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The Mullen GT is an electric sports car from a startup with roots in China.It claims a 60 mph time of 4.2 seconds and a top speed of 125 mph.The price is $150,000 and deliveries are said to start in 2025 or 2026.Deep in Citi Field Lot E is an unidentifiable coupe under a green tent. Its low-slung body, cloaked in flat gray with a large black swoosh, is more concealing with every closing step. There’s a dragonfly emblem on the nose. A side swoosh is finished in exposed carbon and channels air to a pair of heat exchangers. The tail says Mullen. It’s the Mullen GT, an electric sports car from a startup that plans to start delivering cars in the U.S. in 2025 or 2026.Like many automotive startups, Mullen’s backstory is complicated. It starts with the 2015 Shanghai debut of the Qiantu K50, an electric sports car that parent company Great Wall Huaguan would sell in China from 2018 until 2020. Later, at the 2019 New York Auto Show, a California company called Mullen Automotive pledged to import kits and sell finished, fully-certified examples in 2020. We’ve tracked many EV brands that have yet to sell a single car in the U.S., such as Bollinger, of which Mullen now owns a 60 percent stake. Mullen’s Nasdaq IPO was in November 2021 and it had a second reveal weeks later at the Los Angeles Auto Show, an SUV coupe called the Mullen Five. Now, at this parking lot in Queens, we’re devoting an afternoon to Mullen’s elusive two-seater, the rebadged EV that Qiantu quit building three years ago. While Mullen was also prepping to build rebadged Chinese cargo vans and trucksin Mississippi, the K50 was using at least four names. Until last March, it was the Dragonfly K50, Mullen K50, Qiantu K50 by Mullen, or Mullen Dragonfly. Next to us is Mitchell Dyche, an engineer whose six-foot-five frame comfortably fits in the cozy cabin. He says he specified the 19-inch center-lock wheels, Brembo brakes, and the Pirelli P Zero tires. The rest is Qiantu’s original vision, right down to the manufacturer etchings on the glass. Up close, it looks good. Inside and out, the Mullen GT has the proportions and dimensions of a mid-engine car. It has about the same footprint as an Acura NSX. The body gaps could be tighter, but the GT is not the scrappy prototype we expected. There’s a large portrait touchscreen canted toward the driver that’s still under development, a digital instrument panel, and a large curved shifter. Unlike countless Chinese cars, the GT doesn’t overtly copy the design of any established brands. And while it’s a demonstrator, there’s noticeable polish.MullenThe dual-motor setup is silent and devoid of whine, the regen is smooth, body motions are controlled, and the steering is pleasantly weighted. The specs are reasonable for a performance EV: About 400 horsepower packed into an aluminum frame with carbon body panels, all-wheel drive with torque vectoring, a 78.0-kWh T-shaped lithium-ion battery with the bulk of its cells behind the driver, and a claimed 230 miles of range. In Sport mode, the GT gets a little perkier, though in our three short laps we didn’t feel either motor shifting torque. Grip and stopping power are expectedly high.But Mullen has downgraded the GT’s performance since March, when it More

The camper versions of Volkswagen’s iconic Microbus may be great to camp in, but they’re not so great to drive. This build solves that problem.Created (mostly) from a 1974 VW Type 2, this VW is sure to be the only one of its kind at Burning Man.This is one Bring a Trailer auction where you’ll instead want to bring a tow vehicle.Volkswagen Microbus campers are undeniably cool. They’re also undeniably slow. Attaching a cart to a team of sloths is probably a faster way to get around. And maybe it isn’t the greatest idea to drive around in modern traffic in a vehicle where the front crash protection is basically just your legs. But what if you could have all the fun of a pop-top vintage VW, without the downsides? Have we got the camper for you.Car and DriverToday’s pick at auction site Bring A Trailer (or in this case, maybe Bring a Trailer Hitch?)—which, like Car and Driver, is part of Hearst Autos—is a 1974 Volkswagen Type 2 Westfalia… trailer. It’s a wacky but well-executed idea that gets rid of the slow vintage-vehicle part of Westfalia ownership but lets you keep the quirky camper fun.Bring a TrailerThe builder took a 1974 VW Type 2, repaired all the rust, then welded up the front doors and wheel wells and jettisoned the front axle and steering gear. A new tube-frame chassis underneath provides structural strength, and the removal of the engine creates more storage than you’d get in a powered Westy. The interior is finished in nicely contrasting bamboo and tweed, and foam insulation keeps the cold at bay. A pop-top camper top from a 1972 Wesfalia completes the makeover.Bring a TrailerWith a stated total weight of 2360 pounds and a tongue weight of 250 pounds, this Westfalia trailer can be towed by a broad range of vehicles. Embrace an environmentally friendly attitude, as befits a 1970s Westfalia, and hook it up behind your EV and go enjoy nature. Or strap this thing behind a Ram TRX and beat everyone else to the psychedelic rock festival. Bring a TrailerOf course, the real power move would be to tow this trailer with another Westfalia, although it would have to be one of those resto-modded ones done up with a Subaru engine and upgraded brakes. Imagine the double-takes you’d get when cruising down the highway.Related StoriesIn any event, this fun little VW bus-trailer is going to be headed out on new adventures soon. The no-reserve auction ends October 5.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

In the 1980s, Honda packaged a folding scooter with its City subcompact car. Now, here’s that same concept updated for the EV era.Both vehicles are proof-of-concept for a new easily recyclable acrylic construction.Details on power and range are thin, but the want factor is high.Honda’s Motocompo was a folding scooter designed to fit in the trunk of the company’s City subcompact car. It’s such a fun and quirky machine that it’s become highly collectible, and Hot Wheels even made a scale-sized City Turbo II with a couple of plastic Motocompos tucked in back. Now Honda is teasing an all-electric return of this well-loved accessory.Honda has shared images of a new small EV concept for the 2023 Tokyo auto show, and the electric scooter that goes with it. (Honda also plans to show off a new EV sports car, perhaps a potential replacement for the NSX, but that won’t be revealed for a few more weeks.)First, the car, which is called the SUSTAINA-C. Built from an acrylic that’s designed to be easily recycled, it’s a fun and friendly looking little two-door hatchback. While this is only a concept, it’s hard not to wish for roads full of happy little cars like this rather than the modern sea of angry-looking crossovers.HondaThe scooter is even better, and we especially love the name. It’s called the Honda Pocket, and it’s likewise made out of the same recyclable acrylic. There are no details on powertrains for either vehicle, but the thought of parking a zippy little Honda hatchback, popping a scooter out of the trunk, and zipping off to your favorite urban ramen joint is an appealing one. Obviously this combo would work better in parking-starved Tokyo than Los Angeles, but as urban centers get denser, the idea of onboard last-mile mobility makes more sense.HondaHonda is also showing a scooter that is much more pragmatic: the SC e concept. This fairly conventional-looking scooter is fitted with two of Honda’s swappable Mobile Power Packs, and it would be a game-changer for Tokyo traffic. Scooters are already a popular mass mobility option, and the ability to swap batteries at a charging station would open up EV ownership for apartment dwellers.Look for more information still to come within the next few weeks about Honda’s reveals for the Tokyo auto show.More on the City and MotocompoContributing 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

BMW’s Z3 roadster appeared in 1996 as a sort of German-accented Miata.The arrival of the six-cylinder engine added greatly to the Z3’s appeal.This Z3 2.8 with just 28K miles is up for auction at no reserve.Car and DriverThe roaring success of the Mazda Miata touched off a roadster mania in the 1990s, with BMW, Mercedes-Benz, and Porsche all fielding attainable (if not quite Miata-level affordable) two-seaters. BMW’s Z3 arrived in 1996 with a 138-hp 1.9-liter four-cylinder engine under its classically-inspired long hood. It only took a year for the Z3 to more fully reach its potential, with the arrival of a 2.8-liter inline-six bringing an additional 51 horsepower concurrent with a limited-slip rear differential. Swollen rear fenders, necessary to clear a 2.5-inch wider track, nicely balanced the styling.Bring a TrailerThis crisp-looking example currently on Bring a Trailer—which, like Car and Driver, is part of Hearst Autos—is powered by that desirable six, paired, crucially, with BMW’s ultra-slick five-speed manual.Bring a TrailerIn an in-period road test, we clocked a ’97 Z3 2.8 at 6.3 seconds to 60 mph, a result that’s still credible today. For 1999, the 2.8-liter engine saw output nudged to 193 horsepower. This 2000 model also benefits from other running changes including the fitment of side airbags, rollover hoops, and a slightly nicer interior. This car also boasts a power top, heated seats, and leather trim. Bring a TrailerRecent service includes the replacement of the drive belt, a new transmission selector seal, and new rear dampers (last year). The plastic rear window for the top has also been replaced. While there are a few minor paint chips and underbody scuffs noted, but the car overall appears to be in very tidy condition as befits its odometer reading of just 28,000 miles.Bring a TrailerThis car is located in Newburgh, New York, and can’t you just picture flying out and driving it home, flogging it down twisty roads with a contrail of foliage behind you? With New York State’s leaves already changing to an autumnal palette of red and gold, now’s the time to enjoy a classic roadster. Related StoriesAct fast, however, as this no-reserve auction ends October 1.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