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This ex–SpeedSource/Mazda Lola B12/80 competed in the IMSA prototype class from 2014 to 2016, and now it’s up for auction on Bring a Trailer.Important detail: It doesn’t come with an engine. Bidding is currently at $52,888, and the auction ends on Monday, February 14. This 2014 Lola/Mazda IMSA prototype racer, our pick of the day from the auction site Bring a Trailer—which, like Car and Driver, is part of Hearst Autos—is most intriguing for what it doesn’t have: an engine. But it has pretty much everything else you need to go racing, including pushrod-actuated Multimatic DSSV dampers, carbon-carbon brakes with AP Racing calipers, and an XTrac 1059 sequential gearbox. But as it sits, it’s just a human-scale Pinewood Derby racer. And that’s part of the fun—daydreaming about what kind of powerplant you’d stuff into the space between the cabin and the rear wheels.

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That XTrac gearbox is rated for 590 pound-feet of torque, which means there are lots of possibilities as to what you might bolt to it. A Mazda rotary would be appropriate, of course. Or how about an LS7? Or maybe something like this. You probably won’t use an engine of the sort that originally powered the car at the 2014 24 Hours of Daytona—a four-cylinder diesel. That was back when Mazda was promoting its Skyactiv diesels as the future, a future that never quite materialized. This car spent two seasons as a diesel before racing a final season with a turbocharged gas four-cylinder. We’d also guess that whoever wins this car won’t install a turbo four. Unlike Mazda, we don’t have to think on-brand, here. “Siri, will a Lamborghini V-10 fit in a Lola B12/80 chassis?”

This car, chassis MM07, never finished better than fourth place in any given race (that was with the gas engine). But you’ll definitely win your local track day if you show up with this monster, turn the key, and unleash the ragged blat of a Metzger air-cooled Porsche flat-six. Or an Alfa Romeo 2.9-liter turbo V-6. Or . . . Okay, you get the idea. But we’re just saying that if you’re already shelling out the money for this delectable assemblage of road-course-slaying hardware, you may as well spend another $40,000 for a 10,000-rpm, 600-hp naturally aspirated four-rotor rotary. That is all.

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Valentine’s Day is coming up and we decided to celebrate by choosing hypothetical gifts for each other. On this week’s episode of Window Shop, the contestants were each assigned to shop for someone else with the goal of finding a car that could serve as an automotive soulmate. The budget was set at $50,000 with the stipulation that we could stretch to $100,000 if the car was red or pink.This meant carefully considering the tastes of our fellow window shoppers. Road & Track senior editor John Pearley Huffman, shopping for cars director Tony Quiroga, kicked things off and immediately broke the rules with a nice low-mileage Toyota Land Cruiser in silver that went way over budget considering the color-based rules. Senior editor Joey Capparella went next and chose an obscure luxury sedan with a name you may not recognize for contributor Jonathan Ramsey (we won’t ruin the surprise).Ramsey found a Porsche 911 in a specific color for Pearley and then deputy testing director K.C. Colwell went the JDM direction for noted Japanese car enthusiast Capparella. And finally, Quiroga selected a supercharged Lotus Elise—the only red car of the episode—for deputy testing director K.C. Colwell.We voted based on who we thought selected the best gift and, as always, chaos ensued while we tried to determine a winner. Check out the episode in full above and a happy Valentine’s Day to all.

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Aston Martin’s front-engined sports cars, the Vantage, DB11, and DBS, are all set for major revisions for 2023. That’s according to chairman Lawrence Stroll, as first reported by Autocar.One of the most important changes is a new infotainment system, which trades the clunky trackpad for a fresh touchscreen interface.The alterations will be so drastic that they will be, in Stroll’s words, effectively “all-new cars,” but the DBS will retain its 5.2-liter V-12. Aston Martin revealed its all-new AMR22 race car for the upcoming Formula 1 season yesterday. It sported a new livery with lime green accents that echoes the paint job on the Valkyrie Pro. But along with showing off Aston Martin’s latest F1 challenger, chairman Lawrence Stroll also dropped some details about major updates to the brand’s front-engine sports cars, as reported by the U.K. publication Autocar.

Aston Martin

Stroll reportedly said that the changes to the Vantage, DB11, and DBS for the 2023 model year would be so extensive that they would be like “all-new cars.” Significantly, Aston Martin will ditch the Mercedes-Benz–based trackpad infotainment system for more modern touchscreens. A previous agreement had laden Aston Martins with a version of the Mercedes COMAND infotainment system that was originally launched in 1998 and was last overhauled in 2016, although Mercedes itself switched to the new MBUX system in 2018.”How can you have an Aston Martin that sells for £150,000 [about $204,000] with three-year-old technology?” Stroll said. “It is a silly thing the previous management agreed to.” It appears the updated Aston Martin infotainment will be based on the newer MBUX system, with Stroll emphasizing that Aston Martin will distinguish its interface from the Mercedes platform with “our own faces, our own voices—a proper English accent.”

The updates to the front-engine sports cars will also include revisions to the suspension, engines, and gearboxes. Stroll confirmed that the DBS will retain its 5.2-liter V-12. The 4.0-liter V-8 found in the Vantage and DB11 will likely receive the latest tech from AMG. The current Vantage and DB11 can make up to 528 horsepower, but the a newer version of the same engine found in the recently-revealed Mercedes-AMG SL63 is rated at 577 ponies. Some design changes are also expected, with Stroll quoted as saying “there’s no similarity at all to the current cars” except for “some carryover” on the rear end. The updated sports cars should be revealed towards the end of the year, and the move is part of a push to sell 4000 front-engined sports cars per year.
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Because of problems with some engines in 1.6 million Hyundai and Kia vehicles from a decade or so ago, NHTSA issued a consent order with the car companies last fall. One part of the deal was that Hyundai would have to spend $25 million on a safety lab.Hyundai announced today that it will spend twice that much on a new Safety Test and Investigation Laboratory (STIL) next to its existing tech center in Michigan. Only $25 million counts toward the total $140 million the company must spend under NHTSA’s rules.Hyundai also has to spend $15 million on a new safety data analytics team to spot potential safety issues earlier in the process.Last fall, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) and Hyundai and Kia agreed to two consent orders (one for each automaker) over what NHTSA called “untimely recalls” of 1.6 million 2011–2014 model year vehicles that used Hyundai’s Theta II engines, including the Santa Fe Sport and Sonata. The two consent orders required the companies to pay a combined $210 million in fines, with Hyundai to pay $140 million and Kia for the other $70 million.

At the Chicago auto show today, Hyundai announced that, to fulfill and go beyond its obligations under the consent order, it will build a Safety Test and Investigation Laboratory (STIL) with an investment of at least $50 million. The new lab will be part of the Hyundai America Technical Center (HATCI) in Superior Township, Michigan, near Ann Arbor, and will open in fall 2023. The consent order defines how Hyundai must spend some of the $140 million by creating “Performance Obligation Amounts.” Hyundai’s POA required the automaker to spend $25 million on a test and inspection laboratory and another $15 million on a “Safety Data Analytics infrastructure.” NHTSA also required Hyundai to pay $54 million when the consent order was announced and “an additional $46 million deferred penalty that may become payable if specified conditions are not satisfied.The $50 million investment in STIL is double the $25 million the automaker had to spend on the facility, something that Hyundai Motor North America’s chief safety officer, Brian Latouf, said was the natural result of the automaker looking at what it needed to build safer vehicles. Currently, Hyundai Motor North America benefits from safety research done at the automaker’s global headquarters in South Korea.”We looked at what we needed [for the consent order] and also what makes sense for us in the future of HATCI as well as our regional needs as we grow,” he told Car and Driver. “This is the plan that made sense to us, as a company.”

Hyundai America Technical Center in Michigan.
Hyundai

The STIL will be housed in a new building with a forensics lab, a high-voltage battery lab, and a Vehicle Dynamics Area (VDA) pad. There will also be a 500-meter “high speed” track and an outdoor crash facility at the site. With these tools, Hyundai engineers will be able to take cars from the field and tear them down at the STIL, Latouf said, in order to respond more quickly to problems that might happen in the U.S. “It’s hard to ship crashed vehicles,” he said.Getting Out in Front of Safety IssuesThe $15 million to be spent on safety data analytics could end up preventing major problems like the recall of the Theta II engines. Hyundai’s U.S. safety group, which is currently based in California, features a team of data scientists that form both an emerging-issues group and a safety forensics group.”OEMs are data rich,” Latouf said, pulling in information about the real-world problems with their vehicles from warranty data, customer complaints, people writing in to NHTSA, and field reports from dealers and other sources. Somewhere in there you might be able to spot a problem before it grows, he said.”This group is really focusing on the early buds of the issue and then we focus on it and go through an investigation process,” he said. “The faster we can respond to a field issue, the less safety risk, less chance for injuries and we minimized the scope.”And less chance for future consent orders, of course. “We don’t ever want that to happen again,” he said. “We are building things differently now. We’re all about being best in class for safety.”

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The top bid for this Rod Millen-inspired 1984 Mazda RX-7 rally car is currently $13,777 on Bring a Trailer, with bidding open until Sunday, February 13. Despite a clean Carfax record, this RX-7 has been raced, bumped, rolled, and refurbished. It has lived most of its life as a rally car with stages completed at rally events including the Missouri Show Me Rally, 100 Acre Wood, and a six-hour NASA Enduro race.In addition to the obvious rally-car modifications, a few of the car’s original GSL-SE options, such as electronic fuel injection and power windows, have been removed.

The most attention-grabbing stuff at auction is typically a low-mileage this or a one-of-one uber-rare celebrity-owned that. If the photo of it upside down wasn’t obvious enough, this 1984 Mazda RX-7 GSL-SE rally car fits in neither category. It’s been flipped on its lid. Bodyslammed by a tree. And, later, had its engine’s electronic fuel injection removed in favor of a carburetor.

What made the 1984 RX-7 GSL-SE special was its bigger, better, electronically fuel-injected 135-hp 1.3-liter rotary engine. The 13B had 34 more horsepower than the engine originally in previous RX-7s. Among other improvements, the GSL-SE trim had bigger brakes, an updated suspension, and larger wheels.
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The current owner, who has filmed several parts of the car’s restoration process on his YouTube channel, admits the freshened-up engine doesn’t have much run time. It starts and drives fine but hasn’t been given a proper flogging in any sanctioned event since the resto. The car shows roughly 127,000 miles on the odometer, but its little rotary engine recently went under the knife for fresh apex and coolant seals. Other engine mods include a larger radiator and a higher-output alternator from a second-generation RX-7, likely to help power the big light pods mounted to the nose. The livery is especially eye-catching. The design was inspired by the four-wheel-drive prototype RX-7 driven by Pikes Peak Hill Climb champ Rod Millen throughout the early 1980s SCCA Pro Rally Series. Among the giant striping and Tokico Gas Shocks logos are 2WD stickers that parody the ones found on the winning 4WD prototype car.

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The interior is also a tribute to rallying. The carpets and accessory wiring harnesses have been gutted in favor of simplicity and a six-point roll cage that has been welded to the chassis. The original red dashboard and keyed ignition are still intact. The radio and doors have been recovered with aluminum panels, and bright-red Sparco bucket seats have been installed. There are also new LED interior service lights for the cabin and another service light under the hood that you can move around should you need it. If you’re someone who really likes RX-7s and really wants to compete in rallycross, most of the work is done for you.

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Under the chassis sit extra bracing and supports to help protect the shocks, front control arms, and rear axle. The cat-less exhaust is pure race car with plenty of brap out back thanks to a custom-built setup with mandrel-bent tubing.There’s plenty of well-placed skepticism when buying someone else’s project car, but why chop, gut, paint an otherwise clean low-mile first-generation RX-7? This one’s already hit trees. Now it’s back and ready for more trees, er, racing. And good luck shopping for a race car if buying something barn-engineered makes you flinch.
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Mercedes-Benz has confirmed that the A-class sedan will depart the U.S. lineup.The AMG A35 had already been dropped, and now the A220 model will no longer be available after the 2022 model year.The GLA-class crossover will now be the cheapest Mercedes, and the CLA-class sedan will stick around for now.The entry-level Benz is no more. The A-class sedan will depart the U.S. market after the 2022 model year, as first reported by Automotive News and confirmed to C/D by a Mercedes spokesperson. Starting at $35,000, the A220 four-door served as the price leader in the lineup, but the GLA-class crossover will soon take over this spot with its $37,450 entry cost.

Mercedes had already killed off the A-class sedan’s more powerful AMG variant, the A35, and sales have slipped in recent years. It achieved 17,641 sales in 2019, its first year on the market, but dropped to just 8108 units sold in 2021. The GLA, meanwhile, sold 14,322 units last year. Upon its introduction, the A-class took over the entry-level spot from the CLA-class, a slightly swoopier small sedan best remembered for its 2013 Super Bowl ad proclaiming a starting price under $30,000.The current CLA will stick around for the time being, and Mercedes says the decision to drop the A-class is “consistent with our ongoing effort to streamline our product offering strategy.” The CLA competes in the same segment as the A-class did and we would guess that it earns better profit margins for the company considering its higher pricing. Rival automaker BMW also has two entries in this segment, the two-door 2-series coupe and four-door 2-series Gran Coupe that ride on different platforms, while Audi only has one, the A3 sedan.2022 A-class inventory will likely remain at dealers throughout the year, as Mercedes has not announced when production ends for the U.S.
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The 2022 Ford Bronco Everglades will arrive this summer, and it builds on the already capable Sasquatch off-road package. It includes a snorkel air intake, Warn winch, and 17-inch wheels on 35-inch mud-terrain tires. Pricing starts at $54,495, and it’s only available as a four-door hardtop model with the 300-hp turbocharged four-cylinder engine. Two new Ford Bronco models will arrive this summer: the recently revealed high-performance Bronco Raptor, and this new Everglades model that adds a few more bits of off-road hardware to the already capable Sasquatch package. Both come only as a four-door model with a hardtop and are more hardcore options for off-roaders—or mall crawlers.
That aforementioned Sasquatch package already includes things like 35-inch tires, a lifted suspension, front and rear locking differentials, and a shorter final drive ratio. Everglades models add mud-terrain tires mounted on 17-inch wheels and a factory snorkel mounted to the A-pillar. The front and rear axles, transfer case, and transmission cooling vents are also raised to allow for a maximum of 36.4 inches of water fording depth, 2.9 inches higher than the regular Bronco Sasquatch.

Ford also fits the optional heavy-duty modular front bumper and safari bar on the Everglades with an integrated Warn Zeon 10-S winch. Ford says it tested the winch at its chassis test facility and claims that it can pull up to 10,000 pounds with its 100-foot line. The Everglades also comes with rock rails and steel skid plates protecting the underbody. A new Desert Sand exterior color is exclusive to the Everglades, and the other color choices are some of the Bronco’s best: Eruption Green, Cactus Gray, Area 51, and Shadow Black. It gets a carbonized grey grille with gloss-black Bronco lettering and an Everglades topography graphic stamped on the front fender. Everglades come standard with the 12.0-inch touchscreen and vinyl seats, washout floor mats, and green stitching.
You’ll have to settle for the Bronco’s turbocharged 2.3-liter four-cylinder that produces 300 horsepower and 325 pound-feet of torque and pairs with a 10-speed automatic. That’s the only powertrain choice for the Everglades, even though other Bronco models offer a seven-speed manual with the four-cylinder and a 330-hp twin-turbocharged 2.7-liter V-6 as an option. Ford says there are no plans to add any other powertrain options to the Everglades. The 2022 Bronco Everglades will arrive this summer starting at $54,495, which is $3525 more than a four-door Wildtrak, and reservations will open in March. The new model is exclusive to current Bronco reservation holders, and those who haven’t received a build date can switch their order to an Everglades—or to the 400-plus-hp Raptor, which will arrive in the same timeframe.
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The U.S. Department of Transportation announced today that it will distribute $5 billion to U.S. states over the next five years so they can build out an electric-vehicle charging infrastructure along the U.S. interstate highway system. By 2030, the government is aiming to have a network of half a million charging stations, with EV drivers able to gain access to a charging port at least every 50 miles across the U.S.A. A new Joint Office of Energy and Transportation will oversee the states’ efforts—and will deal with details such as making charging available in rural and low-income areas.It may not be quite as momentous as the creation of the U.S. interstate highway system by President Eisenhower in the 1950s, but the ambition is similar: the Department of Transportation wants to see half a million EV charging ports in operation across the United States by the end of this decade. The intention is to use the interstate highway system as the “spine” of the network. When fully implemented, the goal is for EV owners to be able to find at least one charging port within 50 miles anywhere in the 50 states, the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico. To get there, a new government agency called the Joint Office of Energy and Transportation—bringing together, as its name indicates, the DOT and the Department of Energy—plans to distribute $5 billion to the states over five years, plus another $2.5 billion in “discretionary” grants to come later. The creation of the joint office was first announced in December 2021, and the funds will come from the new National Electric Vehicle Infrastructure (NEVI) Formula Program, established by the bipartisan infrastructure act signed into law by President Biden in November. For starters, $615 million will be available during fiscal 2022, with states required to submit an EV Infrastructure Deployment Plan by August 1 and get it approved before they can start using the funds. That approval is targeted to come by September 30, DOT officials said. The new Joint Office will provide technical support to states to smooth the process as they plot out their plans. All that money is to build charging infrastructure for battery-electric vehicles only—not for hydrogen or other alternative-energy vehicles, the DOT clarified. The DOT also said it expects many of the states to look to the private sector to build and maintain the charging stations. The goal is to make electric vehicle charging accessible to all Americans and to alleviate the range anxiety that is still holding many Americans back from purchasing their first EV. “Even with the newer higher range EVs going 200, 300, 400 miles, range anxiety is an issue,” DOT Secretary Pete Buttigieg acknowledged in a conversation with Car and Driver on Wednesday. “It’s sometimes the top barrier to somebody acquiring an electric vehicle that could already stand to save them and their family a lot of gas money.”State Plans Already in Progress Over the past six years, 40 states have already created designated Alternative Fuel Corridors, much of which follows the interstate highway system, and that will be “the spine of the new national EV charging network,” the DOT said. Below as an example is the state of planning in the Lower Peninsula of Michigan. Once these corridors are filled in, states will be asked to plan more “community based” charging that could reach more rural and underserved areas away from major highway systems.

Michigan’s charging station plan.
U.S. Department of Transportation

The government agency released a state-by-state list showing how it intends to distribute that initial $615 million in fiscal 2022. California can expect $56.7 million; Texas, $60.3 million; while Kansas gets $5.8 million and Wyoming gets $3.9 million. The feds want to emphasize that getting the charging stations from domestic suppliers is a priority in this program. For instance, the DOT noted, President Biden met this week with a charging station manufacturer, Tritium, that plans to break ground on a facility in Tennessee with six production lines producing 30,000 DC fast chargers per year. Bigger names are also getting in on the process—the White House said Siemens will expand its U.S. operations and plans to produce a million EV charging units by 2025. The DOT also said it intends for 40 percent of the funding to “flow” to underserved and rural areas to make sure they get their fair share of charging stations, without giving details. Back to that 50-mile required distance: a DOT official said during a media call on Wednesday that in some remote areas, a distance of 60 or more miles between chargers might be permitted on logistical grounds.This spending program is certainly ambitious—and paying for hundreds of thousands of charging stations won’t be every taxpayer’s cup of tea—but at least the plan appears to be on a scale that will make a difference. If successful, this program should make it a lot easier to contemplate owning an electric vehicle in the coming years.
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