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Tuesday, July 7, 2020

What You Missed | Your Autoblog Daily Digest for July 7, 2020

Jul 07, 2020

Top Stories of the Day

2021 BMW M3 and M4 grilles spied on road-going prototypes

Now that BMW has let the media get its hands on early prototypes of the upcoming 2021 M3 and M4, its development engineers have removed quite a bit of camouflage from its road-test prototypes. The result is, well, pretty much what we expected. Whil…

Lexus LS sedan will be quieter, more comfortable and smarter

Lexus made numerous updates to the LS in a bid to turn it into an even more comfortable cruiser. Unveiled online, the redesigned model gains a quieter cabin, new driving aids, and a handful of minor styling tweaks. Engineers turned their attention t…

2021 Kia K5 starts at $25,455, just $100 more than outgoing Optima

The 2021 Kia K5 continues this year's trend of carmakers placing minimal premium on a brand new or heavily revised model. Cars Direct got a look at an early order guide showing that Kia's new midsize sedan will start at $23,490 before a $965 destinat…

2020 Mercedes-AMG CLA 45 is a turbo four-cylinder with character

There isn't a better sounding new car in America with a four-cylinder engine than this 2020 Mercedes-AMG CLA 45. Maybe the CLA 45 S if it were sold here, but it's not. To be completely honest, the video above hardly does this car's exhaust justice. Y…

Rolls-Royce Wraith Kryptos Collection is a car with a secret

Rolls-Royce has unveiled yet another special-edition vehicle, this one being a version of the Wraith . It's called the Wraith Kryptos Collection, and it's a bit more intriguing than most. That intrigue comes from the secrets it's holding within. Thi…

Ultra-rare 1967 L88 could become the most expensive Chevrolet Corvette sold at auction

Chevrolet made only 20 examples of the Corvette with the high-performance, track-ready L88 package in 1967. What's presented as the best example left could become the most expensive Corvette ever sold at an auction. In Corvette-speak, L88 correspond…

Chevrolet Corvette will earn additional stripes in 2021

Chevrolet is beginning to announce the changes it will make to the eighth-generation Corvette for the 2021 model year. It published an enigmatic preview video on its official Facebook page that seemingly announces buyers will have several new racing …

Mercedes-Benz expands Designo Manufaktur to E- and S-Classes and AMG GT

In 2010, Mercedes-Benz Canada turned the Designo trim into a specialized division greatly expanding the personalization options for the E-Class, S-Class, CL-Class, SL-Class, SLS AMG, M-Class, and G-Class. Mercedes USA took longer to open up its store…

Homebrew Audi Allroad overlander is actually an A4 NoRoad

Automotive scribe types are known not just for their adoration of station wagons (me included), but their cult-like respect for a brown station wagon (I'm flexible here). Since we're starting with a brown, 2015 Audi Allroad, we're already in the mone…

[VIDEO] Alaskans celebrate the 4th of July by jumping cars off a cliff

In Glacier View, Alaska, the sun sets at about 11:30 this time of year, and rises again at around 4:30. With daytime fireworks displays being rather dull, its denizens have sought out alternative means of celebrating Independence Day. Their solution …

Monday, July 6, 2020

What You Missed | Your Autoblog Daily Digest for July 6, 2020

Jul 06, 2020

Top Stories of the Day

Ford announces Bronco will be a brand, not just an SUV

We knew there would be a new Bronco. In fact, we knew it was even going to have a little brother. What we didn't know was that "Bronco" would be its own comprehensive sub-brand. Obviously, it consists of the vehicles themselves, confirmed to be th…

Join a Ford historian for a quick tour of the Bronco archives

With Ford officially confirming that Bronco will be an entire sub-brand, much the way Prius developed into one for Toyota, the Blue Oval is doubling down on the legacy of its iconic nameplate. To accompany Monday's announcement, Ford has been trumpet…

Mazda Mexico debuts Mazda3 Turbo before official U.S. reveal

We should have been keeping an eye on our neighbors to the south, who did us the favor of showing off the turbocharged 2021 Mazda3 last week. The automaker teased the reveal for the U.S. market to happen on July 8. It's reasonable to expect slight ch…

Ford Ranger Raptor could soon be hopping dunes alongside F-150 in America

Ford chose not to sell the Ranger Raptor (pictured) in the United States because it decided American motorists seeking a quick truck riding on a Baja-ready suspension can take home an F-150. It has changed its mind, according to a recent report, and …

Trump claims NASCAR noose was 'hoax,' demands Bubba Wallace apologize

WASHINGTON — After a weekend spent stoking division , President Donald Trump on Monday went after NASCAR's only Black driver and criticized its decision to ban the Confederate flag at its races and venues. Exploiting racial tensions, Trump wrongly ac…

Ford GT/109 Competition Roadster Prototype headed to auction

Legends are most often made of years — or decades — of learning, practice, trials, and errors. Many, many errors. Before the Ford GT40 earned its place in the automotive hall of heroes, Ford's Total Performance program had been busy building GT proto…

Mercedes-Benz expands Designo Manufaktur to E- and S-Classes and AMG GT

[VIDEO] Mysterious ducktailed Porsche 911 spotted at the 'Ring

The puzzling ducktailed Porsche 911 Turbo prototype has been spotted at the Nürburgring, but this time Automotive Mike .embed-container { position: relative; padding-bottom: 56.25%; height: 0; overflow: hidden; max-width: 100%; } .embed-container iframe, .embed-container object, .embed-container embed { position: absolute; top: 0; left: 0; width: 100%; height: 100%; }

> did us the favor of capturing video. It was first spotted in November of last year , then in March this year doing winter testing, b…

Tesla now sells red satin shorts that mock short-sellers

Say what you want about Elon Musk's controversial opinions and actions, there's no arguing that the man has a keen sense of humor. After surpassing Toyota as the world's most valuable automaker , Tesla — surely at Musk's behest — has taken time to pok…

Junkyard Gem: 1973 Chevrolet Vega with V8 Swap

The Chevrolet Vega plot follows a trajectory very similar to that of some other 1960s-1980s GM machines that seemed like serious engineering breakthroughs at first but then caused many headaches for the company, e.g., the Chevrolet Corvair , Chevrolet…

Thursday, July 2, 2020

What You Missed | Your Autoblog Daily Digest for July 2, 2020

Jul 02, 2020

Top Stories of the Day

2021 Dodge Durango SRT Hellcat is here to be the king of all SUVs

This was inevitable, right? The 2021 Dodge Durango SRT Hellcat has arrived, and Dodge hasn't held anything back. FCA has essentially taken its lovely Hellcat engine and dumped it into the largest SUV it sells. Cheers to that. Power from the 6.2-lite…

2021 Dodge Charger SRT Hellcat Redeye Widebody: Bring your friends on a 797-hp thrill ride

For a couple years now, if you wanted the ultimate in Dodge performance, your only option was the Dodge Challenger SRT Hellcat Redeye . The 797-horsepower engine was exclusive to it and its widened body, and if you needed four-doors, you were out of l…

2020 Dodge Challenger SRT Super Stock is as close as you can get to a new Demon

Although the Dodge Demon was an exclusive, one-year-only muscle car, Dodge has found ways of getting bits of that car to more people. First there was the Hellcat Redeye , that got a detuned version of the Demon engine, down from 840 horsepower to 797.…

FCA axes Dodge Journey and Grand Caravan for 2021

FCA confirmed this week that Dodge will end production of both the Grand Caravan and the Journey after the 2020 model year, leaving the brand without a front-wheel drive crossover for the first time since 2008, and without a minivan for the first tim…

BMW could make features like heated seats, adaptive cruise into subscription-based add-ons

BMW just announced a couple different tech initiatives. One is a software update for iDrive 7.0 that will be sent out wirelessly to BMWs equipped with that infotainment software. The second is an expansion of its ConnectedDrive Store, and it's this s…

2020 Mercedes-AMG CLA 45 First Drive | Whoosh, bang, bang

Let's say you've got $75,000 to spend, an open mind and find yourself in the AMG section of your local Mercedes-Benz dealer. Just go with it. The obvious answer is a well-equipped AMG C 63 . It has a twin-turbo V8, it's rear-drive based and looks at h…

Ford Bronco reservations announced, gets some Disney magic for big reveal

After several delays, Ford will introduce the first Bronco in nearly a quarter of a century on July 13. In addition to releasing a preview image, the company announced a reservation program for enthusiasts who want to secure an early build spot, and …

The gear you'll want on a road trip to our national parks

With some states still closed off and international travel still a bit risky, 2020 will end up being the summer of the road trip. Every summer growing up, my family hopped in whatever Ford SUV we happened to own at the time and drove around the count…

2020 Toyota Camry Luggage Test | Don't write off sedans yet

When it comes to packing in luggage, I've discovered time and again that compact SUVs are rarely better than the midsize family sedans they've been supplanting in the driveways of so many Americans. There are further pros in the column for sedans, an…

Tesla blows away vehicle delivery estimates for second quarter

DETROIT (AP) — Tesla says it delivered more electric vehicles worldwide in the second quarter than it did in the first. The increase came even though coronavirus restrictions forced it to shut down its only U.S. factory for much of the period. The c…

Wednesday, July 1, 2020

What You Missed | Your Autoblog Daily Digest for July 1, 2020

Jul 01, 2020

Top Stories of the Day

Put the 2021 Ford Mustang Mach-E in your own driveway via extended reality

Production of the much-anticipated Mustang Mach-E electric crossover has been delayed a bit by the coronavirus pandemic, but thanks to XR we don't have to wait to see what Ford's newest pony will look like in our driveways. Open this article on your …

2021 Kia K5 is a Stinger-inspired midsize sedan

Love the idea of the rear-wheel-drive Kia Stinger but just can't swing the price tag? The 2021 Kia K5 promises to be the next-best thing, while also delivering the practicality and comfort expected of a modern midsize sedan. "K5" has been the name …

2020 Toyota RAV4 Interior Driveway Test | More practical than it appears

The latest Toyota RAV4 was designed and engineered to be more evocative of an SUV. Part of that can be seen inside, where there is less of an uber-practical parent-mobile vibe. The center console is higher and there are rugged-ish rubber surfaces on …

2021 BMW M3 and M4 Prototype First Drive | Big thrills, big grilles

ZWICKAU, Germany – We tried everywhere: Peek under the hood and under the big front mask, even scroll through the infotainment system. But alas, confirmation was nowhere to be found: We wanted to confirm the rumor that the next-gen BMW M3 and M4 woul…

2021 Hyundai Santa Fe hybrid engines detailed, impressive output revealed

Although the significantly refreshed 2021 Hyundai Santa Fe was revealed last month , the company left out a number of details concerning how it would change mechanically. This month, Hyundai has revealed details on the conventional and plug-in hybrid …

England-based AC brings back the Cobra with electric or Mustang power

England-based AC is bringing back the Cobra to capitalize on the growing demand for resto-modded classics. Although the roadster is more commonly associated with Carroll Shelby , it traces its roots to a British design. The modern-day Cobra looks jus…

Ineos Grenadier has been revealed — the spirit of Defender reborn

For some time now, as we awaited the reveal of the new Land Rover Defender, we knew that something similar was cooking that sounded even more deeply grounded in the Defender tradition: the Ineos Projekt Grenadier . We've gotten a peek at its rugged fr…

2020 Chevy Blazer LT AWD Suspension Deep Dive

The original 1969 Chevrolet K5 Blazer had a mission: take sales away from the already-established Ford Bronco. The Blazer's claim to fame was that it was a shortened full-size pickup with a removable roof, a concept that made it cheaper to produce, m…

2022 Volkswagen Tiguan updated with new styling, fresh tech and more R-Line

Wondering about the 2022 Volkswagen Tiguan? Well, wonder no more, because VW has revealed its secrets. The 2021 Tiguan hasn't even been detailed by Volkswagen yet, but since Europe is getting the refreshed Tiguan now (hitting dealers next month), VW …

2020 Ferrari F8 Spider First Drive | Al fresco driving without compromise

LOS ANGELES — Humanity may be hermetically sealed off by facemasks and lockdowns, but the 2020 Ferrari F8 Spider is ferociously gulping gallons of atmosphere into the cabin as I dice through Malibu's canyon roads. At least the al fresco exotic can bu…