Note: I’ve mentioned my one-time demo derby experience in the comments on a few occasions, so here’s the full story. This piece originally ran on Autos.ca and was later republished on autoTRADER.ca. It’s republished here with permission. I hope you enjoy it. —MS

Public auctions are usually a sea of bad decisions waiting to find a home in a new idiot’s garage or driveway. At one particular auction over the summer, I was the idiot, and my bad decision lay in wait with bated breath in the lot of automotive shame.

(Read More…)

UPDATE: Other sites seem to have received some additional information from dealers. It has been added below the jump.

Those looking to put down money on one of the most storied nameplates in Lincoln’s history will have to shell out $45,485, which includes destination and delivery, for the privilege.

For that near-as-makes-no-difference $50,000, Lincoln will build you a Continental Premiere with a 3.7-liter V6 engine that sends power to the front wheels.

(Read More…)

Ten years since what?

(Read More…)

The folks in Dearborn are right chuffed about the F-150’s latest crash results — so much so that they sent out embargo materials to a number of outlets, including us (thank you!), to make sure we get the story straight.

According to the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS), the F-150 SuperCab — in addition to the SuperCrew tested last year — is now a Top Safety Pick, when equipped with optional forward collision alert. Ford is the only brand awarded as such in the segment.

The latest round of tests comes after Ford was caught with its pants down last year. Those tests found that not all F-150s were created equal when it came to withstanding the dreaded small overlap frontal crash test.

This year, it’s more of the same — but the trucks behaving badly aren’t Fords.

(Read More…)

Oscar-nominated documentarian and businessman Steve Kalafer is again putting on his producer hat in his latest project, called “Backfire: The Volkswagen Fraud of the Century,” a documentary that aims to find the truth behind the Volkswagen diesel emissions scandal, reports Automotive News.

And he’s the perfect person to do it: Kalafer is also a Volkswagen dealer.

(Read More…)

The Italian coachbuilding industry took a massive hit during the latest global recession. Storied marques such as Bertone disappeared into the ether under the crushing pressures of debt and a shifting automotive industry that had become more self-sufficient.

Now, some eight years after the beginning of the recession, the Italian coachbuilding industry is making a fantastic comeback — albeit, at a cost.

(Read More…)

When TrueCar president and CEO Chip Perry announced a revamp of the car-shopping site, he failed to mention one big change: layoffs.

According to a source and confirmed by TrueCar, an undisclosed number of the company’s employees — mostly located at its headquarters in Santa Monica — received layoff notices yesterday.

(Read More…)

The Volkswagen diesel fix story was totally an April Fools’ joke.

I dunno, I think I’d get a bigger truck. #nltraffic #yyt @VOCMNEWS pic.twitter.com/sW6Axoq9jl

— Earl Noble (@Noble41) April 3, 2016

Newfoundland: it’s where to visit when you want to meet locals who seemingly speak unintelligible English. It’s also a place where you can park a car halfway down the side of a landmark cliff.

One woman was sent to hospital in serious condition in the yet-unexplained incident that’s left a car dangling half way down the face of Signal Hill and tow-truck operators are currently trying to recover the mangled wreckage.

(Read More…)

It looks like Volkswagen has inadvertently sent a fix for its illegally polluting TDI vehicles to a customer, along with a letter spelling out the costs of said fix.

The fix, which is included on an OBD II adapter, wasn’t supposed to be sent with the letter, explained the TDI owner who wished to remain anonymous. Other TDI owners can expect to receive their fix in the next 90 days, says the letter.

(Read More…)

Prior to the New York International Auto Show, Toyota distributed an upbeat press release. Come party with us, it said. “Scion is not going away quietly.”

Yet, as I walk toward Scion’s booth, a quiet unease fills a void once occupied by a loud, confident generational pulse. The typical eye-catching signs with heavily embossed, trendy hashtags are all but entirely absent upon my arrival. Massive subwoofers sit dormant inside 13 years’ worth of one-off tuner concepts. Engineered studio lighting softly highlights the vehicles on display, while simultaneously attempting to hide the vast, empty spaces between them.

Scion’s show booths are normally chock-full of tchotchkes and the beautiful people handing them out — but not today.

(Read More…)

We are going to keep the content relatively light starting today and continuing through the weekend.

But I will ask one question: What’s your favorite Easter Weekend road trip? We’ve all hit the road at some point or another for Easter Weekend. And knowing you folks, some noteworthy shenanigans likely unfolded along the way.

(Read More…)

Mazda just blew the top off, then stowed it away neatly in its targa trunk.

Tonight, on the eve of the New York International Auto Show, Mazda showed off its latest creation: the MX-5 RF, which stands for Retractable Fastback. According to eagle-eyed TTAC contributor Chris Tonn, who was able to get a little closer to the car than myself, the removable roof panel won’t negatively affect trunk space any more than the normal convertible hard top.

If you were waiting for a reason to buy a Miata, this is it.

(Read More…)

This is it! Mazda has broken its own embargo on the MX-5 RF (retractable roof). More details to follow on the live stream.

What’s Mazda going to show tonight in New York City? So far, the Japanese purveyor of droptop fun has been mum on details, but all hints point to a hardtop version of the fourth-generation MX-5 Miata.

Will it be a targa (a la Honda Civic del Sol) with a removable panel that can be stored in the trunk? Or will Mazda bring back a power retractable hardtop model — or PRHT for short — to make the roadster more accessible to skinny-armed boomers who don’t have the physical fortitude to manipulate polycarbonate roof panels? We don’t know right now — but we will know at 7:25 p.m. ET.

Hit the jump to watch the live stream!

(Read More…)