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Friday, March 26, 2021

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

Mar 26, 2021

Top Stories of the Day

Ford Bronco roof woes will delay some deliveries until 2022

For the new Ford Bronco , the painted modular hardtop is the high-end roof option of the several that are offered. It was initially supposed to be available late in the 2021 model year, but Bronco buyers who want that specific top are now going to hav…

2021 Bentley Flying Spur V8 First Drive Review | Making a scene at the ends of the Earth

Even in the face of fading four-door relevance, a new luxury sedan still turns heads, and that goes double when it's sporting the Flying B. The 2021 Bentley Flying Spur V8 marks the return of the "entry-level" variant of Bentley's storied touring sed…

2021 Honda Accord Interior Review | The family sedan lives up to its name

The 2021 Honda Accord is our top-recommended midsize sedan, and of its handful of variants, the Accord Hybrid you see here would be our pick of the litter. Its superior fuel economy and agreeable drivability without significant compromise comes at a …

Nissan Z will just be Z, not 400Z, source says, sharing other details

There's a reason we have a "Rumormill" logo: A guy-who-knows-a-guy wrote a post at the 400Z Club forum pertaining to Nissan's upcoming rework of the Z, and if it's correct, the forum's going to have to figure out a new name for itself. The car, in th…

Toyota is taking the rally-inspired GR Yaris rallying after all

Toyota's celebrated GR Yaris became a homologation special without a series in 2020, so the firm's Australian division seized an opportunity to work with a local team to give the hatchback its 15 minutes of fame on gravel. It transformed the rally-in…

Volkswagen's retro-inspired ID.Buzz EV will arrive in America in 2023

Volkswagen's heritage-soaked ID.Buzz concept is well on its way to production. Presented at the 2017 Detroit show, the EV is being developed with our market in mind, and a new report sheds light on what the lineup will look like. Citing comments mad…

Honda, Kawasaki, Suzuki, Yamaha to make swappable motorcycle batteries

Just as electric cars are becoming ever more common, the alternative propulsion system is starting to make headway in the motorcycle sphere. Companies such as Harley-Davidson and Zero already have electric models on sale, but other established brands…

Lexus F label to become even more performance oriented

Lexus has plans to take its F performance label to even greater heights, according to officials. That's one of the key reasons the IS 500 F Sport Performance wasn't a full-blown IS F, Lexus executives said. Speaking before a gathering of Lexus enthu…

Ford F-150 production in Michigan idled through Sunday by chip shortage

DETROIT — Ford Motor Co said on Thursday it will idle production of its highly profitable F-150 pickup truck at a plant in Michigan through Sunday due to the global semiconductor chip shortage. Ford and other automakers have stressed they are trying…

Elon Musk tweet violated federal labor law, NLRB orders it deleted

DETROIT — Tesla CEO Elon Musk has tweeted his way into trouble with another federal agency, this time the National Labor Relations Board. The board on Thursday found that a May 20, 2018, Musk tweet unlawfully threatened employees with loss of stock …

Thursday, March 25, 2021

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

Mar 25, 2021

Top Stories of the Day

Ford's long-lost turbine semi truck 'Big Red' found, in good shape

Back in the 1960s, turbine power was quite the fascination for car companies. Obviously there was the Chrysler Turbine car, but Ford was in the game, too. The difference was that they were considering turbine power for commercial trucks. While a wide…

2021 Toyota Sienna XSE Road Test Review | It's the 'sporty' one

ANN ARBOR, Mich. — The 2021 Toyota Sienna isn't what you'd think of as fun or sporty. It's a minivan. Also, it's a hybrid. Sure, hybrid isn't as correlated with slow as it used to be, but Toyota plus hybrid together conjures images of Priuses driving…

Volvo XC90 Coasting Transmission Deep Dive | Best coast

In our recent 2021 Volvo XC90 Recharge review, its turbocharged-supercharged-hybridized powertrain delivered impressive horsepower and fuel economy. But Volvo has one additional trick up its sleeve, propelling a car with power that's simpler, cheaper…

'Why isn't he stopping?' Mini driver describes being pushed sideways by dump truck

Yesterday, a video out of Toronto made the rounds on social media. It was scary to watch, as a dump truck pushed a Mini sideways a half-kilometer (third of a mile). But there were no details about why this accident happened or who was involved. Today…

Dodge Challenger, Charger get new anti-theft trick: going super slow

People who buy Dodge Challengers and Chargers with the big V8s get them because they're powerful and can go fast. But that becomes a bad thing if some ne'er-do-well steals it for a joy ride. That's where Dodge's latest feature, Security Mode, comes i…

Ford discovers $100,000 worth of leather and will donate it to Detroit businesses

When was the last time you found over $100,000 worth of things that you forgot you owned? Oh, never? Same here. However, Ford cannot relate, as the company just unearthed over $100,000 worth of unused leather hides (that's a lot of leather) as it was…

Women now hold the majority of seats on GM's board of directors

General Motors on Thursday said it is expanding its board of directors to 13 persons, with women holding seven of the seats. GM named two new directors, Meg Whitman and Mark Tatum. Whitman, 64, is a longtime tech executive and former Republican can…

Volkswagen Amarok midsize pickup previewed in design sketch

There's a new teaser for the upcoming Volkswagen Amarok pickup out today. It's intriguing to see the truck be previewed, because this is the first pickup that will be born of the Ford-Volkswagen technology sharing partnership . The new Amarok will be …

2022 BMW Alpina B8 Gran Coupe has M8-rivaling power

BMW usually is careful to ensure its M-badged models are the most potent of any one line. But it frequently lets BMW tuner Alpina build them a car that rivals its M models for all-out grunt, and that's the case with the 2022 BMW Alpina B8 Gran Coupe.…

Daymak says it's making the world's fastest three-wheeled EV

If you're in the market to buy a three-wheeled car that can go from 0-60 mph in 1.8 seconds, then, goodness, does Daymak have the electric vehicle for you. The company is crowdfunding the Spiritus, a two-seater EV that apparently "rides like a go-kar…