Motor News

The 20,000th Lamborghini Huracán has been built, an STO painted in Grigio Acheso Matt, destined for a customer in Monaco.71 percent of Huracán buyers have gone for coupes, while 32 percent of sales have been in the United States.Lamborghini says that 60 percent of Huracáns have been customized by the company’s Ad Personam program.For most of Lamborghini’s history, the Italian supercar marque managed to sell only a few hundred vehicles per year. But this changed when the Gallardo arrived in 2003—the junior V-10 supercar sold just over 14,000 units during a ten-year production run. This blew its predecessor, the V-8–powered Jalpa, out of the water, with only 410 Jalpas being sold between 1981 and 1988. But the Gallardo’s follow-up, the Huracán, has proved even more successful, and Lamborghini announced on Thursday that it has built the 20,000th example of the V-10–powered supercar that entered production in 2014.

Lamborghini

The 20,000th Huracán to roll off the line in Sant’Agata Bolognese was an STO, the high-performance, track-focused version that draws inspiration from the Huracán EVO Super Trofeo race car. This record-setting STO was finished in Grigio Acheso Matt paint for a customer in Monaco.

With the announcement, Lamborghini provided some details on how Huracán customers have ordered their supercars so far. 71 percent of Huracán owners have opted for a coupe version, while the remaining 29 percent wanted the ability to drop the top to better hear the naturally aspirated 5.2-liter V-10 sing. The United States has been the Huracán’s biggest market, with 32 percent of sales, with the U.K. and the China completing the top three.The majority of Huracáns have come with some form of personalization, with 60 percent of the 20,000 units sold so far being decked out by Lamborghini’s Ad Personam customization program. Lamborghini says that customers have taken inspiration for colors, trims, and materials from everything from furniture and clothing to makeup and precious stones. Central Europe, Japan, and the U.K. have been the biggest markets for the Ad Personam division. With STO production underway and the recent introduction of the Tecnica model, the Huracán should continue racking up sales before a plug-in hybrid model arrives in 2024.
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• This 1978 Cadillac Eldorado Biarritz embodied Cadillac’s unique approach to luxury in the 1970s.• The ninth-generation Eldorado was a symbol of wealth and success when it was new, especially in full-fat Biarritz trim, but its appeal faded and many were scrapped in the 1990s.• This low-mileage coupe is for sale right now on Bring a Trailer, and the auction ends on April 25.You’d never guess this by walking through the traffic jam of classic European econoboxes in my garage, but I love American land yachts. My parents owned a series of bargelike General Motors cars when I was a kid—I remember my dad having to park his 1985 Oldsmobile Delta 88 diagonally to fit it in our garage—but none were as special as my step-grandfather’s Cadillac Fleetwood Brougham. These massive Cadillacs have amassed a following in recent years, and there is what looks like an unusually well-kept 1978 Eldorado Biarritz currently live on Bring a Trailer – which, like Car and Driver, is part of Hearst Autos.

Finished in Ruidoso Saddle Metallic, this old-school coupe effortlessly illustrates what Cadillac stood for in the 1970s. It says “I’ve got it made” without trying or leaning too far towards the ostentatious side of the scale. It didn’t need to: everyone knew what they were looking at. In a way, the spot that Cadillac occupied in popular culture during the 1970s was like the one that Mercedes-Benz currently enjoys. It’s not a Chevrolet Chevette or a Chrysler Cordoba that Johnny Cash built in “One Piece at a Time.”

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The stately Eldorado was a big deal, too; it was the epitome of the personal luxury car, that nebulous segment that embarked on a nosedive in the 1980s and crashed hard during the 1990s. The one listed on Bring a Trailer cost $15,074 new, which represents about $66,700 in 2022, and it’s optioned with a six-way power-adjustable front passenger seat, a tilting steering column, cruise control, and a cassette player. And, look at those Biarritz-specific pillow seats! I’d bet the inflation-adjusted cost of the optional rear window defogger that they’re at least as comfortable as the seats Cadillac puts in the 2022 CT5.

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Poke your head into the cavernous engine bay and you’ll meet a 425-cubic-inch (that’s 7.0 liters) V-8 that lazily developed 180 horsepower and a stout 320 pound-feet of torque. Front-wheel drive, which the Eldorado adopted for the 1967 model year, and a three-speed automatic transmission came standard.

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Calling the ninth-generation Eldorado rare wouldn’t be accurate: Cadillac produced 46,816 units during the 1978 model year, which was last call before the drastically downsized 10th-generation model landed in showrooms. But two things make this example special: first, it survived. By the 1990s, these big coupes were widely considered anachronisms, and not very exotic ones, and many were driven into the ground by a succession of increasingly careless owners. When I was growing up in Utah in the 2000s, when Cadillac was leveraging Art and Science to disassociate itself from land yachts, the Eldorado was a common sight in self-service junkyards or beached next to barns in rural parts of the state, landau roof–deep in weeds with rust holes big enough to fit a piston through. Two, it survived with astonishingly low mileage. The odometer shows just under 20,000 miles, which represents an annual average of about 450 miles.What are the odds of finding another 20,000-mile big-body Eldorado Biarritz without traveling back to a used-car lot in 1980? Bidding currently stands at $12,500, a sign that interest in these cars is growing.

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Volkswagen starts delivering EVs to residents of the Aegean Sea island of Astypalea in an effort to transform all transport on the island to electric mobility.The automaker plans for 1000 EVs to replace about 1500 gas- and diesel-engined vehicles on the island.VW is also introducing electric ride-sharing services to the 44-square-mile island, along with electric bicycles and scooters.Volkswagen has delivered the first EVs to private customers on Astypalea as part of an experiment to transform the Greek island to an EV-only oasis. VW handed over the first examples of the ID.4 and VW e-up! hatchback to the island’s residents, in addition to the new ID.3 hatch and the Seat MÓ eScooter 125. The automaker’s Smart & Sustainable Island project, conducted in partnership with the Greek government, will eventually see 1000 EVs replace a fleet of some 1500 gas- and diesel-engined cars on the 44-square-mile island, with electric bicycles and scooters also part of a new fleet being introduced. Emergency vehicles and commercial vehicles will also be replaced with electric ones in the near future, with vehicle rental agencies switching to zero-emission models as well.

“Astypalea is a laboratory for the mobility of the future. The island is experiencing the same change as any other region in Europe, only in a much shorter time. With the first private customers driving electric now, word will quickly get around how fascinating e-mobility is,” said Maik Stephan, project manager and head of business development at Volkswagen Group.VW is working on more than simply importing new EVs. It’s also getting rid of all the scrap vehicles currently polluting the island, often sitting abandoned in ravines instead of being recycled. (If you’ve ever been to Greece, you know this is a major issue in the country, even on the Aegean Sea islands.) The automaker is now working with the municipality and the importer for Greece Kosmocar to collect broken cars, trucks, and motorcycles from the island, and ship them to the capital Athens on the mainland to be professionally recycled.

Abandoned cars are a major issue in Greece, especially on islands that often lack large-scale metal recycling facilities. As a result, old cars tend to just sit around or are discarded improperly.
Volkswagen

As on other islands in the Aegean Sea, the ability of the local industry to properly recycle scrapped vehicles is limited, which often leads them to be stored indefinitely once they’re no longer running, often by the side of the road or hidden away in the countryside, as shipping them to the mainland imposes costs.The next stages of the project will include the launch of all-electric ride sharing and vehicle sharing, just in time for the summer tourist season.”E-mobility is a perfect match for Astypalea,” said Thanos Papagiannis, shown above, who’s the first ID.3 customer on Astypalea. “The distances here are short, the power consumption is low, and the charging network is now very well developed. I really hope that Astypalea will inspire other regions to increase their efforts for climate protection (by) adopting e-mobility solutions.”

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You don’t need a license to breed. But you will need a license to drive those babies around. And you’ll want to drive them around in a minivan. Yes, we swear, you do want a minivan. Stop giggling.Infinitely versatile and persistently unstylish, the minivan is so dang practical it ought to be issued with every newborn. But which van is the least embarrassing to be seen in? Which bears the smallest stigma of family hauler? And which can be had for $35,000 or less? That’s why this week’s edition of Window Shop on YouTube exists.This week also features new microphones. Except for editor-in-chief Tony Quiroga who, through the sheer majesty of his aura, imparts his voice directly onto the Internet without the intermediary of a computer. Also participating is youthful-ish Joey Capparella; some guy from Road & Track named Pearley; everyone’s best bud, Jonathon Ramsey; and, voted Best Beard by the readers of Dog Fancy Magazine, K.C. Colwell.Will anyone want to watch a bunch of guys talk about minivans? Nah. But here it is anyhow. Please like, subscribe, indemnify and hold blameless.

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Bugatti has revealed two more creations from its Sur Mesure bespoke division: a Chiron Super Sport and a Chiron Pur Sport.Bugatti calls the paint jobs Vagues de Lumière (“light waves”), and the Super Sport takes on a bold blue-and-orange appearance. The Pur Sport meanwhile is a bit more low-key, with a blue-on-blue paint job. Late last year Bugatti launched its own bespoke division, Sur Mesure, giving customers the opportunity to take customizing their 200-plus-mph missiles to the extreme. The first product of the Sur Mesure program was a baby-blue Chiron Pur Sport with red accents that honored Louis Chiron’s win at the 1931 French Grand Prix at the helm of a Bugatti Type 51. Now Bugatti has revealed two more of its Sur Mesure creations, another Chiron Pur Sport and a Chiron Super Sport hand-painted to mimic the way, as Bugatti puts it, “the precisely designed body panels of the marque’s hyper sports cars reflect light.”
Bugatti calls the paint jobs “Vagues de Lumière,” meaning light waves. The Chiron Super Sport is one of the first Super Sports to reach customers, and it arrives with a base finish in California Blue. Layered on top are swooping lines in Arancia Mira, an orange hue. This color also adorns the magnesium wheels—reminding us of the 2000s Porsche 911 GT3 RS—as well as the leather interior. The number 38 is painted on the horseshoe grille “at the owner’s request,” also in Arancia Mira.

Despite the large rear wing, the Chiron Pur Sport looks subtler, thanks to a blue-on-blue paint job. The body itself is exposed blue carbon, while the stripes flowing around the hypercar are a slightly lighter Nocturne blue color. Each end plate on the rear wing bears the French flag, and the number 9 is painted on the grille. The interior is decked out in a mix of Beluga Black and French Racing Blue leather. Bugatti says that the paint schemes seen on these two Chirons took around five weeks apiece and were hand-painted on. While the Super Sport’s orange-and-blue look might be a bit loud for some people’s taste, the paintwork is stunning. We look forward to Sur Mesure’s next creation.
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• This Ram Air III–powered example of the 1969 Pontiac GTO Judge is up for auction at Bring a Trailer right now.• This GTO Judge features a replacement 400-cubic-inch Ram Air III V-8 with a Muncie M20 four-speed manual transmission and a Safe-T-Track rear axle.• The auction ends on Sunday, April 24, and as of Thursday bidding is at $22,500.

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As the proud owner of a 1968 GTO, I would be remiss not to single out this 1969 GTO Judge as a special car up for auction on Bring a Trailer—which, like Car and Driver, is part of Hearst Autos. The Judge is a special example of a muscle car from the late ’60s. Just like the current owner of this 1969 GTO Judge, I also received mine by way of my father, who spent his summers in college working at the plant in Pontiac doing various jobs. One summer he worked in the iron foundry shoveling molding sand, one summer in the assembly line plant on the chassis line, and his last in the finishing plant adjusting headlights and prepping for shipping. It seems only fitting that he ended up with a GTO one day himself.

This GTO Judge is currently located in California; however, it was originally delivered to a dealership in Anchorage, Alaska. This car comes with a clean title, but more important, it comes with a Pontiac Historic Services documentation showing that it is indeed a true Judge. This car has been refinished in Carousel Red and features the optional Judge package which includes a black grille, decklid-mounted wing, tricolor graphics, and “Judge” badging on the front fenders.

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The replacement 400-cubic-inch Ram Air V-8 features a four-barrel carburetor and electric ignition. In addition to the V-8 and Muncie M20 transmission, it has a hood-mounted tachometer, power steering, 15-inch Cragar S/S wheels, power front disc brakes, retractable headlamp covers, and a Hurst T-handle shifter. The Hurst shifter was factory installed on manual transmissions in the Pontiac GTO. Pontiac also offered a dual-gate shifter, the unfortunately named His and Hers, which allowed for manual shifts for drag racing or standard automatic function.

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This GTO Judge’s additional equipment includes a body-color Endura front bumper, chrome rear bumper, polished rocker and wheel opening trim, hood-mounted scoops, and a dual-outlet exhaust below the rear bumper. Like any loved classic car, this one has a couple of dents, a little rust, and some paint chips, scratches, and blemishes. The cabin features bucket seats and a rear bench upholstered in black vinyl along with a matching dashboard and faux-wood dash accent. The door locks do not work on this car, a similar issue I have with mine and, from what I’m told by my local classic car shop, a common issue with the GTO. The Judge was intended not only to help with GTO sales, but also to be a direct competitor to the Plymouth Road Runner. Halfway through 1971, the Judge was discontinued, although the GTO kept going through 1974. While it is a privilege to be the owner of any American muscle car, a Judge would surely be a Goat to be proud of. The auction is online through Sunday afternoon, April 24.

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Honda recently confirmed that the Insight will be discontinued and a Civic hybrid is on its way.There’s a new Civic hybrid for Europe, and we think it could offer a preview of the model we’ll eventually get.We’re not sure if the Civic hybrid will be offered in the U.S. as a sedan or a hatchback, or both.The Honda Civic hybrid is poised to return to the U.S. market, as the Insight—which is effectively a Civic hybrid in all but name—bows out after the 2022 model year. Honda has yet to release details about the upcoming U.S.-market Civic hybrid, but did just release photos and specs for the Europe-spec version that could give us an idea of what to expect.

The Euro Civic’s hybrid powertrain is similar to the Insight’s in that it uses two electric motors and a gasoline engine, but it swaps out the Insight’s 1.5-liter inline-four for a larger 2.0-liter inline-four. This means the Civic hybrid is significantly more powerful, producing 181 horsepower in total compared to the Insight’s 152 hp. That’s about the same as the nonhybrid Civic’s optional turbocharged 1.5-liter inline-four. But the U.S.-market Accord hybrid, which also uses a 2.0-liter gasoline engine, is more powerful still, with a combined 212 hp.

Honda

Fuel economy may suffer somewhat, as the Insight has an EPA combined rating of up to 52 mpg, while the Euro Civic hybrid is rated at 50 mpg combined on the more favorable WLTP cycle.Honda hasn’t said where it plans to build the U.S.-market Civic hybrid, but the Civic hatchback is currently built in Indiana and the sedan is built in Canada. Although the Europe-market Civic comes only as a hatchback and is exclusively a hybrid, we’re not sure which bodystyles will be offered for the hybrid on our shores. A Civic hybrid sedan would be an obvious rival for the sedan-only Toyota Corolla hybrid, but we hope Honda will offer the hatchback as a hybrid too for its extra measure of practicality. The Euro Civic hybrid, for its part, appears to offer many of the same visual elements from the Civic Sport and Sport Touring trims, including larger wheels.Look for Honda to release more information soon about the U.S.-bound Civic hybrid soon, as we expect it to join the lineup soon, possibly as a 2023 model.
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Lacey Sinclair via Facebook

Off-roaders everywhere were given a cautionary tale this week when news broke about a Ford Bronco stuck underwater near Bar Harbor, Maine. The fan-favorite SUV wandered a bit too far off a sandbar during low tide, only to be swallowed by the sea when the tides returned later in the day. After two full days living among the fishes, the folks at Island Towing were finally able to extricate the off-roader Monday evening.

The extrication process was led by Island Towing’s Les Foss, who had previously spent 16 hours attempting to free the Bronco before successfully getting the truck ashore, according to The Drive. Ahead of the third and final rescue attempt, Foss was approached by a diver working with the Department of Environmental Protection. Since the truck would not roll on its own and it was stuck far from the shore, the two agreed that the SUV would best be recovered with the help of large float bags. These pieces of equipment are often used to retrieve large objects from below the surface, including chunks of historic wreckages. Timing became a crucial element of the plan, as the float bags would need the assistance of the high tide to push the truck toward safety.
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After Foss and his associates were able to secure 10,000 pounds’ worth of float bags, the Bronco was carefully moved within range of an awaiting wrecker. Foss told The Drive that he couldn’t position a truck within 1500 feet of the drowned SUV before the successful float, likening the rescue to pulling a boulder from the ocean. The whole process took an additional 12 hours, bringing the total rescue effort up to 28 hours. Had the floating method failed, the next step would have involved a barge-mounted crane. While this incident ultimately comes down to driver error, it is hard not to feel a little bad for the owner of this particular Bronco, which has now been identified as an Outer Banks model. These SUVs have been difficult to come by since it made its debut, and I’m sure this mistake was born out of a desire to test the truck’s lauded capabilities. Perhaps the Sasquatch package and its larger mud-terrain tires could have been a benefit here.
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