Aurelia Butler

Willow Springs was bought earlier this year, and the first track updates are being revealed.Improvements to safety were priority one, and the track has a handsome new signature livery.A debut event is planned for mid-October, with cars in attendance from Singer, The Petersen Museum, and several supercar specialists.Established in the early 1950s, Willow Springs is one of the oldest road courses in the United States. The largest track configuration is a big, fast course with plenty of elevation changes to have your stomach dropping like riding a rollercoaster. So, when the track was put up for sale in 2024, there was plenty of concern in the local racing community. Now, the latest track upgrades are being shown off, and it looks like nothing but good news.Updating an IconChange isn’t going to delight everyone, especially when it’s at a historic racetrack. However, Willow’s tracks were laid down at a time when people were still racing modestly powered MGs, so some safety upgrades were badly needed. The complex’s 1.8-mile Streets of Willow Springs course has been repaved with new asphalt, with new curbing installed as well. The track’s perimeter now has gravel to slow down any unintended off-track excursions, and there’s more runoff.Willow Springs RacewayDesigners also added three chicanes, which will bring speeds down a little and make things a bit more technical. Future plans include tire barriers, Armco railing, and catchfences for when things go really wrong.The kart track was also refurbished, and Willow Springs’ new owners are saying this work is just phase one. That ownership group is a collaboration between CrossHarbor Capital, a private equity firm, and Singer, the company well known for its restomod reimaginings of the Porsche 911. It’s little surprise then that the inaugural event to show off all this work is called Willow Springs Reimagined, and it’s set for October 11. The event also has The Petersen Automotive Museum on board, so there are sure to be some serious classics for the car show portion. Willow Springs RacewayThe big track—all 2.5 miles of it—will also need some upgrading, and it will likely receive some of the track’s new off-white and green livery on its curbs and runoff areas. Just as Singer does with classic air-cooled 911s, the intent is to modernize and enhance the track, without losing that nearly 75-year-old California desert racetrack feel. Further planned updates extend to off-track facilities, with a tech hub and Singer owner’s club on-site.Seeing as Willow Springs’ new owners only struck a deal in late spring of this year, it’s reassuring to see progress coming along so quickly. The track’s been a jewel in the desert for decades. It’s nice to see it getting a bit more polish and hope for a long future ahead.More Willow Reading➡️ Skip the lot. Let Car and Driver help you find your next car.Shop New Cars Shop Used CarsBrendan 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

Merkur was a failed experiment as far as sales, but the cars were actually pretty cool.The XR4Ti was a sporty coupe aimed at BMW. This example has the stick shift you want, and just 19K miles.At the dawn of the 1980s, a young go-getter Ford executive named Bob Lutz decided that Ford needed to draw a bead on BMW. Theoretically, he knew what would get the job done, having spent three years with BMW as executive vice president of sales. A plan was drawn up: Take the sporty, rear-wheel-drive, Germany-built Ford Sierra XR4i, add in some pure 1980s turbo boost, and rebrand the result a Merkur. BMW execs didn’t lose much sleep.Bring a TrailerA near-perfect example of this short-lived hubris, a 1985 Merkur XR4Ti, is up for sale on Bring a Trailer (which, like Car and Driver, is part of Hearst Autos) with just 19K miles on the odometer. It’s finished in a cheerful red, is equipped with the desirable five-speed manual, and has just 19K miles. It’s a fantastic example of an automotive experiment that didn’t quite work.Bring a Trailer On paper, at least, the formula seemed sound. The Ford Sierra, on which the Merkur X4RTi is based, was hugely successful in Europe and spawned some truly impressive performance variants. The Sierra RS Cosworth of the 1980s was an absolute beast in touring car racing.The XR4Ti landed in Lincoln-Mercury showrooms with a price that’s the equivalent of $50,000 today. That’s pretty steep for four-cylinder power, even with turbocharging and rear-wheel drive.Bring a Trailer Add in a brand that needs to be explained and a model name that reads like a cat running over a keyboard, and the Merkur XR4Ti failed to light up the sales charts. It probably wouldn’t have worked as a sporty Ford product either, not with the V-8 Fox-body Mustang sitting right next to it in the showroom.Still, past audacity makes for a great future collectible, and that’s the case with this car here. The XR4Ti isn’t as swift as a Cosworth Sierra, but it is more comfortable and nicely appointed for its era. It’s also not a car you see around much, in contrast with the E30 BMW 3-series.Bring a Trailer As mentioned, this example has just 19K miles and has spent most of its life with a single owner. It has air conditioning, a cassette stereo, heated seats, and power windows and mirrors—plenty of luxury by 1980s standards. The engine is a 2.3-liter four-cylinder with a single overhead cam, turbocharged to 175 horsepower and 200 pound-feet of torque.Related StoriesMerkur added the Scorpio sedan to the lineup for the 1988 model year, but it was auf wiedersehen for Germanic Fords by the fall of 1989. The XR4Ti failed to beat BMW, but it’s still a really interesting and fun-to-drive machine.The auction ends on September 24. Brendan 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

Steve McQueen is best known for driving Porsches and Mustangs, but he had a fondness for 1950s Americana.This Hudson Wasp, which he drove up until his death in 1980, was a favorite.Having spent time at The Petersen Automotive Museum in Los Angeles, it’s going up for auction in early October.The name McQueen is most commonly associated with a dark green, V-8-powered Mustang, a Porsche 917 in Gulf orange and blue, or perhaps the curves of a road-going Jaguar XKSS. Then again, if you’re a younger fan, perhaps McQueen to you is a wisecracking red stock car—Ka-Chow! Here’s an unexpected machine that fits into the overlaps of that McQueen Venn Diagram, a car that the late actor drove right up until he died, and one that’s a cousin to the car that helped young Lightning McQueen find his racing mojo.RM Sotheby’sMcQueen’s Favorite MachineComing up for auction early next month at RM Sotheby’s is a special 1950s Hudson. Specifically, it’s a 1952 Hudson Wasp two-door Brougham that used to belong to none other than Steve McQueen. The smaller relative of the NASCAR-winning Hudson Hornet, this little car has plenty of sting under its hood, with a straight-six engine fitted with the “Twin H-Power” package featuring dual intake manifolds and carburetors. The transmission is a four-speed automatic, which is pretty uncommon to see on a ’50s Wasp.RM Sotheby’sSteve McQueen had plenty of racier stuff, from Ferraris to Porsche 911s, and that aforementioned jaw-dropping Jaguar. But he was fond of Hudson’s automobiles and owned several of them, including a 1953 Hornet and a 1950 Custom Commodore Six convertible.This ’52 Wasp was a regular driver, what McQueen called his Sunday-go-to-church car. It’s been loved but clearly used, with a few dents and some paint-crazing here and there. The odometer shows 63,537 miles.RM Sotheby’sRM Sotheby’sSold at McQueen’s estate sale back in 1984, this Wasp has spent the last 19 years tucked away in the collection at The Petersen Automotive Museum. It’s been carefully cataloged and is now looking for a new owner.As a piece of McQueen memorabilia, it’s bound to be far more reasonable than trying to park the Mustang from Bullitt in your garage. The original from the movie sold for $3.74 million five years ago, setting a record for Mustangs.This Hudson Wasp should fetch a much more reasonable mid-five-figure amount when it goes under the hammer. It’s quick, classy, and comes with a great provenance. Just the thing for going to church—or a car show—on Sunday morning. Related Stories➡️ Skip the lot. Let Car and Driver help you find your next car.Shop New Cars Shop Used CarsBrendan 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