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Tuesday, January 26, 2021

What You Missed | Your Autoblog Daily Digest for January 26, 2021

Jan 26, 2021

Top Stories of the Day

Biden plans to replace federal fleet with American-made electric vehicles

President Joe Biden said today that the U.S. federal government would replace its fleet of vehicles with electric vehicles. "The federal government also owns an enormous fleet of vehicles, which we're going to replace with clean electric vehicles mad…

2021 Nissan GT-R Road Test | Godzilla on ice!

Call it a dinosaur. Mock the Nissan parts bin interior. Declare it overpriced versus newer sports cars. The 2021 Nissan GT-R doesn't mind. It's still Godzilla, and it will still rip your head off with pleasure. Flashback to a few years ago: I was ch…

GMC Hummer EV coming to Extreme E with Chip Ganassi Racing

The electric off-road racing series Extreme E is getting another famous face. This time it's not a person, but rather a vehicle: the GMC Hummer EV . GMC announced that it will be the main sponsor for the Chip Ganassi Racing Extreme E team. With the s…

Volvo will give away cars worth $2 million if a safety is scored in the Super Bowl

Volvo put $1 million worth of free cars on the line at last year's Super Bowl . For this year's Super Bowl LV, Volvo is doing it again, but it's doubling the prize potential. If a safety is recorded in the big game between the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and…

Quadratec's one-off YJL is a square-eyed tribute to the original Jeep Wrangler

Quadratec, the world's largest independent retailer of Jeep parts and accessories, built a one-of-a-kind Wrangler inspired by the original YJ model to celebrate its 30th birthday. Called YJL, the SUV gains square headlights that appeal to your 1990s …

This one-of-a-kind Ferrari Breadvan Homage is exactly what it sounds like

Dutch coachbuilder Niels van Roij Design immersed itself in an obscure chapter of Ferrari history to turn a 550 Maranello into a one-off shooting brake named Breadvan Homage. Built at the request of a collector, the model is a modern take on the 250 …

'Flying cars' still aren't ready for takeoff, but automakers keep climbing aboard

Flying cars (and jetpacks) have fascinated the public and press for decades and are a surefire way to get crowds and coverage at an event. At this month's virtual CES , GM scored big buzz (and a significant stock-price bounce ) from its numerous announ…

An amazing Group B rally car collection heads to auction

Kicking off in 1982, the Group B era spawned some of the most fearsome rally cars of all time. The technologically advanced pioneers of all-wheel drive and turbocharging defined a time when automakers had carte blanche to build machines with unrestri…

Ford Bronco prototypes get trial by fire after trailer goes up in flames

Carmakers need to put every new model through a battery of tests, but checking whether a car can survive extreme heat is not normally part of the homologation process. Ford presumably obtained valuable data about the new 2021 Bronco 's heat resistance…

Mansory made a lawnmower that's also a tribute to Air Jordan shoes

German car customizing firm Mansory is known for its outrageous and, at best, polarizing projects. But none of them are as strange as this, the BSTN GT XI. Yes, it is a lawn mower . Yes, that is the Air Jordan logo on it. No, none of this is a joke. I…

Monday, January 25, 2021

What You Missed | Your Autoblog Daily Digest for January 25, 2021

Jan 25, 2021

Top Stories of the Day

2021 Dodge Durango Hellcat First Drive | The 710-hp family hauler

Manifest Hellcat Destiny has brought us the latest inevitable supercharged V8 machine from Mopar, the 2021 Dodge Durango SRT Hellcat . And to make it extra-special, this 710-horsepower monster is the most powerful SUV that Chrysler — or any other auto…

Lotus will kill Elise, Exige and Evora to make room for the new Type 131

Lotus ended years of speculation by announcing it will begin rejuvenating its range when it releases a new model in 2021. Known as the Type 131 internally, its arrival will mark the end of the Elise, the Exige and the Evora. Although the three afore…

Ford design lead Moray Callum to retire, with a legacy from Mustang to Miata

Moray Callum, global vice president for Ford and Lincoln brand design, is retiring this year, the company announced Monday. Callum spent 38 years with the company, during which he led design on several noteworthy projects, including just about everyt…

2021 Audi Q5 Luggage Test | Versatile but space is limited

The 2021 Audi Q5 is one of the smallest compact luxury crossovers inside, but considering that it's been that way for two generations now and continues to be Audi's best-seller, it seems like many buyers are willing to overlook it. Nevertheless, its …

American dealers are begging Nissan for a modern-day Xterra

Consumer interest in off-roaders is booming, and Nissan dealers across the nation want to cash in on the trend. Several store owners are asking the Japanese company to bring the Xterra back as quickly as possible. Production of the second-generation…

Sony says it has no intention of entering the automotive industry

Unveiled at CES 2020, and road-tested in Austria in 2021, the Sony Vision-S looks ready for series production. And yet, the Japanese consumer electronics giant said it's not planning on leaping into the automotive industry. "At present, we have no p…

BF Goodrich introduces off-road-specific windshield wipers

When off-roading in most places (except for the desert, probably) you're going to need your windshield wipers. Crashing through water or pits of mud is going to leave your windshield covered with the outdoors. It's all a little more than what your wi…

2022 Honda Odyssey loses its HondaVac due to a supplier issue

The Honda Odyssey minivan is losing its in-car vacuum for the 2022 model year. The Drive reported the loss of the HondaVac first, learning that Honda had to nix it because the supplier who provided the vacuum went out of business. We asked Honda fo…

Go anywhere, including your living room, with the Tamiya Landfreeder Quadtrack R/C truck

One of the hottest modifications to hit the off-road scene has been swapping wheels and tires for tank-style tracks. Various aftermarket companies make them, and we've even driven some OEM customs with the mods . Of course, the price of entry is steep…

Junkyard Gem: 1963 Dodge Polara Hardtop Coupe

Well into the 1970s, when you referred to a postwar American car as simply a "1971 Chevy " or "1953 Mercury ," everyone knew you meant the full-sized car made by the specified company, and model names for most of these cars simply designated the trim l…