Archive for June 2021

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Audi (2)

  • The 2022 Audi RS3's Fancy New E-Diff Is Made For Drifting

    The next-gen Audi RS3 is nearly upon us. We know it’ll have the proper engine, as the company not-so-subtly teased by inscribing the firing order of the RS3's turbocharged five-cylinder on the side of its camouflaged wrap. While Audi’s not quite ready to spill all the beans on its next compact sport sedan (or wagon for lucky customers outside the U.S.), it is offering a sneak peek into a major component: the RS Torque Splitter.

    By Adam Ismail Read More

Beyond Cars (8)

BMW (1)

  • The BMW 4 Series Gran Coupe Continues To Answer Questions Nobody Asked

    BMW introduced the second generation of the 4 Series Gran Coupe on Wednesday, marking the epitome of Bavarian “let’s see if we can create a niche within a niche” confusion. The Gran Coupe continues to be an answer to a question no one ever asked. It’s a Gran Coupe for your Gran, I guess.

    By Lawrence Hodge Read More

Boatlopnik (12)

  • Big Boat Wreaks Havoc At Port

    The hits literally keep coming for the shipping industry. A massive cargo ship, the Cap San Antonio, crashed into a ferry dock at the Port of Santos in Brazil on Monday, and an investigation is now underway to find out what happened, per CNN Brasil.

    By José Rodríguez Jr. Read More

  • Everything From Snuggies To IKEA Products Still Stuck On The Ever Given

    The big, beautiful Ever Given is still stuck in the Suez Canal, trapped now by the legal wrangling of insurance companies, shipping conglomerates and a whole country. And with the ship stuck, so too is the cargo and some of the crew. We’re learning more about what is on the Ever Given, and how long it might be stuck there. It turns out, it’s not just garden gnomes that have been held up since March.

    By Erin Marquis Read More

  • Four Rescued From Boat Just As It Was About To Go Over 36-Foot Dam

    Friendly reminder: Make sure to pay very close attention when boating on a lake or reservoir that has a dam. Four female passengers enjoying a summer day on a rad classic powerboat were reminded of that handy tip when they needed to be rescued from almost going over the Longhorn Dam on Lady Bird Lake near Austin, Texas, on Thursday, KXAN NBC News reported.

    By Lawrence Hodge Read More

  • If You're Rich Enough Bentley Will Design Your Yacht To Match Your Car

    Don’t you just hate when you buy a Bentley and then you go down to your private dock and realize “Shit, my yacht doesn’t match my car!” It’s a relatable problem. Well, now that’s a horror of the past, as Bentley’s customization arm Bentley Design Services can help you make that match happen. They did just that for a customer and their private yacht.

    By Lawrence Hodge Read More

  • The E1 Electric Powerboat Championship Racebird Boat Looks Straight Out Of Star Wars

    Call it the Formula E of the Sea if you like, the E1 series is the newest in a series of electric racing championships pushed forward by Alejandro Agag. You may know Agag as the founder of the Formula E and Extreme E championships, and E1 is the third leg of this electrified stool, off-shore powerboat racing, but make it electric. These new renderings of the so-called E1 Racebird look almost nothing like the original renderings the series put out late last year, but they look more polished and r

    By Bradley Brownell Read More

  • The Queen Mary Might Have A Chance After All. Maybe.

    The RMS Queen Mary has been neglected. After its most recent owner left the ship in disrepair, it seemed no one would step up to save the old girl. That may change though, as the L.A. Times reports that the city of Long Beach has finally stepped up to take control of the ship.

    By Lawrence Hodge Read More

  • The Queen Mary Is At Risk Of Sinking Or Capsizing Within The Next Few Years

    The Queen Mary has been an iconic staple of Long Beach and Southern California in general for over 50 years. Sitting in Long Beach Harbor, the old ocean liner (it’ll be 87 years this September since she was launched) has attracted thousands of tourists over the years with its hotel, attractions and various holiday events. All that could be gone soon. A report ordered up by the city of Long Beach details the extensive repairs needed to keep the Queen Mary afloat, according to the Long Beach Post.

    By Lawrence Hodge Read More

  • Suez Canal Authority Blames Ever Given Accident On Ship's Captain

    Remember the Ever Given? How could you forget — it’s one of the largest shipping container vessels in the world and its still sitting in the Great Bitter Lake after spending six days lodged in the Suez Canal back in March. Now we know how it got stuck in the first place, at least, according to Egyptian authorities.

    By Erin Marquis Read More

Buying (37)

  • Jeep Is Making A Loki-Themed Renegade For Italy And It's The Wrong Color

    Do you like the Jeep Renegade? It’s an honest question — I’m not trying to imply the car is bad or anything, but I also never hear anyone talking about it (OK, except one guy) nor do I tend to see them on the road. Which is kind of surprising considering that the prospect of a tiny Jeep was so exciting when the Renegade arrived on the scene six years ago.

    By Adam Ismail Read More

  • You Can Still Buy Right-Hand-Drive Wranglers From Jeep

    A long-time favorite of fleet buyers like delivery services and the Post Office (not since 1984 though), if you’re interested, you can buy a Wrangler Unlimited in right-hand drive. In case you forgot, Uptons_Bjs on Reddit reminded us all that if you want something brand new (not 25 years old) that’s RHD, Jeep will supply.

    By Lawrence Hodge Read More

  • There's A Dealer Marking Up New 2020 Dodge Journeys

    Everyone knows that inventory is tight right now and that right now, dealerships are not shy about charging full MSRP and in some cases over sticker for “regular” cars—not just hard-to-find models. However, there is one brave Dodge dealer in Georgia that is putting a market adjustment on what arguably is one of the least desirable “new” cars you can buy.

    By Tom McParland Read More

  • Jaguar's Plan For The Future Is To Lean Further Into Weird

    Despite efforts to shake a perception of poor reliability and punch up its slim lineup with some sleek SUVs, Jaguar remains out of step with the times. The XF, which our Erik Shilling drove back in May, is a perfectly good midsize luxury sedan in a world where most people don’t want sedans and those that do tend to buy an 5 Series or E-Class.

    By Adam Ismail Read More

  • Are Dealers Getting Worse With Bogus Fees In This Current Market?

    As Jalopnik’s resident car-buying expert and a professional car shopper, I get emails. Lots of emails. I’ve picked a few of your questions and will try to help out. This week we are talking about an increase in bogus dealer fees and how to manage the end of a lease when the automaker doesn’t allow for a third-party buyout.

    By Tom McParland Read More

  • An Incredibly Rare Air-Cooled VW Prototype Is Up For Sale In South Africa

    One of my favorite things about the old air-cooled Volkswagen platform is how astoundingly flexible it was. The same basic drivetrain and chassis was the basis for an absurdly varied collection of vehicles, from the original Beetle to the sporty Karmann Ghia to the jeep-like VW Thing to the Brasilia little wagon to three-box sedans and on and on. VW’s South African branch even had plans to turn the Beetle into something that looks a lot like an SUV. That one didn’t quite make it to production bu

    By Jason Torchinsky Read More

  • What's The Best Kind Of Car To Buy In This Inflated Market?

    As Jalopnik’s resident car-buying expert and a professional car shopper, I get emails. Lots of emails. I’ve picked a few of your questions and will try to help out. This week we are discussing the best kind of car to buy in a market where everything seems overpriced and a conundrum regarding an uncomfortable Subaru.

    By Tom McParland Read More

  • You Can Now Buy A Polestar 1 With Art

    Are you a car-less artist who can’t seem to find a vehicle? Well, have I got a deal for you! Polestar has announced that for a limited time, artists can use their art to purchase a Polestar 1. Insert big ass asterisk here though, because there’s a catch.

    By Lawrence Hodge Read More

  • Used Car Prices And Rental Car Rates Continue To Rise To Absolutely Bonkers Levels

    We mentioned over the weekend that used car prices appear to still be climbing, and now we have some hard data on just how ridiculous the rise actually is. The Consumer Price Index released by the U.S. Labor Department Thursday shows used car prices rose another 7.5 percent last month, after rising 10 percent in April for a 30 percent rise for the year so far, the New York Times reports.

    By Erin Marquis Read More

  • Lamborghini Is Almost Sold Out For 2021

    The ultra-rich have fared great in the pandemic, and the merely rich have done just fine as well. It’s of little surprise that Lamborghini, which makes supercars for the idle rich, says it’s almost sold out for 2021.

    By Erik Shilling Read More

  • The New Kia Sportage Has Lovably Complex Looks

    The 2022 Kia Sportage is “all-new” in Kia’s words, which is marketing but usually “all-new” also indicates that it is a new generation, itself also marketing but a form of marketing we have generally agreed to accept, given that there frequently are big differences between generations of cars. This new one, for example, looks a whole lot different.

    By Erik Shilling Read More

  • How Long Does A Used Car Have To Sit Until The Dealer Comes Down On Price?

    As Jalopnik’s resident car-buying expert and a professional car shopper, I get emails. Lots of emails. I’ve picked a few of your questions and will try to help out. This week we are discussing how long a car has to sit on the lot before a dealer will wiggle on price and manage stores that will only accept in-house financing.

    By Tom McParland Read More

  • Subprime Auto Lender Is A Little Grumpy About Its Bad Month

    Credit Acceptance, which is engaged in the nasty business that is subprime auto lending, issued a strange filing last week to the Securities and Exchange Commission. It disclosed, voluntarily, that Credit Acceptance’s loan volume was down 44.3 percent in May compared to last year, a startlingly high number.

    By Erik Shilling Read More

  • The Volkswagen Touareg V10 TDI Could Turn A Superhero Into A Villain

    I just flew out to Seattle to buy a 2006 Volkswagen Touareg V10 TDI, a vehicle so infamously expensive to repair that any one visit to the dealership could cost as much as a whole new car. Not only did the Touareg make it the 2,100 miles home, but it did it without even triggering a check engine light. And, I should mention, the engine under the hood of this SUV has the power to corrupt even the best drivers.

    By Mercedes Streeter Read More

  • A Mere Mortal's Guide To The 2021 Rolls-Royce Ghost

    I was behind the wheel of the 2021 Rolls-Royce Ghost for about fifteen minutes before I found myself on the phone with Jalopnik alum Alanis King. It was with an immense sense of shame that I had to ask, “How do you get that flying lady hood ornament to pop out on the Ghost?”

    By Elizabeth Blackstock Read More

  • Mazda's Funky MX-30 EV Is High Style, High Price, Low Range

    Everyone knows the key to a successful EV is to have USP. You know this, I know this, and Mazda knows it too which is why it’s given its first-ever EV something they call “freestyle doors” that are essentially the same sort of rear-hinged doors you got with the RX-8. Tesla has its network of superchargers, the Porsche Taycan has its badge, and the BMW i3 has its rear hinged doors. Oh wait. The difference here is the Mazda MX-30 is a crossover as opposed to a hatchback. Crossovers are trendy.

    By Ken Saito Read More

  • GM Is Being Sued Over Destination Charges

    Destination charges have been rising industry wide. No one knows why. Automakers are aware of it as well. It’s why they advertise vehicle MSRP’s without them. And the charges vary between vehicles and make no sense. A basic Cadillac CT4 has a $1,195 destination charge while a CT4-V Blackwing has a $995 destination charge. Could it be greed? Apparently, some customers think so, as Car Complaints and GM Authority report a class action suit has been filed against GM over the charges.

    By Lawrence Hodge Read More

  • The Jaguar F-Type Lineup Is All V8s For 2022

    We need to be honest about something: Jaguar does seem to know what it wants to do. A recent report from Automotive News said the company had given up chasing the Germans. This is after spending $700 million to upgrade facilities to do just that. Now the company wants to go eco and electrify its whole lineup by the end of this decade. The F-Type didn’t seem to get either memo, though, as engines for the coupe and convertible sports car are V8 only for the new model year.

    By Lawrence Hodge Read More

  • The 2022 Buick Enclave Is Still Trying To Be American Luxury

    In the old days, what kind of GM you drove was a signal, starting, in reverse order of luxury, with Chevy on the bottom, then Pontiac, then Oldsmobile, then Buick, then Cadillac. These days, two of those brands don’t exist anymore, while Buick isn’t quite ready to give up its place in the pecking order.

    By Erik Shilling Read More

  • How Do I Get A Used Car Inspected When They Sell So Fast?

    As Jalopnik’s resident car-buying expert and a professional car shopper, I get emails. Lots of emails. I’ve picked a few of your questions and will try to help out. This week I am discussing the challenges of a pre-purchase inspection in this bonkers used car market, and whether or not a purchase order is a “contract.”

    By Tom McParland Read More

Culture (74)

  • Chrysler Once Offered The Classiest And Least Expected Option For A Coupé

    Once, long ago, there was an automotive concept known as a personal luxury car. This was a two-door car, but not an economy car or a sports car, or even a GT car. It was a luxurious car for classy people, people who chug expensive liquors and eat caviar by the dripping fistful. It was, however, still a two-door car, which is why this particular option for the 1967 to 1968 Chrysler Imperial, known as the Mobile Director package, is so damn weird.

    By Jason Torchinsky Read More

  • I've Figured Out How AMC Could Have Beaten VW In The 1960s

    Everyone, please, remain calm. Relax. I just want you all to be aware that I have the situation totally under control, and I think it’s going to work out just fine, as long as your goal is to somehow make the now-defunct American Motors Corporation a much more competitive entity from the 1960s onward, likely to the point of remaining in existence into the present day. You in? Of course you are.

    By Jason Torchinsky Read More

  • A Startup Wants To Make The Quattro Spiritual Successor Audi Won't

    It seems every other week we’re catching wind of an ambitious startup restomodding some beloved classic, or developing an unofficial sequel to a car that enthusiasts desperately miss. Personally, I’m finding it hard to stay excited for every announcement. But E-Legend’s EL-1 is different, because it’s absolutely blown me away with its looks.

    By Adam Ismail Read More

  • Watch This Gearhead Make A Working Engine Out Of Wood

    A budding gearhead is building a functional, V8-powered hot rod model all by himself — which is impressive on its own — and he’s building the thing mostly out of wood! That means cutting, sanding, gluing, and sanding some more. The model appeared on Reddit, and it leads to the carpenter’s YT channel.

    By José Rodríguez Jr. Read More

  • A Reader Dreamed About A Really Hard Car Riddle So Now You Get To Try It

    One of the things I really appreciate about my job is that I get to publicly reveal myself and my car-thoughts to such a degree and with such candor that I think many readers end up feeling like they know me. This, in turn, makes some readers feel comfortable enough to reach out to me with all sorts of things, including one reader, also named Jason, who had a dream he had to tell me about. A dream with a car riddle in it. A really hard car riddle.

    By Jason Torchinsky Read More

  • Tesla Owner Sued Tesla Over False Supercharger Claims

    One Tesla owner is suing the company for what he posits as a false claim: he was promised free charging of his EV at Superchargers for life, but he was charged for leaving his car at the station for too long, Bloomberg reports.

    By Elizabeth Blackstock Read More

  • This Day In History: Route 66 Is Decertified

    Route 66 is easily America’s most iconic highway system but on this day in 1985, the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials officially voted to decertify the road and remove all the highway signs.

    By Elizabeth Blackstock Read More

  • We Unintentionally (And Legally) Ended Up Cannonballing To Watkins Glen

    There is a certain kind of pain unique to waiting for your car to return from the repair shop when you have places to be. I grew up with that pain; my family tended to drive cars that needed a lot of work, and I spent more than one morning waiting in the mechanic shop’s parking lot waiting for the first workers to filter in and return our car to us so we could get to school on time. It’s a whole hell of a lot worse when you were expecting this vehicle to power you through your vacation.

    By Elizabeth Blackstock Read More

  • This Day In History: Congress Approves The Federal Highway Act

    President Dwight D. Eisenhower had firsthand experience with how tough it could be to cross the United States when he took part in the Army’s first-ever transcontinental motor convoy back in 1919. During the second World War, he realized how effective the German transport network was due to the well-maintained autobahn. So, on June 26, 1956, Congress approved the Federal Highway Act, which Eisenhower had used his presidency to campaign for.

    By Elizabeth Blackstock Read More

  • UAW President Says He's Retiring

    Rory Gamble, the thirteenth president of the UAW, announced Friday that he would be retiring next week, after leading the union through one of the darkest periods in its history.

    By Erik Shilling Read More

  • The Changli At One: How The Cheapest New Car In The World Held Up Over Its First Year

    It’s been one full year that I’ve now spent with the cheapest new car I could find to buy, and feel like it has been an absolute triumph, possibly one of the very few non-awful decisions I’ve made in my life. The Changli Freeman, the $1,200 Chinese electric car I ordered from the website Alibaba, has proven itself to be so very much more than I ever could have imagined. Let’s take a look at how a year of ownership and use has affected this wonderful, ridiculous machine.

    By Jason Torchinsky Read More

  • It's Time To Evaluate The Accuracy Of Playmobil Air-Cooled VW Engines

    Playmobil, those toys that had the same sort of smart-kid, vaguely European parents feeling, have recently introduced a whole line of Volkswagen toys, and they’re quite charming and remarkably accurate in look. To really get a sense of just how accurate they are, let’s take a careful look at how much attention Plamobil has given to the famous air-cooled flat-four engines that powered both the Bus and Beetle.

    By Jason Torchinsky Read More

  • Hey GM Parking Lot Goons, Teslas Are American

    Were you aware that many carmakers have separate parking lots for competitors cars, or separated for domestic or foreign cars? It’s true, we wrote about the practice in depth a few years back, even. Regardless of what you think of the practice, we got a fun little reminder that it still exists today, at least on GM’s lots. Whoever is policing GM’s domestic car lot should maybe brush up on which cars are from American companies and which aren’t. Just to clarify, Tesla is American.

    By Jason Torchinsky Read More

  • Here's How The New Thrustmaster T-GT II Wheel Compares To Fanatec's Direct Drive On Paper

    This week Thrustmaster announced its new T-GT II sim racing wheel. Once again Gran Turismo-branded (it’s the official wheel of the game’s FIA championship series), the T-GT II replaces the first model that launched alongside GT Sport about five years ago. It’s priced just like the outgoing one, at $800 (£700/€750). The T-GT II is available in Europe now, and customers in the U.K. and North America can buy it in the fall.

    By Adam Ismail Read More

  • Here's Six Bonkers Facts About A Bonkers Car, The Bricklin SV-1

    You know Malcom Bricklin, right? He’s the guy who started Subaru of America and brought the Yugo to America, too. Between those two iconic moments of automobile heroics, he also developed his own radical, wedge-shaped, gull-winged sports car years before DeLorean—the SV-1. The SV-1 is a pretty fascinating car, and while it deserves a deep dive at some point, right now I just want to relay six gloriously weird facts about the car for you. So, you know, maybe sit over a dropcloth.

    By Jason Torchinsky Read More

  • The Ferrari 296 GTB Brings Back Dino As A Hybrid

    Ferrari has returned with yet another PHEV, the 2022 GTB 296, for all those of you who reside within the venn diagram of supercar lovers and electric drive enthusiasts. This time, though, it’s showing off the first production car to come from Maranello with a turbocharged V6 hybrid drivetrain, which has been standard on its Formula 1 cars for years now.

    By José Rodríguez Jr. Read More

  • Let's Take A Moment To Remember The Most Ridiculous Car Rebadging Of All Time

    I’ll admit, I’m sort of amazed we haven’t covered this at the HMS Jalopiesnick before, because this is precisely the kind of automotive idiocy that gets all of my delight glands nice and excorpulated. The car I want to tell you about isn’t a particularly interesting car, but it was closely related to a good, honest general-use car, the 2002 to 2004 Toyota Matrix. You may also recall that the Toyota Corolla-platform’d Matrix was also sold by GM, who built (at the joint Toyota-GM NUMMI plant) a Po

    By Jason Torchinsky Read More

  • The Manual Porsche 911 GT3 Will Be Available In California, After All

    When the 911 GT3 Touring was announced for the 2022 model year, there was a bit of bad news for drivers in California who wanted their new Porsche to come with three pedals. The new GT3 and GT3 Touring would not be available with a manual transmission there because it didn’t comply with a noise regulation.

    By José Rodríguez Jr. Read More

  • This Is What A Hot Wheels Of The First Car Ever Built Would Be Like

    I’ll admit, this whole idea came about because a friend loaned me a 3D printer and I wanted to think of something fun to try to make on it. I wanted to make something that I was interested in but I didn’t think existed, because what’s the fun in just duplicating something? I thought about making a model of the first actual working automobile, Nicholas-Josef Cugnot’s 1769 fardier à vapeur (“steam dray” or “steam drag”) but models of that already exist. But you know what doesn’t exist? A Hot Wheel

    By Jason Torchinsky Read More

  • The Jimny Lite Will Be A Better, Cheaper Jimny

    A new base-model Jimny is coming later this year, according to Suzuki. It’s called the Jimny Lite, and it will debut in Australia — as if OZ didn’t already get all the goods — later this year.

    By José Rodríguez Jr. Read More

  • Feast Your Eyes On A Secret Track-Focused Version Of The Aston Martin Valkyrie Before You're Supposed To See It

    The Aston Martin Valkyrie, co-developed with Red Bull Advanced Technologies, has been a long time coming. First revealed in 2017, at one point the hypercar was slated to compete in endurance racing as a Le Mans Hypercar. But then rules changed, Mercedes-Benz took a sizable chunk of shares in the British automaker and the brand entered Formula 1 as a competitor to Red Bull and suddenly, the relationship between the two partners seemed less than rosy.

    By Adam Ismail Read More

  • Blip: You Know, Like A Cremonese Lute

    I really have to hand it to moid-’60s Lancia here for forcefully elevating the level of discourse on car tech details to the point where they’re seriously comparing the “rustling tonality” of their narrow-angle V4 to a “Cremonese lute,” which I had to look up to find that the Italian city of Cremona is well-known for producing some of the earliest and most renowned luthiers.

    By Jason Torchinsky Read More

  • Traffic Deaths Are Tied To Economic Booms: Report

    The COVID-19 pandemic introduced a massive push toward remote work for industries that could accommodate at-home workers. While there are countless arguments in favor of continuing that strategy even after vaccinations allow for more remote work, a new study reveals that there’s a new argument in play: traffic deaths.

    By Elizabeth Blackstock Read More

  • My Plan To Camp In My 1996 Chevrolet Suburban Hit Its First Snag: Suspension Repairs

    Last week, I wrote a story about how my husband and I intend to live out of our freshly purchased 1996 Chevrolet Suburban as we travel the country for a month, hitting one race after another. I received some excellent advice on how to manage living out of your vehicle—along with a healthy dose of skepticism—but as it turns out, we may not be taking our beloved for an adventure after all.

    By Elizabeth Blackstock Read More

  • Let's Debate: Should We Get Rid Of Driving Tests?

    Georgia governor Brian Kemp suspended driving tests in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, instead granting new licenses to people without requiring them to jump through any hoops. But despite warnings that it would be a disaster, we haven’t seen any massive fallout from it. That prompted Jalopnik alum Aaron Gordon to offer a very controversial pitch: abolish the driving test.

    By Elizabeth Blackstock Read More

  • Let's Figure Out What Kind Of Chrysler They're Talking About In The B-52 Song 'Love Shack'

    It’s pretty definitively summer now, and if the coming of summer doesn’t fill you at least with some residual, school’s-out-tinged joy, then I suppose all I have to offer you is pity. Summer should also mean something else to anyone with a pulse: the 1989 B-52 song “Love Shack.” That song famously references a gigantic Chrysler, and I think it’s time we accurately determined which Chrysler the B-52s are singing about.

    By Jason Torchinsky Read More

  • The Mitsuoka Buddy Finally Sees The Light Of Day

    The first Mitsuoka Buddy has just rolled off the line in anticipation of its release later this month on June 24, Car Watch reports. Now that I’ve seen the Buddy in motion, I get why people love this thing.

    By José Rodríguez Jr. Read More

  • Cruis'n Blast Is The Sharknado Of Racing Games, And It's Coming To Switch This Fall

    Yesterday’s Nintendo Direct was all about the Switch having “something for everyone.” While my typical response to such a claim would be to call bullshit—at least until Nintendo buckles to pressure and gives everyone a new F-Zero, I’ve got to hand it to ’em — they managed to bring back an old-school arcade racer from the grave that even I forget about from time to time.

    By Adam Ismail Read More

  • It's Time To Discuss And Rate All The Non-Stalk Turn Signal Controls

    This week has seen a lot of surprisingly intense discussion about yoke steering wheels, mostly thanks to Tesla’s use of them on the refreshed Model S, and along with the yoke wheel design came Tesla’s stalk-less turn indicator controls, which I’ve mentioned before. I came down hard on the stalkless indicator controls, which got me thinking about the turn signal stalk itself, and wondering if it really is the best way to indicate turns. So, let’s dig into this, and look at some of the other ways

    By Jason Torchinsky Read More

  • NHTSA Wants You To Give It Dirt On Automakers

    In 2015, Congress passed legislation to protect and reward whistleblowers at automakers, after the Takata airbag scandal and as Dieselgate was brewing. It presumably forgot about this program the moment President Trump was sworn in, but now that Biden is president, NHTSA says it wants dirt and is making it easier for whistleblowers to hand that dirt over.

    By Erik Shilling Read More

  • Meh Car Monday, Tuesday Edition: The Hyundai Entourage

    Attention! Attention! You know how everything kinda sucks, and sometimes you wish that maybe everything sucked, perhaps, a little bit less? Of course you do. Well, I’m here with some good news, because Meh Car Monday is back! Sort of! It may not be weekly or even on Mondays, but when the meh rears its bland, featureless, taupe-colored head, I’ll be there to capture it. And this time a meh-ness erupted in a geyser of indifference I, paradoxically, couldn’t help but not-ignore. That meh-ness was t

    By Jason Torchinsky Read More

  • There Is A Japanese Counterpart To The American Driver Who Loves JDM

    American drivers and enthusiasts have been dreaming of over-nighting parts from Japan even before the rebuild of O’Conner’s Supra. JDM parts (and cars) are like forbidden fruit to drivers in the U.S., and as surprising as it may be, some drivers in Japan have their own infatuation with anything from the American market, which has been lovingly dubbed the USDM.

    By José Rodríguez Jr. Read More

  • Forza Horizon 5 Is About The Journey, Destination Be Damned

    I was somewhat surprised to see Forza Horizon 5 at Sunday’s Xbox Games Showcase, even in spite of the rumors that the game was coming soon and would probably be set in Mexico. I’m thankful for it, because this year was beginning to look like another underwhelming one for the racing genre, what with Gran Turismo 7 and the next Need For Speed entry being pushed to 2022, and development on the new Forza Motorsport quietly humming along in the background.

    By Adam Ismail Read More

  • Ohio State Senators Going After SNAP Recipients With Cars Worth More Than $7,000

    Being poor is really hard, but some Ohio State Senators don’t think it’s hard enough. Republicans dropped “assets tests” for poor working families who receive benefits through the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program into the state budget last week. Among the requirements to receive aid? Not owning a car valued at $7,000 or more.

    By Erin Marquis Read More

  • Audi Teases New RS3 Sedan And Wagon In Sustainability Report

    Every automaker is in a battle to deliver the most impressive gasoline-powered car as we slowly inch toward the final chapter of gasoline performance. The new compact A3 was launched for 2020 as a brand new model on the MQB Evo platform, so it’s time to look forward to the new RS and S models. I truly loved the S3 when I drove it, it was just the perfect balance of power and weight and size for a daily driver. I’ve never really warmed to the RS as it was too fast. Well, the new one is sure to be

    By Bradley Brownell Read More

  • Gary Jones Got What He Deserved

    Former UAW President Gary Jones was sentenced Thursday to 28 months in prison after pleading guilty last summer to embezzlement, racketeering, and fraud charges. Jones was also fined and ordered to pay hundreds of thousands of dollars in restitution.

    By Erik Shilling Read More

  • BREAKING: A Few DeLoreans Used An Entirely Different Taillight Design

    Hey, pals! How’s your day going? Slow? Boring? Calm? Well, kiss all that goodbye, because I’m about to shatter everything you thought you knew about DeLorean taillights. The taillights of the DeLorean DMC-12, a now-iconic bit of both automotive and pop-culture history, have always been a crucial part of its gloriously 1980s design, with their signature gridded form that’s perfectly integrated into the overall look of the car. That’s why finding out there was another taillight design used on the

    By Jason Torchinsky Read More

  • Bugatti Made A Bugatti Slightly Slower Than The Last Fast Bugatti

    There’s a new slow/fast Bugatti in town, as the slightly-less-than Super Sport 300+ model, called simply Super Sport, is finally reaching production now in time for delivery sometime next year. The 3.9 million dollar W16 hypercar feels like an absolute dinosaur in today’s automotive landscape. It’s big, heavy, and sucks down gasoline like it has an AmEx black with an open tab at the OPEC bar. There’s no finesse here, it just punches air in the face with 1600 horsepower to achieve an electronical

    By Bradley Brownell Read More

  • Guess What Car Parts Were Used On The Famous Han Solo-Frozen-In-Carbonite Prop From Star Wars Movies

    Creating an entire imaginary world is not easy, unless you have a really lazy imagination and just come up with a world that looks exactly like ours, except, say, everything smells 40 percent mintier. For most people, that’s not enough, so movies set in imaginary universes, like the Star Wars universe, are full of things that don’t exist in reality. To make them, though, prop-makers often use and re-cast real-world things. I recently learned about one of these re-imagined object-situations, in t

    By Jason Torchinsky Read More

  • HBO's Mare Of Easttown Has A Huge Car-Casting Fail

    At this moment, HBO’s prestige crime procedural (full disclosure: I copied those last three words from this Jezebel story because I don’t entirely understand what they all mean) is a gritty Kate Winslet-led show called Mare of Easttown, which takes place in a depressing Pennsylvania town full of what appear to be low incomes and unhappy people. Oh, and murder. It’s a pretty great show, with one notable exception: the car casting is terrible, because of one really glaring mis-casting.

    By Jason Torchinsky Read More

  • Yes, Used Car Prices Are Still Skyrocketing, Now By Up To 30 Percent: Report

    No one has been able to avoid the used car price discussion these days. We all know that the once-cost effective option of buying used has become as much of an investment as buying new. And some new reporting and data tracking from CarGurus illustrates what brands are raising prices and by how much. In fact, some brands have seen as high as a 30 percent increase in prices.

    By Elizabeth Blackstock Read More

  • Servicing Paris Hilton's Old Mercedes SLR McLaren Costs As Much As A New Car

    Name one good thing about the 2006 Mercedes SLR McLaren. I’ll wait. You can’t, can you? That’s because it was a truly hot mess, and a Hoovie’s Garage episode on Paris Hilton’s old SLR shows why: its service costs add up to the cost of a brand-new car... as long as that brand-new car isn’t, y’know, another SLR.

    By Elizabeth Blackstock Read More

  • This $1.3 Million Parking Space Better Come With Bottle Service And A Spa

    If you’ve lived in a major metropolitan area, you’ve probably experienced the unique pain that comes with shelling out more and more money just to park somewhere (trust me, I watched $200 burn a hole in my pocket every month just to park at my own complex in Austin). But nothing compares to this $1.3 billion space in Hong Kong that just shattered all records to become the most expensive parking space in the world.

    By Elizabeth Blackstock Read More

  • House Democrats Introduce $547 Billion Surface Transportation Plan: Report

    By this point, most of us are familiar with President Joe Biden’s massive transportation infrastructure plan that pours trillions of dollars into the roads in the United States, including the introduction of a comprehensive electric vehicle charging network. Now, a group of House Democrats have introduced a $547 plan to revamp surface transportation infrastructure, Reuters reports.

    By Elizabeth Blackstock Read More

  • The Ford Mustang SVO Had A Hilarious But Possibly Illegal Speedometer

    This is a story of two powerful forces in conflict. The first force was the 1984 to 1986 Ford Mustang SVO, a limited-volume, high-tech, Fox-body high-performance Mustang variant. The other force was the National Maximum Speed Law, part of the 1974 National Highway Energy Conservation Act that mandated the infamous 55 mph speed limit and, relevant to us right now, a maximum indicated speedometer speed of 85 mph. When these two powerful entities clashed, the result was one of the only speedometers

    By Jason Torchinsky Read More

  • How The Chrysler TC By Maserati Could Set Itself On Fire With Its Own Window

    Do you remember the Chrysler TC by Maserati? It was a car with one of those names that was just too complicated, like a Ruth’s Chris Steakhouse. It was a deeply strange car in every other way, too: almost like a Chrysler LeBaron, but with some fancier upholstery, Maserati trident badges and a hardtop with novel, round porthole windows. It’s these windows I want to tell you about today, because they managed to do something unexpected, dangerous, and, in its own magical way, kind of hilarious.

    By Jason Torchinsky Read More

  • Somehow We've Never Shown This Gleefully Bonkers Nissan Pao Promo Movie

    I know I’ve written about my Nissan Pao plenty over the years here, which is why I’m somewhat astounded to find that I’ve never officially shown you one of the most incredible bits of the whole Pao mythos: the incredible and deeply strange video Nissan made to introduce the Pao back in 1989. Even if you thought you already knew the Pao was a strange, quirky little thing, this video will show you that, really, you don’t know the half of it. It’s industrial-grade quirk right here, and if you’re pr

    By Jason Torchinsky Read More

  • Please Enjoy My Favorite Detail About An EV Of The Early Crap Era

    I’m not sure if you’re aware of this, but I have a whole mental timeline for electric cars that divides their history into three categories: the Contender Era, when EVs and gasoline and steam cars were all equally plausible rivals; the Crap Era, when EVs developed their reputation for being slow, unusable shitboxes; and our current Tesla Era, which actually starts with the GM EV1. Today I just want to point out a fascinating detail of a Crap Era car, because I think it explains so much.

    By Jason Torchinsky Read More

  • Gran Turismo 7 Is Possibly Coming To The PS4 Because Nobody Can Buy PS5s

    Here’s a thought that is mildly disappointing: In another universe, we might all be playing Gran Turismo 7 right now. When GT7 was originally announced last year, it was given a tentative “second-half 2021" release window. It is now June 2, and wouldn’t you know GT7 is nowhere to be found. Check back next year.

    By Adam Ismail Read More

  • Ferrari Never Made An Enzo Roadster, But Thanks To OutRun We Know What It Would've Looked Like

    Ferrari is a notoriously uncompromising company. I’m not talking about its cars, mind you; I’m more referring to the way it conducts business. Do something it doesn’t like with one of its products — like when musician Deadmau5 clad his 458 in a meme-inspired livery with the appropriate custom badging — and the Scuderia may come down on you hard, with the legal force of a thousand prancing horses.

    By Adam Ismail Read More

Car Design (11)

  • Here's How The Same Car Could Look Totally Different Depending On The Rendering Software

    We all know that the first look we usually get of a new vehicle online is often not even a real car, but rather a graphic rendering by computer software. While the tech is good enough to make a near-perfect rendering of a car these days, each rendering program is different enough that it often results in significant changes to the car’s appearance, for better or worse.

    By Justin T. Westbrook Read More

  • This Ford Mustang Makes The Case For Old Wheels On New Cars

    I am frankly obsessed with nearly every example of cross-generation wheel swapping on cars, as it always results in a fascinating result I end up loving. This sixth-generation Ford Mustang sitting cool on vintage fourth-generation Mustang wheels has had me thinking all day.

    By Justin T. Westbrook Read More

  • The Hyundai Bayon's Dashboard Looks Damn Good

    The Hyundai Bayon is the latest compact crossover from the South Korean carmaker to hit the market in Europe. It is reasonaby priced, starting at €14,290, or just over $17,000, including VAT. It’s intended to compete with current B-segment favorites in Europe, like the Ford Puma.

    By José Rodríguez Jr. Read More

  • Here's An Early Sketch Of The McLaren F1 I'd Never Seen Before

    Of all the cars, none are more venerated than the McLaren F1. Sure people love Porsches in general. BMWs. Ferraris. Subarus! But I can’t think of one, one and one alone, that gets the attention of the McLaren F1. Even we have a whole article about its dedicated laptop. There is nothing more to say about it, nothing more to see. And then I found this!

    By Raphael Orlove Read More

  • The Motion Of The Renault Alpine's Wipers Tells A Story Of Constant Struggle

    In general, the action of most windshield wipers can be summed up as teamwork. In their most common form as a pair, wipers are mechanically linked to be partners in their job of keeping the windshield clean of droplets, each staking out their half and working in sync. The wipers appear to be a team, happy to be doing their task, together. Well, for most cars, at least. On the Renault Alpine GTA, it’s a different story. This may be the only car I can think of with adversarial wipers.

    By Jason Torchinsky Read More

  • VW Releases New Version Of Van Americans Would Want But They Can't Have

    Over the years we’ve gotten the chance to test and explore Volkswagen’s modern Transporter vans — the T6 generation, mostly in its camper van form — and we’ve always been smitten with the damn thing, at its usability and versatility and clever design and packaging, so much so that it always stings to remember that VW has no plans to sell any of these in America. Now VW has unveiled the latest version of the Transporter—the T7 — and it looks pretty great, and, as alway, tough mammaries for any Am

    By Jason Torchinsky Read More

  • Let's Dig Into The Design Of The 2022 Ford Maverick

    From what I’m reading on the internet and hearing from my flock of trained, eavesdropping mockingbirds, most of you out there seem pretty impressed with what you’ve seen of the new 2022 Ford Maverick: it’s the cheap, useful, not-too-big truck many of us have been waiting for. The design isn’t particularly remarkable, but it’s not bad, either. I think this is will be an important vehicle for Ford, so let’s dig into the design a bit.

    By Jason Torchinsky Read More

  • Volkswagen Is Turning To 1970s-Style Body Kit Packages To Make Its CUVs Look Tougher

    On Tuesday evening Volkswagen rolled out a new bodykit for its thoroughly uninteresting Taos crossover intended to make it look more off-roady without actually making it more off-roady. Where the Taos Basecamp concept was actually kind of cool, the production version is basically a set of stick-on black plastic cladding (with integrated splash guards), fancy rocker covers, and a grille badge. We’ve seen stuff like this before. In the 1970s.

    By Bradley Brownell Read More

Concept Cars (9)

  • Mercedes Concept Car From 2017 Spotted On Set Of New Flash Movie

    The upcoming DC superhero movie The Flash (about a superhero who has the ability to take photos at night, if I recall correctly) is currently being shot in London, and a Jalopnik reader named JJ took some photos of the shoot for us, since they included a striking car. The car appears to be a 2017 Mercedes-Benz concept car, and, yes, it’s an amazing-looking car.

    By Jason Torchinsky Read More

  • Let's Explore Ferrari's Weirdest, Most Wonderful One-Off Creations

    Ferraris by their very nature tend to be pretty rare cars. But there’s another echelon of rarity within the company’s storied history — a slate of one-offs and super-low-production models, only meant for a buyer or several with the funds to commission the car’s creation just for themselves, and them alone.

    By Adam Ismail Read More

  • Volkswagen Wants You To Know The Arteon Still Exists

    The Volkswagen Arteon does not sell. Same ol’ sotry: Sedans are dying because of crossovers, blah, blah. Whatever. The rise of the CUV hasn’t stopped Honda from selling nearly 200,000 Accords last year or Toyota and nearly 300,000 Camrys. But the Arteon doesn’t get attention like that; it sells in sports-car-like numbers. VW only moved 3,998 last year and so far this year only 1,100 have been sold. Even a niche product like the Kia Stinger has moved over 5,000. So to get people’s attention, VW

    By Lawrence Hodge Read More

  • BMW Reveals Never Before Seen X6 Predecessor In New Video

    BMW is on a roll with its YouTube game recently, recording deep dives into classic and, in some cases, never before or rarely seen prototypes via its BMW Group Classic channel. On Thursday, the German automaker revealed another concept the world had never seen before, called the ICE.

    By Adam Ismail Read More

Crashes and Safety (9)

  • Barefoot Houseless Man Jumps On Out-Of-Control Car To Stop It, Saves Day

    I know there are many people out there very eager for self-driving cars, but I can’t stress enough how important it is to wait until the technology is ready. And I can pretty comprehensively say that the technology in what appears to be an early 2000s Ford Crown Vic is not ready, which is why one was whirling out of control until a daredevil/Good Samaritan leapt into action to save the day.

    By Jason Torchinsky Read More

  • Roll-Over Wreck Is A Good Reminder That Vise Grips Aren't Safety Equipment

    A rollover wreck involving a Ford F-250 and a pair of vise grips in Wisconsin this past weekend is a good reminder that there are some car repairs that are best accomplished full-ass, as opposed to half-ass. Brakes are in that category, as the driver of the truck that rolled likely learned when they used a pair of vise grips to not-fix a brake problem.

    By Jason Torchinsky Read More

  • Watch A Car Get Sucked Into The Earth Nose-First By An Invisible Sinkhole

    We’ve had our share of sinkhole videos on here before, as they’re always luridly fascinating and terrifying reminders that, somehow, if the Earth feels like randomly opening up beneath your car and just swallowing it like a titanic amoeba, it can do that. It seems like the Earth wanted an Indian-market Hyundai Venue, because it sure as hell took one over the weekend.

    By Jason Torchinsky Read More

  • Driver Bashes 11-Foot-8 Bridge With Crane, Gets Owned

    Our old pal, the famous 11-foot-8 (really now with an extra eight inches) bridge has really been bringing it lately, pushing the limits of its own peculiar art form, peeling the roofs off trucks that are too tall to safely drive under it. Just recently the bridge got a bit of pushback from one of its victims. Unsurprisingly, the bridge won in the end, because it always does, and likely always will. Still, this time it took some licks.

    By Jason Torchinsky Read More

  • I Guess We Stopped Wearing Our Seatbelts Last Year

    The government just put out a full report on traffic fatalities in 2020, and the big news is that fatalities spiked even though driving itself went down. There’s another horrifying detail from the report, though: people being killed getting ejected from cars went way, way up. For some reason, we stopped wearing seatbelts last year.

    By Raphael Orlove Read More

Crime (11)

Entertainment (4)

  • Batman Movies Always Cast The Perfect Car For Bruce Wayne

    Car casting in movies is very hit or miss, if you’ll please excuse the pun. Sometimes the choice of car is perfect for the role, like the E34 BMW M5 in Ronin, and sometimes even James Bond struggles to find the right car, like his 1987 Lincoln Mark VII LSC in License To Kill. Bruce Wayne, however, has always managed to get the right car.

    By Justin T. Westbrook Read More

  • I'm Hearing Reports That F9 Might Actually Be Good

    It used to be very important to have a movie critic, or a set of movie critics, that you trusted. Because, at heart, movie reviews are service journalism, in that I need to know if paying $15 and spending two hours in a theater is a good use of money or time. It’s looking like F9 is going to clear that threshold.

    By Erik Shilling Read More

  • The Best Artwork To Come Out Of Army Of The Dead Was This Lowrider

    Zack Snyder’s latest film Army of the Dead has a surprising amount of cool cars strewn about, and a few cars that are considered staples in the lowrider community. It makes sense given its glitzy — if post-apocalyptic — setting of Las Vegas, which is no stranger to the long, lovely bodywork of lowriders, perfect for cruising “low and slow” along the Strip.

    By José Rodríguez Jr. Read More

Ford (10)

  • The Ford Bronco's Front Fenders Come Off As Easy As Its Doors

    The first on- and off-road testing of the 2021 Ford Bronco is out this week. More interesting details are trickling along, too, now that people are finally getting their hands on the long-hyped comeback truck. One new novelty is in how easy the front fenders will be to remove and replace.

    By Justin T. Westbrook Read More

  • Here's What I Saw At The 2021 Ford Bronco Assembly Plant

    “Hey man, I know it’s late notice - but how does your 10am look?” a representative from Ford Motor Company texted me on Sunday night. FoMoCo wanted to show me the exciting new Ford Bronco being assembled at the Michigan Assembly plant in Wayne, Michigan. I wasn’t about to miss out.

    By David Tracy Read More

  • Ford Maverick Pricing Tops Out Around $36,000, As Per Configurator

    Ford has made quite the ado about the new Maverick’s price, which starts at under $20,000 when you exclude the mandatory delivery fee (which pops it up to $21,490—still not bad, but also not as easily marketable). Current trim level pricing hasn’t been officially released yet, but you can play with the configurator. And the configurator currently tops out at $36,410. Let me walk you through how I got there.

    By Elizabeth Blackstock Read More

  • How The Ford Maverick Stacks Up To The Rest Of The Ford Truck Lineup

    The newly-introduced 2022 Ford Maverick is set to be the smallest truck in Ford’s pickup lineup, which is good news for a certain niche of consumers—but the compact size inevitably creates some compromise on other features, like towing capacity or cargo space. Today, I’m going to walk you through a spec-by-spec comparison of all the trucks in Ford’s lineup so you can get a sense of what might be right for you.

    By Elizabeth Blackstock Read More

  • The 2022 Ford Maverick Is Not Really For Cities

    The 2022 Ford Maverick is for the kind of person “who needs a tight turning radius to parallel park in narrow spots,” Ford says. It’s for the kind of person who “wants to get around the city,” Ford says, while also emphasizing its targeted 40 mpg in the city. The only problem is that the Maverick is not really for cities after all.

    By Erik Shilling Read More

  • This Nifty Little Idea Is The Maverick's Coolest Interior Utility Feature

    Based on its low starting price and placement with Ford’s pickup repertoire, you might not expect a whole lot of clever ideas within the Maverick’s interior. But there are thoughtful storage solutions abound in Ford’s smallest truck, in unexpected places like around the infotainment screen and even within the bed.

    By Adam Ismail Read More

  • The Ford Maverick's Colors Slap But There's One Glaring Oversight

    It’s nice to wake up on a given morning and find car internet happy. The subject of today’s enthusiasm is of course the new Ford Maverick small pickup. And while I personally think the headlights are too big by half and the Ranger is unquestionably the more handsome truck, the Ranger doesn’t have the Maverick’s slightly more compact proportions, nor its fuel mileage. After all, Ford is quoting 40 mpg in the city with the standard hybrid version.

    By Adam Ismail Read More

  • I Regret To Inform You That The Ford Maverick Might Be Great

    Ford officially confirmed it will be making the Maverick Thursday night, a properly small truck that might also be a hybrid, or at least have a hybrid option, if not a plug-in electric hybrid option, though we can dream. The Maverick will also reportedly start at under $20,000. It looks like Ford has finally decided to make a good truck?

    By Erik Shilling Read More

Found For Sale (22)

Honda (3)

  • The Factory Kit Options For The 2022 Honda Civic Look Great

    The 2022 Honda Civic hatchback was just revealed and we’re already getting a great look at the catalog of additional extras Honda has designed for it. The details of the kit options available for at least the first model year of the Civic hatchback were shared to Honda’s Japanese-language website, where it was then spotted early by Motor1.

    By Justin T. Westbrook Read More

  • The Honda Clarity Is Dead

    I have bad news for all you hydrogen fans out there: Motor 1, and Asian business site Nikkei report that the Clarity is going out of production along with the closure of the Sayama, Japan, plant that produces it. It’s not just the hydrogen model leaving either. The plug-in hybrid is getting the ax as well. In a statement to Motor 1, a Honda rep confirmed the death:

    By Lawrence Hodge Read More

  • The 2022 Honda Civic Is All About The Youth

    Usually, when I get a press car for the week, I look forward to getting back into my daily driver. I normally slide into the seat of my VW Sportwagen and think “oh yeah, that’s the stuff,” but when I gave back the 2022 Honda Civic, there wasn’t that warm fuzzy feeling — I felt a pang of longing. I legitimately missed the Civic’s hip interior, clean dash and useful passive and active safety systems. It was a sudden, heavy feeling that the current generation Civic just would not inspire.

    By Erin Marquis Read More

Jalopnik Investigates (1)

  • I'm Sorry To Say That Bonkers Tweet About The Big Rig Driver Who Looks Like Amy Schumer Is A Joke

    It’s possible you may have noticed that comedian Amy Schumer was trending on twitter today, something I’m not sure I’d ordinarily even notice, but the reason for it was something special: a post from a truck stop that featured a big rig driver that looked uncannily like Amy Schumer, only with a goofily vulgar T-shirt, one of those teardrop tattoos that usually suggests you’ve killed someone, a sign decrying public shitting, and more. Too much more, even.

    By Jason Torchinsky Read More

Motorcycles (16)

  • Harley's Next Bike Is Worth Getting Excited Over

    It seems like everyone is rooting for Harley-Davidson to fail these days, but all it takes is a ride on any of their products to understand how far The Motor Company has come in recent years. Sure, you can joke that all of the big cruisers are too heavy, too expensive, and too old-fashioned, aimed at a dying market. But Harley is building not only the best Harleys in history, but some of the best bikes in history. And with the new watercooled dual-overhead cam VVT twin introduced in the Pan Amer

    By Bradley Brownell Read More

  • The LiveWire One Is A Familiar Bike With A New Name

    The Harley-Davidson LiveWire is dead, long live the LiveWire One. After a somewhat choppy start to its electric offerings, Harley has decided it will spin off LiveWire into its own brand with multiple electric motorcycles under that brand. Considering Harley began life with the Model 1 way back at the dawn of time, it’s only fitting that the company stick with that for its new electric-only brand. The old LiveWire (code named ELW) will be born again from the ashes of what once was to become One

    By Bradley Brownell Read More

  • This Is What It Takes To Make $1,000 Motorcycles Last 1,000 Miles Off Road

    It’s the middle of the week and you’re cruising around YouTube looking for something fun to get you back in good spirits. You know you’d rather be out riding, but that has to wait for the weekend because your superior’s superiors require more blood be let from the stone. Boss makes a dollar, you make a dime, that’s why you watch motorcycle videos on company time.

    By Bradley Brownell Read More

  • Gear Up: The Arai Quantum-X Is An All-Around Awesome Lid

    You would think that all riders can agree that if there’s one item to splurge on when it comes to motorcycle gear, it’s a helmet. You’d be surprised at the different attitudes and opinions that people have towards lids. Some riders think that paying a lot of money for a helmet just buys you a fancy badge.

    By José Rodríguez Jr. Read More

  • Two Days In The Desert On An Electric Motorcycle

    I truly enjoyed my time with the Zero DSR Black Forest. It’s a great ‘leccy bike with a lot of great features and just a couple lousy ones. A couple of those features include a rated city range over 100 miles and a trio of giant gear-securing hard bags. When a member of Zero’s PR team asked if I wanted to do a desert camping trip in my own neighborhood, I jumped at the opportunity. They admitted to not having much off-road experience, and I let them know I was in a similar boat. As it turned out

    By Bradley Brownell Read More

  • The BMW R 18 Is Too Big, But Too Good To Hate

    The BMW R 18 is not a new motorcycle, but it’s new to me. This is BMW’s take on the classic American cruiser, aimed at those riders who would be in the market for something from Harley-Davidson or Indian. I am decidedly not that rider. In fact, just two weeks ago, I had never ridden any cruiser, let alone one with an 1,802cc engine. I wrote off cruisers with that kind of displacement as ludicrous and scoffed at their bad handling.

    By José Rodríguez Jr. Read More

  • An Old Dog Learns New Tricks At An Off-Road Riding School

    About a decade ago, RawHyde Adventures kicked off as a guided tour through the Mojave desert from Los Angeles to Las Vegas. It took eight days, and it was incredibly taxing on bike and rider alike. Jim Hyde, the guy who started it all, noticed that ADV bikes and dual sports were increasingly purchased by people without the skills to just jump on and head out into the desert. So he started a training school to help folks learn what they needed to know before going hog wild and ending up hurt with

    By Bradley Brownell Read More

  • The Barber Motorsports Museum Will Always Be The Best Motorcycle Museum In The World

    If you’ve never visited Barber Motorsports Park in Leeds, Ala., you’re really missing out. Not only is it one of the most gorgeously groomed race tracks in the world, but it is also home to one of the largest and most eclectic motorcycle museums in the world. This was my third visit in the last twenty years, and every time I come here I find more stuff to ogle. I could get lost in here for hours, but sadly I never have as much time as I truly want. If you ever find yourself in the area, stop in

    By Bradley Brownell Read More

  • What Do You Want To Know About The 2022 Honda Grom?

    The Honda Grom is a totally rad little bike to have in your back pocket for daily riding around the city. I absolutely adored the 2020 model I tested last year, and with the visual and mechanical upgrades the bike has received for the 2022 model year sound extremely exciting. As you read this I’m currently on an airplane flying across the country to bomb around the streets of Alabama on the updated version.

    By Bradley Brownell Read More

  • The Pan America Is Turning Out To Be The Sales Success Harley-Davidson Needed It To Be

    The new Harley Pan America adventure touring bike is the shot in the arm the company really needed right now. I spent a couple days with the bike last month riding in the desert, and it’s a kickass bike with some super cool tech and competitive features for a competitive price. It might be the first time Harley managed to get all four of those things to be true about the same motorcycle. And, as it turns out, that’s exactly what customers wanted from the brand, because dealerships can’t keep the

    By Bradley Brownell Read More

News (16)

  • A Mail Truck Somehow Ended Up On Top Of The Car That Crashed Into It

    According to a report from KTLA a speeding Scion tC slammed into a mail truck so hard that it came to rest on top of the Scion. It happened outside an assisted living facility in the L.A. neighborhood of Valley Village. KTLA calls the footage of the aftermath dramatic, but the cars are all just sitting there.

    By Lawrence Hodge Read More

  • Highway To Nowhere Drives Entire Country Deep Into Debt

    The small country of Montenegro might go broke all thanks to the last government’s shortsighted decision to take out Chinese loans to hire a Chinese company to build a freeway. Now there isn’t enough money to complete the road or pay back the loan, and the envisioned 270-mile freeway may remain an uncompleted stretch in the Montenegrin countryside.

    By Erin Marquis Read More

  • Billionaire Copart Founder Willis Johnson Is Privately Funding The South Dakota National Guard Deployment To U.S.-Mexico Border: Report

    Oh boy. I’m not sure how we got to the point where a private Tennessean citizen is paying to deploy a state’s National Guard to another state against would-be refugees from other countries, or how such action is even legal, but here we are. We’re going to go through it step by step together to see if we understand what the heck is happening. Let’s give it a shot.  

    By Bradley Brownell Read More

  • The 2022 Porsche Cayenne Turbo GT Is A 631 HP Track-Tuned Behemoth

    As the world edges closer to the death of the internal combustion engine, every performance car company on Earth is doing its damnedest to deliver a nuclear level send-off to a hundred and twenty years of gasoline being king. When it isn’t busy delivering some of the best electric cars in the world, Porsche steadies itself with creating some of the most impressive gas-powered cars in the world. The world is in a horsepower arms race, and this new track-focused Cayenne is running at mutually assu

    By Bradley Brownell Read More

  • Amazon Is Using Algorithms And A.I. To Terminate Flex Drivers By E-Mail

    A lengthy Bloomberg report says that Amazon Flex drivers are supervised, and often fired by algorithms and e-mails rather than human beings. If you’re not familiar with it, Amazon Flex is basically Postmates but for delivering Amazon packages—basically, you can sign up to deliver packages with your own vehicle.

    By Lawrence Hodge Read More

  • So Much For Two-Door Jeep Wranglers In Europe

    Some 30 percent of Jeep Wranglers sold in Europe are of the two-door variety, but two-door Wranglers will be discontinued by next year, according to Automotive News. The reason is, you guessed it, because of tightening emissions regulations there.

    By Erik Shilling Read More

  • Toyota Is The Top Donor To Stolen Election Conspiracy Loons In Congress

    An Axios story just revealed that, based on data from the left-ish leaning investigatory group Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW) the company that donated the most money to congresspeople who continue to maintain the wrong and more than a little embarrassing idea that somehow the 2020 presidential election was stolen from former president Donald Trump...was Toyota. This doesn’t seem to be a very savvy PR move from Toyota so far.

    By Jason Torchinsky Read More

  • How To Prepare And Maintain A Car For A 50,000 Mile Road Trip Around The World

    Setting out to drive across continents is nothing like hitting your local off road park or exploring Death Valley for the weekend. In the last decade I’ve driven over 100,000 miles through 55 countries, so I have some experience in these matters. Careful preparation and regular maintenance of my Jeeps meant I was able to pull-off my overlanding expeditions without any major mechanical issues — not even one. How did I manage that? Read on.

    By Dan Grec Read More

  • Electric Cars Are Way Older Than You Think: EV Timeline Part 1

    Much like ubiquitous cell phones, everyone being a freaking lunatic, and the existence of TikTok, relatively common electric cars are one of those things that we take as a marker of our modern age. The truth, though, is that EVs have been around a lot longer than many people realize — nearly 200 years! Understanding the general timeline of EVs is important, I think, so let’s walk through it, with the magic of moving pictures.

    By Jason Torchinsky Read More

  • Ford Brings Back Small Cheap Trucks With The $20,000 2022 Ford Maverick And It's A Hybrid

    One of my favorite pastimes is to corner people and loudly and wetly complain at them about how all of the good small, cheap pickup trucks are gone. It looks like I may need to find a new hobby, as Ford’s just-revealed 2022 Maverick is a small pickup that starts at around $20,000. Thanks to a standard hybrid drivetrain, Ford says it’ll get a surprising 40 mpg in the city, and the version with the optional turbo Ecoboost engine can tow up to 4,000 pounds. It’s about time.

    By Jason Torchinsky Read More

Nice Price or No Dice (22)

Nostalgia You Can Taste (1)

Planelopnik (5)

QOTD (39)

  • Here Are Your Nightmare Two-Car Garages

    Some cars are just plain, old not good cars. Whether they are unreliable, have terrible driving dynamics, baffling design or, worse, all three, some models really can be nightmare fuel.

    By Lawrence Hodge Read More

  • What's Your Nightmare Two-Car Garage?

    We all love to think about the perfect two-car garage with our favorite pair of cars in it. But maybe things don’t go to plan and instead, you end up with the two cars you like the least. What’s your nightmare two-car garage?

    By Mercedes Streeter Read More

  • What Carmaker Has The Widest Range Of Vehicles Under The Same Name?

    Yesterday afternoon I played hooky from work to go check out my local Pegaso dealership, which is just a short drive from my house to a pill I found on a park picnic table that lets me transcend space and time. At the dealership, I was able to see the full Pegaso product line, which is really quite bonkers.

    By Jason Torchinsky Read More

  • What Car Has The Weirdest Dashboard?

    The dashboard is one of your interfaces between you and your vehicle. They have a lot of important information to relay to you, the driver. What they don’t have to be is boring. What car has the weirdest dashboard?

    By Mercedes Streeter Read More

  • What Car Fact Do You Wish You Knew Earlier?

    When I was 18, I bought my 2013 Mazda 2. My sweet, sweet Mazda 2. But as it neared the end of its first gas tank, I had a bit of a panic: I had no idea what side the gas tank was on. I readjusted my side mirrors to figure it out as I slowly entered the nearest gas station, then parked, wiping sweat from my brow, crisis averted.

    By Elizabeth Blackstock Read More

  • What Feature Do You Wish More Cars Had?

    As I drove across the United States behind the wheel of my lovely 1996 Chevrolet Suburban, I had to admit something to myself. It’s just about perfect. As much as I enjoy reviewing a good luxury car, I have to say that there are few things more enjoyable than the absolute basics of driving. There’s just one thing missing: ventilated seats.

    By Elizabeth Blackstock Read More

  • Here Are The Cars That Are Best As Their Base Models

    One of the best cars at its most basic is the BMW 2-Series coupe, specifically a 228i with no options that BMW weirdly didn’t have a picture of. Outside of the M cars, It’s probably the last way to experience BMW as the ultimate driving machine. No tech, no variable steering, nothing. Just a small RWD coupe and manual transmission and head for the twisties.

    By Lawrence Hodge Read More

  • Which Car Is Best As Its Base Model?

    There’s something very satisfying about certain base model cars. A base model can be something uncomplicated and unfussy, or it can be a blank canvas for drivers who know what they want from the aftermarket. It also feels very good to pay less by removing things you don’t want, and taking only what you need.

    By José Rodríguez Jr. Read More

  • Here Are Your Weirdest Experiences Buying Cars From Craigslist And Facebook

    I’ve only ever been reckless enough to try and buy a car off Craigslist once. Back in 2013, I had found what seemed like a hell of a find at the time: A local guy wanted $3,000 obo for a 1990 NA Miata. The description said one owner. The top was a little messed up, but otherwise it was in good condition. The seller was only parting with it because they were moving or something. After a few back and forth emails, we agreed to meet up and he agreed to take $2800 for it. I wanted to check the car o

    By Lawrence Hodge Read More

  • Are Cars Still Getting Better?

    Lately I’ve been bopping back and forth between press cars, my old Lexus, and the GTI. (reviews coming, promise!) One question that’s crossed my mind a couple of times is whether cars are still getting better. They’re definitely changing, and I think objectively they are getting better in a lot of ways I care about, but I don’t know if I feel that in my bones.

    By Rory Carroll Read More

  • Here Are The Car Events You're Going To This Year

    With any luck, I’ll be back at the Los Angeles International Auto Show this year. There was no show for 2020 because of COVID-19, of course, but the show looks to be back on this year for November. Like many of you, I can’t wait to get back to some car events and be among enthusiasts.

    By Lawrence Hodge Read More

  • What Car Event Will You Be Going To This Year?

    I have had a number of “I am vaccinated now” brain checks. Maskless with my parents. Maskless in a cop bar I will never return to. Maskless in the stands at Englishtown, watching Formula Drift New Jersey and ProBroDown this weekend.

    By Raphael Orlove Read More

  • Does Being At A Race Change Your Perception Of The Event?

    Have you ever been at a race, had a great time, and then looked online to realize that everyone had actually hated that event? Or, alternatively, you were absolutely miserable because you got sunburned or frozen or way too drunk or what have you, which means you didn’t appreciate what was apparently a very good event? I want to know. Tell me how your perception of a race changes when you’re actually at the event.

    By Elizabeth Blackstock Read More

  • Who's Your Car-Related Hero?

    Us humans like to define ourselves in contrast to others. We look at people and decide what parts of them we want to emulate and what parts we’d be mortified to have as part of us. And for a lot of us, that also means we picked up our specific love of cars from a person or two along the way. So, who’s your automotive hero?

    By Elizabeth Blackstock Read More

  • Here Are The Cars You Would Own From The Year You Were Born

    YES, I’D OWN AND DRIVE A CHRYSLER TC BY MASERATI. Don’t judge me. I was born in 1988 and that was the year the TC made its debut. It was a rather lackluster automotive year. You had models that were updated like the Firebird and Thunderbird, but I’ve always liked the late 80s/early 90s American luxury personal coupes and convertibles. The Cadillac Allante, Buick Reatta and this TC all have a weird special place in my heart, even though it would probably burst into flames in my garage.

    By Lawrence Hodge Read More

  • Here's What You Think The Worst Eras Of Car Design Were

    Automotive design eras aren’t always defined by the most beautiful or advanced vehicles of that decade. Car companies have to keep changing and updating cars to fit tastes and sometimes they just don’t hit the mark. Recently, the search for good taste has brought us things like the Bangle butt on the E65 BMW 7 Series and Cadillac’s Art & Science. Sometimes it works. Other times, not so much.

    By Lawrence Hodge Read More

  • What Was The Worst Era Of Car Design?

    Automotive design ebbs and flows around the tastes of car buyers and technology restrictions of the era. What was once hip now looks silly and dated. What was the worst era of car design?

    By Mercedes Streeter Read More

  • These Are The Cars That Lasted Longer Than You Ever Expected

    I asked earlier about which cars you’ve owned or known of that just refused to die. I couldn’t brag about my own survivor because my daily is more pampered than abused at this point in its life, but I did recall a particular mid-nineties Ram 1500 which just won’t give up the ghost.

    By José Rodríguez Jr. Read More

  • What Car Lasted Longer Than You Ever Expected?

    A new report released Monday found that the average age of America’s fleet of vehicles has jumped two years to 12.1 years, according to IHS Markit. We are making our cars last longer than ever, which got me wondering, what’s a car you made last well beyond its supposed finish line?

    By José Rodríguez Jr. Read More

  • What Subscriptions Would You Be Willing To Pay For In Your Car?

    Carmakers have been teasing subscription services for everything from heated seats to assisted driving features for the last couple of years. They’ve already began trickling into some models; like it or not, they’re probably going to become even more common with the passage of time.

    By Adam Ismail Read More

  • What's Your Road Trip Snack Of Choice?

    When I planned my summer travel, it didn’t seem like it was going to be all that big of a deal. Now that I am within spitting distance of those plans, however, I am starting to realize that I may have erred in planning to live on the road for a month, predominantly out of the back of my Suburban. It’s got me thinking about how I need to prep, and that brought me to the all-important concern: snacks.

    By Elizabeth Blackstock Read More

  • What's The Nastiest Thing You Found In Your Car?

    Our vehicles go through hell and back with us, which means they pick up some truly rank shit along the way. I want to know the nastiest, foulest thing you’ve ever discovered hiding in the dank depths of your vehicle. Share with the class.

    By Elizabeth Blackstock Read More

  • Here Are The Little Car Details You Only Care About

    In-car technology has gotten better and better. Some things that you wouldn’t have dreamed of being in a vehicle 10 to 15 years ago are now as unremarkable as power windows and air conditioning. One thing I’ve come to find that is essential for me in a vehicle is USB ports. Multiple USB ports.

    By Lawrence Hodge Read More

  • What Is A Car Detail Only You Seem To Care About?

    Our resident mad scientist, Jason Torchinsky, knows a thing or two about taillights. His love for these plastic-clad bulbs goes beyond that of the average bulb-lover, and, look, I get it! Taillights are important details to a car’s overall design that Jason cares very much about.

    By José Rodríguez Jr. Read More

  • What Was The Most Unrealistic Car Casting?

    Car casting is about as important to a good show or movie as actor casting. Sometimes filmmakers get it wrong and it can sort of derail an otherwise good story. What was the most unrealistic car casting?

    By Mercedes Streeter Read More

  • Here Are The Cars You Think Are More Reliable Than People Say

    The third-generation Ford Taurus was controversial. Everything was ovals. The headlights, the rear window, even the center stack. Its reputation for reliablity was is mixed, but my family had one in the late 90s and it was probably one of the best family sedans I had ever encountered. It gave us almost 130,000 problem free miles before a fuel line leak and the transmission went out at 127,000. The only thing that was garbage on the car were the brakes, which seemed like they needed to be changed

    By Lawrence Hodge Read More

  • What Car Is More Reliable Than We Think?

    Some cars have a reputation for absolutely draining the bank account of their owners, but ask people who love them and they’ll tell you “It’s just a bad reputation! If you change the engine and transmission out at the suggested intervals, they’re not really that unreliable!” Stereotypes abound: Fiats fall apart at the dealership. Land Rovers will bankrupt you. Modern diesels are all garbage. Unreliability even gets applied to car brand names, too. I’m sure we’ve all heard “Fix Or Repair Daily” o

    By Mercedes Streeter Read More

  • What Races Are You Going To This Summer?

    It’s June, which to me signals that it is officially the start of summer. I keep hearing about how all of us travel-deprived folks are going to be taking tons of trips this summer, and I want to hear about your travel plans—specifically, the race tracks you’ll be attending. Because it is time to go fast.

    By Elizabeth Blackstock Read More

  • How Did You Research Your Racing Safety Gear?

    My husband and I were cruising through a part of town we haven’t been to in over a year to check out the new developments out there, and I have to say—I was stunned. Right there, after weeks of me hemming and hawing over where I’m going to go shopping for a helmet, was a Simpson retailer.

    By Elizabeth Blackstock Read More

  • Lawmakers Are Banning The 'Carolina Squat' But I'm Not Sure How I Feel About It. How About You?

    North Carolina lawmakers passed a bill to impose major restrictions on the “Carolina Squat,” a phenomenon that involves jacking up the front of a truck or SUV while keeping the rear end low, causing the vehicle to look as though it’s “squatting.” It seems that most people hate the Carolina Squat trend, but I feel differently. I’m not sure what I think about this new bill. How about you?

    By David Tracy Read More

  • Here Are The Easiest Car Repairs Everyone Puts Off

    An oil change is probably one of the easiest car repairs most people can do. Newer cars have longer oil change intervals than old ones, so you don’t even need to do it all that often! I wish more people realized this, so they could stop getting taken for a ride on oil changes for $74.99 on a Civic every 3,000 miles.

    By Lawrence Hodge Read More

  • Here Are The Hardest Times You Had Selling A Car

    I used to sell cars for a living when I was in my early 20s. It was around the Cash for Clunkers era and I was at a Chevy-Buick-Pontiac-GMC combined dealership. I had a lot of tough customers, but this one guy took the cake. He came in once for service on his Pontiac G6 and I noticed him roaming the lot, as most do when their car is getting serviced. He made a beeline over to a black SSR. I got to talking to him and learned that he hated his basic and beige G6. Weirdly, he kind of opened up to m

    By Lawrence Hodge Read More

  • Here Are Your Dream Two-Car Garages

    A two-car garage is the chance to achieve that perfect life-fun balance. You need something that has enough room to haul your family and their things in and then something you can haul ass in or have fun in. I’m not even talking about something insanely expensive — a dream garage can be totally attainable. To me, that perfect balance would be a luxury vehicle like the Genesis GV80 that has enough room for me and my family to ride in comfortable luxury and a weekend canyon carver like my favorit

    By Lawrence Hodge Read More

  • What's Your Dream Two-Car Garage?

    Some enthusiasts want to own a fleet of dream cars, but don’t have that Jay Leno money or storage space. Today’s Question Of The Day is a challenge: What is your dream two-car garage?

    By Mercedes Streeter Read More

Racing (72)

  • Chip Ganassi Racing Will Leave NASCAR At The End Of 2021

    Chip Ganassi Racing, with split headquarters in Concord, North Carolina and Indianapolis, Indiana, has grown since its founding in 1990 to become one of the heaviest hitters in American motorsport. The team currently fields cars in IndyCar, IMSA, Extreme E, and NASCAR Cup. At the end of this season, however, the NASCAR operations will be sold off to Trackhouse Racing. If you’re not familiar with Trackhouse, the team debuted this season as a joint venture between racer Justin Marks and Grammy-win

    By Bradley Brownell Read More

  • F1 Teams Less Willing To Tell On Each Other Over Radio Now That Everyone Can Hear Them

    Up until this season Formula 1 fans weren’t privy to radio communications between teams and race control — only chat between drivers and their personnel on the pit wall. Radio has become such a staple of the F1 broadcast experience that opening up the line to the FIA and sharing that with viewers proved a clever move for 2021. F1 fans like their drama, and let’s be real — when you’ve got races as boring as last weekend’s Austrian Grand Prix, you’re desperate for any nugget of information, sarcas

    By Adam Ismail Read More

  • Despite Recent Struggles Mercedes Says It Has Stopped Developing Its 2021 F1 Car

    It feels like Mercedes have been winning in Formula One for a generation. Okay, sure, it’s only been seven years of three pointed star dominance, but in the world of racing, seven years is a very long time. Ferrari’s Michael Schumacher era was comparatively only five seasons, and Red Bull’s time at the front with Seb Vettel lasted just four (and it lucked into half of those). After seven seasons, it looks like Mercedes have finally been caught up by the Austrian fizzy drinks manufacturer. And th

    By Bradley Brownell Read More

  • My New Non-Racing Race Car Hobby: Making Vintage Apparel

    I’ve waxed poetic about my love of all things 1970 and 80s when it comes to racing, and part of that love has to do with the incredible fashions that appeared at the race track in an era where style was important but so was comfort. And that has brought me to find my newest non-racing race car hobby: making vintage-themed apparel.

    By Elizabeth Blackstock Read More

  • Travis Shumake Is Ready To Become The NHRA's First Openly Gay Racer

    Second-generation racer Travis Shumake is about to make history. He’s getting ready to secure his Funny Car license to become the first openly gay driver in the National Hot Rod Association (NHRA). He already earned his Nostalgia Funny Car license earlier this month at the Frank Hawley Driving School. Next year, Shumake is looking to take on a full-time appearance.

    By Elizabeth Blackstock Read More

  • Max Verstappen Takes Back-To-Back Poles At Austrian GP

    Max Verstappen is truly on his game during the 2021 Formula One season. His second pole position in a row comes at Red Bull Racing’s home track ahead of the Austrian Grand Prix — and it’s hard to imagine anyone else having anything to challenge the Dutch driver.

    By Elizabeth Blackstock Read More

  • Celebrating Pride Month With British Racer Abbie Eaton

    You might know Abbie Eaton from her appearances on The Grand Tour, but I can guess that there’s quite a bit you don’t know about her. Like the fact that she won a racing championship with her family-owned team, or that she’s competing in her first open-wheel race this weekend with the W Series—where she’ll also be competing against her girlfriend, Jess, for the first time.

    By Elizabeth Blackstock Read More

  • What Taught Me To Love 1970s Formula One

    As I write this story, I’m sitting in the toe of the Boot at Watkins Glen International, a race track I fell in love with because it was the place where one of my favorite vintage Formula One drivers had won and died. I made my way to the track for the first time because I’d been so enamoured with the past. Now, I’ve come here every year (with the exception of 2020) for the past five years. I’ve made friends. I got married to man I met at the track.

    By Elizabeth Blackstock Read More

  • F1's Pit Stop Slowdown Is A Move In The Right Direction

    This week, ahead of the Steiermark Grand Prix, Formula One announced that it would be changing some rules in an effort to slow down pit stops before someone gets hurt. The rules will be enforced from the Hungarian Grand Prix at the start of August, and will effectively outlaw the use of automated release systems. The continued push for quicker pit stops will surely not stop, but the FIA expects this simple rule change to add around three and a half tenths of a second to stops, allowing a slight

    By Bradley Brownell Read More

  • The Turkish Grand Prix Is Back Again On The 2021 F1 Calendar

    The 2021 Turkish Grand Prix, which was originally not on the calendar, then added back to replace the canceled Canadian Grand Prix, then deleted due to COVID travel restrictions, is now back on again to replace the canceled Singapore Grand Prix in October, Formula 1 has confirmed.

    By Adam Ismail Read More

  • This Liquid Hydrogen Le Mans Racer Proposal Is The Weirdest Thing I've Seen All Week

    We’re on the brink of a very exciting time in sports car racing, with the likes of BMW, Ferrari, Porsche, and Audi joining prototype classes in the coming years. That’s in addition to smaller outfits like Scuderia Cameron Glickenhaus taking on those goliaths. But Glickenhaus being Glickenhaus, it couldn’t be satisfied showing up to Le Mans with a prototype looking, sounding and running like all the rest.

    By Adam Ismail Read More

  • 2022 F1 Show Car Leaks For A Sneak Peek At Next Year's Machines

    In an alternate timeline, we’d be watching the next-generation F1 cars, with their swoopy, smooth bodywork and big wheels, lapping the world’s circuits this year. But that big regulation change was pushed back to 2022, so we still have to imagine what next year’s grid might look like, or turn to the internet’s endless renders for a clue.

    By Adam Ismail Read More

  • I Adore This Mix-And-Match Ford Mustang Drift Car

    Pro drifter Chelsea DeNofa has always been making interesting cars. His turbo E46 always seemed to push the limits of what each component could handle, and it felt like it was always either fighting for a podium or blowing up on the way there. Now he’s building a Ford Mustang, and it’s no surprise it’s a fun collection of parts.

    By Raphael Orlove Read More

  • Abu Dhabi F1 Circuit Will Undergo Changes To Be Less Boring

    The Yas Marina Circuit that has played host to Formula 1's Abu Dhabi Grand Prix for the last 11 years will look a little different this go around, as the race organizers will reprofile sections of the track to encourage overtaking and hopefully end the season on a more thrilling note.

    By Adam Ismail Read More

  • Relive One Of The Weirdest MotoGP Starts Of All Time

    When the MotoGP field lined up for the start of the 2014 German Grand Prix, only nine bikes actually took to the grid, with several empty rows behind Stefan Bradl, who essentially inherited pole position. Another 14 sat at the start of the pit lane, ready to go. If you had just happened to turn on the television to watch this race, you might be wondering what the hell was going on. Let’s relive one of the weirdest MotoGP starts of all time.

    By Elizabeth Blackstock Read More

  • Mission Winnow Removes Logo From Ferrari, Cites 'Mistrust' In Tobacco Industry

    Ferrari’s Mission Winnow sponsorship has been questioned on a regular basis since it was first introduced in 2019. Mission Winnow is, basically, Philip Morris’ not-so-subtle vaping initiative. Philip Morris is, basically, Marlboro. Overt tobacco sponsorships have been discouraged but not completely banned in Formula One for several years. Still, Philip Morris is so upset by the apparently distaste for tobacco in racing that the company has decided to remove its Mission Winnow sponsorship from th

    By Elizabeth Blackstock Read More

  • Lewis Hamilton's 'Magic Button': Explained

    The Azerbaijan Grand Prix at Baku was a disaster for Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton (and, well, for Mercedes in general). The reigning Formula One World Champion looked set to take the lead at one of the late-race restarts… until he went sailing off the racing line into the run-off zone. Hamilton lost out on his chance to scoop up a crucial win, instead taking home a measly 15th place. It all comes down to a so-called “magic button.”

    By Elizabeth Blackstock Read More

  • Max Verstappen Redeems First-Corner Slip Up With French GP Win

    When Max Verstappen ran wide at the start of the 2021 Formula One French Grand Prix, it looked like his race was over. He’d sustained some damage and lost time to reigning champion Lewis Hamilton. But a poor strategy by Mercedes—and an exceptional one by Red Bull—put Verstappen back in contention with just a handful of laps to go, leaving the Dutch driver to glide into the lead with just one lap remaining.

    By Elizabeth Blackstock Read More

  • No, You're Not Going To Be Able To Follow NASCAR's All-Star Race From The Grandstands

    I decided to head to NASCAR’s first-ever All-Star Race at Texas Motor Speedway on a whim. It’s close, it wasn’t awfully expensive, and I figured it was time to see some NASCAR racing on an oval track, not just at Circuit of the Americas. But once the rules were announced, I knew I wanted to go for another reason: to see if I’d be able to follow the various races from the grandstands.

    By Elizabeth Blackstock Read More

  • Max Verstappen Takes Pole For The 2021 French Grand Prix

    The big question ahead of the Formula One French Grand Prix has been, who has the best, true pace? Max Verstappen of Red Bull Racing may have taken pole position, but with second place changing multiple times in the closing moments of Q3, it raised some eyebrows. Will Mercedes have the better pace during the race? Will Verstappen be extra motivated to win after his disaster at Baku? Tomorrow, we’ll find out the answer.

    By Elizabeth Blackstock Read More

  • Pato O'Ward Proves That IndyCar Is Where He Belongs

    “I like to win, and I’m not here to do anything else but win,” Patricio O’Ward, driver of the No. 5 Arrow McLaren SP IndyCar team, told Jalopnik in a recent chat ahead of this weekend’s race at Road America. “We’re all race car drivers, and we all want to beat each other. And that’s what drives me.”

    By Elizabeth Blackstock Read More

  • Sabine Schmitz Now Has A Corner Of The Nürburgring Named In Her Honor

    There are countless ways to win as a racing driver. Yes, you can win a victory. You can take a championship. You can set a record, do something no one else has done. But there’s a unique honor that comes by having a corner of a race track named after you. And that’s what the Nürburgring has done with Sabine Schmitz to remember the legacy of the woman who was the ‘Ring.

    By Elizabeth Blackstock Read More

  • This Day In History: Tire Chaos Strikes At The 2005 United States Grand Prix

    A child born on June 19, 2005 would be old enough to drive a car in the state of Indianapolis today, but on the date of his birth, most Formula One cars were not driving in the United States Grand Prix. That’s right, folks. It’s been 16 whole entire years since one of the most controversial F1 races in history.

    By Elizabeth Blackstock Read More

  • Alpine Signs Esteban Ocon For Another Three Years

    On Wednesday French Formula One concern Alpine locked in its 2022 lineup, extending Esteban Ocon’s contract through the end of 2024, where he will continue to partner former World Champion Fernando Alonso through at least the end of next season. The 24-year-old joined the team formerly known as Renault last season for a two-year contract.

    By Bradley Brownell Read More

  • Mercedes Makes A Simple Fix To The Simple Problem That Cost Lewis Hamilton A Race Win

    It wasn’t immediately clear how Lewis Hamilton failed to make the first turn following the late race restart at the Azerbaijan Grand Prix two weeks ago, though we quickly learned the reason for the error after the race. Hamilton had triggered the “brake magic” function on his W12's steering wheel, which adjusted his brake bias entirely toward the car’s front wheels and caused the fateful lock up.

    By Adam Ismail Read More

  • IndyCar Title Contender Rinus VeeKay Out With Broken Collarbone After Cycling Crash

    Dutch driver Rinus van Kalmthout suffered a cracked clavicle as a result of a cycle trail crash during a training ride. The only full-season driver for Ed Carpenter Racing was taken to the hospital and treated by IndyCar’s medical staff. While the racer has already undergone surgery to pin his collarbone back together, he has not been medically cleared to drive his #21 Sonax Chevrolet this weekend at Road America.

    By Bradley Brownell Read More

  • Pirelli's Investigation Of Pirelli Concludes That Pirelli Was Not At Fault

    Two different crashes occurred during the Azerbaijan Grand Prix as a result of the same left-rear Pirelli tire failure. Both Aston Martin’s Lance Stroll and erstwhile leader Red Bull’s Max Verstappen suffered extreme high-speed tire deflations with zero warning. Both resulted in scary crashes which saw both drivers smash into the wall near 200 miles per hour. If the cars weren’t built as strong as they are, the result might have been far more dangerous.

    By Bradley Brownell Read More

  • Williams Is Probably Screwed If George Russell Leaves

    Williams Grand Prix Engineering is in rough shape. Despite having scored nearly as many points as McLaren in F1's hybrid era, the two British racing concerns have been on opposite trajectories with Williams trending significantly downward from 2016 to today. Continuing on the 2020 theme with a few flashes of brilliance thus far this year in qualifying, Williams has continued to be unable to deliver on the promise of a turnaround during races. And it’s only going to get worse when the team loses

    By Bradley Brownell Read More

  • McLaren Has Found Its Place In IndyCar

    Man, if you didn’t watch the last ten laps of the IndyCar race on Sunday, you really missed out on a truly amazing performance from 22-year-old Mexican phenomenon Patricio O’Ward. In fact, it’s so amazing, you just need to click play on the last ten minutes of the race (video below), because the guy just made the rest of the field look like fools. McLaren has come a long way from its DNQ with Fernando Alonso in the 2017 Indy 500.

    By Bradley Brownell Read More

  • A Different Kind Of Life Is The Formula One Story You Need To Know

    When Formula One team owner Frank Williams suffered the accident that left him paralyzed from the neck down, he was riding high. He’d tasted success as a constructor and led several different drivers to F1 World Championships. He’d avoided bankruptcy and was able to live comfortably for the first time in his life. With all that success, it was hard to forget he had a family of three children at home who were about to be irrevocably changed by this one accident. And that’s why A Different Kind of

    By Elizabeth Blackstock Read More

  • La Corsa Is The Racing Board Game Every Fan Needs — Once You Figure It Out

    When we talk racing games, we’re usually thinking video games, but I’m going to challenge you to think a little differently: imagine a racing board game. A tangible game you can play at the dinner table. Something you could bring out at parties and actually, y’know, talk to people. That’s what you get with La Corsa.

    By Elizabeth Blackstock Read More

  • That Book About Rich Energy Is Coming In 2022

    Back when I made my return to Jalopnik, I mentioned in passing that Jalop alum Alanis King and I were hard at work on a Rich Energy project. Now, I can give you a few more details: it’s going to be a book, it’s coming in 2022, and it’ll be published by McFarland & Co.

    By Elizabeth Blackstock Read More

  • This Day In History: Formula One Driver Innes Ireland Is Born

    Innes Ireland may not have been the most successful Grand Prix driver of his era, but he was one of the most personable, the kind of man who could transform even the staunchest rival into the best of friends with nothing but his wit and charm. And on this day in 1930, Ireland was born.

    By Elizabeth Blackstock Read More

  • Now BMW's Joining The Endurance Racing Prototype Party

    BMW, much like Ferrari, Porsche and Audi, is returning to worldwide endurance racing with a car designed to battle for overall victories. The German automaker confirmed the news today, via a post on Instagram from BMW M chief Markus Flasch.

    By Adam Ismail Read More

  • A NASCAR Team Joked About Making Its Numbers Huge And Fans Sorta Lost It

    Stock cars and their big, stylized numbers are inseparable. Which is why when the numbers’ size or placement is threatened with any change at all, fans kind of lose their shit. That’s what happened Wednesday, thanks to a cheeky tweet from Joe Gibbs Racing ahead of this weekend’s extremely confusing All-Star Race at Texas Motor Speedway.

    By Adam Ismail Read More

  • Rally Driver Mad

    Mads Østberg is one of the most expressive drivers in the World Rally Championship, enormously fast but seemingly always unlucky. He has never secured a championship, and he never catches a break, so you kind of want to cut him some slack when he drops some really colossal cussing on live TV.

    By Raphael Orlove Read More

  • IMSA's New GTD Pro Class Will Be Artificially Faster Than GTD

    As if sports car racing isn’t already complicated enough for the casual fan, IMSA has decided to replace its GTLM class with a second GTD class in 2022. This is mostly because GTLM has become an economic failure of a class, and the series is attempting to bring more OEM money into the sport. No knocking them for trying such a monumental task, but maybe this isn’t the best way to manage it. In any case, IMSA announced a few rules and regulations for the GTD Pro class next year. Let’s dig into the

    By Bradley Brownell Read More

  • Here's How Kévin Estre Won The Nürburgring 24 In The First 20 Minutes

    Porsche’s ace sports car crew is packed to the gills with incredible talent, but one guy really making a name for himself as a Nürburgring specialist is Frenchman Kévin Estre. You may recall Estre’s famed pass in the grass from the 24 Hour in 2019 (if not, I’ve linked it right here) and while that ballsy move didn’t end up netting the team the victory in the end, it cemented his place as a legend.

    By Bradley Brownell Read More

  • GM Breaks Ground At Its Charlotte Racing Technical Center

    General Motors is bringing a new facility to Concord, North Carolina as a way to further develop the Chevrolet NASCAR program, and ground was broken this past week in anticipation of the opening of the 130,000 square foot facility in 2022.

    By Elizabeth Blackstock Read More

  • Michael Shank On Winning His First Indy 500 With Hélio Castroneves

    One week ago today, Meyer Shank Racing achieved an almost unthinkable goal for an IndyCar team in its second full season. The team’s No. 06 chassis powered by Hélio Castroneves took the checkered flag at the famed Indianapolis 500, making history to become the fourth driver in the race’s 105-year history to secure four wins at the Speedway—and he delivered MSR its first. And gearing the team toward this incredible milestone is Michael Shank.

    By Elizabeth Blackstock Read More

  • Let's Brainstorm: How Can We Make F1's Monaco Grand Prix More Interesting?

    It isn’t often that I’ll admit that maybe Bernie Ecclestone was right about something, but after last weekend’s processional Monaco Grand Prix, I’ve been thinking that Formula One’s most iconic—and most boring—race could use a makeover. And with NASCAR’s rainy outing at Circuit of the Americas taking place at the same time, I started thinking, maybe installing sprinklers at race tracks to make artificially wet races wouldn’t be such a bad idea.

    By Elizabeth Blackstock Read More

  • Did You Know: This Former F1 Driver Started An Interactive Sex Toy Business

    If you don’t quite recall the name of Dutch racing driver Robert Doornbos, you’d be forgiven. In 11 Formula One starts with Minardi and Red Bull, his best finish was 12th. In Champ Car, he finished third in the 2007 championship. But his legacy will live on in a much different way. After stepping back from his racing career, Doornbos founded a sex toy company called Kiiroo.

    By Elizabeth Blackstock Read More

  • I Am Going To Try, And Possibly Fail, To Explain NASCAR's Pit Stop Procedures For This Weekend's Mid-Ohio Xfinity Race

    There once was a time when NASCAR was all about simplicity. You just got behind the wheel of a car, and you raced it. Nowadays, you’d be lucky just to figure out how to follow a single race as a fan, and it’s only getting more complicated this weekend as the series hits the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course for one of its road races this year. So, in honor of this year’s Xfinity event, I’m going to make an effort to explain how to follow the pit stops, which have grown exceedingly complicated.

    By Elizabeth Blackstock Read More

  • We Are Living In The Age Of Alfa

    The Alfas have taken over. Millions of Alfas are expected to emerge from their underground hibernation after spending 17 years dormant. The truly striking carapace of these creatures can be seen everywhere, though mostly in Europe these days. As many as a dozen of these periodic Alfa Romaeidae will burrow to the surface per acre where they are most heavily concentrated. And as near as scientists can tell, they only come out to scream at the top of their lungs before heading back to infiltrate a

    By Bradley Brownell Read More

  • Travis Pastrana Is Never Not In Full Send Mode

    “This car, I get in and sometimes they’re like ‘it’s 700 horsepower’, other times ‘it’s 900 horsepower’, ‘how much power do you want?’ All of it! ... Why would you not turn it up to ‘extra spicy’ all of the time?” - Travis Pastrana

    By Bradley Brownell Read More

  • This Year's Indy 500 Did Not Disappoint

    The moment you knew that this year’s Indy 500 might be good was on lap 38, when Scott Dixon’s car briefly died, he lost a lap, and the guy who many people thought would win this year all of the sudden probably wouldn’t. At that point, things were wide open.

    By Erik Shilling Read More

Spacelopnik (8)

  • Construction Of The World's Biggest Radio Telescope Is Officially Underway

    The construction of the Square Kilometre Array Observatory is finally scheduled to begin next month, after the project spent seven years in the design and engineering phase. When it’s completed, the SKA Observatory will be the biggest radio telescope on Earth, with a collecting area that will cover over one kilometer.

    By José Rodríguez Jr. Read More

  • China Sends First Crew To Their New Space Station

    For the first time in 21 years, Earth has two separate crewed space stations in orbit. One is, of course, the International Space Station (ISS), with a crew of seven, and now there’s the three taikonauts aboard Tianhe, the core module of China’s new space station. There’s ten people in orbit now! Things are getting crowded up there in the infinite void.

    By Jason Torchinsky Read More

  • Let's Figure Out If The Forest Service Can Move The Moon

    There’s been remarkable video bouncing around the internet this week, and it’s surprising because this video has no adorable goats or cars flipping over or even a dude getting whacked in the junk by some flying something. It’s just a person in front of a bookshelf talking to another person in front of a wall. It’s what was said in this video that’s interesting, and who said it. I suppose the quickest summary of what went down is that a sitting United States Representative asked a Forest Service

    By Jason Torchinsky Read More

  • GT Racer John Shoffner Is Going To Space With Axiom

    There is one single profession cooler than being a race car driver: being an astronaut. In the second half of 2022, though, GT racer John Shoffner is going to have both professions under his belt when he heads into space with Axiom.

    By Elizabeth Blackstock Read More

  • Are We The Bad Guys?

    Normally, when a new Major General is sworn in it is a solemn, dignified affair. When Maj. Gen. DeAnna Burt was sworn in to the U.S. Space Force last month at the Vandenberg Air Force Base in California, it involved folks dressed as Stormtroopers. I thought what many of you are probably thinking: Wait a minute, Stormtroopers? Are we, in fact, the baddies?

    By Erin Marquis Read More

Subaru (1)

Technology (78)

  • I Hope The Mini Vision Urbanaut Concept Is Having A Good Day

    BMW’s Mini brand has spent the last 15 years totally ruining its brand equity by introducing decidedly-not-mini cars and SUVs. In the beginning of Mini’s brand it lured customers in with funky retro futuristic good looks, a compact footprint, and the promise of a good time, but has slowly become a boring, staid, also-ran Compact Ute brand that doesn’t know who it is or what its customers want. Much like other forward-thinking hip brands aimed at young drivers like Saturn or Scion, Mini has spent

    By Bradley Brownell Read More

  • We Live In The Tesla Era, Even If GM Started It: The Electric Car Timeline Part 3

    It’s finally here, the last third of our electric car timeline, at least according to me, a man who has chosen to divide the nearly 200-year timeline of electric vehicles into three parts, mostly in a vain attempt to impress those people who kicked me out of various homes, parties, and minigolf courses over the years. This last era — the era we’re all in right now, as we speak, I’m calling the Tesla Era. Let’s look at it a bit, why not?

    By Jason Torchinsky Read More

  • Consumer Reports Restores Tesla Model 3 Top Safety Pick+ Status After Camera-Based Emergency Braking System Passes Tests

    If you zealously keep up with Tesla news, you’re likely to both think I’m a filthy monster and remember that last month, Tesla announced that it would be eliminating radar transceivers from their Models 3 and Y cars, relying on a camera-only system for its semi-automated driving system. This change also disabled systems like Emergency Lane Departure Avoidance and changed the Automatic Emergency Braking (AEB) and Forward Collision Warning (FCW) systems, which resulted in the loss of Consumer Repo

    By Jason Torchinsky Read More

  • Volvo's Concept Recharge Is Its Big Swing At The Future

    Volvo’s Tech Moment was Wednesday morning, a day when the company spent hours talking about the electric and semiautonomous technology it is working on and a day not at all inspired by Tesla’s Battery Day. Volvo also unveiled a new electric concept, too.

    By Erik Shilling Read More

  • Electric Car Sales Boom In Europe Reverses New Car Emissions Trend

    The European Union introduced its car CO2 standards way back in 2010 and has been revising and updating those standards every couple of years since, making them ever more stringent, in an effort to curb emissions entirely. The ultimate goal is to see the entire EU as carbon neutral by 2050, which means a strong push away from internal combustion automobiles. By threatening strict penalties for automotive companies which don’t meet these standards and incentivizing consumers for buying electric a

    By Bradley Brownell Read More

  • The Electric Car Capital Of The World Is Taking Shape In China

    There’s two things that we need for a succesful transition from combustion-powered cars to fully-electrified vehicles. Forget about increasing range, or about options on the high-end of the market. The EV transition will pretty much depend on wider infrastructure and lower cost of entry, overall, and the city of Liuzhou has already figured this out.

    By José Rodríguez Jr. Read More

  • TikToker With A Viral Video Of New Tesla With Improperly Installed Airbag Didn't Actually Own The Car

    Despite what my recent colonic lab results suggest, I’m human. And, as a human, I make mistakes. Statistically, I suspect I make many more mistakes than an average human. One of these mistakes was taking a TikToker at their word regarding a Tesla they claimed to own. The TikToker in question is the one we wrote about last week, who claimed to be taking delivery of his new Tesla when the airbag came off in his hand. According to another video, it appears he did not own the car he sat in, and the

    By Jason Torchinsky Read More

  • Where Should The Batteries In The Hybrid Or EV Mazda Miata Go?

    Jalopnik readers likely account for the largest group of Mazda Miata experts in the world, built upon a foundation of the inscrutable formula for an affordable, sporty and lightweight roadster that the Miata has developed for over 30 years. We know it has a scary electrified future; let’s now guess at what to expect for one of the internet’s favorite cars.

    By Justin T. Westbrook Read More

  • Honda Is (Finally) Fully Embracing Electric

    Honda says that all of its car sales will be electric in North America in 2040, which is a tweak on what other carmakers have been saying, like GM, which merely has an “aspiration to eliminate tailpipe emissions from new light-duty vehicles by 2035.” Enter the Honda Prologue, which is a car.

    By Erik Shilling Read More

  • Nissan Just Made Another Weird Series Hybrid

    Nissan is plugging along with development of its weird e-Power drivetrain. In its home market of Japan, the carmaker has debuted a new model, the Note Aura, which uses this fascinating EV(ish) tech. Nissan calls the new Note Aura a premium compact car, but we know it’s really just a baby Ariya.

    By José Rodríguez Jr. Read More

  • Volvo Will Make Standard The Lidar Tech Tesla Mocked

    At some point, one stops questioning whether Volvo’s decades-long obsession with safety is a marketing gimmick or its raison d’être. Well, scratch that, Volvo’s raison d’être is being a profitable business, like every automaker, but Volvo also isn’t faking it on the safety thing.

    By Erik Shilling Read More

  • The Next Generation Mazda Miata Will Be A Hybrid Or EV: Report

    The Mazda Miata generations average about eight to 10 years, which means the current fourth-generation ND Miata, in production since 2015, is starting to get a little long in the tooth. It’s hard to imagine the Miata being anything other than a rear-wheel-drive gas roadster, but Mazda is reportedly in the midst of trying to electrify it.

    By Erik Shilling Read More

  • Bentley's Electric Car Will Literally Make Music For You

    Bentley isn’t happy making just cars anymore. Apparently, it wants to make music now, too. The luxury carmaker is working with a tech company, LifeScore, to make new music for every single one of your drives by using artificial intelligence and vehicle input.

    By José Rodríguez Jr. Read More

  • Audi Says It Will Make Its Last Internal Combustion Engine By 2033

    Audi is going electric, like everyone else, though Tuesday it attached a new timeline to its electric ambitions. Audi declared it’d make its last internal combustion engines by 2033. I would call this ambitious except it’s unlikely Audi is doing this under its own volition, exactly.

    By Erik Shilling Read More

  • New Tesla Owner's TikTok Goes Viral When The Airbag Comes Off In His Hand UPDATE

    I know we’ve been shitting upon Tesla’s new yoke-style steering non-wheel a good bit, and I think we’ve all had a pretty good time with that, and now it looks like the yoke has provided us with some more entertaining wackiness to ponder. In this case, TikToker Rico Kimbrough takes us on an excited journey as he picks up his new Tesla Model S, only to end that journey with baffled disappointment when his airbag comes off in his hand. [UPDATE: It’s not his car.]

    By Jason Torchinsky Read More

  • Engineering Experts At Munro Tear Down Volkswagen ID.4 Electric Motor, Remind Us That VW Engineers Aren't Scrubs

    The VW ID.4 may be a ho-hum product, especially compared with modern Teslas, but make no mistake: Volkswagen is an engineering powerhouse and has been for decades. This is why I have high hopes for the company’s MEB platform — VW knows how to build cars, it has huge market reach, and it’s got an enormous supply base. The company should be able to play a huge part in bringing EVs into the mainstream. This video from automotive benchmarking company Munro & Associates confirms some of my thoughts,

    By David Tracy Read More

  • Here's What It's Like To Buy And Own An EV In China

    Electric car buying Stateside has become a relatively mundane and normal process, down to the haggling, “extended warranties” on components you don’t even have, or just the general miasma of stepping foot into a dealer. Overseas, the experience can be wildly different, as this week’s featured owner, Seth, explained to me from Shanghai.

    By Victoria Scott Read More

  • Hyundai Celebrates Buying Robot Maker Boston Dynamics With A Really Weird Video

    Remember late last year when we told you Hyundai was going to buy robot-dog-maker Boston Dynamics so it can, maybe, send a robot dogs to round up everyone who still owns a Hyundai Excel for, I don’t know, research purposes? Of course you remember. Well, the check cleared, title signed over, and now Hyundai owns a robot company. To celebrate, they made a really strange video.

    By Jason Torchinsky Read More

  • Lucid Is Still Making Its Case

    If you talk to any automaker executive, they will, without any effort, tell you that the proposition they are offering is unique to the market, usually because it has some feature the competition lacks. Lucid is no different in this respect. I just fear that it might have a slightly harder argument to make.

    By Erik Shilling Read More

  • Toyota Still Won't Fully Commit To EVs

    The automotive industry is quickly transitioning to EVs. Some companies have claimed to be completely transitioning to an EV lineup with billions being thrown at new EV development and a phase-out of ICE engines. There is one hold out though: Toyota. As Automotive News reported, Toyota thinks there will still be a market for non EV vehicles.

    By Lawrence Hodge Read More

  • A Brief History Of Gasoline: They Trashed Pennsylvania First

    This is the third story in a series of stories on the history of gasoline. So far, Jalopnik’s tech coverage has been focused primarily on the emergence, or reemergence of the electric vehicle. One of the primary arguments levied against electric cars and electric charging infrastructure has been that bringing both into the mainstream would take significant investment from private and public actors, and that this has not generally been politically palatable in the United States. In this ten part

    By Raphael Orlove Read More

  • Canoo Plans To Build Its Assembly Plant In An Oklahoma Town You've Probably Never Heard Of

    The last few months have been pretty rough for electric startup Canoo. From executives leaving, to a partnership with Hyundai falling through, to an SEC investigation announced just hours after pricing was released for its minibus lifestyle vehicle, Canoo’s chances of actually getting a vehicle to production are starting to look slim. It’s pressing ahead, though, as Reuters reports that Canoo has announced it’ll build its manufacturing facility in Oklahoma.

    By Lawrence Hodge Read More

  • Lordstown Motors Continues Its Run Of Total Chaos

    Lordstown Motors seems all but finished, but it isn’t finished yet, and on Tuesday its president Rich Schmidt said it had “binding” orders and was good to go for the next two years. Except on Thursday, Lordstown said in a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission that it had no binding orders.

    By Erik Shilling Read More

  • The Next USPS Mail Truck Will Face A Legal Challenge: Report

    The United States Postal Service announced in February that the next mail truck would be made by Oshkosh Defense, choosing them over Workhorse, a small startup probably most famous for its association with former President Trump. Well, Workhorse isn’t going down without a fight.

    By Erik Shilling Read More

  • The Cruise Origin Has Entered Pre-Production

    Pre-production of the Cruise Origin, the autonomous people carrying shuttle thing, has started. As Bloomberg reports, the company will build 100 units at its Warren, Michigan facility. The company says it expects all 100 units to be done this summer so more testing can begin.

    By Lawrence Hodge Read More

  • Lincoln Is Also Jumping On The All-Electric Bandwagon

    Lincoln announced Wednesday that it would have a new all-electric vehicle next year, and four new all-electric vehicles by 2030 in what is a big electric push for Ford’s luxury division. I am guessing that the new one will be something like a Lincoln Mach-E (Mark-E?), though I hope Lincoln gets more ambitious.

    By Erik Shilling Read More

  • FedEx And Nuro Partner Up For Autonomous Last-Mile Delivery In Houston

    Nuro, the company that makes the little robot car called the R2, announced a partnership with one of its highest-profile clients yet, FedEx. The companies had been working together on a sort of pilot program to integrate the Nuro pilot into FedEx operations in Houston, Texas, since April. The two companies are now making it official with a multi-year, multi phase agreement, per FedEx.

    By José Rodríguez Jr. Read More

  • Real-World Video Of The Tesla Yoke Steering Wheel Is As Bad As You Think UPDATED

    We’ve discussed the refreshed and technically impressive 2022 Tesla Model S before, and especially some of the UX decisions made, including the inclusion of the cut-down, yoke-style steering wheel that now comes standard on the Model S. While we’ve had a grand time speculating about how shitty using such a steering not-wheel might be, we haven’t really had any direct, empirical evidence. Until now. Yes, someone has driven a brand-new Model S with the yoke, and, yeah, it looks like it kinda sucks

    By Jason Torchinsky Read More

  • Lordstown Motors Seems All But Finished

    Lordstown Motors, which former President Donald Trump loved, has been on the fritz for weeks now, and it said last week that it wasn’t sure if it would keep on as a “going concern.” It said Monday that its CEO and CFO had resigned.

    By Erik Shilling Read More

  • You Car's Privacy Data May Not Actually Be All That Private

    My husband has a rule: he doesn’t download any app that requires his location data or a direct link between that app and any other social media account or email address. He doesn’t give permissions. He still doesn’t allow Twitter direct access to his phone’s camera app. And his extreme hesitation doesn’t seem all that paranoid now that Motherboard has discovered a wealth of data from car privacy company Otonomo.

    By Elizabeth Blackstock Read More

  • This Is Why We Don't Have Solar-Powered Cars

    Using the sun’s energy to power green vehicles seems like a no-brainer. There’s a lot of sunlight in this world—why not harness it in order to reduce our dependence on both fossil fuels and the electrical grid? Well, the main problem is, it’s not as easy as you think.

    By Elizabeth Blackstock Read More

  • Elon Musk Said Something That Reveals Much Of What's Wrong With Tesla

    At Tesla’s event to show off their impressive new 2022 Tesla Model S Plaid, amid all of the impressive specs and cutaways of the new motors and someone playing video games on the thing, there was one bit that really stuck out to me. It was something Elon said when explaining why they’ve decided to remove all control stalks from the car, including any physical controls to change gears. The statement also spoke volumes about what Elon thinks of drivers, and it’s not great.

    By Jason Torchinsky Read More

  • Apple Hires Canoo Startup Cofounder For Its Car Program

    Apple is still trying to make a car. Rumors about the tech giants’ automotive exploits have been swirling around for years, with talks of autonomy to an EV to a partnership with Hyundai that eventually fell through. The company is still hiring, though. As recently as last week, a report from Cnet said that executives were leaving the company’s autonomous car program. To make up for that, Autoblog reports that Apple has hired Ulrich Kranz.

    By Lawrence Hodge Read More

  • Tesla Has A Big Event To Introduce The 1,020-HP 2022 Tesla Model S Plaid And They Say It's The 'Best Car'

    Tesla officially unveiled their significantly updated $131,000 base price Model S last night, which it’s calling the Model S Plaid, and it’s an impressive machine. Elon Musk says it’s “faster than any Porsche, safer than any Volvo” and it even has an in-dash game-playing system that Tesla claims is equal to the power of a Sony Playstation 5. If you’re already a Tesla fan, you’ll want to pureé the car and inject it right into your brainstem, and even if you’re not, there’s lots to be impressed by

    By Jason Torchinsky Read More

  • The GMC Hummer EV Will Have An Extreme Off-Road Package

    GMC’s six-figure supertruck isn’t slated to go into production until this fall, but when it does it should be one of the most off-road capable vehicles since the original Hummer. According to a report from GM Trucks, buyers will have the option to make it even more off-road capable with an Extreme Off-Road Package.

    By Lawrence Hodge Read More

  • The Tesla Model S Plaid Won't Actually Go 200 MPH

    Tesla is having a hell of a time with the whole car business this week. First Elon announced that the Plaid + model was cancelled because the standard Plaid was too good. Then earlier on Thursday Tesla announced it was raising the price of the standard Plaid, set to launch Thursday night, by $10,000. And now the company has been forced to walk back performance claims of the new high-speed Model S. Apparently that 200 mile per hour claim is only true if your car is equipped with optional wheels t

    By Bradley Brownell Read More

  • The 2022 Ford Maverick Hybrid Pickup Truck And An Old VW Beetle Share At Least One Technical Quirk

    The greater community of truck-lovers and those who are truck-curious are still talking about Ford’s new smallish pickup, the 2022 Maverick. It’s $20,000 and gets 40 mpg, and is notable for being the first pickup sold with a standard hybrid drivetrain. It’s interesting! At the same time, it’s a pretty straightforward machine, without a lot of actually weird surprises. There is one somewhat strange technical design quirk it has, and I find it notable because it’s one shared with one of my favorit

    By Jason Torchinsky Read More

  • GM Now Says It's Fine With California's Fuel Economy Regulations

    In 2011, the Obama administration proposed some of the strictest fuel economy rules for new cars and trucks in the world, and GM was on board, saying then that the rules were “a path forward that greatly improves fuel economy while preserving customer choice and future industry growth.” On Wednesday, GM declined to support the same rules even though in nearly ten years’ time climate change has only gotten worse.

    By Erik Shilling Read More

  • This Wind-Powered Car Goes Fast Enough To Break Physics

    I’m hardly a science man, but I’ve been around cars enough to learn a thing or two about objects in motion. One thing I know for a fact is that wind can’t ever push you faster than it is going. I mean, you can tack a sailboat and technically go faster than your tailwind, but that’s basically flying along a horizontal plane. Whatever, physics is weird and I barely understand regular math. Thankfully the Veritasium channel on YouTube is here to help us understand things a bit better.

    By Bradley Brownell Read More

  • Ferrari's New CEO Is The Boring Choice It Probably Needs

    Ferrari makes fast and expensive cars, and for some it is a religion of sorts. Modern Ferrari is also, above all, a brand, with an interest not only in making fast and expensive cars but also apparel and leather. Modern Ferrari is also hugely profitable.

    By Erik Shilling Read More

  • Lordstown Motors Admits It's In Dire Straits In New SEC Filing

    We’ve never had much faith in Lordstown Motors going the distance and now there’s even less reason to hope after the company filed a 10-Q form Tuesday. It admitted “The Company believes that its current level of cash and cash equivalents are not sufficient to fund commercial scale production and the launch of sale of such vehicles.”

    By Erin Marquis Read More

  • The World's Cheapest EV Is Genuinely Good

    Getting to review automotive legends is an absolute joy as an enthusiast, but it’s also a heavy burden as a writer. How do you put a fresh spin on an icon? How do you cover a car larger than life in a way that does it justice? How the hell do I add something meaningful to the tapestry of stories told and reviews written about the Changli Freeman when Jason Torchinsky is the owner? 

    By Victoria Scott Read More

  • Cruise Can Now Operate Driverless Cars With Passengers In California

    This past Friday, a major step in autonomous cars was reached. Cruise, the self-driving car startup that impressed GM so much they bought a major stake in them, gained approval from the California Public Utilities Commission to operate with passengers on public roads, Motor Authority reports.

    By Lawrence Hodge Read More

  • We Did Some Math On The Tesla Roadster's Claimed 1.1 Second 0-60 Time

    Ever since Tesla announced that it’s developing an all-new Roadster, there have been remarkable claims made about its potential for speed. First there’s the claim of getting from zero to 60 mph in 1.9 seconds, which we scrutinized more than once, and now there’s the claim that with a set of cold-gas thrusters known as the “Space X Package,” the roadster could hit a mile-a-minute in an absurd 1.1 seconds. This is a bonkers number to consider, so I reached out to a physicist to run the numbers.

    By Jason Torchinsky Read More

  • Tesla App Code Hints At 'Safety Rating' That May Adjust Insurance Cost Based On How You Drive

    When Tesla announced it’d begin selling insurance for owners in California, the company claimed it’d be able to offer rates up to 30 percent lower than typical vendors. Early quotes from actual owners suggested that estimate was perhaps a bit optimistic, though those rates could become more competitive soon with a new “safety rating” feature a Reddit user is claiming that Tesla is working on integrating into its mobile app.

    By Adam Ismail Read More

  • The Tesla Model S Plaid+ Is Canceled

    Tesla CEO Elon Musk announced Sunday that the long-range version of the Tesla Model S Plaid — called the Plaid+ — is canceled. Musk said that this is because the regular Plaid is “just so good.”

    By Erik Shilling Read More

  • Now Fiat Says It's Going All-Electric By 2030 Too: Report

    Fiat said Friday that it planned to be all-electric by 2030, joining a lot of automakers in going big or all-in on electric then. That also so happens to coincide with the same year that a lot of countries are banning or planning to ban sales of combustion-engine cars, while many cities want them out.

    By Erik Shilling Read More

  • Startup Proposes Radical New Vertical EV Battery Packaging But I'm Not Sure I'm Sold

    One of my many embarrassing automotive fetishes is the whole concept of packaging; how can you cram all the stuff needed to make a car go while still maximizing interior volume? It’s a challenge, and most modern EVs have settled on a “skateboard” design, with the battery packs set into the floor, which provides a lot of packaging freedom. One British company, Page-Roberts, thinks they have a better idea, but I’m not so sure, mostly because it reminds me of a Zündapp Janus. That’s not a bad thing

    By Jason Torchinsky Read More

  • Ford Might Be Delivering The Perfect Compact Pickup For America At The Perfect Time

    America loves trucks. Like a lot. That’s made all the more obvious every year as Ford’s F-series continues to trounce every other automobile in sales figures. These giant hulking behemoths that modern pickups have become, however, aren’t the right vehicle for everyone, and Ford is finally bringing back a right-sized pickup for normal everyday Americans who don’t need to tow a yacht or do transport jobs for Bob’s Bulk Lead Weight Emporium. The Maverick is the perfect pickup for DIY gardeners, gar

    By Bradley Brownell Read More

  • David Beckham Just Became A Stakeholder In A Company That Converts Classics To EVs

    David Beckham, probably one of the most famous (and richest) soccer players ever, has a well-known affinity for cars. While I wouldn’t call his collections over the years impressive, he has had a few cars that show he has taste, like an old Aston V8 Vantage and a Jaguar Project 7. Now it looks as though he wants to get his hands in the business, as MarketWatch reports. The athlete has bought a stake in the British EV conversion company Lunaz.

    By Lawrence Hodge Read More

  • Tesla Autopilot Glitch Makes For Something That Looks Like A Pretty Fun Video Game

    I know Elon Musk famously said that Tesla is “very close to level five autonomy,” and that there are “no fundamental challenges,” just “many small problems,” but the truth is that those “many small problems” are what reality is made of, and there’s a great and actually fun example of one of these small problems, which was captured by a Tesla owner and shared for all of us to enjoy. So let’s enjoy it!

    By Jason Torchinsky Read More

  • 7-Eleven Hopes Its 500 EV Chargers Will Convince You To Stop By, Maybe

    Some folk have their gas station convenience store affiliations, and they run deep. You’ll rarely see my Shorti-hogging ass set foot in a QuickChek, for example. But I suppose if I drove an electric car and didn’t happen across one of the 50-odd Wawa locations with EV charging, I’d put aside my preferences for a minute or 20 and stop at a 7-Eleven, especially since the latter is making a push to install more charge points at its locations across the country.

    By Adam Ismail Read More

  • It's Time To Get Used To Seeing The Toyota BZ4X Concept

    We first saw Toyota’s BZ4X Concept in April at the Shanghai Auto Show, the likely template for what will be a swift move into the all-electric cars for Toyota, who have so far been a bit slow to it. BZ4X’s full U.S. debut came Wednesday, when Toyota showed a car that looked more or less the same and still with few details.

    By Erik Shilling Read More

  • Here's The New 2022 BMW i4 EV And The Best Detail

    The automotive world is in a mild tingly genitals state because BMW’s new all-electric car, the i4, was officially launched Tuesday, even though we saw it in March, already. Now, though, we know all the specs, and, even better, we got to see what I think is the car’s best detail, which I think is also a first for BMW.

    By Jason Torchinsky Read More

  • The Most Annoying Car That Defines This Moment In Time Is This 3-Wheeler That Mines Bitcoin

    Now that the idea of going to parties again is becoming a possibility, here in the sandalwood-scented year of 2021 there are three kinds of people you should be terrified of being trapped in a conversation with: me, wild-eyed QAnon types, and people really, really into Bitcoin or Dogecoin or other cryptocurrencies. For me, I’m just going to talk about taillights until you cry, from rage and boredom, and QAnon people are just going to try to get you to rescue the babies they think are trapped in

    By Jason Torchinsky Read More

  • Ford Is Beating Tesla In One Of The Most EV-Saturated Markets In The World

    It can be hard to know how to accurately judge Tesla’s sales performance, as for many years there simply weren’t other options in the luxury electric market. Also, until pretty recently, Tesla didn’t sell all that many cars, making the sample size small. More instructive would be to look at how Tesla does in a place like Norway, where there is a lot of EV competition and where over half of new cars sold are EVs.

    By Erik Shilling Read More

  • Hyundai Thinks A Subscription Will Convince Buyers To Purchase The Ioniq 5

    You’ve never owned an EV before, but you keep seeing everyone talk about them. You are in need of a new car, but you’re unsure about how an EV will affect your life with things like charging and range. You go to Hyundai to see the Ioniq 5 and they tell you you can try it out for three months before committing to buy. That’s the plan Hyundai thinks will get new buyers into its EVs, as it told Automotive News.

    By Lawrence Hodge Read More

  • Pure ETCR Is Creating The World's Most Powerful Touring Car Championship

    If the emergence of Formula E heralded the arrival of motorsport’s electric future in 2014, then 2021 will be the year in which EV-based racing undergoes its next revolution. This is thanks to an all-new touring car category: the all-electric PURE ETCR series, which begins at Italy’s Vallelunga Circuit on June 18th.

    By Erik Shilling Read More

  • Rimac Nevera Hits 186 MPH In The Same Time It Takes A Subaru Crosstrek To Reach 60

    Rimac’s latest all-electric hypercar, the Nevera, is a collection of absurd statistics. Four motors — one behind each wheel — produce a combined total of 1,914 horsepower and 1,740 lb-ft of torque. These motors allow the Nevera to hit 60 mph from a standstill in 1.85 seconds and 100 mph in 4.3 seconds. The quarter mile vanishes in 8.6 seconds. And, provided you have the room to reach it, the Nevera can get all the way up to 258 mph flat out.

    By Adam Ismail Read More

The Morning Shift (21)

Toyota (8)

  • Toyota Says Screw It And Shows The Full 2022 Tundra

    Toyota is as bad as Nissan when it comes to letting their trucks sit with no significant updates. Can you believe the current Tundra is only its second generation? The current generation debuted in 2007. I was still in high school. There have been three generations of the F-150 since then. But that’s all going to change soon, as this is our first look at the all-new, third-generation Tundra.

    By Lawrence Hodge Read More

  • Toyota Wants To Expand The GR Sub-Brand To More Cars

    The last couple of years Toyota’s Gazoo Racing, or GR, has been pretty busy. Between the Supra models, the not-for-us GR Yaris, and the new GR 86 Toyota’s performance sub-brand has its hands on everything driver-focused. Now, through an interview with Motor Trend, we’re learning that Toyota wants more GR cars. And yes that applies to cars specifically.

    By Lawrence Hodge Read More

  • Toyota's GR Yaris Subscription Plan Is A Weird One

    It turns out there is a way you can take the universally-beloved GR Yaris and make it sort of worse. Toyota will experiment with some of these methods in Japan with its new GR Yaris Morizo Selection trim that will regularly optimize “basic vehicle performance in terms of driving, turning and stopping” through software updates.

    By Adam Ismail Read More

Transportation (9)

Trucks (7)

Wrenching (9)

  • This Poor McLaren MP4-12C Got Submerged In Detroit's Floods And We Can Fix It

    Parts of the nation are getting drenched in seemingly nonstop rain. It’s not just hard for people, but for our friends, the cars. This McLaren MP4-12C found itself submerged in a parking garage in Detroit, Michigan. The British supercar will likely be totaled out, but it doesn’t have to be. Let Jalopnik put it back on the road!

    By Mercedes Streeter Read More

  • A Cheap Ozone Generator Might Help You Get That Foul Smell Out Of Your Car

    Over the past few weeks we’ve looked at a fluid transfer pump that’s crucial for fluid changes in some vehicles, a magnetic drain plug remover that helps you change fluids without getting you covered in stinky gear oil, and a silicone tray that saves you time (and a few swear words) by keeping your tools easily within reach. This week’s cool tool is an ozone generator that supposedly helps to get bad smells out of a car.

    By Mercedes Streeter Read More

  • This Hyper-Rare 1997 Jeep Grand Cherokee 'Excursion' In A Detroit Junkyard Deserves To Be Rescued

    This rare Jeep Grand Cherokee “Excursion” may be the most 1990s SUV of all time. Based on the already rather “90s” Jeep Grand Cherokee ZJ — with its plastic cladding and headlights that faded to yellow as soon as they left the factory — the Excursion added the conversion-van treatment that was so popular in the era. That means it has a cathode ray tube TV, VHS, tall roof, and plenty of wood trim inside. The bull bar pushes the ’90s nostalgia over the top, making this incredible Jeep well worth s

    By David Tracy Read More

  • My Car Ran Low On Oil. Here Are The Tests I Ran To Assess The Damage

    My 1993 Jeep Grand Cherokee’s oil pressure sensor broke, shooting 10W-30 all over the highway, leaving the engine dangerously low in lifeblood. My colleague Bradley, who was at the helm, dumped in gallons of oil to make up for the bleeding before coming up with an ingenious fix. Still, I was worried that my engine might have suffered permanent damage, so I ran some tests. Here’s what I found.

    By David Tracy Read More

  • This Simple Gadget Keeps You From Losing That 10mm Socket

    Over the past few weeks we’ve looked at a tool kit for removing plastic rivets with ease, a fluid transfer pump that’s crucial for fluid changes in some vehicles and a magnetic drain plug remover that helps you change fluids without getting you covered in stinky gear oil. This week’s cool tool a silicone tool tray. While not a tool itself, it saves you time and a few swear words by keeping your tools easily within reach during a project.

    By Mercedes Streeter Read More

  • The Absurd Reason Why This Jeep's Door Won't Close

    My base-model 1993 Jeep Grand Cherokee five-speed’s door is sagging, and while that may not seem like a big deal, the reason why this is happening is a bit absurd. Here’s a look at one of the most pathetic automotive failures I’ve ever seen.

    By David Tracy Read More