U.S. Representatives Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) and Andy Levin (D-Mich.) want a high-speed electric-vehicle charging network along the nation’s highways in five years. The want stations that charge EVs as quickly as filling up a traditional car with gas. The EV Freedom Act would also include provisions for good-paying jobs and buying U.S.-made products. Planning a […] More

New Hampshire State Police via Facebook

Throughout the cold months, injuries and accidents are commonplace from ice and snow coming off vehicles. A driver in New Hampshire was charged earlier this month with vehicular assault, among other charges, after a piece of ice came off his box truck and injured another driver.
A handful of states have laws requiring drivers to clear snow and ice off their entire vehicles before getting on the road.
Even in states without such a law, police can issue citations for offenses such as driving with an unsecured load.
For those of us in northern states, the start of winter often means carving out some extra time in the mornings to scrape off the car windows. And while being able to see out of your car is an important part of that morning routine, unless you’re already doing it, it’s time that you start brushing the snow and ice off your roof and rest of your vehicle, too.

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Earlier this December, in New Hampshire, ice flew off the roof of a moving box truck and smashed the window of a following car, seriously injuring the driver. The driver of the box truck has been charged with vehicular assault, reckless conduct, and negligent driving, the Londonderry Police Department wrote on Facebook. In New Hampshire, it’s mandated by law to clear ice and snow from the roof of a vehicle, and a fine can result whether or not a driver causes harm to another driver.
This is the case in at least five other states, including Connecticut, Michigan, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and Rhode Island, but even in states where the law doesn’t explicitly say that snow and ice need to be cleared off your entire vehicle, police officers have enforced such a rule. In Massachusetts, a state that doesn’t have a law about clearing off your vehicle, officers can cite drivers with driving with an unsecured load if they don’t scrape the snow and ice off their vehicle’s roof, according to MassLive. In other states such as Ohio, even when there isn’t such a law, if snow or ice comes off a vehicle and causes an injury or accident the driver can be liable.
Barring a negative outcome, drivers who fail to clear the snow and ice off their vehicles can be given a small fine, regardless of the laws in place. But as is the case with the driver in New Hampshire, if other drivers are injured, the outcomes for a driver can be much worse.
Ice and snow going through windshields is a fairly common occurrence in snowy states. Last winter in Michigan, ice came off a truck and smashed through the windshield of a school bus, injuring the bus driver and one student, according to WXYZ Detroit. In early 2019 in Wisconsin, a chunk of ice came off the roof of a truck and went through the windshield of a Buick sedan, causing minor injuries to the driver—and left a couple inches of snow under the rear windshield, according to Fox6. In both cases, it’s unclear whether the driver of the vehicle where the ice chunks came from was charged.
Regardless, it’s unlikely that any of drivers who had ice come off their vehicles anticipated that happening—so next time snow blankets your car, carve out a little extra time to make sure your roof, hood, and any other area is clear.
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• A Canada-built equivalent to the DeLorean DMC-12, the Bricklin SV-1 has many parallels to that legendary car, both in terms of audacity and eventual financial failure.• The name SV-1 stands for Safety Vehicle, and this classic has a number of safety innovations that were quite advanced for its day.• Slightly fewer than 3000 SV-1s were built over a three-year period, but fewer than 150 of them came with the four-speed manual like this example currently up for auction on the Bring a Trailer website.It is said that Icarus, out of pride, flew so close to the sun that his waxen wings melted and he plummeted to his doom. The same fate seems to happen to gullwinged sports cars about once a decade, whether the wings in question are stainless steel (the DeLorean DMC-12) or bonded acrylic resin (as here). But from the financial ashes, a phoenix emerges, ready to be the center of attention at the next car show its new owner might attend.

Bring a Trailer

And that’s the Bricklin SV-1, a rare and mostly forgotten 1970s sports coupe. The company folded almost 50 years ago, but the cars still have a small but eager fan base. This one’s currently up for auction on Bring a Trailer, which—like Car and Driver—is part of Hearst Autos. With five days to go, bidding sits at just $3500. Malcolm Bricklin was a serial automotive entrepreneur with a shoot-from-the-hip attitude and shoot-from-the-hip accuracy to match. He brought Subaru to America in 1968, and now you can’t visit a hiking trailhead without tripping over a Crosstrek. But he also founded Yugo, and when’s the last time you saw one of those? Or wanted to?

Bring a Trailer

Between launching these two endeavors, Bricklin launched the SV-1, drawing on the financial assistance of the Canadian government. A factory was built in New Brunswick, the area then economically depressed by the collapse of the local fishing industry, and the car was designed by ArtCenter College graduate Herb Grasse, who had contributed to the original Dodge Challenger.

The idea behind the SV-1 was to embrace incoming U.S. safety regulations wholeheartedly, creating a car fit for modern roads. And not just any car, but a V-8–powered grand tourer capable of going toe to toe with the Chevrolet Corvette. Bricklin’s creation would be striking-looking, with gullwing doors and a sharply sloping nose. It would feature futuristic construction materials and have integrated bumpers and a crash structure to protect its occupants.Launched in 1974 with an AMC-supplied 360-cubic-inch (5.9-liter) V-8 and either a four-speed manual or three-speed automatic transmission, the SV-1 was a decent performer. There were teething troubles with overheating, but these were soon solved with a radiator upgrade. Bigger issues were the new factory and inexperienced workforce, cost overruns, and problematic quality control. Six years later, pretty much the exact same problems would kill the DeLorean DMC-12. They did in Bricklin in three.Bricklins can have all kinds of issues to work through, and there are a few with this example. The radio doesn’t work, the A/C isn’t blowing cold, and the windows stick. This last is a pain to address with the heavy gullwing doors, which weigh about 100 pounds each.Signed by the AuthorHowever, this SV-1 has the four-speed manual paired with the 220-hp 5.9-liter AMC V-8. That makes it 10 times rarer than your average Bricklin, and also quite a bit more fun to drive. Provenance is also improved by the signatures of both Malcolm Bricklin and the late Herb Grasse.

Bring a Trailer

With its conventional, U.S.-sourced powertrain, a Bricklin is a bit tougher than a DeLorean, and easier to keep on the road in terms of mechanical issues. This example also benefits from an upgraded Edelbrock intake manifold and a stainless steel exhaust system.The SV-1 drives far better than you expect it to, and with the exhaust upgrade this version probably honks like an angry Canada goose—they look cute, but Canadians call those birds cobra chickens for a reason. A sense of humor is required for ownership, as there’s a good chance you’ll be propping open one of those gullwing doors with a broom handle at some point. But just think of the stares as you rumble into your local Sunday morning car meet-up.There’s a great deal to be said for a car that was a failure in its day but seems quirky and cool now. Best of all, unlike owning a DeLorean DMC-12, you won’t have to put up with people cracking wise about flux capacitors and hitting 88 miles per hour. Just finish your coffee, pop open the doors, and fly off down the road, 93 million miles away from the sun, a V-8 underfoot, and not a care in the world. The auction ends on Monday, August 22. More

The BMW Z4 gets a slightly more aggressive look in this mid-third-generation refresh.Among smaller changes, one addition is that the Sport body trim, already standard on the M40i, is now added to the sDrive 30i.The 2023 Z4 will be out in November, priced at $53,795 for the sDrive 30i and $66,295 for the M40i. Props to BMW for sticking around with its roadster: the segment has been shrinking continuously, but a few convertibles are still around. One of them is the BMW Z4, which entered its third model generation (the fourth, if you count the Z3) just two years ago. Surprisingly, it is already up for an update, although this is less of a mid-cycle refresh (at least we hope we aren’t there yet) and more of a streamlining.From the C/D ArchiveThe Z4 is one of our favorites because it is a serious sports car, and we suspect that is not least the case because of Toyota’s input in this joint project, which led both to the Z4 and the Supra. We understand that BMW was content with a roadster that would improve on the qualities of the predecessor, while Toyota had its sights set on the Porsche Cayman. Tellingly, the joint project only took off after Herbert Diess left BMW for the pastures of Wolfsburg; he had been interested in jointly developing a hybrid with Toyota, but the Japanese insisted on a purist approach. What emerged were two cars—the Z4 and the Supra—that are extremely competent in their own right, with marked differences.Two Engine ChoicesIn many other markets, the Z4 is available as the sDrive 20i, with an 194-hp entry-level 2.0-liter four and a six-speed manual, but the U.S. portfolio begins with a more powerful version of the same four-banger, the 255-hp sDrive 30i. The range is topped by a second model, the straight-six 382-hp M40i. Both engines are mated to the ubiquitous ZF-sourced 8HP torque-converter-type automatic.To reach a “new maximum of sportiness,” as the press release gushes, the formerly optional M Sport body trim, which has always been standard on the M40i, now becomes standard equipment on the sDrive 30i as well. The more chiseled and aggressive look will no doubt please the attention-seeking crowd, although we never had a problem with the cleaner look of the now-deleted Sport Line look that the brand had identified as “Classic BMW Design.” Experts will still be able to tell the two models apart: The M40i comes with mirror caps in the bronze-ish Cerium Gray and larger, angular exhaust tips.BMWBMWThere’s a minor nose job, too: Both variants get a restyled front kidney grille which loses the vertically positioned dots in favor of horizontally oriented décor that is designed to “add to the impression of width at the front.” Three “rich” new metallic colors, a new optional 19-inch wheel design and optional black trim for the headlights top off the rather modest list of changes, which thankfully does not include the curved dashboard that is currently trickling down from the iX electric SUV to most of BMW’s other models.The new model year launches in November, with prices starting at $53,795 for the sDrive 30i and $66,295 for the M40i, which is only a couple hundred dollars above 2022 prices. We’re glad the Z4 carries on, and we hope it does so for many more years. The mild enhancements should give it a boost in the market until we see more substantial changes a few years down the road—which, if we were granted a wish, would include a manual transmission on the glorious straight-six like the Supra now offers.This content is imported from OpenWeb. You may be able to find the same content in another format, or you may be able to find more information, at their web site. More

The Pininfarina Battista Targamerica is an open-top variant of the brand’s Battista battery-electric coupe.The Targamerica is a one-off model commissioned by a current Battista owner.Like its coupe counterpart, the Targamerica packs 1877 horsepower courtesy of four electric drive motors.If you have enough money, you can get what you want, as exemplified by the very existence of the Pininfarina Battista Targamerica. This one-off open-top variant of Pininfarina’s battery-powered Battista hypercar exists due to the wants of one well-off Battista owner. The Italian brand is mum on the details of the individual who commissioned the Targamerica, but we get the impression this person is a real cigar aficionado. Consider the bespoke aluminum and glass cigar holder and humidor positioned between the Targamerica’s front seats. The case packs enough space to hold up to three stogies, while the hue of its backlighting corresponds to each of the Battista’s five drive modes: Calma (green), Pura (blue), Energica (orange), Furiosa (red), and Carattere (yellow). Like a lit cigar, the Targamerica is smoking hot. Credit the car’s distinct rear bodywork aft of the cabin as well as its silver and blue paint scheme, the latter of which also appears under the rear wing. Pininfarina complements this with unique 10-spoke wheels and a contrasting black and tan interior. As with its closed-top counterpart, the Targamerica packs an 1877-hp punch from its quad-motor all-wheel-drive powertrain that’s fed electricity from a 120.0-kWh (gross capacity) battery pack. In the standard Battista, this setup nets a manufacturer-claimed 1.9-second run to 60 mph and an estimated 300 miles of combined driving range. There’s no word whether these exact estimates apply to the Targamerica. Even so, there’s no doubt this special Battista variant is ridiculously quick. Just how far it’ll travel on a full charge depends on whether its driver is looking to light up some rubber or light up a stogie.Related StoriesDespite their shared last name, Greg Fink is not related to Ed “Big Daddy” Roth’s infamous Rat Fink. Both Finks, however, are known for their love of cars, car culture, and—strangely—monogrammed one-piece bathing suits. Greg’s career in the media industry goes back more than a decade. His previous experience includes stints as an editor at publications such as U.S. News & World Report, The Huffington Post, Motor1.com, and MotorTrend. More