Australians the world over are known for being, well, let’s just say uncomplicated. So it’s fitting that it has decided to name the first submarine slated to replace its current slate of Collins-class attack submarines with a new generation of attack subs, starting with the HMAS Attack.
Read MoreYou can find some wild stuff for sale on the Internet, but it can be pretty rare to find old war prototype vehicles out there for, y’know, specifically traversing the snow. But it is most definitely the case with the Studebaker T-15 Snow Weasel.
Read MoreWhere the outgoing car was dinged for a harsh ride, tight interior, vague steering and diminishing appeal, the all-new 2019 BMW 3 Series has an overhauled suspension, is stretched longer and wider, features reworked steering and has boosted both power and torque.
Read MoreI’m really not sure why, but something about what 71-year old Jean-Jaques Savin is doing seems really appealing to me, despite all rational judgement. Savin has built himself a big barrel, complete with a bunk and a little kitchen and some portholes, and he’s going to crawl in it at one end of the Atlantic and, hopefully, end up at the other end. There’s no engine, he’ll just be using ocean currents and a lot of patience.
Read MoreWhen the Lamborghini Aventador was launched in 2011, folks around the world had to applaud the Italian company for crafting a car that could knock out zero to 60 mph in less than three seconds. Since then, it’s been a favorite of exotic car collectors—and even, uh, some who don’t quite have the means to get the real thing.
Read MoreGeoff has had absolutely terrible luck with WRX: multiple accidents, several major repairs, and to top it all off he is getting knee replacement surgery so he can’t drive a manual anymore. He is looking for another four-door car that is fast and fun with all-wheel-drive. What car should he buy?
Read MoreAs Jalopnik’s resident car buying expert and professional car shopper, I get emails. Lots of emails. I’ve decided to pick a few questions and try to help out. This week we are discussing employee pricing programs, Lemon Law cars that are certified, and the best time to buy a used car.
Read MoreAt some point during my lap in the 2019 Lamborghini Urus at the Thermal Club in Southern California, I hit 131 mph. That alone wasn’t terribly noteworthy—I was on a race track, after all. It was the fact that it had happened so quickly, so easily and so casually that I briefly forgot that I was at the wheel of a 4,800-pound crossover. And the engine still pulled like it had way more to give. This was somehow legal?
Read MoreJust recently, Steve got some bad news that he has been diagnosed with cancer. There are a lot of unknowns with this new situation, but the one thing he does know is that he doesn’t want to be stuck just driving a boring-ass Toyota Highlander. What car should he buy?
Read MoreIf you happen to be in the market for a brand new Chevrolet Corvette this holiday season, grab one now because the 2019 models are about to get a price bump.
Read MoreAs ’80s and ’90s cars become more commonly accepted as “classics” and the prices of desirable vehicles appear to rise, a lot of us might be thinking about cars we had back the day and if we should have held on to them. Well, plug some of your old car purchases into an inflation calculator. The results can be interesting.
Read MoreAs Jalopnik’s resident car buying expert and professional car shopper, I get emails. Lots of emails. I’ve decided to pick a few questions and try to help out. This week we are talking about good cars from bad dealers, aftermarket warranties, and price increases for used Lexus GS sedans.
Read MoreIf Singer helped jumpstart our current restomod revolution, 2018 seems to be the year to buy a reimagined version of what you lusted after when you were a kid. Singer’s still kicking ass, Amos just made the planet cross its legs with a pretty ridiculous Integrale, and outside of the headlines there’re a ton more places willing to sell you a new version of an old car you used to love. One such company is Paul Stephens.
Read MoreCorey had an unfortunate encounter with a deer and now his car is out of commission. We don’t know the condition of the deer, but he needs a new ride. It should be both good for Washington D.C. traffic and something he can use for outdoor activities. What car should he buy?
Read MoreSometimes, you don’t have to tell jokes to be a comedian. Just take a look at the nearest Bugatti Veyron, which can’t even talk—its maintenance prices alone are enough to keep you laughing quite awhile, whether that be in total denial or in the realization that, yes, people do spend $42,000 to replace turbochargers.
Read MoreIf you are still saddened by the news that BMW will not be offering the next generation 3 Series wagon in America, I’ve got some good news for you: General Motors is finally throwing some serious discounts at the Buick Regal TourX. It may be time to get your wagon fix another way.
Read MoreOn the tight and viciously twisty Mallorcan mountain roads, I watched the 2019 Porsche Macan S leading me handle a hairpin with more ferocity than a mid-size crossover has any right to. It leaned heavily into its suspension and from the outside, it looked quite precarious. But, as we were keeping up with it just fine in our test car, I knew that what the they were feeling on board was exactly what I felt. And what I felt was confidence.
Read MoreHello friends! Are you currently coming up with a holiday shopping list? I’m about to simplify that task for you right now because Jaguar is offering some huge discounts on the super cool XF Sportbrake. Pick up one for a friend or family member, or just treat yourself.
Read MoreAs Jalopnik’s resident car buying expert and professional car shopper, I get emails. Lots of emails. I’ve decided to pick a few questions and try to help out. This week we are discussing extended test drives, spotting online scammers, and the best car for a tall teenager.
Read MoreDennis will soon be relocating from New York City to Northern California. He is looking forward to buying a car that not only will allow him to enjoy the scenery but would also like something that could be passed down to his future children. What car should he buy?
Read MoreThe 2019 Chevrolet Colorado ZR2 Bison is a more intense evolution of the ZR2 off-road pickup. It basically amounts to some robust armoring and aesthetic choices, plus an official endorsement from American Expedition Vehicles, one of the hotter outfits in the off-road aftermarket. I took the ZR2 Bison off-road, I found the extra protection to take the stress out of bashing a $50,000 truck over jagged rocks. And that’s a good thing.
Read MoreDecember can be a great time to buy a car. While traditionally the deals are on new models, picking up a pre-owned model during the holidays can save you some cash as well. The folks at iSeeCars.com analyzed the market to find the cars with the best year-end deals.
Read MoreWe all know that sedans are going through some hard times right now, with GM just killing off six of its sedans because, let’s face it, fewer and fewer people want to buy them. But maybe the problem isn’t sedans themselves, it’s that a new take on the sedan is needed, and maybe, just maybe, that new take has to come from some crappy Photoshopping done for a Chevy dealership in Ohio.
Read MoreThe all-new 2019 Volvo V60 is a sleek-looking wagon that’s also pretty excellent to drive. Now we know it starts at just under $40,000, which is a solid value for a luxury car, but if you want one you will need to wait a bit. The V60 will only be available for order only.
Read MoreEven with all the exciting new car debuts at the 2018 LA Auto Show, the big news this week is that General Motors is slashing its car lineup, closing plants and laying off some 14,000 workers. The automaker cited a need to invest in EVs and autonomy, and a decline in interest in small cars and sedans across the board. But just how bad was it?
Read MoreOver the summer, I had a white 2019 Aston Martin DB11 Volante for one glorious weekend. I spent it driving around Brooklyn, took it to mini golf and then brought it back home to show my dad. Here are the photos from that weekend that I never got around to posting.
Read MoreAnywhere that public transit fails to serve, you will find people filling the gap themselves. This is the story of the dollar van, honored now, thankfully, with a hit.
Read MoreThe tumultuous legal battle between Faraday Future and its main investor, Evergrande, which halted Faraday’s plans of delivering its FF91 to customers in December and led to layoffs and wage cuts for employees, according to the Verge, has ended amid plans to restructure the deal between the two companies,
Read MoreThe new year is just about upon us and hopefully it will bring some good things to the world of cars. Maybe we’ll get more electric cars, both affordable and sporty ones. Maybe we’ll finally get the mid-engine Corvette. Hell, maybe we’ll even get a flying car.
Read MoreIf you want a big, luxurious, Big Beef Boy car, you’ve got plenty of options. Mercedes S-Class, BMW 7, Jaguar XJ, Audi A8, Lexus LS, and probably something else that I’ve evicted from my mind for being too boring. The Maserati Quattroporte is not too boring, however. Oh, not at all.
Read MoreThe Cars have been good to us this year. We have received a veritable bounty of incredible car stories, gone on some awesome adventures, and seen some totally cool shit. Some of us at Jalopnik bought new cars. Others of us got rid of a few. We suffered through a few breakdowns, and other automotive conveyances were returned from the brink. It’s time to leave 2018 behind us and start thinking about 2019. It’s Resolution Time.
Read MoreI forgave the LEGO Technics Porsche GT3 RS set for not really looking like a GT3 RS because the nearly 3000 piece kit had some seriously cool mechanical details. Ditto the Bugatti Chiron kit that came out earlier this year. The Danish toy giant now has a new Technics kit that allegedly approximates Chevrolet’s Corvette ZR1. It’s really bad.
Read MoreThe HMMWV contract to replace the original 1950s design GPW Jeep was bid on and won by AM General, beginning production in 1983. Because the 24 hour news cycle began shortly thereafter, it wasn’t long before the Humvee was taking center stage on the television screens of American households everywhere.
Read MoreCollision warning systems have been one of the selling points of cars in recent times. Being able to detect an accident before it happens and be able to react is kind of neat and can be potentially life saving. But did you know that Cadillac had a radar-based collision warning system way back in 1959?
Read MoreMotorsport is a lot of things for everybody. It can be your whole damn life, your favorite pastime, your number one passion. It can be a thing you partake in every now and again when you hear the racing is going to be particularly good. But there’s a damn good chance you’ve connected with someone over it.
Read MoreSometimes I like to use the internet to store things I may need if certain situations arise; in this case, the situation is that I go back in time to the mid 1990s and end up working for Volkswagen deciding colors and trim packages for the Mark IV Golf. If that happens, this post is here to remind me to get VW to offer a contrasting color package for this C-pillar body panel.
Read MoreIt’s hard to fathom that somehow, the new Toyota Supra still isn’t out. And by that I mean not only is it not on sale, it hasn’t even “officially” been “revealed” yet. This, after years of rumors, renders, spy shots, concepts and even camouflaged prototype cars that we ourselves have driven! But the latest batch of photos could reveal the real thing at last. Is anyone surprised anymore, and do you still care?
Read MoreThere’s a lot of discussion over the merits and disadvantages of both alloy and steel wheels. It ultimately comes down to what you want out of the wheel, but if you need some video evidence of how both react under extreme pressure and stress, then look no further than the Hydraulic Press Channel.
Read MoreI don’t know why it exists, how it exists, or frankly, what the heck is going on in this world in general, but I do know that roaming the streets of Michigan is a seventh generation Pontiac Grand Prix limousine. An actual one.
Read More2018 is drawing to a close and it was an interesting year for cars and car companies, to say the least! And now that 2019 is right around the corner, it’s time to make some predictions for the car world that this new year will bring. What do you think is going to happen?
Read MoreBesides the 2019 Lamborghini Urus’s power, speed and incredible brakes, its other standout feature concerns a factory option. 23-inch wheels, to be specific. They sound ridiculous, and they are.
Read MoreEarlier today Jason posted about some Truck People who blocked Tesla chargers with their Big Trucks. One of you had a simple way to found out what’s what.
Read MoreTesla makes some great cars, but one area that the company has had some trouble over the years is in the area of fit and finish. The main culprits are typically poorly-fitting trim and body panels, and also paint blemishes. Jason Fenske, host of the excellent YouTube channel Engineering Explained, just bought a brand new Tesla Model 3. Here’s what he found.
Read MoreThe 2019 Mazda 6 will be around sometime soon, considering that 2019 itself is only a few days away. But the turn of a model year is the perfect time to buy an outgoing model of a car if you’re into buying off of the lot, meaning even 2019 isn’t too late to talk about a vehicle with 2018 in its name.
Read MoreI generally like people, which may be why I never fail to be surprised when I encounter people being truly unrepentant dickheads for no good reason whatsoever. That’s what seems to have been going down at a Tesla Supercharger in Hickory, North Carolina, where a Tesla owner was attempting to charge her car, only to find the Supercharger spots blocked by at least three pickup trucks, with the trucks owners chanting “Fuck Tesla.” What the hell?
Read MoreAs we have all identified previously, movies don’t get a whole lot right about cars. Cars don’t explode as often, flip as easily or absorb bullets as well as movies would have us believe. Now it’s time to look at what movies absolutely nail about cars. And car people, for that matter.
Read MoreThe holiday season is now over, and we’re at the part of the year where it’s the longest possible time before the next one. How sad! I hope you managed a good haul of parts, tools, accessories and more crap while you could. What car stuff did you get for Christmas, Hanukkah or whatever else you celebrate?
Read MoreThis is a brief interlude from Group B-smas, I know, but bear with me here because I can’t find what it is that’s both so oddly satisfying and yet deeply strange about this whole video. Is it the nice little crunch from some floral foam? The exploding pudding packs?
Read MoreThe 2019? 2020? Toyota Supra, in some ways, already feels disappointing. We know it’s mostly a BMW, and we expect it will just drive like a BMW. Ho hum. But today the Supra MKV forum turned up this picture of the car in yellow. HOLD ON. Yellow? All bets are off. This car rules.
Read MoreThe American President, one Donald J. Trump, has a knack for throwing a giant wrench in the works of the automotive industry with worldwide implications. He’s proposed huge import tariffs, crazy rollbacks of emissions standards, bonkers threats to remove GM’s electric car subsidies, and has said he wants to see German automakers disappear from American roads, despite many of them actually building cars here in the U.S.
Read MoreIn 2019, Ronal will be celebrating the company’s 50th anniversary by releasing the R50 Aero wheel design. (above) Back in 1969, Karl Wirth founded the company with motorsport in mind. He was a Formula Vee racer who saw a competitive advantage in, and thus a market desire for, aluminum wheels. The company opened its own factory in 1978, and has been on the cutting edge of lightweight and stylish wheel design ever since.
Read MoreThe Honda S660 is a unique little thing, albeit one we don’t get in the U.S., with its tiny roadster setup and mid-engine layout. And, in addition to reminding us that modern cars can be both quirky and fun, Honda’s new S660 Trad Leather Edition is a testament to the fact that cars don’t have to be big to be classy.
Read MoreI’m pretty sure most of us, given the choice, would want a lovely, precise gated shifter for our manual cars. But the truth is we don’t usually have a choice, and society dictates that the point of contact between shifter and chassis is somehow unseemly, so it must be hidden with a modesty boot of some sort. Of these boots, there are really only two basic kinds: rubber accordion boots and leather, bag-like boots. I maintain that rubber accordion boots are far superior, even if they’re currently
Read MoreMy friend Mike went to Legoland this week, and he proceeded to send me a bunch of excellent photographs of the expertly crafted brick recreations of actual real cars. The brick experts at Legoland have earned their place in car society, as they have chosen some pretty awesome models to design and build, and the end result is quite impressive.
Read MoreMaria Antonietta Avanzo only wanted two things in life: she wanted to win, and she wanted more women to find their niche in racing just like she did.
Read MoreQuick: what was America’s first fiberglass sports car? If you just said the Corvette, you would be wrong—but don’t worry, it’s a pretty big misconception (although, you’d be correct if you were assuming the first fiberglass sports car on the market). The Kaiser Darrin 161 hit the scene a year before the Corvette, at the 1952 Petersen Los Angeles Motorama.
Read MoreI’ve been binge-watching Christmas films with my fiancé over the past few weeks, including my personal favorites, the Rankin-Bass stop motion features—including the beloved Santa Claus is Comin’ To Town. In and around my fiancé blowing my mind with facts I did not know (“Did you know that’s Fred Astaire?” “What??”), he enlightened me to the fact that Special Delivery “S.D.” Kluger’s snowmobile-slash-mail-delivery-truck is actually a real thing.
Read MoreYour child just got their license! Congratulations are in order. A newfound freedom is about to pass over your home not witnessed since before the days of “Honey, I have a craving for Rocky Road Ice Cream and pickles”. Date Night is back, baby! Time for a trip to Ruth’s Chris for a porterhouse and then out of the town for a show. The kid is gone!
Read MoreThere is nothing more satisfying than spending the days before the holidays lounging on the couch like a slug watching festive movies while eating all the cookies you’ve collected from the folks who get really into the holiday spirit. When you’re working here at Jalopnik, it’s hard to get cars off the brain—so just about any holiday film turns into a game of What’s That Car. At least, it does for me and my fiancé.
Read MoreCall me old fashioned, but owning a car with plenty of room seems sooooo overrated. There’s nothing I love more than, y’know, packing light and not having any passengers. Which is why the Rolls Royce Cullinan is probably the most ideal car on the market right now.
Read MoreSome of the greatest homebrew car builds happen when people can’t fit into their vehicles. For example, there was that two-row DeLorean, then there was that Mercedes 190D camper, and that Mercury Sable/Ford Bronco II camper from earlier this week. And now there’s a Honda Fit economy car, whose occupants apparently didn’t quite, well, fit.
Read MoreEvery so often I lift my head up in the office from my usual seven-hour midday nap and announce to my coworkers “hey, the Audi A8 seems cool” at which point they all throw things at me until I pretend to sleep again. Well, here’s an even better thing: a proposed Audi A8 lifted wagon with the W12.
Read MoreThe MKIV Toyota Supra is a legend for its iron-block 3.0-liter 2JZ straight six, capable of surviving big turbo boost for even bigger power. But this Supra is different. No turbos, but instead velocity stacks on individual throttle bodies and a very BMW-esque roar.
Read MoreI’ve made no secret of my admiration for the Tata Nano. Okay, thanks to ridiculous cultural fixations on status, the $2,500 new car never really achieved the success I think it deserved, but it’s still a triumph of automotive engineering. What I didn’t realize was that the Nano had a spiritual ancestor, also from India. A small, highly affordable car designed to put even the poorest family on wheels. A car that had been one man’s dream for decades. The man was Shankarrao Kulkarni, and the car wa
Read MoreGM’s newest mid-engine monster is getting spotted testing a lot. Going for McDonalds. Going racing. Going to Germany. It won’t be spotted at the North American International Auto Show in Detroit next month, but that doesn’t stop GM’s engineers from driving around in full camo, ready to get spotted. This one was spied by @rhurren505 and @njhurren on Instagram today way up in The Thumb (Port Huron) of Michigan.
Read MoreToyota and Mazda picked Huntsville, Alabama for their new $1.6 billion joint manufacturing plant earlier this year, but it didn’t take long for objections to roll in. The issue of the plant’s potential to push a fish species to extinction was raised in June, and the companies agreed, months later, to spend $6 million on protecting it.
Read MoreA dealership in Rochester, NY had a brand-new, German-built Volkswagen arrive for its pre-sales inspection, and with it came a little message. A message that wasn’t exactly grammatically correct, but the meaning behind it was unmistakable. The message? “Welcome Fuck of USA.”
Read MoreWhile a future full of hybrid replacements for the Lamborghini Aventador and Huracan is imminent, the spicy Italian automaker may show off its new powertrain approach a little early with a new hybrid hypercar that may use supercapacitors instead of batteries. Oh, and they want it to glow in the dark.
Read MoreMore than 100 million vehicles worldwide had or have Takata airbags that could blow up, and, as of January, 22 deaths were linked to them. The recall has been going on for years, but so many people still have the airbags, Toyota partnered on an app with a “game design” and “incentives” to spread the word.
Read MoreIt’s been two decades since copyrighted works were allowed to enter the public domain, but next year, the 20-year hiatus that was instituted in 1998 will finally end, and in 2019 all copyrighted works from 1923 will be available for anyone to use, modify, be inspired by, or anything else, as they will be public domain. This is especially important for car customizers, who I imagine have been chomping at the bit for Marcel Duchamp’s iconic Dadaist work, The Large Glass (The Bride Stripped Bare by
Read MoreThe new Honda Civic Type R comes with 20-inch wheels stock on skinny low-profile tires. As anyone who has driven one will tell you, rough roads are a nightmare, potholes a waking terror. It doesn’t have to be this way.
Read MoreGod has not endeavored to bless you with the driving skills of Ayrton Senna. He has, however, deigned it appropriate to bless you with a bounty of unimaginable riches, time for the occasional track day, and a healthy dose of a e s t h e t i c taste. Looks like you’ve got no choice other than to get a McLaren P1 GTR decked out like the McLaren MP4/4 that carried Senna to his first Formula One championship.
Read MoreSince Jalopnik’s inception, we’ve preached the joys of wagonhood, and often complained that Europe gets all the long-roof cars that we so yearn for. But if you still don’t get why we love these things, just look at this BMW 3 Series wagon driver in Canada transporting a snowmobile. It’s incredible.
Read MoreA Tesla Model S caught fire earlier this week in a parking lot in Los Gatos, California. It then reignited a few hours later after it had been brought to a tow yard.
Read MoreOne million is a really big number. It’s such a large number that a math teacher in high school offered the title to his Corvette to any student that could hand write out the numbers one through one million on pieces of paper. Obviously, many thick headed students gave it a shot, but none of them drove the Corvette home. This silver Hyundai Elantra has displayed each of those numerals on its odometer in just five years, and Hyundai has rewarded the driver, one Farrah Haines, with a brand new rep
Read MoreU.S. Open champion Naomi Osaka deserved far more than some of the treatment she got after winning the title earlier this year, but, if anything, she now has a Nissan GT-R made just for her. Nissan’s only making 50 of the special editions, and, unfortunately for a lot of wealthy tennis fans out there, they’re Japan only.
Read MoreFor years, the holiday decorations over the New Jersey-side entrance to the Holland Tunnel were extremely, mildly infuriating. A nice wreath and Christmas tree greeted commuters and visitors going into New York City, but inexplicably, they were laid across the “HOLLAND TUNNEL” logo in some very curious places—a tree over the N, and another wreath over the U. Now, at long, long last, the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey has fixed it after a bunch of people complained.
Read MoreThe 2019 Mazda Miata was, of course, one of the best cars we drove this year. To celebrate this illustrious win, Mazda showed off a new carbon fiber removable hardtop at this year’s Tokyo Auto Salon.
Read MoreAs thirsty as we all are to finally see a new Ford Bronco, an allegedly leaked product plan suggests that we’ll have to wait until we get through reveals of the 2020 Ford Explorer and likely a refreshed Ford F-150 first.
Read MoreThe new 2019 Toyota Supra, which I’m not entirely convinced is a car that will actually go on sale before I collect Social Security benefits, has a turbocharged inline six—as it should be. And while there’s some head-scratching because it’s from BMW, like the rest of the car happens to be, I’m pleased to report it sounds good.
Read MoreI’d argue that one of the most under-appreciated automotive lamp types of all time is the humble side marker light. With some exceptions, most designers seem to treat these helpful orange-and-red reflector/lamp combos as an afterthought, at best. This wasn’t always the case. When these lights first became required, at least one automaker celebrated them, before gradually sliding into apathy. The automaker was Pontiac, and the car was the Firebird.
Read MoreElon Musk has been talking and tweeting about tunneling below Los Angeles to beat traffic for ages. We don’t have a full subterranean road system yet, but it looks like the Boring Company now has a 1.14-mile long prototype underneath Hawthorne that a Tesla Model X can fit through.
Read MorePorsche has expanded its lineup of mid-engine two-seat sports cars with the new T trim for both Boxster and Cayman 718 body styles. Both models make use of the same 300 horsepower turbocharged flat four as the standard 718, but with a few more sport oriented chassis modifications to increase the fun quotient. For example, the 20mm lower PASM suspension option has never been offered paired with the base model’s lower horsepower engine.
Read MoreThe vehicle above is a Nissan Kicks. It’s not a very exciting car. It doesn’t have mind-bending horsepower. It’s got a CVT, and all the non-enjoyment that entails. The interior isn’t especially inspiring and it’s not really all that much to look at. But is it a bad car? Hell no.
Read MoreOkay, we’ve already gone through what movies get wrong about cars (it’s a lot), so let’s flip the question around. What do movies actually get right about cars?
Read MoreBack in August, the Qiantu Motors K50 electric coupe went on sale in China, and now the automaker has made a deal with U.S. manufacturer Mullen Technologies Inc. to assemble and sell the K50 stateside. It would seem China’s diverse saturation of electric vehicles is finally working its way over to us.
Read MoreCarmakers pretty much always overestimate their own figures, but when your company tweets out that its next electric car will cost as much as a normal diesel and get 345 miles of range, that’s still worth hearing.
Read MoreWe won’t see the new Toyota Supra before 2019, even though we’ve been seeing “concepts” and intentionally publicized “camo cars” for ages. But here’s some Supra-camouflage wrapping paper, so that, if you celebrate Christmas and you’ve already shown people exactly what their gifts look like, your loved ones will know as much about their gifts as you know about the looks of the new Supra.
Read MoreAn 18-year-old in Ohio was caught allegedly doing 100 MPH in a 65 MPH zone, and the police officer who ticketed him is pissed. So much so that the cop took to Facebook and penned an open letter to the Youth, criticizing him for apparently jeopardizing his life and those of others on that road.
Read MoreThere’s a new Mercedes-Benz CLA coming soon, which prompted Mercedes to release this heavily shadowed teaser ahead of the release. The company has provided no other official information about the car, so all I can do is sit here and hope that the new one will be better than the old one.
Read MoreEveryone knows the stereotypes. The engines leak oil. The wires leak smoke. They’re unreliable, slow, maintenance nightmares. Every time you see one on the road, you wonder—are these things actually good? Or are they just for weirdo masochists who like British things?
Read MoreBuying a car, especially a used car, can be a tricky thing. There are a lot of things to consider, chief among them how you’re going to maintain it. If the previous owner was crap at maintaining the car, what sort of headaches are you going to get hit with? Here’s how to dodge that bullet up front.
Read MoreIt’s been more than two years since Gymkhana Nine, if seeing people you’ve known since they were kids graduating college this month wasn’t making you feel old enough. Gymkhana 10 is here, though, to distract you from that reality for a full 19 minutes of tire shredding in five of Ken Block’s best cars.
Read MoreThe Bloodhound Project, an attempt to promote STEM education by developing a supersonic car that can travel 1,000 MPH, died earlier this month when the British team ran out of money. But now an entrepreneur has bought the project, and the pursuit of quadruple-digit speed continues.
Read MoreI remember growing up and so vividly memorizing detail after detail so that I could tell if that’s a real GTO, Trans Am, or factory 440 Cuda, or if you just stuck some badges on a base model. I am both proud and sorry to report that the same fate has reached your favorite Japanese performance cars.
Read MoreOkay, so Lincoln is, for real, bringing suicide doors back to the fancy but unfortunately slow-selling Continental sedan. Just not very many of them, and those that do get snatched up by buyers are destined to become instant collector’s items.
Read MoreThere are some cars sold here in the U.S. market as domestic brands which have been built elsewhere. No brand’s sales lot is more indicative of such a strategy than Buick. The majority of the company’s lineup is built by Opel and imported with a tri-shield badge, including the Encore, Cascada, and Regal.
Read MoreListen: 2017 was a long time ago. You likely feel like you’ve lived twenty lifetimes since TVR first showed off the new Griffith at Goodwood. The modern take on TVR classic designs looked production ready back then, and the company promised an early 2019 delivery.
Read MoreIt is absolutely mind-boggling that a super SUV that can run the quarter mile in 12.9 seconds is considered the slow one. It wasn’t long ago that some of the best sports cars on the market struggled to hit 12-second quarters. That’s exactly what happens in this video from CarWow, however, as the Land Rover Range SVR is the slowest of the four.
Read MoreThis clean, classic, vintage, air-cooled, fair trade, organic Porsche named “Frisco” is pretty much a cocktail of everything that’s Cool Right Now in high-end car culture. Behold the subtle earthtones, tasteful application of chrome and deliberately placed leather straps.
Read MoreI recently discovered that my 1984 BMW 733i has not one but two cigarette lighters: One up front, as is customary, and one for the rear passengers too.
Read MoreThese days, we’ve had plenty of head-to-heads featuring a Tesla—everyone wants to know how Elon Musk’s brainchildren are going to compare to other cars on the market. Recently, we’ve had the Tesla up against the Kia Stinger. But I’m thinking it’s time for a change.
Read MoreA few years ago, I visited Cleveland, Ohio, and stopped by the Crawford Auto-Aviation Museum—an amazing place filled with immaculate, rare, obscure cars, many of which I’d never even heard of. It was awesome, and now it’s probably to get even more awesome, as the museum just announced a new exhibit celebrating ’80s and ’90s car culture.
Read MoreIs pizza a car? No, it’s not, and that’s just one of many reasons it’s bullshit. Welcome to my pizza take so infuriating to everyone around me that my coworkers and bosses forced me to write about it on a car blog.
Read MoreA Chinese company alleging that Faraday Future CEO Jia Yueting owes it $11 million for an overdue loan from 2016 convinced a California district court judge to freeze his ownership stake in the electric car startup, as well as four of his U.S. mansions, The Verge reports.
Read More“You should know,” Ryan Felton said sheepishly into the phone, “that I can’t really... drive stick.” Felton, being the slippery bastard that he is, waited until I sent the hiring paperwork to him in November 2016 to deliver this news to me.
Read MoreThe 2019 Hyundai Kona Electric came onto the car scene this year, boldly lacking even a semblance of a grille and boasting an impressive 258 miles of range. Hyundai announced Friday that the base Kona will start under $30,000 after U.S. tax credits, which is remarkably reasonable. But don’t start saving up just yet—it won’t be available in every state without a special order.
Read MoreThe Porsche Panamera Sport Turismo is the powerful performance wagon of your driving dreams. It’s beautiful, feels good, makes sexy noises, and, obviously makes you the envy of all your friends when you are behind the wheel. Does it have a lot of wonderful qualities? Yes. But given that this one cost over $210,000, I will now point out some extremely minor and petty, yet recognizable, flaws.
Read MoreA 1956 Ferrari 290 MM sold at a Los Angeles auction for $22 million. Unlike some of the other old Ferraris that sold at auction for a lot of money, this one was special because it had most of its original period parts and was restored by Ferrari itself. How neat is that?
Read MoreThe 2020 Jeep Gladiator pickup configurator is now online. And while it doesn’t show pricing, it does show available packages, colors, and other options. Show us how you’d configure the first Jeep pickup in over a quarter century.
Read MoreI’ve always dreamt of a road made of chocolate. One on which, even if I fell from my bike and landed on my face, I’d at least get to stick my tongue out and taste some cocoa goodness to ease the pain. Earlier this week, such a road existed in Germany thanks to a giant spill.
Read MoreOne of my favorite categories of not just cars, but objects in the known universe are little-known old Volkswagen prototypes. That’s why I’m always so delighted when I encounter one I wasn’t previously aware of. Last year, I found out about this amazing South African Beetle-based SUV prototype, and was amazed. Today, I learned that someone is, somehow, using one as their daily driver and it’s making my brain melt.
Read MoreWhile we’re fairly certain that a mid-engine Corvette is coming soon, we don’t really know when to expect it. The camouflaged cars we’ve been spotting suggests it could be soon, but GM Authority is reporting that the car has been delayed over an issue with its wiring harness.
Read MoreLike many other places in Germany, the western city of Bonn had plenty of rebuilding to do after World War II. So, with materials scarce, the owner of one building decided to use hoods from junked army Jeeps to build up his ceiling. Those hoods have just been discovered after over 70 years, and they carry with them some fascinating history.
Read MoreYes, we have even more bits of video from that air-cooled Volkswagen gathering I joined this summer, so get ready for more radiator-free goodness. Today I want to improve the quality of your life ever so slightly by taking you with me on this quick walk-around of a Volkswagen that’s quite uncommon in America: The Type 3 Notchback.
Read MoreRemember when the Trump administration proposed rolling back Obama-era fuel economy standards and the auto industry’s response was basically, “Whoa, we didn’t actually want all that”? That was weird, if also revealing. Behind the scenes, Big Oil never wavered though, according to a new New York Times report, which details the industry’s gross campaign for higher profits.
Read MoreThere was a Lamborghini Urus parked outside the hotel where I am currently staying at for the media launch, so I can already tell you that it is very large. It has massive wheels and a tall stance. But besides that, what do you want to know about it?
Read MoreDo you remember the very brief time when the Subaru WRX STI was a hatchback, and only a hatchback? Isn’t it weird that you can’t get a WRX or STI wagon or hatchback at all anymore, now?
Read MoreIf there’s been a silver lining to Volkswagen’s whole Dieselgate mess, its that since all that happened, the company has been working overtime to take our collective minds off that, and on to positive stories and experiences, many of which revolve around classic Volkswagens and their owners and the surrounding culture. This time the result is particularly great: VW of America has paid to fully restore a 73-year-old woman’s beloved Beetle that she’s owned since 1966.
Read MoreGoodyear Tire & Rubber Co. has decided to stop making tires in Venezuela, according to multiple reports, the latest in a line of companies to pull out of the crisis-stricken South American country. As part of its severance package, employees will reportedly receive 10 tires each.
Read MoreThe idea was simple: Two Irish drift fanatics would fly from Ireland, following an Irish drift car over to Japan and document it competing in the home of drifting. What actually happened: The car got stuck at the port, and, uh, now what?
Read MoreWhen I look in the mirror now, it gives me pause. I stop. I lean in closer. Is this me? Yes, it is. But, a new fact is now indisputable, as unbelievable as I once though it to be. I never imagined this would happen, but it did—after driving a mere two Ford Mustangs, I am a Mustang Woman now. Damn it.
Read MoreWe have documented, multiple times, that wild bears often find themselves inside of or around Subarus. Whether the bears enjoy a rough-and-ready family car or Subaru owners just happen to be the kinds of people who are often exposed to bears, we can’t say. What we can say after seeing this video shot over the weekend in Grand Tetons National Park, is that the trend seems to be spreading to the moose.
Read MoreA couple of years ago, the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety evaluated headlights on 2016 model-year cars and found that most of them, well, sucked. But here we are, more two years later, almost on the dawn of a new decade, and—headlights still pretty much suck.
Read MoreAston Martin has revealed some juicy details about the 6.5-liter V12 powering the upcoming Aston Martin Valkyrie road car. They, along with the lovely detailed images, will make your inner powertrain-geek weak at the knees.
Read MoreThis car crossed my Instagram feed the other day and I didn’t think much of it. Oh, cool, I thought, another 2JZ swap. Whatever. Oh, but I was wrong. No JZs here. This is a 1FZ, a giant 4.5-liter iron-block truck motor that few Americans think about.
Read MoreBuick’s Regal TourX is deeply discounted right now. Enough that you can pick one up for up to $10,000 off MSRP. And reader TheManBearPigRoams offers up the challenge to all of the keyboard warriors who professed their desire to purchase one of these if it weren’t for some excuse or another.
Read MoreToday I learned that motorists in the state of Maine are writing, to put it delicately, all kinds of fucked up shit on their license plates. Why? Who knows. How? Apparently state just waits for somebody to complain, in lieu of a screening system. Hilarity then ensues.
Read MoreVolkswagen is in a bit of trouble again, this time for selling pre-production cars that weren’t approved to be on public roads, German newspaper Handelsblatt reports.
Read MoreAt some point or another, we all need to go shopping for a car. New or used, it doesn’t matter because you always need to keep your wits about you when making a big purchase like that. What are some red flags to look out for when buying a car?
Read MoreThe midsize pickup market has exploded in recent years, and Ford, the large truck king, wants in. The 2019 Ford Ranger was late to the party, but it claimed the torque crown for itself with just a little 2.3-liter EcoBoost engine, which just eked out another upside: best-in-class fuel economy.
Read MoreToday’s fun-fact: The second generation Chrysler Sebring—the crappy one that preceded the also-crappy third generation—died after the 2006 model year, but it lived on in Russia as the Volga Siber. Here’s a look at the Russian plant that built the Sebring until 2010.
Read MoreWe Jalops love our manual wagons, so when BMW announced that its new generation of 3 Series will not come with a long roof in the U.S., and that its non-M models won’t have a clutch pedal, the natural response was to somehow make the company change its mind. Reader EZBrzy has a solution.
Read MoreJaguar is looking into why one of its new all-electric I-Pace SUVs caught on fire in the Netherlands last week while it was parked in a driveway, reports Electrek. While other EVs have had high-profile issues with overheating and fires, it’s the first known one involving Jag’s new electric.
Read MoreThere’s a new BMW 8 Series out, but it will never eclipse what the original 8 offered: A sky-high asking price, natural aspiration, V12 availability and styling that radically departed from what BMW was offering at the time. What makes the original car memorable today is how much of an outlier it was in the early ‘90s. To own one now, you kind of have to be a masochist.
Read MoreLife got you down? Sad about how the wagons seem to be dying across the board? Do those new Audi crossovers fail to stir anything in your rally-loving soul? Friend, if you’re willing to wait just a bit longer, I have the answer to your (uniquely American) woes: the legendary Audi RS2 Avant.
Read MoreCars these days – too big! Especially if you’re just driving around together. But what if you could take all the things that make a regular car good (tires, steering wheel, motive force, etc.), and put them in a smaller package, ideally suited for a game of golf or a medium-sized southern town? Thankfully Peachtree City, Georgia, exists, and the denizens there agree with that deranged idea.
Read MoreMy brother Michael is a Geologist and photographer in Hong Kong, and over the years, he’s been kind enough to share some of the amazing, often abandoned cars he’s spotted around the Special Administrative Region of China. His latest find: a Lancia Delta Integrale just sitting, gathering dust in a parking garage.
Read MoreMuseums may not be the first thing you think of when it comes to Japan’s car scene, but there’s a surprising amount of them scattered around the country. The nation’s main car manufacturers all have museums, like the Nissan Zama Heritage Collection, Honda Collection, Toyota Automobile Museum and MEGA WEB showroom. But the nicest surprise to me has been this, the Mahoujin Supercar Museum.
Read MoreI love seeing cars in movies. They can easily make a scene way more exciting. The problem is that not everything about the cars in those movies is, uh, accurate. Excluding pretty much everything from the Fast and Furious universe (because that’s too easy of an answer), it seems like movies tend to make a lot of car mistakes!
Read MoreHey friends, I know it’s Monday and that already sucks but it looks like I’ve got some additional bad news for you: Not only will the next generation 2019 BMW 3 series not have a manual, but we also won’t get the wagon either. It’s a sad day in Longroof Land.
Read MoreIf you haven’t been watching Gymkhana Files, what have you been doing with your life? It just might be the most entertaining series of automotive serial programming in years, giving viewers bite-sized pieces of the drama, mental breakdown, and difficulty that goes into filming something as grandiose as Gymkhana has become. What started out as a lark, just a dude doing dumb shit in an abandoned airfield with his Subaru, has come to define at least a subsection of automotive culture for the last d
Read MoreFerrari’s 488 Spider is an absolute gem of a car, with striking good looks, unbelievably good turbocharged V8 motivation, and confidence-inspiring mid-engine dynamics that make it feel a little bit like a stupid fast 981 Boxster (That’s a really good thing, I promise). McLaren is smashing a gauntlet across the 488's aggressive face, and throwing it down with a new 720S Spider that is 194 pounds lighter than the Fezza, with an extra 50 horses for good measure.
Read MoreOur very overworked video team has finally gotten around to editing all the video taken this summer when I went on the big Airhead Treffen, a shared excuse for air-cooled Volkswagen owners all over to drive around and get together in one place and geek the fuck out over air-cooled VWs. That’s why you’ve been seeing all this air-cooled content showing up lately. If you think you can stomach more of it, this video has all kinds of great old VWs to geek out over. Like I did.
Read MoreDecember is one of the most painful and yet most blessed times of the year. For those of us who are still slogging through the rigamarole of higher education, it means the double edged sword of finals followed by the sweet, sweet bliss of winter break. And folks, last night I turned in my last final essay. It is time to devote my undivided attention to cars and TV.
Read MoreThe path to women taking part in sanctioned American racing had to start somewhere. Long before women like Danica Patrick and Jennifer Jo Cobb were getting behind the wheel of stock cars, we had women like Sara Christian setting the stage—and at the first ever NASCAR race to boot.
Read MoreIt’s a crazy world out there, and, as gearheads, we find ourselves on the streets more than most, since that’s the natural habitat of cars. The street is also where street drugs come from, so it only makes sense that a whole sub-category of street drugs would arise with the innocent and vulnerable car-lover in their sights. This list will help you identify the most common and dangerous automotive-themed street drugs that plague our streets and driveways, at least in my mind.
Read MoreOccasionally, I get distracted by the bigger and flashier stuff BMW offers, like the new 8 Series and the new Z4, and I forget that the best driver’s BMW actually already exists. It’s the 2 Series—and, more specifically, the M2 Competition. Shame, shame, shame on me.
Read MoreToday we woke up to a new Avengers 4: Endgame trailer and like the rest of you basic nerds, I gobbled it up then immediately watched it again to squint for cool stuff. Unfortunately I didn’t see Korg, but at least Paul Rudd’s Ford shaggin’ wagon apparently survived to make an appearance in the next epic Marvel movie.
Read MoreThis is really, really sad, I think. A Jalopnik reader and Indiana resident named Cory is now the proud owner of an MG Midget he’s restoring, and wanted to get it titled and all the paperwork in order with the Indiana Bureau of Motor Vehicles. Unfortunately he ran into a little complication: the Indiana BMV seems to have no idea what an MG Midget, a known motor vehicle, is.
Read MoreSome sad news this morning for those who appreciate pushing the boundaries of science in pursuit of speed: the Bloodhound SSC project, a rocket car that’s been aiming to hit the 1,000 mph land record for years now, is dead. The project had been strapped for cash for some time and now won’t be moving forward after being unable to secure a large investment.
Read MoreNot everyone is a fan of the looks on the limited-run Nissan GT-R50 by Italian design company Italdesign, whose name sums its purpose up well. But if you are a fan and you’ve got a spare $1.1 million or so to drop on it, the order books are now open. There are only 50 slots, so move on it now.
Read MoreJeep calls it “the ultimate test in straight-line speed,” to show off the Jeep Grand Cherokee Trackhawk’s peerless acceleration. It’s a test the 707-horsepower Jeep wins. Just for some reason I can’t work out, the competition is a 1991 TVR and an Audi Quattro.
Read MoreThere are a lot of annoying things that are wrong in the car space. Women are often still treated as decorations at race tracks, the word “dynamism” is far overused, and the engine noises aren’t even real half the time. But there’s something that eats away at me in a far more routine fashion, like a chronic pain that never actually stops and flares up more often than it should: when automakers refer to vehicle models like they’re people.
Read MoreYes, I am aware Transformers: The Last Knight came out last year, but I only got around to finally watching it this week. SHUT UP. As such, I came away positively enraged over a decision involving a Citroën DS and a Lamborghini Centenario. It was a seemingly small decision, but it means THE WORLD.
Read MoreJust days after General Motors took many by surprise with an announcement that it might close a factory in Detroit, there’s some encouraging news in the Motor City: Fiat Chrysler is expected to open a new factory in the city, according to a report from The Detroit News. A source familiar with the plans confirmed the news to Jalopnik.
Read MoreThe way Škoda works is that Volkswagen tosses the brand some small car platform and the Czech arm of the greater VW Group empire returns it better, nicer and often cheaper than VW ever would. That’s no different with the new 2019 Škoda Scala.
Read MoreThis past summer, the world saw a 1962 Ferrari 250 GTO sell at RM Sotheby’s Monterey Car Week auction for a staggering $48.4 million—making it the most expensive car ever sold at auction. Know what else is disgusting? This makes the Ferrari officially worth more than its weight in gold.
Read MoreMost people tend to believe that with age comes depreciation, but the Nissan GT-R, ancient yet great as ever, keeps getting more expensive. You might not have noticed, because Nissan just slightly bumps the price up every year—the numbers sneaking up on you like a bad nightmare you’ve been having for the past decade, which also happens to be the approximate age of the GT-R.
Read MoreThere’s definitely no shortage of cars in movies. There are movies about cars, movies about driving and movies not about cars but where cars do plenty of stunts. The problem is that sometimes directors and editors get sloppy and mistakes appear onscreen.
Read MoreElectrification doesn’t have to be reserved just for the upcoming, futuristic cars. Sometimes, we can take old, classic cars and turn them into EVs, too. It’s better for the environment this way. Aston Martin agrees, which is why it’s rolling out a new plan to release a reversible EV powertrain conversion.
Read MoreIn today’s wacky automotive experiment, Russian YouTube host Vlad welds 3,000 nails to a rim, and tries driving on an ice bed. Here’s a look at what happens to these nails when Vlad subjects them to the full weight of a Lada 110, and to the shitbox’s dynamic loads.
Read MoreEarlier this year, I went to the Airhead Parts Treffen, basically an excuse to gather up as many old air-cooled Volkswagens as possible and drive them around. We talked to some people about their cars along the way, like this proud owner of a genuinely bonkers 1957 Beetle that’s been heavily modified to be, oh, a bit more potent than originally built.
Read MoreThe 2018 Fiat Panda got crashed and tested under strict modern regulations by the European New Car Assessment Program recently, and came out of it with a solid zero out of five stars. The video from the test looks almost identical to the one the NCAP ran on the Panda in 2011, when the car got a four-star rating.
Read MoreSafety standards for cars are now incredibly high, and the European New Car Assessment Programme just published its results for the 2018 Jeep Wrangler. Don’t worry, it didn’t score zero stars like the Fiat Punto did in 2017 and the 2018 Fiat Panda just did, but it lags behind a lot of other modern cars in several key safety areas.
Read MoreFollowing a meeting with President Trump on Tuesday, Volkswagen CEO Herbert Diess gave a public run through of the company’s potential options for increasing American-based automotive production. Chief among the day’s talking points, Volkswagen’s alliance with Ford and a potential use of the Blue Oval’s U.S. plants to build cars.
Read MoreLook, I’m not saying a callback to Homestar Runner is a surefire way to win Comment of the Day. But it definitely improves your chances.
Read MoreElectric car startup Faraday Future announced Tuesday that it’s planning to furlough more employees due to its worsening financial condition, which stems from an ongoing battle with a Chinese investor.
Read MoreThis week on Carspotting we went looking for the famous 1950s Studebaker that still parks on the street on the Upper West Side. We didn’t find it. But we did come up on this pre-facelift Pontiac Fiero, one of the more interesting cars that never gets its proper due.
Read MoreEveryone is at different points in their lives and everyone has different priorities. Which makes for some very interesting car-buying questions. It might be time soon for your next car. What would it look like?
Read MoreIt’s the start of yet another month, meaning it’s also the start of yet another sales-reporting cycle for automakers that still report monthly. (We’re looking at you, GM.) Hyundai Motor America published its November numbers on Monday, reporting that it sold a solid negative one Azera sedans in the U.S. last month.
Read MoreNow that the application process for the Ford GT is open again, somebody has gone to great lengths to get the company’s attention by flying an aerial banner over Ford’s headquarters in Dearborn, Michigan at lunch time.
Read MoreThis week’s Meh Car Monday is a little bit different than most because the car we’re talking about didn’t have to be meh, but powerful and insidious decisions—especially styling decisions—doomed this beast to a short, sad life of meh-sery. This is the cautionary tale of the Kia Borrego.
Read MoreGetting older changes the way you look at cars. In your 20s you might get excited about a new coupe or sport compact. Then the years add up and you are strangely drawn to something more comfortable and practical but still cool, like a Volvo wagon.
Read MoreIt’s time again for a new BMW 3 Series. We do know the manual gearbox is pretty much dead this time, and we also know a lot of the engineering behind its new chassis. What we don’t yet know is what it’s like to drive. I’m about to find out, and I’m curious what you would like to know.
Read MorePresident Donald Trump has been teasing a super vague threat to end “all” of General Motors’ tax subsidies, in response to the automaker’s plan to cut 14,000 jobs and potentially close four U.S. plants. On Monday, Trump economic advisor Larry Kudlow elaborated that the White House would like to happen by 2020 at the earliest. But the administration will need help from Congress to pull that off.
Read MoreCall it a “Meh Car” all you want, but this minty fresh 1999 Oldsmobile Intrigue had my coworker Andrew and me, well, intrigued. Among the many gems at Radwood Los Angeles this past weekend, it was this generic Kansas City-built sedan that was best able to capture our hearts.
Read MoreFord’s plan to kill off its sedans in North America has been known for some time, and it’s a moment that’s creeping up relatively fast. One exec reportedly said Monday that only 12,000 Focus sedans are left in Ford’s U.S. inventory.
Read MoreAfter starting my search for the best driving roads near Tokyo, I found Mount Akagi to be the most fun—so far. I thought I had peaked too soon and wouldn’t be able to find a road that could be even better. But after trying out roads in various prefectures such as the Venus Line in Nagano, Mount Akina in Gunma, and of course the Hakone Turnpike in Kanagawa, I thought I’d give Tochigi Prefecture another try.
Read MoreA classic car dealership owned by a couple in small-town Staunton, Illinois just can’t seem to escape major disasters—natural and otherwise. Just over a year after a fire burned through a more than 100 of the dealership’s vehicles, a tornado struck on Saturday, damaging an estimated 100 cars yet again.
Read MoreThese days Mazda is equally known for what it will do as it is for what it won’t do. It will give us a gorgeous new 2019 Mazda 3; it will not give us a Mazdaspeed3. It’s working on a rotary engine, but no one knows what form it will take or even if it will power a car. I get the realities of the market, but it seems like Mazda executives spend a lot of time managing expectations. Two things we can apparently rule out: a fully electric sports car and something based on the RX-Vision Coupe.
Read MoreTraffic sucks, so why not start your morning off with some music? You provide the toast and we’ll provide the jams.
Read MoreLet’s send the 991 out in proper style, shall we?
Read MoreThe 2020 Porsche 911 unveiled at the LA Auto Show this past week doesn’t look a whole lot different from its predecessors, but it’s all-new under the skin—and much quicker. But for years there’s been rumors and reports that this generation, the 992, would be the one to get hybrid power. Now Porsche says if that happens, it’ll be a few years away on the updated version of this car, presumably called 992.2.
Read MoreThe W Series women-only championship has been wrought with controversy and confusion since it was officially announced in early October. Whether you support it or not, the series is still forging forward, with the official list of candidate drivers being released a few days ago.
Read MoreRace cars really can be something special. As the years pass, we’re wonderfully blessed with a whole grid’s worth of beautiful cars across plenty of racing series—and part of that beauty lies in the livery.
Read MoreFolks, we live in dark, dark times when cars are outfitted with perfectly triangular windows that stay in place. These are fixed windows whose vent-iness is ripe for the taking, and automakers are blowing it! This, as I’ve stated previously, is a huge missed opportunity, but that just means the aftermarket will have to swoop in for the fix. Check out this sweet vent window design for NA and NB Miatas.
Read MoreI suspect that this is the sort of thing that many people will find ridiculous. Volkswagen Type 2 purists may be disgusted, many people will be confused, some will think it’s just absurd. But they’re all wrong. I think this thing is masterfully realized with a remarkable degree of skill, and makes a powerful statement about adapting your desires to your reality however you can.
Read MoreIf you’ve ever had a house built, or even remotely considered the option, you’re probably aware of how it goes: You start out confident and ready for anything, with a clear design in your head because, duh, you can practically play back HGTV episodes in your head. But then you see how many choices there actually are, and your brain begins to melt. You can’t decide if you want the kitchen on the left or the right side, let alone what hardware you want on the cabinets.
Read MoreI know I’ve already written about Suzuki earlier today, but it’s the end of the year and there’s just some days where you need a little bit more Suzuki. I think today is one of those days. The Suzuki I’d like to double-dose you with is a strange little mostly-forgotten concept car from 1995: the UT-1.
Read MoreThe Aston Martin Vanquish Zagato Shooting Brake is almost everything many of us could want in a car, which is why it’s out of most of our price ranges and we likely won’t ever see one with our own eyes: It’s a fast, naturally aspirated V12 supercar, it’s a shooting brake, it’s a limited run, and it comes in pink.
Read MoreAs good as the Acura NSX is, it’s still hard not to be jealous of the Honda Modulo Neo Classic Racer, a rad retro concept based on its other mid-engine sports car, the S660, which we don’t get in America. What a bummer.
Read MoreThere are times in this life when I see on the street a car I’ve never driven and say to myself “Damn, I dig that car and I don’t know why.” I once declared the fifth-gen Hyundai Sonata “handsome” and I voiced my “deep respect” for the Pontiac Torrent. Now it’s time to show appreciation for the first-gen Subaru Forester. I hope you will join me in this.
Read MoreThere’s been a lot of coverage in the news lately about the results a group of researchers at NVIDIA have been getting with advanced Artificial Intelligence (AI) algorithms that have been used to generate alarmingly naturalistic-looking human faces. The faces are very impressive and suggest a lot of complicated possibilities, but what no one is addressing yet is that these same AI routines have been generating some truly bonkers but oddly plausible-looking hypothetical cars. You’d better take a
Read MoreBy many accounts, the Tesla Model 3 is a great car. Sure, it’s needed some work on the body and on fit and finish, but there’s lots of cool engineering behind Tesla’s highest volume offering, including the “Superbottle,” an awesome packaging solution for the cooling system that contains a fun little easter egg.
Read MoreI was just lamenting about how Lincoln has teased us with reverse-opening suicide doors on concept cars for years. Well, my pleas may actually be getting answered. Apparently the refreshed Lincoln Continental will, finally, gain the clapdoors it hasn’t had since 1969. This time they’re called “Coach Doors.”
Read MoreLincoln has a very specific kink, and they love to tease us with it. The kink is the suicide door—specifically, rear suicide doors on a four-door car, in a configuration called “clapdoor” and made famous on the fourth-gen, 1961 to 1969 Lincoln Continental. It’s a great look, and while I would love to see a production Lincoln use these center-opening doors again, I’ve been burned too many times before by past Lincoln concepts.
Read MoreThe same forums that brought you a great rending of what a production 2019 Porsche Taycan could look like have now used their skill and power to render a Porsche Taycan Sport Turismo. They even threw in a Targa render for the fun of it.
Read MoreIt’s pretty well known now that sedans—the once-default, three-box design for a passenger car—are rapidly falling out of favor, especially in America. While the ratio of sedans on American roads is diluting every day, the iconic sedan shape is still the default icon for the generic idea of “car” on most official and unofficial signage. Maybe it’s time for a change, to reflect reality a bit better? If so, what would that look like?
Read MoreDespite all the teasing, and hinting from Toyota, we still have yet to see the brand-new, BMW-saturated, 2020 Toyota Supra underneath all that dazzle camouflage. A user named Supra93 on the SupraMKV forum has solved this problem for us, however, with the first un-camo’d picture of the face of the new Supra, caught unawares in its enclosed transport-pod. It sort of looks like it’s tasted something sour.
Read MoreThe world fell to silence on October 2 when BMW revealed the first awkward press photos of the seventh-generation 2019 BMW 3 Series. Why did the back end look like a Lexus? Why does the front have a weird notch in the headlights? Has BMW lost its mind? Well, no, it’s just the Germans trying to be cute.
Read MoreThere are two schools of instrument cluster thought in this world. The first, which is wrong, is that the cluster is simply a place to convey the most important and relevant information to the driver. The second, which is correct, is that they are a thing of beauty.
Read MoreI’m not sure if I can remember the last time a new truck launch has given us so much fun. The 2020 Chevy Silverado HD has done it, though, with that perfect combination of baffling design and unhinged bravado. We thought the High Country edition would be a bit better, and I suppose it was. Until I looked at the mirrors, and immediately thought of Mr.Tickle, noted kid’s book, um, orb with wiggly arms.
Read MoreThis is the Cadillac Sixteen. It was made in 2003. It had a sixteen-cylinder engine, and was like a beacon of light shining out, a righteous declaration of Cadillac quality at the top of the world. Only one was made. Weird!
Read MoreThe General Motors corporation is clearly in a bad state. It is laying off workers. It is shutting down factories. The People have seen its pitiful situation, and have decided to help, starting with the monstrous face of the 2020 Chevrolet Silverado HD. Here are your best Photoshops. So far.
Read MoreOne bold design trend stood out to me at the 2018 LA Auto Show: full-width taillights, stretched across the butts of cars and trucks everywhere I looked. But this is not a new concept for this year. In fact, connected taillights, AKA “heckblende,” have been a thing for a hot minute.
Read MoreWhether you realize it or not, the fact is that at this very moment, in the year of Our Great Sky-Trucker 2018, there is something powerful and sinister happening in the world of truck grille design. Truck grilles are growing at alarming rates, and becoming more and more intricate, Baroque, and confrontational. The new 2020 Chevrolet Silverado HD is the worst offender yet, but it’s far from alone.
Read MoreIf you’re always either bored or completely repulsed by modern auto design and your drawing expertise extends beyond the realm of stick figures, then it might just be your lucky day. McLaren, the creator of the debatable-looking Senna and the also debatable-looking Speedtail, is hiring a new designer.
Read MoreFirst, I can’t believe that Regular Car Reviews hasn’t featured the Pontiac Aztek until just now. Second, for all the Aztek’s many flaws—it had a horrible engine, deplorable early 2000s General Motors quality, and it was quite ugly—it may be time to admit the Aztek was right. More than that, it was the future.
Read MoreIt is quite perplexing that the only Subaru WRX and WRX STI you can currently buy new is a sedan. Sure, it’s nice to see Subaru’s go-fast cars holding it down for a dying segment, but a lot of us—me included—miss the practicality of the old WRX wagon and hatchback. Don’t get your hopes up too much over this 2019 Tokyo Auto Salon concept, though.
Read MoreYou know what’s great! Not running into things that will kill you. What’s less great is almost running into things that can kill you, but even that is way better than running into things that can kill you. Police Officer Peter Stanglewicz of Mokena, Illinois recently experienced the second one, and oh man, it’s alarming.
Read MoreEvery so often, you see something so incredibly unbelievable that you have to wonder if you didn’t just witness a glitch in reality. There’s currently a video of a 44-year-old Slovakian man launching his vehicle into the air making its rounds on the interwebs, and it’s definitely one of those “oh my god that’s impossible” moments.
Read MoreA giant industrial spool for fiber optic cable fell off a truck and went cruising down the Houston highway yesterday. Strangely, it’s the third time a spool has fallen off a truck in the last two months, so get your conspiracies ready.
Read MoreHave you had your coffee yet? No? Well, allow this horrifying incident in Texas to be all the wake-up juice you need.
Read MoreThinking on your feet isn’t easy to do, and even when a time-constrained idea fails, there’s solace in that you tried instead of freezing up. That was the case with a Florida man pulled over for speeding on Christmas Eve, who decided it would be smart to throw his keys in the car and lock it to “prevent” a search.
Read MoreThere are a few tips and tricks you learn over years of writing, reporting and reading about car theft, such as if you’re going to take off in someone’s ride, you maybe shouldn’t steal the car in the first place if you’re going to bring it back. On that note, you maybe just shouldn’t steal cars in general.
Read MoreIt’s often said that everyone in America wants to be famous, and thanks to social media any regular idiot can reach millions. Unfortunately for Paul R. Powell and his YouTube channel featuring his apparent participation in what appears to be illegal street racing, he also managed to reach Plainfield, Illinois police.
Read MoreThe London Metropolitan Police released a compilation video late last month showing just how the bobbies deal with fleeing suspects on a moped, and it looks like it more than tickles. It might also be illegal.
Read MoreToday’s challenge is to see how much of 1996's Megalopolis Expressway Trial Max you can watch before you lose your mind and/or become a master of the touge.
Read MoreSo, the new trailer for Men in Black: International just dropped and y’all, the car becomes a gun. What!
Read MoreGiven my recent beef with the Transformers films, I personally have pretty low expectations for Bumblebee. Especially now that the movie apparently is very, uh, sexy. Hm.
Read MoreOn paper, the Kia Stinger and Tesla Model S 75D have fairly similar power figures, which means it should make for an interesting contest in a short drag race. Yet the result is just another example of how important torque can be when trying to show off.
Read MoreEvidently, what the people—and Amazon’s profits—demand is more of The Grand Tour. The show will not come to an end after its upcoming third season, as had been rumored, and could very well continue on after that. Update: We have more details on the show’s new format below.
Read MoreIn just over a week, Mitsubishi will unveil something totally cool to the world at the Tokyo Auto Salon. The Delica D:5 is already a badass all wheel drive [with 4WD lock] van, but Mitsu has fitted it with a full suite of accessories to improve its off-roading capabilities.
Read MoreAfter watching all 450 examples of the Subaru WRX STI 208 sell off to the lucky enthusiasts of Japan, America will finally get its own limited production version, creatively named the WRX STI S209.
Read MoreWe live in a strange era, where both the fifth-generation Toyota Supra and an electric crossover concept from Infiniti are scheduled to debut at the Detroit Auto Show in January. One is the revival of an old great, and the other is a look into the future of cars—a future that seems to be full of light-up brand logos.
Read MoreSo the sedan-heavy lineup didn’t work out so great for Cadillac. Sales are down, dealers are unhappy, it axed its former Audi boss for a General Motors lifer, it’s dumping New York for the Detroit suburbs and it’s pivoting away from a focus on luxury lifestyle marketing to an onslaught of sweet, sweet SUVs and crossovers. Key to that will be a big one, the Cadillac XT6, which we’ll see at the 2019 Detroit Auto Show next week.
Read MoreMost of Volkswagen’s latest cars have shifted over to its MQB platform—which affords them plenty of powertrain and technology upgrades—but not the “new” 2020 Volkswagen Passat coming to the Detroit Auto Show. Nope, the new Passat is instead just a reskinned version of the same car introduced back in 2011, and VW isn’t even afraid to admit it.
Read MoreWe’re about a month away from the Detroit Auto Show, and that means two things: Everyone should gear up for tons of complaints from auto writers about the snow, and maybe we’ll see the new mid-engine 2020 Chevrolet Corvette? But that’s a hard no on the last one, friend. Sorry.
Read MoreThe Ford Ranger seems to strike a personal chord with pretty much everybody in America; I remember being crammed into the jump seats of my dad’s as a kid. When the “return” of the truck in the form of the 2019 Ford Ranger was announced, people reacted like it was going to be personally delivered by God himself. Now it’s finally here, and it’s not the stripped-out little truck we all remember—but it’s pretty good at what it’s trying to do.
Read MoreWhen Ford released the Focus way back in the 2000s, replacing the Escort, it brought a little dollop of style and decent driving dynamics to an otherwise drab small family car party. The Focus was a hit, and now, 20-ish years since launch it’s in its fourth generation. The third generation was a global car, which meant you could get them pretty much everywhere, but this new one isn’t. Sorry, America, the 2019 Ford Focus is not for you.
Read MoreThere is a vintage wheel that, when equipped to a rare old Porsche 356 or Mercedes 300SL Gullwing will see collectors salivate and break open their piggy banks to shell out tens of thousands. If the car was optioned with them from the factory, it might be as dear as a 6-figure value add. Are these wheels really worth the extra hundred grand? It’s a rarity and a fun talking point, but most don’t even know the history of this knock-off hub wheel known as the “Rudge” wheel.
Read MoreThere are times in life when you should very clearly run. Like when you are being chased by a murderer, or when craft supplies contain any amount of glitter. But then there are times when it’s less clear whether you should run or embrace with open arms. This blue 2008 Dodge Viper is one of those times.
Read MoreMaybe it’s the black and red color scheme. Maybe it’s the up-swinging doors. Maybe it’s that I like to imagine fog spewing from it when it’s parked, but I have no trouble picturing this modified 2018 Nissan Maxima as some mid-level villain’s car.
Read MoreSometimes, you’re simply in dire need of online entertainment, but your list of websites to refresh has gone stale. No one’s listed a vehicle on your local Craigslist in 10 hours. Your favorite car websites haven’t published anything in—gasp—25 minutes. Twitter is garbage anyway and you’d rather not check it.
Read MoreBack at the height of the sport compact car scene, Chris Rado’s front-wing Scion tC World Time Attack racer was it, chief. It was an unorthodox way to make a front-drive car stick around the track, and while the wing was a bit gimmicky, it did actually function. This was a fast car, perhaps aided more by its 1200 horsepower turbocharged four-cylinder and crazy light weight than its pair of wings, but fast all the same.
Read MoreHere in America, we pride ourselves on being the home of the free and the land of the brave. Whether or not this is true, at least we have cheeseburgers. And Hellcat-powered Jeep Wrangler Rubicon 6x6s that you can buy for $289,900. The thing might as well spray goddamn stars and stripes from its tailpipes.
Read MoreSafari all the cars? Yes, agreed. When the world goes to hell and our infrastructure crumbles into dust (I mean more so than now, obviously) you’ll be glad you’re driving a tough, lifted apocalypse-mobile. But that doesn’t mean you have to sacrifice luxury and sporty dynamism.
Read MoreInternet-classifieds car engineering takes the technological limitations that exist to real engineers and fires them straight into the sun. And if you’re not convinced of that after having seen the Cadillac snowmobile limo or the Cadillac Seville car hauler, then behold this amazing 1986 Mercury Sable camper, which has two Ford Bronco IIs welded to its rear end.
Read MoreMy favorite genre of used car is “super normal, everyday car that has suspiciously low miles and is inexplicably in amazing condition.” And this 1987 Toyota Camry on Bring a Trailer is exactly that. It only has 39,100 miles and one of the nicest old Camry interiors I’ve ever seen.
Read MoreBig fender flares, knobby all-terrain tires, maybe a lift kit, and perhaps a bit of fender or bumper trimming—these things look good on damn near any car. So maybe it’s time for us to just Safari-ize all the cars.
Read MoreFor sale: a massive, huge, six-wheeled, fire-and-smoke-and-steam-breathing Jeep. Steam powerplant not included.
Read MoreIf your loved ones truly care for you, they’ll pitch in to get you this spectacular Ferrari 599 GTZ Nibbio by Zagato this holiday season. It’s the only one in the world with a manual transmission, making it as unique as you are. It’s also the best looking Ferrari of the last twenty years, and you need it, right?
Read MoreI’ve been doing my best to stay off Craigslist, as I need to first fix my nine-automobile “problem.” But this morning I had a relapse, and in an attempt to justify making another poor decision, I wondered to myself “If it’s only $500, does that really count as a full car purchase?” There’s some OK cheap stuff on Detroit’s Craigslist, but it’s rusty. So I want to know: How much does $500 buy around the country?
Read MoreI like Ford Mustangs and I like Lamborghini Gallardos. Both, and separately. But if they are smashed together to make some kind of ungodly automotive mash-up? I’m not sure about that one. And yes, it is the same one that we first saw in 2010, which feels like approximately 10,000 years ago.
Read MoreKarting is one of those things that we love at Jalopnik, despite being terrible at it. I know I’m damn slow. If I’m going to lose and embarrass myself in front of far faster drivers, I might as well look good doing it. Which is why this fully restored 1965 Rupp Dart Kart being offered with no reserve on Bring A Trailer is so appealing.
Read MoreFor the longest time, I’ve been trying to figure out where the 18 missing inches of my postal Jeep’s frame went, but now I have a possible answer: This over-17 foot-Jeep DJ-5 for sale on eBay stole it so that it could house two inline small-block Chevy V8s and a pair of sideways-mounted radiators. Just look at this wacky contraption.
Read MoreSporty-looking European mopeds like this Spanish-built Derbi kick so much ass. I’m not sure if it’s because my 50CC Honda MB5 has been dormant for too long, or because I’ve been playing Hollywood Holt’s “Throw A Kit” on repeat for the last two years, but I have a strong desire for something with a tiny engine and ‘80s graphics welling up deep inside of me. And for good reason. Motor Pedals rule!
Read MoreThe Bloodhound supersonic car project that’s spent the last decade aiming for a 1,000-mph land record is dead, succumbing to financial burdens after it wasn’t able to get a large enough investment to keep going. That means the supersonic car has to go, and it’s all yours for about the price of a lame, measly supercar.
Read MoreWhen you’re selling your car, there’s nothing wrong with picking—perhaps even curating—the pictures you use to best display the vehicle you’re selling. That’s what I like so much about this Facebook Marketplace ad from a guy selling his 1985 El Camino. Yes, the in main picture of the car it’s currently on fire, but he’s careful to also show himself right there, with a hose, attempting to put the fire out. What image could show that a car has been taken care of by a contentious owner than that ow
Read MoreYou might think of Ferrari as a car company, and if you did, you’d be wrong. It’s so limiting. Ferrari should also be better known for its other materialistic conquests, like this $100 scratch-and-sniff calendar it convinced thousands of people to buy.
Read MoreCopart should not be looked at as a serious car buying resource for most humans. Then again, what if a car decision could be made there that’s unfathomably dumb and incredibly amazing at the same time—not to mention super cheap? There’s a salvage-title Ferrari Testarossa there right now, and it’s sending my mind to dark places.
Read MoreIf there’s anything we’ve all learned over the past couple years, it’s that things can always be worse. I’m trying to take care of a cool old five-speed luxury car in New York City without my own garage, and I’m constantly wondering how I’m going to pull that off. Again, it could be worse—the bastard could be full of mold.
Read MoreWe’ve been talking a lot about the brutality and madness of modern truck design here this week, so when what is in many ways the polar opposite of such design pops up on Craigslist, I suppose it’s my duty to make you aware. So that’s what I’m doing. If you want the antimatter to modern truck design’s matter, here it is, for sale in Orem, Washington.
Read MoreLook out, Bring A Trailer: there’s a new (well, old) kid on the block ready to sell the over-moneyed masses their next pristinely kept Nissan 300ZX. RM Sotheby’s, the auction house more known for offering incredibly rare Ferraris, will be auctioning 140 cars in a series of events next year as part of their “Youngtimer” Dream Garage series. Welcome to the era of rad in car auctions.
Read MoreWe’ve heard it a million times: You’ve got Bugatti dreams and a Civic budget, because life isn’t fair, which forces you to pretend, each painful day, that your four cylinders are 16. You’ll probably never get much more than a small-scale Bugatti model car with that Civic money, but if you sell your house, you might just be able to afford a Bugatti Veyron’s interior. It’s kind of like the real thing.
Read MoreWe at Jalopnik get alerted to a lot of Craigslist ads. It makes sense: Craigslist is one of the very best mediums for buying or selling a used vehicle, if you know what you’re doing. But one ad we were sent this weekend makes a lot of rookie mistakes, and I feel like we could all use it as an example of what not to do.
Read MoreIf Porsche were a person, it would be the student with the unique name in a class full of Davids and Brittanys. “Porsch?” the substitute teacher questions, every time, after smoothly going down the list otherwise. “Porsch? P—ortch?”
Read More“Fat, dumb and happy.” That’s how convicted former Fiat Chrysler exec Alphons Iacobelli and Monica Morgan, the wife of former United Auto Workers Vice President General Holiefield, wanted to leave union officials feeling as a result of an illegal scheme they’d crafted that—according to the feds—involved using money from a worker training center to support a lavish lifestyle.
Read MoreWhen I moved to Williamsburg in August, I knew that sooner or later, I would have to map out a plan on how to commute once the area’s main subway lifeline shutters service between Brooklyn and Manhattan. My Honda S2000 wouldn’t save me. Neither would my Subaru WRX STI. So here’s how I’m fighting New York’s worst traffic nightmare: A Moto Guzzi.
Read MoreKawasaki’s KLR650 is dead some 32 years after its initial launch. The big thumper just couldn’t economically meet emissions standards anymore, and other new bike designs are a bit better at, well, everything. It’s an old design that soldiered on well past its use-by date, but served competently for the price. The market finally killed the KLR, but can the elements?
Read MoreEven if you don’t know anything about motorcycles, you likely know that the GSX1300R Hayabusa is a ridiculously fast one. It debuted back in 1999 with an unrestricted top-speed alleged to be 194 miles per hour, and it could run tens in the quarter mile. With the Hayabusa, Suzuki completely dunked on the competition in an all out motorcycle arms race in the late 1990s. And as of December 31st, 2018, the bike will be phased out of existence.
Read MoreWhile riding a motorcycle might have once seemed like a very masculine activity, that’s definitely not the case today. More and more women are getting into motorcycles and female ridership has climbed within the last decade by significant numbers.
Read MoreGood news: 2019 is going to have some of the most anticipated car reveals of the decade, so let’s try to keep track of exactly what we should expect.
Read MoreI’ve never thought about how coal actually gets used. It came out of the ground, it goes into a power plant, soot comes out, and West Virginia dies happy and very, very early. The end. Sure, it had to go onto a train at some point, and that train was probably unloaded by Dickensian street urchins with shovels or something. “A penny for some coal, guv’nah?” they’d say. But no. It turns out they just tip the whole thing over.
Read MoreI can’t remember when I first noticed the scratches on my rear bumper, which run the gamut from understandable little nicks to more violent gashes, but when I finally did the sheer volume and variety stood out. Sometime ago the bumper cover also became dislodged, necessitating tape to keep it attached at speed. Finally, this weekend, the front bumper cover partially detached as well, and I reached a breaking point.
Read MoreIt’s only a day after Christmas and already I have three news items on potentially criminal activity to report. All that and more on The Morning Shift for Wednesday, December 26th, 2018. The auto industry has to get its act together.
Read More“What if we just threw out all the rules?” is the familiar refrain to anyone that’s heard an argument about racing. And while there have been a few instances of that idea in history (Can-Am, for example), none captures our heart quite like Group B of the 1980s. It’s Christmas, and since Raph and I are the only ones working today, welcome, friends, to Group B-smas.
Read MoreMy house has one of those doorbell camera things, and it sends me alerts all the freaking time when it detects motion. Usually it’s a cat or a passing car or some gnomes fighting or having sex on the lawn—nothing ever as astounding as this video, captured by someone’s home camera, showing the sad, futile attempt of a man trying to stop a huge runaway car carrier trailer with a solitary ‘70s Volkswagen Westfalia camper on it.
Read MoreThe 2018 Aston Martin DBS Superleggera is a beautiful GT coupe, but it just has one problem. It puts down 715 horsepower and 664 lb-ft of torque from its 5.2-liter V12, and it makes it almost impossible to keep it in a straight line.
Read MoreWhen we saw pictures of the 2020 Chevrolet Silverado HD, we figured you would all Gaze Upon it and Weep. It’s that hideous. So when a reader sent in some spy shots of what is almost certainly the 2020 GMC Sierra HD, it got me to thinking: Will it be any prettier? Let’s have a look.
Read MoreA recent update to the firmware in all Tesla cars (it’s up to version 9.0.2018.48.12 now, I’m told) added a couple of fun and goofy Easter Eggs for Tesla owners to enjoy even when they’re just sitting in their Teslas in their garages, possibly masturbating. The Easter Eggs are called Romance Mode, Pole Position, and Emissions Testing Mode. That last one simulates farts.
Read MoreThe Boring Company uploaded a video to Youtube featuring the demo of its Loop system, and while that had some nice music on it, the whole thing reminded us of a different video. With different music.
Read MoreGuess what, pals? We’re starting a new series called Torch’s Old-Ass Video Game Basement, because I’m Torch, and I have a bunch of old-ass video games in my basement. Where I work, like a dirty troll. Since this is still Jalopnik, the world’s premiere webbed-site about cars and their marker lamps, I’ll be focusing on automotive-related old-ass games, mostly. And I’d like to start off with the best, and by that I mean the worst. The worst driving video game ever made, at least according to me.
Read MoreThe 2010 Need For Speed: Hot Pursuit game is like Marvel-movie-meets-driving. It’s relentlessly paced, oversaturated and completely over the top. The trailer takes that and packages it with a perfect escalation of intensity and eight years later, I still get hyped watching it.
Read MoreBack in May, my colleague opened a blog by saying, “It seems like every car person in the world has at least a passing interest in the mechanical and stylistic choices that watches can bring.” He was wrong. I don’t understand what all the fuss is about.
Read MoreBack in November, the adorably-illegal Suzuki Jimny reportedly ran into a problem during World Car of the Year testing, where a large concrete guardrail on a certain stretch of road needlessly activated the Jimny’s stability control.
Read MoreAmazon, the company that will probably be the only place to buy anything in the future (much like how Taco Bell will be the only restaurant in the future, at least according to Demolition Man) has a line of self-branded products called Amazon Basics. It’s mostly filled with things people need but aren’t too brand-conscious about: batteries, pens, coat hangers, that kind of thing. Now motor oil is that kind of thing, too.
Read MoreIt has occurred to me that whenever I get into a car in the winter, one with the luxury of heat and/or climate control, I find that people are setting their cars to a midway temperature, like in the mid to high sixties. We’re leaving a lot of heat on the table. Why?
Read MoreNormally when police use spike strips to attempt to end a high-speed chase, they try to only do it in areas that have been completely cleared of other traffic. This wreck around Windham, Maine from yesterday makes it pretty clear why they do that, and what happens when they don’t. They didn’t in this case, which is why this shocking video, taken from the owner of a 2018 Chevy Silverado Z71 truck waiting by the side of the road, exists.
Read MoreThe Italian motorcycle brand Ducati has been on the chopping block for seemingly years. Currently part of the Volkswagen international empire, Ducati has been rumored to be for sale a number of times, including a failed bid from Harley Davidson. KTM CEO Stefan Pierer told German publication SpeedWeek that a Ducati buyout was on the table.
Read MoreI have straight up no idea how I came across this story that had sat in my bookmarks folder for, I think, years, but it discusses international tariffs, automobiles, and leeks, three of my favorite things.
Read MoreLegendary engine builder Cosworth’s job was to design the Aston Martin Valkyrie’s 1,000 horsepower V12, which had to be naturally-aspirated and emissions compliant. But designing a big V12 takes a while, so to get things going it made a three-cylinder test engine, and that ended up making 250 HP with no turbo.
Read MoreThe Hyundai Veloster N is a serious hot hatchback. And with a starting price of just under $28,000, it’s a pretty good value too. That is, unless you try to lease it.
Read MoreLexus didn’t show the world the wonderful IS-F until 2007, a classic muscle car with a large car’s V8 crammed into the smallest car in Lexus’ lineup. But before it there was another. I mean it. There was just one.
Read MoreThe 2019 BMW Z4 is a nice car inside and out that drives well, and surely that sort of thing is worth quite a bit to some. But is it worth more than $5,000 more than a BMW M2? Because the Z4 is going to cost $64,695, if leaked documents on a Toyota Supra forum are to be believed.
Read MoreIf you live some place where it gets cold and snows, you should get winter tires, a thing we’ve said until we’re blue in the face. How many winter tires, though? The answer is not, “Just two for the drive axle, because I want the tires powering the car to have grip.” No, this is a bad solution.
Read MoreGeorge Steinbrenner IV, the grandson of the late longtime owner of the New York Yankees and a person I didn’t know existed until this morning, is 22 and now co-owns an IndyCar team. He thinks, perhaps quixotically, that the youths might someday be interested in IndyCar.
Read MoreRacers started preparing for the Baja 1000 months before the race began. While success takes a lot of luck and good driving during the race, the real race begins with proper build and preparation of the vehicle. This holds as true for Cameron Steele’s winning trophy truck as it does for Pro Moto Unlimited winner Justin Morgan.
Read MoreThe Bugatti Chiron’s top speed is 261 mph, but it theoretically could go faster, having been electronically-limited by Bugatti only because there aren’t tires currently manufactured that would be safe at higher speeds. That doesn’t mean 261 in a car isn’t fast, though. Here’s what it looks like on the inside when you’re doing 250-plus.
Read MoreYou’re driving, and something terrible happens with your car: Your brakes fail or your steering fails and you’re forced off the road, hopefully not dying in the process. You learn that others have had the same issue, and yet the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration doesn’t seem too concerned. But, as The New York Times reports, there is a little-known way to change that.
Read MoreMany German cars, and most BMWs, don’t have dipsticks and haven’t for years. They’ve been replaced by sensors and systems that will give you a dashboard warning if anything seems awry. Because if you’re paying $70,000 for a car you probably don’t want to get your hands dirty. But! BMW confirmed that the V8 in the new M850i will indeed have one; a throwback to the days when cars were crappier and it was sensible to check your oil every couple of fill-ups.
Read MoreKen Block’s been doing gymkhana for over 10 years now, and in that time has used about as many different cars, from a 2005 Subaru WRX STi to a 2017 Ford Focus RS RX. Block recently sat down to break them all down.
Read MoreFor three weeks now, protesters in France have been out in force to challenge new fuel taxes that amount to about 10 cents more per gallon for gas. Over the weekend, they burned cars in Paris and caused enough mayhem for Prime Minister Édouard Philippe to give in Tuesday, agreeing to delay the new taxes for six months.
Read MoreWoe unto those who stare directly at the grille of the 2020 Chevrolet Silverado HD! Thy villages burned to the ground, thy fields plowed asunder! They who looketh at it shall immediately be turned to stone!
Read MoreGeneral Motors hyped the original Chevrolet Volt as a world-beating car. Its development took years and was rumored to cost about $1 billion. We were told to expect an all-electric family car that would leapfrog the competition. Instead we got a four-seater hybrid that... didn’t. So what happened?
Read MorePolice in California on Friday arrested a 45-year-old man who was spotted by officers cruising in a Tesla Model S down highway 101, fast asleep behind the wheel, according to the San Francisco Chronicle. It’s unclear if the car was in Autopilot mode at the time, but authorities believe that had to be the case, as it took seven minutes, over several miles, to successfully stop the Model S.
Read MoreIt’s New Years Eve and what better way to send 2018 packing than with a Nice Price or Crack Pipe Infiniti QX70 that’s packing some seriously customized bodywork? Let’s find out if its worth what its builder wants.
Read MoreNo one stays on top forever, that is a fact. Just look at today’s Nice Price or Crack Pipe CL500, a car that when new commended six figures but now asks pocket change. Let’s see if its fall from grace is deemed far enough.
Read MoreToday’s Nice Price or Crack Pipe LuAZ is one of the quirkiest things ever to come out of the Soviet automotive industry. Let’s see if this weird little grey market import’s price is low enough that you wouldn’t feel like a Soviet Blockhead for buying it.
Read MoreIf you’ve ever thought that, in consideration of its unique roadability issues, what the Jeep Wrangler really needed was more power, then have a look at today’s Nice Price or Crack Pipe Sahara. It has a 6.4 and a stick. Let’s see if its price puts it over the top.
Read MoreFour-door car-trucks were once a pretty big thing, and today’s Nice Price or Crack Pipe Baja was Subaru’s entry into that weird category. Let’s see if this manual-equipped edition is worth bringing it back.
Read MoreThe ad for today’s Nice Price or Crack Pipe Mercedes CLA45 AMG notes that the person purporting to be the seller is actually listing it for a friend. Let’s see just how friendly its price might turn out to be.
Read MoreToday’s Nice Price or Crack Pipe PT Cruiser has had a lot of work done to it. Sadly, it needs even more, as it comes with an engine that’s blown, but also possibly blown up. Let’s see how that, and the fact that it’s a PT Cruiser, affects its perceived value.
Read MoreThe Suburban is Chevy’s longest running nameplate. With more than 276,000 miles, today’s Nice Price or Crack Pipe competing ¾-ton is pretty long-running on its own. Let’s see if its price has you running to buy it.
Read MoreThe new Gladiator may have been one of the highlights of the recent Los Angeles Auto Show, but it’s still pretty ungainly. Today’s Nice Price or Crack Pipe Scrambler on the other hand is all kinds of just right. Let’s see if that feeling extends to its price.
Read MoreThe seller of today’s Nice Price or Crack Pipe 951 describes it as being “rough around the edges.” It’ll be up to you to determine if its price makes roughing it worthwhile.
Read MoreYou know what you don’t see much of any more? T-Tops, that’s what. Today’s Nice Price or Crack Pipe 280ZX has them and an almost new interior underneath those glass majesties. Let’s see if the price makes it something you’d like to see a lot more of.
Read MoreFront-wheel drive cars may be ubiquitous now, but back in the 1950s, when today’s Nice Price or Crack Pipe Citroen was built, they were the anomaly not the rule. Let’s see if this heavily patina’d Traction Avant’s price means it totally rules.
Read MoreCampers are usually one-trick ponies, but today’s Nice Price or Crack Pipe Tundra looks to be about as versatile as a Swiss Army Knife. Let’s see if its price is equally as accommodating.
Read MoreThey say X usually marks the spot, however when it comes to Jags, that’s not always the case. Let’s see if today’s Nice Price or Crack Pipe X-Type Estate makes its mark.
Read MoreToday’s Nice Price or Crack Pipe Malibu comes with a crate motor and wood panelling. Let’s see if this Canadian wagon also has what it takes to make it an addition to your family tree.
Read MoreVolvo’s venerable 240 series didn’t make a farewell tour before leaving the stage, but as shown by today’s Nice Price or Crack Pipe limited production Classic, it did bow out with style. Let’s see what that style might be worth now.
Read MoreA rare in the U.S. diesel engine and a really nice presentation are the highlights of today’s Nice Price or Crack Pipe Mercedes. Let’s see if you agree with the seller’s assumption that those factors will elevate its price.
Read MoreThe seller of today’s Nice Price or Crack Pipe XR4Ti describes it being “as new.” Considering that the cars didn’t do so well when new, maybe that’s damning it with faint praise, and maybe that makes its price damnable too.
Read MoreMany consider a lack of “room service” the height of roughing it. If you are less discriminating, you might find today’s Nice Price or Crack Pipe camper more your cup of cowboy coffee. Let’s see if it’s worth paying for fewer amenities.
Read MoreToday’s Nice Price or Crack Pipe Alfa is named for the Stelvio Pass in northern Italy. And just like that wending mountain road, this crossover’s price has dropped precipitously. Let’s see if that’s a good thing or not.
Read More“I was driving it with the windows down,” then-product planner and engineer Bob Hall told me over the phone, “and you’d have sworn there was a Ferrari two cars behind you. With the windows up... you couldn’t hear a fucking thing.”
Read MoreRain was lashing down as we get out of the ramen spot, angry rain, the kind that make Manhattan an archipelago of hiding places. Doorways, awnings, anything to get out from under it. But I was darting into the street to grab a picture. It was a BMW Z4 M Coupe idling down East 10th Street, and I couldn’t stop myself.
Read MoreBack in October, I was in California to check out the new 2019 Volvo S60, which I really liked. At a dinner with some of the folks at Volvo, a very kind, very tall Swedish man shared a photo of the car surrounded by people with bowler hats and umbrellas, and I’ve been trying to figure out why ever since.
Read MoreThe BMW E30 M3 is great and all, but if you want a racy German touring car from that era that really wows the crowd, what you need is a Mercedes-Benz 190E 2.5 16V Evo II. But it doesn’t just look good, it sounds absolutely incredible as well. And I don’t mean “it sounds good for a four-cylinder,” it sounds wild FULL STOP.
Read More“I think Nissan’s lost,” said Rob Fuller, leaning back in his chair at the shop where he pours his blood and sweat into those cars, as he’s done for decades. He thought for a moment, twirling absentmindedly at his mustache. “Well, I can’t say it’s lost. It has a new direction. And I’m just not a part of it.”
Read MoreIt’s the 1950s, and you’re the Soviet Union. Your deepest rivals, the Americans and their corporations, are all preparing the latest and greatest jet airliners to fly them all over the world. And you’ve got... pretty much nothing. But you do have a huge bomber ready to deliver the apocalypse.
Read MoreIt’s been a record year for air travel. In 2018, airlines transported 4.5 billion passengers on 45 million flights—both pretty damn impressive numbers on their own, and ones that have exceeded the number of passengers and flights in past years. But with increased flights comes increased danger. Airline fatalities have increased by 900 percent this year when compared to 2017's numbers.
Read MoreMore than 750 flights in and out of Britain’s Gatwick airport have been disrupted or cancelled due to the frequent presence of drone flights over the airport, Sussex police are reporting. Authorities say the majority of more than 110,000 holiday travelers will be disrupted.
Read MoreI’m just going to spare you all of the “I left my heart...” jokes and let your own, capable brains fill those in yourself, because this story is just too damn weird to even waste time with that. A human heart was left aboard Southwest Airlines flight 3606 from Seattle to Dallas, when the heart was supposed to be unloaded in Seattle, causing the plane to turn back around. But it gets weirder.
Read MoreA Southwest Airlines plane slid off of its runway Thursday morning at the Hollywood Burbank Airport because of unusually rainy conditions. The good news is no one was hurt, but it is proof that it’s not just drivers in L.A. who can’t handle rain.
Read MoreIn October, the website for South Dakota dirt track Badlands Motor Speedway was headlined by a countdown clock with 86 days on it. The countdown was to noon on Dec. 31, when the recently remodeled track’s owners would give the OK on tearing it down for a wildlife sanctuary if it hadn’t been purchased by then.
Read MorePatsy Burt didn’t like racing—not at first, anyway, when her racing driver father took her on frequent visits to Brooklands to watch him compete. At an age when parents aren’t cool, it was the equivalent of Burt being taken to work with him. But things changed.
Read MoreThe race car driver Andy Pilgrim has long been associated with GM’s most powerful offerings, driving C5 Corvettes for Chevy in the early aughts, later moving on to CTS-Vs for the Cadillac factory team. All of which is to say this isn’t his first rodeo, though it might be the first time OnStar flipped on mid-lap.
Read MoreThe original Audi Quattro was a revolutionary car, instantly defeating all of the establishment of the rallying world and instantly resetting everyone’s watch to all-wheel drive. At least that’s how we remember it. The reality was a little different.
Read MoreThink of your dream, no-holds-barred, greatest racing series idea. It might involve drivers like Mario Andretti, Parnelli Jones, and Paul Newman for a little star power. Maybe a fleet of Jaguar XJ220s, which all get destroyed in huge crashes. Then you put it on TV. It was absurd and great and bad, and you’ll love the story of it.
Read MoreI’ve been hearing a lot of griping about how the new Ford GT doesn’t have a V8, and that V6s are never cool, can never be cool, have never been cool. Well, listen to the unholy roar of this ugly little British hatchback and think again.
Read MoreGroup B’s popularity wasn’t just apparent from the huge crowds filling every stage. It was apparent from who was getting involved. Sure, there were some oddballs like Ferrari and a Citroen BX, but there was one that should’ve been ideologically opposed to the whole idea as an example of decadent bourgeois capitalism. This is the Soviet-built Lada 2105 VFTS.
Read MoreWe think of Group B today as being a high point for not only rallying’s popularity, but also its difficulty. But for one driver, it wasn’t enough.
Read MoreGroup B has become famous for allowing the most unhinged, unrestricted, purpose-built race cars to ever grace a World Rally Championship stage. But in amongst the chaos was a kind of compromise car, not specialized enough to win, but too tough to lose. This is the Group B Toyota Celica.
Read MoreMichèle Mouton could have been anything. From a young age, her athletic ability was unrestricted: she was a dancer, a gymnast, a skier. She began attending law school with her eyes on a prestigious law degree. The world was hers for the choosing, and Mouton decided that her fate laid with rallying.
Read More“Just don’t race,” my boss told me at 12:43 a.m. his time, which was the middle of the afternoon for me. “I can think of more reasons not to do it. I just don’t think this is worth it for a story.”
Read MoreI often think about how nice it would look to put a Formula One car in the grand entryway to a large home, before remembering said car would probably cost more than the home itself. But a YouTuber recently found a cost-effective and lightweight way around that one: just build the car yourself, out of cardboard.
Read MoreAs part of an FIA Women in Motorsports initiative, nine female racers participated in Sunday’s Formula E in-season test. All 11 Formula E teams participated in the test session, which took place the day after, and on the same track as, Saturday’s Ad Diriyah Grand Prix in Saudi Arabia. In addition to the female testers, a few young drivers were given a chance in the seat, and some of the current drivers chose to use the track time to run programs of their own.
Read MoreBMW Andretti driver Antonio Felix da Costa won today’s Formula E race in Saudi Arabia, so his friends and teammates don’t have to feel guilty about ribbing him over this screwy parking job at the pole position.
Read MoreWelcome to the Jalopnik Weekend Motorsports Roundup, where we let you know what’s going on in the world of racing, where you can see it, and where you can talk about it all in one convenient place. Where else would you want to spend your weekend?
Read MoreIt’s the most wonderful time of the year. It’s the holiday season and the Formula E season is starting up after a steady withdrawal from regular racing. Is there a better way to celebrate this glorious occasion than by naming one of your cars Electro McElectroface? The answer is most certainly no.
Read MoreDo you like damn good racing? Surprising venues? New technology? Then boy, do I have the racing series for you! The ABB FIA Formula E Championship is back for its highly-anticipated fifth season of racing this weekend, and this time everything is changing.
Read MoreA nearly-stock Volvo 740 isn’t the fastest rally car. It’s not the most nimble. But it’s cheap, it’s tough, and it’s probably not financially smart for me to think much more about them.
Read MoreFormer employees of the Bob Bondurant School of High Performance Driving, an Arizona-based racing school that’s been around since 1968, said they walked out of work last month in protest of a hostile environment. The allegations, which include belittlement, racism, unequal treatment and fears that they wouldn’t get paid, come from a thorough report in the ClassicCars.com Journal substantiated by interviews with Jalopnik.
Read MoreSay goodbye to the days of “supersoft” tires and all of that junk in Formula One (officially, at least). Next year, Pirelli’s tire-naming system in F1 will be slightly less arbitrary but a whole lot more confusing—so confusing, in fact, there’s not even enough room in this first paragraph to explain why it’s confusing.
Read MoreLet me tell you how my day’s been so far: I wake up, make some coffee, take the dog on a walk, fire up my laptop in search of news, and I discover that not only is the new 2019 Toyota Supra not revealed full after years of shadowy teasers, but that there’s another, new shadowy teaser out today.
Read MorePorsche is going all-in on electric performance in the near future, with the launch of the Tesla-fighter-with-the-worst-name Taycan, likely a hybrid 911, and a new Formula E team. This weekend Porsche gave the car its first semi-public debut during their annual Night of Champions celebration in Germany. Porsche have not released any images of the car, but all of the factory racers posted video of it in their Instagram stories, which smells like a guerrilla marketing “influencer” effort to me.
Read MoreDespite having won three races in the 2018 season, LMP2 cars have been deemed by IMSA to be too slow to be competitive with their home-brew manufacturer-supported DPI class cars. As such, the DPI class will be allowed more go-fast for 2019 and split into its own class. No longer a contender for the overall victory, the LMP2 category is shrinking rapidly, and now IMSA has reduced the number of races LMP2 class cars will run from 10 to 8, cutting the Belle Isle and Long Beach rounds.
Read MoreThe Last Race is a story some know all too well, while others might not have ever thought about it: It’s the story of the fight to keep a community tradition alive, with commercial development closing in from all sides as the value of the land that tradition clings to continues to skyrocket. It’s the apprehension around the seemingly inevitable—the sale of the last remaining race track in a region.
Read MoreWelcome to the Jalopnik Weekend Motorsports Roundup, where we let you know what’s going on in the world of racing, where you can see it, and where you can talk about it all in one convenient place. Where else would you want to spend your weekend?
Read MoreLast night we got to hear the race version of the upcoming mid-engine ’Vette, the Corvette C8.R, pounding around Sebring in testing. It sounds like any number of flat plane crank V8 race cars, from Ferrari and on. Meanwhile, Toyota went testing in its new Prius race car with its own new V8 that thunders like the Corvettes of old.
Read MoreThe bellowing thunder of past Corvette racers is gone, replaced with a more modern roar. This is the Chevrolet Corvette C8.R unexpectedly caught during testing in Florida.
Read MoreOne of the coolest builds of recent years is Yoichi Imamura’s Lexus LFA drift car with a Toyota NASCAR V8 under the hood. We saw it test and run a few events back in 2015 and 2016, though it never became the guy’s main car. Now we have a better idea of why: This thing was as expensive as you’d think and a pain to get to work.
Read MoreFormula One’s halo cockpit-protection bar did its job more than once this year, and made viewers question its role at least once. But in the ugly August wreck involving Charles Leclerc and Fernando Alonso, an investigation found that the halo protected Leclerc from a smack in the visor by the front of Alonso’s car.
Read MoreLMP1 as we know it is dead. It lived a good long life, dominated largely by Audi’s series of alphanumeric Le Mans champions. The Audi vs. Peugeot seasons were great, then the Audi vs. Toyota vs. Porsche era exploded and collapsed faster than ever thought possible.
Read MoreWhen the all-electric racing series’ new season starts up this month, Formula E drivers will have something extra on their steering wheels: a turquoise “Attack Mode” button that gives a power boost to pass someone or maintain a lead. But, like all passing aids in racing, there are some rules around it.
Read MoreAs the last of four daughters to a family hoping for at least one son, Joan Newton’s family indulged her in all of the adrenaline-packed activities that were considered wildly improper for a late 19th century Victorian gal. The Newtons couldn’t have known that their tomboy daughter would go on become one of America’s first successful female racers—but that’s exactly what happened.
Read MoreWhen you pick up the autobiography of a race car driver, you’re expecting a description of a career, a life. You’re probably not picturing a brief account of five short years out of a decades-long career, riddled with mental and physical health. But with Dale Earnhardt Jr.’s autobiography, that’s exactly what you’re going to get.
Read MoreI’ve attempted to watch rockets launch from Vandenburg Air Force Base a few times when I was in California, and the thing I remember most about it was just how far away the official viewing areas were. The rocket is a tiny spike in the distance, and it’s like that for many valid safety reasons. At the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhastan, safety is more about suggestions than hard rules, so amazing things like seeing a Soyuz rocket launch from very, very close are possible. Scary, loud, hot, maybe
Read MoreSilicon Valley autonomous driving startup Zoox applied for, and has been the first company approved for, autonomous driving on regular streets with regular people as passengers in the State of California. The company is not allowed to charge for the rides, and the vehicle must still have a technician in the “driver’s seat” ready to take over in an emergency case, according to a report by Automotive News.
Read MoreElon Musk and his Boring Company made quite a bit of a splash out in Los Angeles last night, but instead of grandiose visions of ThE FuTuRe, we got what some were derisively comparing to a Disney tram mashed up with an SUV. And the questions go wildly downhill from there.
Read MoreAs the automotive industry continues to throw all of its weight behind developing self-driving technologies for the near-future, looking back on 2018—which included lawsuits, wake-up calls about limitations and the first known pedestrian fatality from a self-driving car—does anything but sell the promise of having feasible self-driving cars on the road anytime soon.
Read MoreHonda has a new concept set to debut at CES in Las Vegas next month, an all-terrain vehicle fitted with autonomous bits meant to make off-road work easier, safer, and more efficient, so says the press release. The concept, called “Honda Autonomous Work Vehicle”, starts off innocently enough.
Read MoreAs brands seem, more and more, to only care about “autonomy” and “cars as technology,” it’s nice when more driver-oriented features show up in even the most utilitarian of people haulers. Enter the 2019 Honda Pilot, which can animate its torque-management system in real time in front of the driver.
Read MoreTesla has kept up practices to prevent workers from organizing a union, even as it battles with a U.S. labor agency over allegations that its management violated federal labor laws, a new complaint alleges.
Read MoreBMW and Porsche unveiled a prototype ultrafast electric car charger capable of charging specially designed research cars to 100 kilometers, or about 62 miles, worth of charge in just three minutes and to 80 percent of battery life within 15 minutes. And just like that, the era of electric range anxiety is over.
Read MoreWhat separates Tesla, at least according to the marketing copy, from every other car company is this: It’s not driven by a desire for profit, but by a mission to save the planet from climate change by electrifying our cars. But what’s it like to live that mission every day if you’re a rank-and-file Tesla worker, or even an executive who reports to Elon Musk? The answer is apparently not great, and it’s gotten even worse over the past year. (Update: Tesla strongly disputed Wired’s story in a stat
Read MoreI know we tend to think that robotically-driven cars are a very recent phenomenon, but the truth is that people have been imagining the consequences of AVs since the turn of the last century. In fact, there’s at least one film that addresses the issues head-on, Walter R. Booth’s 1911 film, The Automatic Motorist. All of our modern-day concerns about autonomous vehicles are here: how will they interact with police, will they burrow into the crust of Saturn, and will they cause us to drive underwa
Read MoreWaymo, Google’s self-driving car project, hit another milestone on Wednesday by launching an Uber-like service in Arizona that’s driven by a fleet of autonomous taxis. But there’s some caveats to the service.
Read MoreEver since there have been station wagons and other vehicles with long, open cargo areas, people have been packing them via the somewhat undignified process of crawling inside them like how I imagine a vet attending to an elephant’s hemorrhoids must do things. Ford, it seems, has decided to address this problem head-on, and the have the patent to prove it.
Read MorePretty much every major car company is planning a big pivot to electric vehicles in the coming years, but few are going as big as the Volkswagen Group. It’s planning nearly 30 cars on one platform alone by 2022, and more on other EV architectures in development like the Porsche Taycan. So how does VW balance that with developing more gasoline and diesel cars? Simple: It doesn’t.
Read MoreApparently there’s some debate over whether or not it is ok to skip over gears on a stickshift car. Uh. Ok? Yeah, no, it’s fine.
Read MoreU.S. senators are making a last-ditch effort to pass self-driving car legislation just before the new year, and have made a number of changes to earlier versions in an attempt to appease critics, according to a copy of the draft bill obtained by Jalopnik. But safety experts say the effort doesn’t go far nearly far enough.
Read MoreMore roadblocks to fully autonomous cars and robo-taxis, the story of Carlos Ghosn’s arrest, Elon Musk is going to China eventually and more for this, the final Morning Shift of 2018. Let’s get this over with, shall we?
Read MoreToyota’s got big plans for robots, Elon Musk’s Twitter feed might finally be reined in, and palladium is “this year’s hottest metal.” All that and more on The Morning Shift for Friday, December 28th, 2018.
Read MoreTesla paying for tax credits missed due to delays, Jeep Wranglers filling Jeep dealerships, GM’s challenges in China, and more Ghosn drama. All that and more on The Morning Shift for Thursday, December 27th, 2018.
Read More“Wasn’t he already in jail?” you ask. Yes, yes he was. Also, Volkswagen writes off a big investment, potential union trouble at General Motors, and a big Ford recall in the Morning Shift for Friday, December 21st, 2018.
Read MoreUber is back on the roads with its self-driving tech after one of its cars killed a person earlier this year, Amtrak is kind of screwed, Nissan’s Carlos Ghosn is also probably screwed, and more await you in The Morning Shift for Thursday, Dec. 20, 2018.
Read MoreThe IIHS’s initial list of safe cars for 2019 is in, prison time for a United Auto Workers exec, General Motors job cuts and more await you in The Morning Shift for Wednesday, Dec. 19, 2018.
Read MoreNissan intrigue is the gift that keeps on giving, price cuts in China, and Volkswagen is whining about – get this – emissions. This is the Morning Shift for December 18, 2018.
Read MoreTesla’s leasing partner unable to fund leases, Hyundai and Kia owners taking the automakers to court, General Motors’ planned electric and autonomous overhaul, continuing problems between Renault and Nissan, and more job cuts. All of this and more in The Morning Shift for Monday, Dec. 17, 2018.
Read MoreTariffs are down to a cool 15 percent from 40, Tesla workers are fighting the good fight, and Luxembourg just made America look like a chump. All that and more on The Morning Shift for Friday, the 14th of December.
Read MoreSenators want GM to build EVs in Ohio, the Supra’s going to Barrett-Jackson, Audi gets a full-time CEO and much more on The Morning Shift for Thursday, the 13th of December.
Read MoreNissan-Renault’s partnership isn’t on the best of terms, Hyundai’s leadership is getting younger, the U.A.W. is gearing up for a big summer, and much more on The Morning Shift for Wednesday, the 12th of December.
Read MoreNissan-Renault boss Carlos Ghosn attempted to oust Nissan’s CEO before his arrest, Elon Musk is mad online at 60 Minutes, auto shows are trying to evolve and much more on The Morning Shift for Tuesday, the 11th of December, in 2018.
Read MoreElon Musk trash-talking the SEC on national television, Ghosn and Nissan indicted, China’s car sales are still slipping, and more in The Morning Shift for Monday, Dec. 10, 2018.
Read MoreVolkswagen’s EV onslaught, Carlos Ghosn messiness, General Motors’ Mexican production and more await you in The Morning Shift for Friday, Dec. 7, 2018.
Read MoreMary Barra goes to Congress, Tesla’s China factory plans start to firm up, and a theory on Carlos Ghosn. All of this and more in The Morning Shift for Thursday, Dec. 6, 2018.
Read MoreFord might be or might not be planning big layoffs, Care by Volvo is pissing off Volvo dealers, and Hyundai reportedly wants to make a special factory where workers get paid less. All that and more in The Morning Shift for December 5, 2018.
Read MoreFiat Chrysler’s truck success, Carlos Ghosn’s reported impending arrest, General Motors’ continued cuts, Audi’s investments into electrification and autonomy, and November sales reports. All of this and more in The Morning Shift for Tuesday, Dec. 4, 2018.
Read MoreTrump’s tweeting into the void, General Motors is pulling new words out of a hat, and a mainstream automaker just dissed Tesla again. All that and more in The Morning Shift of Monday, Dec. 3, 2018.
Read MoreThe Metropolitan Transit Authority’s subway system is in a desperate shape and its riders are very, very vocal about just how terrible it can be.
Read MoreConstruction for the Metropolitan Transportation Authority’s L train subway tunnel has been ongoing in Lower Manhattan, and recently, locals have noticed dumpsters filled with cartoonishly green ooze on the site. And no, this isn’t some setup to a Ninja Turtles joke.
Read MoreNew York City’s public transit system is a mess. Each day, as it becomes increasingly decrepit, it seems to cry for help. And now the buses are, quite literally, calling out for help.
Read MoreLand Rover announced today that the new Defender is debuting next year and coming to the U.S. and Canada in 2020. Along with that press release came a slew of off-road pics, which show a vehicle quite different from the Defender we all know and love.
Read MoreThe Land Rover Defender is coming back to North America in 2020, joining the off-road train that’s barreling right toward the United States. It’ll be the first time new Defenders have been sold in the U.S. in more than two decades, and the vehicle will be up against a whole army of off-road competition.
Read MoreWe’ve gushed over the adorable and tough little 4x4 Suzuki Jimny before here, and I’m not the least bit ashamed to keep that going. For the Tokyo Auto Salon coming in January, Suzuki has prepared two special-edition show Jimnys: the Jimny Survive, and the Jimny Sierra. They’re both a lot of fun, and the little Jimny pickup would be especially great to see make it into production.
Read MoreThe Rolls-Royce Cullinan succeeds in so many ways. It translates the Rolls-Royce look into an SUV, it’s quiet, it’s trimmed in fine materials, and the driving position is “imperious,” as Chris Harris puts it in his newest review. But there’s something that’s odd for such a genuinely huge vehicle: Somehow the engineers ran out of room.
Read MoreFor years we’ve been eagerly waiting to see what the next Land Rover Defender will look like. The last “new Defender” concept came out in 2011, and since then, the only Defenders we’ve seen have been prototype mules running around with scrunched Range Rover bodies. Until, I think, today.
Read MoreI always liked the Chevy LUV pickup truck. It was a re-badged Isuzu Faster, and, especially in its earlier generations, was a great-looking, capable little workhorse of a truck. Chevrolet, in a fit of affable goofiness, named the truck “Light Utility Vehicle,” which was usually rendered as the acronym “LUV.” What makes this especially fascinating is to just try an imagine Chevrolet of 2018 selling a truck called the LUV. I’m not sure I think it would be even remotely possible.
Read MoreAs classic Ford Broncos become as precious as Porsches and 200,000-mile Toyota Land Cruisers manage to maintain ridiculous prices, it’s getting harder to find a cool and capable SUV for reasonable money. If you’re lamenting this too, then it’s time to learn about the Mitsubishi Montero.
Read MoreThe original Jeep Gladiator only came as a two-door regular cab truck, and a number of folks think the 2020 Jeep Gladiator should follow suit. Check out these Photoshopped images of the first Jeep pickup in 26 years, and you may agree.
Read More“This thing probably weighs about 3,000 pounds” says overland VW Bug builder Jamie Wiseman. That’s over 1,000 pounds porkier than a standard 1967 Beetle, and it looks like every ounce has gone to making this one extra excellent.
Read MoreIn case you’ve made a bet that Jalopnik has no readers in Kurdistan, get ready to lose, pal, because today a reader from Kurdistan named San emailed me. I believe he actually exists. I think this because he sent me a link to this tweeted video clip from the news channel Rudaw, which was showing a report about heavy rains flooding roads that became an unplanned Toyota commercial, as well as a pretty big dunk on Range Rover.
Read MoreIf you’re like me, you’ve been staring agape at the 2020 Chevy Silverado HD’s ominously vengeful face since last week. And you might’ve also noticed that the truck has five little lights on its roof. These lights serve a specific purpose: they’re a government-mandated mark of shame for vehicles that are so huge.
Read MoreA devastating magnitude 7.0 earthquake hit Alaska late last month, leaving the state’s roads in shambles, and littered with enormous sinkholes. But that didn’t stop one man from taking his lifted, big tire-having Jeep CJ-7 over a mangled mess of dirt and rock that was once a street. Watch as his Jeep makes the impassable look easy.
Read MoreEveryone’s excited about the upcoming 2020 Ford Bronco, in part, because of what the nameplate means to American culture: adventure, ruggedness, and fun. It was the first-gen model that created this meaning, so it’s cool that one Illinois company is now building those old Broncos from the ground up as a Ford-licensed product. But they’re not cheap.
Read MoreIt’s not exactly a secret that I loathe the current crop of pickup trucks. The so-called mid-sized trucks are too damn big, and absolutely overkill for a huge percentage of truck buyers. The average truck these days is bigger than the apartment I grew up in, and probably a lot more comfortable. The current Ford F450 is approximately 11,000 feet long, for example. Think about how much more maneuverable that truck would be without that giant pesky hood up front. The time for Cabovers is now.
Read More“That 2019 Chevy Colorado ZR2 Bison. I must own it!” your inner patriot screams. “The 2020 Jeep Gladiator! Please let me spend all of my money on it!” your apple pie-eating, baseball-watching, red, white, and blue subconscious whispers. This love of off-road pickups is cute, but let me remind you: The short-lived 2009 and 2010 Hummer H3T is the truck you want today, but it came 10 years too soon.
Read MoreYou all saw it on Tuesday. Then you saw it again early on Wednesday morning in your nightmares. Then in your daymares. And now you’re just living every hour in terror as the 2020 Chevy Silverado HD’s grille taunts you. But there’s good news, because Chevy unveiled a range-topping High Country version of the truck with a grille that appears less determined to eat you.
Read MoreSee that vehicle up there? It’s not a particularly common design, at least not here in America, but I think from the standpoint of utility, flexibility, usefulness, and general, overall adaptability, it may be one of the best vehicular designs ever penned by the hand of man. I love little half-van/half-truck centaurian beasts like this, and yet, somehow, I never realized this design has a specific name. Until now.
Read MoreI believe the biggest hole in the American automotive market is the lack of a genuinely small, useful pickup truck. Even the trucks that pass for small on the market today, like the Chevy Colorado or the Toyota Tacoma, really aren’t all that small. Back in 2015, though, Hyundai showed a concept truck at the Detroit Auto Show that looked like it might just fill that hole. Finally, it looks like that little truck is coming to market.
Read MoreFor years now I’ve held some vague dreams about buying a light, old Japanese car and building it out to look tough and drive hard. Something meant to be rough.
Read MoreEver since I got my Nissan Pao, I’ve been getting emails from people who also want to own some exciting obscure JDM machine, and they all want to know the same thing: how hard it is to find parts? For the Pao, so far it’s been pretty good—lots of mechanical things are Nissan parts-bin items I can get anywhere. But, not everything is easy, which I experienced yesterday, trying to do a simple fix. I’ll explain.
Read MoreThe appeal is strong: instead of starting with an already worn-out old car and fixing someone else’s repairs, why not buy up a rust-free shell from the desert and start from scratch? Doing everything right the first time has to be the easiest way, or? Well, that might be true, but that doesn’t mean it’s cheap.
Read MoreAround the country, people have been lifting their cars and installing big tires as part of the blossoming “safari” trend, and San Diego native Zachary Parfrey wanted in on it. So he decided to lift his daily driver, a 2012 Fiat 500 Abarth, and install mud-terrain tires. The result was a machine so awful, it twice caused Parfrey to lose control and nearly crash. Eventually, he had no choice but to undo his modifications just to make the car drivable.
Read MoreChristmas time is upon us, meaning its time to gather your friends and family around the Christmas tree that you recently broke while removing your door panel, and sing songs about how crappy a fastener that little plastic thing is.
Read MoreEvery time I open the hood of a car, I end up greasy. I swear to the gods I’m like a bumbling idiot in the “before” scene of an infomercial. Last weekend I dared inspect the engine of my 1984 Nissan 300ZX while wearing my favorite sweatpants, and cue dramatic music, disaster struck. But I fixed it with the same stuff I use to detail the car. Neat.
Read MoreElectrical systems. I hate them so much. They are among the only parts of my cars that I’m, frankly, incompetent at repairing. So when my 1995 Jeep XJ went from “Beater With a Heater” to, well, “Beater,” I bundled up instead of trying to mend the issue. Here’s what that’s been like so far.
Read MoreEvery time you take your car in to a dealership for a repair or even a minor service, you get a receipt. Over 20 years, those receipts can pile up into a thick wad that you may be tempted to throw away. Don’t. Keep those receipts forever, especially if you plan to sell that vehicle at some point. My 1991 Jeep Cherokee’s incredibly detailed receipts are a great example why.
Read MoreSomething has been off with me lately. When I start typing Detroit into my search bar, the Detroit News home page is the first thing to pop up, not Craigslist. In fact, I’ve refrained from habitually checking Craigslist for months now. I just haven’t been in the mood, and I think I know why: I own nine cars. That’s too many cars.
Read MoreA reader spotted this W126 Mercedes-Benz S-Class on Interstate 880 in northern California today, a car and owner living their best lives. Why would you modify a W126 to carry a motorcycle? That is not the question. The question is why not.
Read MoreIt’s been more than a month since I bought a 1984 BMW 733i, and I’m happy to report that despite holdups from weather, travel during Thanksgiving and a lengthy and frustrating (but ultimately fairly cheap) repair, it’s finally fully road legal and working better than ever. But it took a while to get there.
Read MoreWe only have a few hours left in 2018, so let’s reflect on the things we drove this year. You’ve already heard from your hardworking Jalopnik staff about the best and most disappointing cars we experienced over the past 12 months. Now we’ll turn it over to you.
Read MoreAll of us must face death eventually. That is even true of our best friends, the cars. It’s inevitable and natural. But when the death is indicative of a greater and more depressing trend, then it’s extremely sobering. This year, we saw the death of a lot of sedans. Like, a lot a lot. Here are the cars that died in 2018.
Read MoreWe at Jalopnik get a lot done at our home base deep underground, beneath an artificial mountain somewhere in New Zealand. But there are certain stories we can’t get without hitting the road. Or at least that’s what we tell ourselves. Here are our wildest trips of the year. (The ones that we wrote about, at least.)
Read MoreAutomobiles and the infrastructure around them are complicated, which is why Jalopnik takes pride in writing explainers that help take some of the mystery out of the car world we all love. Here are some of Jalopnik’s most interesting explainers of 2018.
Read MoreWould you believe Jalopnik has been in the video game since 2015 now? But what you might not know is that behind the success of things like Build of the Week, Carguments, Five Things and Jason Drives—which just hit 25 million total views!—is a massively talented team of people that subscribe to the same philosophy as the writing staff: “Do whatever you want, make it awesome, and the people will come.” I think it worked.
Read MoreIt’s that time of year again, where I take a break from the prudent car buying advice to give you all a rundown of all the times I said “No. Just no.” Here’s all the cars I convinced people not to buy in 2018, including a few Jalopnik favorites.
Read MoreThis past year was a bad one for new cars, since it seems actual “cars”—especially truly interesting ones—feel like they’re on the endangered species list. Still, it was a great one for used cars, trucks, and even bikes. Here’s a look back at the highs and lows of all those we featured on Nice Price or Crack Pipe.
Read MoreThe year is almost over. You aren’t working, and even if you are, you’re phoning it in as best you can. So why not take some time to catch up on some of Jalopnik’s best stories from 2018?
Read MoreWe all know that Jalopnik is not good for your health, or ours. But for reasons that are utterly beyond us, you people will not stop reading it. These are the most-read Jalopnik posts for all of 2018.
Read MoreLook, let’s face it: we live in an era when every year feels like the weirdest damn year ever. And so it was with this year! The glorious World Automotive was jam-packed with all manner of weirdness, so let’s take a stroll back, shall we, through the weird car stuff that happened in weird year of 2018. It’ll be fun!
Read MoreCars are one of the most easily photographed things on the planet, so we at Jalopnik took full advantage of that fact this year. After all, what’s driving a car or going to an event without the photos to show for it? Here’s the best Jalopnik photography of 2018.
Read MoreIn 2018, we saw the automotive industry charge headfirst into a future filled with electric and (maybe) autonomous vehicles, all while putting out the most innovative, powerful and efficient engines the world’s ever seen. Over the past 12 months, we at Jalopnik have experienced, and written about some of the best technology currently available in cars. Let’s have a look at the good stuff from this past year.
Read MoreThe women of Jalopnik get a lot of emails during our blogging workdays, from strings of profanity directed toward us to marriage proposals—because, of course, not enough women like cars. It’s hard to find the good ones like us out there, so you have to jump on those proposal chances while you can.
Read MoreRegardless of how good or bad a year is in every other aspect of life, we can at least count on our passions, like motorsports, to help us through it. And between some big names stepping aside for a new generation, a high-profile implosion of one series and at least one major arrest, 2018 was a pretty wild year.
Read MoreYou often hear people say “there aren’t really bad cars any more” because even cheap cars from basic brands are generally decent and safe in 2018. That’s true, to an extent. But that doesn’t mean all cars are good, either. And we found plenty to bag on this year anyway.
Read MoreLooking back at this year’s Jalopnik Reviews, we found that Miatas, McLarens and bi-turbo Mercedes-Benzes proved excellent as always. But we also discovered the sweetness of a $50,000 Subaru WRX and found out whether 1990s Hondas lived up to the legend.
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