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.
Alfa Romeo To Develop New Model In America
Italian automakers haven’t been having a brilliant time in America as of late. Sure, Ferrari and Lamborghini will always have customers, but Maserati isn’t on most luxury consumers’ radar, Alfa Romeo is seeing fairly low sales, and when was the last time you saw a new Fiat? In an attempt to change this, Reuters reports that Alfa Romeo boss Jean-Philippe Imperato claims the brand will develop a new large model in America. While it makes sense to develop a new vehicle in one of its most important markets, this decision begs a question: what on earth would an Alfa Romeo raised on Natty Light, KFC Double Downs, and Maury reruns be like? While I have some minor reservations about whether or not this new vehicle will preserve Alfa’s Italian essence, I’ll wait to see and drive the final product before passing judgment. It looks like I’ll be waiting a long time though, as the finished model isn’t expected until 2027. Alfa Romeo is still assessing whether the new model will be an SUV, a crossover or a sedan but it will not probably be a classic large SUV, such as BMW’s X5 or X6, Imparato said. “We want to find the right mix,” he said. “It’s a decision we will take by the end of this year”.
Pricing For The Manual GR Supra Actually Seems Entirely Reasonable
Three-pedal fans rejoice! Despite the development costs of a new variant of ZF’s S6-53BZ six-speed manual gearbox and the tooling costs of some new interior bits, the manual Toyota GR Supra costs no more than the automatic variant. Toyota’s released full pricing for the 2023 GR Supra, so let’s break things down. First off, all GR Supra are subject to a $1,095 freight charge. That’s fairly reasonable in the grand scheme of things, although still worth pointing out because freight charges aren’t optional. Here at The Autopian, we like to include freight charges in new car pricing because there’s nothing worse than being told a basic MSRP then getting slapped with an egregious freight charge when you hit the showroom. The B48 four-cylinder-powered GR Supra 2.0 now starts at $44,635, or $6,390 more than a rear-wheel-drive BMW 230i. Sure, the GR Supra 2.0 is lighter, but some extra pounds might be worth it for some extra rear seats. Also, $6,390 is a lot of money. Moving up to the models everyone cares about, the GR Supra 3.0 Base now costs $53,595 in automatic or manual form. For context, the new Nissan Z in Performance trim with the big brakes and limited-slip differential stickers for $51,015, so the jump up to a manual GR Supra 3.0 Base really isn’t that crazy. If you want more features, the GR Supra 3.0 Premium stickers for $56,745, while the limited-edition manual-only A91 model clocks in at $59,440. Is a cognac leather interior, some special trim, and either gray or matte white paint worth an extra $2,695 over the 3.0 Premium trim? Maybe not for me, but it might be for you. In any case, the 2023 Toyota GR Supra will arrive in dealerships later this year, so get ready for a new three-pedal sports car to hit the streets.
Stellantis Offering Early Retirement Packages To Canadian Workers
It’s no secret that the electric future will bring about massive changes on the production side of the automotive industry, and Stellantis appears to be restructuring some of its workforce in order to prepare. According to Automotive News Canada, Stellantis is offering early retirement packages to workers at its Windsor, Ontario and Brampton, Ontario assembly plants. Early retirement packages definitely sound like they have the potential to be kinder than layoffs, particularly given how hard the Canadian Auto Workers union fights for its members. It’ll be interesting to potentially see what the early retirement package consists of and how many employees take it. The automaker didn’t say how many people it hopes will accept the offer. Nor did the company provide financial details about the packages being offered. Stellantis said employees will learn the details on Aug. 1 and have two weeks to decide on whether to accept the offer.
Porsche’s Reportedly Planning To Take A Huge Stake In Red Bull’s F1 Assets
Well, well, well. It looks like the rumors of Porsche entering Formula 1 might have some substance to them after all. Bloomberg reported on some leaked documents that suggest Porsche might take as much as a 50 percent stake in some Red Bull Formula 1 assets, a massive move considering Red Bull is highly competitive this season. While the details of this potential arrangement are still very much up in the air, teaming up with Red Bull would be a spectacular move for Porsche. Not only is Red Bull a successful, high-profile team, the driver fanbase is immense. Best of luck for Porsche and Red Bull moving forward, hopefully some sort of arrangement can be worked out. The notification outlined a 50 percent purchase of Red Bull Technology, which builds chassis for the Formula 1 team Oracle Red Bull Racing; it indicated that the partnership would also extend to the separate F1 team business. The leaked documents are reliable, a Red Bull Racing spokesperson confirmed. Details regarding how the deal is to be be structured are not finalized, say sources close to the matter.
The Flush
Whelp, time to drop the lid on today’s edition of The Morning Dump. Happy Friday, everyone! We made it to the end of the week and indeed the end of the month. That’s right, the next Morning Dump you’ll see from me will happen in August. Where does the year go, am I right? In anticipation of a new month, I’d love to know what car stuff you want to do in August. Maybe you want to attend a show, finish an engine swap, or simply weave through some cones at an autocross event. Whatever the case, I’d love to hear your automotive hopes and dreams for the coming month. Lead photo credit: Alfa Romeo Changed the oil on wife’s Outback. I picked up a new catch container from harbor freight. First time using it. Popped the drain plug, popped the vent and proceeded… to make a huge effing mess. Turns out the “vent” was not drilled out from the factory so the pan hydro locked and oil got all over the garage floor. So I spent my day cleaning up probably 3qts of oil and I’ll spend to tomorrow cleaning up all the oil dry. Next project on that car will be a Fumoto oil drain valve with a nipple. Can they work at the different oem? Can they work somewhere else? It often works out pretty well. Anyone who wants to keep working doesn’t have to worry about layoffs, and those who want to leave get a little bonus. It only goes bad when too many take the offer resulting in a loss of some very valuable experience. It is a good way to encourage those that are close to retiring or those that were considering a job change to leave, and they get a bit of extra cash along with some extended benefits. As you said, no restrictions on going to work for competitors, but there were restrictions on coming back to the same company too soon (e.g., if you got 6 mos. salary to leave, then you have to payback 4 mos. salary if you come back in 2 months). “Buongiorno, my neighbors!” “Hey, vaffanculo!” “Yes! Yes! Vaffanculo to you, too!” Seriously, I was told if you don’t know someone for 15 years you are the FNG and get off my lawn in one group. It’s going to be a classic large crossover vehicle with marketingspeak to make it sound like it somehow isn’t 2nd – Only 2 weeks to decide on early retirement or the offer is off?? Seems short notice, no? 3rd – Porsche probably going in 50% with Red Bull to stifle some possible friction if it is only an engine supplier (see : Renault years). I’m sure there will be other benefits as well, but they probably want to have a certain level of control. Now, will Audi partner 50/50 with Toro Rosso? Or buy out Williams from Dorilton? Road trip with a buddy to Ontario in a week or so, not much planned other than Ottawa/Toronto/Niagara. Anyone have cool car-related suggestions? (Oh and this week I saw the muddafreakin Pope riding in his Jeep Wrangler Popemobile. I could almost touch it, but the bodyguards were staring me down lol) Not automotive, but the Diefenbunker just outside of Ottawa is pretty neat – it was the nuclear bunker built for the Prime Minister and high ranking government staff that’s since been decommissioned and opened for tours. Not all of your readers are so totally immersed in the 21st century that we want to read yet another cutting edge piece on microchips and batteries. There are a few of us “Oldsters” who must count for something! Opa Brummbaer EH… I been “daddy daddy daddy daddy” for the last 18hrs a day 6+ days a week. While trying to do electrical work, cleaning among other shit like math, reading. Ive been toting around my 90T Trailer for quite some time and while its a lot of fun, he really grinds the shit out of my gears. I havent done any car stuff in a bit, not driven my car in a few days… primarily cause Im flowing back n forth into depression and I got too much other shit to do. NTM, there is stuff Id like to do but havent cause I cant get no time on my own to both relax (do nothing for a minimum 30hrs) and get car stuff done. Clean that bucket of a car my wife has, oil change, rotation for her and me, new front glass for me. Little Niggling shit, that I gotta do… that dont involve my trailer hitched to my ass. THEN… Imma get dragged to a fucking vacation with her inlaws… which is a much fun as being hit with a BRICK and about as expensive. I wanted to hit LEAD EAST… but timing makes that a hard stretch. IN SHORT… ID LOVE TO DROP OFF MY 90T, TRIPLE AXLE TRAILER for about a MONTH… so I can return to the husk of a hooman I was before I hitched him up. *soon to be on used car lots across America in 2038! Pfft… if it’s a large vehicle for a brand like Alfa, it’s gonna be a CUV. One fun quirky event is the free Pacific Grove Little Car Show: about 125 cars that generally must displace fewer than 1601cc’s and be at least 25 years old. After the show, the cars are driven on a public tour along the Monterey coastline. In addition to the typical car show marques, in recent years there have been cars from Peel, Crosley, Panhard, Peugeot, Auto Union, Citroen, Lotus, Fiat, Honda, and American Bantam. As interesting as the cars are the owners’ stories about them. One owner at last year’s show said she’d “always wanted a yellow convertible” and found her 1978 MG Midget six years prior: a one owner car with fewer than 7000 miles since new. The seller was 93 years old and had used the MG only as a “summer car,” driving it just 200 miles/year on vacation between New Jersey and New Hampshire. After 43 years the near-mint car was entirely original except for tires. If it ends up being a giant electric SUV, I’m at least hoping for a Quadrifoglio version that puts the Model X Plaid to shame. This August, I’d like to get all the little things I’ve been putting off done: patch the rear defroster and replace the valve stem cap that the tire shop misplaced on my Spark, replace the broken wing mirror turn signal assembly and fix/replace a DRL socket on the wife’s Renegade (a Jeep/Fiat with electrical gremlins, who woulda thunk it). Nothing exciting car-wise. Probably a bunch of basic maintenance because I have some fluid changes due and I’m going to do the rear brakes on my truck. When I was back there fixing the other parking brake shoe (they both rusted to literal pieces in 6 or 7 years) I noticed that one of the pads had worn unevenly, probably because the caliper is also rusty and it got stuck at some point. One of the rotors also has some pretty bad pits, so I think it’s time to just do them even though there’s plenty of pad material left and the rotors are still 1 mm thicker than their minimum. Can’t really complain about 125k from OEM pads and rotors though.
