For most Soviet citizens, buying a new car was financially impossible. To put things in perspective, Alexander Petrovych (who built one of the cars you’ll see here) made a monthly salary of 140 rubles in the 1970s. At the time, a new Lada cost 6,030 rubles. So, if Alexander really wanted a Lada, he would need to starve his family of four and live without electricity for roughly 43 months.
Read MoreAfter at least two high profile incidents in which U.S. Navy aircraft and ships spotted unusual flying objects near training areas, the military is now introducing new guidelines for pilots to more easily report such sightings. The result is a Pentagon apparently taking the idea of flying saucers—terrestrial or extraterrestrial—more seriously than ever before.
Read MoreThere are three things that everyone just knows will be harbingers of the apocalypse. Robots, tanks, and unrestricted warfare involving China. Anyway, in unrelated news, China now has an autonomous boat-tank-thing.
Read MoreThis might just be the most British thing imaginable, even compared to a bulldog in a Union Jack sweater, mated with a pile of PAL-format Monty Python VHS tapes while force-feeding it a pureéd Sinclair Spectrum mixed with Heinz baked beans. This raw, uncut Britishness I’m talking about is the fact that every British tank made since WWII has on-board equipment specifically designed to make tea.
Read MoreA pilot operating the world’s only 1944 Northrop N9M Flying Wing plane is reportedly deceased after the aircraft crashed on the grounds of a prison in Norco, Calif. Details on the incident are still vague; it seems no bystanders were injured but the plane appears to have essentially disintegrated on impact.
Read MoreThe Scaled Composites Model 401 is a small, single engine jet that looks just like what the military wants: new a light attack aircraft capable of supporting troops on the ground. It’s also a total weirdo.
Read MorePotholes are the bane of drivers everywhere. The things open up like yawning jaws in our trash roads, hungry and eager to prey upon unsuspecting motorists, destroying tires, wheels, axles and the like. But sometimes potholes can be good.
Read MoreBoston Dynamics, in case you haven’t been hanging out at your local robot bars and nightclubs, is a company that has been producing incredibly impressive yet somehow oddly unsettling robots, often in vaguely humanoid or animalistic forms. One of their robots, a canine-like machine called SpotMini, will be available for commercial sale later this year. More importantly, if you want to use these robots to tow trucks but aren’t sure how many you’ll need, Boston Dynamics has tested that, and has an
Read MoreContaining the Notre-Dame Cathedral conflagration in Paris was a heroic effort by dozens of people. While invaluable parts of the 856-year-old cathedral were destroyed yesterday, it was thankfully not a complete loss, and something of a miracle nobody died. Part of the credit goes to Colossus—an 1,100-pound remote-controlled firefighting robot employed by the Paris Firefighter Brigade.
Read MoreHere’s a Rorschach test of sorts. This story in The Guardian about a rogue gang of clandestine Romans filling potholes and fixing fountains because the government won’t: Is it a feel-good story or yet another sign of our crumbling society?
Read MoreWhat may well be a small, one or two-person submarine and mothership has been sighted at a military base in Nampo, North Korea. The small submarines are allegedly meant to conduct suicide attacks on enemy ships, and their appearance could be part of a regular training cycle, or something more sinister.
Read MoreThere once was an era where transportation planners believed cars zipping along highways was the sustainable future of transportation. They thought every problem could be solved by more highways with more lanes. Some even believed stacking highways ever-skyward was not only an inevitable but desirable urban future. They were wrong.
Read MoreA civilian was reportedly injured late last month after his ride-along with the French Air Force took an unexpected turn. The man’s ejection seat somehow fired, sending him soaring into the sky. The French temporarily grounded their fleet of Rafale fighter jets pending an investigation.
Read MoreAs we’ve covered before, the Copart auction site is often a great way to find cars normally ridiculously beyond your means finally within your grasp, if you’re not afraid of getting your hands a little dirty. This time, though, I’m afraid you snoozed and, as a result, loosed, because some clever go-getter has snatched up this peach of a 1999 Ferrari F355 F1 Spider, and it only needs one thing to be perfect: to not have been burned into cinders. That’s it!
Read More“Are you a masochist?” is what someone asked me in a Facebook comment last week where I was looking for some car buying advice. Honestly, it was a fair question. Especially considering the unnecessary trials I tend to put myself when buying used cars, which would continue later that week leading up to my purchase of a 1995 BMW M3 coupe.
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 whether or not to mod what you have or buy something else, getting a loan to build credit, and fixing body damage before a sale.
Read MoreRobert loves his MG, but now a kiddo is in the picture the British roadster isn’t the most ideal car for kid transport—even though a car seat technically fits. He needs something affordable, safe, reasonably fuel efficient and a manual transmission. What car should he buy?
Read MoreI’d heard the jokes about VTEC kicking in. I’d come across a meme or two. But until I was sitting two feet from a mid-mounted VTEC motor in a 1,950-pound Italian roadster, I didn’t understand how life-changing it could be.
Read MoreSome Avengers are faster and more powerful, but you might be surprised at which Avengers have survived this long. These select, heroic few Avengers are clearly hard to kill.
Read MoreComments about the new Acura NSX tend to get qualified as apologies. “It’s not the old NSX, but...” is usually how those sentences start, even when they accompany a rousing defense of the car.
Read MoreWe now live in a world where 700 horsepower is the norm for supercars. Hell, even 700 horsepower sedans, station wagons, and Jeeps aren’t hard to find. Sports cars with 500 HP pop up every second Tuesday. The whole thing is getting out of control.
Read MoreLaquan has been in a rut of getting cars that just won’t last. He isn’t too picky and just wants something comfortable for his dog, reliable, with all-wheel-drive and heated seats, but his price point makes that somewhat challenging. What car should he buy?
Read MoreFrom the outside, the 2019 Buick Enclave isn’t particularly flashy, nor extremely memorable. I personally could not quite recall its looks until I had its picture right in front of me. But it’s comfortable, quiet and does all of the big-car things you ask it to without complaint or drama, which is why I ended up liking it so much.
Read MoreWe have all been down this road before: Any time a hot performance car hits the showroom some dealers will attempt to maximize profit, but this time it’s not a Hellcat or some Porsche 911 variant, but rather a Hyundai Veloster. Apparently, one dealer is under the grand delusion that some sucker is willing to pay $40,000 for one.
Read More“Hey! Pretty car!” a random dude shouted to me as he jogged past. I was taking a dramatic picture of the 2019 Mazda 6 Signature on a rainy afternoon in Detroit and didn’t need his obvious observations. “Very pretty car” he followed up. It’s not just a pretty car, it’s a surprisingly classy one. The new Mazda 6 is certainly eye catching, and the Signature trim makes it the cushiest Mazda sedan ever.
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 the frustrations of selling a car, pricing between the 2018 and 2019 Mazda Miata, and the risks of helping friends with car purchases.
Read MoreTristan loved his manual cars, but he had a bit of an incident on a mountain bike that did serious damage to his left ankle. That means no shifting for a while. He is looking for something affordable with two pedals, but doesn’t want to give up having fun.
Read More“What is it again that you’re driving?” my mom asked over the phone, after I said I’d be going to Sonoma Raceway in California for a track day the next week. “A Bowflex?” For the first of many times that week, I reminded her that it was the KTM X-Bow Comp R, not a name-brand fitness machine.
Read MoreCar companies are hustling to develop practical, mass-appeal electric cars right now. But in 1998, the Nissan Altra EV was already there. Here’s why this revolutionary vehicle you’ve never heard of didn’t pan out, and what it’s like to drive today.
Read MoreThe 1982 Lancia Delta LX 1.5 is an upright box with austere angles and square headlights—entirely square, and gawky. “Designed by Giugiaro!” “Who?” Its Beige Chiaro Metallizzato is the same shade as a stomach virus. It was 1980’s European Car of the Year. It is a special little thing.
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 used cars that were sold at an auction, price changes based on credit score, and the dilemma between a generous buyback or keeping the car you love.
Read MoreNow that warmer weather is approaching, Cam and his wife are looking for an affordable convertible as a weekend car. They want something small and fun with a manual trans that won’t break their budget, but here is the catch, they really do not want a Miata. What car should they buy?
Read MoreThere are some cars like Hondas, Toyotas, and Subarus that aren’t always good choices to buy used. But when it comes to luxury brands a one-year-old car with not many miles on the clock can mean some serious value. A new study from iSeeCars.com reveals the cars that are most often flipped within a year.
Read MoreYou know how pretty much every modern vehicle you’re likely to buy today is going to work tirelessly to extract every bit of personal data from you, and then use that data to manipulate you into buying shit? Of course you do. Aren’t you sick of that? Of course you are. There is one thing you can do, though, to flip the script on all those data-hungry bastards: buy this old cop surveillance van and mine some data of your own!
Read MoreMazda has been on a roll lately with some seriously good cars—probably its best lineup since twin-turbo rotary engines were still a thing. The scrappy automaker is going for a more premium “upmarket” push rather than compete directly with giants like Honda and Toyota. For the most part the strategy is working, but a big component is holding the brand back: the salespeople who are on the front lines with Mazda’s customers.
Read MoreTuesday morning police in Chicago shut down a block of automobile and pedestrian traffic for a “suspicious package” at 247 South State street near a DePaul University off-campus building. Chicago’s Red Line was also closed down as it runs directly under State. The object, as you can see in the photo above, is a can of ravioli with a Thomas the Tank Engine-esque face drawn on it in marker. That can is taped to a structure of wooden axles and four skateboard wheels to make some kind of strange toy
Read MoreThere are few aches in this world quite as poignant as an empty glovebox in a new-to-you car. While not the most compelling literature, they’re basically the heart and soul of you car, and it’s a real downer when you don’t have it (or when your greasy fingerprints have finally rubbed out all the text). Porsche feels your pain. And it’s decided to reissue every single one of its owner’s manuals for purchase.
Read MoreI heard the hoarse screeching when the Porsche Boxster/Cayman abandoned the flat-six engine and went with a turbocharged flat-four. That’s nothing, according to a new report. When we last left off, all we had Porsche CEO Oliver Blume was saying that a mid-engine Boxster EV “could work.” Now there are reportedly physical manifestations of that vision.
Read MoreWe’ve known the new Toyota Supra would get a four-cylinder option for nearly a year now. What we haven’t known is its fate in the U.S., and it’s still hard to say—despite a recent California emissions certification for it, Toyota still says its current U.S. plans don’t include a four-cylinder.
Read MoreA disturbing amount of us use our phones to talk, text, or send our awful tweets while behind the wheel, but you might want to think twice before sending that next tweet, and not just for self-preservation purposes. More and more insurance companies are monitoring your cell phone usage when you’re driving.
Read MoreA lot of cool special-edition vehicles from non-U.S. automakers skirt right past the U.S., probably because we’re all monotonous robots whose idea of living on the edge is buying a new crossover in charcoal instead of silver. But that Toyota 86 in British racing green? It’s headed this way as the 86 Hakone Edition.
Read MoreA new Porsche 911 Turbo built on the new 992 generation of the iconic car is coming, and this video of it testing around the Nürburgring proves the new car will be at least 80 percent pure turbo noise.
Read MoreLong before Hyundai spun off their Genesis premium brand in 2015, they had long dreamed of making luxurious vehicles. I’m not even talking about the Hyundai Genesis models from 2003 or so and on, nor the Equus from 1999. I’m talking about a car from an era when Hyundai was a bit wilder, a bit crazier, a bit more, um, exuberant. I’m talking about 1997's Hyundai SLV concept car, arguably the craziest car Hyundai has ever built.
Read MoreSmart, the little-car brand that first took on European roads before coming here to the United States has had a weird recent few years . And now, after nosediving sales, it seems like the brand is leaving our shores forever.
Read MoreJumping a car is one of those really cool things you see people do easily in movies but is actually tricky to get right in real life. Most people won’t bother ever trying to get their car airborne, but if that’s something that you’re into or are looking to try out, then you can at least learn to do it correctly.
Read MoreNearly half of the current Mercedes-AMG performance lineup is rear-wheel drive, but that could change—including, according to a recent report, on the AMG GT range. That would take some getting used to, but people just want four-wheel drive instead, as far as AMG can tell. (Update: Mercedes-AMG said it did not confirm that all upcoming models will be all- or four-wheel drive.)
Read MoreThe modern Dodge Challenger is 11 years old, and yet, despite debuting during round two of the Bush administration, its appeal remains among a certain crowd. So much so that it outpaced the Chevy Camaro in sales in the the first quarter of 2019 to take over second place behind the Ford Mustang in sports car sales, according to the Detroit Free Press.
Read MoreI know, I know, dunking on the Wall Street Journal editorial board is a bit like smacking your four-year-old nephew’s would-be jumper out of the air before it even leaves his hands. But in an Op-Ed last week it peddled the tired and disingenuous notion that electric cars, by the very virtue of their production, pollute more than fossil fuel cars. This is wrong, and it cannot stand.
Read MoreEvery kid hates the school bus. The seats are uncomfortable, the ride is jarring, the bus driver is probably a closet fascist based on the way he so relishes screaming, every other kid on the bus is kind of a jerk, and the back of the bus reeks of fumes. Turns out, those fumes, or at least the general pollution that comes from old diesel engines, may have a significant impact on children’s health and their academic performance.
Read MoreHardly a month goes by in the automotive world without a rumor of Porsche reviving a front-engine V8 four-seater lux coupe based on a shortened Panamera platform. Since the Panamera launched in 2010, the big Porsche sedan has prompted the rumors. In fairness to Porsche, the Panamera is an excellent car, and has only gotten better with recent years. It’s packed with tech, it’s fast, it’s got heaps of grip and drives like a car half its weight. This platform would spawn a BMW 8-series fighter coup
Read MoreLast year, everyone got a kick out of a viral clip of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un’s security staff running on foot alongside his limousine. But the leader’s persistent use of armored Mercedes-Benz vehicles raised some questions, and now the automaker wishes to distance itself from the dictator.
Read More2009 was a hard year for General Motors with the shuttering of Saab, Hummer, and Saturn following the economic crash of 2008 and the subsequent bailout, bankruptcy, and restructuring of the company. Today, however, marks the anniversary of the biggest loss of the 2009 General rebuild. Pontiac, after 93 years being a fixture in the Michigan automotive landscape, was unceremoniously murdered with a swift swing of the axe.
Read MoreOn Friday the Securities and Exchange Commission filed in court that it has reached a settlement with Tesla CEO Elon Musk in a legal dispute regarding his tweeting habits. Last fall Musk fell afoul of the SEC with his “funding secured” tweets which led the commission to mandate that Musk’s tweets be reviewed by a lawyer before sending them out.
Read MoreThe 2019 Volkswagen Golf GTI TCR is a GTI bumped up to 286 horsepower with a top speed 161 mph. It’s something of a send-off to the seventh-generation Golf, and it’s inspired from the Touring Car racing series. Or at least it’s supposed to be.
Read MoreMaybe you already knew this, but I missed it somehow: the new 2019 Jeep Renegade does not have a manual option. I am sorry that this little update managed to slip under my radar, but I was very upset by it when I found out today when trying to spec out a manual Renegade on the Jeep website.
Read MoreFiat Chrysler has many talents: making cars go fast in a straight line, keeping an old platform relevant for ages, and coming up with names that sound like a joke but are, in fact, not. Enter the Hellephant, which sounds like a parody of Dodge muscle cars, in fact, a very real 1,000-horsepower crate engine costing nearly $30,000.
Read MoreClutch pedals are the new-car equivalent of bobby pins: We simply see how long we can go without losing them, and, because we have no way to get them back, feel nothing but shame and regret once they’re gone. But the third pedal is back for another round in the Aston Martin Vantage AMR, as hinted at by a company teaser on Friday.
Read MoreFriday mornings are usually full of drowsy cheer, knowing that we’ve made it, and the weekend will be here in a few short hours. But not this Friday morning, for this Friday morning, your friends at Jalopnik received a haunting email—an email confirming that Lexus believes the plural of “Lexus” to be “Lexus.”
Read MoreA couple months ago, I stopped in at my local BMW dealer in Ann Arbor to pick up some grommets for my project Z3 Coupe. When I first walked in, I was taken aback by a flat gray M3 on the showroom floor. It was a stunning combination of one of my favorite shades, complimented by a subtle carbon fiber splitter, trunk spoiler, and diffuser. The thin Y-spoked staggered-diameter wheels did little to cover the potential of the giant carbon ceramic brakes, while the black and light grey leather had eno
Read MoreListen, the automotive industry landscape hasn’t seen a lot of great news lately. It seems like every week we’re talking about another manufacturing plant closing, or a new wave of layoffs. Sales are down, prices are up, nobody can pay their car notes, etc.
Read MoreWhat makes a good Uber car? It has to be fuel efficient, obviously, but also with a roomy back seat for all those passengers you’re going to have. It should be comfortable for the driver, because you’re going to be sitting in that thing for a long ass time. And it better be reliable, because the company you work for that’s valued in the tens-or-hundreds of billions of dollars doesn’t pay for maintenance.
Read MoreI’m no engineer, but I’d guess that the majority of real cars aren’t made from precious metals because that would make them prohibitively expensive and very, very heavy. Nobody said anything about scale model cars, though.
Read MoreMy familial politics have always been a complicated thing to explain. At my birth home in Michigan, my parents began the slow and messy process of their divorce when I was eight years old. It took four years of court dates, arrests, and tears before the threads of two lives had finally been untwined. They treated it like it was a battle to be won, with my younger brother and I the pawns that a single clear victor would snatch up. At the end of the process, my mom and her new husband moved to
Read MoreThe legendary Mitsubishi Pajero is about to breathe its last gasp in its home country of Japan. After a production run of a special Final Edition model, the off-road beast will be turning in for good.
Read MoreSo, as I start this installment of Redemption Garage, I feel compelled to state that we didn’t plan on this being all FCA products, but it sure as hell is working out like that. I’m not exactly sure why that is, but I promise you this isn’t some weird-ass sponsored content trying to vainly convince you Chryslers you’ve thought sucked for decades weren’t really that bad. Though, that’s exactly what I’m about to do right now about the PT Cruiser.
Read MoreAnalysts expected that Tesla would lose in the neighborhood of 69 cents per share in the first quarter, but Tesla’s real numbers, released today, were much, much worse than that. Tesla lost $2.90 a share, or $702.1 million in the quarter, according to CNBC, almost as much as they lost in the same quarter last year, mostly because of falling demand. Things still aren’t looking up.
Read MoreFor some inexplicable reason, the Nissan 370Z still exists. Not that I’m complaining—it’s one of the last few sports cars that you can get nowadays with a naturally aspirated motor, rear-drive and a six-speed manual. No, what I’m taking issue with is how much a car from 2009 costs. Especially the special edition anniversary one.
Read MoreYou know the saying: What happens in Vegas... is extremely rad.
Read MoreIt is fine that I will never come close to owning the 2020 Aston Martin DBS Superleggera Volante. It is fine that it is a car that I probably will never get to take it home to show my parents. I’m just happy that it exists at all—and that I get to look at it. You ever look at something so pretty it physically hurts you?
Read MoreThe only thing that could make air travel worse would be coming home from your vacation only to find that the car you left in the airport parking lot has been completely submerged like a four-wheeled Atlantis. If you’re flying home to Dallas Love Field today, that could very well be the case for you.
Read MoreEven if you don’t hang out at your local parking enforcement officer bars (my local one is called Mead or Mates) you’re likely aware that it’s a common practice for parking enforcers to make chalk marks on your tires to determine if your car has moved or not. Now, a three-judge panel on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 6th Circuit has decided that tire-chalking is a violation of the Fourth Amendment to the Constitution. God Bless America!
Read MoreThe one time I participated in an open track day, I noticed that most of the people there rolled up in stripped out Miatas and S2000s. These are great cars and utterly capable track-day toys, but I did find myself wanting to see some more variety. As always, the Nürburgring is here to answer my prayers.
Read MoreMost prototypes we see running around look like a normal car, just covered in some crazy ugly wraps. If we’re lucky, it’ll have some cubist cardboard slapped onto it, just to be really deceptive. But if we get real lucky, you get whatever the hell this thing is.
Read More“Why do you love this kind of thing so much?” That’s what my wife asked me, more bemused than angry, as she rode with me in a rattly, crappy but scrappy 1991 Yugo, as I marveled at the crude hole hacked into the hard plastic dashboard.
Read MoreYou’re in Japan in the early 1970s. Everything is in sepia filter, the economy seems unstoppable, and you’ve got yourself a shiny new car. But then so does everyone else, and because you’re a unique individual you want your car to be unique, too. However, there’s a problem. All the shops you need to go to to get tires, dress up accessories, audio, oil, exhausts, and servicing are all in separate shops spread out around Tokyo and the rest of the country. If only, you say, there was a one-stop sho
Read MoreDuring yesterday’s Tesla investor presentation, informally dubbed Autonomy Day, Elon Musk did what Elon Musk does and said a lot of things—this time about the company’s aggressive and definitely controversial expansion plans for autonomous technology. And lot of the things Musk said were not so much facts about Tesla’s cars, but predictions of how they will be used in the near future.
Read MoreRegardless of how new you are to racing, the number one thing track workers hate is when you put their lives in danger. There is zero tolerance for racers disregarding yellow flag conditions or driving in an otherwise unsafe manner. Track workers, in particular the tow truck crew in the above gif, are made out of soft meat that can be absolutely obliterated if impacted by a near 100 mph BMW-shaped projectile. Human life is more important than winning an amateur racing trophy, or your ego, as if
Read MoreYes, we’re all familiar with how BMW plasters the M badge on damn near everything it makes these days. And we don’t have to be happy about it. But there are still plenty of cars that keep the M flame burning bright, and still have the raw speed to back up the badge. Chief among them, perhaps, is the BMW M2 Competition coupe. I just had one for a week. What do you want to know about it?
Read MoreThere are the “Oh, sorry, we shipped the wrong size” screwups at work. Then, there are the “Oh, lol, the rollover sensors haven’t been enabled on cars we sold for the 2018 model year” screwups at work. This one happens to be the latter, and resulted in a stop-sale of the 2018 Karma Revero this month.
Read MoreIf his acolytes are any guide into his psyche, Elon Musk operates in a binary universe. You’re either with him in his quest to rid the world of gas-guzzling transportation and usher in a new era of environmentally sustainable energy, or you’re against him.
Read MoreThere is only one single thing in this hellscape of a world that I love more than cars: Dogs. If there’s one thing dogs love more than humans willing to pet and feed them, it’s car rides. That’s why Honda Japan’s dog accessories should be a wonderful worldwide phenomenon.
Read MoreI feel like most people think of heavily modified, quarter-mile slaying drift- and drag-cars when they think of a Nissan Skyline GT-R. Maybe a car that spends more of its time going sideways than in a straight line, no thanks to the Fast and Furious franchise. But here’s your reminder that they can be pretty tame.
Read MoreTesla is adamant that its cars are significantly less likely to catch fire than your average car, as Reuters reports, but that still hasn’t kept a surveillance video from spreading worldwide, showing a Tesla Model S bursting into flame and all but disappearing, Spinal Tap-style, in a parking garage reportedly in Shanghai.
Read MoreGenerally speaking, BMW tends to be better than most automakers at translating its concept cars into production cars. That the BMW i8 exists at all is proof of this. So after a few years of missing out on cool Mini concepts—looking at you, Superleggera Vision and Rocketman—it’s good to see the upcoming 2020 Mini John Cooper Works GP will keep the concept’s crazy bodywork.
Read MoreI am an absolute sucker for a nice entry-level Porsche. For years the 912E has been looked at with scorn for being slow and boring. The thing is, even with just 88 horsepower on tap, they can be tremendous momentum cars. Take this with a grain of salt, because I’ve already drank the Porsche Flavor Aid and own one of these 1976 Porsche 912E models myself. Nowhere near as nice as the one pictured here, mind you.
Read MoreYou won’t hear any argument from me. I’m as much a manual transmission evangelist as you might expect. I have not bought a car with an automatic transmission since 2005, and it’s unlikely I will again until my joints wear out when I’m old and grey. I also live in a feedback loop of friends who also prefer manual gearboxes, however rare they have become. So it’s no surprise that a video of a manual-swapped Ferrari F430 Scuderia put a smile on my face. Driving the car made Matt Farah positively gi
Read MoreWith the current selection of trucks available to U.S.-based buyers based around large and expensive platforms, I’m inclined to believe there is a place in the market for a smaller compact pickup with a lower buy-in cost. Not everyone needs a body-on-frame truck built to tow a yacht. I’m not the only one tuning in to this line of thinking, as Volkswagen Group of America CEO Scott Keogh seems to think so, too.
Read MoreNo one wants their car misused while in the shop, since it’s in for service, not joyrides or errands. But a Mississippi woman with a knack for teaching people a lesson didn’t just file a complaint when she saw a dealership employee running errands in her truck—she just stole the truck back and left them without a ride.
Read MoreThe Dodge Dart, which Dodge killed off in 2016 as a kind of early victim of the sedanocalypse, is now under recall—a recall including nearly 300,000 cars that could roll away randomly, at that. That’s a real shame for the three people who bought a brand-new Dart in March, wouldn’t you say?
Read MoreHuge news for the people of New York City: you have a new Sketchmaster, and his name is Kevin Richards. OK, to be fair it’s the first time we’ve had one of those, but his title was hard-won at the first ever New York Sketchbattle Championship hosted at Jalopnik HQ earlier this week. It was a huge success, and we have you fine readers to thank for that.
Read MoreThe 2019 Audi E-Tron has not had an easy time so far. It was delayed last year over software updates and we recently found out that its range isn’t particularly up to par with its competitors. Now delivery has apparently been delayed because of battery supplier issues and engine production snags.
Read MoreHave you ever found yourself in the quandary of having to choose between a coupe and a convertible? Did you suffer from soul-draining fear of missing out on the 2011 Aston Martin Vantage V12 Zagato? Well it’s fine, because it’s back again as a beautiful coupe and speedster.
Read MoreWhat if I proposed digging two 35-mile tunnels that would begin and end right next to two train stations that currently have service between one another? And this tunnel would be right underneath an existing highway? But this tunnel would be used to skim cars along tracks at speeds no one has achieved yet? And it would move fewer than two trains’ worth of people per direction per day?
Read MoreInstagram is a sometimes halfway-decent corner of the internet because it’s all about imagery, and because there are plenty of car photos to scroll through. But while you’d think supercars would dominate its feeds, they don’t—the second-most Instagrammed car by hashtags, apparently, is the Honda Civic.
Read MoreWords don’t mean anything. Which is why when Aston Martin CEO Andy Palmer said “our DNA doesn’t allow” for an SUV way back in the faraway time of 2015, that didn’t turn out to mean anything, either. The Aston Martin DBX SUV is coming, it sounds like it has the AMG V8 and you probably won’t be able to see a whole lot out of it.
Read MoreBack in 1959 Aston Martin fielded a DBR1 race car (below) at the 24 Hours of Le Mans for Roy Salvadori and the coverall-suited American Grand Prix racer cum chicken farmer, Carroll Shelby. The pair won the race ahead of Aston Martin teammates Maurice Trintignant and Paul Frere, netting the British marque’s first and only overall Le Mans victory. Following the BRG pair home was a scad of V12-powered Ferraris, more than 25 laps down.
Read MoreWhy do we bag on the Nissan 370Z’s ancient ass, but celebrate the archaic Toyota 4Runner? By “we” I mean Jalopnik’s staff, this week in particular, but these opinions are pretty widespread through the car-loving community. Thing is, it’s possible to age gracefully—it’s just not a given.
Read MoreTons of people use phones while driving, because we’re all going to die anyway—perhaps fairly soon, thanks to those folks. But here’s the kicker: Your buddy in the next lane, barreling down the highway at 70 mph with a phone in their face? There’s a decent chance they’re soaking up some memes at the expense of your safety.
Read MoreThere have been some severe storms in Texas, a land where it’s almost always hot and the sun has been consistently baking the pastures, lately. Storms have made Texans who park their cars outside resort to their most creative measures to prevent hail damage, like strapping air mattresses and bubble wrap to them.
Read MoreLast year, Ford decided to kill all of its small cars in the U.S., including the Ford Fiesta, Focus and Fusion, in favor of focusing more on what Americans really want: crossovers. But that leaves a huge gap in the Ford portfolio, which it now confusingly plans to fill with an all-new model in 2022.
Read MoreNissan is using this New York Auto Show to celebrate its performance heritage and highlight 50th anniversaries for two of its most important cars: the Z and the GT-R. With nearly any other automaker, this would be a nice gesture to the enthusiast faithful who still care about sporty cars in a world of semi-autonomous hybrid three-row crossovers. Instead, for Nissan, it turned into an unintentionally massive self-own, and one that has that faithful wondering this: What have you done for us lately
Read MoreThe 2019 Porsche Speedster looks like the rolling embodiment of a thank-you letter to Porsche fans. Clean lines, lean cockpit, naturally-aspirated and a manual transmission–seems pretty much as perfect as a Porsche could get in 2019.
Read MoreLyft is testing out a daring new feature the company hopes will make airport pickups easier. It’s called a line.
Read MoreWhen you think of scrappy, boutique automakers that somehow manage to drag themselves along, despite selling products of sometimes questionable build quality and at very low volume, Lotus probably tops your list. Even after multiple stalled projects and firings and departures of different CEOs with different visions, the British brand is miraculously still here.
Read MoreThe Karma Revero GT, which you might also know as just the Karma Revero, or the Fisker Karma, is back for the 2020 model year, powered by electric motors, a BMW engine, and a relentless passion for trotting through hell and back again. This time, it’ll trot out with 535 horsepower and an on-sale date of this year.
Read MoreWe’re all familiar with New York City’s biggest problem: There’s nothing to do here. Restaurants, theater, museums, historic landmarks, parks... the city’s just not really known for those things. The New York Auto Show is trying to help this week, but we’re here to fix that problem with a giant-ass party. You should come.
Read MoreLexus appointed itself a worthy task: Build a van, but give it the kind of opulence you’d normally associate with a limousine. The result—the Lexus LM 350—has debuted at the Shanghai Auto Show. Unfortunately, it looks as horrible and wonderful as the term “luxury van” sounds. We love it.
Read MoreI realize this may be an awful lot to start the week with, but the question popped into my head, and I see no reason we should let this fester. It’s one of those issues that’s best confronted head-on, so, whatever we decide, we can make peace with our decision and move on, productively with our lives. So, with that in mind, here we go: Are exhaust pipes the anuses of cars?
Read MoreIf you thought the city car hatchback vibe of the Chevy Bolt EV was maybe a little too boring despite it actually being a fairly practical car, then you will be absolutely weary at the prospect of it becoming a small crossover, as a new trademark filing may suggest.
Read MoreWho really wants a four-cylinder Ford Mustang, anyway?
Read MoreTony Hawk, contrary to popular belief, does not skateboard everywhere he goes. That is simply a vicious rumor spread by Big Skateboard. In real life, Tony Hawk sometimes rents a car. Or rather, he tries to rent a car. Unless he’s refused. Because he’s Tony Hawk.
Read MoreBikeshare systems around the country run by Motivate, a subsidiary of Lyft, are pulling their electric bikes from the streets due to a potentially faulty front brake that may send riders tumbling head over heels even if they just tap the brakes.
Read MoreThe 2019 Nissan Versa looks like it hopped right out of 2008, which usually isn’t a good thing. But the 2020 model will finally put the Great Recession behind it, with a new look that brings it ever so closer to modern times. It’s also keeping the option for a manual transmission in the U.S., unlike other sedans we know.
Read MoreIt is my very strong opinion that if you are to buy a new Ford Mustang, you should try your very best to get the V8 Mustang GT. The current 5.0-liter has a fantastic sound and power delivery, and in this age of downsizing, forced induction and electrification, who knows how much time old-school V8s have left? But that hardly means the 2.3-liter turbo four EcoBoost engine is a bad choice. And if you opt for this package, it just got even better.
Read MoreA third gen Camaro is a gloriously anachronistic thing. While everyone claims to have had a Lamborghini Countach on their bedroom walls as a child, I was transfixed by Fox Mustangs and third gens. I grew up in the midwest where we apparently have more realistic dreams. In its day the third gen was revolutionary, but today it looks like a nice restrained design. Even with the tall cowl-induction hood, this Camaro looks more subdued than any of the angry-face muscle machines on sale today.
Read MoreIf you’ve been paying attention to the ridiculous news cycle over the last year or so, you’ll know Michael Avenatti as the lawyer who was representing adult film star Stormy Daniels in a lawsuit against President Donald Trump. Avenatti’s an avid tweeter, and has inserted himself into many news cycle narratives lately, even saying that he was planning to run for president himself in 2020, despite some pretty serious criminal charges as of late.
Read MoreWe are just two months away from the final C7-generation Corvette selling to its first owner. The car, already on the build schedule as a black 2019 Corvette Z06, will be the final Corvette sold with the engine ahead of the driver. The 650-horsepower supercar-beating-but-don’t-track-it Z06 will be auctioned off to support the Stephen Siller Tunnel to Towers Foundation during Barrett-Jackson’s Northeast sale in Connecticut on June 28th.
Read MoreLap records don’t really matter. They matter slightly more than 0-60 sprints or quarter mile times in that they can provide some notion of lateral acceleration and braking prowess, but most lap times are held up in a vacuum like this one with little other to compare it to. Peter Cunningham ran a 1:35.663 lap of the 1.968-mile Long Beach street circuit last week in the new Acura NSX, which serves as the pace car for the event.
Read MoreIt is without a doubt that you, the Discerning Supervillain™, simply cannot embark on your destiny of world domination without first establishing your lair. The lair is where all good schemes are hatched, where all opponents are beaten into submission. Allow me, then, to introduce you to famed furniture brand Bentley’s newest offerings, perfect for any lair.
Read MoreToday we talked about why young used cars are the awkward adolescents of the automotive world. How do you buy or sell a car that’s only a couple years old?
Read MoreUber has a complicated relationship with public transportation. It’s quite obviously cannibalizing trips from trains and buses from those who prefer and can afford a convenient, private car service. At the same time, the company claims to address the so-called “last mile” problem, or how people get from places outside of walking distance to public transportation. It also says it provides transportation services to so-called transit deserts even though its definition of one tends not to include b
Read MoreThe Unicorn V3 is a Lamborghini Huracan with an aftermarket twin-turbo kit, comically oversized protruding air intakes, and uh, most of its bodywork removed and replaced with a jungle gym. Also, the taillights are upside-down.
Read MoreThe boxy, turbocharged and almost-always-black Buick Grand National is a 1980s icon. But in 1987 only, you could also get a Buick Regal Limited Turbo T, which paired the same fire-breathing engine with a hilariously plush velour interior and colored bodywork.
Read MoreTesla’s long-awaited $35,000 Model 3 seemed like a great step forward for the company in terms of making electric vehicles more accessible and affordable. And now it’s not quite as accessible, all of a sudden. Tesla announced in a blog post that it is no longer offering the $35,000 base model online, like every other Model 3—and it’ll also be missing some of features that might have made buying the Model 3 so attractive in the first place.
Read MoreAir travel sucks. It’s often the cheapest and most efficient way to get from one point to another, but the process is riddled with long lines, frustrating fees, grumpy people, overpriced food—you name it. So why are we trying to make air travel actively worse?
Read MoreFollowing very quickly in Lyft’s footsteps, Uber has filed for an initial public offering, kicking off what many analysts expect to be the biggest IPO of the year, and possibly in history. The number $100 billion gets kicked around, which, whatever. Uber’s main sell is its scale: both that it is incredibly large—10 billion trips!—and also small by global standards, with only two percent of people in the 63 countries where Uber offers services using their company’s offerings. So much opportunit
Read MoreTwo more V8 cars bite the dust. Audi has announced the new 2020 Audi S6 and Audi S7 have abandoned the 450 horsepower V8 in the previous generation of those cars in favor of a 2.9-liter twin-turbo V6 linked to a mild-hybrid system.
Read MoreA confluence of car enthusiast clichés has been given life, and we are now but humble servants to a new patron saint of Talking About Cars Online: the 2019 Audi S6 Avant TDI. The new diesel-powered mega-wagon of your dreams claims 516.3 lb-ft of torque, 36.2 mpg on the highway, and a payload capacity of 1,400 pounds.
Read MoreThe mighty Acura NSX supercar is built at a place called the Performance Manufacturing Center in Ohio. Hence the name of the 2020 Acura TLX PMC Edition–a limited-run sedan built in the same handmade style as the NSX. Neat, I guess, but mostly I’m hoping this is a harbinger for more intense Acura models.
Read MoreThe Ford Fiesta ST was a good car. I hear the all-new one is even better, but I wouldn’t know because Ford won’t sell it in the U.S. anymore. The 2019 Ford Fiesta ST Performance Edition is the hottest version of the new one, and I hate that I’d have to violate federal regulations to get one now.
Read MoreWhen the 1998-2002 clown shoe BMW Z3 M Coupe was first presented to management (the first prototype of the Z3 Coupe, rather), the executive was at a loss for words. He just stood there, silent, as Car Magazine reported at the time. That probably wasn’t a good thing.
Read MoreImagine getting shocked at work by an industrial electric current so severely that you fall backwards, urinate on yourself, and have pain, numbness, and balance problems. Third-party doctors subsequently confirm, yep, you were electrocuted.
Read MoreMy name is Jason Torchinsky, and I am the person that lives under Jason Torchinsky’s Hair. In many ways, I am the person responsible for that hair, which is why I am humbly and solemnly approaching you today. Recent events have brought attention to the issue of my hair and the pain and suffering it has caused people, innocent people, and I would like to attempt to address this issue head-on, before anyone else gets hurt. I will begin by simply saying this: I’m so sorry.
Read MoreThe Chevy Corvette grew up a lot when it evolved from the pop-up headlight’d C5 generation into the smoother and more timeless C6 for 2005. Soon after, the Z06 high-performance variant was born an instant classic. Today, a C6 Z06 is one of the best deals in used high-performance cars going.
Read MoreAnyone who knows me understands that, when it comes to automobile packaging, there is one solution I adore above all others, and I will never tire of contemplating that particular engineering solution. That packaging solution is this: underfloor engine, with cargo areas at both front and rear. Any car that even attempts this is immediately okay in my book, and today I’d like to introduce you to another example of this exclusive club: the Subaru Rex.
Read MoreAston Martin has gone mad for mid-engine sports cars. There’s three in the pipeline: The super-lightweight 1,160 horsepower Valkyrie, the AM-RB 003, and the new Vanquish. So far we only have details on the Valkyrie, but an alleged dealer brochure has potentially revealed some more about the AM-RB 003.
Read MoreA massive gas explosion in Durham, N.C. tragically killed one and sent over a dozen others to the hospital this morning. For hardcore Porsche-fetishists, the Ingram Collection next door is widely regarded as one of the best stockpiles of old Porsches, and looks like some historic cars have been severely damaged.
Read MoreThere are two kinds of people in this world: Those who can press the crosswalk button once and wait politely for the light to change, and people who mash the thing like they’re playing Mortal Kombat. As far as I’m concerned, only one is correct.
Read MoreThe Mercedes Concept GLB is apparently slated to be revealed at the Shanghai Auto Show, but today the company teased it with a clip that implied the vehicle was in Jurassic Park and the tagline “get ready for an adventure.” I think it’s safe to say we’re about to get a new compact SUV with vaguely off-roady pretenses.
Read MoreYou know what I love? Weird, idiosyncratic versions of famous, iconic cars that only show up in one particular corner of the world. That’s why I’m so smitten with weird South African Beetles and Italian Volkswagen taillights and bizarre Chilean fiberglass Minis. I’m happy to say I’ve learned about yet another one: the Canadian Minis that look like they’re wearing one of those awful orthodontic headgear things I had to wear when I was, like, 14.
Read MoreIt’s been twenty years and the Podracing scene from The Phantom Menace still haunts my dreams. I got the Lego kit of Anakin’s pod for Christmas that year, and added parts from my box of random Lego bricks to make it bigger and faster and better. I’d love it if podracers became scientifically possible.
Read MoreEven though we tend to think of Mercedes-Benz as exclusively a premium brand here in America, its (well, via their parent company, Diamler-Benz) also a huge manufacturer of commercial vehicles, and that includes the very successful Sprinter vans used all over the world. Mercedes has a factory to produce these vans in Charleston, SC, which would make it seem like its building vans right here in America, right? Well, according to a truth in advertising group, not really.
Read MoreBrands hardly miss opportunities to make money, as evidenced by things like home-decor collections draped in logos of luxury carmakers with astronomical price tags. Brands do, however, often miss the opportunity to bring forth true social change with those cheap money grabs—like, for example, making race-car beds (or just car beds) socially acceptable after the age of 12.
Read MoreThe 1980s were good years for BMW. This was the yuppie decade, when E30s ruled and M cars blossomed. This was even when the company finally got its V12 engine project off the ground, having sat in development hell since at least the early 1970s. The bar was getting raised, and in 1987, with the BMW Z1, the company really went for it.
Read MoreOld car ownership is fraught with all kinds of strange noises that could signal another costly repair. Whether you ignore the problems for a later date or become overwhelmed with dread, chances are you didn’t think to make an aesthetically pleasing video out of them. Thankfully, YouTuber ????, ?????? ???? and his Lada did.
Read MoreThere are parties, and then there are parties. The first is with children and birthday cake. The latter is with booze and artists. This one will be the good one. The latter one. A real, actual, Middlecott Sketchbattle Championship right in the Jalopnik Blog Bunker itself. And we want you – yes, YOU, of all the people in the world – to be there.
Read MoreIt’s basically a law of human nature that we’re going to crave the things we can’t have. But what sets car fanatics apart from the regular folk is the fact that car fanatics can—and will—go to desperate measures to save up or make the money for their newest automotive purchase.
Read MoreMost people probably consider buying an Autozam AZ-1 because it’s a tiny sports car that’s undeniable from Japan with cool doors and funky looks. They want a conversation piece. Well, you can have all of that in a car much more comfortable and practical, for much cheaper in the Toyota Sera.
Read MoreI don’t know if Mercedes just had an exceptionally talented photographer here (it did) or if I’m just high off yellow paint (a little), but I’ll be damned if the 2020 Mercedes-AMG CLA35 isn’t one of the finest looking new cars right now.
Read MoreJalopnik reader Rahul was at an Atlanta-area “Caffeine & Octane” event, one of the many cars and coffee gatherings that happen all across our glorious nation, and was surprised to find there a brand-new Peugeot 508GT. As you know, no Peugeots have been sold in America since 1991. What was this car doing there, and how did it get there?
Read MoreFiat Chrysler Automobiles has found a solution to its CO2 emissions problem. Starting next year, the European Union’s target for average CO2 emissions drops down to 95 grams per kilometer. FCA’s collective average emissions in 2018 amounted to 123g/km. According to the Financial Times, FCA will pay Tesla hundreds of millions of euros for emissions offsetting credits to avoid what could be billions of euros in fines when the new target becomes law in 2021.
Read MoreIf you’d asked me as little as four years ago what I thought of the 996 Carrera design language, I might have spit on the ground and cursed its mother. As we age we gain wisdom, though, right? I’ve recently come around to the unfettered and quite handsome bodywork of the 996. And I’m not just talking about the wide hip Turbo and Carrera 4S, or the extra special sauce GT3. No, the bare bones 996 Carrera 2 is rapidly becoming my favorite Porsche design.
Read MoreTesla CEO Elon Musk is supposed to be saving the world and that’s all good and fine. But coupled with bad tweets and investigations and the like, Bloomberg is now reporting that an alleged confrontation between Musk and a former employee got physical.
Read MorePricing for the 2020 Jeep Gladiator came out last month, with nearly $30,000 between its base trim and its most expensive—the $62,310 Gladiator Launch Edition. But if you thought that price would scare people away from going big, you’d be wrong. All 4,190 examples of the Launch Edition sold out in a day.
Read MoreAfter the Tesla Model Y reveal last month, in which Musk took a 45-minute victory lap talking about how, in his telling, he was able to build a successful electric car company when nobody else believed he could, it was hard to tell why this event even took place. Why hold a giant, showcase event for a new car that isn’t even that new just to talk about how great you are? After the week Tesla has had, it now makes a little more sense.
Read MoreIt’s great if you’re able to buy products that support local industry, right? I mean, what’s not to like about that? If you have an option to buy something made, often with pride, in your own country, why not do it? Here in America, stuff made here often is marked with some kind of sticker with a flag and a reminder that it’s Made in USA. A sticker much like the one on these Federal-brand tires! Well, sorta.
Read MoreWhen we last tuned in to the exciting adventures of Faraday Future, things were not looking so hot. The company was “effectively insolvent,” lawsuits were pending, and by the end, they were looking for money. Now, they’ve popped up again, and while they could still use a bunch of money, they’ve formed a joint venture with a Chinese company better known for once being the exclusive Chinese distributor of World of Warcraft.
Read MoreThey say people have short attention spans these days, but if there’s one thing humans can do for long periods of time without flinching or the mere thought of giving up, it’s be petty as hell. Take, for instance, this recent battle over a Los Angeles parking spot that lasted more than an hour and a half.
Read MoreWelcome back to Redemption Garage, and let me start off by saying I don’t really think you’re ugly at all. I think you’re beautiful, but that just sounded good in the headline. What I also don’t think is ugly is the 1998 to 2003 Fiat Multipla, an innovative, bold, and deeply clever car that gets shit on constantly just because it doesn’t quite look like what people expect. Let’s redeem this unfairly maligned workhorse.
Read MoreThere are some things out there—things like Truck Nutz—that you just can’t imagine anyone thought of before it oh so recently appeared on this earth. But, when in doubt—the ancient Romans probably did it first.
Read MoreThe Karma Revero, which used to be the Fisker Karma before the company went bankrupt, will be revealed, uh, again at this year’s Shanghai Auto Show, now sporting a three-cylinder range-extending engine borrowed from BMW.
Read More[Every so often, Kavi Reddy, Gizmodo Media Group’s ever-so-cromulent attorney, has Good Car Takes. This is one of them.]
Read MoreIn yet another exhibit in our ongoing saga about how a microblogging network evolved from a stupid place where you post what you ate for breakfast to one of the most consequential communication platforms in the history of mankind, Elon Musk had to appear in court to once again argue he should still be allowed to tweet.
Read MoreMaybe there’s one in your town. There sure is one in mine. A maroon Nissan NX2000, parked over by where the houses meet the highway. It might just seem like any other forgettable ‘90s coupe with peeling clear coat, but these things are worth a look.
Read MoreI realize that even writing about this is going to open me up to a week of emails demanding I keep any mention politics far, far away from any words about cars or vehicles in general, but this is a little too funny to ignore. There’s a new book out called Commander in Cheat: How Golf Explains Trump, and in that book is the allegation that Donald Trump had a “supercharged” golf cart to help him cheat. Oh boy.
Read MoreThe used car industry successfully lobbied to ensure they could keep selling recalled cars, a joint investigation by USA Today, The Arizona Republic, and the Center for Public Integrity found.
Read MoreWhile some brands remain committed to the V12 engine, like Aston Martin, many are beginning to phase them out of their lineups, like Mercedes-Benz and Audi. But not BMW—the company claims the V12 BMW 7 Series sells so well they’re at max capacity.
Read MoreWhen carmakers team up with other companies to sell cars and other products, the results are usually, uh, strange. Like those Harley-Davidson edition Ford F-150s or the Mercury Villager Nautica or even that deeply weird Etienne Aigner-edition Volkswagen Cabriolet. Even in this already questionable context, this partnership between Chrysler’s French subsidiary Simca and Lee slacks remains powerfully, richly weird.
Read MoreThe 2020 Ford Escape looks a lot like a Ford Focus now, which I’m sure you noticed. It was never really an off-roader, it didn’t even pretend to be, but now it looks even more like a car because it has to get out of the way of the upcoming so-called Baby Ford Bronco.
Read MoreToday is a day that lingers, a day where time drags and patience ceases to exist. I don’t know about you, but my favorite remedy to that besides spelling out dirty words on the Scrabble board that’s always sitting in my apartment lobby is the sweet, calming beauty of watching someone detail a car. It’s like ASMR for your eyes.
Read MoreIf you were bummed you missed out on snagging one of the 2019 Volvo S60 Polestar Engineered models last year, which sold out in under an hour because only 20 were offered in the U.S., then you’re in luck. Volvo has worked the same Polestar engineering into the 2020 Volvo XC60 and 2020 Volvo V60, so now’s your chance.
Read MoreIf you still don’t believe that electric cars are, at the very least, going to be a big part of our automotive future, then, well, I suppose have fun in your beautiful gasoline-soaked fantasy life. If you’re like most everyone else with eyes and brains, you know EVs are here to stay, and it makes sense to get to know them, deep down. That’s why when we heard that we could get access to three of the most popular EVs on the market, all torn down into their constituent bits, we knew we had to take
Read MoreAbout two years ago, I was biking in lower Manhattan when I pulled up to a red light and came to a stop next to the passenger’s side of a black Mercedes sedan. As I waited for the light to turn, the driver rolled down the passenger window, leaned towards me, and in the quietest voice possible such that I could still hear him amidst the city noise, calmly asserted, “If you touch my car, I will fucking kill you.”
Read MoreThe Toyota Supra is back for a fifth generation with BMW parts, no manual transmission and a starting MSRP of about $50,000. Because anyone putting that much cash into a car with two seats is definitely concerned with daily fuel expenses, we are happy to report it is rated at 26 mpg combined on premium fuel.
Read MoreMcLaren builds cars known for raw speed, with power and handling sufficient to rearrange most body parts. But McLaren apparently doesn’t want to do just that forever. Last night it released photos of a camouflaged version of its upcoming new “Grand Tourer,” which has been promised to be a comfortable long-distance cruiser with the best power-to-weight ratio on the market.
Read MoreI was going to do this for yesterday, but since it was April Fool’s day I decided to hold off, since everything about this headline sounds like a bad April Fool’s joke. Lucas Electrics has been continually roasted by gearheads more than a pig on a spit, and if that spit was being turned by a Lucas Electric motor, one side would be burned to cinders while the other remained frozen. So, as you can imagine, the idea that Lucas, the Prince of Darkness, built an entire car, made entirely of Lucas par
Read MoreCorrection: Wednesday, April 3, 11:00 am: The 370 mile range was for the European WLTP test standard. In the U.S., the EPA has rated the car at 300 miles of range.
Read MoreAs much as we’ve come to like most of the Volkswagen I.D. electric car concepts so far, it was inevitable that the money-making crossovers would show up and spoil some of the fun. Introducing the Volkswagen I.D. Roomzz, an electric crossover concept named like a dad joke.
Read MoreThe New York Auto Show is just around the corner, and I can’t guarantee it will sweep us all off our feet with thrilling new car debuts. But! We are throwing a party that week at Jalopnik HQ in Manhattan, and what I can guarantee is it will be one for the ages. Plus it’s not just any party—we’re throwing New York’s first-ever Middlecott Sketchbattle Championship right here in our office. And you’re invited.
Read MoreI should have known that things were off to a bad start when the airport check-in kiosk wouldn’t read my passport.
Read MoreYou may recall that there’s been a lot of effort on the part of big companies—carmakers, agricultural equipment makers, consumer electronics companies, and more—to make it not just difficult, but actually illegal for owners to repair or modify products they bought and own. We’ve thought that’s bullshit for some time, and while there’s been a temporary right-to-repair law for cars in place, so far there’s been no proposal for a real, national right-to-repair law. Massachusetts Senator Elizabeth W
Read MoreOver the weekend, New York passed congestion pricing, a toll for drivers entering the most traffic-clogged part of Manhattan. The charge won’t go into effect until 2021 at the soonest. Plus, important things have yet to be decided, such as the actual cost and who will be charged.
Read MoreWe thought it was dead, but apparently it is not dead. The 2020 Toyota Yaris hatchback returns, essentially as the hatch version of the Yaris sedan based on the Mazda 2. It still has 106 horsepower, but now comes with a few more standard features and restyled bodywork.
Read MoreA sparkly brown 2019 Acura MDX Hybrid landed in front of my apartment today, and after driving taking a lap around the neighborhood to find a parking spot I’m surprised to report that I already have a lot of thoughts about this car. What would you like to know while I shake it down over the next seven days?
Read MoreThe Alfa Romeo GTV is coming back, and now we may have a leaked look at the roofline of what’s promised to be an all-wheel drive, 600 horsepower coupe which is expected to be a hybrid.
Read MoreI’m not in the market for a Jeep pickup unless it’s a rusty Forward Control for under $1,000. Still, the 2020 Jeep Gladiator’s “Build & Price” website tool is up, so now I can show you—based on my short test drive—which Gladiator I would buy.
Read MoreLyft, the mobility company that doesn’t have a viable business model and has never made a profit, opened trading as a public company for the second business day on Monday and investors promptly dumped shares, lowering the company’s stock value below its IPO price of $72 per share. In the world of high finance, this is generally regarded as Bad Thing.
Read MoreThe Volvo XC40, a stylish and handsome car with a magical and fantastic interior, will get a fully electric version before the year is out. I have absolutely no objections to this.
Read MoreThe current Mercedes-Benz E-Class is maybe a little too anonymous, blending into an ever-expanding lineup where all of the sedans pretty much look the same. That wasn’t always the case, and this designer’s pet project shows us what we could have with a few retro flourishes.
Read MoreIt’s 2019 and we’re all familiar with supercars, high-performance Jeeps, and swoopy SUVs described as “coupes.” This wacky render is a mashup of all those concepts and it looks kind of amazing.
Read MoreEver wondered how auto manufacturers crash test their million dollar hypercars without simultaneously racking up massive amounts of debt in the process? Well buckle up, because you’re about to find out.
Read MoreMost personalized license plates are either inside jokes no one gets, tired jokes everyone’s sick of, or painfully convoluted ways to say something dirty without the DMV noticing. This plate, though, is very clever and fun, even if it’s sort of an extremely niche joke for design dorks like us.
Read MoreAutomakers just don’t have enough fun when it comes to outfitting their cars with good-looking colors. When I prowled the show floor of the New York International Auto Show, I was not impressed by a vast majority of car colors—everything is either eye-searingly bright or a horrible, boring rental-car shade of gray, and we’re just completely ignoring the artfully colored middle ground.
Read MoreAs you all know, it’s not easy to admit difficult truths to yourself. Sometimes you can remain in denial for as long as possible, until you find yourself confronted by cold, hard reality and you have no choice but to accept what’s right in front of your face. At the New York Auto show this week I had such a moment, and I can no longer deny what I feel: the Honda Clarity seems a lot like a modern Citroën DS.
Read MoreIs the Pontiac Aztek the ugliest car ever? Sources say yes. But just imagine what could have been, if only Pontiac had hired someone to redesign the car. Imagine no further, friends, because someone has actually gone ahead and done the work for you!
Read MoreAfter 10 long years, the 2020 Subaru Outback finally gets an XT trim with a turbo engine again. The issue is there’s still one very crucial element missing.
Read MoreIt’s impossible to get away from giant tablet screens on the interior of cars these days. Believe it or not, there are still people out there who believe that we’re better off without them—and one of those people is Jaguar’s design director Ian Callum.
Read MoreVilner is one of those tuning/customizing houses that often does some questionable stuff, like that Mustang with real horse fur and skin and a fetishy Samurai-style Mitsubishi. Now, they’ve taken a humble little Trabant Commie-cruiser and made it, well, pretty damn charming.
Read MoreFor years, Lexus’s corporate face has enraged and upset critics everywhere. Spindle-grille, the automaker called it. Predator-face, others sneered. It’s even been accused of hurting some Lexus sales. And on Lexus’s current crop of cars, the criticism is rather valid. It is a damn huge grille. But on today’s newly unveiled Lexus LM 350 minivan? It works. Lexus nailed it.
Read MoreWe know the Rivian R1T electric pickup truck and Rivian R1S crossover are planned to go into production in 2020 and 2021, and we know they’ve been testing development models disguised to look like the Ford F-150, but a recent profile from Car Magazine reveals exactly what the company plans to go up against.
Read MoreBentley is teasing the upcoming redesign of its $190,000-and-up Flying Spur luxury sedan with a picture of its new hood ornament. I dig it. Looks like a bionic butterfly has landed ever-so-daintily to lead the car’s occupants away from the problems of the proletariat.
Read MoreThe McLaren F1 is a car for responsible adults to drive so they don’t wreck them, but it’s also a car for kids who love cars. Flip up doors! Central seating position! Record-setting speed! A gold foil-lined engine bay! That gold is probably the most exciting part of the car because how many other cars use gold in their construction? But as it turns out, it isn’t as impressive as it sounds.
Read MoreDespite teasing us with the 707 horsepower Jeep Wrangler Trailcat concept three years ago, the company has confirmed that it won’t be able to sell either the Wrangler nor the new Gladiator with the supercharged V8 Hellcat engine because it’d be too dangerous.
Read MoreIf a car company offers any paint option outside gray, black, white, silver or beige, I do not understand why you would not take them up on it. Step out of the dull humdrum of banality. Get into some tomfoolery. Check the box for yellow. Even Mercedes is doing it!
Read MoreDuring the media presentation for the 2020 Range Rover Evoque last week, Range Rover’s Chief Design Officer Gerry McGovern revealed that the car’s fancy door handles were the result of a very specific request from Jaguar Land Rover owner Tata Motors.
Read MoreA mysterious Toyota has appeared on display in Naoshima, Japan—one that’s been pretty difficult to track down and seems impervious to both Google and press site searches. It’s the La Coupe, and here’s what we know about it so far.
Read MoreWe told you about Volkswagen’s I.D. ROOMZZ electric SUV concept earlier this month, and now we have some actual pictures of the car to show as well, and it appears to have a pretty novel door design. Too bad the name sounds like it was something that a Juul given sentience came up with, but I guess you can’t have everything.
Read MoreWhile teasers for the new Mercedes GLB concept have been trickling out ahead of the Shanghai Auto Show, our first look at the actual concept is finally here. And while it may not exactly be the teeny G-Wagen that many thought it would be, it’s still going to be one hell of an SUV.
Read MoreAlfa Romeo told on itself yesterday when a video tour of the new Fiat-Chrysler heritage facility revealed not one, but two Alfa Romeo 4C Quadrifoglio prototypes, just hanging out with a bunch of other cars. Here’s what they are exactly, and how they got there.
Read MoreLast week, we learned that Fiat Chrysler Automobiles was opening up a new facility full of its heritage cars, where it mostly mentioned its Fiat, Lancia and Abarth models. Not in the press materials, however, were what appear to be two Alfa Romeo 4C Quadrifoglio cars that we may not have seen before.
Read MoreThe battle of which is better, Ford or Chevy, has been raging since the dawn of human civilization, thousands of years before the Ford Motor Company or the Chevrolet Division of General Motors even existed. That battle is finally over, thanks to the decisive results of an argument in Virginia during a “pre-Easter” dinner that ended in gun and knife wounds.
Read MoreHappy weekending, folks. Have fun. Enjoy your cars. Don’t go street racing. Don’t go near street racing, actually, because even if you don’t get wrecked or run over you can still get arrested just for hanging out.
Read MoreA real-life train heist-style attempt at car theft took place on April 3 near the Milbertshofen train station Germany, though it turns out it’s a hell of a lot harder to steal from a train than it looks in old black-and-white movies.
Read MoreObviously, if you steal a car, you’re bad. But if you accidentally steal it and then return it, are you still as bad? This very thing happened to a Canadian man 21 years ago and he’s been feeling the guilt ever since.
Read MoreBeau Alan Rogel of Rankin County, Mississippi has a habit of livestreaming his activities on YouTube. One recent stream of his showed him attempt and claim to hit 180 mph on public roads in his 2017 Ford Mustang Shelby GT350 before getting pulled over by the cops.
Read MoreSorry for spoiling such a major element of Avengers: Endgame for you with that title, but we have to talk about the noises the Audi E-Tron GT made in the movie.
Read MoreLast week, production on the 25th James Bond movie kicked off, and the first set photos from Jamaica show Daniel Craig’s retired James Bond driving around in an old Land Rover Series III.
Read MoreThese days, it really seems like if you are a muscly and suave Hollywood Man, then you have a solid shot at getting snapped up for the Fast and Furious franchise. The latest is apparently John Cena, whom Vin Diesel announces in an Instagram post from a few days ago.
Read MoreAs much as I loved the slapstick self-awareness of the first Fast & Furious Presents: Hobbs & Shaw trailer, to say nothing of its absurd title, I was little disappointed at its lack of cars. A much more Classic Action Movie-style trailer dropped this week, and reveals the cars are definitely here. But they’re mostly trucks.
Read MoreThat low, rumbling, squelching sound you’re sensing at the edge of your hearing is nothing to be alarmed by; it’s just the collective peoples of the internet simultaneously excitement-soiling their pants because a new trailer for the next Star Wars movie has been released. As is required by the Jalopnik by-laws, I will now scrutinize the trailer for information about droids and spaceships and other vehicles or robots. It looks like we have some new things to talk about!
Read MoreTop Gear streaming has moved yet again after seemingly being unavailable on the major services for the past few months. Its new home is with Motor Trend Network and MotorTrend.com, including seasons 2 through 24, 16 of the specials, and an all-new reboot of Top Gear America later this year.
Read MoreBeing able to see the then-new fourth-generation Toyota Supra at the 1993 New York Auto Show must have been one hell of a trip. Who knew you were looking at a car that would help define modern tuner culture and then, in just over a decade, could theoretically be selling for over $100,000? Thankfully, a kind soul put their VHS footage of the reveal on the internet for all of us to enjoy.
Read MoreAt this year’s New York Auto Show, Nissan decided to do something a little different. Rather than only trot out its usual crop of crossovers or another version of the R35 GT-R and the 370Z, the automaker dug into its past and brought out a few special treats from its heritage collection—cars like the blue Calsonic R32 race car that cemented the GT-R’s reputation.
Read MoreElectric hatchbacks! Electric trucks! Horrible trucks! More conventional, expensive trucks! The 2019 New York Auto Show is in the books, and it was... fine. Mostly fine. Some good stuff here, some questionable stuff there, but nothing too earth-shattering as the car companies double-down on trucks and SUVs to pay for the electric future. But we tracked down the best and worst in show right here, for your viewing pleasure.
Read MoreBeyond all the mainstream cars, the exotic rich-jerk toys, the bold and/or misguided concept cars, every car show hides a selection of weirdos, usually stashed down in a basement or corner somewhere. The New York Auto Show was no exception, so, here, feast your eyes, ears, and, why not, nose, on these weirdo specimens from the New York Auto Show.
Read MoreWhen Volkswagen first hinted at ID Buggy electric dune buggy concept, I was pretty excited. Partially because I’ve always been fond of old dune buggies like the Meyers Manx, and partially because of what this sort of vehicle hinted at for the future of Volkswagen. That’s why I was especially excited to see the car in the metal/plastic at the New York Auto Show, and pleased that VW let me crawl all over and under it.
Read More“That llama really makes those leggings look good,” “Richard Spencer sure makes some good points and isn’t even remotely punchable,” and “This motor oil really takes the sting out of my usual enema cocktail” are all sentences that no one has said before. And now you can add, “Damn, the new Hyundai Sonata looks amazing” to that list as well.
Read MoreAs I’ve mentioned before, I’m something of an automotive packaging fetishist, which means I really, really appreciate a vehicle that really works to maximize its interior spaces well. Which is why I’ve been so taken with electric startup Rivian’s pickup concept, which leverages the up-and-coming skateboard-style EV chassis design to make a truck with a really staggering amount of storage all over the length of the vehicle. To really see what they did, I cornered a Rivian engineer at the New York
Read MoreIf you’re a carmaker, one of the most wonderful, cherished gifts you can have is a nameplate with some history and heritage behind it. Think Mustang, Wrangler, Camaro, Beetle, Supra, Continental, Bronco, and so on. Names that evoke real emotion. Pity companies like Hyundai or Kia that have no such names, unless you count the Hyundai Pony, which no one does. That’s why it’s so maddening that the legendary Chevrolet Blazer name got slapped onto this anonymous pile-of-whatever SUV.
Read MoreBow down before greatness, ye puny human. The Ford Mustang is your god now, and has been for the past four years. The earth cracks and babes cry before it, while other, lesser competitor sports cars tremble and quake.
Read MoreHyundai debuted its 2020 Sonata this week, more than a month after releasing photos of it as automakers do. But what the car looked like wasn’t the important part of the debut, it was what Hyundai said about it—that a turbocharged performance version is coming, and that it’ll have more than 275 horsepower.
Read MoreAs you may know, I love big and dumb fixed rear wings. I think they are the ultimate expression of brashness, the visual equivalent of a foghorn that screams “BIG SERIOUS DOWNFORCE CAR COMING THROUGH.” The wing on the new Koenigsegg Jesko deserves its own special shoutout.
Read MoreHey, rich idiots! Do you secretly crave the lumbering, workhorse-like driving style of a Ford F-550 Super Duty, but don’t ever want to do any actual work, and really want to let everyone around you know what a colossal, pampered dipshit you are without even having to open your vape-smoke and Cristal-filled mouth?
Read MoreWhile today served as the official release of the ultra-exclusive Giulia and Stelvio Quadrifoglio NRING editions, it wasn’t the first time North America had laid eyes on them. That happened last night at a party as exclusive as the cars themselves, of which only 110 total units will be produced. Bad news to all you car collectors in the general public—almost the entire stock of both Alfas are already reserved and accounted for.
Read MoreIf you have been wondering when there’d be an enthusiast-spec special edition Kia Stinger, the answer is “now.” The world will get 800 2019 Kia Stinger GTSs decorated with carbon fiber, a fun color option, and some interesting upgrades to its all-wheel drive system.
Read MoreThe Kia HabaNiro is the automaker’s latest push toward a more compact, electric future. It’s a crossover. It’s a compact car. On-road, off-road... it’s like a Swiss Army knife of futuristic features with a wild design and bold capability claims–a quintessential concept car that’s a little bit of everything.
Read MoreEven though diesels aren’t all that popular in the United States, Mazda still thinks that they’re a viable market. It just unveiled the 2019 Mazda CX-5 Signature AWD diesel today at the New York Auto Show, which is nice I suppose.
Read MoreWe’ve actually already written a fair amount about Genesis’ little EV concept car, the Mint, but I’ve just been scrutinizing it in person, and I felt I owed it to you to let you know how it made me feel, deep inside. In case you’re hangliding or scrubbing up before performing surgery and you just need to know fast, I can tell you: it’s good. Especially in our SUV-saturated universe, this thing is a breath of fresh, minty air.
Read MoreYou know the feeling when something seems off, but you can’t tell exactly what—a picture frame that’s never perfectly aligned, or an object that’s too long or wide in one direction? That’s the feeling the 2020 Hyundai Venue will leave you with, since Hyundai gave the SUV some odd looks to go with its odd name.
Read MoreNormally, I wouldn’t pay the 2020 Mercedes-Benz GLS any more attention that I’d have to. It’s another big luxury crossover. So what? But this particular one is special because it has a car wash function. I repeat, it has a CAR! WASH! FUNCTION!!!!
Read MorePeople have been complaining about Subaru’s desperate need for more power, and the 2020 Subaru Outback fixes that a bit with the 260 horsepower 2.4-liter turbo boxer engine that was introduced in the 2019 Subaru Ascent.
Read MoreThese days Mercedes-Benz’s naming conventions for crossovers and SUVs follows that of the sedans, which everyone understands pretty well. There’s the GLA, the GLC and the GLE, in that order. That follows that there should be an S-Class of SUVs as well, and this is it: the 2020 Mercedes-Benz GLS.
Read MoreThe 2020 Toyota Highlander is clearly trying hard to look tough, but, whatever. The design is inoffensive. What’s cool about this car is its efficiency, in a couple senses of the word–the Hybrid version now claims 34 mpg(!) in combined driving. That’s not a lot of gasoline to lug eight people around.
Read MoreThe 2020 Lincoln Corsair’s proportions are pretty standard for a medium-sized crossover, but hot dang, it’s ridiculously handsome. The design achieves a really nice “cool without trying too hard,” which should be enough to make it popular no matter what it’s like to drive.
Read MoreThe Nissan GT-R has been continuously evolving for over a decade since the R35-generation debuted in 2007. It seems every year comes with a few new tweaks and updates to keep people coming back for more. This year, the tweaks put the NISMO version on a diet and give the Track edition more power.
Read MoreYour video feed on Facebook has slowly devolved into an amalgam of moderately interesting news pieces, clips of politicians making passionate arguments, puppies being cute, and the newest episode of Ow, My Balls, but occasionally there are a few gems in there, like the launch of this new EV supermini urban two-seater concept, the Genesis Mint.
Read MoreOK, so it’s not a sports car like we half-expected. But the Genesis Mint Concept, the new luxury brand’s latest concept car debut at the New York Auto Show, is definitely something different.
Read MoreSedans aren’t doing too hot right now, with crossovers and SUVs blocking them from buyers’ sight lines like a tall kid who thinks they belong on the front row of the class photo. Now that Cadillac’s filled out its lineup with more people-movers like the XT4 and XT6, it’s ready to try again with sedans. Here’s more info on the new 2020 Cadillac CT5, and how it’s different from the CTS (and ATS) it replaces.
Read MoreLotus has been making big moves since Geely bought stake in the company and pulled the fading marque back from the void. First the Lotus Type 130—and now we can look forward to an incredible Lotus Evora GT4 Concept breaking into the international racing scene.
Read MoreAston Martin’s been talking about electrifying its Rapide sedan for a long while now, at least since 2017 when the V12 version of it was confirmed dead. We were told an all-electric version would be coming “in 2018.” But today, in the year of our Lord 2019, is the day we finally get it. What difference does one year make!
Read MoreMeet the 50th Anniversary Edition Nissan 370Z. No, the 370Z hasn’t been around for 50 years, though it kind of feels like it. And while it’s sad we can’t celebrate this important anniversary with a much-needed all-new Z car, I can say that with this BRE Datsun throwback livery the 370Z has never looked cooler.
Read MoreDespite not yet selling a single diesel Mazda CX-5 in the U.S., a car that was revealed all the way back in November of 2016, Mazda is apparently still determined to figure out a way to make diesel engine work in America, as revealed in an edited teaser for this week’s New York Auto Show.
Read MoreEver since we learned that Geely bought a controlling stake in Lotus in 2017, effectively saving it from what probably would have been a sad and agonizing death, things have been pretty quiet from the British automaker. Until this week. On Monday, Lotus unveiled its plans for the Type 130—an all-electric hyper that’s apparently very close to production.
Read MoreNot too long ago, a Genesis was a Hyundai sports coupe. Now that Genesis is its own luxury brand, it’s so far produced fairly standard premium sedans. But something’s coming to the New York Auto Show this week, and it promises to be something fun in a small package.
Read MoreVolkswagen will be bringing their South American market-bound Tarok compact pickup truck to show everyone in New York, and the concept looks to be a pretty clever little pickup truck with some interesting bed and cab design features. The plan is to build it in Brazil for VW’s big customer bases in Brazil and Argentina and other South American countries, but the whole point of showing it in America is to gauge reactions of Americans to a pickup that isn’t absurdly huge. I personally think there’s
Read MoreMy God, has it really been 10 years since the first Audi R8 V10 came out? It was a mid-engine beast ubertoy that was launched during the heart of the Great Recession, when only the wealthy had money, and it is still alive to this day. That’s a reason to celebrate, I suppose.
Read MoreThe Kia Habaniro will debut in New York next month, but an image of it appeared in a newsletter ahead of the New York International Auto Show, seemingly accidentally. It looks slick as hell.
Read MoreIt has been said (by this website, no less) that the luxury box segment needs to exist. Something that a luxury brand that Lexus would contribute to. And it looks like that’s about to happen.
Read MoreThe all-new 2020 Ford Escape is here. It is another small-ish crossover in Ford’s crossover- and SUV-heavy lineup, so no new developments there. Ford is probably also going to sell a bunch of these, so you’d best get used to seeing its vaguely cheerful face everywhere. At least it looks like it’s smiling at you.
Read MoreIf you’ve ever felt the desire to absolutely blow the doors off the fastest hypercars available on the market today with a street legal 1990s Chevy S10 drag truck, then you’re in luck. Larson Race Cars is selling its famous race truck that has earned a reputation in street-legal drag racing competitions.
Read MoreThe Zagato coachbuilding house has turned out some absolutely unique and gorgeous automobile designs over the last 100 years. Without a doubt, cars like the Aston Martin DB4 Zagato, the Lancia Fulvia Sport Zagato, and the Alfa Romeo Giulia Tubolare Zagato are some of the most gorgeous designs in the world, but among my absolute favorites is the Fiat Abarth 750 Zagato double bubble compact you see here. It’s such a simple and clean design with function placed above form.
Read MoreMost people who frequent this website likely have four Craigslist tabs open at any given time, since it’s a reflex to check local car listings approximately every few minutes during the workday. But the folks selling those cars are in for a surprise come April 15, when Craigslist ups the list charge from free to $5.
Read MoreThere aren’t many things cooler than race cars, but some variants are cooler than others. Safe race cars? Cooler than unsafe race cars. Open-wheel race cars versus race cars with fenders around their wheels? That’s a personal choice. Former race cars that have been made street legal? The coolest of them all.
Read MoreAnyone who has heard the howling wail of Geoff Stoneback’s V8-swapped Nissan 240SX knows that this is no exaggeration.
Read MoreMazda in the 1960s and ‘70s was on a tear, putting out some of the most fantastic, stylish cars you’d find in the world, not just Japan. Most of these old charmers are recognized for their excellence, and priced accordingly. Also, here’s a 1972 Mazda Luce for $4,500.
Read MoreEveryone is selling their cars on the internet these days. If you want to make your particular vehicle stand out from the crowd, you have to tap into a heretofore untouched font of creativity: show off some condoms as a decorative touch. Y’know, just to let everyone know this car well and truly fucks.
Read MoreI see you there with your #SaveTheManuals t-shirt and your #SaveTheManuals bumper sticker on your Mazda Miata and I appreciate you. But if you want a real manual unicorn? Then look no further than this 2008 Mercedes-Benz C300 sedan.
Read MoreAs with most high-dollar super sports cars, Acura offers a variety of premium color paint jobs for the NSX. The standard paint is available in red, black, or white at no additional cost. An upgraded $700 paint comes with an extra coat of clear, available in orange pearl, silver metallic, and white pearl. At the top of the heap, however, is a $6,000 optional “Andaro” paint available in blue pearl and red pearl. Larry Kosilla, being the automotive paint enthusiast that he is, had to get inside the
Read MoreDespite modern cars being absolutely loaded with advanced electronic safety technology meant to prevent crashes or keep you safe in the event of a crash, there are plenty of times where you may want to disable these features to unleash a little more hooligan potential out of your car.
Read MoreMan, how does that tiny-ass little scooter have such a great sound? It barely seems possible!
Read MoreMost of those “life hacks” you see online are useless because they’re engineered to get you to click on them and share them on your Facebook feed. It’s rare to come across a life hack that actually improves your life in some way, like this one does. I mean, I’ve lost count of the number of times I’ve had a bucket of popcorn kernels with me on a motorcycle trip, but forgot my popcorn popper at home. Thanks to this video, I no longer need to fear my forgetfulness, I’ll still be able to enjoy delic
Read MoreLast fall the historic Czech motorcycle brand Jawa showed off three ambitious new vintage-inspired motorcycles in something of a revival for the company. Kicked off by the company’s purchase by Indian utility and implement company Mahindra, Jawa has been expanding its reach across India since. It now incorporates over 100 dealerships across 77 different cities and the two-wheel loving populace is buying these bikes by the truck load. According to Rideapart, Jawa production is backlogged until at
Read MoreIf you’ve been hearing about Keanu Reeves’ motorcycling hobby and his connection with the elite custom bike shop Arch Motorcycle, but never really been able to figure out what the deal is there, this GQ interview brings us into the actor’s bike life and introduces his motorcycle collection. Which is awesome, by the way.
Read MoreMotorcycle racing legend Valentino Rossi runs an awesome motorcycle racing training camp called VR46 Riders Academy in Italy. As part of that training, the young two-wheelers get a boost in knowledge and racecraft from one of the best in the history of the sport. The riders learn at slower speeds using smaller and less engined bikes they call “minimoto” which are little two-stroke sport bikes that are incredibly awesome. Toss the seven-time champion onto one of these and entertainment ensues.
Read MoreIt’s always nice to see people acting like jerks on the road get immediate comeuppance, especially when it’s a cop breaking the law. This video of an NYPD cop wiping out on a dirt bike in Harlem is extremely satisfying, especially for the onlookers who cheered once the officer hit the pavement.
Read MoreZero’s new SR/F is a sub-500 pound street fighter with over 100 horsepower and 140 ft-lb of torque. While it has not yet been released to the public, the electric bike will allegedly hit customers later this month. Shortly after the production bike is released, a lightly modified version will compete at the Pikes Peak International Hill Climb this June.
Read MoreTop speed records haven’t really been relevant for production-based cars for decades. While initially intended to prove powertrain, construction, and aerodynamic science was ready for the hazards of the real world, ever since the 1980s it’s been little more than bragging rights and gear-ratio wizardry. Where electric is concerned, however, the top speed is still a relevant measure, as the technology is still gaining wide acceptance, particularly in motorcycles.
Read MoreThe Honda Grom is everybody’s favorite fun-sized 230-pound motorbike. Industrial Moto is a motorcycle customization shop with a cool retro-futuristic cyberpunk aesthetic, and its latest creation is this cute little adventure sidecar for the bitty bike.
Read MoreNoise pollution is real, and we experience it every day. In big cities, it just becomes a part of the daily grind, a constant thrum in the background that can almost be comforting. In the sticks, where I live, it’s nearly always quiet, punctuated by brief and striking instances of extreme loud. While I genuinely enjoy the sound of a nice ring-a-ding two stroke dirt ripper, it can be a nuisance. Making them all electric would be a nice change of pace.
Read MoreIt’s hard to go wrong with a gorgeous purple Porsche and cherry blossoms. When you’re submitting a set of photos for Weekend Wallpaper, picking a popular Porsche supercar as your subject matter usually goes a long way, but when you place it in a grove of beautifully blossoming trees, it’s an easy pick for Weekend Wallpaper.
Read MoreMitsubishi is struggling in the U.S. market because it just won’t sell us the good things it makes. The lineup we get here in the States is abysmal with just the decade-old Outlander, the ill-named Eclipse Cross, and the only car I’d rather walk than own Mirage. That’s two crossovers and an inexpensive subcompact. That’s not much of a lineup for Americans. There’s a reason Mitsu hasn’t been a player here for a decade or more. It needs a truck.
Read MoreThe expectation going into the weekend at Baku was of Ferrari dominance with the Italian team showing strength in slow and tight corners thus far this season. The Azerbaijan street circuit is basically made of slow and tight corners. With qualifying showing Mercedes’ true speed, and Ferrari having a completely disappointing qualifying showing, the expectations were tossed on ear. The race offered little passing, but somehow managed to be a bit on the exciting side regardless.
Read MoreAfter looking up the most common for-hire vehicles used for Uber, Lyfts, and Vias in Chicago, I immediately wanted to scroll to the other end of the spectrum and find the oddball cars used to move passengers from A to B in the Windy City. But while doing so, I noticed something peculiar about the data set: It’s sloppy as hell.
Read MoreFord revealed today that it was under criminal investigation by the U.S. Department of Justice over its emissions certification process, which, on the surface at least, is reminiscent, of course, of Dieselgate. But Ford says defeat devices are not involved, though they “cannot predict the outcome” of the case.
Read MoreAn alternate universe has collapsed. For half a century, Toyota has been building a rear-wheel drive family sedan (not sold in the U.S. since the ‘90s), and now it has announced that it’s over. The Toyota Mark X, stops production this year.
Read MoreFront license plates are a tool of Big Government and a scourge to people with eyes, so I’m happy to report that in Ohio starting next year they won’t be required, after lawmakers included the measure in a transportation bill earlier this month. They’ve been required in the state for 111 years. But soon, no more.
Read MoreRemember last Friday when we told you about how SpaceX managed to land and recover the three rocket boosters that make up the first stage of their Falcon Heavy rocket? That was a big deal. Unfortunately, in the end, the enterprise was only 2/3rds successful, as the center booster, the one that landed on the SpaceX drone ocean-going landing pad named Of Course I Still Love You, was lost at sea.
Read MoreA company in San Diego co-founded by a former Marine has been scooping up the abandoned scooters that litter city streets owned by the startups Bird and Lime for months, giving some of them back to Bird in November in exchange for more than $40,000. Bird and Lime have since called the company’s activities “ransom,” and a legal battle has begun.
Read MoreThe Tesla Model X has been around, virtually unchanged except for some incremental upgrades, since 2015. That’s not so bad. The Tesla Model S, except for the same incremental upgrades and a slight refresh, has been around since 2012. That’s not great. But now there are rumors both are getting some updates, and whether or not that excites you probably depends on how you view Tesla in general.
Read MoreThe new Mazda3 is good, especially in all-wheel drive guise. As compact sedans and hatchbacks go, Mazda has built a good one. The small Japanese company has all of the parts in its bins to build a seriously powerful and performance oriented model. Not only do I think it make an AWD turbocharged adult hot hatch, but the company already has the idea on its radar, according to a report by Autocar. The stuff is all there in the factory just waiting to be assembled. It’s time for the return of Mazdas
Read MoreAfter years of teasing us with little trickles of news and public spottings in camo, the 2020 Chevrolet Corvette has finally officially been acknowledged as happening by General Motors. The car will be making its first public appearance in production trim on July, 18th. The car will be available for sale later this year.
Read MoreIf you’re in the hot rod and custom world for more than twenty minutes you’ll hear someone say “there isn’t a single piece on the car that hasn’t been touched.” That usually denotes a build that is absolutely next level, where all of the nuts and bolts have been re-plated to original, or each body panel has been massaged in some way or another. This car takes anyone who has ever used that phrase out back for a serious talkin’ to.
Read MoreThe 2020 Subaru Outback will be out exactly one week from today, the car’s sixth generation, and, quite possibly, the one that will make the Outback cool again. (Actually that’s doubtful, but I retain hope.) Today, Subaru gave us a decent look at slice of it, if not the whole thing, set in its natural state, off-roading in the mountains, a thing all Outback owners do.
Read MoreThe 2020 Toyota Highlander—the fourth generation of the three-row, a midsize situation—will debut April 17 at the New York International Auto Show. Today, the company gave us a peek at what it might look like. It seems fine?
Read MoreIs there anyone that doesn’t like a good Dodge Viper? It’s a V10 engine, seats, and a steering wheel, what’s not to like? I’m not usually one for chrome or polished wheels, but these happen to look quite good on this bright red snake. The lowslung Dodge bludgeon-in-a-ball-peen-suit Viper will hit you over the head with a stack of bricks and somehow you’ll still beg for more.
Read MoreThis weekend marks the 77th Goodwood Members Meeting, and McLaren took this as an opportunity to launch its newest track-only hypercar—McLaren Senna GTR—to the public. There is no better racer to stuff into the cockpit than one carrying the same surname, right? With former Formula One racer Bruno Senna at the wheel, it makes its first laps under the scrutiny of public life. Somehow this works aesthetically far better as a race car than it does as a street car.
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 MoreFormula One resorted to the Drag Reduction System in 2011 in order to facilitate more passes per race. Personally, I’m not a fan of the system, as it feels like an artificial advantage to the following car. While it has demonstrably increased passing, it allows racers to work up to within one second of the car ahead and then nonchalantly saunter past on the straights, where passing used to be done maniacally and haphazardly under braking into the tighter corners.
Read MoreLately, I’ve been sort of obsessed with the problem of charging electric vehicles. While, ideally I think a battery swapping system makes the most long-term sense, no major automaker seems to be putting any effort into that, so, for now at least, we’re stuck with the charging station concept. And while I’ve had ideas about how EV charging stations could be, I now realize that the very fundamental idea of an EV charging “station” is wrong. I think I have a better idea.
Read MoreIf it isn’t broke, don’t fix it. Jeep embodies that more than any other manufacturer, because the Wagoneer barely changed at all for its entire production run. This big Jeep is basically the progenitor of the current daily driver SUV mega trend, and they’re the perfect mixture of terrible and awesome. In this One Take, Zack Klapman gets to experience the dinosaur nature of Jeep’s original big boy.
Read MoreTesla’s cars have computers on board, like all modern cars, which means that they are also vulnerable to hackers. Some white hats targeted Tesla recently, and they were able to take activate the windshield wipers and control the steering wheel via a gamepad, in addition to tricking Autopilot. CEO Elon Musk’s response? “Solid work.”
Read MoreReasonable people disagree, but for my money, Cadillac’s Super Cruise system is the best semi-autonomous system in the game: better than Tesla’s, better than Volvo’s, better than Nissan’s. But one thing that sets it apart—its system for making sure the driver’s paying attention—apparently doesn’t work great under full sunlight.
Read MoreA hacker and Tesla enthusiast known only as GreenTheOnly has spent a lot of time and effort digging deep into Tesla’s hardware and software, something that Tesla has never been crazy about. Recently, he’s examined the internal computer networks in wrecked and salvaged Teslas, including a Model S, a Model X, and two Model 3s. He found that those cars contained a metric crapload of user data, ranging from contact lists from paired phones to navigation locations and video files from the car’s mult
Read MoreWhile you may never have heard of Kellison, you assuredly know of the GT40. Today’s Nice Price or Crack Pipe contender is the former that looks like the latter. Let’s see if this propane-powered kit car’s price has you giving it a second look.
Read MoreThe seller of today’s Nice Price or Crack Pipe 300ZX claims to be seeking a buyer who will hold the car in the same “high regard” as does he. Before that can happen however, we’ll have to regard its price.
Read MoreHave you ever had that something you never wanted turn into something you desperately need? Today’s Nice Price or Crack Pipe Evoque HSE could be just such an unsought obsession, that is, if it’s price doesn’t prove too desperate.
Read MoreThere are many legends in the world—King Arthur, Bigfoot, and that guy that scored more than 110,00 points in Space Invaders just to name three. Still, today’s Nice Price or Crack Pipe Acura is the only sort of Legend you can drive. Could this coupe’s price just add to its lore?
Read MoreToday’s Nice Price or Crack Pipe CJ7 is branded a Renegade and like many a stereotypical rebel, it wears denim blue. Let’s see if this nicely kitted Jeep’s price demands some fancier duds.
Read MoreThe Sequoia is one of the largest trees in the world. Incongruously, today’s Nice Price or Crack Pipe Toyota Sequoia isn’t the biggest deal SUV in the brand’s catalog. Let’s see if its price proves equally confusing.
Read MoreWith 220 horsepower on tap, today’s Nice Price or Crack Pipe Taurus may not seem very super high output. Those ponies however, were really something back in the day. Let’s see if this SHO also comes with a super high price.
Read MoreThe seller of today’s Nice Price or Crack Pipe RS4 says he owns another and that two is one too many. He may never make it on an episode of Hoarders, but will this hot Audi’s price make it worth adding to your collection?
Read MoreThe ad for today’s Nice Price or Crack Pipe Focus SVT does an excellent job of pointing out the car’s ups as well as its downs. Let’s decide if a seller who’s an honest Abe deserves all his requested Benjamins.
Read MoreThe seller of today’s Nice Price or Crack Pipe X1/9 claims it to be both the best year and a desirable color. That’s pretty bold hyperbole, but does it justify the price?
Read MoreThe litany of laudables on today’s Nice Price or Crack Pipe Subaru is long and illustrious. Just for starters there’s AWD and a five-speed stick. Let’s see if being well priced can be added to the list.
Read MoreThe seller of today’s Nice Price or Crack Pipe Corvette says the car is being sold in as-is condition. That condition doesn’t seem to be all that bad, but will its price still have you leaving it “as-is?”
Read MoreThe rolling 25 year exemption for car imports brings new opportunities each year, and reminds us of others already age appropriate. Today’s Nice Price or Crack Pipe Lancia is a Ferrari-powered plum that’s just ripe for the picking. Will its price however, prove it to be a rotten deal?
Read MoreThe Nissan Juke is named for “juke joint,” a raucous music bar where fun may be had. Today’s Nice Price or Crack Pipe Juke is a Nismo which just piles on that rowdy. Let’s see what sort of cover charge seems fair.
Read MoreWith it’s Martini livery, jacked up pre-runner ride height, and GT drive train, today’s Nice Price or Crack Pipe Mustang has a little bit for everyone. Let’s see if it’s priced in equally egalitarian fashion.
Read MoreBMW’s X3 was the company’s second shot at the burgeoning crossover market, and was a pretty successful sophomore effort. Today’s Nice Price or Crack Pipe X3 comes with a rare manual gearbox, but could that make you take a second glance at its price?
Read MorePeople always say that good things come in small packages. Today’s Nice Price or Crack Pipe Suzuki is a pretty small package. Could that, and its price mean it’s pretty good?
Read MoreThe attempt by car makers to appease the rabid demand for crossover cars has resulted in some startlingly odd category entrants. One of those is today’s Nice Price or Crack Pipe Acura ZDX, a car that never seemed to know what niche it wanted to fill. Let’s see if time—and other factors—have been kind to it.
Read MorePontiac never made a GTO wagon back in the day, but that didn’t stop someone from more recently doing so. Today’s Nice Price or Crack Pipe longroof is just such a homage. Let’s determine if its price is worth the laudatory gesture.
Read MoreSometimes all you need to make things better is a hug. I can’t help you out there, but today’s Nice Price or Crack Pipe Subaru could prove a worthy substitute. Let’s see if its price gives you the warm and fuzzies too.
Read MoreThere are so many names dropped by today’s Nice Price or Crack Pipe TC—Iacocca, De Tomaso, Maserati and Cosworth—that you might need a Rolodex just to keep track. Let’s see if this rare DOHC edition is worth adding your name to that list.
Read MoreToday’s Nice Price or Crack Pipe Bimmer is 11 years old, but has required over $10K in maintenance in the last two of those. That makes it either a money pit or future proofed. Let’s see what its price adds to the mix.
Read MoreFolks have been wising up to the fact that the first-generation RAV4 is kind of awesome. David Tracy and I talk about it every time we hang out. I know we’re not the only ones, because hey look, somebody put a version of Toyota’s famous off-road racing livery of the 1990s on one of these plucky early crossovers.
Read MoreThe philosophy behind big expensive cars with a lot of power used to be drastically different just a couple decades ago, where the most expensive new car on the road in 1997 was a twin-turbo Bentley that weighed as much as a house, and not some track-day toy that got you into special parties like the cars of today.
Read MoreThe people at Fiat Chrysler Automobiles finally got their act together and decided to show off its huge collection of Italian classics, bringing together row after row of Fiats, Abarths and Lancias under one big roof the company has dubbed its Heritage HUB. There are so many cars I wouldn’t know where to begin.
Read MoreHere’s a car you probably haven’t thought of in a while: the Spyker C8 Spyder. It was a weirdo car produced (in very low numbers) by Dutch company Spyker, yet it remains one of the most glorious examples of exquisite automotive design ever to grace the modern age. Let’s revisit it.
Read MoreI’m not sure if you’re aware, but there’s been a longstanding ethical debate regarding whether or not it’s okay to lean your seat back in an airplane. In that debate, Delta appears to have taken a side, as they announced that they would be restricting the amount their seats recline, hoping to reduce “disputes between passengers,” according to a travel expert.
Read MoreThe ultra-wide double-plus-big Stratolaunch dual-fuselage airplane took its first flight test Saturday morning from a desert runway in Mojave, California. The plane weighs half a million pounds, and is intended to be a launching mothership for space rockets.
Read MoreAmazon has been talking about drone deliveries for years now. It seems to be the one thing that Jeff Bezos truly wants, his Rosebud, if you will. That’s why it must really, really sting that rival company Google looks set to be the first to begin real, commercial drone delivery service. Wing, a drone delivery startup owned by Google parent company Alphabet, got approval from Australia’s Civil Aviation Safety Authority (CASA) and will begin deliveries in Canberra, presumably quite soon.
Read MoreLooks like there’s some choice Concorde jet memorabilia on eBay right now, including a few coffee cups and plates from the galley. Also: a Rolls-Royce Olympus Turbo-Jet 593-610 engine, for about a million bucks.
Read MoreSkirmantas Strimaitis bought a flight from Vilnius, the capital of Lithuania, to Italy on March 16 only to show up and find that he was the only person booked on the plane.
Read MoreEvery single airplane you’ve ever flown in has used mechanical bits of metal and composites on hinges to turn this way and that, hither and yon. The real dream is to fly through the skies like a goddamn bird, bending and twisting your wings instead, as God intended. Except for very few planes – the original Wright Flyer included – it’s been way too difficult, way too expensive, way too impossible. Unless NASA and MIT have their way.
Read MoreIt does not do, as I have always said, to be merely rich. Any idiot can be rich. But to be rich and have the taste and class to boot? This is where it gets tricky. I am not surprised, yet again, that I have to explain this to people.
Read MoreIf you listen closely, you might just hear it over the roar of the métro and the bustling weekend traffic. There it is again—the buzzing of a pack of restless bees, maybe, or the dying breath of a dog’s favorite squeaky toy. That sound you hear is the “thundering engines” of the notoriously loud Formula E cars—the very ones that have French politician Benjamin Griveaux so riled up that he’s promising to cancel the ePrix, if only Parisians will make him mayor.
Read MoreThe infield at Talladega is notorious for its parties and what I’m sure is a disastrously good time. But what you don’t always see is all the shit everyone leaves behind when they clear out of the infield after the race. Thankfully, Talladega Speedway’s Twitter account took us on a walkthrough of the most inspiring, disgusting trash they found!
Read MoreA last-lap caution during Sunday’s Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series race at Talladega Superspeedway prematurely, and unfortunately, ended a race that would’ve otherwise been pretty good. But while cameras were on a huge wreck on the backstretch, the reason for the caution, a piece of debris, was elsewhere.
Read MoreRoborace, the autonomous-vehicle racing series that’s seen years and plenty of ideas in the making, is finally here. Well, for the most part. It’s here with some great car liveries for its inaugural race season, but the lingering question is of how much we’ll actually get to see them race.
Read MoreWhile pit crew members are often some of the least-often recognized people on a racing team, there are times when they do something so awesome that it just makes us pay attention. And today, I’d like to applaud the guy who holds the fire extinguisher during refueling stops.
Read MoreBeing able to build your very own Nürburgring has to be the pipe dream of a lot of auto enthusiasts. Imagine just being able to walk out your back door, and there’s your personal obscenely winding high-speed testing and race course, just waiting for you to take your car out for a few hot laps. Toyota, of course has considerably greater resources than your average enthusiast, and that’s why it’s making this dream a reality.
Read MoreThe tight and narrow streets of Baku, Azerbaijan claimed their fair share of shattered carbon fiber Saturday with a brutally long qualifying session paused twice with delays to retrieve cars and replace the safety barrier at Turn 8. In the end, it added up to an exciting and surprising session because of it. The track itself may not be the best of the season, but the drivers are working to make it interesting, at least
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 MoreThe super fast all-electric Volkswagen ID. R is officially doing it. It’s hunting down the next lap record to crush, this time at the Nürburgring—and it’s already hit the track.
Read MoreI will personally attest to the fact that watching vintage Mini racing is one of the most delightful activities a person can engage in. But some people seem to think it’s “easy” just because they’re small and front-wheel drive and lack insane horsepower figures. Rubbish, as the British say. Here to demonstrate is Top Gear’s own Chris Harris, whose latest video involves piloting an old-school Mini Cooper S ’round the track at Goodwood.
Read MoreFormula E is all about pushing the boundaries of what a racing series can—and should—be. While some of their ideas have been, uh, questionable, some have been really damn cool. Their newest ghost racing app is one of the cool ones.
Read MoreThe Azerbaijan Grand Prix at Baku has been proving itself to be one of Formula One’s most exciting races of the year—mostly just because the tight street circuit makes for a hell of a lot of shenanigans. And those shenanigans have already started kicking off in the form of a killer manhole determined to gobble up race cars.
Read MoreThe massive wide fenders and basket weave wheels of 1980s and 1990s Grand Touring racing are among the greatest eras in motorsport history. With incredible factory support from all over the globe, some of the greatest racing drivers of the time, and uncompromised back and forth battles, these cars won’t ever let me sleep in peace. I constantly wake in a cold sweat thinking about the Cunningham Racing Nissan 300ZX.
Read MoreNowadays we have a tendency to look back at 1970s-era Formula One as the golden days of the sport—and while I do think we should be a little more critical about our view through rose-tinted glasses, I have to say, some shit was just better back then. Like, the fact that team principals used to compete on track during race weekends, just like their drivers.
Read MoreNASCAR broadcasts get a lot of flak, rightfully so, over a real lack of diverse voices, resulting in often dated, out-of-touch commentary, not to mention occasionally being just plain silly. But if there’s one thing NASCAR broadcasts get really, really right, it’s the technical breakdowns of the cars and racing.
Read MoreWe here at Jalopnik have already firmly established that drone cams in racing are objectively Good. But NASCAR is stepping up the game for this weekend’s race at Talladega by introducing the Alta 8, the most advanced and terrifying-looking drone to be used as part of an on-air broadcast.
Read MoreThe plucky, lovable, looks-like-an-old-Jeep-but-is-actually-a-UTV known as the Mahindra Roxor is a solid off-roader that’s inherently optimized for low-speed rock crawling. But Ned and Kat Bacon are taking one racing in Baja, because sure, why not.
Read MoreThe notion that Formula One would host a race on a street circuit in a modern American city was preposterous. The notion that said street circuit would seemingly be entirely composed of one giant hairpin was hilarious. It was never going to happen, and now its not-happening is official.
Read MoreThey say the only things with bigger wings than this 1,600-horsepower Nissan GT-R race car exist solely in angelic texts. They say, even, that the wings on the GT-R could be bigger. The estimates vary. (“They, as in whom?” you might ask. No idea. Ask someone who uses that phrase as anything other than a joke.)
Read MoreWhile plenty of teams and drivers have yet to reveal the cars they’ll be running in this year’s Indianapolis 500, I’m pretty confident when I say that Andretti Autosport has already blown all its competitors out of the water. Livery-wise, that is.
Read MoreWhen Heidi Hetzer hit her 70s, she decided she would do something different. She was going to drive around the world in her 1930 Hudson—and she was going to do it all by herself if she had to. Five years later, Hetzer has died at home in Berlin.
Read MoreThe W Series, a women only racing series that launches its inaugural season in May, will do so live on British television thanks to a deal with former Formula One broadcaster Channel 4. The UK was its first announcement of TV coverage, but the series said it’s working on deals in “widespread geographies.”
Read MoreWhen spec BMW E30 racer Corey Smith’s shifter broke during a recent race in Florida and left a two-inch nub in its place, he just kept driving until he crossed the finish line and got a break before the next race. But even that wasn’t enough time to totally remedy the problem, and Smith went back out for his final race of the weekend with a rather unconventional shift knob: a rubber mallet.
Read MoreIn 2020, which is somehow next year instead of the date typed on a screen in an apocalyptic movie, Formula One plans to have a new street race in Vietnam’s capital city of Hanoi—if those plans don’t wither away, as they’re known to do in F1. Either way, F1 is already simulating what the circuit could look like.
Read MoreIn what may be one of the most initially confusing news items you’ll read today, Harley-Davidson is partnering with the Envision Virgin Racing Formula E team. A motorcycle brand sponsoring electric open-wheel racing? Yes, you’re reading that right.
Read MoreSome of the best vehicle-related entertainment around is done by vehicles least likely to entertain, like school buses competing on figure-eight race tracks or organized lawnmower racing. That same sentiment goes for 2,400-horsepower semi trucks shredding their tires, which is, apparently, a thing.
Read MoreMercedes’ Formula One team is frustratingly good at everything. They’re collecting race wins and championships like it’s no big deal. And now here they are, doubling up on pit stops like they’ve been doing it for ages.
Read MoreJenson Button drives all the cool stuff. He recently finished a run at the Mint 400 off road race, he’s running a full season of Japanese Super GT, and he’d planned to run the Le Mans 24 again with SMP Racing. Extenuating circumstances have pulled Button away from the Russian team to focus on his home life, and he won’t be racing at Le Mans this year, reports Autoweek.
Read MoreBack in 1992 Alfa Romeo built this 155 GTA Superturismo to compete in the Italian touring car series, where it demolished the competition by taking 17 victories from 20 races that season. Using effectively the same drivetrain as Lancia’s Delta Group A rally cars, the power was well tested, and the longer wheelbase sedan made a very stable platform.
Read MoreWhile McLaren’s 650S GT3 has been extremely popular in international endurance and sprint competition, its successor, the new 720S is finally ready for its North American competition debut. The car will race under the Compass Racing team banner when it arrives for the third round of the IMSA WeatherTech Sports Car Championship GTD class at Mid Ohio on the 5th of May.
Read MoreLast summer, the Volkswagen I.D. R. absolutely destroyed the Pikes Peak record. Ever since, the team has been hungry to crush every possible record they can find—with the next target being the infamous Nürburgring. But in order to do it, the Volkswagen crew is going to have to get creative—and they’ve been looking to Formula One for inspiration.
Read MoreIn what is perhaps the worst kept secret in motorsport this year, Ford has officially announced the company will be revoking factory support of the Ford GT program this year, which means the WEC program will end with the season closing Le Mans 24 in June, and the IMSA program will conclude at Petit Le Mans in October.
Read MoreBooze and race cars go together better than peanut butter and jelly. (When you’re watching them, of course, not driving them. Don’t do that.) The track is one of the only places where drinking beer at 9 a.m. is not only acceptable but a great idea. But how the hell are you supposed to bake in the sunshine all day, get appropriately lit, and not die in the process?
Read MoreSince I was a youth, I’ve always been curious what people did with the photos they take. I take photographs of cars because it’s ostensibly at least part of my job, but it always makes the experience worse. What is the better way to watch Sebastien Loeb fly by you on a hillclimb stage in his 2013 Pikes Peak record setting Peugeot? With your eyeballs or through the tiny pixelated screen of your camera phone probably also from 2013? I thought so.
Read MoreDespite the fact that three generations of Andrettis have competed in the Indy 500, only one driver from the family, the one you’ve heard of, has won the race. The streak of perpetually bad luck is known as the Andretti Curse, and this year, Marco Andretti is looking to break the streak with a tribute livery designed after his grandfather Mario Andretti’s Indy 500-winning car.
Read MoreThe Dakar Rally, a massive many-day off-road race that ran from Europe to the Senegalese city it’s named after for decades, then moved to South America in 2009, has officially inked a deal to be held in Saudi Arabia in 2020.
Read MoreMercedes is starting 2019 in fine fashion, possibly better than the team could even have imagined. That’s by netting yet another 1-2 finish at the Chinese Grand Prix, ostensibly the 1000th Grand Prix in history. Lewis Hamilton drove away from the start, piquing teammate and polesitter Valtteri Bottas to the lead at turn one. From then on, the two Mercedes worked quite well together to keep the Ferrari of Sebastian Vettel handily behind.
Read MoreHoly Sweet Mother Mary that was an incredible 100 minute sprint from green to checkers this fine Saturday afternoon. It’s been a hot minute since we’ve seen sports car racing put on this kind of short-course spectacle, but the wait was worth it. The Bubba Burgers Sports Car Grand Prix of Long Beach was a great event with mega changes for the overall lead and some tight thrust-and-parry action in the GTLM category as well. Even without IMSA’s other GTD class in attendance, it was a masterclass in
Read MoreFormula E is just the best open wheel racing the world has to offer right now, it’s incredible how close and tight this racing action is. With massive OEM participation, some of the best racers in the world, and exciting sprint-style racing, it’s no wonder FE is gaining new fans every weekend. This is the seventh E-Prix of the season, and has netted the seventh different polesitter and seventh different winner—from seven different teams, no less.
Read MoreThe Streets of Long Beach circuit is not known as one of the most forgiving places to race. There are walls on all sides with no runoff, which only aids in amplifying the sounds of an uncorked 13J four-rotor race engine. It’s almost like doing a trench run on the Death Star in a tiny wheeled fighter.
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 MoreFormula One says that this weekend’s Chinese Grand Prix will be the sport’s 1000th world championship race. But if you, like me, inhabit the bitchier corners of the internet, you’ve probably heard that this weekend isn’t actually F1's 1000th Grand Prix, thank you very much.
Read MoreSports are often about doing whatever to get ahead, without getting penalized or disqualified. But that’s caused a mess in NASCAR lately, since drivers have turned qualifying into a glorified game of “not it” by sitting on pit road as long as possible and strategically clogging each other up once someone does move.
Read MoreDespite the fact that Bernie Ecclestone is no longer at the helm of Formula One, the man still makes headlines with his often-sensational takes about racing. This time, he’s back with one hell of a claim: F1 is the motorsport series of past. Formula E is the future.
Read MoreThis year, the only American team in Formula One debuted with a new look and a new title sponsor. Rich Energy, an “elite” energy drink for “the discerning customer,” stands proud as Haas F1’s partner for the 2019 F1 season. But few can find Rich Energy for sale, and people are having an even harder time finding out where the company’s money comes from—or if it has any at all.
Read MoreFormula Drift is interesting in that it’s just a bunch of cars burning tires going sideways but it’s also the most unrestricted and creative top-level racing series in the country and the most innovative in how it broadcasts, including drone replays in the online livestream. Those shots are pretty low-res when live, but the full clips are unreal.
Read MoreMika Häkkinen never really retired from racing so much as he started taking longer and longer sabbaticals. This time, he’s making his reappearance behind the wheel of a McLaren 720S GT3 as he contests the Suzuka 10 Hours endurance race.
Read MoreFormula Drift might not be for everyone, but holy hell do they get a lot of things right that other racing series can’t seem to wrap brains around. I attended last weekend’s Long Beach season-opening round and I was absolutely astonished by the incredible ways FD is adapting existing technology to its needs.
Read MoreIf you’ve ever been in one of these old Minis, you know just quite how small and tinny they are. By dint of dimension, basically as wide as it is long, with the wheels pushed to the edges of the car, it is quite a competent racing car. Sure, they don’t have a lot of power in comparison to something like a big block Corvette of the same era, but they’re just so nimble.
Read MoreWe all knew Fernando Alonso wouldn’t leave his Indianapolis 500 legacy at just one start that ended in an all-too-poetic engine failure in 2017, mainly because he said as much. So, after a year off from the race and without a full Formula One racing schedule to distract him, Alonso’s back in bright orange this May.
Read MoreWhat happens when you put two track sweepers on Barber Motorsports Park together during IndyCar’s race weekend? Apparently, just as much drama as you’d expect from the open-wheel series itself.
Read MorePerhaps one of the most underrated drivers of his day, David Coulthard was perhaps my favorite personality on the Formula One grid during his tenure in the seat. His race craft was great to watch, even when Red Bull was among the worst teams on the grid. I read his 2007 book It Is What It Is and inexplicably loved every page of it. And besides all of that, he’s a square jaw Scottish dreamboat. What’s not to like about this guy? Oh, right, he said women can’t be good racing drivers. That’s not gr
Read MoreMercy Sakes Alive! This Mustang battle is some incredibly close racing. Would that all vintage racing provided this kind of door-to-door throw down. Only Goodwood can reliably produce this kind of mega battle in all manner of vintage car.
Read MoreThere is rarely a Formula One car quite so dominant as the Mercedes-Benz F1 W07 Hybrid. The car above, chassis number 4, is the most successful individual chassis in F1 history, having won ten Grands Prix with Lewis Hamilton at the tiller across the 2016 season. From 21 races that season, Hamilton and teammate Nico Rosberg won 19 of them with Rosberg ultimately taking the title. This mega piece of racing history is heading to the Sonoma Speed Festival on the first weekend of June with the track
Read MoreCongratulations! You’ve done it! You’ve planned ahead and bought your race tickets on sale, you’ve booked your flights, you’ve made lodging reservations well in advance, which can only mean it’s time to actually get to the track. And you have no idea what the hell to expect.
Read MoreWhen it comes to the racing, there are a lot of things one could say Formula One needs—more vehicles capable of winning a race without everyone else breaking down or vanishing into thin air, less predictability, closer racing, and, of course, more passing. The good news is, the folks at F1 think that last one may improve this year.
Read MoreIt was really a kind of beautifully tragic turn of events, like Icarus flying too close to the sun. But instead of wings made of feathers and wax, we have a 2020 Toyota Supra powered by the legendary 2JZ and then a fire. Here’s a behind-the-scenes look at what happened.
Read MoreLast year Rhys Millen set a new record for production SUVs in the Pikes Peak International Hillclimb when he ran an impressive 10:49.90 run from the bottom to the top in a brand new Bentayga. It’s a new year and Bentley have again decided to put Millen in one of its cars this June for a second record attempt in a row, this time with a W12-powered Continental GT. This time the goal isn’t quite as limited, as Bentley are aiming for the outright production car record, currently held by a Porsche 91
Read MoreIn terms of racing, Formula One couldn’t have asked for more out of this year’s Bahrain Grand Prix—hard racing, contact, spins in the middle of the field and at the front of it, and a winner no one expected come Sunday. All of it happened in front of a record U.S. television audience, too, according to ESPN.
Read MoreFans of Formula One have been complaining about the sport’s lack of overtaking for years. Real racing—exciting racing—is the result of tons of passing and constant battles for the lead. But that passing, crucially, should be done naturally, as the result of each car’s aerodynamic prowess and not any fancy-schmancy technology. Like, say, F1's Drag Reduction System.
Read MoreNASCAR has some of the most iconic liveries in all of motorsport: There’s Jeff Gordon and the DuPont rainbow, Richard Petty with STP’s red and blue, Dale Earnhardt and GM Goodwrench’s black, red, and silver. But they can all step aside, because we have a new champion in town. Tyler Reddick, you can drive that Dolly Parton livery right into victory lane.
Read MoreHave you ever seen those people on social media who somehow manage to go to an obscene amount of races each year? They’re not influencers or sponsors—they’re just regular race fans who somehow have managed to conquer all of the financial setbacks that have made sure you’ve only ever watched races from your couch. How the hell do they do it?
Read MoreScience in the 21st century is awesome—we’ve seen the first ever direct photos of a black hole and we’ve sent queso to the moon. And today, scientists have confirmed that travel through wormholes is actually possible! It’ll just... be very inefficient.
Read MoreIf you’re like most people, at some point in your life you’ve lain on your back on the grass at night, and gazed up into the inky, never-ending blackness of the night sky, and marveled at all the stars. While you were losing yourself in vertiginous gazing, I’m sure you were probably thinking “Damn! I sure wish someone was trying to get me to buy something right now!” Well, my good friends with benefits (we’ll talk), I’m pleased to tell you that you’re in luck, because a Russian company called St
Read MoreFor the first time ever, yesterday, SpaceX managed to land and recover all three of the Block 5 Falcon 9 rocket boosters that, when combined, form the Falcon Heavy launch vehicle. While the idea of vertically landing a rocket after launch for re-use has been around a while, SpaceX was the first to actually do it, and this triple-landing, part of the Arabsat-6A launch, is the first time three boosters from one launch have been recovered.
Read MoreWhile, yes, we all know that seeing the first-ever picture of a black hole is a freakin’ awesome landmark for science, I can’t believe we’re not talking about the equally exciting news coming out of Austin, Texas Thursday. We’re landing queso on the moon!
Read MoreHow should a country go about establishing itself as a competent figure in the world of travel and military power in space? It’s a tough process: You have to know how to send both satellites and anti-satellite missiles into space. And, according to NASA, you probably should actually know what you’re doing when you do it.
Read MoreRemember that little problem Cadillac was having with the semi-autonomous Super Cruise system—how sunlight could cause it to turn off and essentially make Super Cruise non-functional? Yeah. Cadillac is already working on fixing the problem with hopes of having it all sorted out on the new 2020 CT5.
Read MoreThe future of driving is supposed to feel like flying. The names some car companies give their newest technology—Autopilot, Pilot Assist, Super Cruise, Pro Pilot—are all aviation-inspired terms being used by automotive companies for their semi-autonomous systems. Just like with an airplane’s autopilot, the thinking goes, the driver pushes a button and the thing flies itself. Except even that interpretation is wildly wrong.
Read MoreIf you care at all about the condition of your car, then you are very used to parking as far away from the shopping cart corral as humanly possible when visiting the grocery store. Even then, sometimes a gust of wind can pick up or a careless person won’t notice their cart rolling away and straight toward your precious vehicle. What then?
Read MoreOne of the biggest critiques about a widespread embrace of electric vehicles has been the lack of available charging stations—as well as the ease of knowing where the hell you can even find one when you’re on the go. Google has heard your complaints, and they’ve now added a real-time feature on Maps to keep you updated about open charging stations near you.
Read MoreTesla on Tuesday announced a new drivetrain design for the Model S and Model X that extends each vehicle’s range per charge substantially. The 100 kWh battery pack will remain exactly the same as before, contrary to prior reports, but the new additional miles of range will come from increased efficiencies in the drive units. Tesla now claims a pretty massive 370 miles on the EPA cycle for the Model S Long Range, and 325 miles for the Model X Long Range.
Read MoreYou probably have already heard that Elon Musk, noted Tesla boss and sayer of things, said some things about the future of his company’s autonomous vehicles, many of which, I’d say, are pretty questionable. I think the most questionable thing he said, though, has to do with his take on lidar, which stands for Light Direction and Ranging, and is used by many companies developing autonomous vehicles, though, notably, not Tesla.
Read MoreA 2016 Mazda 6 refused to play one podcast in particular, and the car’s owner was vexed. Everything else was streaming over Bluetooth just fine. But it turns out that the titling of an audio track can be more important to car audio functionality than you might think, in specific and odd situations.
Read MoreAt Tesla’s Autonomy Day presentation today, an event orchestrated by the company to show off its self-driving capabilities, Elon Musk bragged that the company is close to being so good at self-driving technology that it will roll out even more driving modes for Tesla owners to use, depending on their mood and circumstance, including one that will, according to Musk, be cool with risking highway fender benders.
Read MoreGerman electric car start-up Sono Motors is moving from the testing phase to the production phase in their efforts to develop a solar-powered battery pack on wheels. Sono has contracted with NEVs in Sweden to kickstart production at the old Saab plant in Trollhattan, according to Automotive News Europe. NEVs purchased Saab’s remaining assets when it folded. The plan is to build 43,000 cars per year for the next 8 years.
Read MoreLast June, Saudi Arabia ended its ban on women drivers—a fact that saw women getting behind the wheel of Ubers as well as personal cars. Now, Uber is enabling a new feature to let those female Uber drivers filter their prospective ride-hailers by gender.
Read MoreThe Nikola Motor Company kind of appeared out of nowhere in 2016 with a grand plan for futuristic hydrogen-electric big rigs trucks for hauling. We still haven’t seen these vehicles on the road en masse, and this week the company expanded on its schemes with a new truck, a UTV, a military combat vehicle and a Jet Ski-style watercraft. It’s nothing if not ambitious.
Read MoreFor as long as there have been electronic devices, humans have been trying to find ways to circumvent them for personal gain. A string of automobile thefts today in Chicago saw as many as 100 Car2go Mercedes rideshare cars disappear through a series of fraudulent rentals. Chicago PD released a statement saying that 16 individuals were arrested in connection with the investigation.
Read MoreIn 2016, the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety said that most OEM headlights suck. In 2018, it published another study that found that most OEM headlights were still rather bad. And now, here are America’s safety parents at AAA with some advice to alleviate the issue: We should just be like the Europeans and Canadians.
Read MoreVolvo’s belief in safety is, in my experience, pretty sincere, even if it’s also an exercise in branding that has made it piles of money along the way. Still, its latest safety innovation has the potential to solve one of the biggest problems with cars today, even if it doesn’t go nearly far enough. The cars need to talk to each other, dammit.
Read MoreSure, you know the differences between your basic automatic and manual transmissions—but could you rattle off a comparison between all the different kinds of gearboxes car manufacturers have developed over the years? If not, then let this be your guide.
Read MoreGeely isn’t one of the very biggest carmakers in China, but it’s growing increasingly well-known here in America, what with its recent acquisitions of Volvo and Lotus. So it’s worth keeping an eye on, particularly when it launches a new all-electric brand emphasizing “overseas” sales.
Read MoreBentley sure makes some nice cars, don’t they? They really do. Lovely, impressive things, full of grandeur and presence. But that doesn’t mean they’re infallible. In fact, they make a pretty bold claim right on their website about making the “most powerful four-door car in the world” that a Jalopnik reader named Thomas sensed may not be true.
Read MoreThe $7,500 federal tax credit for buying an electric vehicle is being phased out for Tesla and Chevrolet. But a bipartisan group of legislators in Congress wants to reverse that, and, in fact, expand it.
Read MoreWithout fail, nearly every new-car press release I read includes a snippet about how big the screen is. This is just the way things are now. It’s nearly impossible to get a new car without a screen. And with the way things are headed, this is the next hot piece of real estate for billions of dollars in ad and service revenue. We’re truly all hurtling to hell in the fast lane.
Read MoreIf you’re a professional basketball player and have been smugly snickering at all those articles about robots and AI taking over jobs, annoyingly confident that your gig is, and always will be, safe, then I have some bad news for you. Toyota, maker of your friend’s gray-market Sera and your enemy’s Prius, has developed a robot that can sink three-pointers with ease. Plus, it has skin that looks like an obsidian pineapple.
Read MoreThe Koenigsegg Jesko is blazingly fast and already sold out. Which means you or I won’t be getting our hands on it, probably ever. We can still awe at the mechanical bits, though, including what might be Koenigsegg’s last 100 percent internal combustion motor.
Read MoreWhen Audi first unveiled specs for the 2019 E-Tron all-electric SUV, its claimed zero-to-60 time of 5.5 seconds was pretty impressive. But now that we’ve learned about its range? We’re less impressed.
Read MoreLast November, Tesla introduced Navigate on Autopilot technology, which will use the car’s navigation system to calculate when lane changes are necessary for seamless onramp to offramp highway driving. The system was a step in the right direction if toward autonomous cars, but still required an attentive driver to agree to the lane change before the car could move over on its own. With a new over-the-air update beginning roll out today, the system no longer requires confirmation, and will perfor
Read MorePractically every new car on the road today is sold with some sort of camera apparatus or parking assistant, like a backup camera, one of those fancy bird’s-eye-view setups, proximity sensors and now, camera-based rear-view mirrors. I’m increasingly warming up to these things—but I wonder if I should be as comfortable as I am using these features.
Read MoreFaraday Future gets some cash, Fiat Chrysler’s feeling confident, solar panels and more await you in The Morning Shift of Tuesday, April 30, 2019.
Read MoreDealerships have too many cars, Volkswagen is planning its pickup truck offensive, Chinese EV startup Nio is making a splash, and questions about how to profit from autonomous cars. All this and more for The Morning Shift of Monday, April 29, 2019.
Read MoreFord takes a huge hit as it executes a global restructuring, update number 1,684,349 on a possible Renault-Nissan merger, and a one-year check up on Ford’s sedan-less future. All this and more for The Morning Shift of Friday, April 26, 2019.
Read MoreTesla’s not the only automaker to take a bath in Q1, Carlos Ghosn is out of jail (again), rear-seat crash testing needs to be better and much more for The Morning Shift of Thursday, April 25, 2019.
Read MoreElectric cars, electric cars, electric cars!!!!!!!!! And also, Nissan lost a bunch of money. This is the Morning Shift for April 24, 2019.
Read MoreTesla’s got the chips, Uber is getting beaten by an Estonian startup, and Porsche is leaning in on tech from China. All that and so much more for The Morning Shift of Tuesday, April 23, 2019.
Read MoreThe kids aren’t into the cars, Tesla’s making big claims about self-driving, Carlos Ghosn is in more trouble and so much more for The Morning Shift of Monday, April 22, 2019.
Read MoreThe next phase of the Truck Wars is smaller trucks, General Motors will soon rank among a growing number of large corporations with female-majority boards, Nissan may cut its global output and so much more for The Morning Shift of Good Friday, April 19, 2019.
Read MoreAn independent Nissan, absurd self-driving valuations, and your favorite car in the world – the Apple car!!!!!!! – is back. All that and more in the Morning Shift for Thursday, April 18, 2019.
Read MoreCar sales are down but dealer profits are up, China’s car market has a chance to rebound this year, a look inside of the world’s top plug-in-vehicle producer, the debate about electric vehicles, and Lincoln bets on China. All of this and more in The Morning Shift for Wednesday, April 17, 2019.
Read MoreThe New York International Auto Show prepares for Broadway (well, a few blocks away from it, at least), more Fiat Chrysler merger talk, Mazda wiper blade recalls, and so much more in the Morning Shift for Tuesday, April 16, 2019.
Read MoreThere’s too many cooks in the Chinese electric vehicle market, VW’s former CEO has been charged over Dieselgate in Germany, Elon Musk admits he’s always been “crazy on Twitter,” and so much more for the Morning Shift of Monday, April 15, 2019.
Read MoreAutomakers push back on tariffs proposed under the guise of “national security,” Fiat Chrysler thinks everything will be just fine, Chinese car sales say otherwise and so much more for this great Morning Shift of Friday, April 12, 2019.
Read MoreBMW and the other German automakers will dump billions into getting factories and workers ready for the electric car revolution, Nissan’s Carlos Ghosn has some health issues that could interfere with his trial, the United Auto Workers try again with Volkswagen and so much more for The Morning Shift of Thursday, April 11, 2019.
Read MoreFord CEO tells everyone to settle down, more tit-for-tat tariffs (my favorite kind), a second appeal for Carlos Ghosn and more await you in The Morning Shift for Wednesday, April 10, 2019.
Read MoreCarlos Ghosn loses his place on Nissan’s board of directors and claims he’s the victim of a conspiracy, Tesla cuts sales staff, Fiat Chrysler pays $110 million to settle investor lawsuit over emissions, and Elon Musk’s tweets. All of this and more in The Morning Shift for Tuesday, April 9, 2019.
Read MoreFiat and Tesla are helping each other out in the name of emissions regulations, Toyota’s trucks will soon be on one platform, and Ram has outsold Silverado, for now. All this and more in The Morning Shift for Monday, April 8, 2019.
Read MoreAnother emissions scandal brewing, another tariff threat, another Ghosn arrest, and another report about the 737 MAX crashes, plus exciting news about The Morning Shift. All this and more in The Morning Shift for Friday, April 5, 2019.
Read MoreThe demand for Teslas is dropping like flies, Carlos Ghosn has been arrested again, and Boeing is still making the 737 Max despite it being grounded after two crashes. All this and more in The Morning Shift for Thursday, April 4, 2019.
Read MoreSome very grim scenarios regarding a potential U.S.-Mexico border closure, a bizarre tweet, Ford’s plans for China and more await you in The Morning Shift of Wednesday, April 3, 2019.
Read MoreForgotten jets, looming Brexit, and Tesla might be onto something with this whole “building cars” thing. All that and so much more for The Morning Shift of Tuesday, April 2, 2019.
Read MoreChevy went a little tone deaf displaying the Mexican-built Blazer above a Detroit baseball stadium, FCA might find a friend at PSA, Toyota is stressed over trade, and so much more for The Morning Shift of Monday, April 1, 2019.
Read MoreOne slightly unfortunate consequence of our current era of cars, where everything is faster, safer, cleaner, more efficient and more high-tech than ever before, is that there are very few true surprises anymore.
Read MoreThere was a mystery plaguing me a little while back. I was thinking about some of the oldest cars still in production–your Dodge Journeys and Morgan Plus 8s of the world. It was then that I realized today’s Toyota 4Runner is positively ancient; basically having been in production, virtually unchanged, for nearly a decade. And that is exactly what makes it so, so good.
Read MoreSure, maybe the 2019 Toyota RAV4 could be accused as the automotive equivalent of selling out. But if this is what selling out looks like, then it ain’t half bad.
Read MoreOn the morning of Friday, April 19, the first ever organ to be delivered to a hospital by drone was successfully transplanted into a patient at the University of Maryland Medical Center, marking what could be a massively important step forward for medical services.
Read MoreEvery couple years, it seems like a new design for a roof rack that slides off and down an SUV comes out, is really neat, and then I never hear about it again or see it on people’s rigs. Why don’t these catch on?
Read MoreYou’re aware, I’m sure, of the Ford Mustang RTR—a Mustang with a dealer-installed upgrade kit that can make a good 700 horsepower. Now RTR is at it again, but this time it’s beefing up the Ford F-150. And y’all, this might be the truck that turns me into a serious off-roading man.
Read MoreThe iconic Ford Bronco is coming back, but not just one. There will also be a smaller, more affordable crossover styled after its big SUV sibling that’s been labeled the “Baby Bronco,” and a new trademark filing could suggest it’s actual name may be the Bronco Scout.
Read MorePulling a shipping container down the highway is one thing, but moving a piece of industrial equipment that’s almost 300 feet long and weighs 403,486 pounds is a straight-up logistical nightmare. This gargantuan operation involves a tow truck and a push truck, and trailers with turning wheels.
Read MoreKen Block’s new second-generation Ford Raptor is edgy, figuratively and literally, with sharp-looking custom bumpers and a design that is, I think, the harbinger of a new trend. I’m not sure how long it will last, but I daresay Block currently has the coolest turbo Raptor on the... block.
Read MorePickup truck tailgates have gotten pretty cool. Ram has a barn door option now, and the 2019 GMC Sierra has a six-way MultiPro folding tailgate, which folds down into an easy step to get into the bed. Just make sure you don’t slam it into your trailer hitch.
Read MoreSo, while I was doing some research (getting sidetracked by more interesting internet stuff) on that new pickup Volkswagen is bringing to the New York Auto Show, I happened to find some old ads for Volkswagen’s Pennsylvania-built Golf/Rabbit-based small pickup trucks from the 1980s. The ads made claims that they were “built like a truck, but handled like a sports car,” which seemed to me to be some ridiculous hyperbole. I mean, they probably have some points here, but, well, come on.
Read MoreEveryone loves the 1991 GMC Syclone, the all-wheel drive turbocharged six-cylinder muscle truck that was only sold in one color—black. Well it’s back, unofficially, through a tuner shop as a 455 horsepower supercharged conversion of the 2019 GMC Canyon pickup.
Read MoreIn March of last year, GM proudly unveiled the all-new 2019 GMC Sierra pickup truck featuring the world’s first carbon fiber truck bed—the strong but lightweight material typically reserved for super-expensive sports cars. A year later, the option will finally be available this summer.
Read MoreIt’s been about a decade since the Mercedes GLK SUV first came out, and I still think its design is one of the best examples of “just the right amount of rugged.” Early GLKs are not that expensive now, so they’re primed for lowkey light-duty overland conversions.
Read MoreOne of the most exciting things about the 2020 Jeep Gladiator, and about mid-size off-road trucks in general, is that they make for excellent overlanding rigs. And to prove this point, Jeep has built the “Wayout” concept for the Moab Easter Jeep Safari. Check out its awesome rooftop tent.
Read MoreOne of my biggest complaints about the state of the modern automotive industry is that everything always seems to be so damn serious. Everything has to present itself as premium or performance or professional, or some other p-word which is not a synonym for fun. Luckily Jeep’s recent batch of traditional Easter-time concepts is going in a different direction, and this tribute to the 1980s Scrambler Jeep pickup is one of the most fun, and, even better, achievable for actual sale.
Read MoreThe honest little Nissan Frontier midsize pickup hasn’t received a major update or overhaul in the last 15 years, but with sales of the midsize pickup increasing, and new competition from the Ford Ranger and Jeep Gladiator, the Frontier will reportedly finally get a redesign next year.
Read MoreWhen the 2020 Jeep Gladiator debuted at the 2018 Los Angeles Auto Show, many complained that the first Jeep truck since 1992 was too big. “I want a regular cab,” the masses of internet truck-diehards yelled in all caps. Well, there’s some good news for them, as last week, Jeep showed off exactly that in the Jeep J6 Easter Jeep Safari concept.
Read MoreJeep is launching the 2020 Jeep Gladiator this year, so it makes sense that all of the 2019 Easter Jeep Safari concepts are trucks. Many of them are extremely cool, but one concept rises to the top: The Jeep M-715 Five-Quarter. It’s a hellcat-powered brute with military roots, so if you love Jeeps or trucks or both, grab some ice cubes, because your mind is about to melt.
Read MoreIt looks like the new record for “world’s widest dually Silverado” now stands at 24 feet, because somebody with a welder and a sense of humor is committed.
Read MoreThe Ford Raptor is one of those vehicles that’s been pretty extensively covered on our fine internet-newsletter here. Over the past couple years, we’ve talked about how it’s a thirsty one-trick pony that’s also shockingly good on twisty roads and is now strong as hell but is, really, just too damn big. All of these things are true. So, when I was delivered a Raptor to test in my little college town, there wasn’t a hell of a lot left to do with it, really. Instead, I’m just going to focus on some
Read MoreThere are certain off-roaders that will always have my heart—vehicles like the Jeep XJ, the LJ Suzuki Jimny, and the Lada Niva. But some SUVs only occupy the obsessed parts of my cerebellum for fleeting moments, and currently in the tiny space is the Romanian ARO 10.
Read MoreToyota has filed for a patent for a system that, in theory, will help users wash out the beds of their pickup trucks. As pointed out by It’s Not That Simple—a website that regularly publishes cool automobile patents—Toyota’s invention is called “Integrated truck bed washing.” Here’s how it works.
Read MoreThe 2020 Ford Bronco is still largely shrouded in mystery, but people keep finding technology patents that we really, really hope make it into the SUV’s options list. This three-position rolling ragtop is one of them.
Read MoreAnticipation for the 2020 Jeep Gladiator has reached a fever pitch, as Jeep fans yearn to jump into the truck world, and truck fans hunger for the taste of that sweet Jeep nectar. Now that the first Jeep pickup in 28 years is here, many wonder: Can it possibly live up to the hype?
Read MoreNot too long ago, I got to drive one of Volkswagen’s new Jetta GLIs on the Tail of the Dragon, and, sure, it was a lot of fun. It’s a good reminder of why sports sedans exist. But here’s a filthy little secret for you: I also drove the base-spec, manual Jetta, the cheapest car Volkswagen will sell you in America, and, if I’m honest, I think I had even more fun in that.
Read More“That’s it. I’m calling it—Project POStal is officially dead. I cannot drive this Jeep,” I declared a day after I’d planned to leave Michigan on an 1,800 mile journey to Utah. I didn’t feel comfortable driving the $500 postal Jeep, so I had no choice but to give up. Here’s the story of the valiant wrenching effort that changed my mind.
Read MoreI suppose after making the 500+ mile trip in the Yugo, I had sort of managed to convince myself that, incredibly, this old, free Yugoslavian shitbox was, somehow, a reliable and useful little car. I mean, I still think it is surprisingly tough for what it is, but I may have gotten overconfident about how trouble-free this Yugo might be. That blind confidence got slapped with a little dose of reality and interior smoke yesterday.
Read MoreThe Nissan 350Z and Infiniti G35 are probably the best beginner drift cars a person can buy, in the States at least. Cheap, not too old, with plenty of power from the VQ-series Nissan V6. That’s the problem though. These all have VQs, and they sound notoriously awful.
Read More“It’s too far gone,” the unbelievers said. “It cannot be saved.”Project Postal—the $500 postal Jeep that at the time had a two-foot rust hole in its frame and a cracked engine—was met with plenty of doubt from the beginning. And people were right to be skeptical, but after intense wrenching that consumed my life for the last month, the little mail carrier proved its mettle, driving 1,800 miles and arriving in Moab on Sunday night—on the last day of the Easter Jeep Safari.
Read MoreI haven’t written an update on Project Postal—my rusty, junkyard-grade $500 postal Jeep—since Wednesday, because driving the Jeep drains me to no end, and more importantly, the vehicle has been broken for two days, and my brothers and I have been running around trying to fix it.
Read MoreThe Rockies are coming, and I’m worried.
Read MoreAfter fixing the engine, ignition system, frame, body, suspension, steering, and basically the whole damn car, I finally got my $500 Postal Jeep on the road, and amazingly, it’s gone 400 miles from Michigan to Illinois without a major issue! Well, except for one: I was miserable the whole time.
Read MoreI haven’t showered in five days, and I’ve barely slept. Trying to prepare my dilapidated $500 Postal Jeep—dubbed Project POStal—for an 1,800 trip to Utah brought me so close to the brink that on Thursday, I actually gave up. The Jeep was too far gone, I decided. But a last-minute burst of energy changed everything, and now I’m going to go for it. This afternoon, the journey begins.
Read MoreI’m supposed to leave tomorrow on an 1,800 mile expedition to Moab, Utah, but the amount of work I have to do to get my 1976 Jeep DJ-5D—dubbed Project POStal—ready will likely push that back. Still, I have lots of great news to report: The engine now sounds better than ever, I have the front axle all hooked up, the brakes up front are done, and I fixed the gas tank.
Read MoreGood news on Project POStal, my seemingly hopeless rusted-out $500 Postal Jeep that will soon be tasked with an 1,800 mile trip to Utah: It runs! And not only does it run, it runs well (ish). Here’s where my build stands just six days from departure.
Read MoreYou know that bacon grease that you always pour into a glass jar because you’re afraid it will clog your sink? Well, a recent YouTube video shows that, if you warm that stuff up and pour it into your lawnmower’s crankcase, your machine may not immediately blow up! Behold the most helpful consumer advice you’ll witness today.
Read MoreThis year’s off-road project has been a disaster, and I’ve now got only eight days to essentially repair an entire suspension system, braking system, steering system, electrical system, and also to get the engine running properly. It’s good news, then, that—of all years—this is the one year that failure is not an option. Needless to say, I may need some help along the way. Please.
Read MoreA reader named Roberto just sent a video of his car crashing at a race track because of loose lug nuts. Many of us can relate; I myself have far too many stories about loose lug nuts, including one involving a professional technician at Fiat Chrysler and a preproduction Jeep Cherokee KL. And you know how many such stories I should have? Zero. Because folks should just tighten their damn lug nuts.
Read MoreIf you live in a place that sees a lot of snowfall, then your local municipality probably also loves to salt the roads. That means you have to be extra diligent about washing your undercarriage. But if you’re the do-it-yourself-type as I am, here’s a clever little hack to rinsing it off yourself.
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