your vehicle fresh throughout the years. In the Defender, 14 individual modules are capable of receiving remote updates. Head-up display, cameras, digital interior mirror and all the USB ports. You name a gadget, and this Defender will have it. So don’t hose it out, but welcome to the Defender of our times.

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