San Francisco’s iconic Golden Gate Bridge was recently renovated, but something the engineers failed to take into account was the terrifyingly eerie noise the new changes would project throughout the entire Bay area.
Read MoreAn annual unofficial boating party on Lake St. Claire in Michigan is still going on, despite signs the previously improving state is facing a potential uptick in COVID-19 cases. It seems for the first time in decades, STIs and sunburn aren’t the biggest health threats to the average Jobbie Nooner partier.
Read MoreAfter a ton of rumors, Audi is finally bringing the RS6 Avant super-wagon to the American market. This is one of my all-time favorite cars and for the dozen or so of your that can actually afford it now this is your chance to buy one of the coolest wagons to wear the four-rings. Audi recently launched the configurator for the RS6, so let’s build one up.
Read MoreAs Jalopnik’s resident car buying expert and professional car shopper, I get emails. Lots of emails. I’ve decided to pick a few questions and try to help out. This week we are talking about buying cars at a distance, unrepaired recalls, and the fate of Infiniti in the US market.
Read MoreDaniel is an entrepreneurial young man who started a small engine repair business at the age of 17. He has an old Ford F-150 that is barely surviving and it also has no air conditioning. He needs something cheap, with a manual, that can fit a lawnmower in the back. What car should he buy?
Read MoreWith many areas of the country starting to open back up after COVID-19 quarantine situation, a lot of folks want to get a brand new ride for the summer. While the July 4th holiday is usually a good time to buy, there are a few reasons why it may pay to wait a bit longer.
Read MoreKelly is a reporter and her husband works in theatre. They live in Brooklyn and don’t really know the first thing about buying a car. They want something safe, reliable, and affordable. That is, they want something good for a “beginner.” What car should she buy?
Read MoreAlmost every automaker put together some kind of zero percent of very-low-percent financing scheme amid the pandemic, in hopes of spurring buying at a time when a lot of people were content to hold onto their money. BMW was no different, though BMW’s also happens to include every one of their M cars in the offers.
Read MoreBecause of Covid-19, several dealers have begun to utilize online buying platforms that allow customers to get prices and even initiate a transaction without ever talking with a salesperson. These apps make the shopping process a bit easier, but that convenience might come at a cost in the form of a competitive deal for the consumer.
Read MoreDebjoy had a very nice Honda Fit until the transmission exploded, he also inherited a boat that weighs around 6,000 lbs, including the trailer. He needs something small but mighty that can tow his boat and is relatively easy to park in the city. What car should he buy?
Read MoreOnce Hertz declared bankruptcy, the rental car company pushed a ton of their inventory onto the used car market. While some industry experts predicted this would cause a blow to used car values, prices have started to stabilize a little, but according to iSeeCars.com, you can still score some great deals buying from Hertz.
Read MoreThere really aren’t a lot of great places to evaluate a car in Detroit proper, because it’s a city. But over the years, I’ve developed a short loop that can provide a Cliff’s Notes impression of a car quickly and safely. Since I’ve been pretty strict with non-essential travel outside my immediate neighborhood, I’d planned on doing just that loop in the Lotus Evora GT, once, maybe twice.
Read MoreWith all the recent yammering over BMW’s design-decline into self-parody, I had to head over to the automaker’s website to see what an M4 goes for these days. But instead, I immediately got distracted spec’ing out a non-M 2 Series. Now I want one.
Read More“Old Import Car Now Valuable” is a story we’re all getting used to seeing, as lucky elder millennials can now afford car collecting and naturally want the items we lusted after as teens. The EM1 Honda Civic Si is such a car, so it’s no surprise to see a mint one sell for, well, a mint. But it’s still kind of wild.
Read MoreAs Jalopnik’s resident car buying expert and professional car shopper, I get emails. Lots of emails. I’ve decided to pick a few questions and try to help out. This week we are talking about low trade in values due to COVID19, the application of tax credits per brand, and will the impact the Bronco will have on Wrangler prices.
Read MoreCoronavirus is already having a dramatic impact on the economy and finances are going to be tight for a lot of people. Once everyone is back to work (not that many of you are waiting), some of you may still need to get a new set of wheels. Here is a sampling of some solid rides, without blowing your budget.
Read MoreAlan has come to the conclusion that it might be time to take a break, sell some of his current rides, and get a van. He wants to be able to live down by the river, or in the woods, or wherever else he feels like going. What car should he buy?
Read MoreI get that everything is pretty miserable at the moment in the world, which makes me think that perhaps contemplating a lovely object will help soothe you, a bit. If that’s the case, then we’re in luck, as Bring A Trailer has a very lovely object to consider, a 1974 Volkswagen Karmann-Ghia TC, a car that I think may be the loveliest air-cooled VW ever. These never made it out of Brazil officially, and as a result are absurdly rare here, so I expect this auction will bid up to a pretty hefty pric
Read MoreTesla turned a profit of $16 million in the first quarter of 2020, which was surprising insofar as the pandemic had just begun to ramp up and Tesla had never had been profitable three consecutive quarters. Most expect that streak to end this quarter, but CEO Elon Musk isn’t so sure.
Read MoreLast week I was playing hooky in Michigan guest-hosting Hagerty’s news show. But now I’m back in Los Angeles, plugged into my Xbox, and you know what that means: Let’s go on another SnowRunner livestream adventure on Twitch!
Read MoreThe stars of Pride marches are undoubtedly the members of the community who show up in full force to have their voices heard, but I also have a humble respect for the cars, trucks and bikes that make the vast Pride parades of today and decades past possible.
Read MoreI’m sure nearly all of our readers are at least a little bit familiar with Petrolicious, the car-porn site known for making lovely videos of interesting old cars, and maybe also known for making a bit too-precious videos about rich guys and the cars they bought to seem more interesting. Maybe that’s a bit harsh, but it’s hard to feel too bad after seeing the sort of racist, tone-deaf crap Petrolicious founder and CEO Afshin Behnia seems to have been posting online.
Read MoreFirst off, let me apologize for how often I said the word “fascinating” in this episode. I really should cap the number of times I say a given adjective in one of these to three or so, but, well, I didn’t here. I shot this at about four in the morning, so I’ll call that my excuse. Luckily, though, it’s still about a fascinating very compelling vintage game console: the Bally Professional Arcade, or sometimes called the Bally Library Computer, or the term I tend to use most, the Bally Astrocade.
Read MoreFord has opened the order books for the 2021 Ford Mustang Mach-E all-electric crossover. If you were waiting for another handout before pulling the trigger, the Mach-E now makes up to 14 more horsepower than originally promised.
Read MoreI squealed like a kid waiting for NSYNC to come onstage in the year 2000 when I saw this toy Civic. That’s the first pop music reference that came into my head, which should explain why my nostalgia for this era of Hondas is strong. (I’m old.) Also, you have to see the Montero set. You have to. Get over here! LOOK.
Read MoreHey Jalops, did you know you can buy special pride-themed merchandise on the site? Yeah, this has been in the works for a while, but we just found out the stuff went live a while ago. We know we missed almost the entire month of June, but we figured it’s better to post this than not.
Read MoreElon Musk has not been quiet about the Coronavirus pandemic, which he thinks is “dumb” as he longs for freedom and demonstrated his pandemic-predicting and math skills when he predicted that there would be “zero new cases in US by end of April,” which is basically accurate, give or take 2.59 million. He also defied Alameda County public health orders and opened Tesla’s Fremont, California factory a week earlier than the county’s set date. If you want to know how that may have affected infection
Read MoreYou may recall the last time we talked about Karma, the company that was started to keep building and trying to sell the old striking-looking but kinda crappy Fisker Karma, they weren’t doing so hot. There were layoffs, accusations of poor management, and prototypes that were allegedly just “movie props.” It does not seem like things have been getting better, as multiple sources inside the company have revealed to Jalopnik that, in addition to further layoffs, executives at Karma were considerin
Read MoreThe Volkswagen Harlequin is a favorite of mine. I don’t want to own one, necessarily, but I do like that it exists. It’s all about fun, and I like that in an automaker. And unfortunately, I feel like that attitude is going away.
Read MoreIn recent weeks we’ve seen a real crackdown on racism and its symbols in global human culture, and the automotive community is obviously not immune to that. The murder of George Floyd has served as a tipping point for many Americans to sit and take stock of how we can make the world a more hospitable place. Even the little things matter, like banning racist iconography from a secessionist rebellion army fighting to uphold slavery from our racing video games.
Read MoreAston Martin, which has pretty much bet the farm on the new DBX, has all of the telltale signs of a company that is currently in a slow-moving crisis. It replaced its CEO, shifted its sales strategy, and, like the rest of us, prayed for the end of coronavirus. Now, it’s raising millions in expensive debt.
Read MoreThere’s a new Ford F-150 on the block, and Ford says it’s the “most productive F-150 ever”, whatever that means. It’s back and it’s more aluminum than before, with a boxed steel frame and high-strength aluminum bodywork. It has better aerodynamics for improved fuel economy, a bigger screen in the center console, eleven different grilles, and an optional hybrid EcoBoost drivetrain with up to 700 miles of fuel range. The F-150 didn’t start this war of trucks, but it’s upping the ante to mutually a
Read MoreThe original Lexus SC was so much weirder than you remember. Or I could say that designing it was weirder than you’d imagine.
Read MoreSay what you will about the monarch that controls the Kingdom of Burger, but he’s no fool. That’s why the Monarch of Meat announced a campaign that takes advantage of some sloppy sign recognition in the Tesla Autopilot’s Traffic Light and Stop Sign control, specifically in instances where the Tesla confuses a Burger King sign for a stop sign (maybe a “traffic control” sign?) and proceeds to stop the car, leaving the occupants of the car in a great position to consume some Whoppers.
Read MoreThese are the car plants where competence, build quality and all your hopes and dreams went to die. Their cars should have come with a sticker that said “Made With Pride in You Don’t Want To Know.”
Read MoreI’m not sure if I’ve mentioned this, but years ago I used to be an idea writer for the Onion’s old video branch, the Onion News Network (ONN). For years I cranked out about 25 ideas a week, and, while sometimes they made it to full production, the vast majority of those ideas were rejected. So, for the hell of it, I decided to do a quick search for some car-related rejected ONN ideas. And guess what! I had some! And you, lucky you, you get to read them, just like if you were an Onion intern in t
Read MoreWe’ve been here before. Small cars aren’t profitable. Americans don’t buy small cars. SUVs are the answer. Cancel all of the small cars and push buyers upmarket. What’s that? There’s an economic recession? Fuel prices are unstable? People are paying ten grand for old Geo Metros? Damn, wish we still sold the Yaris!
Read MoreThe Volkswagen Arteon is an attractive take on the almost lux mid-sized sedan market. There isn’t much that it goes up against, and the sedan segment is regrettably shrinking, but it’s got a great form going for it, and it’s got an impressive 268 horsepower 2.0 turbo four under the hood. All of that is good in my book, but the recently announced Arteon Shooting Brake kicks all of that up a few notches with a smokin’ hot wagon version. Unfortunately, we won’t see it on these shores.
Read MoreI’m going to be honest with you: for a variety of reasons, I’m only running on about three hours of sleep. Maybe that’s why this seemed like a good idea. It’s just swapping badges on cars, but it’s remarkable just how hard these are too look at, how much and how deeply they mess with your brain.
Read MoreThere are no perfect cars, but there are some that shine in their imperfections. Goofy cars, oddball cars, cars that make less and less sense the more you look at them. You know, Mitusbishis.
Read MoreThe new wing on the upcoming Lamborghini SCV12 reminds me of my childhood, when my friend’s dad, who was a carpenter and owned a Hitachi digger, used to swing us around in the scoop (wearing our dirtbike helmets) until he got bored and dumped us in the pool he just built.
Read MoreNormally our Off-Road Guru/Twitch “Superstar” and Reviews Editor, Andrew Collins, would be writing a nice anecdote about his Tuesday evening Snowrunner stream, however he is out of the office probably over-landing somewhere exotic, so no stream this week. You do get a fun, long highlight of one of his previous streams. Enjoy!
Read MoreEvery year, Cars.com compiles a list of cars assembled here with the highest percentage of parts sourced from the U.S. and Canada. These are “the most American-made cars.” The Ford Ranger tops the list this year with 70 percent, but what’s always interesting about the list is how many foreign automakers make it, which is to say a huge plurality of them.
Read MoreMitsubishi sales in the U.S. actually rose last year by 2.5 percent compared to 2019, with 121,046 cars sold, the bump largely driven by Eclipse Cross sales more than doubling. Still, that’s less than the number of Chevy Malibus that sold last year. Mitsu is now beginning to think this whole U.S. thing may not be worth it.
Read MoreOkay, look, right off the bat I’ll admit this really doesn’t have much to do with cars. I mean, it was inspired by something that happened in a car, and there’s some references to both air and space transportation here, but I’m not going to lie to you: it’s not really about cars. But, it is kind of interesting, and I made it, so, too bad, now you get to see it. We’ll get through this.
Read MoreMy dad had some great cars before I came around. A Cadillac Coupe De Ville that he picked my mother up in for their first date. A Volvo 740 Turbo that I actually rode home from the hospital in. But the best one was the gold 1970 Pontiac LeMans Sport Convertible.
Read MoreLong a destination for adventurers seeking to know and understand the place where Christopher McCandless passed away as he strove to make a life for himself in the Alaska wild, Bus 142, or the “Magic Bus” as McCandless referred to it, has been removed from its remote resting place by Chinook helicopter.
Read MoreWe’ve seen it testing in camouflage and we’ve seen leaked pics in production, but now feast your eyes on the new 2021 Ford Bronco frolicking uncovered and unashamed in public on a sunny beach.
Read MoreThose of us active in the Global Taillight Community understand that there will always be some level of discord happening. There’s the issue of America’s unilateral rejection of the amber-only rear turn indicator that shows no signs of abating, for example. In recent years, though, there’s been one taillight-related issue that seems to cause more rage than any other, and it also hails from America. It’s GM’s use of reverse lamps for remote lock/unlock signaling.
Read MoreThere’s a lot of random chance happening in this post, so I figured that I, like a Dadaist, may as well embrace it. By chance I happened to see an Instagram post from the VWSlut account, which had a picture taken from Bruce Lee’s tribute Insta account, which featured Bruce Lee posing in front of a random selection of parked cars on a road in what I believe is mid-1960s Los Angeles. It could be Oakland, but I’m thinking LA. What I am sure of is that the cars that parked by chance behind Lee are
Read MoreAlong with the rise of battery-electric vehicles like Teslas came a concurrent rise in lithium-ion battery sales, as producers across the globe rushed to meet the demand. But crashing electric vehicle sales because of the pandemic also hit the battery market, where, for the first time ever, demand is expected to fall this year.
Read MoreProfessional automotive journalism is not exclusively populated by white guys... though it often does feel that way. In an effort to start changing that, do yourself a favor and check out some of the folks on this big list of Black personalities in the car scene.
Read MoreFord is correcting what was almost either one of the biggest oversights or most tasteless jokes in automotive history and decided to delay unveiling its long-awaited Ford Bronco SUV so that it would not fall on the birthday of one of the vehicles’ most notorious passengers, O.J. Simpson.
Read MoreThis is the third installment of working out with Jalopnik At Home, hosted by me, the best female video producer on the Jalopnik staff (oh, hold on... you’re telling me I am the only one? Well, it’s still true) who is committed to getting you in to the best quarantine shape of your life, using your car!
Read MoreMercedes-Benz recently updated the look of its E-Class sedan, and part of that involved turning the wagon variant we’re lucky to have into a Subaru Outback knock-off. But there is some good news with the new design, too. The new look means the 2021 Mercedes-AMG E 63 S wagon had to get bigger wheel arches.
Read MoreOnce upon a time, somebody looked at the burgeoning popularity of SUVs and crossovers and thought, “What if we made it easier to get in those and pitched it to families?” I’m, of course, talking about the Dodge Grand Caravan, but Kia thinks I’m talking about them.
Read MoreToday the original Dodge Viper R/T 10 is a vehicle of great nostalgia, but what was it like when it was new? Well, I happen to have a contemporary report on it debuting in Detroit 1989 in the Japanese periodical Car Styling. What did they think? Well, there’s something about it that Americans missed.
Read MoreFord said Thursday that by the end of next year it will offer a “hands-free” driving mode on some of its cars, including every Mustang Mach-E. With it, Ford is directly targeting the Tesla Model Y. It’s fair to say that Ford is not only trying to match Tesla’s cars, but also maybe its mistakes as well.
Read MoreWelcome back to Who Ya Got, the series where we make up the rules a new way each time. In this installment, I want to know Who Ya Got between a Suzuki Jimny and an original Hummer H1.
Read MoreUnlike most Americans, for obvious reasons I’ve been spending a bit more time on the website of the Chinese small-vehicle manufacturer, Changli. Not only does Changli make my remarkable cheapest-new-EV-in-the-world, but they also make a whole host of scooters and utility tricycles and mobility scooters and all sorts of transport devices. Also, when run through Google Translate, the names for these machines are absolutely astounding. Please, let me share some with you.
Read MoreThe 2021 Toyota Supra 2.0 offers the new-Supra experience with less horsepower for less coin. This new four-cylinder 255 HP base model starts at $42,990, while the 3.0 inline six moves up to 382 HP listing at $50,990.
Read MoreWhile we’ve already seen concept and pre-production versions of Volkswagen’s upcoming electric, MEB-based SUV, the ID.4 Cross, VW wasn’t quite ready to show the world the final production version. Well, too bad. The ID.4 Cross production model has been leaked, and pictures released on the online forum VWIDTalk. Sorry, VW, that’s the internet for you. But don’t feel too bad—the car looks good!
Read MoreExactly a week ago today, we learned that Tesla was having trouble scaling up its production of the Model Y, which it began making earlier this year. Now a new report says that some of the cars that have been made have some pretty glaring quality issues.
Read MoreJalopnik’s unofficial weekly live internet truck show, Talkin’ Trucks & Gettin’ Stuck, is live again on Twitch right now as it is every(ish) Tuesday at 4 p.m. pacific and 7 p.m. eastern time. Come chat with me over there and see if my ambitious plan to explore deeper into the digital wilderness by stashing fuel all over the place pays off.
Read MoreMy first impression of the second-generation Lexus GS sedan: The taillights and the headlights are the same. That’s so cool! Yes, it was the appreciation of a simpleton, but I was on the right track. The car’s aged beautifully.
Read MoreI’m astoundingly fortunate. I’ve worked hard to get here, but I’m now in a place where my ridiculous automotive obsessions are literally my job, and part of that job means that, sometimes, I get to actually interact with some automotive heroes that I never thought I would. One of those is car designer Curtis Brubaker, the man behind the Brubaker Box. Curtis sent me some really great early ‘70s Box promo materials, and now I want to share them with you. Because you know how I feel about you. Don’
Read MoreWe first heard rumblings about a new Mustang Mach 1 in December, before it was officially confirmed a few weeks ago. Today, Ford unveiled it, with its 5.0-liter V8 making 480 horsepower and a six-speed manual transmission standard. That’s a 20 HP bump over the base GT, and while it’s short of the Shelby GT350's 526, the Mach 1 does get some bonus hardware from the Shelby.
Read MoreThis started as a discussion on our Jalop-wide Slack channel, in between the rumors of who-likes-who and Raph’s constant sharing of pictures of infected toes and asking for medical advice that he knows damn well he could just Google on his own like the rest of us. The question was about which section of America has the best cars? And it’s a good question. Well, good enough to get people arguing, at least.
Read MoreWhen it comes to electric cars, arguably the most important number is the range. How far can the car go between charging is a much bigger deal in the real world than the 0-60 time or top speed or how many BPMs the vibrating seats will do or anything like that. Range is king. Which is why I really had to find out the actual, real-world range of the cheapest car in the world, the Changli I bought on Alibaba.
Read MoreAmong gearheads, the Bronco is well-known and loved for many things, and has been an offroad icon since those first boxy ones came trundling out of the factory in 1965. To the far greater mass of humanity, though, perhaps the greatest cultural moment that highlighted a Bronco was when OJ Simpson, accused of those famous murders, led police on a well-televised, low-speed chase from the passenger’s seat of his friend’s white Bronco. That’s why it’s either so amazing or idiotic that Ford decided to
Read MoreThe look of the new 2021 Lexus IS already completely leaked, but now we know the sculpted-on-sculpted exterior wraps around basically the exact same car we already had, bringing into focus exactly how disappointed I am that this is just a another refresh.
Read MoreInfiniti’s new chairman of just a couple of weeks, Peyman Kargar, has given his first interview where he says he has a plan to make Infiniti “sustainable” if not profitable—a tall order since it got creamed last year. Being chairman of Infiniti is probably an impossible job, if we’re being honest.
Read MoreHey, everybody. Things are pretty wild outside right now, and if it starts to get any worse, I’m going to have to initiate my apocalypse plan of fleeing to the wilderness in a van sooner than later. Luckily, the 2021 Ford Transit van has been SUV-ified, but there’s just one major problem.
Read MoreThe Nissan Rogue is an incredibly hot-selling crossover SUV, in abundance at pretty much every intersection in America. Now there’s a new Rogue, and you should pay attention, because the 2021 Nissan Rogue will be everywhere before you know it. But still not in hybrid form.
Read MoreWhen we talk about celebrated motors on here, they’re usually V8s or bigger. Small blocks, big blocks, Lamborghini V12s, the Viper V10. That’s all well and good, but most cars don’t pack that kind of heat. Even so, there are plenty of smaller engines that deserve attention.
Read MorePeter Gleeson is a car enthusiast with a particular penchant for BMWs and, clearly, the means to amass an incredible collection of them. But equally clear is that he doesn’t buy cars for the sake of it. He’s stashed some pretty obscure machines and has a lot to say about almost all of them.
Read MoreThe Meyers Manx dune buggy is an icon of the 1960s and Mexico’s Baja peninsula is hallowed ground for off-road racing. The history of both are intertwined, and the book Call To Baja by the Manx’s inventor himself takes a look at the early days of off-road adventure.
Read MoreI’m not really into cars that are loud for the sake of loudness... but there’s “loud” and then there’s this four-rotor engine with fender-exit exhaust.
Read MoreYou may be aware that I have, for the first time, become a proud new car owner. That car happens to be the Cheapest New Electric Car in the World, the remarkable Changli. I bought the Changli online from the Chinese e-commerce site Alibaba, where it’s more commonly sold to elderly people in rural China to go to the market or pick up their hopefully delighted grandkids. It doesn’t seem like the idea of a non-invalid, under-80 American human buying one ever crossed anyone’s mind in China, which ma
Read MoreIf you’ve ever wondered how you can start a car without using the starter motor, allow me to demonstrate the art of the “push-start,” also called the “bump-start” or “roll-start.” It’s a way to use the motion of a car to fire up its engine. Here’s a look at how this joyful automotive pastime works, and why you can’t push-start a vehicle with an automatic transmission.
Read MoreThere are certainly less reliable cars out there than a Volkswagen, but no car is perfect. That’s why it’s important to understand your warranty coverage and what your options are for a Volkswagen extended warranty.
Read MoreGran Turismo has been a gold standard of console-based racing simulators for many people for a long time. This flashy new gameplay trailer for Gran Turismo 7, which will run on the just-revealed PlayStation 5, gives us a pretty enticing taste of what the next installment of the series will look like.
Read MoreTesla, as of this writing, is worth a hair over $180 billion. That doesn’t make it the world’s most valuable carmaker, but goddamn if it isn’t getting close.
Read MoreNostalgia can be intoxicating. It is so easy to look back on the “better times”, especially once we are in the present and those times are at an end. I am guilty of this myself—I look back on the mid-’00s, my adolescence, as the good ol’ days now. Instant messenger was my obsession, I was learning to drive, I didn’t have to pay rent or bills— it was awesome.
Read MoreFord isn’t an expert in transmissions, but it is becoming an expert in getting sued because of them. The latest involves manual transmissions on model years 2011-2019 Mustangs.
Read MoreThere was a shakeup at the very top of Volkswagen this week, with Volkswagen Group chairman Herbert Diess stripped of his role as chairman of the Volkswagen brand. Yesterday, we learned a little more why.
Read MorePreviously, the plug-in BMW X5 hybrid was a very middling experience with electrification, with less than a dozen miles of EV range and a lacking four-cylinder powertrain. The 2021 BMW X5 xDrive45e fixes just about everything.
Read MorePreviously-leaked GM scheduling points to good odds we’re going to be seeing the mid-engine 2022 Chevrolet Corvette Z06 very soon, and new rumors indicate we can expect active aerodynamics, and possibly even a completely-new center-mounted exhaust.
Read MorePlease keep in mind that there’s no multiple sources here, and it was likely an off-the-cuff remark said during an internal webcast, but the source is trustworthy and, well, shit-talking is fun. Especially when it comes from Ford’s COO, and it’s about the new upcoming Bronco and the Jeep Wrangler.
Read MoreNow that I’ve finally got the Changli in my hands, the cheapest new electric car you can buy on Alibaba and, likely, the world (which is sort of like Alibaba but with more oceans), it’s time to start to properly customize the already sublime look of the thing. And, as anyone who knows anything at all about motor vehicles can tell you, the only proper first step is to announce your car’s identity via a carefully-curated selection of things for Calvin to urinate on. And I believe I’ve got just the
Read MoreIn an effort to alleviate boredom, interact with you, and cultivate a recurring excuse to play video games at work, my Twitch show “Talking Trucks & Getting Stuck” is back (Tuesdays 4:00 p.m. pacific/7:00 p.m. eastern). If you don’t want to slog through a whole hour of wheeling with me, peep the highlight reel!
Read MoreFor several years now NASCAR has distanced itself from the battle flag originally used by the Army of Northern Virginia under General Robert E. Lee. The series has stated and reiterated its stance that the flag not be displayed in any official capacity, be it NASCAR licensed merchandise, event promotional material, signage, or team equipment. Following the Charleston, South Carolina shootings in 2015, NASCAR asked fans to refrain from flying the “stars and bars” but did not place a ban on doing
Read MoreCheap gimmicks are a bad look on a quarter-million-dollar luxury car. Then again, if Mercedes-Maybach can get 15 suckers to cough up a $40,000 premium for the “Night Edition” super-duper S-Class with a few tacked-on decorative pieces, why shouldn’t it?
Read MoreIt seems like a few times every year we hear about some kind of production snafu happening at Tesla, usually related to the rollout of a new model. It happened with the Model S. It happened with the Model X. And it happened with Model 3 (pretty badly). Now it’s happening with the Model Y.
Read MoreSide marker lamp design is one of the most under-appreciated aspects of modern automotive design, so when a company takes time to do it right, it’s worth noting. Especially when that company is Scuderia Cameron Glickenhaus, and when the marker lamp is an illuminated torch on a shield.
Read MoreA reader in Stuttgart emailed us yesterday to tell us how cool the Honda E and new fourth-generation Fit were. Of course neither car is coming to the U.S. anytime soon, so the email felt like a taunt even though it wasn’t intended to be. This morning, Fiat debuted a fine-looking new electric 500, also maybe not coming here. We get it, guys.
Read MoreAustin Owens is a hero. Yesterday, after seeing a picture online of one of his dream cars—a Mazda RX-7—sitting in a nearby garage that was actively flooding, Owens took action to save a random person’s car. He and a friend drove down several flooded roads near Biloxi, Mississippi to place bricks under the legendary Japanese sports car’s tires to prevent it from drowning.
Read MoreWe have received several reports from Honda employees that the entire Honda network is down, and seems to have been compromised by a ransomware attack. The attack happened yesterday, June 7, and is impacting Honda’s overall business operations globally, in what seems to be both business and manufacturing arenas. Honda is currently dealing with this, and as of yet no timeline for resolution has been revealed, nor has the party responsible for the attack been identified.
Read MoreI’ll be road testing the 2.0-liter turbocharged four-cylinder 2021 Toyota Supra this weekend, which will be the “cheap” Supra option while the 3.0-liter inline-six gets extra power. So what do you want to know?
Read MoreArtificial intelligence is useful for many things: Spying on us, giving Elon Musk nightmares, and making pretend soldiers and monsters in video games try to kill you. But can it help you waste time with pictures of your cars? I’m happy to answer that, yes, friends, it can. With something called Deepart.io.
Read MoreThe cheapest new electric car in the world, the $1,200 Changli Nemeca from Chinese e-commerce website Alibaba, is a truly amazing machine. This became clear as soon as my coworker Jason Torchinsky unboxed the car and saw its unexpected features, and even more so when he drove it. But it wasn’t until he and I looked at the tech under the skin that we truly realized the Changli’s unbelievable value. Here’s a look at the engineering behind the incredible 1.1 horsepower Changli.
Read MoreFresh off the debut of the 2021 BMW 4 Series and it’s new highly controversial extended grille, leaks of the alleged upcoming BMW M4 have popped up again in full, and it seems to only make things worse.
Read MoreLook at the swell little wagon in the photo above. Wood grain, a four-speed manual transmission, an efficient-ish four-cylinder engine sending power to the rear wheels—it’s a nice car that you probably don’t know about: The Pontiac Astre. Here’s what you need to know about it. And yes, I did mean to say “need.”
Read MoreFormer UAW President Gary Jones pleaded guilty to embezzlement, racketeering, and fraud charges yesterday in what was a long-awaited denouement to a case that has seemingly been around forever. Jones will likely see a prison sentence—and possibly even a lengthy one–but the union he betrayed is still feeling the effects.
Read MoreThe mid-engine Chevy Corvette has had it rough. Like 60 years of rough. Now that you can finally buy a mid-engine Corvette, it seems the covid-19 virus outbreak has caused a supply shortage of its most popular options.
Read MoreIf you’re one of those people who stubbornly denies the supernatural qualities of ordinary cardboard shipping boxes, get ready to have your beliefs shaken to your very core. Right here, caught on camera, is evidence of supernatural cardboard box activity, as a box jumps out of a truck and hops back in all by itself. More than once, even! Who’s a fool now, huh?
Read MoreSocial media video from a reportedly peaceful protest in Walnut Creek, California yesterday shows an officer in an armored vehicle threaten the life of a peaceful protester blocking the street over a megaphone.
Read MoreI’m writing this because the deeply troubling events of the world at the moment made me want to take a small moment to meditatively doodle, and the result was what you see up there: my old 1968 Volvo P1800S under a tree. The image is actually significant to me, because that tree forced me to get rid of that car, which indirectly but significantly led to me getting this amazing job I have today. I better explain.
Read MoreAfter years of screaming for it, and mild speculation almost exactly a year ago that it could happen, Mazda’s dealership model codes for the 2021 model year finally introduce a turbocharged Mazda 3.
Read MoreWhen the people of Paris revolt, they’d build barricades to block the roads with anything they had handy. This has been true for centuries, and it has included everything from carts to furniture to the very cobble stones of the street. Tuesday afternoon, Parisians engaged in demonstrations sympathetic with American Black Lives Matter protests as well as against their own police brutality problem. And they are doing as their ancestors did and turning to what the street provides: piles of unloved
Read MoreDuring its recent 2020 dealer webinar, Acura laid out a road map to see the company grow its sales through new models and a further expansion of the Type S performance brand. We’ve already seen the launch of the new TLX and TLX Type S sedans, but now we know that Acura is pushing forward with a new MDX three-row crossover, and most importantly a new compact sedan.
Read MoreThe Changli Nemeca, possibly the world’s cheapest new electric car, is now in my coworker Jason Torchinsky’s backyard. “How did it get all the way there from China?” you’re probably wondering. Well, it was a hell of a journey.
Read MoreWe’ve reported before how terror groups and the alt-right have increasingly used cars as weapons, so it comes as no surprise to hear audio captured from a police scanner last night telling a driver stuck behind protesters in Brooklyn to “run them over.”
Read MoreI have to admit, I rolled in here ready to walk all over the new, objectively-giant 2021 BMW 4 Series kidney grille. But you know what, it’s not so bad!
Read MoreThe legendary designer of McLaren’s famous F1, the superest of all supercars, is back with a sequel some twenty-eight years later. If anyone knows how to improve on the F1's iconic lightweight design, it’s Gordon Murray. And that’s exactly what he’s trying to accomplish with the perpetually upcoming Gordon Murray Automotive T.50 Supercar.
Read MoreWhile I was in Wilmington to collect my brand-new Changli, I was able to collect a press vehicle that is about as far from a tiny 1 HP Chinese EV as you could imagine: this resto-modded Land Rover Discovery from Osprey Custom Cars. What would you like to know about this terrifying beast?
Read MoreLast week, we got the sporty new Acura TLX Type S. Now this week, hot off the back of news that Infiniti is giving up on luxury, Lexus is teasing it’s own updated sports sedan—the rear-wheel drive 2021 Lexus IS.
Read MoreI am sure that many of you out there are donating what you can to your local bail fund, if not marching in the streets, if not organizing in your community for police reform. But while you’re at it, here is an excellent zine of AE86 Toyota Corollas, all of the proceeds of which go to Black Lives Matter.
Read MoreThe 2021 Ford F-150 has a bunch of cool new features. While it didn’t invent most of them, it’s surely one of the most comprehensive pickup packages you’re going to find today. But maybe one of the coolest new features is the folding shifter that disappears into a desk.
Read MoreIt would be pretty unthinkable for modern-day BMW to sell a car that did not feature its trademark kidney grilles prominently on the front. Even for their electric cars that require no traditional radiator grille like the i3 and i8, BMW still managed to work those organ-that-makes-pee-shaped elements into the cars’ faces. But BMW hasn’t always been so strict about this. There have been a few kidney-less BMW holdouts, and for your edification, I’ve compiled them into a handy chart. You’re welcome
Read MoreHyundai and their sister company Kia have been showcasing some impressive design work lately, and the company’s up-market brand, Genesis, seems to be getting an entirely new corporate face and design vocabulary, which we’ve first seen on the 2021 Genesis GV80, released earlier this year. Now that bold design is on Genesis’ traditional core of luxury sedans, as we can see before Hyundai would like, thanks to some Korean sites. It looks pretty good, I think!
Read MoreGraphic designer Dejan Hristov sent Jalopnik a bunch of digitally illustrated models for this “Retro Mini Truck EV” concept they dreamed up and I’m a big fan.
Read MoreI want to be clear that I don’t necessarily think the new 2021 Nissan Rogue is a particularly daring or bold or, really, even all that interesting a design. I do think the very fact that it’s a Rogue—the third-best-selling SUV in America—makes the design choices seen here worth looking at, because if Nissan feels comfortable enough incorporating them into the car that’s making them the most money, they’re likely design choices that we’ll be seeing a lot more of, all across this still-gigantic cr
Read MoreThe new 2021 Lexus IS is set to debut later tonight on Facebook, but anybody with a strong concept of how the American news cycle works knows that’s too long for any of us to wait—but we don’t have to, because the full design has already leaked online.
Read MoreA while back I feel like I was being sent one particular internet-found video far more often than any other. And, it was easy to understand why, as the video was remarkable, especially for a Volkswagen Beetle geek like myself. It was that video that I’ve bet you’ve seen before, of a Beetle towing a camper via a roof-mounted gooseneck hitch, allowing it all kinds of bonkers maneuverability. We’d written about it long ago, but more recently one of these has been found and restored, likely the only
Read MoreI bet most of you have had this thought race through your mind at least once or twice, even if that thought did not bother to pause long enough for you to actually consider it. It likely happened as you, perhaps, gazed admiringly at a Volkswagen Thing. The thought is this: how many four-door cars have interchangeable front and rear doors?
Read MoreWe learned earlier this year that Cadillac’s next flagship car would be called Celestiq, and it will also introduce a smaller car called the Lyriq. Both will be electric. Both will be among GMs biggest swings as it starts rolling out new electric cars. Cadillac’s exterior design director recently told Automobile that the design would be “a little bit polarizing.”
Read MoreFord has always been pretty good about equipping a split-opening glass liftgate on its SUVs, and the 2021 Ford Bronco Sport will continue the tradition. Not only is it great for preventing your groceries from rolling out after a sporting drive home, but it also makes for better airflow with all the windows down.
Read MoreIf you’re still reeling over the leaked look at the upcoming gaping front end of the 2022 BMW M4, you can sigh with relief knowing the company’s design team won’t force it on other cars just yet.
Read MoreThis is one of those things you’d think wouldn’t be actually needed to say, but based on recent automotive design trends, it seems to be necessary. Whether or not you think front license plates are necessary or not, the reality is that they do, in fact, exist. In 31 states (well, 30 plus D.C.) in America they’re required (if you do the math you’ll see that’s over half) and even bigger front license plates are required in Europe and most of Asia. An awful lot of modern cars appear to have been de
Read MoreWhen BMW bought Rover group in 1994, it got the Land Rover brand which had rapidly expanded the SUV market in the 1980s. To keep the trend alive, BMW took what tech it could from Land Rover, and with a two-hour sketch, produced its own SUV—the BMW X5.
Read MoreIn 1996, the NYPD took over the job of traffic enforcement from the city’s Department of Transportation. Now, local government is moving to kick the job out of cops’ hands because they’ve been so bad at it.
Read MoreAfter a report last year confirming that pedestrian deaths in America are continuing to trend upward while total vehicle-related deaths are on a slight decline, the IIHS set out to investigate this trend with a sharper eye. The institute took a sample of 79 crashes from three urban populations of Michigan in 2018, and found a significantly greater risk of death if pedestrians were impacted by an SUV rather than a car.
Read MoreEarlier today, on Taiwan’s National Highway 1 near the Zhongshan High Chiayi Water Section, a Tesla Model 3 crashed right smack into the roof of an overturned truck trailer. It appears that the wreck was caused by the Tesla’s Autopilot system not detecting the large rectangular object right in front of it, in broad daylight and clear weather. We have seen Autopilot failures like this before, especially ones involving large, immobile objects.
Read MoreThe FBI investigation into the noose found in Bubba Wallace’s NASCAR garage last weekend has concluded that the noose had been hanging in the garage since at least October of 2019, long before anyone could have known Wallace would be assigned that garage for last weekend’s race.
Read MoreI realize that most of you come here to read about cars, which is fortunate, as that’s what I spend most of my non-eating, non-masturbating waking hours thinking about. This story about having to bail my parents out of jail for attempted murder isn’t so much about cars as it is a strange tale of wrongful arrest, a crime, and my parents. There are some cars in it, though.
Read MoreVideos from a May 31 Black Lives Matter protest in Minneapolis, Minnesota show police officers wearing heavy tactical gear slashing the tires of multiple parked vehicles, with some officers allegedly targeting members of the media.
Read MoreVideo from the doorbell camera of a private home shows an officer in an unmarked Florissant, Missouri police car driving into the yard and running over a fleeing suspect at speed. As the suspect screams in pain as he tries to limp away from the car, the officer tells him to “get on the fucking ground” as he tackles him.
Read MoreA very lucky, and ultimately very responsible, individual at a Texas car auction managed to get their new vehicle all the way home before realizing its true value of around $850,000.
Read MoreJ-Spec Auto Sports, a U.S. based tuner car and parts shop, has been accused of selling stolen cars and parts imported from Japan, as well as allegedly misleading customers about the quality and accident history of their cars.
Read MoreI don’t know about you, but it’s been a while since I’ve gone to the movies. Sure, the big theater chains are finally trying to require masks, but I’m not sure I’ll be ready to go back until I’m vaccinated. Good thing New York City just got a drive-in theater.
Read MoreOn Tuesday afternoon the Top Gear hosts, Chris Harris, Paddy McGuinness, and uh, hang on, I have to look up the third one. Ah, right, Andrew Flintoff. Anyway, the three of them were driving through North Yorkshire driving some iconic 1980s and 1990s supercars. In the process of the production, McGuinness chucked his Lamborghini off the road and caused a good amount of damage to the car. Thankfully he was not harmed in the crash, but he might be once the owner of the Lamborghini catches up to him
Read MoreFerrari, a boutique hat company that also sells rich people cars, recently took it upon itself to remake one of the great car films ever shot, with one of the best drivers in the world, in one of the best locations in the world, with one of its newest and fastest cars. The result can only indicate that Ferrari simply does not give a shit.
Read MoreI can’t say I have much interest in replicas of the hero car from the 2000 movie Gone In 60 Seconds, a customized 1967 Mustang fastback named “Eleanor,” because it’s been done a billion times and, frankly, it’s just not that interesting a car. What is interesting about that particular car, though, is that is is a copyrighted and trademarked design, and the owner of those copyrights and trademarks will, it seems, take your car if you dare to build one. At least that’s what happened to a well-know
Read MoreWe’re used to graceful, stylish, classy Aston Martins. From 007's DB5 and his later V12 GTs to the forthcoming Valhalla supercar, the brand has been known to provide power with a lot of panache. But for a while in the ‘90s that formula was inverted. Lots of power, hardly any panache. The 1995 Vantage V550 embodied that philosophy entirely.
Read MoreSome cars are a bad influence on drivers. That Maserati Ghibli from a few weeks back certainly is one. Other cars, though? They can be the opposite, bringing out the best in someone, help them rise to the occasion. This Lancia Flavia looks to be one of those.
Read More“Low mileage,” the auction listing for this 1998 Plymouth Grand Voyager boasts. Then, more interestingly: “This vehicle was a drug seizure that was converted to a surveillance van several years ago.” Any way you slice it, this van has seen some shit.
Read MoreA weird nickname, bright colors, big n’ littles, a nasty mailbox hood scoop, and a big engine in compact car originally built to be a fuel sipper. Yep, it must be a mid-1970s drag racing machine. This 1974 Chevrolet Vega was built do do one thing, and that was rip up the quarter mile with a gigantic engine under its tiny little hood. It doesn’t have a V8 in it right now, but you can fix that by buying it and building whatever you want to power it. Then you and the Predator can go hunting.
Read MoreThe quirky Chrysler PT Cruiser was an amazingly popular car when it launched back at the beginning of the millennium, but then when the fad faded it became the silly laughing stock of the auto world. That’s why seeing a blacked-out, matte-black variant of it is so bizarre. A fun and weird car has become downright frightening.
Read MoreSomeone in Bristol in southwest England let their love for automotive weirdness go too damn far. They’re selling an incomplete project that consists of a Jeep Cherokee XJ front end, a Reliant SS1 chassis, a Mazda Miata motor and transmission, and a hodgepodge of other British car parts that will definitely leave you baffled.
Read MoreWe’ve exited the doldrums of winter and skipped right over the bullshit jacket weather season known as spring and jumped right into the heat of summer. There is no better way to celebrate the warmer weather than with a convertible. The sights, smells, and sounds of summer are so much more accessible when there isn’t a godforsaken roof over your head. That’s why this drop-top Lincoln is the perfect ride for the gap between vernal and autumnal equinoctes.
Read MoreThe car auction house Copart is offering this 2020 Toyota Supra (base model) at its San Jose, California location on June 14, 2020. Color is listed as “BURN.” (But actually.) No reserve!
Read MoreMany Americans spent the last few weeks doing very little driving in the name of social distancing and, while the travel break may have allowed commuters to cut down on their driving, adherence to stay-at-home orders has left cars vulnerable to rodent infestations.
Read MoreBMW riders like to believe themselves as the hardest core long-distance two-wheelers in the universe. Not satisfied to burn a tank of dino juice on a Saturday afternoon, they will jump into the saddle in the Pacific Northwest and set their sights on Miami, or so they say. BMW knows that their riders like to log miles, so they’re working on bringing automotive tech to two-wheelers to make long distance riding a little more comfortable and ostensibly safer. I’m not yet convinced active cruise cont
Read MoreYou may recall that a couple of weeks ago I expressed some disappointment with an annoying wind whistle I experienced while riding the CB650R. There is a little airflow issue at the front of the bike, and any time I went over 45 miles per hour, I could hear almost nothing but this whistle. It got so bad that I had to create my own bodged fix by slapping some tape on the offending part.
Read MoreFollowing its official unveil at CES earlier this year, the Damon Hypersport electric motorcycle has been dancing its way through my dreams. In addition to offering crazy electric performance, it has adjustable foot pegs to allow a shift from upright commuter to full tuck sport with the push of a button. On Thursday Damon announced an even more interesting new feature for the Hypersport, Vehicle to Home power flow.
Read MoreHarley-Davidson said this week it was done with a dealer in Tennessee over a racist social media post. In a now-familiar ritual, the dealer has denied writing the post, saying it got hacked. The dealer also owns a Honda store, and Honda said it was investigating. Harley decided this week it had seen enough.
Read MoreAston Martin and Brough Superior are working together to build an extremely British take on the Kawasaki H2R/Ducati Superleggera V4 hyperbike segment. While we haven’t yet seen a final production version of the bike, or even heard what it sounds like at full chat (thanks to dramatic overdubbed music), the bike is still on track to deliver later this year. By this point, surely, the riding dynamics are pretty well set and “testing” videos like this are only used to drum up interest, but dammit it
Read MoreThe new ClimaCommand seat available as an upgrade for Indian’s big bagger bikes, the Roadmaster, Chief, Springfield, and Chieftan, is the kind of innovation that the motorcycle world needs right now. It’s the first time a manufacturer has offered such an option—though Corbin has offered it as an aftermarket add-on for a bit now—and I wouldn’t be surprised to see this tech proliferate through the industry over the next five years. And my exceedingly hot butt will be thankful for it.
Read MoreDucati is only promising to build 100 Hypermotard 950 RVEs for North America, which is a shame because it looks cool as hell. Fortunately, there are more ’motards to go around. But only the RVEs will come with this wicked Graffiti livery.
Read MoreThe S&P 500 is usually considered the best measure of how the American economy is doing. The index includes companies like Chevron, Microsoft, and JPMorgan Chase, companies worth billions that are intended to be representative of the American economy. The S&P 500 also includes Harley-Davidson, though not for much longer.
Read MoreThere are so many great motorcycles on the market right now that it’s difficult to find major glaring issues about most of them. And one could argue that this isn’t a major issue as it has a relatively simple fix, but it bothered me enough that I couldn’t sit idly by and let Honda get away with this egregious design flaw. The 2020 Honda CB650R whistles. Like, really loudly. Honestly, Bubb Rubb would be proud.
Read MoreSince the Indian name was revived by Polaris in 2011, it has been taking the fight directly to Harley-Davidson on its home big V-twin turf. In 2018 the company introduced the magnificent FTR1200 based loosely on its Scout model. I’ve logged over 1500 miles on the FTR since then, and have loved every single one more than the last. Now it would seem that Indian has plans to take on H-D in the electric game as well, pitting an electric FTR against the lovely LiveWire. According to a report from mot
Read MoreSomehow it’s already the middle of the week and here we are at the close of our Wednesday. If you’re hanging around the Jalopnik water cooler today, I hope you’re prepared to hear me talk about motorcycles. It’s time to discuss Honda’s mid-range “neo-sports café” CB650R. This is the naked version of the CBR650R both of which were introduced in late 2018 as 2019 models. And there is currently one sitting in my driveway.
Read MoreHarley-Davidson has two distinct problems that it needs to face head-on. The first of which is that it wants to appeal to new buyers. The second is that its traditional buyer is aging out of the motorcycle market altogether. It would seem that the Motor Company has found a single solution to help salve both ailments. Making its big profitable motorcycles easier to ride for newbies and oldies alike with a recent patent filing for a standalone self-balancing gyroscope that fits in the top case.
Read MoreHowdy bike-lopnic fans! How are you on this most glorious of days? I’m feeling pretty good right now, because this afternoon I’ll be receiving a brand new Grom from Honda for an extended test session. I’m predisposed to like this little two-wheeler because I have commuted on small bore Hondas for years primarily on the Grom’s spiritual ancestor 1982 MB5.
Read MoreIndian motorcycle company Royal Enfield is planning a massive push to increase sales with a push to launch new product every quarter for the next few years. After one of the hardest quarters in the company’s 119 year history, Royal Enfield CEO Vinod Dasari has unveiled this massive plan in an interview with India’s Car and Bike. RE sold just 91 motorcycles in India in April, thanks to a massive global coronavirus lockdown, compared to over 60,000 bikes pre-corona May 2019.
Read MoreThere have been a number of bike-engined cars to grace these fair pages from time to time, but what if you wanted a car-engined bike? Back in the 1960s and 70s it wasn’t all that uncommon to power a BMW R-series motorcycle with an aircooled Volkswagen engine, which is exactly what happened with Chris Runge’s R60/2 ‘VMW’.
Read MoreFor the entirety of my adult life, I’ve subsided on shitty pepper mills bought at restaurant supply stores but after the latest recently became jammed and unusable I began to rethink things. Eventually, a dangerous thought crossed my mind: What if I decided to buy a non-shitty pepper mill. Which is how I ended up with a Peugeot.
Read MoreThe world is a weird place. Somehow, the Kia Optima has become the K5, and it looks awesome. Not only that: It offers a 290 horsepower, 311 lb-ft 2.5-liter turbocharged engine bolted to a dual clutch transmission, and it can apparently go from zero to 60 mph in 5.8 seconds. Just look at this thing.
Read MoreSeven-year car loans have increasingly become a thing in the age of America’s truck obsession, as dealers sell consumers on smaller monthly payments on vehicles with bigger and bigger price tags. The pandemic has fueled the trend, in addition to a bunch of incentives that people in the industry say are historic.
Read MoreLast week, in one of the more delightful court orders I’ve read lately, a federal judge told the CEOs of GM and Fiat Chrysler to personally meet to resolve GM’s lawsuit against FCA, in part because the whole thing was a “waste of time.” GM then went over the judge’s head. Today, the judge delivered a wonderfully to-the-point response.
Read MoreI love to take photos of cars with my phone and my film camera but I am far from an expert. I look back on ones I’ve taken and can’t believe how rough absolutely shitty they are. Luckily, Freind Of The Blog Kevin McCauley has put together a really great video to help you avoid some of the most common mistakes you can make.
Read MoreBefore it was the Britsh Touring Car Championship, it was the Saloon Car Championship. The regs in place were FIA Group 2 and the field was diverse. Very diverse. Just check out what Crystal Palace looked like back in 1971.
Read MoreThis year is when strict new rules regulating emissions in new cars in Europe begin to take effect, and also when we get to see how automakers will really respond after (sort of) planning for it for years. The early signs seem like it may not go all that well, and the coronavirus pandemic is complicating things.
Read MoreGeneral Motors filed a request with the Sixth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals to allow it to continue to pursue civil racketeering charges against Fiat Chrysler on Friday, noting that a previous judge’s solution was not to their liking.
Read MoreVerizon, Ben and Jerry’s, The North Face, and Patagonia all said this week they would suspend advertising on Facebook over the social network’s handling of misinformation and hate speech. Today, Honda became the first automaker to do the same thing.
Read MoreThe Youtube channel Garage 54 is run by people whose thirst for outlandish automotive experimentation knows no bounds. The team’s latest video involves installing “legs” onto the rear of an old Lada sedan, and the results are both impressive and, for reasons that I can’t really put my finger on, disturbing. Just watch this Russian sedan “walk” down the street, creepily.
Read MoreLast September, we got word that the Department of Justice had begun an investigation into Ford, Honda, Volkswagen, and BMW after the four said they had reached agreements with California over emissions regulations. Surely that all didn’t start because of tweets from President Trump, right? Oh wait, I’m being told otherwise.
Read MoreKia might call the new Kia Sedona a “Grand Utility Vehicle,” but the reality is that it’s a minivan. Does that make it uncool? Absolutely not, especially since it looks this awesome, thanks in part to an incredible headlight design. Check it out.
Read MoreI have been getting emails from JD Power for days hyping their latest Initial Quality Study, which came out today. I appreciated the reminders but IQS is usually a pretty boring affair, only slightly more intriguing this year because Tesla, for the first time, would be in it. Turns out, Tesla absolutely bombed.
Read MoreThe Jaguar XE debuted in 2014, eventually making its way to American shores in 2016 amid an honest-to-god push by Jag to compete with cars like the BMW 3 Series. It was supposed to be a huge volume seller. Everyone had such high hopes! That didn’t really work out but I like what Jaguar is considering doing next.
Read MoreGM sued Fiat Chrysler in November, accusing it of corrupt contract negotiations, which led to higher labor costs for GM. In light of events since then, a federal judge is extremely tired of the suit already.
Read MoreI’ve just been made aware of the ubiquity of Pontiac Fiero trikes, and—as a public service announcement—I am sharing this shocking realization with you, dear readers: More examples of America’s favorite mid-engine, underpowered, ‘80s sports car have been turned into three-wheelers than you can possibly imagine. And while I don’t know exactly why, I do know that you should keep your eyes peeled. The Fiero trikes lurk, and they should be feared.
Read MoreProximity keys have been around for a couple decades now, and my colleague Jason Torchinsky explained why they are bad over seven years ago, and yet they are still here. Apple’s CarKey, announced today as part of coming updates to CarPlay, isn’t much different or much of an improvement.
Read MoreAmong all the Cavaliers and Barettas and Escorts and Cutlass Supremes that populate so much of the junkyards of America’s vast midwest, you occasionally find some fascinating weirdos, too. An occasional MG, maybe a Saab or two, or, like I once saw in a Kansas junkyard, a forlorn Renault Dauphine. This find, though, is absolutely unprecedented, since I’m pretty sure there’s at least three times more Tuckers left in the world than any of these: a left-hand drive Prince Skyline.
Read MoreIn a survey released by Ford today, the company said it found that thirty-eight percent of surveyed truck owners would stop having sex before giving up their truck for a year. That might seem low or high to you, depending on how important fucking is to you personally.
Read MoreCarspotting is one of my passions. When you see what cars people drive and how they drive them, you learn a lot ab0ut them. So when I got stuck in Tel Aviv for months because of the pandemic, I got to work. And boy did I see some things.
Read MoreForest fires are getting bigger, thanks to climate change, and when it comes to fighting forest fires, bigger fires require bigger planes. This training video was released during the height of the destructive 2019 fire season by folks who know a thing or two about big fires and fighting them: the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection.
Read MoreGood morning and a happy Juneteenth! I’ll be honest with you, it is frankly embarrassing that it took until recent events for our publications to acknowledge the day the last slaves were finally freed in America, but here we are.
Read MoreTesla has been trying to decide if it would build its new plant for Cybertrucks and Model Ys in Tulsa or Austin, Texas, for a little while now. This has involved a creepy statue, in addition to the usual pleads from local officials who are sure this factory will boost the economy. Tesla hasn’t made a final choice, but Austin is looking better and better.
Read MoreOne thing that fascinates me about internal combustion engines is their ability to run on a variety of fuel types. I myself have been experimenting with this recently, having run my 1948 Jeep on moonshine. Now here’s a video from the loons at Garage 54, who tried running an old Ukrainian car on lighter fluid.
Read MoreI’m going to rank this rumor as a four or five out of ten on the believability scale, based on the swiftness and lack of equivocation in a statement Ford sent over. Ninety-nine times out of 100, automakers say they can’t comment on future product when you ask. Except when they do.
Read MoreWhen the current generation Aston Martin Vantage came out in 2018, its giant grille was certainly its most polarizing feature. The shape was familiar, but the size was simply... a lot to take in. Now, though, there’s a solution.
Read MoreYou’re supposed to just park it in the middle of an empty field I guess before getting it fixed?
Read MoreThe racist ad appeared on social media last month, and showed a giant white hand manipulating a black man like a marionette. Volkswagen eventually pulled the ad and launched an internal investigation. The company released the results of that investigation today, which are illuminating but perhaps in not all the ways VW intended.
Read MoreThe first announced street closures amid the coronavirus pandemic were just 1.5 miles and a complete joke. Then, in April, it got a little bit better, and more streets were closed after that, with a goal to close 100 miles. And while that still isn’t enough, I’ve watched as the ones that have closed have turned from failed city initiatives to inspirational, community-controlled successes.
Read MoreNASCAR’s only black driver, Bubba Wallace, is taking a stand against the current of racism that runs through the sport he loves. His new Black Lives Matter racing livery speaks volumes about his commitment to making equality a central issue in the sport.
Read MoreA Canadian man is charged with drug possession, smuggling and violating immigration laws after admitting to using a Bond-style submersible to speed across the Detroit River. Surprisingly, it didn’t go as smoothly as he planned.
Read MoreNo one factors in a global pandemic when looking to buy a car. Why would you? That would be like worrying if your new Subaru could make it to high ground when the supervolcano under Yosemite blows. But it happened, and record high monthly payments meeting an ensuing economic collapse could have harsh repercussions throughout the auto industry.
Read MoreThe driver of a semi truck who drove his tanker through a crowd of protestors has been released from jail, according to the Hennepin County Attorney’s Office, pending further investigation.
Read MoreAt the time of its introduction, Car and Driver opined that the CLK 55 was likely the quickest car Mercedes sold in the U.S.. Today’s Nice Price or Crack Pipe example is probably not quite so quick since it’s the heavier convertible, but we’ll still need to decide if its price means it will quickly sell.
Read MoreBuick’s turbo Regals from the ‘80s have become cult cars, commanding very high prices at present. Today’s Nice Price or Crack Pipe T-Type is a barn find in need of some work and hence is appreciably cheaper than average. Let’s dig in and see if it’s cheap enough.
Read MoreSome Porschephiles shy away from the first generation of water-cooled 911s owing to its fated IMS issue. Today’s Nice Price or Crack Pipe 996 has already blown its IMS up and has a remanufactured engine as a result. Could that bad past make its price seem like a bright future?
Read MoreWith just 32K on the clock, today’s Nice Price or Crack Pipe Z28 is a time capsule of what GM thought a pony car should be in the early ‘90s. Let’s find out if its price might mean you’d give it the time of day.
Read MoreToday’s Nice Price or Crack Pipe Buick represents a rare car and a failed experiment. Let’s see if this somewhat ill-conceived former range-topping two-seater is now priced to be in our range.
Read MoreWhen you think Café Racer, you probably don’t picture Harley Davidson since that brand’s tall thumpers really don’t lend themselves to the form. Today’s Nice Price or Crack Pipe custom Sportster may just change that image. Let’s see if it has also been priced to quickly change hands.
Read MoreThe 7.3-litre Power Stroke diesel in today’s Nice Price or Crack Pipe Excursion is considered to be a member of one of the best engine families in Ford Truck history. That’s what makes these big beasts so desirable to their fans. Let’s see if this one’s price could be considered a stroke of genius.
Read MoreIf you’re undecided on the benefits of turbos over blowers, never fear since today’s Nice Price or Crack Pipe Volvo has both. It also has a lien on its title, which may also blow. Let’s see if that makes it collateral damage.
Read MoreMitsubishi isn’t much of a force to be reckoned with anymore, but as proven by today’s Nice Price or Crack Pipe Dodge Stealth, they were once big enough to not only sell cars under their own brand but under others as well. Let’s see if this re-branded coupé’s price is too big for its britches.
Read MoreThe E34 is arguably the best-looking 5-series BMW has ever produced. It may even be one of the top ten most elegant four-door designs of the last 50 years. Today’s Nice Price or Crack Pipe 535i could let you get in on all those good looks. We’ll just have to see how attractive its price proves to be.
Read MoreWhen your thoughts turn to traditional American luxury automobiles you probably picture some sort of overly ornate battle barge. Today’s Nice Price or Crack Pipe Caddy is none of those things, but could the price on this first of a new era of American luxo-cars have you saying, if it’s not baroque, don’t fix it?
Read MoreThe seller of today’s Nice Price or Crack Pipe FR-S describes it as “enthusiast owned.” Let’s see if this former aftermarket parts company tester can get any enthusiasm over its asking price.
Read MoreThere’s a simple joy in slipping on a perfect-fitting pair of jeans or finishing a book that ends just the way you hoped it would. In that vein, today’s Nice Price or Crack Pipe Ranger has been modded in a manner that should find approval from most of us. Let’s see if its price also gets our endorsement.
Read MoreWith summer and a less emphatic call to isolate at home both close at hand, today’s Nice Price or Crack Pipe 325Ci convertible couldn’t come at a better time. Let’s see if it could perhaps, come with a better price.
Read MoreToday’s Nice Price or Crack Pipe 4Runner has so many miles on it that if it were anything other than a Toyota you might think of it as a parts car only. Instead, it’s still in the game. We’ll have to see how game you are about its price.
Read MoreIn Greek mythology, Zephyr was the god of the West Wind. In today’s Nice Price or Crack Pipe, we look at a Mercury Zephyr wagon, one of the first Fox-body cars. Let’s see if this low-mileage longroof comes with a price that doesn’t totally blow.
Read MoreToday’s Nice Price or Crack Pipe Regal carries a venerated name, a posh interior, and, interestingly enough, a FWD supercharged V6. That puts it at the crossroads of Buick’s transition to its modern state. Let’s see if its price can put it in your crosshairs.
Read MoreWith its supercharged V8 engine and super-sexy styling, today’s Nice Price or Crack Pipe Jaguar XKR has got it going on. Let’s see if its price makes it a super-good deal as well.
Read MoreSmall, cheap, body-on-frame 4X4 SUVs are pretty much a thing of the past. Today’s Nice Price or Crack Pipe S10 Blazer happens to be just such an old-school off-roader. Let’s see if its price will get it a pass.
Read MoreThe average work commute in the U.S. these days is about 26 miles. That makes cars like today’s Nice Price or Crack Pipe i-MiEV suitable for the job, even with its relatively short range. Let’s see if that, and this city car’s price makes it a good deal by a country mile.
Read MoreGetting into a Porsche can either mean big bucks or big headaches. Occasionally a car like today’s Nice Price or Crack Pipe 944 comes along that presents itself as neither of those extremes. What we need to know, however, is whether it’s a good deal.
Read MoreIt’s not every day you come across a Giorgetto Giugiaro designed car. It’s an even rarer occasion when that car is an Isuzu Impulse like today’s Nice Price or Crack Pipe candidate. What might you afford so auspicious an occasion?
Read MoreRunning through a roll of slide film today will run you around $20, before you add in any cost of processing and scanning a single photo. It costs a lot to hold a slide up to a light and see a more colorful world shining back at you. What’s free, though, is looking through this wonderful repository of slide film car photography in the British car mags’ glory days of the 1990s and 2000s.
Read MoreI have very strong opinions about the liveries of state aircraft. It’s kind of my thing. So when the Royal Air Force unveiled its newly repainted Airbus A330MRTT Voyager head of state transport this week, I had to give it a closer look. I did, and I’m not particularly impressed.
Read MoreThe B-52 Stratofortress ain’t new. The first one flew nearly seventy years ago in 1952. The last ones were built ten years later. But just because it’s already been around for decades doesn’t mean it doesn’t have a lot more fight left in it. At least General Electric seems to think so.
Read MoreDon’t you just love it when you’re doing something as stress-free as traveling during a pandemic and a fellow passenger decides that it’s that moment to exercise his right to be a pain in the ass?
Read MoreA week ago, I wasn’t writing because I had to fly back to America after being stuck abroad for months because of the covid-19 pandemic. The experience was. at once tremendously surreal but also surprisingly, even concerningly, normal. At least upon arrival at JFK, that is.
Read MoreSeattle’s AeroTEC has raised electric propulsion flight to new heights with its battery-powered Cessna 208B Grand Caravan. Powered by an Australia/American-built MagniX magni500 motor making 750 horsepower to the propeller and backed by nearly 2000 pounds of litium ion battery cells, the so-called eCaravan completed its first successful flight last week. This makes the eCaravan the world’s largest all-electric commercial aircraft.
Read MoreIf you disregard Dale Coyne hiring a racist shitbag and the series selling to Roger Penske, the biggest story out of IndyCar these last few years has to be Fernando Alonso running the big one, going for a motorsport triple crown, racing in the Indy 500. The Spanish F1 and Le Mans champ has again committed to trying his hand at running, despite his first and second attempts having devolved into shitshows.
Read MoreJames Glickenhaus brought Steve McQueen’s Baja Boot back to life last year, recreating it as something he could drive to the race, win the race, and drive home in it too. Then he actually won the Baja 1000 in it. This is that story.
Read MoreThe World Rally Championship’s current Group R regulations have made for some incredible rally action. While enthusiasts lament the loss of Group B, those cars were slower, more difficult to control, and significantly more deadly. The current cars have around 300 tractable horsepower, an incredible AWD system, great aero, and advanced tire compounds to help them blitz a rally stage. All of that adds up to an utterly bonkers rally car. But they could still be faster.
Read MoreThe long-standing Williams Racing team is in dire straits right now. In the middle of the pandemic-induced Formula One shutdown, the team is earning very little money, and it recently parted ways with title sponsor Rokit. Things are tough for all of the teams, but Williams has also had a handful of years with piss-poor performance to make matters worse. And on top of all that, it has unveiled a largely very boring black/white/blue livery for the remainder of the 2020 season.
Read MoreOn August 23, the delayed 104th running of the Indy 500 will finally happen. The Indianapolis Motor Speedway has decided that it will allow race fans to buy tickets and attend the race, but will limit entrance to half of the track’s 235,000 person capacity. How fitting that the track will allow 117,500 people in the gates to hang out with each other in the same place for the whole day when we’re in the middle of a pandemic that has taken the lives of only slightly more Americans.
Read MoreOn Sunday, a noose was found in Bubba Wallace’s garage at Talladega, prompting a solidarity walk with Wallace on Monday and an FBI investigation. Officials later said that the noose had been there for months. Today, NASCAR released a picture of the noose, along with the baffling results of its internal investigation.
Read MoreLast year, we lost a legend in the automotive community. Jessi Combs, world-class fabricator, show host, off-road racing champion and all around gearhead, died after her jet car crashed while attempting to break the women’s land speed record on August 27, 2019 in the Alvord Desert in Oregon. Her attempt was entered posthumously into the The Guinness Book Of World Records yesterday, reaffirming once again that Combs truly was and is the fastest woman on four wheels.
Read MoreIn January of this year the Paul Miller Racing Lamborghini, driven by Bryan Sellers, Andrea Calderelli, Corey Lewis, and Madison Snow stormed to victory in the GTD class of IMSA’s blue riband 24 Hours of Daytona race. With the series forced to halt racing in the face of the global coronavirus pandemic, you will still see the PMR car at the top of the points standings for the 2020 season, as no races have been run since Daytona. As the series prepares to come back to the track with a second, albe
Read MoreUnder normal circumstances, teams from all over the world would be preparing for the 2020 running of the Spa 24 Hour race. The event was originally scheduled for late July, but was postponed due to the global coronavirus pandemic. The Spa endurance race for GT cars has had its start moved to October 24, which just happens to be the same date that central European summer time is scheduled to end. The race will still begin and end at 15:30, but clocks move back during the overnight hours, adding a
Read MoreJust before today’s race, the entire field of NASCAR teams helped push racer Bubba Wallace’s No. 43 car through pit lane today in a display of solidarity after a noose was found in the Black driver’s garage last night.
Read MoreIt was a dark day at Talladega Superspeedway in Lincoln, Alabama, on Sunday. Two incidents, one which directly threatened the life of NASCAR’s only Black driver, proved that change will not be coming to the racing series overnight.
Read MoreAmong endurance racers, Mexican ace Pedro Rodriguez doesn’t really get his due. In fact, there’s never been a Jalopnik article solely dedicated to the man. But Rodriguez had a special talent. He knew how to drive in the rain. Like really well. And that’s what this blog is all about.
Read MoreThe protagonist in this story, a delightfully athletic Italian mezzo-soprano, sings a dramatic solo at center stage. This is a tale of destiny, one of chasing your goal with all of your being, of pushing yourself past the breaking point to get what you want. Nay, deserve. In the face of pressure from its adversaries, in the shadow of time itself, this wonderful Ferrari 308GTB Group 4 pushes through the pain, shouting its glorious frustration the entire way. I can feel it at the very core of my b
Read MoreThe 24 Hours of Le Mans works in cycles. It has a stretch of years where the race is a battle between highly-funded manufacturers followed by a mass exodus where the long-faithful privateers can swoop in and earn a little bit of glory. The last time a racing team rather than a manufacturer won the race was 1997 when a merely Porsche-supported Joest took the checkered flag with a modified Tom Walkinshaw Jaguar XJR-14 with the roof cut off. Since then it’s been Audi, Peugeot, Porsche, and Toyota.
Read MoreMcLaren has been hit hard by the coronavirus pandemic and the resulting massive drop in sales. Following the redundancy of 1200 McLaren Group employees, the company has been searching for sources of extra funding to keep everything flowing. First revealed by Sky News and confirmed by Autosport, McLaren is apparently looking to offload as much as 30 percent of McLaren Racing, which includes both its Formula One and IndyCar concerns.
Read MoreWhile American racing series pushed forward with returns to on-track action over a month ago as this country’s coronavirus numbers continued to worsen, European series have been a bit more apprehensive to jump back in. Where NASCAR has been racing twice a week for a month, travelling throughout the Southeast, Formula E remains in stasis. On Wednesday the global electric open wheel series announced its plan to hold six races to end the 2019-20 season. It’ll happen in August with all six races at
Read MoreSports car racer and Indianapolis 500 veteran James Davison will enter his first NASCAR oval race this Sunday at Talladega. The 33-year-old Australian racer will join the Spire Motorsports team for a one-off event in his first ever trip to Talladega Motor Speedway. In a normal season this wouldn’t really be worthy of discussion, but this Sunday’s race will happen without any practice or qualifying sessions. Davison will get into the car for the first time on Sunday at 3PM Eastern to run the Geic
Read MoreIt’s been nearly two weeks since Formula One announced its plans to continue the 2020 season with a new schedule and no fans in the stands. Now the series has detailed some more of its plans to maintain social distance and they’ll significantly change the spectator experience. Even if you’re home on the couch.
Read MoreLe Mans 1991 shouldn’t have belonged to Mazda. The competition was fierce. How could a Japanese also-ran brand even compete with Porsche, Mercedes, BMW, Jaguar, and the rest? With a little grit and a screaming four-rotor motor is how.
Read MoreChip Ganassi Racing is a team that has made a serious name for itself in motorsport over the last thirty years, winning in IndyCar, NASCAR, sports cars, and rallycross. The team has over 200 wins across all categories, including four Indy 500 wins and further wins in the Daytona 500, Brickyard 400, 24 Hours of Daytona, 12 Hours of Sebring, and 24 Hours of Le Mans, among others. It has now joined the electric off road championship Extreme E, and hired its first female driver ever to race in that
Read MoreMany of you watching last night’s NASCAR race may have experienced a bit of deja vu as you watched a pit crew pull out a massive powered cutoff wheel and starting hacking their Toyota to pieces. But unlike the last time it happened, it’s totally within the rules this time.
Read MoreThe world of high-level international motorsport has gotten too expensive to continue at its current pace of development. That’s just a fact. Porsche has reduced its GTE plan from four cars to just two, pulling out of IMSA effective at the end of this season. BMW similarly withdrew from FIA WEC at the end of last season. Ford pulled its entire GT program. Corvette isn’t even going to race at Le Mans this year! And who knows what’s going to happen to Aston Martin’s team. The full effects of the c
Read MoreNASCAR has banned the Confederate flag following the recent wave of Black Lives Matter protests across the country after decades of efforts and weak concessions. Let the flag-shredding burnouts commence.
Read MoreA little over a year ago the 24 Hours of Lemons introduced a $50,000 prize for the first team to win one of the series’ many races on full electric power. In order to make such a thing even remotely possible, the series exempted the cost of EV powertrains from its series-wide $500 budget cap. Thus far only two teams have even attempted to race EVs in Lemons, but progress is being made and it gives me all kinds of fuzzy feelings inside.
Read MoreThe W Series had a short but interesting debut season in 2019, and looked promising with a 2020 schedule that saw the all-women open wheel series playing to an international crowd. Not only was the series scheduled to join DTM weekends in Russia, Sweden, Italy, Germany, The UK, and the Netherlands, but it was planned to run in front of Formula One crowds at COTA and Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez. On Thursday it was announced that due to scheduling complications caused by the lengthy coronavirus l
Read MoreChinese electric car maker NIO announced that its 136 automated battery swap stations have completed half a million battery swaps thus far. Strategically located along China’s most congested highways, these swap stations allow NIO drivers to pull in with a depleted battery and haul ass out of the station in a few minutes with a new fully charged battery locked and loaded. For everyone who cries about long charge times, this whole process allegedly takes just three minutes from start to stop.
Read MoreOn Tuesday, Formula One announced a plan to return to racing next month. The plan involves eight rounds at six tracks in continental Europe and the UK taking place over July, August, and September. The races will happen without fans in the stands, and the series says it will operate ‘under the strongest safety procedures.’ Later in the day, F1 CEO Chase Carey confirmed that the races will go on even if drivers get sick or teams withdraw.
Read MoreFormula One is making its return on the first weekend of July, tentatively kicking off eight races thus far. What’s interesting is not just that they’ll be held with no fans, but also that they’ll include two double-headers.
Read MoreTwo weeks ago NASCAR returned to racing after a lengthy hiatus due to the international spread and subsequent breakdown of society caused by the covid-19 virus. Now Barstool-sponsored Stewart-Haas Ford driver Clint Bowyer is whining about how its not as fun to race without fans in the stands, and has unilaterally decided that it is time to bring them back. Health risks be damned.
Read MoreStarting June 15th and ending June 22nd, auction house RM Sotheby’s is partnering with the FIA, racing teams, and drivers to host a coronavirus charity auction to benefit the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies. In addition to a day on the Ferrari simulator and some race-worn gear donated by drivers, Toyota stepped up to donate a complete TF109 Formula One car [engine and gearbox included!] for the auction.
Read MoreIf you’re like most Americans, you have a lot of interest and pride in the space program, but you feel a continual sense of resentment that you haven’t been consulted on matters relating to how astronauts relieve themselves of bodily wastes. Some of us have taken matters into our own hands, but for those of you who wish to be more responsible but still in the loop when it comes to astronauts defecating and urinating, I have really good news, because NASA is actively seeking public input on the d
Read MoreEvery so often, I like to have a “woah, man” moment. Usually, it can take hours of watching documentaries about space and physics (yes, even while sober) to get to the mind-blowing moment. However, one of my favorite channels posted a video last month illustrating the true speed of light, and it might just blow your mind in just over three minutes.
Read MoreI’d think that even casual dorks interested in humanity’s actual space programs would be aware of the very first joint mission between two spacefaring countries: the Apollo-Soyuz Test Project of 1975, where an American Apollo spacecraft and a Soviet Soyuz spacecraft docked in Earth’s orbit, allowing the crews to have a famous space handshake, work together, and try out one another’s food-in-tubes. What I didn’t realize was that, initially, the mission was supposed to me much grander in scope, wi
Read MoreElectric GT has done some cool EV-swap projects for old cars. The outfit’s probably best known for building the electric manual-shift Ferrari that made the rounds a few years ago. Now its offerings are expanding to enable more electric retrofits for a wider range of classics.
Read MoreEarlier in June the German government announced a huge economic stimulus package with sweeping incentives pushing the country toward an electric transit future. In all, the country will be spending some 130 billion euros on an economic recovery plan that involves cash for Germans buying electric cars, a widespread growth of its charging infrastructure, and investment in public transit.
Read MoreA bunch of geniuses have tried to copy hydro-dipping, a common manufacturing technique for painting helmets and padding and other surfaces, to paint a full-sized Honda Civic using a crane to dip the car in a dumpster.
Read MoreI was really, really tempted to do a more click-baity headline there and not tell you why this Chinese EV designed for Driving Schools was so weird, but I feel like I’m already kind of pushing it lately with this glut of Chinese car content, so I backed off. But, I assure you, you need to see this because it’s so wonderfully, perversely, deeply weird. It’s an EV with an entirely fake manual transmission. It’s sort of like a driving simulator that’s also a real, un-simulated car. It’s a mindfuck
Read MoreTesla CEO Elon Musk announced today the company is the first automaker to break the impressive 400-mile production electric vehicle benchmark. It wasn’t some all-new car, but instead with the Tesla Model S Long Range Plus you can buy yourself right now.
Read MoreMany people see automotive electrification as an open door for quick and easy performance and platform hacks and upgrades, possibly just done at home. While we’re currently in the wild west of this sort of performance hacking, just keep in mind that Tesla isn’t going to put up with it for long.
Read MoreToyota’s made no secret of its hydrogen fuel cell ambitions. A new joint venture with five companies in China means it’s digging in even deeper.
Read MoreBlue Indy was a car sharing program in Indianapolis, Ind. which operated for almost five years, securing around 11,000 users and generating around 180,000 rides. Now Blue Indy is dead, and many of its unique Pininfarina-designed Bolloré BlueCar units are sitting in junkyards waiting to be scrapped. Why scrap perfectly good cars when they could have been sold to me instead?
Read MoreHey, remember Dieselgate? The zombie Volkswagen emissions scandal that started approximately three hundred lifetimes ago in 2015? VW apparently isn’t done feeling the ill effects of its bid to trick customers and regulators into thinking its diesel engines were less polluting than they actually were. A new court ruling in the U.S. means VW could be out much, much more cash.
Read MoreTesla has been skyrocketing in value but hasn’t reached the acme, Byton is in trouble, and the Geneva Motor Show might be done for good. All that and more in The Morning Shift for June 30, 2020.
Read MoreAmerican Airlines flights booked to capacity in two days won’t be the only thing taking off, Ford has to try to launch its best-seller in quarantine, and the industry is in a panic now that they can’t market pickups to sports fans. All that and more in The Morning Shift for Monday, June 29, 2020.
Read MorePeople are flying less so cobalt is getting cheaper, California is imposing a strict zero-emissions mandate on heavy-duty trucks, and Amazon is reportedly investing in an autonomous car company. All that and more in The Morning Shift for June 26, 2020.
Read MoreThe auto industry thinks things ... might be getting better soon, the Fiat Chrysler-Peugeot merger is moving along, and Tesla. All that and more in The Morning Shift for June 25, 2020.
Read MoreI would have thought that the federal government would be casting another eye on the misleading terminology of Autopilot, but that would be asking too much, I guess. That and more in The Morning Shift for Wednesday, June 24, 2020.
Read MoreTraffic may rise higher than pre-virus levels for awhile during recovery, GM has a diversity board now, and congress will re-litigate the Department of Justice’s automaker emissions antitrust probe this week. All that and more in The Morning Shift for Tuesday, June 23, 2020.
Read MoreAutomakers discover remote work, and they don’t hate it. Fiat Chrysler and Ford will be at full pre-COVID vehicle production levels this week. BMW is making strategic cuts. The Jeep Cherokee gets recalled for rollaway concerns. All that and more in The Morning Shift for Monday, June 22, 2020.
Read MoreThe Big Three reopened their assembly lines last month, and stories have been rolling in on new cases and plant shutdowns since then. But the auto industry now is trying to take a victory lap over “no major outbreaks,” as Reuters reports. All that and more in The Morning Shift for Thursday, June 18, 2020.
Read MoreA lot of 2020 Chevy Corvettes are going to be late, the Carlos Ghosn kidnappers are talking too much, coronavirus is not gone, coronavirus is NOT gone, coronavirus is NOT GONE. All that and more in the Morning Shift for Wednesday, June 17, 2020.
Read MoreThe auto industry is heating back up, Tesla is reportedly in talks about incentives for a Cybertruck plant in Austin, and the UAW is trying to move on from its corruption scandal. All that and more in The Morning Shift for June 16, 2020.
Read MorePeople really want used cars right now, Jaguar’s parent company is in bad shape, and there’s more evidence the fix was probably in for Carlos Ghosn. All that and more in The Morning Shift for June 15, 2020.
Read MoreThe lamest lawsuit in the car world just sided with the boring guys, GM is refusing to shut down a plant seeing case after case of coronavirus, and we still aren’t buying many cars online. All that and more in The Morning Shift for Friday, June 12, 2020.
Read MoreStartups like Tesla and Nikola are enjoying valuation surges while Ford struggles to make waves, covid-19 is far from gone, and Uber keeps learning business lessons the hard way. All that and more in The Morning Shift for Thursday, June 11, 2020.
Read MoreFord is quickly ramping up production, Elon Musk really wants Semi production to start already, and Ford and Volkswagen remain smitten with each other. All that and more in The Morning Shift for June 10, 2020.
Read MoreThe CEO of the world’s biggest carmaker is sorry; travel dropped during the lockdown, but not as much as you might think; and a truckmaker with no revenue is valued in the billions. All that and more in The Morning Shift for June 9, 2020.
Read MoreNissan may be giving up on commercial vans, the EU has antitrust concerns about the FCA-PSA merger, dealers are worried about a pickup truck shortage in the U.S., Europe is pushing for cleaner cars. All that and more in the Morning Shift for Monday, June 8, 2020.
Read MoreSelf-driving cars may only reduce a third of annual traffic fatalities. The used car market and airliners are attempting a comeback with promise. Bentley just laid off a ton of people. All that and more in the Morning Shift for Tax Day! Friday, June 5, 2020.
Read MoreFirst it built an EV and then took them back from users and crushed them. Then it made an EV that turned out to be a hybrid. Then it made an EV that’s just a midsize hatchback nobody wants. Now GM has a new plan for an electric vehicle, and I am starting to think the company will do anything to get one in your driveway. All that and more in The Morning Shift for Thursday, June 4, 2020.
Read MoreCar sales are up for Volvo, car sales are up in the U.S., and Renault is finally getting a big loan. All that and more in The Morning Shift for June 3, 2020.
Read MoreFord and the UAW respond to the protests that have spread across the country after police killed George Floyd, American automakers have restarted operations in Mexico, car sales are looking good in China, and VW and Ford finalize a big autonomous car agreement. All that and more in The Morning Shift for Tuesday, June 2, 2020.
Read MoreInfiniti just got screwed by Nissan, North American supply lines are all messed up, but Europe’s May car sales indicate recovery is coming. All that and more in The Morning Shift for Monday, June 1, 2020.
Read MoreThe first-generation Volkswagen Touareg is remarkably similar to the modern Jeep Grand Cherokee, which is why this recent off-road comparison by TFL Car is so fascinating. Watch the two machines—separated by 13 model-years—strut their stuff on the rocks.
Read MoreGeneral Motors just secured a $214.3 million contract with the U.S. army to build Infantry Squad Vehicles, or ISVs. The machines, each capable of carrying up to nine troops, is heavily based on the Chevy Colorado ZR2 diesel, and is designed to provide “rapid ground mobility.” Just look at this beast.
Read MoreWe’ve had the Jeep Gladiator for a little more than a year now. It’s a great truck. It’s capable off-road. It’s got pretty good towing chops. It looks cool too. But it isn’t selling particularly well anymore, and the recent downturn isn’t likely to help that case very much. But I have an idea. Drop that bed and make it a chassis-cab. It’s super simple.
Read MoreEverything about the name “Antarctic Snow Cruiser” fires up my imagination. This long-forgotten behemoth was so ahead of its time and so doomed for failure that I was surprised to find that, somehow, Jalopnik’s never really delved deep into this fascinating vehicle.
Read More“It was a great idea... until it wasn’t” said Jordan Jensen, a Texas-based drift-car enthusiast who attempted to take the cab off of his 2009 Ford F-450 tow rig using a big tree and a chain hoist. The tree branch snapped, denting the Super Duty’s roof and dropping the cab into a precarious position on the frame.
Read MoreAnybody worried the Ford Raptor wouldn’t come back for the new generation of the Ford F-150 that debuted last night should feel fine. Anybody who was hoping to sell their truck for a price-gouging fortune in the next few years is just going to have to wait until they bend the frame before they get rid of it like everybody else.
Read MoreThe all-new Lordstown Motors Endurance electric pickup truck finally debuted to a near-maskless crowd in Lordstown, Ohio this afternoon, with a drivetrain that supposedly only features four moving parts: a hub motor driving each wheel.
Read MoreI don’t know if it’s necessarily a good idea that late this summer we’ll get a Hellcat-powered Ram TRX, but it looks like it’s happening. Brace for impact, everybody.
Read MoreThe 2021 Ford F-150 will be an entirely new generation of F-150, the very first since the 2015 model year. Ford’s new cash-cow pickup will get a flat-folding front passenger seat that, according to Reuters’ source, will allow a person to “basically live in the truck.”
Read MoreToday, a story about Nikola, a startup that is valued in the billions despite having no revenue, appeared on Bloomberg, headlined “Nikola Founder Exaggerated the Capability of His Debut Truck.” Within about an hour, Nikola’s founder was rage-tweeting, calling for the author of the story to be fired and promising a lawsuit.
Read MoreMazda just revealed its new Isuzu D-Max-based pickup truck, and it looks awesome. It’s called the Mazda BT-50, and it proves that Mazda’s corporate face looks good on any type of automobile.
Read MoreBack in 1995, Toyota was tasked with building a new all-terrain transport for the Japan Ground Self Defense Force, or JASDF. Clearly taking inspiration from the American Humvee, the vehicle Toyota put together combined off-road expertise gleaned from decades of Land Cruiser production with packaging big enough for military use. The result was the Mega Cruiser.
Read MoreThe color-changing iridescent wrap on this Jimco Hammerhead will, tragically, get scratched and scored to hell by rocks and dust a few miles into its first race but it looks pretty badass in a studio. Take a closer look here at some of the details of this Class 1 racing car.
Read MoreThe patina wars are getting heated these days, but as of today—June 10, 2020—the champion of the “Jalopnik Perfect Patina Award” is this 1957 Ford F-100 spotted by a St. Petersburg, Florida-based reader named John. Look at these pictures, and you’ll agree.
Read MoreThe 2021 Ford Bronco is coming, and it’s going to have a manual transmission. Automotive publication The Fast Lane Car has some excellent photos of the shift knob, as well as great under the hood and underbody shots of the upcoming Jeep Wrangler fighter. Check them out.
Read MoreThere are so many off-road LED companies it’s hard to keep them straight, but I do like the look of Vision X’s Unite modular light bar that lets you snap lights onto a track like Legos.
Read MoreTruckers need to handle incredibly unwieldy loads sometimes, and watching the logistics of maneuvering something huge with a delicate touch is a sight to behold. A recent video from earlier this month reminded me of how complicated our trucking can get.
Read MoreBig rock versus little truck: Witness the dramatic and harrowing one-minute 48-second saga in Low-Definition Vertical Video with rare expert commentary right here!
Read MoreThe 2021 Ford Bronco debut has been one of the strangest ones in automotive history. Between the 2004 concept car that built anticipation for over a decade, loads of mule spy shots and speculation about hardware, Ford’s teaser videos, incredibly detailed leaked photos of both the Bronco and baby Bronco, and delay caused by the coronavirus, the Bronco reveal has been a whirlwind. But now it’s coming to an end.
Read MoreSomeone found an old factory-made screen window for the first-gen Mitsubishi Montero and shared it to the Mitsubishi Monteros USA Facebook group recently. Naturally, I think it’s cool as hell. Why didn’t these catch on?
Read MoreI was drowning my sorrows in car-buying fantasies the other day at Ford’s build-and-price site spec’ing out Rangers and realized, hey, there are a lot more neat factory-available accessories than I would have thought. Since I know many of you are on my level of truck nerdiness, I feel inclined to share this.
Read MoreNew full-size trucks with manual transmissions no longer exist in the U.S. after the departure of the 2018 Ram 2500. This means, if you want to row your own gears in a big truck, you have to buy used. The good news is that there’s lots of cool stuff on the market, including this single-model year-only Dodge Ram 2500 with a V10 and a stick. Yes, you read that right: a V10 and a stick.
Read MoreHumble sport compact cars that were popular tuning platforms in the early 2000s are now having a renaissance as collector’s items. The aftermarket for cars like this has always been pretty robust, but Spoon’s Timeless Collection signifies a new phase of evolution for this scene.
Read MoreProject POStal—my 1976 Jeep DJ-5 Postal Jeep—is officially dead. The Jeep, which started out as a hopeless pile of rust when I bought it two years ago for $500, came back to life last spring and completed an epic 4,000 mile road trip to the off-road trails of Moab, Utah. But despite having wrenched the Jeep into a dead-reliable machine, I decided to sell it. Now it’s in a junkyard.
Read MoreA carpenter from Maine named Eric Carlson finds himself in a predicament. Money is tight, and he’s got access to four cars—a Chevy Corvair, a Ford F-100, a Volvo 240, and a Volvo XC70—but they’re all broken. He has to choose where to invest his limited time and money, so he’s reached out to car enthusiasts for advice. Let’s see if we can help him out.
Read MoreThe end of an era is upon us. David Tracy’s House of Misfit Jeeps—once a Michigan institution known for championing the potential of, and giving hope to, even the most down-in-the-dumps automobiles—is going to have to go through a bit of a transformation after five years of high-intensity, unrestricted wrenching. This comes after a heartless Ebenezer complained to the city about the aesthetics of the property.
Read MoreMost of us love a fully restored car. We marvel at the skill and time it must take to make something old and utilitarian new again. But what about the tools and odd bits of machinery left over from decades of industrialism? Don’t they also deserve to shine once again? There is a community devoted to breathing life back into these gems, and the videos of the rejuvenation process are enough to satisfy even the casual gearhead.
Read MoreSo you’ve been wanting to work on your own car more and heard “one of the best tools is a repair manual.” True, but they’re never as easy as Lego instructions. Today I’ve got some tips on getting the most out of a dense, boring car manual so you can use one more effectively.
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