Motor News

The Morgan 3 Wheeler, which looks vintage but has been built only since 2011, is being discontinued early in 2021.
The company has already sold all 33 limited-run copies of the final P101 3 Wheeler, priced at $59,000 in four styles called Belly Tank, Aviator, Race Car, and Dazzleship (pictured above).
Morgan plans to bring back the 3 Wheeler with a European-emissions-compliant motorcycle engine in the near future.
While the Morgan 3 Wheeler is about as English as it’s possible to be without saying “Tally ho” or knowing the minor rules of cricket, this eccentric retro-trike has used an American heart since it was launched in 2011. Which is the reason it is about to retire, in its present form at least: the air-cooled S&S V-twin motorcycle engine is unable to meet forthcoming European emissions standards.

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The British sports-car maker has announced that production of the current 3 Wheeler will end early next year, with the celebratory edition wearing one of four eye-catching liveries to see it out in style. The company says that all 33 production slots of the limited run P101 have already been allocated, so if you want one you are too late.
While Morgan has four-wheeled models to sell in other parts of the world, the 3 Wheeler’s demise seems to raise an existential threat to the brand in America, where it has been the only vehicle that Morgan’s tenacious dealers have been able to offer for some time. The company has already told us it is hoping to bring its new BMW-powered aluminum-framed models to the U.S. under federal replica car legislation and we have already driven both the Plus Four and Plus Six in Britain. We’re also assured it will be launching a new three-wheeled model after what we’re told will be a brief gap, one that will be fully type approved for the U.S.
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Next 3 Won’t Be an EV
This won’t be a version of the electric 3 Wheeler the company started work on a few years ago—the stylish EV3, which replaced the S&S motor with a 20.0-kWh lithium-ion battery pack wrapped in stylish brass conductive cooling fins. That was canned before reaching series production, and although Morgan insiders say that electrification of all of its models will happen in the medium-term future, we’re told to expect the next-gen 3 Wheeler to launch with a combustion powerplant capable of passing European emissions, most likely a water-cooled motorcycle engine.

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Morgan

The 21st-century 3 Wheeler was inspired by the cars that Morgan started out building more than a century earlier and became one of the company’s most successful models of all time, selling more than 2500 examples. (Morgan typically makes just 850 cars of all sorts a year.) We drove a 2013 3 Wheeler on a tour of some of California’s abandoned towns, a memorable story written by the late Davey Johnson that is well worth another read.
The runout P101 3 Wheeler gets disc wheels in place of wire spokes and Hella driving lamps which we’re told have been positioned carefully to reduce turbulence around the front suspension. Black or white paint is offered, with the option of one of four graphics packs: the Belly Tank is inspired by lake racers and features what is described as a “distressed effect”; the Aviator brings RAF bomber–inspired nose art; the Race Car brings stripes and roundels; and the Dazzleship, seen here, carries a version of the Art Deco patterns that were intended to disguise the size and course of British warships from enemy submarines.
Morgan admits it could easily have sold out a much larger allocation of the P101. We’re told that 10 will be coming to buyers in the U.S., with the trike’s official MSRP a hefty $59,000.

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From brands like Bissell, Dyson, and Shark, these are some of the best—and worst—cordless handheld vacs you can buy today. More

Aston Martin has debuted its DBX SUV in the U.S. at the Aston Martin Residences in Miami.
The 65-story, sail-shaped tower holds 391 apartments, priced from $970,000 to $50 million, with completion scheduled for 2022.
Seven penthouses and 38 Signature Residences come with the buyer’s choice of a limited-edition DBX or a DB11, or the three-story penthouse comes with the final Aston Martin Vulcan.
For the owner who has said, “I love my Aston Martin so much I could live in it,” the English purveyor of grand tourers would like to turn your attention to Miami. The Aston Martin Residences next to the Miami River, overlooking Biscayne Bay, are the automaker’s first wholesale luxury residential development, a 65-story, sail-shaped tower with 391 apartments. The tower isn’t scheduled for completion until 2022, but it enjoyed its christening when it hosted the debut of the DBX SUV in the Americas.

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Aston Martin

There should be plenty more examples of the DBX at the residences soon enough. Buyers of the 38 Signature apartments and seven penthouses will get to choose a housewarming gift of either a DBX Riverwalk Edition or DB11 Riverwalk Edition. Spec’d by Aston Martin’s executive VP and chief creative officer Marek Reichman, the Riverwalk Editions are limited to 45 examples just for this building. If you’re reaching for your calculators, know that Signature accommodations run from $5.3 million to $7.7 million, while single-level penthouses start at $14 million.

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At the top of the sail sits a three-story penthouse, taking up 27,191 square feet and costing $50 million. Instead of a welcome-to-the-neighborhood carrot cake, that owner will receive the final Aston Martin Vulcan as spec’d by Reichman. The Vulcan was the carbon-fiber-bodied, track-only beast powered by a 7.0-liter V-12 with 820 horsepower, limited to 24 units and priced at $2.3 million.

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Aston Martin Vulcan.
Aston Martin

Elsewhere among the luxury, in addition to a four-story suite of Sky Amenities such as a virtual golf room, chef’s kitchen, and two cinemas, the Aston Martin Residences will incorporate a deep-water superyacht marina with direct access to Biscayne Bay. Aston Martin hasn’t released a boat since the AM37 four years ago, but we can see that changing now.

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As of writing, the residences are more than 60 percent sold. For jet setters with business in New York and wishing to stay on brand, there are five Aston Martin–designed residences at 130 William Street in Manhattan, and Aston Martin’s Galleries and Lairs service will soon complete the $7.7 million, 6000-square-foot Sylvan Rock house about 80 miles outside New York City that’s offered with a matching DBX in Onyx Black.
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Last week, we revealed our 10Best picks for 2021, which got us thinking about the history of the competition. We challenged the Window Shop crew to look at every winner since 1983 and pick their favorite. If you’ve watched this show before, it won’t surprise you that we all chose different cars since we rarely agree with one another about anything.
We invited former editor-in-chief and now contributor Csaba Csere along for this one. Csere attended every 10Best event from 1983 until just a few years ago. With performance and value on his mind, he puts up a 2005 Chevrolet Corvette (C6). Thinking along the same lines as Csere, contributor Jonathon Ramsey picks a fifth-generation Vette, but we can’t understand why he chose the garish Indy 500 pace-car version.
The other three choices come from Germany and trigger digressions about such things as the model names of Blaupunkt radios, how to reset the trip odometer in the Porsche 944’s interior, and why Car and Driver uses the term “naturally aspirated” instead of “normally aspirated.” If you watch to the end—or just skip ahead—you’ll see a rare consensus when we select the best of 10Best.
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The new GT3 version of the 992-generation Porsche 911 is almost here.
It will have a naturally aspirated 4.0-liter flat-six with over 500 horsepower.
There are also some notable interior and exterior changes to the GT3 compared with the standard 911.
Porsche aficionados seem to love everything that comes out of Stuttgart-Zuffenhausen, but that doesn’t mean the company won’t listen. And when we spent a few hours with Andreas Preuninger, who heads the development of the new 2021 Porsche 911 GT3, we got the feeling that he keenly listens to the customers. In fact, he is their best ally against those who would prefer to neuter the quintessential 911, to take it into the mainstream and make it more digestible.
You can’t exactly tell what the new GT3 will look like thanks to the slight camouflage up front and in the rear on this prototype. But our sources tell us it looks cleaner than ever, with a lower front air intake that resembles a jet engine. The rear wing is mounted at the top; it looks unusual, and it’s said to provide an aerodynamic advantage over a conventionally mounted wing.

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Porsche

Open the door, and the new instrument cluster addresses a major criticism of the 992: While the two outer gauges are hidden behind the steering rim in the regular 992, the GT3 features a specific GT mode that places all important information directly to the left and right of the central analog tachometer.
Happy news come from the powertrain department. The naturally aspirated 4.0-liter flat six is a notch up from the previous 911 GT3 and even from its superior evolution, the 991 Speedster’s engine with its single throttle valves. The sheer responsiveness and agility of the engine is a marvel, not to mention its expected 500-plus-horsepower rating and 9000 rpm redline.
The engine is mated to either a precise six-speed manual—which we like better than the standard 992’s seven-speed manual gearbox—or a seven-speed PDK dual-clutch automatic transmission. Preuninger’s team has listened to customers very closely, and as a result, the manual’s rev-match system can be turned off entirely.

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Moreover, the unfortunate gear selector of the regular 992’s PDK box, which resembles an electric shaver, has been replaced by a grippy shifter that features a separate gate in order to select gears the way god intended: Push to downshift, pull to upshift, like in a race car. Preuninger likes to use the console-mounted shifter in spite of the nicely executed, wheel-mounted paddles. So do we.

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Porsche

The chassis features a major change in the form of a race-inspired multilink front suspension setup—a 911 first. There are no electronically controlled engine mounts on the new model. They were deemed unnecessary, just like the extra weight they would have added.
Meanwhile, Preuninger has further derivatives on his mind. There will be another iteration of the GT3 Touring, which does such a marvelous job of giving just the slightest hint of its awesome performance. This time around, both the regular GT3 and the Touring will be available with both transmissions. And we can safely assume there will eventually be a GT3 RS again. The customers will love them all.
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The next Lamborghini Aventador will have a V-12 in the form of a naturally aspirated, hybrid-assisted engine.
With Bentley moving toward an all-EV future, it looks like this will be the last remaining 12-cylinder in the Volkswagen Group.
The next-gen Aventador is expected out next year.
As supercar makers are downsizing capacities and shedding cylinders from their combustion engines, one is determined to buck the trend. Lamborghini is planning to continue to offer a V-12 engine in the replacement for the Aventador—one that will use hybrid assistance but won’t be turbocharged.
According to Lamborghini’s long-serving chief technical officer, Maurizio Reggiani, both the engine’s layout and natural aspiration are critical to the character of the car.
“The V-12 has been part of the story of Lamborghini since the very beginning,” he told Car and Driver when we drove the Huracán STO prototype earlier this month. “It has been present in every year of our history, which is why our strategy and our vision for the future is to continue to have a V-12 coupled with a hybrid motor.”

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Reggiani has already dropped hints about this future direction, with Lamborghini having already combined V-12 and electric with the supercapacitor-fitted Sian. But next year’s Aventador replacement now seems certain to continue the Italian brand’s trademark powertrain layout for another generation. And while he is happy to extol the virtues of the V-12, he insists that the decision to stick with natural aspiration is equally important to preserving the car’s character.
“I remember when I started working in Modena, the people I learned from told me that naturally aspirated engines are how you prove engineering is good,” he said, “because nothing helps you. You must be able to suck as much air as possible and then, based only on this, put more fuel inside the combustion chamber to generate power. If you have a machine to push air, it becomes more a question of the structure of the engine and how much boost it can take. With a big enough turbo, you can produce almost any output.”
In addition to the advantages of throttle response—something Lamborghini’s sports cars remain exemplars of—Reggiani says that natural aspiration remains critical for the searing soundtrack Lamborghini buyers expect. “When you have a turbo you have a damper on the sound, like a muffler,” he explained. “It is filtered by the turbo, and you end up trying to use artificial sound to reproduce what should be spontaneous and natural.”
While electrical assistance is largely required to meet increasingly stringent CO2 targets and will bring additional mass, Reggiani also says it will bring other benefits. “You can add performance, but you can also fill in the weaknesses of the naturally aspirated engine, especially where torque is weak,” he explains.
The use of an electrically powered front axle also removes the requirement to run a propeller shaft down the center of the car, with Reggiani hinting the Aventador replacement will use a similar system to the Ferrari SF90. “If you have the possibility to use an electric front axle with torque vectoring left and right, you can do something truly exceptional in terms of helping the driver for traction and handling . . . it is like a collaboration between powertrain and chassis development, making a car that can stay exactly on a radius without any form of correction. This is like a dream for engineering.”
With Bentley’s confirmation that it will soon be dropping its W-12 engine ahead of an entirely electric future, Lamborghini is set to be the last brand within the Volkswagen Group to offer 12-cylinder power. Long may it continue.
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Lucid announced pricing for its entry-level Air Pure, which is starting at $77,400.
The electric vehicle is targeting a range of 406 miles and 480 horsepower.
The Pure Air will begin reaching customers in early 2022 from the company’s Arizona factory.
While we’re still waiting for details on the tri-motor performance edition of the Lucid Air, the automotive startup has shared details about the entry-level Air called the Air Pure. The electric vehicle starts at $77,400 and according to Lucid has a range of 406 miles and 480 hp.

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Those looking for the least expensive Lucid Air can now build their own on the automaker’s site, but be prepared to wait quite a while. The vehicle is expected to reach customers starting in early 2022. It joins the Touring, Grand Touring, and launch model Dream Edition. Those three vehicles are expected to come to market in 2021 with the Dream Edition leading the way in the Spring of next year.
Reserving the Air Pure requires a $300 deposit; the cars will be built at the company’s factory in Casa Grande, Arizona. The automotive startup recently completed the first phase of construction on the factory and is currently commissioning production equipment. The facility will have an initial capacity of 30,000 units per year and will eventually expand to 400,000 units a year, according to Lucid.

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A Pontiac Firebird Trans-Am was totally reimagined into something far cooler, and the judges of the Hot Wheels Legends Tour were convinced it was the winner.
Builder Riley Stair worked on it for almost two years.
Now that the 1970 Firebird is the third Legends Car winner, it will be built in 1:64 scale and sold worldwide.
Riley Stair spent 20 months in a lean-to in his parents’ side yard building what is now generally acknowledged as the greatest Pontiac Firebird ever made. And now Hot Wheels and the judges of the Hot Wheels Legends Tour have agreed with that general assessment, naming it the third car to gain status as a 1:64-scale Hot Wheels Legends car, meaning it will be manufactured into a little toy car and sold around the world. Your own kid might be playing with it on your kitchen floor come 2021.
“Yeah, so, it’s a bit wider than stock,” Stair told Hoonigan last year. “It’s a single layer of Pontiac, the rest is all tube chassis.”
Indeed, the car is seven feet wide, a stat that seems to have fascinated almost everyone who has seen it and fully everyone who has written about it in the two years since its debut. The flares are 18-gauge steel sheet he made himself. It has inboard pushrod suspension. The 400-cubic-inch LSV8 revs to 10,000 rpm. The exhaust oozes forward of the engine block like Play-Doh extruded from a Play-Doh press.
“Everything but the paint and powder was done in the side yard of the house,” Stair said.
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Clearly, Stair is an artist. Let’s hope he is still working on cars. If there’s ever another SEMA show, let’s hope he is there with his next build.

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As for the Hot Wheels Legends Tour, the Tour started as an actual worldwide multi-city tour that included stops in Europe, Latin America, Asia and North America. More than 110,000 people stopped in on the tour to see the cars. There were almost 5000 cars entered. The last winner was a Nash, a car you might have a hard time seeing as cool, but check it out.
This year, with the constraints of the COVID-19 pandemic, the tour went virtual. Our Road & Track brethren teamed with the iconic company and became a virtual stop on the tour. The final stop was live-streamed from Jay Leno’s Garage, co-hosted by auto media personality Jarod DeAnda and Leno himself on Leno’s YouTube page and the Hot Wheels Facebook page. The judges included Leno, Snoop Dogg, Gabriel “Fluffy” Iglesias, and Brionna Lynch. Special guests included 007 driver Ben Collins, Paxton Booth, and Tony Stewart. That panel then whittled down the choices from thousands of cars to one. So far only two other cars have made it to miniaturization; Stair’s is the third.
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“By going virtual, the third year of the Hot Wheels Legends Tour demonstrated tremendous growth, engaging over 10 million fans from around the world,” said Ted Wu, vice president, global head of design for vehicles at Mattel. “With more vehicle entries this year than ever before, we know we found a special build that embodies the Hot Wheels challenger spirit with the ’70 Pontiac Trans Am. You see the vehicle and instantly know it is meant to be a Hot Wheels with the unique frame, engine, and purpose-driven build.”
“To have my car immortalized as a Hot Wheels die-cast for car lovers of all ages to enjoy means the world to me,” said Legends Tour Winner Riley Stair. “To think that my car in a 1:64 scale could make a lasting impression for a young kid who loves cars, as Hot Wheels have for so many of us, is a dream come true. I can’t wait to see my nephew Noah pushing my car around the living room!”
Looking forward to having one for the desk.
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