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From the January 2023 issue of Car and Driver.Curse globalization all you like, but it’s a safe bet that what remains of England’s automobile industry wouldn’t be here today without investments from around the world. Over the course of a week driving around Britain, we visited several enterprises that are not so much surviving as thriving, all thanks to foreign connections willing to open their wallets. There’ll Always Be an EnglandOur journey begins with a trip to West Sussex, where Rolls-Royce launched the Spectre, the 116-year-old company’s first electric production car, a plus-size coupe of undeniable presence. Erected with parent BMW’s money, its showpiece Goodwood factory is now configured to build internal-combustion and electric cars on the same line. The airy, low-lying corporate home on lush country grounds is a most British of settings and can only help as the company attempts to upsell returning customers and visiting prospects bespoke hides, paint schemes, and more from its steamship-size list of pricey custom options. That body shells, engines (for now), and many other critical parts come from Germany for assembly in England isn’t something they talk much about here, where Britishness is an essential part of the appeal. View PhotosMini’s modern assembly line.Charlie Magee|Car and DriverThe following morning, we head to the Mini plant in Oxford, built out with the unstinting assistance of the same German benefactor. Tours commence in a small museum that occupies part of the factory that turned out the first Morris Oxford, which in the 1920s made William Morris’s firm Britain’s biggest car producer. It merged with Austin in the 1950s to form BMC, then combined with other ailing firms in the 1960s to form British Leyland, and in ensuing decades found itself involved with a host of similarly troubled successor entities that had different names. One of the few things to survive it all was the Mini brand, the only marque BMW kept when it discarded the rest of what had become the Rover Group. Two decades after its relaunch for 2002 as a stand-alone brand, Mini is here building zippy electric models on the same line as gas and diesel cars, thanks to extensive use of modern robotics. The plant is notably quiet in operation, and the mood appears upbeat.This is in spite of Mini’s announced plans to shift production of EVs to China, a potentially ominous development for a brand that plans to be all electric. At present, 40,000 electric Minis leave Plant Oxford each year. “Mini Plant Oxford is the heart of the brand,” says Stefanie Wurst, global head of Mini. “Our commitment to production in the United Kingdom has not lost any strength whatsoever.” A new Chinese plant is being built to grow share there, where, she explains, imported Minis currently cost as much as locally produced BMW 3-series. While a second production site in Leipzig will build one Mini model, the U.K. plant will supply three models. “In other words,” Wurst says, “no other plant will be building as many models as Oxford.” Charlie Magee|Car and DriverWe again witness foreign inroads into the British market when we arrive at Malvern Link in Worcestershire to visit the 113-year-old Morgan Motor Company. The charmingly dinky factory buildings date to the early 20th century, with little to give away all that is new within, thanks once again to investment from abroad.Yet change has come to the cars and the processes used to build them. Expanding the list of Anglophile saviors from afar, Italian businessman Andrea Bonomi and his family’s private equity firm, Investindustrial, bought a controlling interest in the business in 2019 from the Morgan family (who retain a minority holding and role as “brand stewards”), giving the hidebound company a new lease on life. Its heavily revised “volume” Plus Four roadster, powered by a turbocharged 2.0-liter four from—guess who—BMW, is again slated to be offered for sale in America in 2023, bolstered by a new world of contemporary features [read our first drive of the Morgan Plus Four]. The car’s charismatic good looks still trace to the 1930s, but its platform and suspension at last are now modern, ridding the Morgan of its infernal and near-eternal nod to antiquity.Just as impressive to drive and also headed to the States once again is a new Morgan three-wheeler. Not the stillborn electric concept scuttled in 2018, the new Super 3 replaces its predecessor’s spindly ladder frame and wood-frame body with a full aluminum chassis. Meanwhile, a turbocharged Ford 118-hp 1.5-liter inline-three steps in for the Harley-inspired V-twin that had become one of Morgan’s worst-ever warranty nightmares. The pint-size three-pot makes the slightly less adorable-looking Super 3 faster and, more important, far more bearable on the noise, vibration, and harshness front. Still, there’s nothing cushy about the experience of driving the new car. Windscreens are minimalist afterthoughts. With a nonexistent top, the wind, rain, and bugs are yours to enjoy. But who cares? A wider front track improves handling, and the Mazda Miata–sourced five-speed gearbox remains impressive. They help make the Super 3—all 1500 pounds of it—an exhilarating small-bore blaster that we found completely nuts and didn’t want to return. Charlie Magee|Car and DriverNext stop is Jaguar Land Rover’s Classic Works in Coventry, once a bustling car-building city—England’s Detroit, if you will. Things have tapered off if not petered out entirely in Coventry, but heritage is one of Britain’s chief exports these days. In fact, the country increasingly resembles a theme park whose theme is the past. The monarchy is one example, but nothing in the world of consumer goods has more heritage appeal than classic cars.Given the rising values of older Jaguar and Land Rover models, it only made sense for JLR to cater to the buoyant classic-car market. So, with a little help from Indian parent Tata, it opened the Classic Works enterprise in 2017. Today, in a ginormous workshop adjacent to a large showroom filled with sparkling machines from its past, skilled technicians and craftsmen restore old cars and service others, even recreating classic models such as Jaguar’s D-type, XKSS, and Lightweight E-type in continuation series. It started with the Land Rover Reborn program, which has cranked out more than 50 refurbished original-formula Landies from the late ’40s and ’50s. More profitable still are the 150 70th Anniversary Edition Defender Works V8s it has sold, along with 25 Works V8 Trophy tributes and another 25 Works V8 Trophy Twos, all with six-figure price tags. The newest program has started delivering reborn Range Rovers, the early ones purists are falling for in a big way. Mike Bishop oversees the Range Rover Reborn program. “The vehicles sell themselves, effectively,” he says. “You’re just here to help enjoy the journey. You’re not really selling them an everyday car, are you? You’re selling them that dream.”Down by the Cotswolds, in tiny Hinton-on-the-Green, Morris Commercial’s controlling shareholder, Qu Li, has a dream of her own. A Chinese mechanical engineer who’s spent 30 years in the U.K., for 2023 she hopes to put into limited production an electric van inspired by the beloved postwar Morris J-type van, once a ubiquitous postal and delivery vehicle highly regarded for its excellent space-to-footprint ratio and jolly visage. Looking possibly better than ever, the updated van Morris Commercial hopes to build will feature a body made of recycled carbon fiber.Though it has but two prototypes to show for itself so far, the story of Morris Commercial already sounds like fodder for a gripping tome. Li and her China Ventures consultancy worked closely with the “Phoenix Four,” the briefly celebrated quartet of British businessmen who rescued MG Rover from extinction in 2000 after BMW pulled the plug, only to put the enterprise into the ditch in 2009 (while still managing to walk away with large piles of cash).Charlie Magee|Car and DriverFrom the wreckage of MG Rover, Li bought out of bankruptcy van maker LDV, which was formed in 1993 by the merger of two ailing firms, Britain’s Leyland and Holland’s DAF. Li quickly sold the rights to LDV’s vehicles, using the proceeds of the sale to develop Morris Commercial. Shrewdly, she identified the old J-type—which was introduced alongside the Morris Minor in 1948—as her ticket to ride.We drove a running blue and white prototype of the electric Morris van. Bodied in aluminum, it is more of a proof of concept, where a pink and white model with the recycled-carbon-fiber body is closer to the hoped-for final product and spec. Though neither really represents what the finished van might actually be like, the blue truck was perfectly pleasant and, with its skateboard chassis, usefully large inside. We can confirm that passersby go mad for its retro good looks. It’s that cute. From hopeful startup to ambitious old hands: Our last stop is at Hethel, Norfolk, where the fruits of Chinese juggernaut Geely’s multibillion-dollar investment in Lotus Cars are everywhere to see. From the 1973-hp Evija EV to the company’s excellent new volume machine, the Emira, and the newly outfitted factory that will build it, Lotus’s current situation underscores what a lot of good money can do. View PhotosLotus plant in Hethel.Charlie Magee|Car and DriverAs Lotus approaches its 75th anniversary, the roller-coaster ride it has been on for its entire existence has entered a new phase. With its new foreign owners, Lotus plans to increase volume exponentially—not just here at its ancestral and spiritual home base, but in China, where its first SUV, the Eletre, is already in production. But while the Eletre, a two-motor electric SUV claimed to be the fastest of its species in the world, is expected to help Lotus achieve an unheard-of annual sales volume of 100,000 before decade’s end, the 5000 Emiras it hopes to build here annually mark a different roll of the dice. The last purely internal-combustion car the company says it will ever build, the Emira caps a long line of lightweight sports cars that prioritize roadholding and an intimate connection between driver and machine. Even though it is heavier than all Lotuses that have preceded it, the Emira is still meant to follow that path. It also lays the groundwork for a new generation of Lotus sports cars, whose content and construction will be effected here in the Norfolk countryside. They will all be electrified, with the weight penalty that implies, as truly lightweight electric cars are a ways off, awaiting as yet undiscovered battery technologies.Charlie Magee|Car and DriverLotus’s prospects have improved immeasurably thanks to the largesse of Geely, an operation that has demonstrated a surprisingly delicate touch with its foreign holdings, as exemplified by its purchase of Volvo. (In October 2022, Geely acquired a minority stake in Aston Martin.) The Chinese firm seems less vulnerable than Western companies to the impatience of jittery shareholders and the short-sighted broader market. It is therefore seemingly able to operate with a longer timeframe in mind. Which is a good thing. For as any Briton could tell you, the creation of a heritage worth remembering takes time. And money. Wherever it comes from. This content is imported from OpenWeb. 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As exciting as the wider bodywork and refined aerodynamics of the new Chevrolet Corvette Z06 are, the 5.5-liter flat-plane LT6 V-8 engine sitting behind the driver is the star of the show. Unfortunately for new Z06 owner Marco Garcia, the motorsport-derived engine in his Corvette Z06 failed after traveling just 52 miles on the initial delivery drive. Much More on the Z06Garcia purchased the black-over-red Corvette Z06 1LZ on December 23 from Covina Hills Chevrolet in Covina, California, according to his YouTube videos. The in-demand sports car carried a sticker price of $113,975, but documentation fees and dealer charges saw the final sales price reach $182,457.38. Garcia has owned two Stingrays at this point, and he arrived to purchase the Z06 in his modified C8. With the purchase process complete, one of the salesmen at the dealer offered to follow Garcia back to his construction yard with said Stingray. Garcia took them up on this offer and agreed to drop the salesman back at the dealership following the exchange.This content is imported from youTube. 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.After dropping the Stingray at the yard, the salesman jumped into the Z06 for the relatively short trek back to the dealership. Garcia noted in his follow-up video that the two enjoyed a few gentle pulls on the ride but didn’t push the car too hard. Garcia further noted that he is already quite familiar with the break-in procedure for the C8 platform due to his previous ownership experiences. Shortly after he returned the salesman to the dealership, things went horribly wrong. Garcia noticed a lack of power coming from the engine and opted to pull off the highway to investigate. A check-engine light and some aggressive rattling noises accompanied the issue, which began with just 52 miles on the odometer, Garcia says. After walking into town to charge his phone, Garcia was told by the dealer that he couldn’t tow the car back there that evening. Furthermore, OnStar struggled to help as they didn’t have the proper warranty information yet for such a new car. Garcia was forced to tow the Z06 back to his construction yard that night.Things didn’t improve much the following day. OnStar sent a tow truck for the car on the 24th, but that truck wasn’t authorized to return the car to the selling dealer. That created a new issue, apparently requiring Garcia to spend hours going through the OnStar service for assistance yet again. Once the car actually arrived at the proper dealership, a ton of error codes began popping up in Garcia’s email inbox, sent via OnStar services. The most notable of these issues was listed as an engine and transmission system error, which you’d expect based on the audio found in the clip alone. Garcia says he’s had it with the situation, and that he is not interested in continuing his Z06 ownership experience. Once the car is repaired, he’s planning to move it on to the next owner. “Dead Z06 for sale pretty soon,” said Garcia in the follow-up post. “I guess I’ll probably try and fix it and sell it to someone else. It’s a shame.”This content is imported from youTube. 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.Since the moment the Z06 debuted, General Motors has been adamant that the LT6 V-8 is a bombproof engine. The LT6.R V-8 has been utilized by the Corvette Racing C8.R for a few years at this point, with the street motor featuring an almost identical top-end design. That said, large-displacement flat-plane V-8s are known to be tricky, as was previously highlighted by Ford’s Voodoo V-8 and its vibration concerns. A GM spokesperson confirmed to R&T that the company is aware of the incident involving this Z06 and is actively looking into the situation. As is common practice with this kind of failure, GM will likely tear down this motor to figure out what went wrong with this specific example. Hopefully this particular LT6 was just a bad egg. As of right now, this problematic example appears to just be a small drop in the bucket as owners continue to take their new Z06s home.ChevroletThis content is imported from youTube. 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

Starting with the 2024 Polestar 3 SUV, the company will introduce seat labels promoting its sustainability goals.The Polestar 3 will offer three seat materials, each with labels detailing their carbon footprint, percentage of recycled and renewable content, and source.Polestar says the labels are meant to improve transparency about its climate impact and better inform customers.Labels are important. They tell people about the content of things they otherwise wouldn’t know. But did you know some cars now come with labels, too? Polestar, the expanding all-electric subsidiary of Volvo, has been putting sustainability labels on models since 2021. Now, the company has revealed it will introduce seat labels that further promote its sustainability goals. When the 2024 Polestar 3 finally enters production in the latter half of 2023, a section on its front seats below the headrests will list details about the climate impact of the materials used. Customers will have the choice between an alternative to leather called MicroTech (a.k.a. vinyl) as well as wool and nappa leather options which are both certified as being sourced from farms that responsibly raise animals.The seat labels include information about the carbon footprint, the percentage of recycled and renewable content, and the source of the materials used for the upholstery. Currently, Polestar says it only knows the carbon footprint of the nappa leather, so until the company can confirm the rest of the figures once production starts, images of the seat labels will contain some placeholders.Polestar Priority ReadingPolestar believes its labels not only better inform customers about what they’re buying so they can make educated decisions, but the markers also increase transparency about the company’s promises and progress regarding sustainability. An example of the latter can be seen with the Polestar 2 hatchback, which has seen its CO2e (carbon dioxide equivalent) reduced by 1.7 metric tons between its first two model years.As with the Polestar 2, and upcoming models such as the 3, the company’s labels allow their climate impact to be tracked and also tell you how sustainable they are. This content is imported from poll. 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.This content is imported from poll. 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 meteoric rise of Tesla in the 2010s—as well as the relative simplicity of electric powertrains—has inspired countless entrepreneurs to try their hand at starting trendy, forward-thinking car companies. Many of these have already come and gone, their renderings and outlandish claims collecting dust in a forgotten corner of the internet, while many more cling on as they navigate the myriad challenges that come with mass-producing a car. Meanwhile, the EV market has grown incredibly crowded, so we decided to break down what happened—and didn’t happen—in the world of automotive startups in 2022.Tesla CybertruckTeslaTesla has finally brought its electric Semi to market, delivering the first units to PepsiCo in December, but the Cybertruck remains missing in action. The radical pickup’s original launch date of late 2021 was rescheduled to 2022 before Elon Musk admitted last January that the Cybertruck—along with the revived Roadster—will yet again be pushed back.But last spring, a leaked video showing a Cybertruck prototype whipped the Tesla faithful into a frenzy, and Musk promised in April at the opening of the new Giga Texas factory that the Cybertruck would enter production in 2023. Even if that happens, it is unclear how closely the roadgoing model will match the original concept, since Musk has publicly questioned “the average cost of a Cybertruck and to what degree is that affordable.”2022 also saw Musk controversially purchase Twitter, subsequently sending Tesla’s stock spiraling. Given Musk’s track record of overpromising and underdelivering, we wouldn’t be shocked to learn of another delay for the the wedge-shaped EV truck in 2023. Still, we got an exclusive sneak peek at the Cybertruck when we drove one in June . . . just kidding.Deus VayanneDeusThe world of hypercars has always celebrated obscure companies making unbelievable claims, but the democratization of power heralded by EVs has exponentially increased the number of automakers seeking to enter the realm of high-performance land missiles. The 2022 New York auto show saw the introduction of the Vayanne, the first proposed vehicle from Austria-based startup Deus Automobiles. Not slated to arrive until 2025, the Vayanne allegedly makes 2200 horsepower and 1475 pound-feet of torque, which Deus claims will shoot the car to 62 mph in under 1.99 seconds before maxing out at 248 mph. But the company mysteriously omitted any details on the powertrain, and the static model we sat in on the show floor felt cheap and unfinished. Deus will have help from established players—Italdesign penned the Vayanne’s slinky lines, while Williams Advanced Engineering has been recruited to hone the technical bits—but we’re still skeptical that we’ll ever see the Vayanne move under its own power.Faraday Future FF 91Faraday FutureNearly six years had passed since we had heard about Faraday Future, a California-based startup that revealed its electric FF 91 crossover at the 2017 CES tech show that was formerly known as the Consumer Electronics Show. But the company reared its head again this year when it proclaimed in February that the FF 91 would enter production in the third quarter of 2022.Faraday Future, which has faced a litany of financial troubles since its inception, missed that goal, revealing in July that it would need significant investment not only to launch the FF 91 but also to continue operations through the end of the year. The startup pressed on, however, earning a 381-mile range estimate from the EPA in September for the flagship FF 91 Futurist model, which uses a 142.0-kWh battery. In December, Faraday Future announced that March 2023 is the new targeted start date for production of its 1050-hp crossover, but that is dependent on the arrival of more funding. Given the company’s rocky past, we remain wary.Drako DragonDrakoThe Dragon super-SUV is the second product from San Jose–based Drako Motors, packing four electric motors that combine for a colossal 2000 horsepower. With all-wheel drive and despite a nearly 5000-pound curb weight, Drako claims, the muscular SUV can reach 60 mph in 1.9 seconds and a top speed over 200 mph, and can sprint a quarter-mile in just 9.0 seconds.However, there’s not much evidence that the company ever delivered on its first model, the Fisker Karma–based GTE, which produced 1200 horsepower and cost $1.3 million. When Drako first teased the Dragon, the company vaguely told us it is currently “in full swing building and delivering [the] GTE to customers and investment partners.”Yet only one GTE has ever been photographed: the red example revealed at the Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance in 2019. And while Drako still has a few years until the Dragon’s scheduled launch in 2026, the company’s unverified production history and the Dragon’s fantasy-land specs don’t boost our confidence that it will ever see reality.Munro EVMunroThe Munro Mk1 EV, revealed in early December, takes up the mantle for squared-off, back-to-basics off-roading EVs from Bollinger Motors, after the American startup canceled plans to produce the rugged B1 SUV and B2 pickup to focus on vans instead. The Munro, which hails from Scotland, is actually designed by the same man who used a ruler to draw Bollinger’s boxes, although the Mk1 somehow looks even more like a kit car cobbled together in someone’s shed.Focused on commercial sales, the Munro will be classified as a Class 3 medium-duty truck in the United States, with the ability to tow up to 7700 pounds and carry up to 2200 pounds of cargo. The Mk1’s 375-hp maximum output is surprisingly reasonable by startup standards, but with only up to 81.0 kWh worth of battery and at least 5500 pounds to move, less than 200 miles of range is expected.Although Munro is still working on finding investors, the company claims limited production will start in 2023. But with a paltry range, unproven capability, and a price ranging from $61,000 to $115,000 for the amateur-looking design, we’d be surprised to see the Munro EV catch on.FoxconnFoxconnAn EV from tech juggernaut Apple has been rumored for nearly a decade, but it might be beaten to the punch by Foxconn, a Taiwanese firm that assembles the iPhone, among other products. In October Foxconn unveiled its first model, the Foxtron Model B, as it launches a joint venture with Yulon Motor, Taiwan’s largest car manufacturer.The Model B—a hatchback styled by Italian design expert Pininfarina—is supposed to enter production in China in 2023, with the goal of eventually selling the EV in the United States. Little is known about the Model B’s specifications, but Foxconn has a head start on other startups after it purchased a plant in Lordstown, Ohio, in 2022.Foxconn will build the Lordstown Endurance and the Fisker Pear under contract at the Ohio factory, previously owned by Lordstown Motors, and the Model B could eventually join that production line. While things look hopeful for Foxconn, the Taiwanese company’s long-term automotive prospects, especially for the U.S. market, remain cloudy.CanooCanooAmerican startup Canoo first showed its podlike Lifestyle Vehicle in 2019, following it up with the boxy MPDV van in 2020 and a unique pickup truck in 2021. Production of the Lifestyle Vehicle was initially slated for 2021 before being delayed. Despite financial woes in May, the company insisted that production was still planned to start at its Arkansas plant this year.Clearly, Canoo failed to reach that goal, with 2023 almost upon us and the company now shifting its attention to beginning production by the end of next year. Still, Canoo managed to make headlines in 2022 with several new partnerships, showing that interest in its distinctive EVs remains high.In April, NASA chose the Lifestyle Vehicle to transport crew at the launch site for its Artemis expedition, which aims to land humans on the moon in 2025 for the first time since 1972. In July, Canoo announced that Walmart will buy 4500 delivery-spec Lifestyle Vehicles, with the retail giant already testing vehicles, and December saw the U.S. Army receive a pickup for evaluation. Canoo still needs to figure out how to start production, but the increased interest in its products bodes well for 2023.Indi One EVCaleb Miller|Car and DriverAlong with the bedroom-poster-worthy Deus Vayanne, the New York auto show gave us a chance to check out the Indi One EV, an electric crossover from an obscure California-based startup founded in 2017. At the show, Indi EV proclaimed that it would start production in mid-2023, and in October Indi EV signed an agreement with—you guessed it—Foxconn to build prototypes at the plant in Lordstown, Ohio.The One is not meant to be a sports car. The standard version will hit 60 mph in a claimed 6.7 seconds with a 230-mile range, while the top trim will add 70 miles and shave 2.5 seconds off the 60-mph sprint. Instead, the main focus of the One is its immense computing power, which Indi says will allow for high-quality video streaming and gaming from inside the vehicle.The prototype seen in New York did not look production-ready, and the company’s pricing—between $45,000 and $69,000—is ambitious. At the show, the company’s head of product deisgn, Andre Hudson, presented the One, but since then he has already abandoned ship for a different startup, Mullen Automotive. We’re not confident Indi EV will make it, but we’re always happy to be surprised.Honorable MentionsThe Nikola Tre BEV.NikolaNikola, whose infamous founder, Trevor Milton, was found guilty of fraud charges in October, pivoted away from the planned Badger pickup in late 2021 and spent 2022 building the electric Tre semi truck and developing a hydrogen-fuel-cell version. Bollinger also shifted its focus away from its consumer pickup to a cab-forward electric Class 4 truck called the B4, aiming for production in late 2023. Mullen Automotive—another startup peddling its own electric SUV called the Five and a sports car called the Dragonfly (a rebadged version of the Qiantu K50 sold in China)—purchased a majority stake in Bollinger and bought the assets for the EV vans developed by the bankrupt Electric Last Mile Solutions.Swedish company Volta also expanded its lineup of Zero delivery trucks as it prepares to start production in 2023, while U.K.-based Arrival struggled to meet production targets in 2022 before building its first prototype in September. Success Stories?John Voelcker|Car and DriverWhile we wouldn’t yet classify these companies as successes, several startups built their first road-worthy cars in 2022. After years of uncertainty, the first customer-bound Lordstown Endurance trucks began rolling off the line in Ohio in November, and we drove an early-production example in October.Fisker also kicked off production of its electric Ocean SUV in November, with Magna Steyr assembling the vehicles in Austria ahead of deliveries early next year. Fisker also teased two upcoming models, a smaller crossover called the Pear that is supposed to cost less than $30,000 and a sultry sports car called the Ronin that’s due in 2024.While VinFast has been selling cars in Vietnam since 2019, the company’s expansion to the U.S. with its VF8 and VF9 crossovers was due to start in late 2022. Last week VinFast announced that the ship carrying the first U.S.-spec vehicles had reached California and promised to begin deliveries before the year’s end.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. 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Mansory has revealed its first modified version of the Maserati MC20, with an extreme body fit made from forged carbon fiber.The engine has been upgraded to 710 horsepower and 627 pound-feet of torque. That explains the increase in the number of cooling vents slashed into the body.The interior is covered in yellow quilted leather, with a dash of carbon fiber and tricolor stripes on the seats to match the bodywork.BMW’s recent design language—with snout-like grilles, squinty LED headlights, and disjointed body lines—has sparked vitriol in internet comment sections. But there’s another company from Bavaria that somehow manages to create even more garish designs: Mansory. The German tuners are back with a new concoction, a modified Maserati MC20 revealed last week, although the over-the-top look is more befitting a low-slung supercar than an elegant grand tourer like the Bentley Continental GT.MansoryWhile the MC20’s underlying design is pure and smooth, Mansory has sullied it by affixing all manner of forged carbon-fiber doodads. The front bumper has been entirely replaced, now featuring gaping air intakes that look ready to inhale anything that stands in the angry beast’s path. Dive planes sharp enough to slice off your legs sprout in front of tacked-on wheel-arch extensions, and Mansory has hacked a vast array of vents into the hood. MansoryThe huge air intakes carved into the side of the vehicle give it a dramatic presence. They feed air to the tuned twin-turbo 3.6-liter V-6, which now pumps out an extra 89 horsepower for a total of 710 ponies. The 627 pound-feet of torque also represents an 89-pound-foot improvement, with the boosted output coming from revised engine electronics and a new four-pipe exhaust system. Sixty-two mph is said to arrive in 2.7 seconds—we tested the standard MC20 to 60 mph in 3.2 seconds—while the top speed is a claimed 205 mph. The rear is dominated by that wing, which towers behind a carbon-fiber engine cover and works with a double-decker diffuser to provide downforce. Mansory says the suspension has also been revised, while the unique wheels are in a staggered setup measuring 21 inches up front and 22 inches at the rear. MansorySomehow, the Mansory MC20 is even less subtle inside. Lurid yellow leather covers nearly every surface, with a quilted pattern extending from the seats to the floors and footwell walls. Tricolor stripes representing the Italian flag run up the middle of the seats, echoing the exterior, and the rest of the interior trim is fashioned from carbon fiber. More Mansory ModificationsKnown as the First Edition, this reimagined Maserati is apparently the first of several MC20-based projects, which will also include the Cielo convertible. No price was specified for the Mansory-modified MC20, but it shouldn’t be long before this extreme rendition of the classy Italian sports car pops up parked in front of a Monaco casino. This content is imported from poll. 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.This content is imported from poll. 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

Global production of the 2023 Polestar 2 BST Edition 270 is limited, as the name suggests, to only 270 units.Polestar, however, is increasing the number of BST Edition 270s it’s shipping to the U.S.A total of 58 of these limited-run EVs are headed our way, 11 more than originally planned.Miss your chance at snagging a 2023 Polestar 2 in its hotter and sportier guise as the BST Edition 270? Tough luck, because global production of the limited-run EV remains capped at 270 units. That said, the Volvo-owned brand is bringing more BST Edition 270s to the United States than expected.Related StoriesPolestar originally intended to ship “up to 47” of the global allotment of BST Edition 270s to our shores; however, a company spokesperson confirmed with Car and Driver that the final total of 2 BST Edition 270s coming our way stands at 58—11 more than planned. (The BST name comes from the car’s internal development code: “Beast.”) PolestarThere’s no word on what other markets these 11 cars were pulled from to satisfy U.S. customer demand. That said, do not get your hopes up about possibly snagging one of these extra U.S.-bound BST Edition 270s, as all are spoken for. Nevertheless, the increased allotment of U.S.-spec 2 BST Edition 270s means the chances of Americans seeing one of these cars in the wild, or later purchasing a preowned model, is higher than originally thought. While much of the 2 BST Edition 270’s kit is exclusive to the low-volume model, its powertrain’s extra grunt is not. With 469 horsepower and 502 pound-feet of torque, the BST Edition 270’s two electric motors produce an additional 67 horses and 15 pound-feet of torque relative to the standard dual-motor 2. Mark Takahashi|Car and DriverFor 2023, though, the electric motors of all-wheel-drive 2s equipped with the $5500 Performance package produce the same 469 horsepower and 502 pound-feet of twist as the BST Edition 270. Polestar even offers this extra power and torque as an $1195 over-the-air software update for owners of qualifying older dual-motor 2s. In our testing, the Performance package’s extra oomph shaved 0.2 and 0.5 second from the 2’s runs to 60 mph and through the quarter-mile, with the 469-hp battery-electric hatchback hitting the mile-a-minute mark in 3.9 seconds and crossing the quarter-mile after 12.2 seconds.Although the 2 with the Performance package is missing many of the design and dynamic enhancements of the BST Edition 270, but the two 2 variants share the same output. That’s a small consolation prize for those who missed out on a BST Edition 270. Plus, if you’re an American consumer who really wants a BST Edition 270 of your own, then you now have 11 more chances to try and grab a U.S.-spec model on the secondhand market.This content is imported from poll. 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.This content is imported from poll. 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

2022 has been an intense battle for recovery in an industry that’s still rebuilding from being rocked by supply shortages. Sure, there are still plenty of lingering waitlists and delays, but it’s been an impressive 21 months since the world has gotten a 1300-foot boat stuck up its Suez Canal. Go, Team Boats!It’s also been the year of tangible products where some dreamy press releases finally came true. The Rivian R1T, GMC Hummer EV, and Ford F-150 Lightning all showed up. On the other hand, many of the big promises from the many EV startups out there are looking at bit like conspiracy theories. Sorry, Tesla Cybertruck pre-orderers from 2019, better luck next year. A Look Back At our Older Photos:So 2022 was really what we’d all been holding our breath for, and it turned out to be a great year for great car debuts. Toyota delivered on enthusiasts’ pleas for a manual Supra, and followed it up with the launch of a 300-hp GR Corolla hatchback. We were also visited by some old flames. The Nissan Z returned with 400 horsepower, and the 315-hp Civic Type R was caught setting track records before Honda had even peeled back its camouflage. And 2022 also marked the first year an EV reached a 520-mile driving range estimate from the EPA: that was the Lucid Air. As we celebrate another lap around the sun, here’s a look back at 2022 as illustrated by our art department:Baby Got Batt: There are electric vehicles for people who grocery-shop at Whole Foods, but there’s one choice in particular suited for those who hunt for their bacon with a machine gun from the side of a helicopter. This 9640-pound GMC Hummer EV is nothing short of outrageous. Despite being the heaviest pickup we’ve tested, cranking this hog to 60 mph only takes 3.3 seconds. Virginia Is for Lap Times: Known around the office as the best time of the year, our annual Lightning Lap event pits performance cars from mild to wild on America’s toughest track. Grouped into five price segments, the 21 cars lapped this year broke some records and, naturally, some hearts. Speaking of, here comes nearly 8000 horsepower at the top of the Climbing Esses. Zeus-Oh-Six: The ultimate Corvette is 8500 rpm of shrieking bald eagle. The mufflers responsible for the 670-hp V-8’s clap and piping should’ve been nominated at the American Music Awards. Even the God of Thunder couldn’t help but spy on our track day with a Z06.A Star Is Hatched: The moment we’ve all been waiting for: that stubborn Toyota Corolla has finally moved out of the left lane. This time it enters the racetrack as an actual blast-to-drive 300-hp hatchback with rally-car DNA. The GR Corolla isn’t just great; it’s one of the best, earning a spot on our 10Best list the year it debuted. READ MOREPhotography by John Roe and illustration by Alexander Wells|Car and DriverSweet Sixteen: The Volkswagen GTI is no stranger to 10Best trophies, having won 16 of them since its first appearance in 1983. Its superhero strength is its blend of practicality, performance, and, until recently, affordability. The Porsche 718 is a longtime favorite too, and its special ability is how quickly it can turn a normal road into an exciting one. Neither of these cars are absolutists with the most horsepower or the quickest quarter-mile times, yet they’re able to deliver a driving experience as grand as far more expensive and powerful sports cars. X Marks the Spot: Dealerships cashed in heavily during the COVID-19 pandemic. A blight of inventory exploded into a blessing for salespeople. Customers were determined to get off waitlists and into cars, so they thought up a genius way to fight exorbitant markups: just pay them. This behavior pushed the average new-car price to $48,301, up 10.8 percent from the year prior. Just saying, dealerships couldn’t get away with it if consumers didn’t feed the furnace.Kidney Bean: Pour one out for the nearly three and a half feet of Michelin Pilot 4S tire under the 503-hp BMW X4M Competition. Our testers saddled this 4548-pound porker through Hog Pen at Virginia International Raceway to the tune of 3:02.9 seconds. It didn’t set a new SUV record, but getting it around that fast required plenty of ridiculous two-wheel antics. Alternative Truck: Longtime Car and Driver contributor John Phillips is a literary treasure. To get his take on the realest Tesla Cybertruck available to consumers, we asked him to unbox the secrets behind Elon Musk’s stainless-steel fetish. Phillips did not disappoint. What’s New Is Old: The new Nissan Z borrows its powertrain from the Infiniti Q50 Red Sport and has more in common with its sixth-generation 370Z predecessor than what we had originally hoped, but a 400-hp twin-turbo V-6 base engine with an available six-speed manual transmission is always welcome.Frunk-y Truck: Ford sells more F-series pickups annually than politicians make promises, so the success of its all-electric F-150 Lightning isn’t a complete shock. Unlike your favorite lawmaker, the Lightning’s success isn’t all that polarizing. It’s a lot like the popular gas-powered F-150, only much quieter with a rather extreme battery. Friends with Benefits: Toyota’s stake in Subaru has wrought some of our favorite cars in recent memory. The love story began in 2005 and would lead to a Crosstrek Hybrid in 2018, the 10Best-winning pair of Subaru BRZ and Toyota GR86, and the Subaru Solterra and Toyota bZ4X electric crossover duo.Dacia Delivery: Contributor Jonathon Ramsey delivered medicine and supplies to Ukrainian refugees in a Dacia Jogger minivan. When asked to help a friend’s nonprofit group get donations to some of the more than two two million refugees in Poland, Ramsey didn’t blink.Storage Wars: Pickups versus cars isn’t a fight that usually goes very well for partisans of the sedan, and affordable compact trucks such as the Ford Maverick spells even worse news for the shrinking compact-car segment. The Maverick’s competitively low price and impressive fuel economy already make a strong argument for the toy truck, but is it big enough to supplant economy cars like the Honda Civic? We put a bunch of our junk in the trunk to find out. Smoke ’em If You Got ’em: Back when the average car was fastened to thick channels of steel, the body-on-frame Buick Roadmaster wagon was there to haul families. Contributing photographer and respected family man James Lipman owns one, but it’s got additional muscle. Under the hood is a GM E-Rod 6.2-liter V-8 crate engine. Now it’s a family barbecue. The One: The Polestar 1 was a product of Volvo’s owner, Geely. Unlike the fully electric Polestar 2 and upcoming SUVs, the 1 is a 619-hp plug-in hybrid that is as beautiful as it is expensive. Only 500 were made per year. The Polestar 1 is already out of production while the company dedicates its efforts to expanding an EV-only lineup. Covered: The story behind the cover for our December 2022 issue isn’t as clinical as it appeared in print. Staff photographer Michael Simari shot the Honda Civic Type R inside a paddock garage minutes after an entire National Auto Sport Association weekend started to move in. What could normally take hours of prep work with an entire studio of lighting equipment took Simari less than 60 minutes to capture with help from fellow staff photographer Marc Urbano. We thank the patient team of dudes that waited by their car haulers and gave us the extra time we needed. Besides, it’s rare that the staff of a car magazine shows up to leaf-blow your reserved garage space for a track weekend. Heartbeat of America: There aren’t enough illustrations of cars from the 1980s on the internet, so here’s an illustration of a kick-ass Chevy Camaro IROC-Z in jpeg form for all you dot-coms. Under the Influencers: One person’s salvaged Tesla is another person’s off-road campsite. YouTubers Ethan Schlussler and Edwin Olding build creative mechanical projects for a living. This Tesla Model 3 is a product of that. Here it is entering a mud bath along the 147-mile Mojave Road. Moon, Man: The Rivian R1T is the quickest pickup we’ve ever tested. Its otherworldly acceleration to 60 mph in just 3.0 seconds from a 7173-pound pickup sounds like automotive sci-fi, but there’s no conspiracy about this EV truck’s unfettered performance. Paint Me Like One of Your Toyota Girls: 10Best is a lot like mixed media. In the collection of the greatest cars of the year, the palette of excellence comes in all different mediums. Artistry is what gives opposites like the Honda Accord and Toyota Supra a shared greatness. Designed to Dazzle: Engineers and designers shave clay, sweat bullets, and calculate the tiniest tolerances most folks may never notice to appreciate. The fog lights on our long-term Volkswagen GTI are a more obvious example of small stuff made crafty. 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 Lotus Esprit is one of the longest-running and most recognizable sports car nameplates to come out of England. Thanks to one seller on Hemmings, a lucky enthusiast now has the chance to purchase what could be the world’s nicest Esprit Turbo, which has turned just 167 miles since new. More on Lotus EspritThe minty car in question is a 1988 Lotus Esprit Turbo Commemorative Edition. Only 88 of these commemorative cars were built in 1988 to celebrate 40 years of Lotus being incorporated. The 1988 model year also saw the introduction of the new bodywork penned by Peter Stevens, kicking off what is often referred to as the X180 generation of the Esprit. This particular Commemorative Edition model is number 68 of the run and wears the obligatory Pearlescent White exterior paintwork shared by all Commemorative Edition models. Inside you’ll find a tri-tone Blue interior which looks fantastic in an era of monotone offerings. Under the hood, there’s a Bosch KE-Jetronic fuel-injected and turbocharged 2.2-liter four-cylinder, which provides 215 horsepower and 192 lb-ft of torque in U.S.-spec. That power is sent to the rear wheels by way of a five-speed manual transaxle. HemmingsThis low-mile survivor was delivered new to Robert’s Lotus in Meriden, Connecticut in 1988 carrying an MSRP of $70,645. In the decades that have passed since, not much has changed for the sports coupe. The seller claims that the car has spent its entire life in a climate-controlled garage and remains entirely the same as it arrived back in 1988. In fact, the car has never been registered and retains its original Manufacturer’s Statement of Origin. The seller claims this is the only Esprit to retain those honors anywhere in the world. The Esprit is even still wearing the same Goodyear NCT tires that it left the factory with. The seller claims that the car runs and drives just as well as you’d expect from a brand-new car, though we wager a fresh head gasket and timing belt are likely in order. However, it seems unlikely that whoever buys this thing will ever add any miles to the odometer. If you’re interested in the chance to own the nicest Lotus Esprit in the world, you’re going to need $146,000. While you could easily get a new Lotus Emira for that sort of cash, that is a real bargain as far as survivor sports cars are concerned. Unfortunately, it seems as if this particular car is destined for a life of sitting in yet another garage. That’s a shame, but a bit more understandable in this case than most.HemmingsThis 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