Kirk Bell, Senior Editor
Articles
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Move over Ferrari, 1,877-hp Pininfarina Battista promises to be most-powerful Italian car yet Kirk BellBattista "Pinin" (little brother) Farina always wanted to build a road car of his own. The man who founded the design firm Pininfarina 90 years ago never achieved his goal, but on Monday his...
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$35,000, 220-mile Tesla Model 3 now on saleTesla on Thursday announced that the base Model 3, the $35,000 electric car that buyers have been waiting for since the mid-size model was announced in 2016, is now on sale. Tesla revealed the Model 3 Standard Range has an electric driving range of 220 miles, can accelerate to 60 mph in 5.6...
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2020 Bentley Flying Spur spy shots and videoBentley has redesigned its Continental, with both coupe and convertible body styles already available. Next in line will be the related Flying Spur sedan, which is expected to arrive later in 2019 as a 2020 model. We have a new set of spy shots and video of the redesigned Flying Spur in action and...
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Mercedes-Benz SLC Final Edition and SL Grand Edition to be droptop swan songs?Mercedes-Benz will show two special-edition roadsters at the 2019 Geneva Motor Show next month and each will likely signal the end of the line for their model lines. On Tuesday, Mercedes unveiled the 2020 SLC Final Edition and the SL Grand Edition, both of which will make their public debuts in...
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2020 BMW X3 M and X4 M arrive with 503 hp and 177 mph top speedIt's the new reality: A sporty crossover SUV is as important as a sport sedan from an automaker that makes performance one of its talking points. So it was only a matter of time before BMW released M versions of its compact X3 and X4 crossovers. On Tuesday, BMW revealed the 2020 BMW X3 M and X4 M...
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The Mazda Miata and Acura NSX debuted 30 years ago to take on the sports car establishmentIn a twist of fate, the 1989 Chicago Auto Show marked the debuts of the production version of the Mazda Miata and the concept of the Acura NS-X, both with a mission to take on more established sports cars. Inspired by British sports cars of the 1950s through the 1970s, the Miata launched that year...
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The idea of a hybrid seems anathema to the spirit of the Porsche 911 at first blush. A hybrid aimed at fuel economy betrays the 911’s sports car mission, and adding motors and batteries to...
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Hyundai design boss, Ford designs in virtual reality, 1990 Mazda Miata: Today's Car NewsWe sat down for an interview with Luc Donckerwolke, Hyundai-Kia's new global design boss, and learned that he has an obsession with Porsche 911s and is into purity of design. The man who replaces the legendary Peter Schreyer has his sites set on legends, not just sales, but you'll be surprised to...
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F1 champion Alonso wins rain-soaked Rolex 24 at DaytonaFernando Alonso's return to the Rolex 24 at Daytona was a successful one, as the two-time Formula One champion won the race and the top DPi class in just his second attempt. Alonso, who retired from F1 at the end of last season, teamed up with drivers Renger van Der Zande, Jordan Taylor, and Kamui...
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2020 Porsche 911 S models start at $114,550, configure your ownThe 2020 Porsche 911 is here and it's spectacular. So far, Porsche has only announced the S and 4S models in coupe and convertible form, and we've driven the coupes. Without fanfare, Porsche added the 2020 models to its car configurator when the coupes were introduced in November at the 2018 LA...
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2020 Porsche 911 S and 4S first drive review: Unflappable by designValencia, Spain may hug the Mediterranean coast, but this morning it’s a chillier than normal 45 degrees and the massive tires on the 2020 Porsche 911 have gone stiff in the crisp air. That’s no good when the next thing they’ll do is scrabble for grip during track laps that could...
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Limited-edition 341-hp Subaru WRX STI S209 storms DetroitLike the dinosaurs in "Jurassic Park," the Subaru WRX STI has seemingly been frozen in amber. When it was released in the U.S. in 2004, it produced 300 turbocharged horsepower. Today that figure is 310 horses. That's not a lot of growth in 15 years, but the STI is still a fantastic performer with...
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Toyota may be known for quality, reliability, and cars with all the handling prowess of a warm bath, but the Japanese brand has been injecting some emotion into its cars for a few years now. It's...
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Class of 2019: Hagerty's top 10 classic cars to buy this yearAnother year, another round of bullish predictions for what cars will soon become tomorrow's hot-ticket collector vehicles. This is the second year Hagerty produced its "Bull Market List," and it's more varied than ever. These aren't new cars the classic car insurer believes will become tomorrow's...
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2020 Porsche 911 Cabriolet revealed with new looks, faster top operation, more powerThe 2020 Porsche 911 Carrera, the so-called 992 generation, will take its time to roll out in its various versions in 2019. We saw the S and 4S coupe models at the 2018 LA Auto Show in November, and Tuesday we got our first official look at the same versions of the Cabriolet body style. Like the...
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4 ways the 2019 Porsche Cayenne moves upmarketIt looked like heresy when Porsche released its first SUV in 2002, but it turned out to be a brilliant move. The Cayenne quickly took the mantle as the brand’s best-seller, and it became an adage that the Cayenne enabled Porsche to keep building sports cars. The move also turned out to be...
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Porsche Taycan performance model could be named Turbo, cost more than $130,000The model names for Porsche's upcoming Taycan electric car will fit right in with existing Porsche nomenclature, according to a Wednesday tweet from automotive journalist Alex Roy. Roy posted the tweet and wrote about it on The Drive after receiving the information directly from a Porsche outreach...
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Is the 2018 Mustang GT the end of a performance era?The V-8 engine has defined American performance since Henry Ford stuck a low-cost flathead V-8 in the 1932 Ford. It made cars faster than their brakes and suspensions could handle during the muscle car era of the 1960s, got choked during the gas crisis of the 1970s, and came on strong again with a...
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Corsa
Speed builds quickly in the 2019 Lamborghini Urus on the North Course of The Thermal Club outside of Palm Springs, California. I look down between turns 9 and 1, and the digital speedometer...
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2019 Porsche Macan first drive review: Honed and tonedThe corners are blind. An oncoming car, bus, or bicyclist could await on the other side. Please don’t be a bus. The lane is narrow. The SUV I’m in takes up almost all of it. There is barely any shoulder, and sometimes a guardrail sits right on the lane line and threatens to add an...
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Audi e-tron GT won't change much says design chief; what you see is (mostly) what you'll getThe Audi e-tron GT concept car that made its debut last week at the 2018 LA Auto Show is nearly production-ready, according to Audi design boss Mark Lichte. “This is a metal sheet body already, and you can imagine how close it is with a metal sheet body," Lichte said in a roundtable interview...
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2020 Lincoln Aviator ready to make a mark in the luxury marketWith the reveal of the 2020 Lincoln Aviator at the 2018 LA Auto Show on Wednesday, Lincoln took another next step in its transformation to a contending luxury brand. The Aviator competes in the mid-size crossover class against the likes of the Audi Q7, BMW X5, Mercedes-Benz GLE, and Volvo XC90...
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2020 Porsche 911 to debut at 2018 Los Angeles auto showPorsche will use next week's 2018 Los Angeles auto show to present its redesigned 911, the automaker confirmed Tuesday. Referred to internally as the 992, the new 911 represents the iconic sports car's eighth generation, and its arrival comes 55 years after the original, badged a 901, was rolled...
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Chevrolet Corvette Z06 cooling issues should be in the past, ZR1 shouldn’t have themSome Chevrolet Corvette Z06 owners who track their cars have notoriously experienced cooling issues. According to Corvette chief engineer Tadge Juechter, those problems should be solved, and the even more powerful 2019 Corvette ZR1 shouldn’t experience them at all. Juechter told Motor...
Kirk Bell