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Friday, October 25, 2019

What You Missed | Your Autoblog Daily Digest for October 25, 2019

Oct 25, 2019

Top Stories of the Day

2019 Tokyo Motor Show Mega Photo Gallery | EVs and kei cars rule

TOKYO — The 2019 Tokyo Motor Show was once again held at the Tokyo Big Sight convention center, but most of the sights inside were quite small. Most automakers were revealing production and concept cars smaller than the average Honda Civic. Electric …

All-new Volkswagen Golf is an evolution outside, revolution inside

This is the all-new, eighth-generation Volkswagen Golf, and while its world premiere would have received undivided attention in the past, the Golf must now share its fame. That's because VW almost simultaneously launched the ID.3, the electric car of…

Watch speeding driver, on course to hit family with stroller, get T-boned at last second

A family trying to cross a busy intersection with their baby in a stroller at night may have the stars to thank after a drunk driver who looked certain to plow into them after blowing through a red light was T-boned at the last second by an oncoming …

Sen. Schumer proposes $462 billion national car swap — gas for electric

WASHINGTON — Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer is moving Democrats' climate talk to where the rubber meets the road, proposing a $462 billion trade-in program to get millions of Americans out of climate-damaging gas vehicles and into electric or h…

[VIDEO] Jaguar unveils Vision Gran Turismo electric race car for 'Gran Turismo Sport'

We've driven some hot Jaguars, one of our favorites being the deliciously fast, all-electric I-Pace. Unfortunately, that car costs around $70,000 to start. Too rich for your blood? Jaguar has designed an all-electric race car specifically for PlaySta…

2019 Tokyo Motor Show Editors' Picks

This year's Tokyo Motor Show was full of interesting vehicles, but one car ran away with our best-in-show award.

Woman, 81, was trapped in a partially submerged VW Golf for hours

An 81-year-old woman spent hours in the water early Thursday at the Higel Marine Park near Venice, Fla., and it wasn't some re-creation of her teenage night swimming years. She was trapped in her partially submerged Volkswagen Golf before a passing k…

Ford teases Mustang-inspired EV crossover ahead of Nov. 17 debut

The steady drumbeat of hype for Ford 's forthcoming Mustang -inspired battery-electric crossover continues, with the Dearborn automaker releasing a new teaser video and darkened sketch that give us arguably our best look yet at what will be Ford's firs…

Tesla overtakes GM as most valuable U.S. automaker — and short sellers get burned

Tesla shares soared 17% on Thursday after the electric carmaker surprised Wall Street by delivering on Chief Executive Officer Elon Musk's promise of a profit in the third quarter, even as doubts remained about its long-term prospects. Trading at $2…

Subaru WRX STI EJ20 Final Edition a Japan-only goodbye

Just before Subaru stopped selling the WRX STI in the UK and Continental Europe, the automaker released 150 examples of a WRX STI Final Edition for the UK . Now that the Japanese-market WRX STI is about to give up its 2.0-liter EJ20 flat-four engine, …

Thursday, October 24, 2019

What You Missed | Your Autoblog Daily Digest for October 24, 2019

Oct 24, 2019

Top Stories of the Day

2019 Porsche GT3 meets its family on a California road trip

OJAI, Calif. — California State Route 33 north of Ojai is a truly wonderful stretch of asphalt that crests a mountain range in Los Padres National Forest in Ventura County north of Los Angeles. Its miles of curving canyon roads contain plenty of shar…

Bollinger prices its B1 and B2 electric trucks

Bollinger Motors , which recently unveiled its electric B1 four-door sport utility truck and B2 pickup, has now attached a price tag to the pair of rugged EVs. They'll have an MSRP of $125,000. So what do you get for that price? They're both Class 3 …

Check out the Ford Super Duty lineup rolling into SEMA 2019

Ford has already showed us the Rangers and SUVs of its 2019 SEMA lineup , and today we get to see the Super Duty agenda. There are five Super Duty trucks in total, and their packaging/modifications range greatly. Various upgrades are coming to the 20…

This Nissan Leaf has 501 pound-feet of torque and AWD, previewing future Nissan EVs

The electric Nissan Ariya Concept made its big debut at the Tokyo Motor Show a couple of days ago, but the electric news spout from Nissan isn't done flowing yet. Behold: an all-wheel drive twin-motor Nissan Leaf . It has 304 horsepower and a stonking…

Rats can drive tiny cars, and they find it relaxing, scientists say

We now have an answer to the age-old question of whether rats can learn to drive a vehicle, and the result is a resounding yes. What's more, the vermin even seem to find the whole endeavor relaxing. Researchers at the University of Richmond in Virgi…

2020 Ducati Streetfighter V4 packs 208 hp in a 400-lb package

Over a thousand attendees wildly cheered as Ducati boss Claudio Domenicali unveiled the 2020 Streetfighter V4, a racing-inspired motorcycle that weighs less than a Chevrolet big-block engine yet packs more power than a Subaru BRZ . It's revving proof …

Ducati Panigale V2 joins revised V4, Multistrada and Diavel

RIMINI, Italy — Ducati doesn't just have customers; it has fans, followers, and worshippers. Your next-door neighbors might have bought a Toyota RAV4 because it's safe and it gets good fuel economy, or because they got a killer deal on it, but no on…

Lawsuit blames Tesla motorized door handles for death of driver stuck in burning car

Tesla is facing a wrongful death lawsuit in Broward Country, Florida, claiming that the motorized door handles on the Tesla Model S prevented the rescue of the driver of the car who died after a crash. Bloomberg initially reported the news. The cras…

Tesla posts surprise quarterly profit, sets deliveries record

Tesla posted a surprise quarterly profit on Wednesday, making good on Chief Executive Officer Elon Musk's promise, and said it was "highly confident" in exceeding its target of delivering more than 360,000 cars this year. Shares of the company shot …

TV reporter fired after climbing on cars live at auto show

TV news is no stranger to using stunts to attract eyeballs — think reporters struggling to do standups in roaring hurricanes and pouring rain — but this will make enthusiasts and automotive journalists cringe. It's a live segment that happened Sunda…

Wednesday, October 23, 2019

What You Missed | Your Autoblog Daily Digest for October 23, 2019

Oct 23, 2019

Top Stories of the Day

2020 Ford Escape Review & Buying Guide | New and more carlike

The new 2020 Ford Escape takes a huge step forward in the competitive compact crossover market with a new platform, styling and powertrains. It's now being built on Ford's new modular architecture, and is the first vehicle riding on it to come to the…

Lexus LF-30 Electrified Concept announces the brand's entry in EVs

The star of the Lexus booth at the biennial Tokyo auto show is an extremely futuristic concept named LF-30 Electrified that previews the firm's cars could look like — and be powered by — in 2030. The LF-30 Electrified uses clever technology to take L…

Mazda MX-30 crossover is brand's first EV, with sporty, coupe-like looks

TOKYO — Mazda's first production full electric car has finally been revealed, and it's called the MX-30. And the name and shape point to it being a sporty, fun EV, though we're still waiting for more details. Starting with the name, the 30 designati…

All-new, all-hybrid Honda Fit hits the Tokyo Motor Show stage

The Honda Fit, that small-on-the-outside, big-on-the-inside car that has been bending perceptions of three-dimensional space since 2001, was revealed in its fourth generation guise Tuesday at the Tokyo Motor Show. Details were limited, beyond a pro…

Mitsubishi Mi-Tech turbine-PHEV buggy blows the doors off our dreams

TOKYO — For this year's Tokyo Motor Show , Mitsubishi went all out with the Mi-Tech concept. It's a tough-looking open off-roader with a wild hybrid powertrain. It's glorious, which makes it all the more sad it will likely never see the light of day. …

This restored 1968 Winnebago is beyond adorable

The stove is teal! The fridge is too, as are the drapes, the carpet, the dining benches and the Winnebago 'W' on the side. Everything about this 1968 Winnebogo F17 RV currently up for auction on Bring a Trailer makes you grin from ear to ear. It's ju…

Driving the Mercedes-Benz Vision EQS Concept in Japan

There is something eerie about driving concept cars. It's not that they're priceless one-offs, painstakingly created by a host of craftspeople. And it's not that they're champingly bridled, powered by a full battery array, yet only able to be driven …

[VIDEO] Michigan dealer turns a Jeep Gladiator into a Scrambler tribute

Motor1 discovered this gem buried on YouTube, a Jeep Gladiator made over into a tribute to the Jeep CJ-8 Scrambler. Built by Preferred Jeep in Grand Haven, Michigan — and still for sale at the time of writing — the Scrambler look-back just about nail…

Yamaha confirms it's out of the automotive industry

Don't expect Yamaha to introduce a head-turning concept car during the 2019 edition of the biennial Tokyo Motor Show. The Japanese giant went to the event to confirm its exit from the automotive industry. "Cars do not feature in our long-term plans …

Junkyard Gem: 1995 Lincoln Mark VIII

Except for a pause during the 1960s, the Lincoln Mark Series of personal luxury cars stayed in production from the 1956 through 1998 model years. These were big, swanky machines loaded with the latest in gadgetry and — other than the handful of 1984-…

Tuesday, October 22, 2019

What You Missed | Your Autoblog Daily Digest for October 22, 2019

Oct 22, 2019

Top Stories of the Day

2020 C8 Chevy Corvette spins up an eye-popping mystery on the dyno

The intrigue around the 2020 Chevrolet Corvette isn't close to ending. Motor Trend secured a pre-production build of America's sports car for two weeks of testing, including a trial at the Hyundai-Kia proving grounds for MT's Car of the Year roundup.…

Mahindra Roxor Second Drive | Aiming for the mud

Only a few vehicles in the world can label themselves a truly unique proposition. In this case, we're not using the word unique lightly. Some cars may have a unique aero setup or suspension technology, but establishing your own segment? There's a lot…

2020 Lexus LC 500 Luggage Test | Hey, why not?

I will admit that I initially did this as a joke. A seemingly endless parade of SUVs had been passing through Autoblog Portland HQ, each of which was subjected to my luggage test . Then the 2020 Lexus LC 500 showed up resplendent in metallic Flare Yel…

Pedestrian and cyclist deaths rise to highest level since 1990

WASHINGTON — U.S. traffic deaths fell 2.4% in 2018 to 36,560, although the number of pedestrians killed rose to its highest level in nearly three decades, according to the latest study from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration . NHTSA s…

2020 Nissan Titan XD breaks cover with more tech, new styling, fewer configurations

The 2020 Nissan Titan XD is here, and just as we expected , it's down a powertrain option for its mid-cycle refresh. Cummins quit producing the diesel engine that was available in the XD, so now all XDs will come with an updated version of the 5.6-lit…

Another aluminum-air battery promises 1,500 miles of range from a charge

With billions of dollars being poured into battery electric vehicles, what seems like millions of new innovations crop up every year. Some inventions will find successful implementation. Most will wash up on the shore as EV industry jetsam. The Daily…

Dodge has released 500 million horsepower onto American roads since 2005

Dodge started using horsepower to measure sales when it launched its Power Dollars rebate program in August 2019. The clever campaign has paid off, and the company reached its goal of putting 500 million horsepower in the hands of enthusiasts two mon…

[VIDEO] Toyota TRD turns Supra into a throwback 3000GT concept for SEMA

Toyota's TRD boffins are cooking up a special Supra for SEMA next month, a redux of the MkIV A80 1994 Supra 3000GT based on the new A90 Supra. TRD hasn't explained what we'll be seeing, instead releasing a five-minute video and a couple of photos as …

Next-gen BMW M3 photo supposedly leaked from factory floor

Spy shots of the next-gen BMW M3 have floated around the internet for awhile now, but we've never seen it without the camouflage on. That changes today. Evolve Automotive posted a photo of what it claims is the rear end of the G80 M3 on its Facebook …

Fat fuel for fat cats: Luxury jets are flying on meat waste

LAS VEGAS — At the world's biggest industry show in Las Vegas, luxury jets are luring buyers with their sleek silhouettes, plush cabins — and increasingly, their use of alternative fuels. Fuel producers and jetmakers are keen to showcase novel forms…