Let’s start by looking at the front of the Equinox EV, where things seem all well and good. A slim available light bar and small headlights hidden in the front fascia trim give the Equinox EV a really nifty Geordi La Forge visor appearance, exactly the sort of familiar yet futuristic look I want in an EV. It’s a really sleek front end that shouldn’t alienate mainstream buyers. It also looks like it’s in the same family as the 2024 Chevy Blazer EV....

According to the Ariel Motorcycle Club of North America, the original Ariel dates back to 1869. Back then, James Starley — a foreman at a sewing machine company – decided to start building bicycles, joining forces with a man named William Hillman the following year. The pair — and yes, that’s the William Hillman that co-founded Hillman Motor Car Company — made wire-spoke wheels and used them to make the lightweight Ariel bicycle....

In the beginning, there was the Daewoo Leganza. While it wasn’t exactly the paramount of elegance, the Leganza was a bold step by its Korean makers, one intent on penetrating the American midsize sedan segment, coming from behind to reach around and grab a nice small slice of market share. Not only did the Leganza grab styling influence from Giorgetto Giugiaro’s forward-looking Jaguar Kensington concept, its development process took just 30 months under the watchful eye of Dr....

This eye-rolling and hilarious fact has been reported on by a number of outlets, but I think I first saw the number of confused searches in this tweet: — Ashwinn (@Shwinnabego) November 17, 2022 I remember when Kias with the new logo started to appear, and I think the only positive thing I heard was that the new look reminded people of fond memories of Nine Inch Nails: So, there’s that....

You read that right. Pagani was founded in 1992, yet this car is only its third new vehicle since the company’s inception. The Utopia isn’t just a successor to the Huayra, it also references the past while it moves the brand into the future. According to Pagani’s site, when the now 66-year-old Horacio Pagani was a kid in Argentina, he had a dream to make the most beautiful cars in the world....

First, if you somehow haven’t seen this ad from the early 2000s, here it is: The Taillight Ruiners chain used to be all over Southern California, but I think they’re all gone now, replaced by cheap DIY taillight ruining kits you can get online. Nobody really appreciates the value of a professionally-ruined taillight anymore. Anyway, the taillight used in that goofy animation is from a 1974 Lancia Beta coupe. Please, spread the word so people stop accosting me....

Toyota is rolling into the 2022 Los Angeles Auto Show with some instant hits. The new Prius is an absolute stunner, paired with some surprising performance numbers for the famed hybrid. And Toyota isn’t done yet, as it has now released a preview for what its electric car future could look like. The automaker isn’t providing much information at all about this concept, but it may be a hint at an SUV slotting in under the bZ4X....

But first, let’s see how our Italian transplants fared: Ouch. I guess no one wants to do the Lido Shuffle. But who would, when you can do the Bundy Bounce instead? Anyway, moving on. There are three vehicles you never want to have a need for when you’re out for a drive: fire trucks, ambulances, and tow trucks. I am proud to say I’ve never needed the first two for anything vehicular, but I have had my share of contacts with the third....

As you could probably tell by now, I’ve fallen back down the familiar rabbit hole of diesel-powered motorcycles. There aren’t many of them out there, at least compared to all of the gasoline-powered and electric motorcycles that you can find throughout history. The handful of diesel motorcycles that do exist get pretty wild. Sure, you’re not going to find a diesel Hayabusa, though that would be epic, but you will find motorcycles made to just sip on morsels of fuel like the Royal Enfield Diesel from Monday, bikes with diesel car engines, or one meant to help solve the needs of North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) nations....

The Chevrolet Astro and the GMC Safari survived an impressive 20 years on the market before seemingly disappearing. I mean, when was the last time that you’ve seen one outside of a Gambler 500? They were prone to rust, but they were unstoppable; where, then, are they all now?! Anyway, back in 1977, Chrysler designers began work on what they would call the “magic wagon,” as Stellantis puts it, Their work culminated with the first-generation Dodge Caravan and Plymouth Voyager....

Poor old Dasher diesels get no love at all. Really, it was an awesome car, just leisurely. But you chose the Audi, and as a reward, allow me to present to you a photo I came across a while back, of another red Audi, long ago. This is your humble author, in May of 1990, on the way to prom: Oof. That hair. What were we thinking? But notice the sweet General XP2000 white-letters, my dad’s tire of choice at the time....

Welcome to The Morning Dump, bite-sized stories corralled into a single article for your morning perusal. If your morning coffee’s working a little too well, pull up a throne and have a gander at the best of the rest of yesterday. Nissan Hits Some DelayZ As someone who owned and loved an Infiniti G35, it’s been a long, long, long, long, long wait for the new Nissan Z. The old 370Z went on sale in 2009, some 13 years ago....

The mood in the AV space is slowly moving to the realization that, hey, full Level 5 autonomy is hard, really hard, and maybe, just maybe, it’s not a reasonable or even desirable destination to target. Apple, for example, just revealed that it’s dramatically scaling back their plans for their somehow still-upcoming car, plans that once included no steering wheel or pedals and provisions for sleep. And our pals over at Tesla seem to now be backtracking on their plan to use a camera-only system, called Tesla Vision, for their automated driving systems and are now looking to add radar back into the mix....

Tires are some of the most heavily regulated items on your car. In the US, vehicles are regulated by the Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards (FMVSS), and there are no fewer than four that pertain to tires: FMVSS 109, FMVSS 110, FMVSS 119, and FMVSS 139. Here is what they cover: FMVSS 109 – “New Pneumatic and Certain Specialty Tires” first adopted in 1967. This was the original tire standard that all new tires had to meet....

Our clues come from this Automotive News piece, which doesn’t go in much for speculation but does provide a few helpful hints: Ok, so not a tiny Ram 1500. The article makes it clear that the Jeep Gladiator will remain the Jeep Gladiator, so a rebadged version of that is probably off the table. What are some of the best options? Here’s what I’m thinking makes the most sense. Just Build A Version Of The Mitsubishi L200/Triton Throughout its long history, the Dodge midsize truck has pretty much always been associated with Mitsubishi in some form....

Welcome to The Morning Dump, bite-sized stories corralled into a single article for your morning perusal. If your morning coffee’s working a little too well, pull up a throne and have a gander at the best of the rest of yesterday. Mercedes SUVs Are Braking Badly Any good car should be able to go, turn, and stop. Those are the absolute basics. Well, if you own a 2006-2011 Mercedes-Benz ML-Class midsize SUV, 2007-2012 GL-Class three-row SUV, or 2006-2012 R-Class minivan, there’s a chance you’ll lose the last of those basics....

Want a hint? Look at the damage on that Malibu. Note how the bumper is pretty much intact, but the trunk lid is a mess. What would cause damage like that? Hm. That red Malibu has been shown in New York and Tokyo and Germany and Paris not because it’s an amazing example of an automotive triumph, but because it’s an amazing example of a rock-from-space-hitting-something triumph. This Malibu is the famed Peekskill Meteorite Car....

One, you’d be a fool to trust Tesla used a non-flammable foam. They’ve outright lied about their battery cells and been caught lying about them, and carried on lying. Second, foam does not magically solve for the fact that you have an enclosed space filled with liquids and fatally corroded batteries. If the foam is absorbent, it will actually make things WORSE. Because now you have fatal ruptures AND new shorts AND more corrosion....

SCENARIO ONE: The Combination Platter You’re on a road trip, and getting a bit hungry, when you see a Red Lobster by the side of the road. Enthralled, you yank the handbrake and cross three lanes of traffic sideways, skittering over the median like a skipped stone, and come to rest, noisily, in the Red Lobster parking lot, diagonally across two spots and one tipped-over motorcycle. You exit the car and sprint into the restaurant, where your attention is immediately grabbed by one of the lobsters in the lobster tank, which is very clearly looking right at you....

This week, we have a wild engine swap, a lot of classics, Harley-Davidson’s only scooter, and a modern sport sedan from an unlikely brand. And a lot of them are actually pretty affordable! I’ll warn you right away, some of these may be downright stupid or crappy cars. Some of them are questionably modified. Some of them may be suspiciously cheap. And some, unfortunately, may be a bit too expensive for many enthusiasts....