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The Venturi 400 Trophy was created for an early-1990s single-marque racing series in France.It features Kevlar composite bodywork and a mid-mounted 3.0-liter V-6 engine. This example has been modified for the street and is up for auction in Florida where, with a week to go before the August 1 auction end date, bidding is at $101,000.The Ferrari F40 has never been within reach of the ordinary collector, but over the past few years values have come on boost and surged into multimillion-dollar territory. As an alternative, are you looking for a race-bred, twin-turbo, mid-engined exotic with carbon-Kevlar bodywork, but with a budget that doesn’t stretch to seven figures? Here’s an unusual but compelling blend of French racing élan and golden-age Japanese performance tuning.Car and DriverToday’s pick at Bring a Trailer (which, along with Car and Driver, is part of Hearst Autos) is a heavily modified example of a Venturi 400 Trophy. Much explanation about what exactly a Venturi is will be required shortly, but first, just drink in the details. Outrageous composite bodywork. Performance parts from BBS, Brembo, Ohlins, HKS, and Recaro. A rear clamshell hood that opens to reveal a twin-turbo V-6 good for 408 horsepower in factory trim and more like 500 horsepower here. Next, you may notice the sliding Lexan windows and a dashboard full of exposed fuses. This car is far more obscure than Ferrari’s 40th birthday present to itself, but it is every inch the exotic.Venturi was founded in the mid-1980s by two French engineers, former employees of the Heuliez coachworks. For road cars, Venturi’s peak was the 400 GT, an extremely limited-production sports car that might be almost unknown by the larger public had it not appeared digitally in the racing game Gran Turismo 2.Bring a TrailerThe 400 GT was a roadgoing version of a race car: the 400 Trophy. One of the earliest successes of French racing promoter Stéphane Ratel—instrumental in the creation of GT2 and GT3 racing—the 400 Trophy was a gentleman-racer series intended to be a French twist on similar one-make racing series fielded by Porsche or Ferrari. Just over 70 cars were built, but the series was a success, running over four seasons.More from (and about) BaTThis example is chassis number 50, though it has come a long way from the days of Trophy racing. It raced in the 1992 and 1993 seasons but was then shipped to Japan and converted for road use. The process did not involve toning down the performance of the racing chassis but rather extracting even more out of it.Bring a TrailerA Feast for the ImaginationThe car was sent to Tokyo to be tuned, with HKS GT-SS turbochargers and MoTec engine management. Japan’s capital is of course a supercar haven, with Yokohama’s Daikoku Parking Area becoming a church of speed on Sunday morning. This example, however, was built for early-morning weekend running of the tunnels and canyons of Hiroshima, hurtling through those relatively empty roads at speed. No radio, no distractions, just the almighty hiss of the twin turbochargers and the surprising aggression of a well-tuned 3.0L PRV V-6 snarling towards redline.The roadgoing 400 GT is as rare as you’d like, with just 15 examples made. The driving experience of those cars is not supposed to be the best, with questionable boutique supercar company build quality and snatchy carbon brakes.Bring a TrailerBy comparison, this 400 Trophy was at first shaken down and reworked by a racing team over several seasons, then built up as a street car by a Tokyo tuning specialist during the time when the elusive Mid Night Racing Team was in their heyday. It’s a blend of two seemingly disparate worlds of automotive enthusiasm, but combines the best of both of them.Catching sight of an F40 in traffic is a bucket-list spot, but Ferrari did build more than 1300 of them. There are only a handful of Venturis in the U.S. at present, and probably only one of them like this. With eight days to go, the high bid is at $101,000. Maybe don’t think of this 400 Trophy as the poor man’s F40, but as something even rarer and more special to own and drive than the ultimate Ferrari. 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

Honda Racing has revealed a new racing version of the Civic Type R, fittingly referred to as the Civic Type R-GT.The car will run in Japan’s Super GT Series top GT500 class starting with the 2024 season. The race-prepped CTR will begin testing at the Okayama International Circuit in Japan from July 25-26. It’s pretty clear at this point that we’re smitten with the 11th-generation Honda Civic Type R. Like head-over-heels in love type smitten. It’s a 10Best winner, Editors Choice winner, and on top of all that, the fastest front-drive car we’ve ever lapped around Virginia International Raceway (VIR). So excuse us for a moment while we indulge in the glory of the new Civic Type R-GT. The CTR-GT will run in Japan’s top-class Super GT, the GT500 series, starting in the 2024 season. Honda hasn’t released any details regarding the car itself, but based on the one photo we’ve seen, the Type R-GT means business. Two Civic Type R’s Worth of PowerSuper GT rules limit manufacturers to a turbocharged 2.0-liter four-cylinder engine, something Honda confirmed, but we still expect output to be somewhere in the range of 550 to 650 horsepower. Combine nearly double the horsepower along with significant weight, aero, and technical upgrades, and we’d pay to see the advantage the Type R-GT has over the standard CTR’s 2:58.8 lap at VIR. hondaThe visual differences are drastic when comparing the Type R-GT to the standard Type R, even with just one picture. Of course, that’s expected, but we’re still taken aback at how aggressive the aero looks on the Honda. The focused intent on winning is quite clear. “From the 2024 season, we will participate in the SUPER GT GT 500 class, one of the highest categories in Japan, with our constant desire for victory, we will aim to win the championship from the first year, so please keep your expectations high for the permeance the Civic Type R-GT will demonstrate in the coming years,” said Honda Racing Corporation President Yasuharu Watanabe. Testing for the car will officially take place at the Okayama International Circuit in Japan from July 25-26. More Civic Type RAssociate 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

A Michigan court settled a years-long dispute between Mahindra Automotive North America and Fiat Chrysler Automobiles—later called Stellantis—over the design of Mahindra’s Roxor off-roader. Fiat Chrysler had claimed in 2018 that the Roxor’s look was too similar to the “iconic Jeep design,” but a 2020 update gave the Roxor a more distinct front end.The Roxor, which is now cleared for sale by the court, also isn’t road-legal in the U.S., as it’s intended for use on farms and other off-road applications.Back in 2018, Indian automaker Mahindra & Mahindra brought its Roxor off-roader to the United States, aiming to sell it as a non-street-legal alternative to side-by-sides and other work vehicles. But the Roxor’s old-school design—based on the original Willys Jeep—prompted legal action from Fiat Chrysler Automobiles (FCA). Now the Eastern District Court of Michigan has ruled in favor of Mahindra Automotive North America, permitting the company to continue selling 2020-and-newer versions of the truck, as reported by Automotive News.Fiat Chrysler Automobiles—which became Stellantis in 2021 when FCA merged with PSA Group—had called the Roxor “a nearly identical copy of the iconic Jeep design,” filing a formal complaint with the U.S. International Trade Commission (ITC) in 2018. FCA complained about the “boxy body shape with flat-appearing vertical sides and rear body ending at about the same height as the hood” and alleged that Mahindra was intending to “penetrate the United States market and harm FCA’s goodwill and business.”Jeep and MahindraMahindra shot back, asking a Michigan court to block FCA’s complaint and claiming that the two companies had come to an agreement in 2009 that Mahindra could sell the Roxor with a grille design approved by Fiat that was different enough from the classic seven-slot Jeep grille. Mahindra also argued that Fiat Chrysler was using the case to damage the company’s reputation and that the Roxor had always been intended as an off-road-only vehicle, meaning it didn’t compete with the Jeep Wrangler.In June 2020, the International Trade Commission ruled that while the Roxor was not violating any Fiat Chrysler trademarks, it did infringe on the trade dress—a term for the look of a product that distinguishes its source in the eyes of consumers—and recommended stopping the import and sale of Roxor parts. A 2019 Mahindra Roxor with the original grille design.Marc Urbano|Car and DriverMahindra responded that the 2018 and 2019 models, which had a more Jeep-like face, were no longer in production and that the 2020 Roxor’s new oval grille differentiated the off-roader enough. Later that year the ITC affirmed Mahindra’s claims, agreeing that the 2020 Roxor wasn’t infringing on the Jeep trade dress.This led FCA to push the court to implement the “safe distance rule,” which would require Mahindra to register a new, non-infringing trademark that was sufficiently different from the infringed trademark, helping clear up for consumers that the two products were unrelated. But the Michigan court’s July 19th ruling denied FCA/Stellantis’ request, in turn allowing Mahindra to continue building and selling the post-2020 Roxor.More about the Two Off-RoadersThe Roxor is powered by a diesel 2.5-liter four-cylinder producing 62 horsepower and 144 pound-feet of torque and linked to a five-speed manual transmission. At 148 inches long, the Roxor is nearly 20 inches shorter than a new two-door Wrangler. Top speed is limited to 55 mph and Mahindra claims a 3490-pound towing capacity. Prices start at $20,599 before the destination fee.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

Volkswagen has revealed the 2024 Jetta GLI 40th Anniversary Edition.It comes with special anniversary badging, and each model gets unique graphics on the cloth seats.The special-edition GLI starts at $29,235, and VW is limiting production to 1984 examples in the U.S. as a nod to the original model year. The Volkswagen Jetta GLI isn’t quite old enough to earn a pension, but it’s not that far off either. Originally debuting in 1984, VW is celebrating the 40th anniversary of the GLI with a special edition for the 2024 model year. The anniversary model comes with three paint options: Pure Gray, Pure White, and Rising Blue—each of which have blackout detailing to contrast the classic GLI red. Black, ten-spoke, 18-inch wheels, along with black mirror caps, door handles, and a black grille round out the exterior styling.Unique Details The inside of the special Jetta puts a bigger emphasis on the anniversary aspect of the car. One cupholder features the GLI logo, while the other reads 1984. The seat tags and door sills proudly display GLI 40, and the base of the steering wheel features a 40 in lieu of the normal GLI badge. Our favorite special touch for the anniversary car comes in the form of the molecular cloth seats, which VW says are unique for each of the 1984 vehicles being produced—like a snowflake or fingerprint. The 40th Anniversary Edition will be powered by the same turbocharged 2.0-liter four-cylinder as the current GLI Autobahn, which makes 228 horsepower and 258 pound-feet of torque. Volkswagen is limiting production to 1984 examples of the anniversary car as an homage to the original model year. The special Jetta will be exclusive to the North American market and starts at $29,235. Volkswagen expects models will begin arriving at dealerships later this summer. Required Reading on the GLIThis 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 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

Subaru has revealed a new version of the BRZ for 2024 called the tS.It has performance upgrades to the suspension and brakes, along with new wheels and visual add-ons.We expect to hear more details soon before the 2024 BRZ tS goes on sale later this year. The performance-oriented tS trim level is returning to the Subaru BRZ lineup for the rear-wheel-drive sports coupe’s second generation. Like before, the package includes upgrades for the brakes and suspension along with enhanced visuals and special badging.Subaru revealed the 2024 BRZ tS and the Subiefest event in California yesterday, but all we have so far is a single photo and preliminary details about its performance upgrades. We know it has Brembo brakes front and rear, different 18-inch wheels, and an “STI-tuned” suspension setup.We can only assume that the brakes are the same larger rotors and upgraded pads found in the Toyota GR86’s new Performance package for 2024. That setup has 12.8 inches in front and 12.4 inch rotors in the rear, larger by 1.2 and 1.0 inch compared with the stock GR86 and BRZ. As for the suspension, we expect the BRZ tS to have different dampers than the stock car; the GR86 has Sachs dampers, but Subaru may choose a different supplier.Visually, the most obvious difference for the BRZ tS is the badge visible on the grille. The brake calipers are painted gold and the 18-inch wheels are slightly different than the standard car’s. There will also likely be special accents inside such as different stitching and tS badging for the seats and floor mats and such.We’ll be updating this post with more information as Subaru releases it. The BRZ tS will go on sale later this year and will likely start in the mid-$30,000 price range.More on the BRZThis 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 EditorDespite being raised on a steady diet of base-model Hondas and Toyotas—or perhaps because of it—Joey Capparella nonetheless cultivated an obsession for the automotive industry throughout his childhood in Nashville, Tennessee. He found a way to write about cars for the school newspaper during his college years at Rice University, which eventually led him to move to Ann Arbor, Michigan, for his first professional auto-writing gig at Automobile Magazine. He has been part of the Car and Driver team since 2016 and now lives in New York City.   More

No need to feel intimidated by the growing array of icons on your car’s dashboard, at least not if you have an iPhone with the upcoming iOS 17 update.iOS 17 introduces Visual Look Up, a way to identify objects in pictures. The new feature explicitly identifies in-car symbols, offering a way to know what those squiggly lines and trapezoids mean.Not everyone needs this kind of information, but for people who don’t drive often or might otherwise feel uncertain about a car’s features, this promises to be a simple way to learn what that button does.Modern smartphones have the power to connect to satellites, reach people around the world, and, finally, tell you what that unknown dashboard light means.Okay, okay, we hear you. This is news? Cars have had actual paper manuals that should help any driver understand what this red or that orange warning light is all about. But not everyone wants to read a paper manual when a phone is at hand, and sometimes we just like pretending we’re from the future.NurPhoto|Getty ImagesEnter Apple’s upcoming software update for the iPhone, called iOS 17, and its ability to identify dashboard lights using Visual Look Up. Visual Look Up does exactly what you would think it does: identify something in a picture or video and then searching for information on that item. A Reddit user noticed an “auto symbol” category in the beta version of the software and shared three examples: hazard warning, windscreen defrost and ventilation airflow.The More You KnowThe Apple-focused website 9to5Mac tested the beta software and found the symbol look-up feature to “just work” and that it can “identify multiple symbols and icons in the same picture.” 9to5Mac found that Visual Look Up can identify such features as dashboard lights, climate control symbols, headlight options, and defrosting. The phone’s results provide a short description of the icon and a link to find more information.The phone can identify these symbols anywhere on the dashboard, not just for warning lights. Want to know what a button in a rental car does before you push it? Visual Look Up can tell you.Android OptionsPeople with Android phones can get similar help by using Google Lens (also available to Apple users). This general app can identify objects in pictures or the live feed from the camera. If Android users don’t want to bother with the camera aspect, they can check out the third-party Dashboard Warning Lights app. This app won’t identify the symbols independently but presents images of standard warning lights and explains what they mean.When iOS 17 arrives, Apple’s annual operating system update will have a few other features of potential interest to drivers. The built-in Maps app will not be able to download map data, so it can be used offline (something Google Maps has been capable of for years), and it will feature real-time electric vehicle charging station availability along your route, as long as your charging network provides this kind of data.iOS 17 arrives in September as a free upgrade for compatible phones.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

Sales of EVs surpass sales of diesel models for the first time in Europe, with battery-electrics holding a 15.1 percent share of the market while diesels hold 13.4 percent. Plug-in hybrids have seen gains and losses over time in different European countries but hold a 7.9 percent market share on the continent overall.The Tesla Model Y (pictured above outside Tesla’s Gigafactory Berlin-Brandenburg) has been Europe’s biggest-selling model in any vehicle category in the first six months of 2023.Diesel cars have been popular in Europe for decades, where gasoline prices have traditionally been rather high compared to many other regions. Finding a small and inexpensive hatch in Europe that isn’t diesel has been a tall order for some time, and the same went for large sedans, especially in the UK. Even the Volkswagen diesel crisis that affected a number of brands had scarcely tempered the car buying public’s appetite for diesels in some individual markets.ACEABut for the first time ever, sales of new battery-electric models in the European Union have edged out those of diesel models, with June 2023 data showing 15.1 percent market share for BEVs, according to data published by Europe’s auto manufacturer association, ACEA. That’s a gain of 66.2 percent compared to the same month in 2022, when BEVs commanded 10.7 percent of the market in the EU.Audi e-tron GT.audiStill, the growth for BEVs has not been achieved equally across all the EU countries, with the Netherlands seeing a 90.1 percent gain, with Germany and France in second and third places with 64.4 and 52.0 percent gains, respectively.More about TeslasGasoline Power Down to a Third of the MarketOverall, gas-engined models in Europe still lead the pack with 36.3 percent market share, while hybrids are in second place with 24.3 percent of the market.Another trend worth noting is that plug-in hybrids in some individual EU markets have actually declined over the past year, by as much as 39.2 percent in Germany. Elsewhere PHEVs have seen dramatic gains, such as in Spain, where their market share has grown by 51.7 percent.Europe-market Škoda Octavia RS Diesel.ŠKODA AutoDiesel BansBut is this solely a reflection of battery-electric models’ popularity, or more a consequence of the regulatory war against diesels?In the past few years a number of large cities in Europe have experimented with bans on diesel models, keeping them out of city centers, ahead of a union-wide target for zero-emission car sales by 2035, adopted by the European Parliament earlier this year. Also hindering demand for diesel was Volkswagen’s own crisis, now nearly a decade old, that also affected brands such as Audi, Skoda, and SEAT.Still, it’s too early to completely write off diesel models in Europe.Diesel MemoriesFor one thing, despite an overall decline diesels have actually gained traction in some stand-alone countries such as Romania, where they saw a 22.4 percent gain last month, as well as Germany. We wouldn’t doubt diesel’s ongoing popularity in a number of smaller Eastern European markets either, whether inside or outside the EU.When it comes to battery-electric vehicles, another curious dynamic worth noting is that a number of popular EVs aren’t even produced by European automakers. Tesla’s Model Y has been the overall bestseller in any category in the first six months of 2023, easily dominating the BEV market, and a number of China-made EVs are currently on sale as well. Neither trend is something that many market analysts had seen coming just a few years ago. Jay Ramey grew up around very strange European cars, and instead of seeking out something reliable and comfortable for his own personal use he has been drawn to the more adventurous side of the dependability spectrum. Despite being followed around by French cars for the past decade, he has somehow been able to avoid Citroën ownership, judging them too commonplace, and is currently looking at cars from the former Czechoslovakia. Jay has been with Autoweek since 2013.  More

BMW is exploring ways to make its future electric M cars provide more driver feedback, according to the Australian website WhichCar.com.In an interview with the website, BMW M CEO Frank van Meel said he likes features such as the Hyundai Ioniq 5 N’s simulated gearchanges.For its first full-blown M-badged EV, BMW is also said to be considering other sensory stimuli such as using sounds or vibrations for feedback.BMW wants its future M-badged electric vehicles to feel more like their internal-combustion counterparts. That’s because it believes driving EVs on a racetrack requires more sensory feedback than most electric cars currently offer, specifically performance-focused models.The exception is the recently revealed 641-hp Hyundai Ioniq 5 N, which can simulate gearchanges and mimic the sound of a turbocharged four-cylinder. While some people might think such features are gimmicks, BMW M CEO Frank van Meel likes the way Hyundai thinks. He also told WhichCar.com—an Australian automotive website—that BMW is exploring similar ideas to make its first full-blown electric M car deliver more driver feedback. While we’re still awaiting word on what exactly that future M-badged EV will be, BMW has already revealed that it’s testing a quad-motor prototype using a widebody i4 (pictured above) as the test mule. With a motor at each wheel, the German automaker has said it can more precisely control power delivery and instantly send torque to individual wheels. BMWThat’s not something any gas-powered vehicle can do, but those electric motors also can’t convey the same sense of speed that ICE performance cars can either, and van Meel believes that feedback is critical on a racetrack. He told WhichCar.com, “… if you’re driving in an electric car with just one gear, making some kind of sound over seven octaves, you don’t know if you’re in the middle [of the revs] and if that’s the equal to 145km/h or wherever you are. So that actually will not work. And we need a solution for that.”Along with possibly simulating gearchanges like with Hyundai’s N e-shift, the solutions that BMW is said to be considering deal with using acoustic cues or vibrations to provide driver feedback. How those vibrations will be created and whether those sounds will replicate an E90 M3’s high-revving V-8 or one of the brand’s great straight-sixes remains to be seen. For now, all we know is that BMW doesn’t appear to be satisfied with the current state of EV performance cars, and we’re eager to see how they will address it down the road.BMW M EV Performance CarsThis 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