Cars

Car & Automotive

The Fastest Track Cars for Less Than $35K: Window Shop with C/D

This week, we revealed the results of our annual Lightning Lap track event, which puts the hottest new vehicles of the day through the stress test that is Virginia International Raceway (VIR). This got the Window Shop crew thinking: For $35K, which used car would get us around VIR the quickest today? Ideally, we’d want to find something that could turn a lap in under 3:04.0, the current Lightning Lap record for sub-$35,000 vehicles, set by a 2016 Camaro V-6 1LE.

Contributor John Pearley Huffman, who was a little under the weather this week and not his shouty self, selected a 464-hp hellion: a primo Cadillac ATS-V sedan. Pearley actually found two ATS-Vs, but the second one looks like someone applied Rhino Lining to its exterior. We tried to convince him that this isn’t show worthy, but you’ll get to see it anyway.

Testing director Dave VanderWerp, who hasn’t

Car & Automotive

Ford Makes $29 Billion Commitment to EVs and Self-Driving Cars

2 months ago Larisa W. Gibson

Ford announced a $29 billion investment in EVs and autonomous vehicles through 2025.
In the future, the majority of Ford vehicles will be electric, while traditional gasoline powertrains will be augmented with hybrid and plug-in hybrid powertrains.
Ford is joining GM and others in heavily investing in electric and autonomous vehicles to compete with Tesla.

Ford announced during its fourth-quarter earnings report that it will invest $22 billion in electric vehicles and $7 billion in autonomous vehicles through 2025. The electric-vehicle stake is an increase over the $10 billion already pledged to help Ford compete in the race to bring electric vehicles into the mainstream.

In part, Ford may be throwing the money down to compete with GM’s bigelectrification goals, but it stopped short of announcing exactly when, or if, it will transition to an all-electric passenger-vehicle fleet as General Motors has pledged to do. What it has announced is

Classic Car

Classic Japanese Sports Cars That Were Transformed With Badass Body Kits

2 months ago Larisa W. Gibson

Over the last five decades, Japanese carmakers have released some of the greatest sports cars made in Asia. Though they were looked down upon when they were first released, customer needs eventually changed, and they became increasingly popular among middle-class motorists. As a result, some of the oldest Japanese sports cars (especially the ones that were only released in the Japanese domestic market) have become highly valuable.

RELATED: 10 Reasons Why Every Gearhead Should Buy A Japanese Car

It is well-known that Japanese sports cars can be tuned to produce ridiculous amounts of power. Though some of these cars are now classics, they are still begging to be customized to look aggressive and be fast and mean machines that can terrorize modern supercars.

9 Nissan 300ZX

Most Japanese car manufacturers are perceived as companies that produce mainly reliable and affordable vehicles, they have shown that power is

Car & Automotive

Toyota, Lexus Upgrade Tools So You Can Buy New Cars 100% Online

2 months ago Larisa W. Gibson

Toyota’s SmartPath is meant to let shoppers buy online and have their vehicle delivered from their local dealership without ever needing to go there in person. Or, they can start shopping online, then go in and haggle.
Only around 50 Toyota dealers use SmartPath today, but that number will double this spring.
Lexus is involved in this, too, with a similar program called Monogram. Only a few dealers use Monogram, but Lexus will “aggressively accelerate availability through 2021.”

Toyota customers like smart things. Lexus drivers prefer to have their things monogrammed. That’s one way to look at an upgraded online car-shopping service the two brands are offering to U.S. Lexus and Toyota shoppers. The online tool is functionally similar no matter if you’re looking for a new IS or a fresh Prius, but Lexus calls its service Monogram while Toyota’s is called SmartPath.

The idea behind the year-and-a-half-old

Classic Car

10 Classic European Sports Cars That Were Transformed With Badass Body Kits

2 months ago Larisa W. Gibson

It is fair to say that European carmakers have dominated the automobile industry for over a century. Whether it is the Germans with BMW or Porsche, or the British with Aston Martin and Rolls-Royce, there is absolutely no other carmaker in the world that has the same notoriety. Though classic European cars are the pinnacle of collectible cars, some of them deserve a little extra.

RELATED: 5 Classic European Cars That Are Now Surprisingly Cool (5 Classic Japanese Cars We’d Rather Buy)

Some of the classic European sports cars have become some of the best cars to modify. Though some of these classic European cars are notoriously underpriced, it does not represent a trend. Modifying classic cars from the old continent will require a serious budget. However, it is fair to say that the result will most likely be mind-blowing.

10 1978 Porsche 911

There are tons of

Classic Car

Here Are The Most Ridiculous Myths People Still Believe About Classic Muscle Cars

2 months ago Larisa W. Gibson

Myths have a funny way of taking hold and becoming a reality for people. In the automotive world, misconceptions are easy to come by, especially for those who are only casual car owners. This includes muscle cars, which makes sense as those have built up mythology in the car world. There are debates on where exactly they originated and how long it took for them to become the machines folks know. Some even debate precisely when the “classic” muscle era began and ended.

Some things are undeniable, such as how the best ones are V8 powerhouses and the U.S. produced some terrific machines. Yet, there remain numerous misconceptions about classic muscle cars that even some buffs can fall for. Some myths refuse to go away from technology to history despite the evidence, and these ten misbeliefs in muscle cars can still pop up today.