Etc : Car News And Reviews

While the modern-day Fiat 500 may be going away here in the U.S., it’s still an iconic little car, with lots of fans around the globe since its inception way back in 1957. To celebrate the heritage of the 500, LEGO has announced the release of a new Creator set based on the classic version of Italian subcompact.

These days, the use of nuclear energy is pretty much limited to power plants and submarines, but there was a time when it was thought the controversial power source could be used to drive our cars.

When I first drove the Toyota GR Supra, I was quite impressed with its handling and ability to get around a track pretty quick. But as is the legacy of the Supra, there will always be tuners who can eke more power and capability out of these cars.

Everyone who drives a car understands the basic concept of horsepower as a way of measuring their vehicle’s engine capabilities. Counting power based on the pulling strength of horses dates back to the 18th century as a way to measure the output of steam engines, when it helped buyers understand how many draft horses they could replace with a given engine.

It’s been a few years since the Ford GT first appeared on the scene, and it’s still one of the most beautiful and exotic cars being made today. For 2020, Ford Performance has given the car a couple of performance tweaks, bumping its 3.5-liter Ecoboost engine to 660 horsepower, making the lightweight Akrapovič titanium exhaust standard, and improving its cooling system for even better track performance.

Back in 1974, Subaru of America founder Malcolm Bricklin had the dream of launching his own line of sports cars, which offered performance, aggressive styling, safety and reasonable pricing all wrapped into one. The result of his efforts was the rarely seen Bricklin SV-1. 

While the idea of a 6×6 Mercedes G-wagon has tremendous appeal to me, it’s not necessarily the case that more wheels are always better. Take, for example, this ridiculous looking creation that recently turned up in Russia.

The Bloodhound LSR team continues to get closer to their goal of breaking the land speed record in their jet-powered car, recently exceeding 1000 kmh (~628 mph), and closing in nicely on the 763 mph record that was set back in 1997.

Ever since the first backup camera turned up on a production vehicle, the use of digital imaging to improve visibility and safety has increases, culminating with vehicles like the GMC Sierra HD, which can be equipped with up to 15 cameras.

With the reveal of the Mustang Mach-E, Ford has been shaking things up with the Mustang brand of late. Now, it appears that Ford may have something else up its sleeve for the Mustang in the form of a jet fighter inspired windshield for the original muscle car.

There’s no question that the Pontiac Firebird Trans Am is one of the most iconic cars of the 1970s and 1980s. After all, it was the car that Burt Reynolds and Sally Field used to evade the fuzz in Smokey and the Bandit.

Of the many things we were promised as kids were jetpacks, self-lacing shoes, and cars that could fly. While there have been a number of attempts to create and produce flying vehicles, most of them have never made it past the prototype stage.

There are few more annoying things when you’re driving a sports car with low ground clearance than encountering a speed bump. I speak from personal experience, having scraped the lowest plastic diffuser on my Jaguar F-TYPE countless times over the nasty bumps in my Chicago neighborhood.

Over the years, I’ve seen countless custom Jeep Wranglers, but I can say with certainty that this is the first one I’ve come across that was made with gingerbread and frosting. The talented pastry team at Arizona’s Ritz-Carlton Dove Mountain resort spent over 250 hours putting together this amazing confectionary off-roader using over 500 pounds of candy and 1000 individual gingerbread tiles.

I’ve traveled quite a bit in pursuit of stories over the years, but still have yet to take a lap around the Nürburgring, the famed German racetrack that over the years has claimed many a car and driver due to its degree of difficulty and length.