Motor News

Monterey Car Week has descended upon us once again, gracing our eyes and ears with some of the most extravagant and exclusive offerings from the automotive world. Each year some of the wealthiest automotive enthusiasts from around the globe converge in Monterey, California, for a week of fossil-fueled posturing. The strutting isn’t all for show, though, and the crown of Car Week—the Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance—is widely considered the premier car show in the world. Winning a Pebble ribbon means an instant jump in a car’s valuation and marks immense status in the world of collector cars. With very few exceptions, cars accepted to the Concours are not allowed to return within a 10-year period unless they have changed ownership and are freshly restored (or they are an original preservation car).If that all sounds as interesting to you as it does to us, you can still enjoy the show, even without spending hundreds of dollars for a ticket. Like years past, we’ll have reporters on the ground scouting our favorites, and we’ll be liveblogging here on the site. We’ll also be uploading regularly to our Instagram, so make sure to check that out for the best sights and sounds. The options below are also helpful if you’re looking to get information straight from the horse’s mouth.Pebble Beach Motoring Classic (August 7–20)Sure, most of the cars around Monterey Car Week probably see less pavement than that project rotting behind your house, but that won’t be true for the entrants of the Pebble Beach Motoring Classic. Starting August 8, the entrants will depart from Kirkland, Washington, taking a relaxed eight days to drive roughly 1500 miles, before arriving in Monterey, California. Last year’s entrance fee for one car and two people totaled $14,000 and did not include accommodations in Monterey. Unfortunately, this one will be hard to tune in to unless you can get yourself to the route. As the cars are being driven by the owners, they probably won’t be spending their drive uploading to Instagram. Pebble Beach ConcoursRolex Monterey Motorsports Reunion (August 16–19)Some of the rarest race cars in history will spend the four days between August 17 and August 20 racing around Laguna Seca Raceway. Some 550 cars were invited, with the main focus this year on the 70th anniversary of the Corvette. In addition to Corvettes of every generation, there’ll be historic Formula 1 cars, Trans Am racers, and IMSA cars from the 1970s. There should be a stream on the Laguna Seca Youtube channel, or follow on social using these tags: #RolexReunion #MontereyCarWeek #WeatherTechRaceway. More Car Week InfoLegends of the Autobahn (August 17)The American clubs for Audi, BMW, and Mercedes-Benz join together every year to host an all-German marque Concours d’Elegance held in Pacific Grove, California. Follow these tags and accounts on Instagram for photos and videos: #legendsoftheautobahn @bmwcca @audiclubna @mercedesbenzclubofamerica.The Quail, A Motorsports Gathering (August 18)The Quail prides itself as being the most glamorous of the Pebble events, even if the main reason everyone’s there—the Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance—is happening two days later. This year’s featured themes include the 50th Anniversary of the 1973 RS Carrera, Porsche 959s, the Bentley 1950s R-Type Coupe, and Eyes on Italian Design. Keep tabs with #thequail on August 18.Adam Swords/The QuailConcorso Italiano (August 19)Italian cars strike directly to the heart of the automotive world, and Concorso Italiano is focused on as many as 1000 Italian cars and motorcycles. Follow @concorsoitaliano and #concorsoitaliano for more information. Concours d’Lemons California (August 19)If reading about all of these obscenely rich owners of classic and exotic cars has you feeling sick about the single wrinkly dollar bill in your wallet, unwind with the deliberately wacky Concours d’Lemons. Follow @concoursdlemons and #concoursdlemons on August 19, or check out the Lemons website for more info and a recap video.Eddie AltermanPebble Beach Concours d’Elegance (August 20)If your bank account looks anything like ours, you probably don’t have the cash to shell out $525 per ticket and lots more on hotels and food. Thankfully, you can stream the Concours d’Elegance on August 20. Bookmark the official Pebble Beach livestream and make yourself a nice cocktail with your best liquor. It’ll still be cheaper than the drinks on the lawn in California, and no one will judge you for incorrectly tying your bowtie. Associate News EditorJack Fitzgerald’s love for cars stems from his as yet unshakable addiction to Formula 1. After a brief stint as a detailer for a local dealership group in college, he knew he needed a more permanent way to drive all the new cars he couldn’t afford and decided to pursue a career in auto writing. By hounding his college professors at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, he was able to travel Wisconsin seeking out stories in the auto world before landing his dream job at Car and Driver. His new goal is to delay the inevitable demise of his 2010 Volkswagen Golf. More

The arrival of an open-topped DB12 is no surprise but still a welcome addition.The DB12 Volante’s power-operated fabric roof folds in just 14 seconds.With the roof up, the 671-hp V-8 gives a 202-mph top speed.As night follows day, so the open-topped version of an Aston sports car arrives shortly after the coupe. In this case, that means the entirely predictable, yet also entirely beautiful, DB12 Volante, which is the convertible version of the regular DB12 we drove for the first time last month in Europe.As with the coupe, Aston is describing the Volante as a “super tourer,” intended to combine the performance of a high-end sports car with the grand-touring capabilities of a traditional Aston Martin. Mechanically it is unchanged from the fixed-roof version, using the same twin-turbo 4.0-liter AMG-sourced V-8 engine making peaks of 671 horsepower and 590 pound-feet. The option of a V-12 engine is no longer available; Aston is reserving that for the forthcoming replacement for the DBS Superleggera. Full Details and SpecsYet even with only four liters of capacity and eight cylinders to call on, the DB12 Volante will still be toweringly fast. Aston claims it will be capable of a 3.6-second zero-to-60-mph time, which is just one-tenth slower than the corresponding time for the coupe. Both versions of the DB12 have identical 202-mph top speeds, although the Volante will only be able to hit that peak with the roof in place. According to Aston’s figures, the convertible is 240 pounds heavier than the coupe, meaning it should be around 4350 pounds when we get it on the scales.That RoofThe Volante’s roof is an eight-layer fabric top that hides entirely beneath the rear deck once lowered. Toplessness suits the DB12 particularly well, especially for those who aren’t especially fond of the black trim that extends rearward from the coupe’s greenhouse. The Volante loses that entirely, and the roof-down profile is compelling in its simplicity. Four convertible-top fabric colors will be available: black, red, blue, and black/silver. Aston says that the roof takes just 14 seconds to open and 16 seconds to close, with this possible at speeds of up to 31 mph.The Volante will be offered solely with an eight-speed automatic and rear-wheel drive, with reactions sharpened by an electronically controlled locking differential at the rear. Adaptive dampers are standard and claimed to have a 500 percent increase in “bandwidth of force distribution” compared to the ones used by the DB11 Volante. The new Volante will be softer than the coupe, having different rear springs and what Aston describes as a “dedicated damper tune”; it is also claimed to have 5 percent better torsional rigidity than the DB11 Volante. The most significant change for the DB12 Volante is the same as on the coupe, the arrival of a redesigned and higher-quality cabin featuring both improved ergonomics but also the use of a touchscreen interface rather than the cumbersome turn-and-click controller of the DB11. While the mechanical and structural transformation between DB11 and DB12 is effectively a heavy facelift, this is one area where the new Volante should feel like an entirely new car.The DB12 Volante will make its debut during Monterey Car Week this week and will go into production in time for the first buyers to take delivery before the end of the year. Official pricing hasn’t been announced yet, but we’re told to expect it to be somewhere around the $265,000 mark in the U.S. That’s a relatively modest increase over the $236,000 DB11 Volante, one that looks justified given the scale of the improvements that have been wrought. Senior European CorrespondentOur man on the other side of the pond, Mike Duff lives in Britain but reports from across Europe, sometimes beyond. He has previously held staff roles on UK titles including CAR, Autocar and evo, but his own automotive tastes tend towards the Germanic, owning both a troublesome 987-generation Porsche Cayman S and a Mercedes 190E 2.5-16. More

Rarer than a Porsche but more affordable than a Ferrari, the Lotus Esprit offers thrilling performance and exotic looks.This one has just over 21,000 miles on its odometer and has had a thorough recent servicing.With three days to go before the auction ends on August 15, bidding on the Bring a Trailer online auction is at $41,111.Car and DriverThe desire for a Porsche or a Ferrari is both broad and deep, but to lust after a Lotus is to throw logic and reason out the occasionally malfunctioning power window. To paraphrase Shakespeare, love is not love which bends with the tow-truck driver to remove; with a Lotus, periodic interruption of service is worth the way the cars get under your skin. Want reliable? Get a Camry. Want passion? Take a gander at this gorgeous wedge of English beauty, an all-black Lotus Esprit powered by a twin-turbocharged mid-engine V-8.Today’s pick from Bring a Trailer—which, like Car and Driver, is part of Hearst Autos—is a 1998 Lotus Esprit V-8 with just over 20,000 miles on the odometer (it’s a Canadian car, so that reading is actually 35,000 kilometers. Sorry). Bring a TrailerThe World’s Sexiest DoorstopThe original, wedge-shaped Esprit arrived in the late 1970s as the world’s sexiest doorstop, and received only two major refreshes over a 28-year production run. This mid-1990s version is fairly rare—in Canada, Lotus only managed to sell four of these in 1998; in the U.S. market, just 155 found homes—making it a far more exotic option than something like a 911 Turbo, but with performance that’ll have you nipping at the Porsche’s heels.From the C/D ArchiveWhen Car and Driver reviewed the Esprit V-8 in 1998 (linked above), John Phillips knocked the car for a balky shift action and heavy clutch and couldn’t help but note the aging platform. Still, there was no arguing with the performance supplied by the 350-hp twin-turbo 3.5-liter V-8.Though the new V-8 may not sound Ferrari-esque, it certainly inspires the Esprit to supercar velocities. Sixty mph now manifests in a spine-straightening 4.1 seconds—three-tenths quicker than the old four-cylinder Esprit S4S and seven-tenths sooner than the still-older Esprit Turbo SE. In fact, that zero-to-60 time places this Lotus only a tenth of a second behind a Viper GTS, which, of course, has the advantage of two more cylinders and 100 extra horse­power. The Esprit V-8 decimates the quarter-mile in 12.7 seconds at 112 mph—three-tenths and 4 mph better than the old S4S. And it rushes to 150 mph 10.3 sec­onds sooner than the S4S, placing this Lotus only one second shy of the 0-to-150-mph time of, say, a Ferrari 355. Bring a TrailerBring a TrailerAnd also, just look at it. This black on black with a nicely contrasting tan interior is like something Batman might drive. Assuming among his gadgets he also had a Bat Flatdeck and didn’t mind occasionally showing up to the Bat Signal half an hour late to find Commissioner Gordon pointedly looking at his wristwatch.Affairs of the HeartAll joking about wonky reliability aside, what a Lotus really offers what most British sports cars bring to the table: true ownership involvement. If the shift linkage of an Esprit needs finessing, and if the V-8’s lack of low-rpm power requires throttle management, then that’s just part of the driving experience. A Lotus needs you back, and on the right day and the right road, the driving experience is absolute bliss.Bring a TrailerThere’s really no way to explain the appeal further: if you know, you know. And if you know, this is an extremely desirable example of the irresistible appeal of a proper sporting Lotus. With four days to go, bidding is at $41,111. Click on over to Bring a Trailer to bid with your heart, not your head. Contributing EditorBrendan McAleer is a freelance writer and photographer based in North Vancouver, B.C., Canada. He grew up splitting his knuckles on British automobiles, came of age in the golden era of Japanese sport-compact performance, and began writing about cars and people in 2008. His particular interest is the intersection between humanity and machinery, whether it is the racing career of Walter Cronkite or Japanese animator Hayao Miyazaki’s half-century obsession with the Citroën 2CV. He has taught both of his young daughters how to shift a manual transmission and is grateful for the excuse they provide to be perpetually buying Hot Wheels. More

REI and Airstream collaborated on an environmentally minded camper trailer last year called the REI Co-op Special Edition Basecamp.That model added eco touches to the standard Basecamp trailer, but, at first, Airstream only offered it as a 16-foot model.This year, Airstream has added a 20-foot REI trailer to its Basecamp lineup, which already includes a Basecamp 20 model that starts at $54,400. The EI Co-op Special Edition Basecamp 20X starts at $62,400.Camping and sustainability should go hand in hand, but sometimes it helps to make the connection explicit. That’s what REI Co-op and Airstream did last year when they introduced a special-edition camping trailer filled with post-consumer recycled materials and sustainably grown wood used to make the components. The duo has now introduced a 20-foot version of the special edition Basecamp travel trailer for those who thought the original 16-foot model wasn’t large enough.Called the REI Co-op Special Edition Basecamp 20X, the new, larger trailer can sleep four instead of just two. The extra room comes from the larger, 20-foot chassis and a front dinette set that converts into the bed. The bigger trailer also has larger holding tanks.The original REI Basecamp trailer was designed to answer the stream of requests that Airstream told Car and Driver it received from potential customers for an Airstream camper that could fit larger families and groups in the backcountry. Airstream did not provide C/D any sales numbers, but a company press release called the first REI Airstream “successful.””While we initially introduced the 16-foot version of the REI Co-op Special Edition Basecamp to gauge interest and gather insights, our long-term vision always included the introduction of a larger model,” an Airstream spokesperson told Car and Driver. “We wanted to establish a strong foundation with the initial release, allowing us to fine-tune the design and gather valuable feedback.”This content is imported from youTube. You may be able to find the same content in another format, or you may be able to find more information, at their web site.The REI Co-op Special Edition Basecamp 20X starts at $62,400; that’s $9500 more than the 16-foot model. The non-REI Basecamp 20 starts at $54,400.REI and Airstream gathered feedback on what a partnership trailer should look like before the 16-foot trailer was announced. The result was a trailer with a rear door to make loading outdoor toys like kayaks, bikes and fishing gear easier than a traditional side door. The REI trailers also use sustainable materials including birch plywood and recycled polyester to minimize environmental impact. The trailers provide off-grid capabilities like a UV-LED and pre-filter water purification system of potable water and an optional composting toilet.This content is imported from poll. You may be able to find the same content in another format, or you may be able to find more information, at their web site.Contributing EditorSebastian Blanco has been writing about electric vehicles, hybrids, and hydrogen cars since 2006. His articles and car reviews have appeared in the New York Times, Automotive News, Reuters, SAE, Autoblog, InsideEVs, Trucks.com, Car Talk, and other outlets. His first green-car media event was the launch of the Tesla Roadster, and since then he has been tracking the shift away from gasoline-powered vehicles and discovering the new technology’s importance not just for the auto industry, but for the world as a whole. Throw in the recent shift to autonomous vehicles, and there are more interesting changes happening now than most people can wrap their heads around. You can find him on Twitter or, on good days, behind the wheel of a new EV.  More

The 2023 Jeep Gladiator adds the limited-production Rubicon FarOut edition that signals the end of the truck’s diesel engine.Jeep will only sell 1000 FarOut editions, each with upgraded features and unique decals but also a hefty $71,790 price tag.With the diesel 3.0-liter V-6 ending after the 2023 model year, the Gladiator is poised to add a 4xe plug-in-hybrid powertrain.The Jeep Gladiator’s torque-rich diesel 3.0-liter V-6 will end production after the 2023 model year. To commemorate the engine’s run, Jeep has introduced a limited-production FarOut edition, which is based on the top-of-the-line Rubicon.FarOut, ManThe Gladiator Rubicon comes standard with copious off-road hardware. The FarOut edition has all that and a host of optional upgrades, including the Cold Weather package (heated steering wheel and front seats), leather interior, LED lighting package, trailering package, and myriad driver assists. Visually, the truck has body-color fenders and “FarOut” and “3.0 D” badges on the tailgate as well as black side decals and a “Diesel 3.0L” hood graphic. Jeep says it will only sell 1000 copies of the Rubicon FarOut edition. The 2023 Rubicon with the diesel starts at $59,690, but the FarOut treatment adds $12,100, which pushes the special edition’s starting price to a lofty $71,790.The 2023 Jeep Gladiator Rubicon EcoDiesel we tested wasn’t especially quick, but we appreciated its 442 pound-feet of torque and impressive fuel efficiency. On our 75-mph real-world highway route, the diesel model returned 27 mpg—6 better than the standard gas-fed 3.6-liter V-6. While the latter is currently the only other engine available on the Gladiator, the diesel’s demise paves the way for Jeep to give its pickup the 4xe plug-in-hybrid powertrain that’s available on the Wrangler. We expect the Gladiator to get that option for the 2024 model year.Meanwhile, the 2023 Jeep Gladiator Rubicon FarOut edition is now available to order through the end of September, with deliveries expected sometime in the months ahead.More Gladiator ReadingThis content is imported from poll. You may be able to find the same content in another format, or you may be able to find more information, at their web site.Senior EditorEric Stafford’s automobile addiction began before he could walk, and it has fueled his passion to write news, reviews, and more for Car and Driver since 2016. His aspiration growing up was to become a millionaire with a Jay Leno–like car collection. Apparently, getting rich is harder than social-media influencers make it seem, so he avoided financial success entirely to become an automotive journalist and drive new cars for a living. After earning a journalism degree at Central Michigan University and working at a daily newspaper, the years of basically burning money on failed project cars and lemon-flavored jalopies finally paid off when Car and Driver hired him. His garage currently includes a 2010 Acura RDX, a manual ’97 Chevy Camaro Z/28, and a ’90 Honda CRX Si. More

EV startup Fisker, which recently began delivering its Ocean SUV, has released additional information about the Rōnin halo car first revealed last week.Production of the Rōnin will be limited to just 999 units, with prices starting at a whopping $385,000.The 1000-horsepower powertrain will shoot the Rōnin in a claimed 2.0-seconds while also providing a targeted range of around 600 miles. Last week, California-based startup Fisker unveiled three electric vehicles that will join the Ocean crossover in its lineup over the coming years. Along with a subcompact crossover called the Pear and a pickup truck called the Alaska, Fisker showed off a flashy four-door sports car, dubbed the Rōnin after the eponymous John Frankenheimer film famous for its thrilling car chase scenes. Now Fisker has released additional information on the Rōnin, including the price and expected arrival date.FiskerFisker will only build 999 examples of the Rōnin, with the startup automaker aiming to begin deliveries in the second half of 2025. According to CEO Henrik Fisker, the Rōnin is meant to serve as a modern version of the “classic grand touring car” for “people who love to drive.” But the Rōnin is still supposed to be practical—despite the slinky body, the convertible sports car has seating for five people and is said to “provide exceptional cargo capacity.” Fisker pitches the Rōnin as a response to the trend of high-performance SUVs from iconic brands, with the electric platform allowing for a capacious cabin but smaller overall dimensions. The Rōnin will offer blistering performance, with a claimed 1000 horsepower from the three-motor powertrain and all-wheel drive contributing to a claimed 2.0-second run to 60 mph. Fisker also claims the Rōnin will be capable of a 170-mph top speed, and the automaker is targeting a 600-mile range. The Rōnin is based around a lightweight aluminum space frame and rides on carbon-fiber 23-inch wheels.FiskerThere are plenty of flamboyant supercar touches such as front and rear butterfly doors and a carbon-fiber hardtop that retracts into the trunk to provide open-air driving. There is also only one set of door handles on the rear doors—the front doors are opened by swiping the handle or using your phone. The cabin is said to be decked out in sustainable, recycled materials and will center around a 17.1-inch screen, although the shadowy image of the interior doesn’t give a detailed look at the design. Order books for the Rōnin are already open, and Fisker says the 1000-horsepower grand tourer will cost $385,000. Although the targeted delivery date is only around two years away, Fisker did not say where the Rōnin will be built. The company doesn’t own any factories, contracting assembly of the Ocean out to Magna Steyr in Austria and planning to have the Pear built by Foxconn in Lordstown, Ohio. The model shown at Fisker’s product launch last week did not look production-ready—it was the only vehicle that didn’t move under its own power and didn’t have a visible interior—so we wouldn’t be surprised if the Rōnin gets delayed.This content is imported from poll. You may be able to find the same content in another format, or you may be able to find more information, at their web site.Associate News EditorCaleb Miller began blogging about cars at 13 years old, and he realized his dream of writing for a car magazine after graduating from Carnegie Mellon University and joining the Car and Driver team. He loves quirky and obscure autos, aiming to one day own something bizarre like a Nissan S-Cargo, and is an avid motorsports fan. More

The movie Gran Turismo opens today for “sneak preview” in many theaters and nationwide on August 25.Based on the PlayStation video game of the same name, it also takes its story from the real-life adventures of racer Jann Mardenborough, who got his start via PlayStation’s GT Academy.Watch for spoilers ahead, but we confess we enjoyed this movie. At this point, hating on motorsports movies is a required activity to retain car-guy cred. You drive stick, you went to Radwood before Hagerty bought it, and you can name every automotive inaccuracy in every racing movie from Barney Oldfield’s Race for a Life in 1913—real racing almost never involves having to rescue a lady tied to the railroad tracks—to the recent Ford v. Ferrari in 2019—The Corvette hood! It’s wrong!Sony PicturesWe’re certainly not immune, having hated on our share of vehicular cinema. So we went into the screening of Sony Pictures’ video-game docudrama Gran Turismo with a ready serving of jaded irritation in our hearts. Know what? It’s not that bad. Initially, hearing Sony was making a Gran Turismo movie, we assumed it would be a cartoonish fictional piece; an empty-headed, bang-shifted, action movie at best, a chaotic two-hour commercial for the PlayStation Gran Turismo video game (sorry, driving simulator) at worst. While there is plenty of product placement in Gran Turismo, the plot is based on a true story and has some genuinely thought-provoking and heart-pounding moments among the crashes and clichés. If You Keep Going, Watch for SPOILERS AHEAD Gran Turismo is more than loosely based on the story of a racer who got his start in Nissan PlayStation’s GT Academy, which was a marketing move by Nissan and Sony to take high-performing drivers from the virtual world of online Gran Turismo competition to real-life race cars. Many of the participants did go on to race in GT and endurance classes. The movie follows Jann Mardenborough, the 2011 winner, who went on to a class podium at the 24 Hours of Le Mans, although it makes free with what years and in which cars events occurred. Sony PicturesYes,Gran Turismo does stupid movie things like, my personal peeve, constantly have the drivers glare at each other through the side window.Right off the bat, yes, Gran Turismo does stupid movie motorsports things like have the driver put their foot down mid-straightaway and suddenly have more speed, or send crashing cars skyward in balls of flame, or—a personal peeve—constantly have the drivers glare at each other through the side window as if they aren’t locked in neck restraints and hopefully paying attention to their racing lines. It also compresses years into months, invents people who didn’t exist, and rearranges Mardenborough’s timeline in multiple ways to make for uninterrupted drama. We’re not going to list every instance, because we’d be here all day, but know that if you’re writing a school paper on Mardenborough, Gran Turismo is not a reliable source for your facts. This content is imported from youTube. You may be able to find the same content in another format, or you may be able to find more information, at their web site.Now, if you just want to spend some time in a nice air-conditioned theatre with the sound of racing cars and some pleasant-faced actors to look at, you could do far worse than a ticket for Gran Turismo. Archie Madekwe plays Mardenborough with an earnest sweetness. It’s refreshing to have a racing main character whose primary personality characteristic isn’t aggressive confidence. Madekwe, who grew up in London, not only didn’t have any racing experience going in, but didn’t even have a driver’s license when he accepted the role. “I would get home from this other job I was filming, and take a driving lesson that night. The producers kept on phoning me. ‘Have you passed yet? Have you passed yet?’ and as soon as I did, they sent me a simulator, and then I had to learn to drive in the game too.” The real Mardenborough does much of the on-track stunt driving in the film, but Madekwe is proud to say that all the gaming scenes in the film are his driving.Stranger Things’ David Harbour Is a StandoutThe scene stealer is Stranger Things’ David Harbour, again playing a gruff adoptive father figure. Harbour plays fictional driving coach Jack Salter, who battles his own failures as he attempts to ready Mardenborough to face off against snobs in Porsches and rich, mean boys in golden Lamborghinis. This seems to involve a lot of dropping heavy emotional stuff on Mardenborough as he’s on track, which we would argue is a poor approach to coaching, but their relationship in the movie is the most developed and engaging of the movie. Some Weak PointsMost of the other characters are supporting at best, the bad guy being a bad guy just because we need one, the girl invented because it’s 2023 so we need one. Two, really: Mardenborough’s fictional love interest is played by Maeve Courtier-Lilley, and his scrappy fellow GT Academy participant will be a familiar face to Corvette racing fans, Emelia Hartford. Both are pleasant; neither is necessary to the story. Sony PicturesOne wishes for more detailed character development of either of Mardenborough’s parents, who travel the typical movie arc from lovingly disgusted with his gaming ambitions to supportive once he proves it’s a possible career—or the Nissan marketing executive based on Darren Cox. In the movie he’s reimagined as Danny Moore, played by Orlando Bloom with such bad hair that the real Cox should be offended. Moore’s character bounces between heroic out-of-the-box thinking in coming up with the GT Academy and an intriguing, but never followed up on, moment of villainy when he attempts to rig the academy results in favor of the more polished and more white second-place finisher. Visually, Gran Turismo is torn between director Neill Blomkamp’s gritty realism and an obvious Sony push for pandering to video-game fans. The occasional game graphics that overlay the action could be funny or expository if they happened more regularly, but as it is, they take the viewer out of the story without adding much but a reminder as to who paid for the movie. Otherwise, the shots are wide and exciting, the cars dice it up with a sense of physicality, and it’s a pleasure to see endurance racing and scenes of contemporary Le Mans on the big screen. Trivia moment: The final Le Mans scenes were shot in Hungary, at the Hungaroring F1 track, which was dressed up to look like France. The first half of Gran Turismo is slow, so eat your popcorn and take your bathroom breaks then. The second half, which follows Mardenborough’s push to qualify for a license and the 24 Hours of Le Mans, is much more energetic. It may be unrealistic in its superfast leap from gamer chair to GT qualifying, but it’s interesting to see depictions of multiple race losses on screen. These days, when fans bemoan even a momentary slump in a favorite driver’s performance, it’s good to get a reminder that the real world involves a lot of backmarker moments. Sony PicturesThe slough of Mardenborough’s despond comes towards the end of the film when a crash at the Nürburgring results in the death of a spectator. This is based on a real event in Mardenborough’s career, although one that happened several years after Le Mans. In interviews, Mardenborough says that including the incident was important to him. “It’s part of my life. It is my life . . . It’s a very dark moment in my career and in my life as a person,” he told the Daily Express. We were surprised to see it depicted, not just because it’s a shocking moment in the story, but because it takes the plot somewhere much darker and sadder than the rest of the movie seems to be leading. In the end, there’s plenty to hate on in Gran Turismo, if you desire to keep the tradition alive, but there’s also a lot to like, from the unusual hero to the detailed pit boxes and track backgrounds. If nothing else, you’ll come out with a desire for a PlayStation setup, which is likely Sony’s main goal. FilmographySenior Editor, FeaturesLike a sleeper agent activated late in the game, Elana Scherr didn’t know her calling at a young age. Like many girls, she planned to be a vet-astronaut-artist, and came closest to that last one by attending UCLA art school. She painted images of cars, but did not own one. Elana reluctantly got a driver’s license at age 21 and discovered that she not only loved cars and wanted to drive them, but that other people loved cars and wanted to read about them, which meant somebody had to write about them. Since receiving activation codes, Elana has written for numerous car magazines and websites, covering classics, car culture, technology, motorsports, and new-car reviews.     More

The original Smokey and the Bandit was so popular, the studio couldn’t stop at just one.Smokey and the Bandit II reprised Burt Reynolds in the titular role, again costarring with a black-and-gold Pontiac Trans Am, this time a Turbo model.This 1980 Turbo Trans Am wears that same livery and is signed by Reynolds himself.Car and DriverForty-six years ago, audiences cheered on a cowboy-hatted ne’er do-well as he headed eastbound and down, loaded up and trucking. Equipped with little more than a CB radio, a total lack of respect for the law, one heck of a mustache, and a screaming quick Pontiac Firebird Trans Am, the man they called Bandit stole our hearts. Now you too can roll like the Bandit in a car literally bearing his signature.Bring a TrailerUp for auction on Bring A Trailer—which, like Car and Driver, is part of Hearst Autos—is this 1980 Pontiac Firebird Turbo Trans Am with just 9000 miles on the odometer. Apart from the model year, it’s an identical match for the car Burt Reynolds drove in 1980’s Smokey and the Bandit II, complete with gold accents and that iconic screaming chicken on the hood.Iconic is a word that gets a bit overworked in the automotive world, but a Bandit Trans Am deserves it. When it rolled onto screens in the original 1977 movie, Firebird sales skyrocketed. The second-generation Firebird was late in its run, but Pontiac was so overwhelmed with demand that it actually pushed off the development of the third-gen model a few years.Bring a TrailerThe original first Bandit car was a 1976 model with snowflake-style wheels and a “6.6 Litre” sticker on the hood. The cars were fitted with the front clip from the ’77 model, and only one of the four survived filming.Bandit II saw both Burt Reynolds and Jackie Gleason (as the memorable Sheriff Buford T. Justice) reprising their roles, but a new Pontiac for the Bandit to drive. Pontiac knew getting its latest product in front of Bandit fans was key, especially as emissions restrictions had seen its larger displacement engine options taken off the table. Thus, Bandit would now drive a Turbo Trans Am, with a 4.9-liter V-8 equipped with a Garrett TB305 turbocharger. A three-speed automatic was the only transmission option.Bring a TrailerWhen new, stock power levels were rated at a modest 210 horsepower, but a stout 345 pound-feet of torque gave the Bandit plenty of grunt to spin those BFGoodrich tires. This example has the desired Y84 Special Edition package, which includes those glass T-tops, 15-inch gold Turbo wheels, and quad exhaust pipes—everything you need.Bring a TrailerBest of all, this car bears the gold signature of Burt Reynolds himself, written on the dashboard. Reynolds died in 2018, and back when the Bandit films were entertaining crowds, he was one of the biggest box office draws of them all.Related StoriesHe’d have other roles of course, but the one that went the distance was as everyone’s favorite Bandit. A black-and-gold Pontiac Firebird Trans Am was a big part of that character, and this one looks like a great way to relive the magic. Just keep an eye out for those smokeys. The auction ends August 15.Contributing EditorBrendan McAleer is a freelance writer and photographer based in North Vancouver, B.C., Canada. He grew up splitting his knuckles on British automobiles, came of age in the golden era of Japanese sport-compact performance, and began writing about cars and people in 2008. His particular interest is the intersection between humanity and machinery, whether it is the racing career of Walter Cronkite or Japanese animator Hayao Miyazaki’s half-century obsession with the Citroën 2CV. He has taught both of his young daughters how to shift a manual transmission and is grateful for the excuse they provide to be perpetually buying Hot Wheels. More