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Thursday, March 26, 2020

What You Missed | Your Autoblog Daily Digest for March 26, 2020

Mar 26, 2020

Top Stories of the Day

2020 BMW M850i xDrive Gran Coupe Drivers' Notes | A practical, luxury rocket ship

The 2020 BMW M850i xDrive Gran Coupe is a mouthful, but it's a splendid one at that. There are numerous versions and variations of the new 8 Series , and this one is the biggest and nearly the most powerful. Only the big-M M8 Gran Coupe can top this o…

2020 Mazda6 Signature Driveway Test | A luxury car interior with a non-luxury price

The 2020 Mazda6 Signature is pure luxury on the inside. If one were to remove the Mazda badges and replace them with Audi's four rings, or Lexus' stylized L, customers may not even bat an eye. Alas, that is the point of Mazda's range-topping Signatur…

2020 Toyota Highlander gets Top Safety Pick award from IIHS

Toyota's redesigned 2020 Highlander midsize SUV has earned a Top Safety Pick rating from the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, with the familiar caveat that the rating applies only to certain headlight packages available in certain trim levels.…

2020 Nissan Altima Review & Buying Guide | Hey, look, a sedan

Though trucks, crossovers and SUVs rule the earth, there are still a lot of good, honest sedans around. And many people actually like them. Though sales in the segment have slipped, automakers still moved more than 1.5 million sedans in the U.S. last…

U.S. auto sales in states with coronavirus lockdown orders could drop 80%

Vehicle sales in U.S. states that implemented lockdown orders to curb the spread of coronavirus will drop 80% or more, analysts said on Wednesday. Auto retail sales through the week of March 22 declined 22% nationwide on a yearly basis and as much a…

Stimulus package will grant automakers a lifeline — but don't call it a bailout

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., reacts to a final deal on the $2 trillion coronavirus economic stimulus bill, which passed the Senate late Wednesday. / AP WASHINGTON/DETROIT — The $2 trillion economic rescue…

Ford's coronavirus manufacturing push could hinge on 3D printing

Much remains unknown about how exactly Ford plans to fast-track production of ventilators and powered air-purifying respirators with two established medical device makers as it hurries to join the fight against the expanding coronavirus outbreak. But…

Detroit automakers' big transition to electric cars? Don't hold your breath

DETROIT — It's a strategy that has been spelled out for years at General Motors and at Ford : Pay for the transition to electric vehicles by selling profitable trucks and SUVs right now. But despite their continued insistence that they are committed t…

Listen to Lamborghini's 830-horsepower track special scream its heart out

Lamborghini's next V12-powered hypercar is around the corner, and there's a good chance you'll hear it coming before you see it. The company released a preview video that confirms its 12-cylinder sounds better than ever. The 17-second clip shows the…

IndyCar joins other racing series by going virtual, with Indy 500 in doubt

IndyCar isn't sure when it can get its cars on track to officially start the season. For now, the series will follow the lead of other racing leagues and go virtual. IndyCar's first iRacing event will be Saturday with a 25-car field. The track is st…

Wednesday, March 25, 2020

What You Missed | Your Autoblog Daily Digest for March 25, 2020

Mar 25, 2020

Top Stories of the Day

2021 Ford Bronco Sport spied on the road mostly uncovered

While Ford's official Bronco reveal events have been postponed, that's not stopping development of it or its little cousin , the 2021 Ford Bronco Sport. It's not stopping spy photographers from catching those development cars, either. One of them got …

255-hp Toyota GR86 and other big news leaks in dealer presentation

Last month, Motor1 said it received information on Toyota and Lexus product plans for the next few years from an inside source who attended a dealer presentation. To protect the source, Motor1 didn't publish any slides or proof from that presentation…

2020 Land Rover Defender First Drive | Legend reborn

EASTNOR, England – Before setting out in this all-new 2020 Land Rover Defender , please allow me a few words about its legendary predecessor. After a terrible winter, the British summer of 1947 was one of the warmest on record. It was probably shirt-s…

Ram 1500 Rebel TRX reveals hood scoop-mounted marker lights

Now that the Ram 1500 Rebel TRX is testing with production bodywork , the company has been doing a thorough job of covering up the off-road super truck. But fortunately lights still show through the thick coverings, and we're finally able to see the t…

1998 BMW 740i with 158 miles on eBay is a bubble-wrapped time capsule

The Drive found a fascinating car listing on eBay's German site that, were the listing in the U.S., we'd expect to see on Bring A Trailer and bid up to BAT's altitude-sickness prices . The listing says that in September of 1997, a woman born in 1927 b…

Delivery drivers face coronavirus without sick pay, insurance, sanitizer

On his delivery route through Orange County, California, Joseph Alvarado made 153 stops one day last week for Amazon.com, touching the inside and outside of his van, more than 225 packages, and dozens of customers' doors and gates. In a global coron…

GM, Ford and FCA expected to extend coronavirus shutdown into April

U.S. automakers General Motors, Ford and Fiat Chrysler are expected to extend their current shutdown in North America into the month of April as the fight to slow the spread of the coronavirus continues. At this point, the exact dates that Detroit's …

Driving the Porsche 911 Hybrid that Porsche won't make

SANTA CLARA, Calif. — There's been a lot of recent talk flying around about the possibility of a factory-built Porsche 911 hybrid. But more recent comments from the higher-ups at Stuttgart seem to have thrown cold water on that possibility, at least …

2020 Toyota Camry Review & Buying Guide | High variety

The 2020 Toyota Camry is unlike any that have come before. True, this generation set a unique tone from the very beginning with its significantly enhanced driver involvement, interior quality and overall style. However, the 2020 model goes even furth…

Junkyard Gem: 1997 Volvo 850R Sedan

When I hit wrecking yards around the United States (and in Sweden ) in search of discarded examples of automotive history, I'm always on the lookout for interesting Volvos . I have documented plenty of doomed Amazons , 140s , 200s , and 700s over the year…

Tuesday, March 24, 2020

What You Missed | Your Autoblog Daily Digest for March 24, 2020

Mar 24, 2020

Top Stories of the Day

GM-Ventec coronavirus partnership aims to build 200,000 ventilators in Indiana

A Ventec employee works on final assembly of VOCSN ventilators at Ventec Life Systems, in Bothell, Washington. / Reuters DETROIT — General Motors and medical equipment maker Ventec are speeding up efforts under a partnership code-named "Proj…

Someone just paid $45,000 for this 1978 Ford Country Squire

For all the talk in the collector-car market of millennials and their Radwood rides, the oft-overlooked Generation X is still a force to be reckoned with. How else to explain this 1978 Ford Country Squire ringing the bell for $45,000 in its auction o…

Ford to make respirators, ventilators, face shields in coronavirus fight

Workers assemble medical face shields. Ford will lend its manufacturing might and design skills to help produce needed healthcare equipment for the fight against COVID-19 coronavirus, the company announced today. The automaker is working wi…

Listen to a twin-turbo 2020 Corvette built by Hennessey

Hennessey has built the first twin-turbo 2020 Chevy Corvette that we know of, and it's released a short video to let us listen to the fruits of its labor. To nobody's surprise, the turbocharged C8 sounds spectacular. In addition to the traditional me…

Elon Musk says Tesla bought ventilators in China for U.S. coronavirus patients

Tesla CEO Elon Musk said on Twitter that the California-based automaker bought hospital ventilators in China and shipped them to the United States. The purchase comes as governments across the globe, including here in the U.S., appeal to automakers a…

2020 Hyundai Sonata Review & Buying Guide | Not the typical family sedan

The 2020 Hyundai Sonata is the latest generation of the Korean automaker's staple family sedan. Long known as a value entry, the Sonata has grown into a competitive player in the midsize segment thanks to a decade of serious effort from Hyundai, whic…

FCA to make 1 million face masks a month for North America coronavirus fight

MILAN, Italy — Italian-U.S. car giant Fiat Chrysler has confirmed plans to produce a million face masks a month and said it will distribute them to emergency services in North America to help the fight against coronavirus. FCA, which is also trying …

2021 Audi RS3 spy photos show 5-cylinder prototypes in winter testing

The Audi RS3 will return for the new generation of the German subcompact. As these spy shots reveal, Audi is well into development of the turbocharged five-cylinder hatchback and sedan, so if you think the best Audis are those with an odd cylinder co…

The City Sleeps: A look at empty NYC streets amid the coronavirus pandemic

According to New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo, as of Sunday, March 22, nearly 2,000 New Yorkers have been hospitalized, and 114 have died. More than 15,000 have tested positive statewide. Some 9,000 of those are in New York City. In response, Cuomo announc…

Aston Martin confirms 3.0-liter turbocharged V6 for Valhalla

When the Aston Martin Valhalla hits the scene in 2022 (hopefully), it will be powered by an all-new 3.0-liter turbocharged V6 engine that will be fortified and electrified in a hybrid configuration that we don't yet know much about. Interestingly, As…

Monday, March 23, 2020

What You Missed | Your Autoblog Daily Digest for March 23, 2020

Mar 23, 2020

Top Stories of the Day

U.S. automakers are swinging into action for ventilators in coronavirus fight

A VOCSN multi-function ventilator, partially disassembled to show its inner electronics, is pictured at Ventec Life Systems in Bothell, Washington. GM will lend a hand, and its suppliers are already being called on to manufacture parts. / Reuter…

2021 Ford Bronco Sport trim levels and packages find their way online

About a week ago, Juggernaut Performance and BroncoSportForum secured photos of the 2021 Bronco and Bronco Sport crossover without camouflage . They're back with more, Juggernaut and the forum getting hold of screenshots from Ford's internal ordering …

Tesla reportedly removing paid-for features after used-car sales

Jalopnik has run a couple of interesting stories on the experiences a number of people have had after buying used Teslas. It started last month with a story on a man named Alec, who bought a used 2017 Tesla Model S from a used-car dealer last Decembe…

[VIDEO] Take this eerie video ride through coronavirus-emptied NYC streets

As the coronavirus pandemic forces states to crack down on gathering places and more and more companies shift to teleworking schedules, America's urban areas are becoming eerily quiet. Nothing illustrates this more clearly than a drive through an alm…

2020 Ram Power Wagon Review | What mud?

A 2020 Ram Power Wagon is not your typical heavy-duty pickup truck . All of them try to be the tough kid on the block, but the Power Wagon goes even further. Just the name, Power Wagon, is synonymous with a tenacious, brash, and mean attitude. "Let'…

The BoatCar is part Ford, part Sea Ray, 100% awesome, and for sale

There are thousands of used boats listed on eBay, but only one of them features power steering and a new set of tires. Meet the BoatCar, an unusual creation that exists at the intersection of vans and cabin cruisers. The process of dropping a 24-foo…

2021 Audi A3 sedan coming this year in three bodystyles

The fourth-generation Audi A3 Sportback hatch debuted earlier this month, and Audi doesn't plan to waste time getting the trunked version here, according to Car and Driver , which adds that the sedan likely shows in late 2020 as a 2021 model. The curr…

2020 Easter Jeep Safari canceled due to coronavirus shutdown

The organizers of the annual Easter Jeep Safari event in Moab, Utah, announced last week that the event has been called off in the wake of hotel and campground closures ordered in an effort to slow the spread of coronavirus. The Southeast Utah Heal…

Swiss rider on Harley-Davidson LiveWire sets electric motorcycle distance record

Harley-Davidson's electric LiveWire offers about 100 miles of riding range, so it's not as well suited to long road trips as its gasoline-powered siblings , but that doesn't mean it can't go the distance. Swiss rider Michel von Tell proved that by set…

Chevy Colorado and GMC Canyon get trim levels reworked again

GM Authority reports that GM has fiddled with trim packages on the Chevrolet Colorado and GMC Canyon for the 2021 model year, eliminating the base trims on both pickups and implementing small price changes. When the new model year goes on sale, the C…