Its hard to not grin when experiencing the Earth-shaking rumble of a V8 in a no-nonsense muscle car: cars like the Shelby Mustangs, Z/28 Camaros, HEMI-powered Mopars- all of which are very present at this years Barrett-Jackson Scottsdale auction. We are talking about the late 60s when, like the Space Race before and Nuclear Arms Race after, saw manufactures trading punches with power, performance, and racing pedigree. Because of this competition, some of the most badass muscle cars in history... [read more]
NHRA drag racer Doug Herbert has had a life of firsts. He holds 10 NHRA and 20 IHRA national championship event wins, holds four Top Fuel world championship wins, and was the first driver to make a pass at over 300 mph in an NHRA elimination round. One thing that hes not first in, is losing a child to car accident. According to a TeenSafe.com report from February, 2018, nearly 3,000 teens were killed in car accidents in 2016. Staggering... [read more]
Back in 2017, Geely bought a majority stake in Lotus to reinvigorate the struggling brand. Now the Chinese conglomerate will build Lotus cars in a new plant in its home country. Reuters first reported the news, citing company job advertisements and government documents. The plant in Wuhan city in the Hubei province will produce up to 150,000 vehicles a year, according to a document posted on the website of the provinces planning authority. Plans for the new factory were apparently... [read more]
The Hyundai Ioniq arrived three years ago as the Korean automaker's answer to the Toyota Prius line. Now, Hyundai is updating the Ioniq, giving it a slightly flashier but still modest look. Hyundai announced the update specifically for Europe, although many of these changes will likely also come to the U.S. In these pictures, the Ioniq features a new grille with a mesh pattern instead of vertical slats. The headlights and side vents on the front fascia have also changed... [read more]
Through the pine trees and on the ground all around we could see the dismembered remains of a Divco milk truck, and a 23-window Volkswagen bus. What is going on here were our thoughts as we drove up the mountainside to see our buddy Randy Grubbs latest hand-formed aluminum creation. The year was 2017 and STREET RODDER was in Southern Oregon to take in the 40 th Annual Medford Rod & Custom Show and visit a few friends. We stopped... [read more]
Land Rover isnt keeping its Defender prototypes a secret. Last month, the automaker released pictures of a camouflaged Defender getting muddy and posing with the Statue of Liberty. Now, weve caught the SUV playing in the snow looking a little different than before. This new prototype receives a different wrap that highlights its boxy shape. The windows arent quite as covered up as on the first prototype, and it also features a new set of wheels. Land Rover made a... [read more]
I was recently organizing my reference bookshelves at work and stumbled upon a great 80 page story that I picked up at Comic-Con back in 2010 called Rodd... continue reading
Jeep is testing car-sharing and subscription services for owners of its vehicles. Two pilot programs with Jeep owners in Boston will start next week and run for three months, Tim Kuniskis, head of Jeep North America, tells MotorTrend . A peer-to-peer pilot car-sharing program will select 100 new Jeep owners who can make money by renting their vehicle to others. Jeep will partner with the personal car rental app Turo for the pilot program. Kuniskis said that, fittingly, Turos top... [read more]
This might surprise one or two of you: Im not perfect. Which is why on a clear, sunny Saturday afternoon, I backed my long-term Kia Stinger GT into the neighbors Kia . Most accidents happen within 2 miles of home. In my case, 200 feet. Accidents happen, cars can be repaired, insurance exists for a reason, etc. More important to you, dear reader, is that the incident afforded me the chance to get into a different (though still red) Kia... [read more]
With more than 12,000 miles on the odometer, our Honda CR-V LX has gone to many places, including past the southern border. I traveled to Nogales, Mexico, for personal reasons and ended up splitting the 10-hour road trip in two daysfrom Redondo Beach, California, to Tucson on day one and Tucson to Nogales on day two. It took me about 8 hours to get to Tucson and a little over an hour to get to Nogales. Despite driving mostly on... [read more]
Engine Swaps - you love em, I love em, everyone loves em. The crazier the better, right? Well, we got something pretty damn crazy for you on this one. This particular video comes to us from Christian McMaster, who got a chance to take a spin in a Honda N600 powered by the beating heart of a GSXR-1000. Yep, you can see where this one is headed.
From Porsches to Plymouths and Datsuns to Dodges, the gavels and SOLD stickers were flying Wednesday at the 48th Annual Barrett-Jackson Scottsdale Auction. An incredibly diverse offering of more than 350 vehicles made their way across the auction block, where the growing trend of Japanese domestic market (JDM) cars continued to be evident, with three sales in that category a 1990 Toyota Sera , a 1972 Datsun 240Z custom coupe and a 1987 Subaru Brat setting new records at public... [read more]
Inspired by one of the worlds greatest racing drivers, Ayrton Senna. This 2019 McLaren Senna VIN 005 ( Lot #1405 ) will be crossing the block on Saturday evening January 19, 2019 SCOTTSDALE, ARIZ. Jan 17, 2019 Barrett-Jackson , The Worlds Greatest Collector Car Auctions ® , announced today that it has added one of the rarest supercars, a 2019 McLaren Senna ( Lot #1405 ), to its 48th Annual Barrett-Jackson Auction at WestWorld of Scottsdale in Arizona. Inspired by... [read more]
As expected, the U.S.-spec Toyota Supra will arrive with just one engine. Toyota made that crystal clear at the 2019 North American International Auto Show, announcing that the U.S.-bound Supra will only be offered with a 3.0-liter, turbocharged, six-cylinder engine that produces 335 horsepower and 365 pound-feet of torque. No other engine option will be available for the sports car, including the base 2.0-liter four-cylinder unit that is available in Japan. Depending on the trim and tune, that engine produces... [read more]
Got the hankering for a McLaren Senna ? Sorry, you cant have one. Even if your financial portfolio can absorb the roughly $958,966 hit required to take delivery at today's exchange rates, the hypercar is way, way sold out and has been since shortly after its debut in December 2017. But wait, whats this? Its Lego to the rescue! The Danish toymaker has released a new brickified Senna model perfect for your desk as part of its popular Speed Champions... [read more]
Turning 60 isnt so bad, especially when you still look cute in British Racing Green. The classic Mini made its debut in the summer of 1959 and to celebrate its 60th Anniversary, the marque is rolling out an exclusive special-edition car calledand this is so very like BMW , Minis corporate parentthe 60 Years Edition. The car will be available in two- or four-door Hardtop body styles, and each can be ordered in some global markets with one of four... [read more]
We've already seen the new Shelby GT500 for a while now, ever since those images from a Ford dealer meeting got leaked, but it's always nice when everything is official including those ludicrous figures: over 700 horsepower from a 5.2-liter supercharged V-8 and a 0 to 62 mph time of just 3.5 seconds. Is it enough to topple the race-going Mustang GT4 based on the lesser GT350? Ford stepped back in the GT4 arena late in 2016 with the Multimatic-built... [read more]
Cadillac wasnamedthe lead electric vehicle brand of General Motors in an announcement last week. Thepivot toward electrification is surprising, but based on comments made recently by one of GM's top executives, it seems going electric may be the brand's last remaining hope. Newly appointed GM President Mark Reuss gets candid in an interview with Reuters . We dont have any chances left with taking Cadillac to a really new place, he said. This is pretty much it. So we really... [read more]
This 1960 Corvette was built to produce 1G of acceleration, 1G of braking, and 1G of lateral grip. The 3Gs are hard enough to attain with a late model car, so to raise the bar, Art and Craig Morrison did it with a 60s Corvette, a car that handles like a shake weight. After finding a resale red with white coves basket in Washington State, Craig and Art Morrison stripped it down and added a GT Sport replacement chassis, which... [read more]
This car is nothing short of a legend, and when it goes down, it will be remembered as one of the longest running and the most successful sedans to have graced the Earth. Sounds like a tribute, doesnt it? Well, thats because the 2020 Volkswagen Passat may very well represent the last time the German company invests its time, money and resources into this car. The 2020 Volkswagen Passat was displayed at the Detroit Auto Show and, even though it... [read more]
At last years GTI Meeting at Wrthersee , Volkswagen debuted a road-going concept inspired by its TCR race car. Today, Volkswagen is debuting the production version, which is now available for order in Europe. The model starts with a two-door GTI, so given that the two-door Golf body style is no longer offered in the U.S., it's probably a safe bet we're not getting the TCR stateside. The car's 2.0-liter turbo-four engine has been tuned to deliver 286 hpjust 20... [read more]
When you hear Barrett-Jackson, what jumps to mind are probably the big dogs. Superbirds, Cobras, Ford GTs, so many Dodge Demons an exorcism is necessary, and whatever the current lump of mega-horsepower iron from Detroit is going to get auctioned off for charity, no doubt going for crazy big money. This years star car is the all-new Ford Mustang Shelby GT500 . My prediction? Seventy billion dollars. And all that stuff is cool, man. Its cool. But what I love... [read more]
McLaren has revealed the 600LT Spider , the fifth car to carry the Longtail name. Prices for this 592-hp beauty start at $256,500. Just like the coupe , the Spider features a 3.8-liter twin-turbocharged V-8 engine pumping out 457 lb-ft of torque. McLaren estimates the convertible willdo 0-60 mph in 2.8 seconds, an identical time to the coupe. Hitting 124 mph should take 8.4 seconds, or 0.2 second slower than the coupe. Top speed is 201 mph with the roof... [read more]
Is it possible that, even with the Toyota Supra and the Ford Shelby GT500 hogging the spotlight, a Chinese automaker and its Indian counterpart stole the show at the 2019 North American International Auto Show? Its probably not the case, but you have to give it to GAC and Mahindra for representing their brands well at Detroit when so many other established automakers we didnt see you there, Audi, BMW, and Mercedes-Benz decided to skip the proceedings. Mahindra brought two... [read more]
Iconic and instantly recognizable as the BMW kidney grille may be, it has been growing and growing with recent models to the point where now its become too big on some models - yes, Im looking at you, facelifted 7-Series sedan. But the refreshed 7-Series is not the only culprit here, because the new X7 is too, as well as the new X5 to a lesser degree.
Let the brand-new 2019 Mustang Shelby GT500 take the back seat for a moment because this one-of-one 1967 Shelby Mustang GT500 Super Snake is far cooler. Why? Well, it just became the most expensive Mustang sold at auction ever, breaking its own record, and its spec sheet is ludicrous for a car built 52 years ago. If you're looking for the road-going Mustang to end all Mustangs, this might just be it, and it was built back in 1967. It... [read more]
This car was a regular at theKingdom Drags, Fremont, Bakersfield, and Pomona during the 1960's. It's owner was a well known gas station man on the west coast... continue reading
Did it all go too far with fakery on modern cars? After a whole eternity of waiting, Toyota finally revealed the new Toyota Supra. The impressions are mixed, but it seems that the Internet warriors aren't fond of it. At all. And while I personally do like the exterior design and actually believe that the Supra will be a wonderful car to drive, I can pinpoint some obvious problems with it. One of the biggest concerns I had after I... [read more]
Lamborghini is no more about show over go and the new Aventador SVJ is a prime example of that. Yes, it looks bonkers, as it should, but it also drives great and goes stunningly fast on track, something that's not exactly a characteristic of classic Lamborghinis. The folks over at Lamborghini glanced at the Aventador SV with its protruding front splitter, big nostrils, and sizeable rear wing and thought that it's quite tame, actually, and that they could do better... [read more]
The facelifted 2020 BMW 7 Series appeared only hours after the most impressive debut of the 2019 Detroit Auto Show concluded. It is a considerably redesigned model, regardless of the fact that everyone's talking only about its massive front grille. There is so much more to it than that. Revealed on June 10, 2015, at BMW's headquarters in Munich, the latest 7 Series was rather nice but never did achieve the stature of the S-Class. I may even go that... [read more]
Mercedes creams BMW when it comes to sales of its flagship sedan in the U.S. But regardless of whether or not the 7 Series will ever beat the S-Class, BMWs entry receives meaningful updates for the 2020 model year. A new look helps solidify the sedans stance at the top of the BMW lineup . Not everyone is going to like it, but the grille is much larger than before, taking cues from the three-row X7 SUV . The trim... [read more]
Time to adjust your worldview a bit farther east. The Chinese auto market is larger than that of either the U.S. or Europe. Soon, it will be larger than the U.S. and Europe. That will have dramatic impact on the kinds of cars Western consumers can buy, as automakers adapt their designs and component sets to the desires of the worlds largest customer base. This shift also might affect which brands are sold here, as the writing is on the... [read more]
A couple of years ago, at the press introduction of the Toyota Prius C in San Diego, I was chatting with chief engineer Satoshi Ogiso, a central figure in the history Toyota s hybrid technology. As we both stared at a Prius parked at the curb, I asked him what worried a guy like him about the future. He answered more quickly than I expected (Im paraphrasing here): Startup car electric car companies. A gasoline engine has thousands of parts... [read more]
Ford started ST-ing its high rider range with the Edge ST it revealed last year and this year at the Detroit auto show it showed an ST version of its new Explorer. The manufacturers intention couldnt be clearer - it intends to inject some youthfulness and fun into vehicles not usually known for their sporty credentials.
If you're disappointed that the new Shelby GT500 comes with a dual-clutch automatic only, then we have good news for you. Sort of, anyway. According to Ford, the muscle car could get a manual gearbox in the future.
