It’s a car-related desire most gearheads have had at some point in their driving years: holding the keys to a classic car. Whether that takes the form of a ’58 Impala, a flathead Ford, or the Gentleman Jim shown above, a good many of us have harbored a desire to own a vintage automobile.
Taking the thing out for a weekend cruise is a lot different than living with it on a daily basis, though. Here is today’s question: would you daily a classic?
Even though Porsche’s September Taycan debut is set in stone, it just can’t help itself with the teasers. While the images probably won’t mirror the production version exactly (that paint job certainly won’t fly), Porsche seems to be implying the bodywork seen here is headed for the assembly line.
From what we can see, there’s a lot left over from the Mission E. The overall look has softened slightly, but the broader strokes of the concept vehicle remain largely intact. Take the headlamps, for example. The overall shape has changed, resulting in something more in line with the rest of the brand’s lineup. However, they maintain the same bulb layout as the Mission E. (Read More…)
Donald Trump apparently belongs to the 71 percent of Americans who remain averse to the thought of riding in self-driving cars. It’s a position that appears to be incongruous with the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration’s deregulation strategy. But there’s always a little room for someone’s personal preference to exist in tandem with public policy. At least, there used to be.
Considering the president’s involvement in American industrial matters routinely make him the central focus of auto-related topics, we’ll keep this one relatively brief. But the accompanying details of this story are too interesting to simply ignore. (Read More…)
Everyone’s favorite Danish designer has put his plans for an electric performance sedan on hold, turning his attention instead to an affordable, mass-market electric SUV.
Half a century ago, the foremost automotive trend was ordinary family cars stuffed to the gills with huge, fuel-sucking V8s. Today, if you’re not planning a bland, long-range EV with a liftgate and a somewhat sensible price, you’re nobody. Henrik Fisker doesn’t want to be a nobody. (Read More…)
First, it faded from the automaker’s ordering page — a disappearance noted on Sunday. Introduced last October as a cheaper stepping stone to the Model 3 lifestyle (and a sort-of apology for the then-undelivered $35,000 Standard Range), Tesla’s Mid Range variant offered 260 miles of driving range, compared to the 310 miles available to Model 3 Long Range drivers.
With the Standard Range now available to order, the Mid Range apparently serves no purpose in the Tesla stable. (Read More…)
President Donald Trump weighed in on General Motors again this week. This time, the issue at hand was the fate of Lordstown Assembly — which was shuttered earlier this month as part of the automaker’s ongoing restructuring program.
“Just spoke to Mary Barra, CEO of General Motors about the Lordstown Ohio plant,” Trump tweeted on Sunday. “I am not happy that it is closed when everything else in our Country is BOOMING. I asked her to sell it or do something quickly. She blamed the UAW Union — I don’t care, I just want it open!”
Barra’s take on just how much the United Automobile Workers are to blame is questionable, but the president’s position is not. (Read More…)
Indeed, so jazzed are these enthusiasts, they’ve created a rendering of a hypothetical Blazer SS to compete with the very real Ford Edge ST. If you’re already thinking this vehicle boasts canary yellow paint with wide, black striping, fear not — your assumptions were bang-on.
It’s an interesting idea, given that Ford’s Edge blows the existing Blazer out of the water in ST guise, but the merits of waging a hot tweener crossover war are debatable. And the vehicle itself might not be doable. (Read More…)
With the 2019 Cadillac CT6-V drawing its power from General Motors’ new 4.2-liter twin-turbo V8, it was only a matter of time before people started wondering where else the “Blackwing” motor might crop up. Thus far, the engine has only appeared in the CT6 sedan — producing an impressive 550 hp and 627 lb-ft of torque.
Future models are likely to include the brand’s Escalade SUV, but the luxury brand wants to put the kibosh on any rumors that the Blackwing will be available under another brand. When asked if the motor would be a cross-brand system by Motor Trend, Cadillac President Steve Carlisle responded with “over my dead body.” (Read More…)
Tell the truth — when driving by a police office operating a speed trap at the side of the road, have you ever been tempted to make a rude gesture? You know the one I’m talking about: the single digit, middle finger salute. A United States Court of Appeals has now confirmed judicially that it’s your right to do so, if you choose.
When Debra Cruise-Gulyas was pulled over for speeding in Taylor, Michigan by Officer Matthew Minard in 2017, she gave in to that very temptation. Well, not right away. After he stopped her, Officer Minard had apparently gave Cruise-Gulyas a bit of a break, citing her for a non-moving violation instead of speeding. Not mollified by the break she got, following the stop, as she drove away, Cruise decided to make a crude gesture directed at the police officer. (Read More…)
If you’ve been on the internet lately in any capacity whatsoever, you’ll recognize the term ASMR. Deployed in everything from driving videos to mildly NSFW speaking sessions, the use of autonomous sensory meridian response is designed to trigger a physical response in viewers via sound. Cadillac has chosen to bake this into its reveal of the new 2020 CT5 sedan.
We’ll leave judgement of that decision up to you. We’re here to talk about the car, a machine which – glory of glories – is not another crossover.
Because my very first car was a 50-buck ’69 Corona sedan in dazzling beige, I always photograph Coronas when I see them in wrecking yards. Sadly, Toyota stopped selling the Corona in North America in 1982, which means that I might see one every couple of years these days. Here’s a luxurious, fully loaded 1981 Toyota Corona wagon in a Denver self-service yard. (Read More…)
While the Trump administration is carefully considering whether or not imported vehicles qualify as a threat to national security, and prepares for trade negotiations with Japan, Toyota is being very careful about how it comes across in America. Last week, the automaker announced plans to add about 600 jobs across the Southern United States — raising its proposed American expansion by another $749 million. In total, the company is expected to expend $13 billion inside the U.S. by 2022.
“In a time when others are scaling back, we believe in the strength of America and we’re excited about the future of mobility in America,” Jim Lentz, CEO of Toyota Motor North America, said of the decision.
Throwing some casual shade at other automakers who are cutting down their domestic workforce is a sound PR strategy but, according to Toyota, its increased investment has nothing to do with global or industrial politics. (Read More…)
After a fiscally damaging year that Ford CEO Jim Hackett implored employees to forget, cuts are coming to the automaker’s workforce, and America won’t be spared. But America can wait, as that region remains a major profit generator. Other regions aren’t, and the automaker’s axe has already fallen in South America.
Now it’s Germany’s turn, with Ford announcing the loss of “more than 5,000” workers in that country. (Read More…)
British tabloid The Sun reported this week that the next James Bond movie will feature an all-electric Aston Martin Rapide E as 007’s featured ride in an effort to give the government-sanctioned killer a greener persona. While Bond films have featured countless vehicles, Astons are typically reserved for series’ titular hero — though he has driven a weird amount of Fords throughout the years.
Developed with loads of help from Williams Advanced Engineering, the Rapide E will be James’ first electric vehicle (watercraft and moon buggy excluded) and was an intentional decision on the part of the film’s director, Cary Joji Fukunaga, to update the character. “The decision was spearheaded by the film’s new director, who’s a total tree-hugger,” claimed The Sun’s unnamed source. “He is working directly with Aston Martin to get one of their electric cars ready for its big close-up.” (Read More…)
While three and a half years have passed since the Volkswagen diesel scandal broke, its reverberations are still being felt. For the automaker turned green soothsayer, this usually comes with financial hardship attached, plus the requisite regurgitation of a past VW would like to see forgotten.
The latest salvo launched at VW over its emissions-rigged cars comes from the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, which is suing the company — as well as its former CEO, Martin Winterkorn — for the “massive fraud” it says VW perpetrated on investors. (Read More…)
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