San Francisco’s Academy of Art is auctioning off its vast collection of classic cars.Many of the cars are examples of prewar coachbuilding—beautiful, but perhaps not particularly relevant to modern car design.Not everything from the collection is priced out of reach, with over 100 lots meaning plenty of variety.The only constant in art is change. After all, style, design, and technique are constantly evolving, being destroyed, and rebuilt from basic elements. It’s the same thing in car design, where ideas and elements can be brought forward from the past and reimagined or break from tradition entirely. Thus, while no one would classify a 1933 Chrysler Custom Imperial Dual-Windshield Phaeton as anything other than a hand-built rolling piece of art, it’s perhaps not the best teaching tool for training car designers in 2025.Broad Arrow AuctionsThis Phaeton, along with over 1o0 other vintage cars, goes up for sale this weekend, part of the San Francisco Academy of Art collection being auctioned by Broad Arrow. There are plenty of significant cars going under the hammer, including a 1934 Packard Twelve said to have been owned by Cesar Romero, a V-16-powered 1932 Marmon convertible sedan, and a fabulous 1937 Squire Corsica Drophead coupe.Broad Arrow AuctionsMany of these cars are Pebble Beach Concours veterans, their hand-shaped bodies crafted the traditional way. But there are also plenty of more modern cars in the auction listing mix, including fare that doesn’t require deep pockets. Yes, you’ll probably have to pony up well over $1 million for the 1955 Mercedes-Benz 300SL Gullwing that’s on offer, but there’s also a perfectly restored MGB GT Special in a fetching shade of green or a ’67 Volvo 1800 S with just 10,000 miles on it. Neither is expected to fetch more than what a new CR-V would cost.The Academy of Art’s car collection was amassed by the late university president Richard A. Stephens, son of the academy’s founder. Together with his daughter Elisa Stephens and the current president, he built a large and varied collection that was open to the public. Elisa Stephens has said the auction’s intent is to rebuild the collection around more modern cars, those from 1960 and after.Broad Arrow AuctionsBroad Arrow AuctionsAll the classics you might expect are here, from a Jaguar E-type to a split-window Corvette Sting Ray. There are also some fun oddballs too, such as an aquatic Amphicar, a Messerschmitt Kabinenroller, and a very early ripple-bonnet Citroën 2CV. One of the coolest no-reserve cars is perhaps an unrestored 1963 Buck Riviera in Regal Black with the 340-hp 425-cubic-inch engine and hideaway headlamps. It’s a close match for the car driven by Leonard Nimoy when he was playing Spock in the original Star Trek series.Broad Arrow AuctionsAs for the cars that will take the place of these mostly early classics, the academy has only vaguely indicated that there will be more muscle-era cars and more Japanese cars. However, it’s easy to make an educated guess as to two museum-quality Mazdas that might be showing up.After all, the head of the Academy of Art’s auto design program is run by none other than Tom Matano, who had his hands on both the NA-chassis Miata and the third-generation RX-7 twin-turbo. Both those cars have stood the test of time long enough to go from mass-produced sports cars to works of art in their own right. And it can only be a good thing if tomorrow’s car designers find inspiration in the pop-up-headlamp-friendly face of a happy little Mazda.Related StoriesBrendan McAleer is a freelance writer and photographer based in North Vancouver, B.C., Canada. He grew up splitting his knuckles on British automobiles, came of age in the golden era of Japanese sport-compact performance, and began writing about cars and people in 2008. His particular interest is the intersection between humanity and machinery, whether it is the racing career of Walter Cronkite or Japanese animator Hayao Miyazaki’s half-century obsession with the Citroën 2CV. He has taught both of his young daughters how to shift a manual transmission and is grateful for the excuse they provide to be perpetually buying Hot Wheels. More

The 2022 Mazda MX-30 electric SUV will start at $34,645.Mazda says it will offer an EPA-estimated 100 miles of range on a single charge.The MX-30 goes on sale in California in October.Mazda’s first attempt at an electric vehicle is a quirky small SUV with RX-8–style doors, and we now know how much it will cost. Starting at $34,645, the 2022 MX-30 is slated to go on sale in California starting in October. At first, it’ll be available with a 143-hp electric motor powering the front wheels and a small battery pack—we estimate a net capacity of around 32.0 kWh—that Mazda says will provide a paltry 100 miles of EPA-estimated range. A plug-in-hybrid version with a rotary gas engine is coming later.

For now, the MX-30’s specs are a bit perplexing when compared against other affordable EVs. Despite its tiny battery and short driving range, it’s several thousand dollars more expensive than other EVs with considerably more range. The 2022 Chevy Bolt EV, for instance, starts at $31,995 and offers more than double the Mazda’s range—259 miles according to the EPA. And the 2022 Nissan Leaf, which just received a price cut, starts well under $30,000 and offers an estimated 149 miles of range in its base form.
Mazda will offer the MX-30 in two trim levels, with the better-equipped Premium Plus model starting at $37,655. It adds features such as a 360-degree camera system and a premium audio system. Other options include premium paint colors, which cost between $495 and $995.To incentivize EV ownership—and help make up for the car’s limited range—Mazda is including a loaner program for MX-30 buyers that allows them to borrow a gas-powered Mazda from a dealership for up to 10 days per year for the first three years you own the car. Buyers also get a $500 charging credit for ChargePoint that can be used either for public charging stations or to install a home charging station.Before the MX-30 arrives at California dealerships this October, reservations are open now with a deposit at the phone number 833–469–6930.
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Volkswagen is shopping Electrify America to potential investors, searching to inject around $1 billion to the company, according to Reuters.Electrify America is one of the main EV charging networks, competing with ChargePoint and Tesla’s exclusive Superchargers, and says it will have stations in 45 states by 2022.Electrify America was founded in the wake of the Dieselgate scandal, when Volkswagen agreed to invest $2 billion into EV infrastructure as part of the settlement.After the Dieselgate emissions cheating scandal broke in 2015, Volkswagen set up Electrify America, an electric-vehicle charging network. Spending $2 billion on building and promoting the charging infrastructure in the U.S. was part of the automaker’s settlement with the U.S. government. Now Volkswagen is seeking to sell a stake in the EV charging company, according to recent report from Reuters. Reuters spoke with two sources close to the proceedings, who said that Volkswagen and Citi are working together to find a co-investor willing to pump around $1 billion into Electrify America. Volkswagen will apparently begin reaching out to possible investors soon. Volkswagen, Electrify America, and Citi all declined Reuters’ request for comment.

Electrify America is an alternative to the exclusive Tesla Supercharger charging stations, which might soon open up to cars from other manufacturers, and ChargePoint, which is independently owned. The company currently has 635 stations across the United States with more than 2700 individual chargers, and it plans to boost those numbers to 800 stations and 3500 chargers by the end of the year. If Electrify America can meet that goal, it will have a presence in 45 states and will have established two cross-country EV charging paths.

According to Reuters, both Renault and Shell are said to be interested in becoming major stakeholders in Ionity, a European charging network owned by BMW, Ford, Hyundai, and Volkswagen. Perhaps Volkswagen can try to turn one of those suitors into an investor for its American EV infrastructure platform.
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Pickup-truck sales surpassed those of passenger cars in April, according to data from Motor Intelligence. Zero-percent-interest loans, offered in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic, as well as a drop in passenger car sales, helped push pickups past cars. In the first quarter of 2020, pickups and SUVs were a bright spot for Detroit automakers […] More

Kia has revealed the design of the new Sportage, and it has an interesting look.The new model will likely share engines and mechanical components with the related Hyundai Tucson.We expect the new Sportage to arrive in the U.S. in early 2022 as a 2023 model.Hyundai-Kia is continuing to push the design envelope in the compact-SUV class with the new Sportage. Although it looks completely different from its sibling, the 2022 Hyundai Tucson, both of these crossovers feature a bold appearance with interesting details and side surfacing.
The global version of the Sportage seen here features an unconventional front-end lighting setup with low-mounted headlights and prominent boomerang-shaped LED lighting accents. In the rear, the taillights look similar to the new Kia EV6 electric car. The greenhouse subtly slopes down toward the D-pillar and the beltline rises, creating a the impression of a somewhat rakish silhouette without an actual coupe-like tapered roofline as seen on some luxury SUV models.Inside, the Sportage looks far more upscale than its predecessor. A digital instrument cluster and large widescreen infotainment system look to be mounted under a single piece of glass. This large fixture is flanked by shapely air vents on either side. A rotary shifter is visible on the center stack along with an array of various buttons.

Kia has still not released mechanical details about the new Sportage, but we have an idea of what to expect from the U.S. version. The powertrain lineup is likely to mirror the Tucson’s, meaning a 2.5-liter inline-four will serve as the base engine with possible hybrid and plug-in-hybrid derivatives to follow. We hope Kia will install the more powerful turbo 2.5-liter four as well as an optional upgrade.Look for more information about the U.S. model to come later this year, as the Sportage is likely to arrive on our shores in early 2022 as a 2023 model.
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