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Monday, January 25, 2021

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

Jan 25, 2021

Top Stories of the Day

2021 Dodge Durango Hellcat First Drive | The 710-hp family hauler

Manifest Hellcat Destiny has brought us the latest inevitable supercharged V8 machine from Mopar, the 2021 Dodge Durango SRT Hellcat . And to make it extra-special, this 710-horsepower monster is the most powerful SUV that Chrysler — or any other auto…

Lotus will kill Elise, Exige and Evora to make room for the new Type 131

Lotus ended years of speculation by announcing it will begin rejuvenating its range when it releases a new model in 2021. Known as the Type 131 internally, its arrival will mark the end of the Elise, the Exige and the Evora. Although the three afore…

Ford design lead Moray Callum to retire, with a legacy from Mustang to Miata

Moray Callum, global vice president for Ford and Lincoln brand design, is retiring this year, the company announced Monday. Callum spent 38 years with the company, during which he led design on several noteworthy projects, including just about everyt…

2021 Audi Q5 Luggage Test | Versatile but space is limited

The 2021 Audi Q5 is one of the smallest compact luxury crossovers inside, but considering that it's been that way for two generations now and continues to be Audi's best-seller, it seems like many buyers are willing to overlook it. Nevertheless, its …

American dealers are begging Nissan for a modern-day Xterra

Consumer interest in off-roaders is booming, and Nissan dealers across the nation want to cash in on the trend. Several store owners are asking the Japanese company to bring the Xterra back as quickly as possible. Production of the second-generation…

Sony says it has no intention of entering the automotive industry

Unveiled at CES 2020, and road-tested in Austria in 2021, the Sony Vision-S looks ready for series production. And yet, the Japanese consumer electronics giant said it's not planning on leaping into the automotive industry. "At present, we have no p…

BF Goodrich introduces off-road-specific windshield wipers

When off-roading in most places (except for the desert, probably) you're going to need your windshield wipers. Crashing through water or pits of mud is going to leave your windshield covered with the outdoors. It's all a little more than what your wi…

2022 Honda Odyssey loses its HondaVac due to a supplier issue

The Honda Odyssey minivan is losing its in-car vacuum for the 2022 model year. The Drive reported the loss of the HondaVac first, learning that Honda had to nix it because the supplier who provided the vacuum went out of business. We asked Honda fo…

Go anywhere, including your living room, with the Tamiya Landfreeder Quadtrack R/C truck

One of the hottest modifications to hit the off-road scene has been swapping wheels and tires for tank-style tracks. Various aftermarket companies make them, and we've even driven some OEM customs with the mods . Of course, the price of entry is steep…

Junkyard Gem: 1963 Dodge Polara Hardtop Coupe

Well into the 1970s, when you referred to a postwar American car as simply a "1971 Chevy " or "1953 Mercury ," everyone knew you meant the full-sized car made by the specified company, and model names for most of these cars simply designated the trim l…

Friday, January 22, 2021

What You Missed | Your Autoblog Daily Digest for January 22, 2021

Jan 22, 2021

Top Stories of the Day

Here's what else you could buy for the average new-car price of $40,573

Autoblog may receive a share from purchases made via links on this page. Pricing and availability are subject to change. The average price of a new car in America hit a new record in December 2020: $40,573. Not that we're surprised — the average has…

2021 BMW X3 Review | The sensible driving machine

It's funny to think of a BMW SUV as an almost default choice in a segment, but the 2021 BMW X3 sure seems like exactly that. With a diverse range of models including the mass-volume xDrive30i, the plug-in hybrid xDrive30e and uber-performance X3 M, B…

2021 Ford Ranger MS-RT is another cool Ranger variant we won't get

The U.S. is the pickup truck capital of the world, made clear by vehicles such as the Ram TRX , F-150 Raptor and Colorado ZR2 . And because of that, it's so strange that we keep missing out on the coolest versions of the Ford Ranger. First there was th…

The next-gen Ford Mustang reportedly going all-electric, arriving in 2028

There's some scuttlebutt going around that the next-generation Ford Mustang might not appear until late 2028, and that the reason for the delay is because it will be going fully electric. And no, we're not talking about the Mach-E . This is the good o…

2021 Ram 1500 Infotainment Driveway Test | Bigger IS better

The 2021 Ram 1500 comes standard with a simple 5-inch touchscreen, while the 8.4-inch version found on most versions as standard equipment is the same user-friendly unit found elsewhere in the Chrysler/Dodge/Jeep/Ram line up. Unlike all those other b…

Dodge's 710-horsepower 2021 Durango SRT Hellcat is sold out

In the summer of 2020, Dodge announced it would only build the 710-horsepower Durango SRT Hellcat for six months, but it didn't tell us how many examples it would make in that time. We now know that production will be limited to 2,000 units, and they…

Plug-in hybrid Jeep Wrangler 4xe gets First Edition model in Europe

Jeep detailed the First Edition variant of the plug-in hybrid Wrangler 4xe that it will launch in Europe in early 2021. While the package hasn't been announced for America yet, we could see something like it here in the near future. As is typically …

ItalDesign teases DeLorean-inspired gullwing car for DMC-12's 40th anniversary

Legendary design house ItalDesign has revealed a teaser image of a mysterious car with gullwing doors and the letters "DMC" on the nose. Wait, have we gone back in time? Oh, it's still 2021, meaning this is an all-new DeLorean-inspired car. Accompan…

Hurtan Grand Albaycin is a Mazda MX-5 Miata dressed in a vintage suit

Spanish coachbuilder Hurtan rivaled Mitsuoka in the eccentricity department by introducing the Grand Albaycin, a Mazda MX-5 Miata -based roadster with a design that tilts heavily towards the retro side of the scale. Carmakers often frown on aftermarke…

Tired of waiting for the VW I.D. Buzz? Check out this Tesla-powered Microbus

Autoblog may receive a share from purchases made via links on this page. Pricing and availability are subject to change. No donation or payment necessary to enter or win this sweepstakes. See official rules on Omaze. If you're like me, you're sick …

Thursday, January 21, 2021

What You Missed | Your Autoblog Daily Digest for January 21, 2021

Jan 21, 2021

Top Stories of the Day

These are the cars owners keep the longest

Owners of these cars and trucks are much more likely than average to keep them a long time. Toyota dominates the list, and they all come from Japanese brands.

2021 Cadillac XT5 Review | The middle-ground luxury crossover

The 2021 Cadillac XT5 plays in what's become the most popular of all luxury segments: two-row crossovers. It does so with typical Cadillac nebulousness, straddling the line between size segments with the promise of getting more for your money than wh…

2021 Ram TRX VIN #001 heads to Barrett-Jackson

The very first production example of the 2021 Ram TRX is headed to auction, the company confirmed Thursday. The truck, in Launch Edition Anvil Gray, will cross the block at Barrett-Jackson Scottsdale on March 26 to benefit the United Way for Southeas…

2021 Ford F-150 Raptor order guide confirms 3.5L EcoBoost V6 as base engine

Official Ford order guides have leaked for the 2021 F-150 Raptor and Tremor packages, confirming that the high-output 3.5-liter EcoBoost V6 will return as the base engine in Ford's range-topping off-road pickup. The guide images, leaked to F150Gen14.…

Say goodbye to the Volkswagen Golf, as production for the U.S. officially ends

Volkswagen quietly ended production of the venerable Golf last week for the U.S. market. Of course, the new Mk 8 Golf will continue in other locales, but not here. Instead, Volkswagen is limiting our Mk 8 consumption to the high performance GTI and G…

L.A.'s mysterious jetpack guy could actually be a human-shaped drone

It turns out the mysterious case of the jetpack guy casually flying around at a few thousand feet above the ground in California could actually be something completely different, albeit just as dangerous. According to documents collected by The Black…

Ares Design turns the Tesla Model S into a two-door convertible

While custom coachbuilt Teslas aren't new, not even convertibles , this example from Italian design house Ares Design is one of the nicest we've seen. It's had quite a bit of work put into it as well, since not only is it a convertible, but it's a two…

2020 Volvo S60 Child and Infant Car Seat Driveway Test

2020 was a hard year, but it gave the Snyder family something truly special to appreciate. In November, we welcomed our second child, Leokadia (or "Lola" if you prefer) into our lives. Of course, as our large son Wollie has already done so many times…

Lada Niva will get its second generation after nearly 50 years

Motorists who complain that the Toyota Land Cruiser is past its prime need to sail across the Bering Strait and hop behind the wheel of a 2021 Lada Niva. Introduced in 1977, it has been in continuous production since without receiving major updates. …

Great news! Dacia introduces the go-anywhere Bigster concept

It's 2021. Say goodbye to bigly and hello to Bigster — the Dacia Bigster, that is. Yeah, we got the joke out of the way in the headline, but increasingly obscure references aside , the latest from Renault's subsidiary is more exciting than it sounds. …

Wednesday, January 20, 2021

What You Missed | Your Autoblog Daily Digest for January 20, 2021

Jan 20, 2021

Top Stories of the Day

2021 Lincoln Aviator Review | America's finest luxury crossover

The 2021 Lincoln Aviator is the right vehicle at the right time. It's a distinctly American take on the three-row luxury crossover segment, boasting big power and a splash of green on the side. It draws you in with its long, sleek exterior, then leav…

In the rearview: Joe Biden does a burnout in his 1967 Chevy Corvette with Jay Leno

Vice President Joe Biden's 1967 Chevrolet Corvette is lovely, and based on this video for "Jay Leno's Garage," he knows how to drive it.

Mercedes-Benz EQA 250 revealed with 188 horsepower and over 250 miles of range

Mercedes-Benz has revealed its second electric model, the EQA 250, edging out the soon-to-be-revealed EQS sedan . The EQA is a little crossover sibling to the EQC , and it's closely related to the gas-powered GLA-Class. That relationship is clear in th…

Porsche Taycan gets a new rear-drive model that's the most affordable by far

Well, that didn't take long. As we predicted just this morning when the image of a new, fourth variant of the Porsche Taycan was teased out, Porsche has announced that the EV is getting a rear-wheel-drive version that is considerably more affordable.…

BMW announces electric M car is coming this year

An electric BMW M car is coming this year. That's official news coming from the mouth of Markus Flasch, chairman of the board of BMW M. There's no official date for a reveal yet, so BMW has 11 months and some change to work with. The latest reports …

Electric Lincoln Corsair-E coming in 2026, report says

An electric Lincoln Corsair is on the way, Automotive News reports. It's currently scheduled to arrive in 2026 and will be built at the Oakville, Ontario, assembly plant. Automotive News' source for this information is AutoForecast Solutions LLC, an…

Ram 1500 TRX too tame for you? Hennessey cranks its Hemi V8 to 1,012 horsepower

Ram captured the top spot on the horsepower podium when it released the Hellcat-powered 1500 TRX in 2020. The truck's 702-horsepower output places it comfortably ahead of the Ford F-150 Raptor, at least for now , but American tuner Hennessey saw plent…

NHTSA finally passes law allowing replica car sales

Replica fans rejoice! After five years of red tape, a new rule handed down from the U.S. Department of Transportation will make it legal to sell turn-key replica cars in the United States. The final rule was signed by National Highway Traffic Safety …

2021 Hyundai Bayon is a subcompact crossover with an extroverted design

Hyundai is stretching the boundaries of its design language as it marches into new segments. It released a pair of dark sketches to preview a subcompact crossover named Bayon that it developed for the European market. Although the Bayon's full desig…

Nissan e-NV200 Winter Camper Concept can be a reality if you live in Europe

Once again, Europe is showing off its wealth of factory supported pop-top campers. This one comes from Nissan, and while it's technically a concept, it's mostly built using factory accessories. Yes, the Nissan e-NV200 Winter Camper Concept could be e…