Evergreen
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Small roadsters were a dying breed in the 1980s. A decade earlier, tiny British and Italian sports cars darted across Europe and America, but by 1989, most were history. It was up to the 1990 Mazda MX-5 Miata to rekindle their spirit. Mazda took a decades-old concept and smartly updated it with the Miata in 1990. The Japanese roadster showed the world that fun wasn’t reserved to powerful supercars, or raucous V-8 engines. The Miata’s journey to production channeled the great British roadsters of yesteryear, specifically with an admiration for the Lotus Elan. Its journey...
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1965 Morris Mini Minor scoots into Jay Leno's GarageJay Leno's Garage took a step back into the swinging 1960s in its latest episode with a 1965 Morris Mini Minor that's been with its current owner for more than four decades. Steve Nelson purchased the car from what he believes is the original owner when he was 17 years old. He had a fascination...
Sean Szymkowski -
Shelby AC Cobra: 100 Cars That MatterCarroll Shelby raised a family and chickens, and nursed a leaky heart valve in Texas in the 1950s. He also raced cars and his body bore all the signs, scarred skin and busted bones. From those humble beginnings 36-year-old Shelby was already well on his way to becoming a globally known automotive...
Sean Szymkowski -
Porsche counts down its top 5 fastest street-legal carsPorsche knows a thing or two about building sports cars, but the brand's "Top 5" series returns with an episode dedicated to the fastest among the marque's historic portfolio. The fifth spot goes to a bread-and-butter Porsche model, the current 911 Turbo S. With a twin-turbocharged 3.8-liter flat-6...
Sean Szymkowski -
1992 Dodge Viper: 100 Cars That MatterIn the late 1980s, post-K-car Chrysler was desperate for attention. The good fortune of the decade had begun to dwindle and the automaker knew it needed something big to turn the limelight back on its aging products. Enter the Dodge Viper. Chrysler made more than a splash in 1989 when the Viper...
Sean Szymkowski -
The Porsche White Collection is heavenly motoring blissThis might be the afterlife for Porsche enthusiasts. It's called The White Collection. Location? Unknown. The collection owner? Also unknown. All we know is the white walls and pristine white floors house a collection of low-mileage Porsche sports cars and supercars all finished in, you guessed it...
Sean Szymkowski -
Air filters are one of the easiest and quickest components to swap out for an aftermarket part, and plenty of companies claim their design will increase horsepower, torque, and improve acceleration. Do they? Jason Fenske of Engineering Explained is here to answer that question. For the test, he used a Subaru Crosstrek and four different air filters. One is the original air filter that came with the car after thousands of miles, the second is a new OEM filter from Subaru, the third is a low-cost replacement from CarQuest, and the final part is a K&N air filter. Fenske tested each filter...
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2020 Toyota Supra engine deep dive: This isn't a 2JZAs we're all well aware of by now, the 2020 Toyota Supra uses a lot of BMW engineering and components. One of the main elements borrowed from BMW is the 3.0-liter turbocharged inline-6 engine. Engineering guru and explainer extraordinaire Jason Fenske of Engineering Explained dedicated an entire...
Sean Szymkowski -
Here's how Subaru made its most powerful engine everAfter years of Subaru treating the world to special, more-powerful WRX STI models, the Japanese automaker finally delivered one to the U.S. The Subaru WRX STI S209 debuted in January at the 2019 North American International Auto Show in Detroit with the company's most potent production engine so...
Sean Szymkowski -
Before the Veyron, there was the EB110: Jay Leno looks back at Bugatti historySince it acquired Bugatti in the late 1990s, Volkswagen Group has done an impressive job of returning the French brand to the pinnacle of performance and luxury in the car world. However, VW's wasn't the first attempt at returning Bugatti to its glory days of the 1920s and '30s. You see, long...
Viknesh Vijayenthiran -
Jay Leno digs into the Nissan Heritage CollectionJay Leno's Garage went on the road for its latest episode, which took the comedian and car guru to the Nissan Heritage Collection. Based in Nashville, Tennessee, the collection is home to some of the oldest and most special Nissans and Datsuns on the planet. But Leno doesn't dedicate the episode to...
Sean Szymkowski -
Porsche counts down its top 5 fanciest seat patternsThe saying, "they don't make 'em like they used to" certainly applies here. In the latest installment of Porsche's "Top 5" series, the brand looked back on its five fanciest seat patterns put into production. Right away, the nostalgic feelings wash over us with the Porsche 928 S. The 1983 model...
Sean Szymkowski -
While most owners of the Bugatti Chiron will never come close to the top speed potential of their cars, some are more than happy to push their cars to the limit. One owner recently did just that at the Johnny Bohmer Proving Grounds in Merritt Island, Florida, a site with a 2.3-mile straight that used to serve as a landing strip for the space shuttle program. The run was made during one of the public Straight Line Aerodynamic Testing days held at the site, where up to 30 drivers can take their cars to the limit in a safe environment. As the video shows, the Chiron has no problem reaching its...
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Dig into Porsche's top 5 secret prototypesEvery automaker has experimented with concepts over the past decades, but most aren't too keen to show off what could have been. Porsche? Not so much. The brand has curated its top five secret prototypes for the latest in the ongoing "Top Five" YouTube series. As the title suggests, the latest...
Sean Szymkowski -
1950 Plymouth Suburban rolls into Jay Leno's GarageJay Leno slowed things down this week with a 1950 Plymouth Suburban that visited his famous garage. The garage has played host to numerous sports cars and supercars throughout the year, and Leno said he decided to take things more casual with the station wagon, which was the first American wagon...
Sean Szymkowski -
A 2016 Subaru WRX STI modified right visits Jay Leno's GaragePro skateboarder and rally driver Bucky Lasek made yet another appearance on "Jay Leno's Garage," and this time he brought one of his daily drivers along. It's a 2016 Subaru WRX STI with a healthy amount of modifications, which Lasek is more than happy to detail. For those unfamiliar with Lasek, he...
Sean Szymkowski -
Here's how a World Rally Car's center differential worksOne of the great bits of tech that remains from the glorious era that was Group B rally racing is the center differential. With it, race beasts from the likes of Audi, Peugeot, Ford, and Lancia all battled for all-wheel-drive supremacy on the greatest rally stages the world over. The need for...
Jeff Glucker -
Born from jets: Saab once built a car with a joystickSaab has a quirky history that ended too soon with General Motors' Chapter 11 bankruptcy and reorganization the end of last decade. For years, Saab built cars and did things its own way. And one time, the Swedish premium brand even built a car with a joystick control. Goodwood author Gary Axon...
Sean Szymkowski -
Driveshafts, or propshafts, and constant velocity (CV) joints are crucial to the proper and safe operation of a vehicle. They are necessary to move a car forward and make it turn. But what sort of equipment is needed for a race car? In this video, Wyatt Knox and Tim O'Neil himself from Team O'Neil to give us the answers. In the first part of the video, the duo talks about the affects of steering angle and wheel articulation as they relate to CV joints. A CV joint accepts a driveshaft and allows it to transmit power through varying angles of wheel articulation. As the transmission feeds power...
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20 secrets about Ken Block's Gymkhana filmsAhead of Gymkhana 10's release, the Hoonigan crew decided to let viewers in on some little-known secrets about the blockbuster viral videos that have taken the motorsport community by storm for years. The crew, alongside Ken Block himself, the Hoonigan-in-chief, counted down 20 secrets viewers...
Sean Szymkowski -
Deep dive: Ken Block's 914-hp 1977 Ford F-150 HoonitruckGymkhana 10 is out today, and it's only fair to take a look at one of the film's stars: the 1977 Ford F-150 Hoonitruck. In a video from Hoonigan, the crew takes a look at the Hoonitruck, how it came to life, and the details behind the oily bits. How did Block and crew come up with the idea of the...
Sean Szymkowski -
Ken Block: The machine inside the racing suitYou probably know Ken Block because of his incredible driving skills depicted in the Gymkhana series. However, there’s much more to this multi-talented individual. We’ve already outlined in detail his career in rallying, but four-wheel action only came later in his life. Before that...
Viknesh Vijayenthiran -
Dive into this 3D-printed rotary engineIf you've ever wondered what makes up the famed rotary engine from Mazda, now is the chance to dive in. Engineering Explained showed off an incredible 3D-printed rotary engine scale model, and host Jason Fenske walks us through what makes the peculiar powertrain tick. Specifically, this is a...
Sean Szymkowski -
Dodge almost turned the Viper into a mid-engined carThe automotive industry is full of incredibly fascinating tales of "what could have been." We can think of numerous examples, but one we're sure few have heard of has just surfaced: Dodge built a business case for a mid-engined Viper in the 1990s. Dodge could have beaten both Ford and Chevrolet's...
Sean Szymkowski