Kurt Ernst, Contributor
Articles
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While racing generally helps to make production cars safer by advancing technology and components, sometimes the opposite is true. At this year’s 12 Hours of Sebring, race car fabricator Pratt...
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Ford Mustang 50th Anniversary Logo Revealed
It’s clear that Ford is planning something special for the 50th anniversary of its iconic Mustang, and it’s equally clear that the car’s revised design may be the best kept secret in the automotive world. Last weekend, images of clay models made the rounds, quickly polarizing fans...
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Hennessey Ford GT Breaks Texas Mile Record With 267.6 MPH Run: Video
The Texas Mile may need to be renamed to the “Hennessey Mile,” or even the “Mark Heidaker Mile,” since one thing is becoming clear: the tuner and car owner apparently own the top speed record at the semiannual event, held in Beeville, Texas. In March of 2012, driver Sean...
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Coming Regulations May Downsize Tire Width, Too
Automakers are doing all they can to make cars lighter and more fuel efficient, as regulations for average fuel economy and permissible emissions grow ever tighter in Europe and the United States. While automakers have downsized engines in the name of fuel economy and have trimmed weight wherever...
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Magnus Walker Brings His Porsche 911 72STR 002 To Jay Leno's Garage: Video
To be honest, we’re really over the whole celebrity thing. Meet one or two big-name racers, or actors turned racers, and you’ve (more or less) met them all. We’re willing to give autographs to anyone who wants one, but we’re not exactly the celebrity-stalker type ourselves...
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MINI Recruits Designer Roberto Cavalli For The 2013 Life Ball Paceman
On May 25, MINI will be supporting the Life Ball AIDS charity event for the 13th consecutive year, with a MINI Paceman created especially for the event by designer Roberto Cavalli. Cavalli joins such past notable designers as Franca Sozzani (2012); DSQUARED² (2011); Diane von Furstenberg...
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If you missed your chance at getting one of the drag-strip-ready COPO Camaros that Chevrolet was building for 2013, the brand is giving drag racers a second chance (of sorts). On March 28, Chevrolet...
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2014 BMW 6-Series, 6-Series Gran Coupe And M6 Preview
BMW is planning a few changes for its 6-Series lineup in 2014, and from an enthusiast perspective virtually all of them are positive. First and foremost, BMW has heard the complaints of U.S. buyers, and it will introduce a six-speed manual gearbox as a no-charge option on all 2014 M6 variants. That...
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2014 Buick LaCrosse Breaks Cover Ahead Of New York Reveal
The second generation of the full-size Buick LaCrosse sedan dates back to the 2010 model year, and sales have remained relatively consistent for Buick in the United States market. The LaCrosse is also a hot commodity in China, so General Motors is hesitant to fix something that isn’t broken...
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NASCAR Auto Club 400 Recap: Kyle Busch Wins In Fontana
Kyle Busch hasn’t had the best of luck in the 2013 NASCAR Sprint Cup season. The Joe Gibbs Racing driver has looked strong in virtually every race, but had so far managed just one podium finish with a second place at last week’s Food City 500. Kyle Busch again looked like the man to...
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NASCAR Sprint Cup Auto Club 400 Preview
This weekend, the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series heads to the two-mile tri-oval in Fontana, California, for the Auto Club 400. While many of the Sprint Cup races hit the same track at different times of the year, the Auto Club 400 represents the series’ sole annual stop in Fontana. Blame it on...
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Mercedes-Benz Provides New Safety And Medical Cars For The 2013 F1 Season
Mercedes-Benz and AMG have been the official supplier of safety and medical cars to Formula One for the past 18 years. Just as Formula One cars have gotten quicker and more capable over the years, so have the Mercedes-AMG supplied support vehicles. The 2013 season is no exception to this rule, and...
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The Porsche 911 turns 50 in 2013, and the annual Goodwood Festival of Speed will factor heavily into the iconic sports car’s birthday celebration. All seven generations of Porsche 911 will be...
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Acura Recalls MDX, RL And TSX Models
Luxury brand Acura is recalling certain models built between 2004 and 2008 for two separate recall campaigns. The recall for the 2005-06 Acura MDX and the 2005 Acura RL, relating to unintended braking, also extends to the 2005 Honda Pilot. At issue in this first recall is a capacitor that may have...
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Aston Martin To Be Featured Marque At 2013 Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance
The annual Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance is, arguably, the most significant classic car event in North America. Each year, attendees come from across the globe to see the finest automobiles in the world displayed on the Pebble Beach Golf Links. There are plenty of auctions to attend, as...
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Ford Says It's Cleared The Lincoln MKZ Inspection Backlog
Luxury brand Lincoln knows it has just one chance at a successful launch of its MKZ midsize sedan. To attract new buyers into the Lincoln family, “good enough” just won’t cut it, which is why Lincoln has scheduled a post-assembly quality inspection for each and every MKZ built...
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Jay Leno Shows Off His Restored 1962 Maserati 3500 GTi: Video
When you’re Jay Leno, there’s no such thing as “enough” cars in your collection, and the search for one particular make and model is just as likely to uncover a car you weren't even looking for. From what we can tell, Leno stumbled across this 1962 Maserati 3500 GTi in a...
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Buy A Lamborghini Aventador Roadster, Support A Good Cause
The Lamborghini LP 700-4 Aventador Roadster boasts a 6.5-liter, 691-horsepower V-12 capable of propelling the open-air supercar from 0-60 mph in under three seconds, on the way to a top speed of 217 mph. Unlike the Lamborghini Murcielago Roadster, which used a complicated and ungainly soft top, the...
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Building world-class supercars like the MP4-12C isn’t as lucrative as it may appear: according to Automotive News Europe (subscription required), McLaren Automotive will post a loss for its...
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It's Official: The Nürburgring Is For Sale
When the operators of Germany’s storied Nürburgring filed for bankruptcy last July, no one knew what the the future held in store for Germany’s “Green Hell.” Not only is the Nürburgring Nordschleife one of the most famous racing circuits in the world (and a mecca...
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Bentley's Le Mans-Winning Speed 8 Returns To Goodwood
In 2003, Bentley won its first overall victory at the 24 Hours of Le Mans since 1930. Piloting a Bentley Speed 8 prototype, drivers Rinaldo Capello, Tom Kristensen and Guy Smith took the win, followed by a second Bentley Speed 8 driven by Mark Blundell, David Brabham and Johnny Herbert. Critics...
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2014 Scion tC Teased Ahead Of New York Reveal
The Scion tC coupe used to be the affordable brand’s most popular model, accounting for nearly half of Scion’s total sales from 2005 to 2007. In 2006, its highest-volume year, the Scion tC sold some 79,125 units in the United States. By 2010, sales had dropped to just 15,204 units, and...
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2014 Ford Mustang Cobra Jet Details Announced
Last October, Ford showed a new twin-turbo version of its drag-strip-only Mustang Cobra Jet at SEMA, and spent a fair amount of time talking up the advantages of multiple turbos versus a single 2.9-liter supercharger. To start with, turbochargers don’t scavenge power off the engine, since...
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Lexus To Make Its Goodwood Festival Of Speed Debut In 2013
If you’ve attended the Goodwood Festival of Speed in recent years, you’ve probably seen the Gazoo Racing Lexus LFA work its way up the hill. It would be easy to assume that Lexus was behind the car’s appearance, but that would be incorrect. In fact, Lexus has never...
Kurt Ernst