Best Shots

Wednesday, March 17, 2021

What You Missed | Your Autoblog Daily Digest for March 17, 2021

Mar 17, 2021

Top Stories of the Day

Sabine Schmitz, 'Queen of the Nurburgring,' dies at 51

NÜRBURG, Germany — Former racing driver Sabine Schmitz, the 'Queen of the Nürburgring' who was also a presenter of the popular BBC "Top Gear" television program, has died at age 51. Schmitz won the 24 Hours of Nürburgring touring car race with BMW i…

Celebrating green cars for St. Patrick's Day

2020 Volvo S60 T8 Long-Term Review Wrap-Up | Final verdict

Twelve months of motoring in the 2020 Volvo S60 T8 went by quickly. Our time in Volvo's sharp, plug-in hybrid sedan is over, and it's time for a final verdict. The S60 saw two entirely different worlds in its time with us. We took delivery in normal …

The WEVC Coupe has a Porsche 356a-inspired body and a fully electric powertrain

The British EV startup Watt Electric Vehicles promised to give life to the coachbuilding industry with a new electric vehicle platform to work off of, and today the company reveals its first car. It's simply called the WEVC Coupe, and it borrows heav…

2021 BMW M550i Road Test Review | A seriously good M sedan

The 2021 BMW M550i is the stepping stone to an M5 , and yet in many ways, it's the more enjoyable sports sedan to drive. BMW updated the 5 Series lineup for 2021 — we sampled the 540i first — adding more tech and revised exterior styling among other r…

2022 Kia Stinger gets 300-hp I4, new sport exhaust for V6

The 2022 Kia Stinger comes out swinging with a larger, 300-horsepower 4-cylinder engine and a new active sport exhaust for the V6-powered GT model. The sporty, rear-wheel-drive sedan also gets some styling updates inside and out to match Kia's new br…

BMW Group announces an armada of EVs that includes the full Mini range

BMW plans to significantly increase the number of electric cars in its range during the 2020s. It outlined plans to launch several battery-powered models, including M cars, and transform Mini into an EV-only brand by 2030. In the medium-term future,…

1938 Alfa Romeo 158 Alfetta homage, built by TV's Ant Anstead, coming to Barrett-Jackson

The Alfa Romeo 158 "Alfetta" was the dominant racing car in the inaugural Formula One season of 1950. The car finished 1-2-3 in the first Grand Prix at Silverstone and won all 11 of the races it entered that year. Now, there's a re-creation of that f…

BMW i4 revealed as the 3 Series' EV sidekick

BMW's first purpose-designed electric sedan made its global debut online. Called i4, and previewed by a close-to-production concept in 2020, it was developed as a battery-powered alternative to the 3 Series . Designers made several tweaks to the i4 t…

Honda will temporarily cut production in the U.S. and Canada

WASHINGTON — Honda said late Tuesday supply chain issues will force a halt to production at a majority of U.S. and Canadian auto plants for a week. The Japanese automaker added the issue will result in some production cuts next week at all U.S. and …

Tuesday, March 16, 2021

What You Missed | Your Autoblog Daily Digest for March 16, 2021

Mar 16, 2021

Top Stories of the Day

2022 Audi RS E-Tron GT First Drive Review | The halo EV arrives

CALABASAS, Calif. — The 2022 Audi E-Tron GT doesn't go on sale in the United States until sometime this summer, but last week we got the chance to drive a German-spec RS E-Tron GT version out of Ingolstadt's pre-production fleet (pictured above). Aud…

2021 Volvo XC90 Recharge Road Test Review | I could've had a T8!

Second thoughts … sometimes even buyer's remorse. Nagging doubts can follow life's big decisions — and buying a car is a biggie. Was it the right choice? Or as the poet said: "You may find yourself behind the wheel of a large automobile / And you may…

Gordon Murray's V12-powered supercar hits the track for the first time

Gordon Murray Automotive is busily bringing what it refers to as "the greatest analog driver's car" to production. Called T.50, it was introduced in August 2020, and completed its first test laps on a race track in March 2021. Company founder Gordon…

2021 Chevy Silverado, GMC Sierra fuel economy to go down due to global chip shortage

Production of the 2021 Chevy Silverado and 2021 GMC Sierra is continuing, but the global semiconductor chip shortage is resulting in a mid-year change. Or rather, an omission. Basically, the availability of cylinder deactivation for the 5.3-liter V…

6 trailblazing women in the Automotive Hall of Fame

In honor of Women's History Month, we're showcasing six legendary women in the Automotive Hall of Fame.

Grab this vintage single-seat Porsche, one of 224 ever built

Wow 'em at the next club meet with this rare single-seat Porsche, which is almost certain to be the only one of its kind on the show field. This 1983 example boasts many desirable features including a manual transmission, Fuchs wheels, a whale-tail r…

2021 Ford F-150 Responder police truck is faster, more capable than before

For 2021, the Ford F-150 Responder is an even more impressive police pickup truck. Not only is it faster, but it boasts upgrades that make it more capable. While the output of the twin-turbocharged 3.5-liter V6 is unchanged from the consumer truck a…

Nissan 370Z safari Z-Adventure is ready to rally on Yokohama 33s, gold wheels

The Nissan 370Z might be on its way out the door, but it still has a few tricks left. The long-serving sports car has seen just about every type of modification, and now that list includes a safari-style rally raid race car. Called the Z-Adventure, t…

Why is there a huge bulge in 2021 Lexus IS 300 AWD's driver footwell? We explain

After an initial turn a few weeks ago for the 2021 Lexus IS first drive review , the revised luxury sedan has returned to the Autoblog garage for a second look. This middle-of-the-road IS 300 AWD pairs a 260-horsepower V6 with a six-speed automatic tr…

Used Vehicle Spotlight: 2013-2019 Ford Flex

A lot of people weren't sure what to make of the Ford Flex when it hit the market for the 2009 model year. Was it an SUV or a big station wagon? A style-first fashion statement or a family car people hauler? In reality, it was a little bit of all tho…

Monday, March 15, 2021

What You Missed | Your Autoblog Daily Digest for March 15, 2021

Mar 15, 2021

Top Stories of the Day

Shelby Super Snake Speedster limited edition is an 825-hp hair dryer

Las Vegas-based tuner Shelby added a two-seater model called Speedster to the Super Snake range for 2021. Based on the convertible, it's a limited-edition pony car with a power output that lands deep in supercar territory. Shelby designed the Speeds…

Kia EV6 electric car revealed with curvy sheetmetal

The Kia EV6 electric car has finally been revealed. It's the first Kia to use the E-GMP platform , like the Hyundai Ioniq 5 . It looks dramatically different from that car, though we have yet to know if the specifications will differ much. While the I…

2022 Audi RS E-Tron GT First Drive Review | The halo EV arrives

2021 Lincoln Nautilus First Drive Review | Middle child gets modest attention

In Lincoln's current all-SUV family, the mid-sized Nautilus occupies what might be thought of as the middle-child position: a vague middle ground where it's overshadowed by its higher-wattage siblings. The Navigator is the style-setting headline act,…

Toyota electric SUV, its first global EV, is bound for Shanghai show

After spending years largely resisting full electrification, Toyota will travel to the 2021 edition of the Shanghai auto show to preview its first mainstream EV. The crossover will make its global debut as a close-to-production concept. Toyota has d…

Tesla adds Elon Musk official title 'Technoking' in regulatory filing

Tesla Inc added "Technoking of Tesla" to billionaire Chief Executive Elon Musk's list of official titles on Monday in a formal regulatory filing that also named finance chief Zachary Kirkhorn "Master of Coin." The electric-car maker did not elaborat…

Woman arrested in San Francisco assault on Uber driver over mask

SAN FRANCISCO — A woman was arrested Thursday on suspicion of pepper-spraying an Uber driver in San Francisco who was coughed at and insulted after he demanded a passenger wear a mask, police announced. Malaysia King, 24, was arrested in Las Vegas o…

2021 Nissan Rogue adds 1.5L turbo three-cylinder engine option

The 2021 Nissan Rogue is adding a new engine option to its lineup. Car and Driver initially reported the news after finding the new engine listed on the EPA's FuelEconomy.gov website. Details are still sparse, but we know it's a 1.5-liter turbocharg…

2021 Porsche Taycan base model gets its official EPA ratings

Official EPA range figures are out for the 2021 Porsche Taycan. We're not talking about the Turbo or the 4S here — range figures for those models are already available. This news blast concerns the base (rear-drive-only) Taycan, which is simply calle…

If you want to buy a Toyota GR Super Sport hypercar, you'll have to answer some questions first

The much anticipated Le Mans Hypercar class is set to kick off later this year, and that means road-going versions of the prototype race cars will soon be upon us. As per LMH homologation rules, carmakers must build a minimum of 20 street-legal versi…

Friday, March 12, 2021

What You Missed | Your Autoblog Daily Digest for March 12, 2021

Mar 12, 2021

Top Stories of the Day

Ford F-150 electric pickup in production bodywork caught in spy photos

Ford is hard at work getting its all-electric F-150 ready for prime time. As we see in this latest round of spy photos, Ford has grafted the updated 2021 F-150 body onto its new electric prototype and is now putting it through its paces. From a dis…

Ford Maverick compact pickup spied in most revealing look yet

Here's the best look yet (by a long shot) at the upcoming Ford Maverick compact pickup. One of our spy shooters captured two pre-production trucks running around near Ford HQ with very little camouflage compared to previous shots . The one truck has …

Next-generation Toyota Tundra caught testing with coil springs in spy photos

The next-generation Toyota Tundra has been spotted on the road before, but today's spy photos show us something truly new and different, thanks to some timely snaps of the new pickup's undercarriage that very clearly show that this prototype is ridin…

2021 Porsche Taycan base model gets its official EPA ratings

The Alpha Wolf EV pickup: Is there room for one more electric truck?

Startup EV-maker Alpha has added the Wolf EV pickup to its nascent lineup of electric vehicles, which already includes the vaguely retro Ace EV coupe and the off-road-ified Jax EV CUV coupe . The Alpha Wolf electric pickup is available in single-moto…

2021 BMW Alpina XB7 First Drive Review | Tasteful titan

ANN ARBOR, Mich. — It takes a car-minded person, or even someone well-versed in BMW, to really notice an Alpina in passing. The Bavarian tuner, which trades solely in BMW, doesn't plaster its performance-enhanced cars with carbon fiber or overwrought…

The Toyota RAV4 5D Adventure Mountain Rescue was built for disasters

Toyota has released rainy images of a concept it calls the RAV4 5D Adventure, a crossover decked out for mountain rescue operations. It was supposed to be displayed at the Tokyo Auto Salon in January, but since that event was COVID-cancelled, it will…

Joey Ruiter's Consumer Car is hyper-minimalist and for sale

While the Tesla Cybertruck grabbed attention for its minimalist, cyberpunk design, it was far from the first or the most extreme to adopt the aesthetic. Years before, industrial designer Joey Ruiter created a series of one-off vehicles reduced down t…

Watch the 1960s Jeep Wagoneer commercial that helped launch a legend

We've now seen the reborn Jeep Wagoneer and Grand Wagoneer , which represent the long-awaited return of a classic nameplate. But what we haven't yet seen are any commercials for the new SUVs. How will Jeep introduce the big SUV to the American public?…

[VIDEO] Dashcam catches BMW 5 Series in rural deer stampede

As if we needed another reminder to keep our eyes on the road, a herd of deer demonstrates just how much havoc can be wreaked in a split second. Leaping ungulates recently darted right in front of, over, and on top of an innocent BMW 5 Series merrily…