Motor News

After spending 414,000 happy miles driving a Mitsubishi Mirage, the Huots traded it in—for a brand-new Mirage.
They used it mostly as a courier vehicle for a medical sample delivery company.
Dubbed the Purple Won, the tiny car did all this while tackling Minnesota winters and acting as a symbol of the couple’s love of the Minnesota Vikings and Prince.
We love what we love. Jerry and Janice Huot seem to love three things: the Minnesota Vikings, the musical genius of Prince, and their 2014 Mitsubishi Mirage, in which they racked up an incredible 414,000 miles. That’s four flips of the odometer in six years in a vehicle that’s not known for its creature comforts. Just imagine how it must have been tossed around by the winds of passing semis, almost being swallowed by large potholes and buried in snowdrifts, as they traveled up and down the state of Minnesota.

2020 Mitsubishi Mirage: Better? Probably. A Bit.

New/Old: ’14 Mitsubishi Mirage vs. ’05 VW Phaeton

The 400K adventure started, like many others, with a trip to a local showroom. While looking to trade in a Cadillac for an inexpensive vehicle with great fuel economy, the Huots came across a Plasma Purple subcompact 2014 Mitsubishi Mirage. Smitten by its color and value, they took it home. After Janice added the initial 7000 or so miles, Jerry took over the vehicle and used it for his courier business driving around Minnesota delivering medical samples from medical offices to labs. If you took a drug test in Minneapolis in the past six years, your urine might have traveled in Jerry’s Mirage.
The couple dubbed the vehicle the Purple Won, with the name on a set of vanity plates as a nod to Minneapolis’s favorite son, Prince, who was known as the Purple One. The tiny vehicle was also used to display the Huots’ love of the Minnesota Vikings by putting on a set of magnetic horn decals, as well as when Jerry dressed the Mirage in a Vikings helmet for Janice’s birthday. Outside work hours, the couple used the vehicle to haul rocks and mulch up their gravel driveway.
The Huots were nothing if not brand loyal: they’d also owned an Outlander Sport and a Montero Sport in the past. Still, their willingness to spend hundreds of thousands of miles bumping along in a subcompact requires a little context. The Mirage occupies a market segment not known for comfort. To reach 414,000 miles in six years, Jerry Hout would have to put an average of 69,000 miles of road underneath him and his Mirage per year. To accomplish that driving five days a week for work, he would be hauling medical samples about 265 miles per day Monday through Friday. That’s an incredible amount of miles and time in such a tiny vehicle.
But you can’t argue with love. Even if that love involves being crammed in the Little Economy Car That Could over hundreds of miles a day. Let’s just hope they were listening to Prince the entire time.
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November new-vehicle sales saw an overall decline year over year, but much of it was attributable to the low number of selling days in November.
Toyota and Hyundai both saw sales decline based on volume, but when adjusted for the daily selling rate, the automakers saw their sales increase in November as compared to last year.
Despite the negative data, the auto industry is continuing its improvement from lows in April as a result of the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic.
November new-vehicle sales numbers are rolling in, and at first glance, the results would suggest that the consistent recovery we’ve seen since sales bottomed out in April has ended. Compared with November 2019, Toyota saw sales drop 1 percent, Hyundai had sales fall 9 percent, and Mazda’s sales were down 10.8 percent.

October New Vehicle Sales Continue Recovery

Trucks, SUVs Provide Profitable Third Quarters

Auto Sales in August Continue Recovery from Spring

Without adjusting for number of selling days, J.D. Power projects, November sales fell 14.6 percent year over year. Yet, November 2020 had three fewer selling days—for just 23 in total—than November of last year, along with one less weekend. Adjusting for those factors, J.D. Power estimated that November sales dropped just 3.5 percent.
“November 2020 is a prime example of why accounting for selling day differences is important in measuring comparable sales performance,” Thomas King, president of the data and analytics division at J.D. Power, said in a note. “After two consecutive months of year-over-year retail sales gains, a quirk in the November sales calendar will result in new-vehicle retail sales appearing to fall 12 percent.”
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Toyota’s sales fell in November, but on a daily-selling-rate basis—which takes into account the discrepancy of selling days in November—Toyota’s sales were up 12.6 percent as compared to last year. Toyota’s trucks and SUVs showed particular strength with the divisions seeing sales jump by 14.1 and 12.6 percent, respectively, based on daily selling rate. Just based on volume, truck sales grew 1 percent while SUV sales fell 0.6 percent. The Highlander, 4Runner, and Tacoma showed particular strength, as well as the Camry among the car division.
Hyundai’s sales followed a similar trajectory as Toyota’s: the Korean automaker saw its sales climb 4 percent on a daily-selling-rate basis. Based solely on volume, the Kona, Palisade, and Sonata all had sales jump in November as compared to last year. The Kona’s sales grew by 29.9 percent, the Palisade’s by 18.2 percent, and the Sonata’s by 28 percent.
Transaction-Price Rise Helped Automakers
Overall, although sales did fall in the month of November, automakers benefited from a year-over-year increase in the average transaction price of new vehicles. Average prices rose 1.3 percent as compared to last year, according to an estimate from Kelley Blue Book, with the largest price increases seen among Fiat Chrysler and General Motors vehicles.

Fewer Cars on Dealer Lots Is a 2020 Thing

“While the sales results illustrate the continued strength of consumer demand, that strength is further reinforced by transaction prices hitting another record high, even as manufacturers and retailers continue to remain disciplined on new-vehicle incentives and discounts,” King added.
Mazda, which saw sales fall in November, posted an increase of 0.1 percent in sales on a daily-selling-rate basis; that increase in sales is bolstered by the CX-30, which was new last year and posted limited sales in November 2019. Mazda’s two most popular models, the Mazda 3 and the CX-5, saw sales drop 17.5 and 1.7 percent based on daily selling rate last month. Based on volume, Subaru saw sales drop 11.4 percent in November but had strong sales of its Crosstrek and Outback. The Crosstrek had sales increase 23.7 percent and the Outback 3.5 percent.
Several other automakers, including Ford and Honda, are expected to report November monthly sales, while others, including General Motors, Nissan, Fiat Chrysler, and most European brands, only report quarterly sales.
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The 2021 Ram 3500 with the Cummins turbo-diesel 6.7-liter inline-six now makes 1075 lb-ft of torque, which is 75 more than last year.
The mightiest version can now tow 37,100 pounds with a gooseneck hitch, an increase of 2000 pounds versus the outgoing model.
The heavy-duty Ram’s new figures leapfrog those of the 2021 Ford Super Duty and provide class-leading bragging rights—for the moment.
Heavy-duty pickup trucks are a lot like tennis players. When one sends a powerful shot toward the sideline, the other one volleys back with an even more powerful stroke. A similar scene plays out in virtually every model year as the latest HD trucks compete for the titles of best-in-class torque and towing. While the Ford Super Duty fielded 2020’s champion, the 2021 Ram 3500 now takes over the top spot.

Ram Power Wagon 75th Anniversary Gets TRX Bits

2021 Chevrolet Silverado HD Adds Towing Capacity

2020 GMC Sierra HD

The high-output Cummins turbo-diesel 6.7-liter inline-six that’s only available on the Ram 3500 now pumps out 1075 lb-ft of torque. That’s 75 more than last year’s version and 25 more than the Power Stroke turbo-diesel 6.7-liter V-8 (1050 lb-ft total) that’s optional on the Super Duty. To extract the extra torque, Ram says it raised the boost limits with a variable-geometry turbocharger and increased the flow rate in the fuel-delivery system. However, Ford’s Power Stroke does make more horsepower (475) than the Ram’s mightiest Cummins (400).

FCA

To increase the Ram 3500’s maximum gooseneck towing to 37,100 pounds (2000 more than before), the rear portion of the truck’s heavy-duty frame has been enhanced and the fifth-wheel hitch has been redesigned in-house by Ram Engineering. The upgrades allow it to leapfrog the 2021 Ford F-450, which tops out at 37,000 pounds with a gooseneck hitch. As a consolation prize for Blue Oval fans, the 2021 Ram 3500’s maximum conventional tow rating of 23,000 pounds trails the F-450’s figure by 1200 pounds (24,200 total).

FCA

For those who are interested in buying a new heavy-duty Ram without the high-output Cummins, which will be available in dealerships this month, every 2021 model is now available with a digital rearview mirror. This new option provides an unobstructed view of what’s behind the truck by displaying a video image in the mirror.
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How many times have you pulled up to a polo match or regatta or Friends of Liechtenstein Benefit Polo Match/Regatta and immediately turned around and gone home because you had nowhere to sit?

Rolls-Royce Cullinan Is the Dilaudid of SUVs

The Rolls-Royce Fit for a Day at the Volcano

Sure, it’s not like there weren’t chairs, but even the nicer Zambezi teak ones at the Newport Most Dangerous Game Hunt were probably rented from some atrocious event planner who’d used them just the week before at the Greenwich Submarine Auction. Imagine who’d sat in them? Could have been someone with a net worth of less than 10 digits, and it’s entirely possible that sort of condition might be contagious. But what are you going to do, trudge in with your own collapsible nylon chair from Dick’s Sporting Goods and claim you’ve gone bohemian? The Prince of Upper Hälsingland knows you better than that, and there’s no way he’s buying it. No, what you need is the Rolls-Royce Pursuit Chair, which is elegant, lightweight, portable, and only costs $8800.

A parking meter’s rich uncle.
Elliott_Lacey/Rolls-Royce

Pursuit Seat
rolls-roycemotorcars.com
$8,800.00

You can order the Pursuit Chair to match your Rolls-Royce, but you don’t have to own a Rolls to buy one. You probably should, though, just to head off the inevitable “Which Rolls-Royces do you own?” questions that will inevitably get tossed your way while you’re minding your own business trying to retrieve your falcon. Regardless, you should say you got the new Rolls Lancelot with a custom Grenadil shooting platform, which is something they only offer to clients who own railroads.

A flashlight.
Elliott_Lacey/Rolls-Royce

As chairs go, the Pursuit Seat is minimalist. It’s essentially a strap of leather on a collapsible aluminum frame that’s fitted to a height-adjustable carbon-fiber pole. The bottom is a “gently flared aluminum ferrule” that’s meant for solid surfaces. To lend purchase on softer terrain, like the tee box on your yacht, there’s a retractible spike at the end of the pole. We imagine that feature could also be useful for popping the gender-reveal balloon for your new Red Tibetan Mastiff, or simply menacing your assistant.

No, I’m not threatening you. I’m merely showing you the hidden spike at the bottom of my chair.
Elliott_Lacey/Rolls-Royce

The Pursuit Seat is designed to fit in the Cullinan’s “recreation module” (the storage compartment under the rear cargo floor) but can also, like your enemies, be thrown in the trunk of any old Rolls. There’s a slender pocket on the leather seat, suitable for stashing tickets or cash or even more cash, and the seat’s hinge conceals a flashlight—very key if you’re not often awake during the daylight hours.

Say hello to my little chairs!
Rolls-Royce

So often, we plead with companies to give us the products we want, and our petitions fall on deaf ears. It’s nice to know that Rolls-Royce, at least, is listening.
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Ford has announced that the 2021 Mustang Mach-E GT and GT Performance Edition will make more power than originally estimated.
The Mach-E GT makes 480 horsepower (up 21) and 600 lb-ft of torque, while the GT Performance Edition has the same power, but more torque at 634 lb-ft.
Ford claims that the standard Mustang Mach-E GT will launch to 60 mph in 3.8 seconds, with the GT Performance Edition reaching that speed in 3.5 seconds.
Like the gas-powered Ford Mustang coupe and convertible, the Mustang Mach-E electric crossover will have a higher-performance GT model in its lineup, which will look more aggressive, and it’ll make more power than initially claimed. A GT Performance Edition will also be available with more torque, and Ford claims it’ll launch to 60 mph in 3.5 seconds.

Ford

The Mustang Mach-E GT is equipped with an 88.0-kWh battery pack and two electric motors, one on each axle, sending power to all four wheels. The result is 480 horsepower (up 21 from Ford’s initial claim) and 600 lb-ft of torque, and Ford claims it’ll reach 60 mph in 3.8 seconds. The Performance Edition also makes 480 ponies, but it provides more torque (634 lb-ft), and it’s expected to be quicker. Ford also estimates that the standard GT will travel 250 miles on a single charge and the Performance Edition will reach 235 miles.

2021 Ford Mustang Mach-E: All the Details

Mustang Mach-E GT Now Available in Cyber Orange

2022 Mach-E Hits 300 Mile EV Range Target

Mustang Mach-E GTs will look more aggressive, too, with a carbonized gray grille, red-painted Brembo brakes, 20-inch black wheels, and GT badging. The Performance Edition gets special badges, unique 20-inch wheels wrapped in Pirelli summer tires (the standard GT comes with all-season rubber), Ford Performance seats with metallic stitching, an aluminum instrument panel, and standard magnetorheological dampers.
The 2021 Ford Mustang Mach-E GT and GT Performance Edition will be available at the end of the summer, and orders open in the spring. Customers who have already reserved the Mach-E GT will have the opportunity to switch to the Performance Edition, Ford says.
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Mercedes-AMG has announced that the 2021 GT Black Series starts at $326,050.
It’s powered by a 720-hp twin-turbocharged 4.0-liter V-8 with a flat-plane crankshaft. AMG claims it’ll reach 60 mph in 3.1 seconds.
It’ll arrive in the U.S. early next year.
The Mercedes-AMG GT has finally gotten its top-dog Black Series variant, and it’s powered by a twin-turbocharged 4.0-liter flat-plane-crank V-8, dubbed M178 LS2, that produces 720 horsepower. It’s currently the Nürburgring production car lap record holder with a time of 6:48 on the 12.94-mile course, and when it goes on sale in the U.S. early next year it’ll start at $326,050.

View Photos

Mercedes-AMG

An aggressive aerodynamics package, which includes a manually adjustable carbon-fiber front splitter and a two-piece carbon-fiber wing painted in matte black, sets the Black Series far apart from the rest of the GT lineup, even the aggressive track-focused GT R. That’s not all the carbon fiber, though. The fenders, hood, roof, and rear hatch are all made of the stuff. A staggered set of 19-inch front and 20-inch rear AMG forged wheels are standard, wrapped in ultra sticky Michelin Pilot Sport Cup 2 R rubber, and the camber is manually adjustable on both axles.

AMG GT Black Series Targets a Higher Realm

AMG GT Black Series Breaks Nürburgring Record

View Photos of the 2021 AMG GT Black Series

A special paint color, Magmabeam (pictured above), is exclusively available for the Black Series, and it is the only extra-cost paint option. Interior customization options include AMG carbon-fiber doorsills, orange or silver contrast stitching, silver-colored seatbelts, a rear luggage area crossbar in either matte carbon fiber or gloss black aluminum, a touchpad for the center control, and a Burmester surround-sound system. Customers can also opt for a lane tracking package that includes blind-spot and lane-keeping assists, and there’s also a fitted car cover available. Pricing for these options will be announced closer to the on-sale date.

View Photos

Mercedes-AMG

The GT Black Series is powered by a twin-turbocharged 4.0-liter V-8 that uses a lighter, flat-plane crankshaft, as seen on Ferraris and the Ford Mustang Shelby GT350. The car makes 720 horsepower from 6700 to 6900 rpm, and peak torque is 590 lb-ft available from 2000 to 6000 rpm. AMG claims it’ll blast to 60 mph in 3.1 seconds thanks to a seven-speed dual-clutch automatic transmission and reach a top speed of 202 mph. Even better, as of this writing, it’s the fastest production car around the Green Hell.
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The 2021 Mazda CX-30 gains a new 2.5 Turbo trim level with a more powerful engine.
The turbocharged version starts at $31,000 and ranges up to $35,000.
The CX-30 2.5 Turbo will arrive at dealerships by the end of the year.
The latest Mazda to gain the company’s turbocharged 2.5-liter inline-four is the CX-30 crossover, which adds a 2.5 Turbo model for the 2021 model year. This 250-horsepower version of the CX-30 will start at $31,000 and comes standard with all-wheel drive and a six-speed automatic transmission. That base price represents a significant $7700 bump over the least expensive AWD CX-30 with its base engine, a 186-hp nonturbo 2.5-liter inline-four.

2021 Mazda CX-30 Turbo Confirmed with 250 HP

Tested: Mazda CX-30 Channels the Mazda 3

Upgrading to the CX-30 2.5 Turbo’s better-equipped trim levels will cost you, too. The 2.5 Turbo Premium starts at $33,400 and adds extra stuff including a Bose audio system, a heated steering wheel, navigation, a head-up display, and a power liftgate. The Premium Plus is fully loaded at $35,000 and includes features such as a 360-degree camera system and more advanced driver-assistance technologies.
We anticipate the CX-30 2.5 Turbo to be significantly quicker than the standard version, which recorded a zero-to-60-mph time of 8.1 seconds in our testing. The related 2021 Mazda 3 2.5 Turbo got to 60 mph in a swift 5.6 seconds, so we look forward to testing a CX-30 to see how it performs.
Mazda says the 2021 CX-30 2.5 Turbo will be going on sale by the end of this year.
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The Bentley Continental GT, Flying Spur, and Bentayga are all available to order with tweed interior trim from Mulliner, the British automaker’s bespoke division.
Four colors are available: a plaid pattern, dark blue, tan, or green.
The tweed fabric is sourced from the Lovat Mill in Scotland.
Bentley, much like Ivy League college professors, has a thing for tweed. The Bentley Continental GT convertible can be ordered with a tweed fabric top supplied from New England, and the Equestrian Edition features diamond quilted tweed fabrics. The Mulliner Bacalar also uses the fabric. Now the British automaker is adding tweed interior trim to other vehicles in its lineup, including the Continental GT, Flying Spur sedan, and Bentayga SUV. Only this time it’s from Scotland, and it’s available through Mulliner, Bentley’s bespoke commissioning division. Sophisticated.

There are four tweed patterns available: Glen Plaid–Tolsta Beach (pictured above), with a bold check pattern; Charcoal, a dark bluish color; Cheltenham, a countryside green; and Sand Herringbone, a tan color. The patterns adorn the interior door trim and blend well with the leather interior on the three grand tourers.

Bentley Turns to Tweed for Continental GT Soft Top

2020 Volvo V60 Cross Country Has Rad Plaid Seats

The tweed fabrics are sourced from the Lovat Mill in Hawick, Scotland, which uses no harmful chemicals in the production of its fabrics and takes 90 percent of its electricity from renewable sources. Partnering with the Lovat Mill is part of Bentley’s Beyond 100 strategy, which is a plan for the British automaker to become the worldwide leader in “sustainable luxury mobility.” Its lineup will consist entirely of plug-in hybrids and electric vehicles by 2026.
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