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It’s still too early to know for sure how many vehicles were on board, but the car carrier sent out a distress call February 16 and had to be towed to the Azores. All crew members on board have reportedly been rescued, and the data website FleetMon is updating the ship’s status.According to people who claim to have ordered some of the Porsches on board, the automaker is aware of the situation and is telling people to hold on for more information once Porsche “know[s] the full scope of the issue.”This is also a bit of a flashback to 2019, when another ship caught fire with Porsches on board. That ship sank, and Porsche even restarted production for the small number of limited-edition Porsche 911 GT2 RS cars that were lost.UPDATE 2:35 p.m.: A Porsche Cars North America spokesperson sent Car and Driver the following statement: “Our immediate thoughts are of relief that the 22 crew of the merchant ship Felicity Ace are safe and well. A number of our cars are among the cargo. We are in contact with the shipping company and the details of the cars on board are now known. Customers affected by the incident are being contacted by their dealer. While it remains too early to confirm what occurred and next steps, we are—along with our colleagues at Porsche AG—supporting our customers and our dealers as best we can to find solutions. Anyone concerned by this incident and the implications on the car they’ve ordered should maintain in contact with [the] dealer with which their order was placed.”A spokesperson for Lamborghini told C/D that the company is “aware of an incident involving a third-party cargo ship transporting Volkswagen Group vehicles across the Atlantic. The vessel was on its way to North America. At this time, we are not aware of any injuries. We are in contact with the shipping company to get more information about the incident.”The Ever Given. The Golden Ray. Every now and then, the name of an ocean freighter becomes important in the automotive world. The latest entry is the Felicity Ace, a car-carrier that was carrying an unspecified number of Volkswagen Group vehicles, including Porsche models, from Germany to Rhode Island. That was the ship’s mission until yesterday, when a fire broke out on board. The flames were bad enough that the captain had to abandon ship, and we do not yet know the fate of the vehicles on board. Details are coming in—we don’t yet know the cause of the fire, for example—and more information will need to be confirmed by VW and other authorities to determine the cause and eventual result of this incident. Here’s what we know at the moment. First, the good news. The roll-on-roll-off (RORO) car carrier was around 90 nautical miles southwest of the Azore Islands when it issued its first distress signal on the morning of February 16. According to FleetMon, which tracks ocean vessels, all 22 crew members were safely evacuated from the ship by helicopter and lifeboat. The Felicity Ace has been towed to the Azores, and ships from the Portugal Navy and other nearby vessels assisted with the rescue.
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“We are aware of an incident today involving a cargo ship transporting Volkswagen Group vehicles across the Atlantic,” VW toldCar and Driver in a statement. “The vessel had a loading capacity of nearly 4000 vehicles and was on its way to North America. At this time, we are not aware of any injuries. We are working with local authorities and the shipping company to investigate the cause of the incident.”Despite the 650-foot-long Felicity Ace’s 4000-vehicle capacity, we do not yet know if it was full of cars or a mix of cars and other cargo. A statement posted to Porsche’s Track Your Dream app, which allows people who have purchased a new Porsche to follow their vehicle’s journey from production facility to local dealership, and then on Twitter by self-described “occasional auto/motorsport writer” Zerin Dube, makes it clear that some Porsche buyers will need to wait longer than anticipated for their new cars.
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“We are aware of an incident aboard the Felicity Ace, a specialized cargo ship carrying certain Porsche vehicles,” the statement said. “Your dealership will provide you with additional information on how this impacts you as soon as we have additional information and know the full scope of the issue.”Another automotive journalist, Matt Farah of The Smoking Tire, posted that his dealer let him know that the Boxster Spyder he ordered was on the ship and that everyone now has to wait to see how Porsche will handle the situation. The Drive quoted Farah in an earlier news story about the incident.

There’s history to suggest that Porsche will make sure its customers will get the cars they ordered, since this isn’t the first time Porsche has had to deal with some of its vehicles not surviving their transoceanic journey. In 2019, the ship Grande America caught fire and sank with four limited Porsche 911 GT2 RS cars on board, along with 33 other Porsches and 2000 or so brand-new Audis that were on their way from Germany to South America. Porsche had already finished making any more of those limited-edition 911s, but it restarted production for the four GT2 RS buyers to keep its commitment to its customers willing to spend $300,000 on a car.This is a developing story; we will update when we have more information.

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This Daihatsu Midget II, on sale now on the auction site Bring a Trailer, was recently imported to the U.S. and comes with a die-cast model of itself. The Midget was first introduced in 1957 as a three-wheeler. The Midget II was introduced in 1996 and offered until 2001. With no reserve, and a current bid at $2996, it’s possible this little truck will go for a little price. Bidding ends on Wednesday, February 23.Ford Maverick and Hyundai Santa Cruz who? You want a small truck, nobody does ’em better than the Japanese kei class. And this desirable example of the genre is currently listed on the Bring a Trailer auction site—which, like Car and Driver, is part of Hearst Autos—in an auction ending Wednesday, February 23.

Bring a Trailer

Originally based around three-wheel motorcycle-based scooters, Japan’s kei cars and trucks have been around since the 1940s. With small footprints and miniature horsepower, they are useful around loading docks, farms, and factories, but they are also adorable, and street legal, even here in the States. In fact, it was one of our 12 Cool Cars Finally Legal for U.S. Import in 2021.This 1996 Daihatsu with its googly eyes and big spare-tire proboscis is a recent import to the U.S. I’m pretty much a sucker for any half-size auto, but even for a kei, this thing is a kutie. The super ’90s graphics on the spare tire cover, the super ’90s teal paint and chrome tubular bumpers and bed bar. It’s like someone looked at a Suzuki Samurai and said, “Sure, it’s okay, but does it have to be so large?”

Bring a Trailer

Kei-car regulations limit the size of the engines they come with, as well as how much power they can make, so the Daihatsu offers a nice even 30 ponies out of a 660-cc inline three-cylinder backed by a manual four-speed. I’ve driven the Honda Acty version of these trucks, and you’d be surprised how quickly you can get 1200 pounds moving with 30 horses. There were even racing series that featured the Midget II in all its leaning, barely powered glory. If you buy this one, you only need one more to start your own racing series. Or line it up against the kids on their bikes and see if they can outrun you.

Bring a Trailer

The Midget II is a single-seater, which means you won’t have to share its air-conditioned gray cloth interior with anyone. If you have friends, they can ride in the back, as the truck lords intended. All jokes aside, kei trucks make awesome runabouts near vacation houses or beach rentals, or just to pop out to the store for one forgotten ingredient. They are legal to register and drive on the street, and while I might not attempt Los Angeles freeways with one—although, on second thought, you could probably lane split; they aren’t even five feet wide—they’d be great for a busy city. You could park in all those tiny spaces left by people who don’t pull up far enough.

This Midget II looks to be in good shape, although it’s wearing mismatched tires on its 10-inch chrome wheels. Along with air conditioning, you get a Pioneer stereo, original sales literature, a Tomy model of a Daihatsu Midget II, and an alternate soft spare tire cover that says, “Midget II, the car that was so popular in the 1960s.” It probably sounded better in Japanese. A casual look at other Midget II ads leads me to believe that they go for between $4000 and $7000, so with a week to go and three bids so far, this little guy could still be a big bargain.

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Nissan announced two new EV models that will be built in Mississippi starting in 2025.One will be a Nissan and one will be an Infiniti, and teaser photos reveal that they both have sedan-like silhouettes.These are part of Nissan’s plan to launch 15 EVs by 2030.Nissan announced that it will build two new EV models for the U.S. at its plant in Canton, Mississippi, starting in 2025. One will be badged as a Nissan and the other as an Infiniti, and what’s perhaps most surprising about these new electric models is that they appear to be passenger cars rather than crossovers.

Nissan

Teaser videos show that both the Nissan and the Infiniti have low-slung silhouettes suggesting that they will either be sedans or four-door hatchbacks. The two are likely to share underpinnings and powertrains, with the Infiniti version likely to offer distinct styling and a more upscale interior. We think the Nissan might look like the IMS concept shown in 2019, while the Infiniti could take cues from the QS Inspiration concept (pictured below).

Nissan

Infiniti QS Inspiration concept
Infiniti

What Nissan and Infiniti will call these models is anyone’s guess, but we wouldn’t be surprised if the Nissan version effectively replaces the Maxima in the lineup and adopts that familiar moniker. Likewise, the Infiniti version could take over for the aging Q50.We will likely find out more information about Nissan’s plans in the coming months, although these models themselves won’t start production in Mississippi until 2025. In the meantime, the company plans to launch the 2023 Ariya electric crossover in the U.S. later this year. It will start at $47,125 and will be built in Japan. By 2030, Nissan says it plans to launch 15 electric vehicles; earlier this year the company showed several EV concepts including a pickup truck, a convertible sports car, and several small SUVs.

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If you live in New York and drive a loud car, you could receive a notice from the city’s Department of Environmental Protection telling you your car is too loud. Not because a police officer caught your noisy car, but because a computer did.
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A photo of an official order from the New York City DEP was published to Facebook by a page called Lowered Congress on Monday, directed at a BMW M3 that may have been a bit too loud. The notice reads as follows:I am writing to you because your vehicle has been identified as having a muffler that is not in compliance with Section 386 of the Vehicle and Traffic Law, which prohibits excessive noise from motor vehicles. Your vehicle was recorded by a camera that takes a pictures of the vehicle and the license plate. In addition, a sound meter records the decibel level as the vehicle approaches and passes the camera. The order goes on to tell the owner to bring their car to a location specified by the DEP—a sewage treatment plant, to be precise—for inspection. Show up, and you’ll have the opportunity to get the car fixed to avoid a fine—much like California’s “fix-it” ticket system. The document also informs the owner that if they fail to show up, they could face a maximum fine of $875, plus additional fines for continuing to ignore the summons.

A New York City DEP spokesman confirmed to Road & Track via email the system is part of a small pilot program that’s been running since September 2021. From the description above, it sounds like it works much like a speed camera that automatically records a violation and sends it to you in the mail by reading your license plate. Instead of a speed gun, this new system uses a strategically placed sound meter to record decibel levels on the road, matching it to a license plate using a camera.The DEP tells us this new program is unrelated to Governor Kathy Hochul’s recent initiative to curb noise pollution in New York. In September 2021 she signed the SLEEP bill into law, raising fines for exhaust noise violation in the state from $150 to $1000—currently the highest in the nation. The program will be reevaluated on June 30, according to the DEP. From there it’ll likely either be expanded or taken out of commission. We’ll be sure to follow up then to find out. Aaron Brown contributed to this report.

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The 8 x Jeff Koons is a limited-edition 2023 BMW M850i Gran Coupe designed by artist Jeff Koons.Its colorful paint job evokes comic-book themes and is said to take 285 hours per car to complete.BMW will only sell 99 copies of the car worldwide, with U.S. versions priced at $350,995.American artist Jeff Koons and BMW have teamed up once again, this time using a 2023 BMW M850i Gran Coupe as the canvas. The result is a colorful rolling art piece that’s been dubbed the 8 x Jeff Koons and will be limited to just 99 copies worldwide. Models allocated for the U.S. market will each cost $350,995 and pre-orders are available now.

While that price tag is roughly a quarter-million dollars more than you’ll pay for an un-optioned 2023 M850i Gran Coupe, which we expect to start around $100,000, the 8 x Jeff Koons is considered more of a collectible than a daily driver. Of course, if owners do choose to get behind the wheel, it has a 523-hp twin-turbo 4.4-liter V-8, an eight-speed automatic transmission, and BMW’s xDrive all-wheel-drive system on offer.
The paint job alone on the 8 x Jeff Koons is 99-of-a-kind and labor-intensive. BMW says that it requires 11 different stages and takes 285 hours per car to apply. The undertaking is said to be among the company’s “most extensive custom factory production processes ever.” The result is that only two cars will be produced every week. Included in every purchase is a unique VIN number and a certificate of authenticity signed by Koons and BMW CEO Oliver Zipse.The vivid coloring isn’t limited to the exterior, either, with Koons’ customization continuing inside the M850i. The blinding red and blue seats are said to evoke both BMW’s M performance division and comic-book superheroes. Indeed, the upholstery looks like it could be repurposed for a Spider-Man suit. Also, on the retractable cover located at the front of the center console, there’s a badge that reads “The 8 x Jeff Koons” along with the artist’s signature.
BMW and Koons previously collaborated on a 2010 M3 GT2 art car that was somehow even more colorful than this new M850i. The E92 M3 even raced at the 24 Hours of Le Mans. The 8 x Jeff Koons isn’t expected to participate in any sanctioned races, but following its digital debut today at the Frieze Los Angeles art show, it’ll be displayed at Rockefeller Plaza in New York from April 1 to 4. On that final day, one car will be auctioned off by Christie’s, with all proceeds going to charity.
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The 2023 Porsche Macan T sits between the base model and Macan S and adds performance features including launch control and Active Suspension Management as standard.The Macan T uses the same 261-horsepower turbocharged 2.0-liter inline-four as the base Macan, mated to a seven-speed dual-clutch automatic transmission.The Macan T will go on sale in the spring, and we expect it start around $62,000.Porsche consolidated the Macan lineup for 2022, replacing the Turbo with an upgraded GTS featuring the previous Turbo’s 434-horsepower twin-turbo V-6. But for 2023 Porsche is expanding the Macan arsenal again, introducing a new Macan T that will slot between the base model and the Macan S. The Macan T, like the T versions of the 718 and 911 models, aims to provide a sharper driving experience thanks to its standard performance equipment.
The 2023 Macan T—which stands for “Touring”—will be powered by the same turbocharged 2.0-liter inline-four found in the base model, good for 261 hp and 295 pound-feet of torque. The engine is paired with a seven-speed dual-clutch automatic transmission and is 129 pounds lighter than the twin-turbo 2.9-liter V-6 found in the S and GTS models, which Porsche says will result in more nimble handling and better cornering. As with all Macans, the Macan T will be all-wheel-drive.

The Sport Chrono package will come standard on the Macan T, adding a driving mode switch on the steering wheel, launch control, and an analog and digital stopwatch. Porsche Active Suspension Management is also standard, and the all-wheel-drive system is tweaked for more rear-biased power delivery. Models equipped with the optional air suspension also get stiffer anti-roll bars, and the optional torque-vectoring system has also been retuned. Porsche says the Macan T will hit 60 mph in 5.8 seconds en route to a 144 mph top speed, matching the performance claims for the base model.
The Macan T is visually distinguished by exterior trim painted in Agate Grey Metallic, a black Macan T logo on the side blades, and black exhaust pipes and side window surrounds. Instead of the base Macan’s 19-inch wheels, the T rides on 20-inch Macan S wheels. Inside, the Macan T features eight-way power heated sports seats wrapped in a unique upholstery with a Porsche crest embossed in the headrest. The seats and steering wheel feature contrasting silver stitching, while the heated GT sport steering wheel is standard.The Macan T will be available starting in early spring. Pricing won’t be announced until closer to the on-sale date, but we expect it to start around $62,000.
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This 1962 International Harvester Scout 80 pickup, up for auction on Bring a Trailer, has 37-inch tires, a 6.0-inch suspension lift, and a beefed-up drivetrain.Along with a blue bedliner material used to paint the body, the customized cargo box has a spare-tire carrier and a roll bar with a luggage rack.The Scout’s current bid is $26,000 with no reserve, and the auction ends on Monday, February 21.While casually scrolling past immaculate muscle cars and six-figure sports cars on the Bring a Trailer auction site—which, like Car and Driver, is part of Hearst Autos—a little blue pickup truck with big ol’ tires and a sizable lift stood out to me like a hydrangea in a bed of roses. I instantly knew this badass 1962 International Harvester Scout 80 was my choice for Auction Pick of the Day.

The Ford Bronco Raptor is the new hotness, and a classic Land Rover Defender is likely an iconoclast’s choice when it comes to old-school off-roaders, but this ’62 Scout pickup is more desirable and unique than either, in my opinion. While it has clearly been heavily modified, upon closer inspection it’s also clear that it wasn’t hastily modified by some knuckleheads in a barn, as evidenced by the photos detailing its frame-off restoration.

Bring a Trailer

Don’t be mistaken: this Scout isn’t a restomod with modern tech and a luxury-lined interior. In fact, the inside is almost as spartan as it was when new in ’62, back when even carpeting wasn’t standard. This Scout does have carpeting on the floor and doors, along with a pair of vinyl bucket seats that look comfy but not supportive and a set of modern gauges. According to the seller, it has air conditioning, too; the system just isn’t incomplete and therefore not working. For maximum ventilation, you can simply remove its white hardtop roof. It is a bummer that the cargo box loses much of its original volume to the custom-built deck, which houses a 25-gallon fuel cell. At least the luggage rack that’s integrated into the roll bar above the spare-tire carrier provides supplementary storage space and looks rad.

Bring a Trailer

Bring a Trailer

The Scout’s baby-blue paint has as much clearcoat as a spray-in bedliner (read: none) because, well, it uses a bedliner material. Personally, the quality of the paint job on a rig like this doesn’t really concern me since they all look the same covered in mud. Getting filthy dirty in this Scout should be easy thanks to its 37-inch Treadwright Mud-Terrain Guard Dog tires mounted on 16.5-inch beadlock rims from a Hummer H1, complete with hardy eight-lug hubs. The solid front and rear axles also have manually locking differentials. The Bronco Raptor offers 37s, too, but I think the fender-flare-to-body-size ratio looks much better on the Scout–and my guy Ezra Dyer agrees.The Scout’s massive rolling stock obviously connects to a four-wheel-drive system, which in turn is controlled through a slick twin-stick, two-speed transfer case. Power comes from a 4.3-liter V-6 and a four-speed automatic transmission. The seller says the powertrain was pulled from a 2013 Chevy Silverado 1500, which developed 190 horsepower and 260 pound-feet of torque in stock form. However, modifications include an aluminum radiator, headers, and a dual exhaust system. Sure, what’s under the hood isn’t nearly as exciting as, say, the Bronco Raptor’s 400-plus-hp twin-turbo V-6, but at least it’s an upgrade over the feeble four-cylinder engine in the original 1962 version.

Bring a Trailer

Is this modified Scout 80 pickup truck perfect? Hell no. Is it a really cool off-roader with legitimate hardware and one-of-a-kind characteristics? (And we didn’t even mention its 12,000-pound winch.) Hell yes. It currently has a high bid of $26,000 with no reserve on BaT, and the auction is set to end on Monday, February 21.

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Volvo will continue production of the current XC90 even as it launches a new EV flagship SUV.The XC90 is built in Sweden while its electric replacement will be built in South Carolina.Another facelift is in store for the SUV, according to Volvo’s CEO.The second-generation Volvo XC90’s production run will continue for the foreseeable future, according to an Automotive News report quoting Volvo CEO Hakan Samuelsson. Although Volvo is planning to launch a new EV crossover flagship that will effectively replace the XC90, Samuelsson said there are plenty of reasons to keep the current model in production, namely the strong demand for hybrids in the U.S. and China.

The new Volvo EV crossover, previewed by the Concept Recharge shown in 2021 (pictured below), is slated to adopt a new name and will be built at Volvo’s plant in South Carolina. This leaves room for the current XC90 to continue for the next several years, as it’s built in Sweden. Volvo has just announced an investment in this Torslanda, Sweden factory to build its next generation of electric vehicles, but the brand doesn’t plan to make the transition to a fully electric lineup until 2030. That gives gas-powered models such as the XC90 plenty of years to phase out.

Volvo Concept Recharge
Volvo

Launched in 2015 as the first model in Volvo’s recent rejuvenation, the XC90 continues to be a strong seller for the company: it sold 38,657 units in the U.S. in 2021, a 13 percent increase over 2020 and second behind the smaller XC60 crossover’s 41,582 units. Samuelsson said that another facelift is coming soon for the XC90, and we also wouldn’t be surprised if Volvo eventually drops the standard T5 and T6 gasoline powertrains and keeps only the plug-in-hybrid XC90 Recharge model.
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