Motor News

Recaro Automotive has filed for bankruptcy, as first reported by Autocar. The German automotive seat supplier has been approved for self-administration, but it’s unclear how that will affect the brand’s future.Recaro was bought by a U.S.-based private investment company back in 2020.Recaro has filed for bankruptcy. The company, which has supplied seats to various car manufacturers for decades, was yesterday approved for self-administration by a German court, per a report by Autocar.It’s unclear how the filing will affect Recaro, who provides sports seats for brands such as BMW, Ford, the VW Group, and others. The seat maker’s employees were unaware of the bankruptcy, according to Autocar, who also reported that the IG Metall trade union that represents 215 workers at Recaro’s factory in Kircheim unter Teck, Germany, has demanded transparency from the supplier’s upper management.Chris Doane Automotive|Car and DriverBack in January 2020, Recaro Automotive announced that it had sold its business to Raven Acquisitions LLC, which is a privately owned investment corporation based in Detroit, Michigan. At the time, Recaro reported that it had made approximately $150 million in revenue in 2019, and it said that the new ownership would allow the company to prioritize making seats “with shorter and faster decision-making processes allowing greater flexibility to better meet the requirements of the market.” It’s currently unclear what financial moves led to the insolvency.Recaro’s history dates back to 1906 when “master saddler” Wilhelm Reutter began designing and building car bodies and interior components. In 1965, Recaro launched its first sports seat, and then in ’67 it introduced the first road-legal full shell seat. Future innovations would include a seat with speakers in the headrest (1977), the Recaro A8 sports seat with a plastic backside (1989), and it would go on to make the first retrofit seat with a universal side airbag in 2004 followed by designing a seat with a new lightweight composite shell in 2005.RecaroRecaroRecaro-Related ReadingEric 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

The new Pagani Utopia Roadster is a convertible version of the Utopia coupe.The droptop model isn’t any heavier than its coupe counterpart, and both have an 852-hp twin-turbo V-12 without hybrid assist—but with a manual option. The Pagania Utopia Roadster costs around $3.4 million and only 130 copies will be sold around the globe.Artistry and state-of-the-art automotive technology converge on the new Pagani Utopia Roadster. It’s the topless follow-up to the Utopia coupe that was revealed back in 2022, but Pagani didn’t just lop off the roof and reinforce the body. Instead, the Italian hypercar maker meticulously redesigned the Carbo-Titanium monocoque for maximum rigidity without adding weight. That means the Utopia Roadster isn’t any heavier than its coupe counterpart, which Pagani claims weighs a feathery 2822 pounds without any fluids.A Topless UtopiaLike its fixed-roof sibling, the Utopia Roadster is among the few new hypercars that doesn’t have a hybrid powertrain. Another anomaly is that it caters to purists by offering a seven-speed manual transmission. The stick-shift setup routes power from the twin-turbocharged 6.0-liter V-12 to the rear wheels. Developed by Mercedes-AMG, the Utopia’s hand-assembled engine makes a hefty 852 horsepower at 6000 rpm and 811 pound-feet of torque from 2800–5900 rpm. You can also choose to skip the Utopia’s third pedal and opt for the seven-speed automatic, which allows paddle-shifted gearchanges. Pagani didn’t share any performance estimates, but it did quote the droptop’s electronically limited top speed of 217 mph.The Utopia Roadster’s hardtop roof features a glass panel that helps keep the two-seater cockpit feeling airy. That top can also be removed and placed on a stand for safe keeping. What about when you’re out for a drive and bad weather unexpectedly strikes? Well, Pagani stores a supplementary soft top behind the seats. And when it comes to storing luggage, every Utopia includes two matching suitcases made of carbon fiber and leather that go in compartments on either side of the engine bay. The accessorizing doesn’t stop there as a separate set of matching garment bags live behind the headrests.PaganiAs you’d expect from a roughly $3.4 million hypercar, the personalization options are virtually limitless. The Utopia Roadster pictured here is painted Habanero Red, and it allows the car’s carbon-fiber bodywork to show through. This specific car, which will make its public debut at the upcoming Monterey Car Week, is also equipped with the optional Sport package that includes exclusive bits made from Pagani’s Carbo-Titanium material. This applies to the convertible’s movable exterior flaps to the seat structures to the gear shifter.Inside, the Utopia Roadster represents a simpler time when the gauges and switchgear were more mechanically complex. Besides the single digital display facing the driver, which allows access to the infotainment system, navigation, and backup camera, everything else in the cabin is appropriately ornate and appears to be wonderfully tactile, from the shifter’s exposed linkage to the toggles on the dash to the steering wheel. Pagani says the latter actually started life as a single piece of aluminum before it was milled for 28 hours into a steering wheel weighing just 3.5 pounds. We also dig the checkered pattern on the seat cushions, with Pagani calling this interior design Grecale and Huayra Signature leather. Interestingly, the Utopia’s key is shaped like the car itself and has a dedicated nook on the center console.Release the leather straps that secure the Utopia’s rear hood and raise it skyward and the Roadster’s eye candy continues. The V-12 is dressed with bronze valve covers, carbon fiber, and other flashy bits, some of which can be seen from the outside via a small window. The Pagani’s distinctive quad-tipped center-exit exhaust also helps identify the car. The forged 21-inch front and 22-inch rear wheels offer a turbine-like design that’s said to help cool the brakes. Those Brembo stoppers include carbon-ceramic rotors that measure 16.1 inches in front and 15.4 inches in back and feature a set of monoblock six- and four-piston calipers, respectively. Pagani also says the Utopia Roadster offers Pirelli’s Cyber tire that uses a sensor on the inside of the tread. The sensor then transmits data to the car’s electronic control units (i.e. ABS, stability control, and traction control). Along with a standard set of Pirelli P Zero Corsa and P Zero winter tires, the Utopia Roadster can be equipped with stickier Pirelli P Zero Trofeo RS rubber.The Pagani Utopia Roadster has been homologated for sale in the United States. However, with only 130 copies planned for global production, being filthy rich is by no means a guarantee that you can own one. More Pagani StoriesEric 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

We absolutely adore the Cadillac CT5-V Blackwing. Its 668-hp supercharged 6.2-liter V-8, available manual transmission, adult-sized rear seat, and sweet balance between everyday comfort and ferocity when prodded has made it a three-time 10Best winner and one of our favorite sports sedans of all time. Cadillac is leaning into the Blackwing’s angry side for 2025 with a comprehensive suspension-upgrade option called the Precision package. After driving a prototype at one of our favorite tracks, Virginia International Raceway, we came away very impressed.This new offering builds upon the 2025 facelift for the entire CT5 lineup, including a revised front fascia, larger dashboard screens, and an overhauled version of its onboard Performance Data Recorder telemetry. The CT5-V’s new Precision package is all about making the Blackwing more direct and more rapid on track. Development engineer Derek Zalewski tells us this project was somewhat inspired by former GM performance boss John Heinricy running a CT4-V Blackwing in SCCA’s T2 class. What else could be done to up the CT5 Blackwing’s track game? The answer: Spring rates are 70 percent stiffer up front and 60 percent in the rear, there’s a stiffer front anti-roll bar, and pretty much every bushing has been replaced. There are bits inherited from the Camaro SS 1LE and ZL1 1LE and—in the most extreme case—one of the rear cradle bushings is now 1000 percent stiffer. Michelin Pilot Sport 4S tires remain standard, but track-oriented Cup 2R rubber is available, and the 285-section width is 10 millimeters wider than the stock PS4Ss. (Interestingly, in the interest of development time and cost, these are off-the-shelf tires versus the GM norm of having them customized for the vehicle.) The front suspension knuckles had to be revised to be able to accommodate 2.8 degrees of negative camber up front, and a second set of rear toe-control links are provided—they come in the trunk, and are about 0.1 inch longer—to be able to adjust the rear alignment to negative 2.0 degrees of camber (stock track alignment is -2.4 degrees front, -1.5 degrees rear). Finally, to make it all sing, the electronic controls—steering, MR dampers, stability control including Performance Traction Management, and the electronically controlled limited-slip differential—get a retune. In case you were wondering, engineers say the LT4 V-8 is already at the limits of balancing power and emissions, so there’s no more power. But 668 horsepower is still a lot.The added grip from the Cup 2R tires is instantly noticeable at VIR. The fronts just grip and grip and grip with no squeal. Average grip through Turn 1 is up nearly 10 percent over the last Blackwing we ran at Lightning Lap, and that’s with just a handful of cold laps. With our normal three days of lapping, expect an even bigger gap. The other two areas where the CT5’s added stiffness really blew us away is the increase in stability under braking and in the most challenging cornering sections. On our first lap braking into Turn 1 was, well, uneventful. We still remember the feeling of the standard Blackwing’s rear waggling under braking. Another highlight is NASCAR, where a preceding fast left-hand sweeper leads into the braking zone. It’s a dicey section to carry lots of speed through the left and then get the braking done in time to make NASCAR’s apex, and a spot that trips up many cars (drivers, too). This CT5 felt so much more stable and predictable there, making it much easier to gather it up and get to the apex cleanly. Similarly, the fast off-camber left-hander after the climbing esses is another spot where the CT5’s newfound, well, precision is sure to lead to quicker times. That slight rear wallow that you sometimes feel in the stock Blackwing has been absolutely banished.Considering how large of an improvement the Precision package felt like on track, we were pleasantly surprised at how perfectly livable it remains on the street. About the worst of its newfound stiffness is a bit more head toss over low-speed impacts such as putting one side over a parking-lot speed bump. It otherwise proved remarkably refined and streetable considering the serious stiffening underneath. We’ll put it this way: It’s a serious on-track upgrade, but we’d choose it for our daily driver too, further solidifying GM’s ride-and-handling engineers as some of the best in the business. Cadillac hasn’t yet announced pricing for the Precision package, but it will go on sale in early 2025. Ticking that box will require the carbon-ceramic brake option, but it will be available with or without the carbon-fiber aero packages. There was no time for an official lap time during this teaser drive. Cadillac also wouldn’t quote us a bogey time for a Precision-package-equipped Blackwing at VIR, but the team is confident the car has what it takes to become the fastest gas-powered four-door in our Lightning Lap history. Being just 1.7 seconds quicker than before would do it, getting its nose across the finish line just ahead of the Porsche Panamera Turbo S. More Cadillac CT5 StoriesDave VanderWerp has spent more than 20 years in the automotive industry, in varied roles from engineering to product consulting, and now leading Car and Driver’s vehicle-testing efforts. Dave got his very lucky start at C/D by happening to submit an unsolicited resume at just the right time to land a part-time road warrior job when he was a student at the University of Michigan, where he immediately became enthralled with the world of automotive journalism. More

Mitsubishi is in talks with Honda and Nissan about joining the partnership established by the two automakers earlier this year, Nikkei Asia reports.The alliance will focus on electric vehicles and automotive software, as the Japanese manufacturers look to catch up to EV leaders like Tesla and BYD.The partnership could also bring new models for each automaker as they build on each other’s strengths, such as Mitsubishi’s lineup of hybrids in Japan.Earlier this year Honda and Nissan signed a memorandum of understanding to begin weighing a partnership. The potential collaboration between the two large Japanese automakers is expected to focus on electric vehicles and automotive software platforms. Now Mitsubishi—which is 34 percent owned by Nissan—also looks set to get in on the deal, as reported by Nikkei Asia. According to the publication, Mitsubishi will join the Honda-Nissan alliance and has reportedly began discussions with the two automakers after signing a nondisclosure agreement. The partnership is supposed to help the three automakers catch up with Tesla and powerful Chinese EV companies like BYD and Geely, which have already invested far more resources into research and development for EVs, as well as scaling up the supply chain. Michael Simari|Car and DriverIn March, Honda and Nissan said it was “necessary to combine their strengths” and that the companies must “accelerate electrification and acceleration means investment and that requires achieving scale.” Honda’s CEO Toshihiro Mibe had suggested 2030 as a light deadline for Honda to be a “top runner” in the EV space.A main focus of the agreement, Nikkei Asia reports, will be to standardize the in-vehicle software used across the brands, with Honda and Nissan developing the underlying software. The companies will discuss using the software architecture in Mitsubishis as well. The alliance could also yield new models for the three brands, which can build on the strengths of each other’s lineups to plug gaps in their own arsenals. Mitsubishi sells plug-in hybrids and pickup trucks in Japan, two areas where Honda doesn’t compete in its home market. Mitsubishi could end up supplying vehicles for Honda, and the two companies may also collaborate on city cars, likely in Japan’s tiny kei car segment. With Mitsubishi set to join the partnership, the three brands combined will have more than 8 million global sales, with 4.1 million from Honda, 3.4 million from Nissan, and roughly 800,000 from Mitsubishi through the fiscal year that ended in March 2024. If all goes according to plan, the Japanese domestic market would then be split into two major conglomerates: Honda-Nissan-Mitsubishi and Toyota, which has links to Subaru, Mazda, Suzuki, Daihatsu, and Hino Motors. All told, the Toyota-led group has a combined sales volume of 16 million units. More Mitsubishi NewsCaleb 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

Though it existed for just over a decade, Allard produced some very competitive racing machines.With Cadillac V-8 power, this car was fast in its day and still is.It’s suitable for vintage sports car racing or just making a road drive feel like a lap of Le Mans.Short-lived automotive startup companies might seem like a current phenomenon, but trying to found your own car company is a tale as old as time. Many have tried, come close, and then failed at the end, and perhaps become more desirable for their rarity. So it is with the cars built by Londoner Sydney Allard. He fitted lightweight English chassis with thundering American V-8s, long before the Carroll Shelby’s Cobra. Allard only lasted a decade, just long enough to make its mark everywhere from Monte Carlo to the 24 Hours of Le Mans.This 1954 Allard J2X, up for sale on Bring A Trailer (which like Car and Driver is part of Hearst Autos), is one of the last such machines to wear Sydney’s name. The J2X was an extended and improved version of the Allard J2 racer, the latter campaigned by racers including Zora Arkus-Duntov (father of the Corvette) and Carroll Shelby.Courtesy: Bring a TrailerShelby probably had multiple inspirations for his AC Cobra, but you have to think an Allard was prominent among them. In 1950, the year that Jaguar first rolled up to compete in the 24 Hours of Le Mans, a J2 co-driven by Sydney Allard achieve a podium finish.He’d founded his eponymous company thanks to his family’s work during WWII, which largely involved managing Ford trucks for transporting troops and supplies. At the end of the war, he found himself with a surplus of Ford mechanical parts, and started building cars in various configurations. Even with post-war rationing, demand for cars in the UK was high, and business was brisk.Courtesy: Bring a TrailerBut Sydney was a racer at heart, and rather than build enclosed cars with broad appeal, he almost immediately began producing competition-oriented machines. Happily, a growing sports car market in the U.S. was hungry for performance, and Allard’s success at Le Mans was the best kind of advertising. The J2 proved up to the task, the cars putting drivers on the podium in roughly a third of the races in which they were entered.Bring a TrailerThe J2X was Allard’s counterattack against the likes of the Jaguar C-Type and D-Type, which in the early 1950s were the cars to beat at Le Mans. It was slightly longer than the J2, while riding on the same 100-inch wheelbase, with the engine shifted slightly forward and a reworked suspension setup.This example was sold new in Canada and was featured in-period on the cover of Track & Traffic, Canada’s premier motorsports publication at the time (think Road & Track but possibly in metric and also wearing a toque).Under that Art Deco meets Richard Scarry sheetmetal, however, is some pure Americana in the form of a 333-cubic-inch Cadillac V-8 breathing through a pair of four-barrel Holley carburetors. As a J2X tips the scales at something like 2100 pounds, this car was rocket-quick in its day and is still pretty fierce by modern standards. The transmission is a four-speed manual.This example reportedly was originally beige but now wears a fetching blue livery with a red leather interior. While a J2X is very rare, that well-understood Cadillac powerplant means this car is just itching to bring a little 1950s Le Mans to the streets. Allard sadly ended operations in 1957, but there’s still a chance to get behind the wheel of one.The auction ends on August 3.Brendan 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

Introduced for 1963, the Studebaker Wagonaire was designed by Brooks Stevens and featured a retractable rear roof section to accommodate oversized cargo.Created to help juice flagging Studebaker sales, the Wagonaire roof was innovative but plagued by sealing issues early on. The car never sold as well as hoped, and fewer than 20,000 were made through 1966.Most Wagonaires used straight-sixes or a 259-cubic-inch V-8, but this restored example has the optional 289 V-8, good for 225 horsepower.Short on cash but not creativity, Studebaker’s early-1960s product blitz swung for the fences. Charismatic new CEO Sherwood Egbert, a finance guy appointed to diversify the company away from cars, ended up diving headfirst into reinvigorating South Bend’s car biz. It didn’t work out, but this period gave us some glorious machinery, including the Avanti, the Gran Turismo Hawk, supercharged Larks, and one of the most interesting station wagons of the 1960s: the Studebaker Lark Wagonaire.These cars didn’t save Studebaker, but this 1963 Lark Daytona Wagonaire for sale on Bring a Trailer (which, like Car and Driver, is part of Hearst Autos), is proof that it wasn’t for lack of trying. This Wagonaire is also about as nice as one of these longroofs gets thanks to options including Studebaker’s potent 289-cubic-inch V-8, power disc brakes, and a gorgeous color: Rose Mist. Courtesy: Bring a TrailerJust days after his appointment on December 28, 1960, Egbert phoned Brooks Stevens and Raymond Loewy. Only 40 years old, he’d come to Studebaker from McCulloch Motors, a maker of chainsaws and parent company of Paxton Superchargers. Stevens had consulted for McCulloch, and Egbert had met Loewy while on vacation in Palm Springs. He threw down gauntlets for both, asking Loewy to design the Avanti in 13 months, and Stevens to restyle the existing Hawk and Lark in only six, with a combined budget of just $7 million.Studebaker was used to crazy turn times and shoestring budgets by then. The Lark, which saved the company from insolvency in 1959, was created in only seven months by sawing off parts of the company’s 1958 design and restyling it as a compact. By late 1960, the Big Three’s compacts were biting into Lark sales, and change was needed. Stevens delivered, giving the ’62 Larks understated, faintly European looks. He then refined the design for 1963 with updated bodies that eliminated the thick pillars and wraparound windshields left over from ’58.The most crucial body for ’63 was the Wagonaire, a reinvention of the Lark Wagon with an innovative new feature: a sliding rear roof inspired by the Scimitar, a concept car Stevens had created in 1959 for an aluminum manufacturer. The sliding section moved forward and into a pocket under the roof while the tailgate window rolled down, creating a huge open area for tall, bulky items and an open-air feel not unlike a convertible top. There was also an optional tailgate step, just like on today’s pickups.Courtesy: Bring a TrailerUnder the skin, lots of old Studebaker hardware remained, but Egbert’s efforts had improved other things too. He’d enlisted Paxton to develop the supercharged R1 and R2 packages and sourced optional front disc brakes from Bendix. In 1963, Studebaker was the only U.S. automaker to offer disc brakes. Studebaker’s 112-horsepower 170-cubic-inch “Skybolt” Six was standard, and there were two V-8s, the 259-cubic-inch 180-hp “Power Thrust” and the 225-horse “Thunderbolt” 289, optional on Daytona two-doors, convertibles, and Wagonaires. Related StoriesThe Wagonaire debuted to great fanfare in September 1962, but early cars soon returned to the dealership with water leaks. Studebaker quickly redesigned the weatherstripping and set about fixing the cars, but the bad press muted buyers’ enthusiasm, so much so that in January of ’63, the company issued a fixed-roof version as a delete option. Studebaker sales fell 21 percent in ’63, but 11,915 Wagonaires were built. Some were bought by photographers and film companies for their obvious mobile camera platform potential.Courtesy: Bring a TrailerThe Avanti and Egbert’s other changes weren’t enough to turn the tide. Studebaker’s assembly plant closed that December, though Lark and Wagonaire production continued in Canada until 1966. Ironically, Egbert’s efforts to diversify Studebaker ensured it survived until 1979, just not as a carmaker. Surprisingly, nobody tried the sliding roof idea again until GMC’s 2004 Envoy XUV.Just under 20,000 Wagonaires were made in total, but the ’63 is the only one with this classic face. With the 289 V-8 and disc brakes, like this one, the Lark was quite a performer in its day and still drives like a pretty modern car. This particular example has also had lots of expensive work done, including extensive rust repair and a repaint, new engine seals, a rebuilt transmission, and a new fuel tank.Courtesy: Bring a TrailerPlus, there’s the look. The brown, pink, and burgundy interior is as cool as the paint, and Brooks Stevens’ chrome detailing still looks regal today. If you want a rose-tinted piece of wagon history, the auction ends July 31.Alex Kwanten is a freelance writer and photographer based in Seattle, Washington. He grew up in the Bronx, with childhood automotive obsessions fixated on malaise-era taxicabs, NASCAR, and weird foreign cars. He began writing about the automotive business in 2008 and eventually became a staff editor at Forbes Wheels. His callings are helping ordinary folks navigate car buying and telling the stories of the people and cultural forces that shape automobiles. He’s still doing the weird car thing too and drives both a 1988 Mazda 323 GT and a 1986 Škoda 120.  More

The modern vision of a Cannonball Run finish is a high-powered Mercedes-AMG or a BMW M5 screeching around the corner and banging off the rev limiter in an attempt to shave just a few more tenths off its New York-to-California cross-country time as the driver slides the car towards the official finish line at the Portofino Hotel in Redondo Beach. If you watched the movie, maybe it’s a Countach or a Dodge ambulance in your head, but whatever you’re thinking of, it’s probably not a silent-running, three-wheeled solar machine that looks like the offspring of a paper plane and a tricycle. Cannonball Sun TeamWell, add it to your mental picture book. On July 21, 2024, Will Jones, Kyle Samluk, Brett Cesar, and Danny Ezzo—four engineering students from Michigan with an EV built out of eight solar panels and three bicycle wheels—set a new record for making the run from Red Ball Garage in New York City to the Portofino Hotel in Redondo Beach—the famed start and finish of the Cannonball Run. If you haven’t heard of the Cannonball Run, well, welcome to Car and Driver. We’re happy you’re here. The Cannonball started in 1971, a stunt by C/D’s own Brock Yates, who felt a protest was needed against increasingly strict traffic laws while at the same time celebrating the beauty of the American interstate system. This is what we were like back then. Yates made the first dash in a Dodge van, but subsequently upgraded to Dan Gurney and a Ferrari for the next year’s Cannonball Baker Sea-to-Shining-Sea Memorial Trophy Dash. In contemporary times, the run has become bragging rights for folks with questionable on-road ethics, and as a top-speed run, we find ourselves unable to support it. However, the solar car team was not making a top-speed run. The claimed fastest time between the Red Ball and the Portofino is Arne Toman and Doug Tabbutt’s 2020 run of 25 hours and 39 minutes. The Cannonball Sun team (see what they did there?) completed their journey of 3000 miles in 13 days, 15 hours, and 19 minutes. No speed limits broken, but they did beat Joe Kliewer’s previous solar attempt of 2800 miles in 58 days. For Jones, Samluk, Cesar, and Ezzo, the goal was to complete the run in their ground-up construction with no charging stations, no diesel generators, and no major breakdowns. Emme HallThe vehicle, dubbed Sun Strider, is registered in the state of Michigan as a motorcycle. It has tail- and brake lights, and it had headlights until the front nose cone melted in the desert heat and lost its shape, dislodging the lights from their housing. The bicycle tires, well, they aren’t exactly DOT approved, but it seems the vehicle inspector let that one slide. I got a preview of the Sun Strider the day before the intrepid trio finished as they came through the high desert of California. I had the car on the tracker and knew approximately where I would encounter the team, but nothing prepared me for what it looked like on the road. The Sun Strider has a frame made of square steel tubing with eight solar panels flat on top. Any aerodynamic body pieces are fashioned out of corrugated plastic save for curved parts like the front and rear nose cones which were 3-D printed. A small plexiglass cupola serves as the cabin, and three tiny mountain-bike wheels are all that touch the ground. It looks like a satellite and was doing a blistering 35 mph on Highway 62, tailed by a rented Ford Expedition and a trailer full of spare parts.Emme HallAfter a half-hour or so, the team stopped for a driver change. Although they were far ahead of the Tesla record, the team wasted no time in the swap. The solar panels are hinged on one side so they can be propped up allowing access to the cabin. One driver clambered out, accepted a cold bottle of water, and gave his sweaty, disgusting helmet to the next driver. Remember, it’s officially a motorcycle, and California is a helmet state. The next driver strapped into a seat that looks like it has all the comfort of the last row in economy on Spirit Airlines, checked comms on the helmet, and 30 seconds later they were on the move again. Driver swaps varied depending on road conditions and ambient temperatures. When it got really hot in the cabin, they would change every 30 miles or so. I asked about the highest temperature they saw in the cabin and Ezzo proudly said, “128 degrees.” Nutso. Emme HallThe Sun Strider has a lithium-ion battery pack with a total capacity of 2.9 kWh that the team built themselves, painstakingly welding each of the 320 cells together. They did this so they could package the 38-pound battery to their unique specifications but also so that if something went wrong, they would be familiar with it and easily be able to diagnose problems.Fortunately, the battery worked flawlessly, maintaining optimal temperatures the entire trip. The motors, however, were a different story. The team purchased motors from a Canadian company specializing in e-bike propulsion. Each is rated for 3.2 horsepower, and the guys put one on each wheel for a three-wheel-drive platform. While their route avoided the Rocky Mountains, they still had plenty of elevation gain along the way, and the motors had a hard time handling the necessary current. A 560-pound vehicle plus a driver puts more load on the equipment than a lightweight e-bike. By the finish, the team had replaced two motors in the rear, and the front motor was barely limping along. “We had five very functional motors in New York City, and we’re down to two and a half somewhat functional motors at the finish,” said Jones. “We needed all three to climb the Sierra Nevadas on Angeles Crest Highway. Two motors were rock solid. One of them has been a problem since before we even left New York City, but it finished it out. The other two have been useless. If we did it again, we’d definitely use different motors.”The team also had a bit of a problem with the MPPT solar charge controller. This little box of engineering magic takes the power from the panels and decides if that power should go to the motors or to the battery. The controller took a dump in Desert Center, California, which, as a California desert dweller, I can attest is the worst place in the California desert. There is no restaurant or gas station, no trees, and no shade. The team had to spend two hours in the blistering 115-degree heat diagnosing and fixing the MPPT so they could get on with the business of making solar-powered history. Emme HallThe schedule was the same throughout the trip. Get up early and flip up the solar panels on the car to take advantage of the low-level light. After two hours, the battery would be 95 percent full and ready for the first driver. Those in the chase vehicle would keep an eye on weather reports, constantly weighing the forecast against the battery’s state of charge. “There was one time when Kyle and I were duking it out,” said Jones. “I kept telling him ‘We gotta go!’ and he said, ‘We can’t make it!’ I told him, ‘If we don’t make it, we’re going to be sleeping on the side of the highway and get bombed by White Sands missile range!”Cannonball Sun TeamThe team was conservative with the battery, rarely letting it drop below a 40 percent state of charge. If it was sunny, no problem—the motors can take power directly from the panels. But if it clouded over or even rained, that could throw a monkey wrench into the whole darn thing. Still, on most days they cleared well over 200 miles of driving. As added insurance, the team would charge the battery in the late afternoon sun just in case the following morning was clouded over. I’ll admit I was surprised when the team asked me if I wanted to pilot the Sun Strider through the Portofino Hotel’s parking lot to the trailer, but I’m not going to turn down a chance to drive a weird thing. I settled in behind the handlebars and fired up the battery, MTTP, and motors. There are traditional pedals for the throttle and the front brake, but the latter hasn’t really worked for much of the drive. Instead, I used the two hand brakes on the handlebars to stop.Emme HallAs I gently cruised through the parking lot, it immediately becomes obvious that piloting this for any amount of time is some serious Type 2 Fun—as in, not fun until later when you brag about having survived it. The cockpit was already uncomfortably hot, the seatback was pitched at such an angle that I had to just sit forward if I wanted any chance of seeing anything out the front, and the wimpy tires and lack of any real suspension mean that any imperfections of the pavement go right to the old behind. It was nerve-wracking to drive at 10 mph. At 35 mph, it must have been terrifying. Going 50 downhill? Better them than me. I had to navigate a tight turn in the parking lot, and the Sun Strider did not want to comply. Only now do I realize I could have used just one of the rear brakes to pivot, since they each had their own controller, but instead I just slowly inched around the turn, barely missing some orange cones. I brought it to a stop at the trailer and asked Ezzo about their stats for the drive. “This morning after 80 miles of driving we saw efficiency of 24.3 watt-hours per mile, which translates to over 1000 miles per gallon,” he said. By our math, that’s 1387 MPGe. For some added context, the EPA rates the 9000-plus-pound GMC Hummer EV pickup at 45 MPGe on the highway.He may have been selling it short, an online convertor showed it closer to 1400 miles per gallon. Go sunlight!Emme HallThe Sun Strider team set up the Cannonball Sun as an open competition and hopes that others will take up the challenge to beat their time. The only rules are that the vehicle be powered only by the sun, registered, and follow all rules of the road. There is talk of heading to Alaska next summer to take advantage of the near-constant daylight. Or maybe they’ll tackle the Pan American Highway. Better them than me. Emme Hall is an award-winning automotive journalist with a small Miata problem. She gets out to the canyons in her 2004 Mazdaspeed Miata whenever she can, but you can also find her in her 2001 lifted and supercharged Miata in the dirt, where she’s taken two class wins at the Mint 400. Emme pioneered the EV program in the Rebelle Rally and has won the seven-day off-road navigational challenge twice– once in a Jeep Wrangler and once in a Rolls-Royce Cullinan. She has also raced air-cooled Volkswagens in races including the Baja 1000, ridden monkey bikes through Mongolia, and explored the wilds of the Himalayas in a tuk-tuk. More

Every 2025 Chevy Corvette will feature an image of the car’s executive chief engineer Tadge Juechter.Juechter lead the development of the C7 and C8 generations and is retiring this summer.The Corvette icon’s face will be immortalized as an Easter egg on new models for years to come, starting with the 2025 ZR1.The man who helped bring the insane 1064-hp Corvette ZR1 to life is set to enter retirement this summer, but his image will be immortalized on new Corvette models for years to come.Corvette executive chief engineer Tadge Juechter soon will stop clocking into his job at General Motors after spending the past 47 years with the company—31 of which were spent working on America’s favorite sports car. To honor the godfather of the C7 and C8 generations, Chevy has revealed that every new Corvette will feature a graphic of Juechter’s face.News of Juechter’s immortalization came last night during the reveal of the C8 Corvette ZR1. There he accepted the token of appreciation on stage surrounded by the last mid-engined monsters he’ll help create. Juechter also said multiple times that he will be retiring next Wednesday, July 31. In the background on a towering display was an enlarged version of the special graphic that’s set to debut on the the 2025 ZR1.Juechter’s image will be an Easter egg versus something prominent. It’ll appear on the top left of the ZR1 coupe’s split rear window. The same depiction of his face will also appear in a corner of the windshield as well as on the front tunnel reinforcement panel. These will be on every 2025 model (Stingray, Z06, E-Ray) presumably for as long as Chevy keeps building Corvettes.Juechter joins the Corvette’s other legendary chief engineer—maybe you’ve heard of him, Zora Arkus-Duntov—who already appears on the windshield of every new Vette.Related StoriesEric 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