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The star of The Fast and the Furious movie franchise passed away in 2013, but one of his personal vehicles will play its own starring role during this year’s Monterey Car Week in August.Fully restored and looking sweet, this 1973 Porsche 911 features a 2.7-liter flat-six-cylinder engine and houndstooth black-and-white seats, all wrapped up in a bright-yellow exterior with black accents.Walker once told Jay Leno how he found this car for sale online and agreed to purchase it sight unseen back in 2011.The list of glorious vehicles that will be auctioned off at the 2022 Monterey Car Week next month is full of head-turning possibilities, from a one-of-12 1934 Packard Custom Convertible Sedan to a 2012 Ferrari LaFerrari Prototype MP1. If you’re a fan of The Fast and The Furious movies, though, there’s just one that you’ll want in your own garage: a light-yellow 1973 Porsche 911 Carrera RS 2.7 that was previously owned by Paul Walker. Walker starred in the action movie series until his death in 2013 in a crash involving another Porsche, a Carrera GT Walker had recently purchased.

A car guy through and through, Walker talked about buying this vehicle, which he found for sale on the internet in 2011, during an appearance on Jay Leno that year. Walker wasn’t even sure the car ran when he agreed to purchase it, but the folks at Mecum Auctions are able to offer the car in fine shape now that it has been restored and refined to a level Walker would have appreciated.

Mecum Auctions

The 911 RS 2.7 has a history of being driven both fast and furious, as the model was raced on the track starting in 1972. The car’s track success gave Porsche reason to increase the number of RS 2.7 units it would make from an expected 500 to the final tally of 1580 cars. Walker’s car comes with FIA paperwork and a Porsche certificate of authenticity.On Walker’s 911 RS 2.7, a yellow exterior is decorated with black accents like the Carrera livery on the sides and chrome trim on the windows and headlights. Restorations to the powertrain, including the drivetrain and the suspension, were done by Jerry Woods Enterprises. The powertrain uses a 2.7-liter flat-six-cylinder engine that produces 210 horsepower. An 8000-rpm tachometer can be used to know when to shift the five-speed manual transmission. The odometer currently shows 93,774 kilometers (58,268 miles).

Mecum Auctions

The black interior was redone by Autobahn Interiors, which gave the 911 black-and-white sport bucket seats while keeping the rest looking clean and simple with gauges from VDO. In keeping with the original, the redone 911 features thinner steel body panels than those found on a standard 911 and also has lighter, thinner windows. Other weight-saving features include a fiberglass rear deck and a lightweight ducktail spoiler.Interested bidders need to register on the Mecum website before Monterey Car Week starts August 18. The 911 is listed on the site at Lot R290, and the auction will take place Saturday, August 20.
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• This 1978 Chevrolet Corvette, currently up for sale on the Bring a Trailer website, is a perfect example of a car with the vibe of its time.• This is a 25th-anniversary edition equipped with a 350-cubic-inch V-8 and a four-speed manual transmission.• With a weekend ahead of us and bidding slated to end on Monday, July 18, the top offer is currently at only $9000.Late C3 Corvettes are among the most underloved vehicles in the nearly 70-year run of Chevy’s fiberglass two-seater. They are harshed on as underpowered, smog-choked rattletraps with burdensome impact-absorbing front and rear bumper covers, and poseur-ific features like mirrored T-tops and pop-up headlamps. However, I’ve always loved them, and that’s why I chose this 1978 Chevrolet Corvette L82 four-speed to be our Bring a Trailer pick of the day. (Bring a Trailer, like Car and Driver, is part of the Hearst Autos Group.)

Bring a Trailer

Perhaps my appreciation of this car is the result of generational imprinting. I was an impressionable tween when they were new. But it is hard to deny their ebullient and admirable loucheness. A Corvette—unlike predictable and unyielding long-term nameplates like the Porsche 911—is always exactly of its era, both in design and performance. These so-called “soft nose” Vettes perfectly capture both the hedonism and nihilism of the disco era.

Let’s dispense with some problematic hearsay first. While Corvette performance did reach a nadir during this era, with base small-block V-8 models producing just 165 horsepower in 1975, this particular Vette has the highest possible output of any late C3. Its 5.7-liter L82 V-8 thus pumps out a respectable 220 hp. This was enough to hustle this Plastic Fantastic from zero to 60 mph in just 6.5 seconds, allowing our own Brock Yates to proclaim it in these pages “the fastest American production car.” For perspective, the 1978 Porsche 928 posts nearly identical acceleration times. And while others may debase the fastback rear window styling that debuted on the Corvette in 1978, it adds significant storage area in the rear, and became a sleazily sexy hallmark of the model’s design that remains to this day.

Bring a Trailer

Moreover, this ’78 Vette was ordered with a number of optional upgrades, including a beefier gymkhana suspension and classy two-tone silver paint, the latter a nod to the model’s 25th anniversary, which took place that fateful year. Moreover, it comes with a four-speed manual transmission, period correct 15-inch slotted aluminum wheels with proper raised-white-letter tires, a factory eight-track stereo, and working A/C. In my opinion, this is the apex of late C3 Corvettes. In fact, as I type this, I’m also texting my brother—with whom I own four old cars—to discuss bidding. Watch for my sordid senescent self to slink down a boulevard near you soon.

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Chevy has revealed pricing for the 2023 Corvette Z06.It starts at $106,395 for the base 1LZ, and the convertible is $7000–$7500 extra.Options include the Z06 package for $8995 and carbon-fiber wheels for $11,995.The new 2023 Corvette Z06’s 670-hp flat-plane-crank V-8 revs to 8600 rpm, and its pricing also rises to similarly stratospheric levels. It starts at $106,395, nearly $25,000 more than the previous-generation C7 Z06, and the options list includes big-ticket items such as a $10,495 carbon-fiber package and $11,995 carbon-fiber wheels. Orders open July 28.Three trim levels will be available, including 1LZ, 2LZ ($115,595), and 3LZ ($120,245), with varying levels of equipment. The convertible bodystyle costs between $7000 and $7500 extra over the coupe.

Those seeking max performance will want the $8995 Z07 package, which adds the FE7 suspension tune, carbon-ceramic brakes, Michelin Pilot Cup 2R ZP tires, and underbody strakes. To get the Z07 upgrades, you must also add the Carbon Aero package that costs either $8495 with carbon flash-painted components or $10,495 with exposed carbon fiber.Carbon-fiber wheels are also available, which Chevy says reduce unsprung mass by 41 pounds. They’re available only on Z07 cars and cost either $9995 for the flash-painted version or $11,995 for visible carbon-fiber.Loading a Z06 up with all of these extras will push its price toward the $150,000–$160,000 range, where it starts to encroach on Porsche 911 GT3 (starting price, $162,450) territory. We look forward to getting our hands on the Z06 to see how it measures up.
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Toyota has revealed an entire lineup of vehicles that wear the Crown nameplate.In addition to the lifted sedan for the U.S., there’s also a conventional sedan, a compact crossover, and a larger SUV.We don’t know if these versions are coming to the U.S., but we think they could influence future Lexus vehicles.The 2023 Toyota Crown is a segment-bending mix of sedan and SUV styling cues, but the Crown lineup doesn’t stop there. Toyota revealed three other models that will be part of the global Crown family, including a sedan that looks to ride on a rear-wheel-drive platform, a compact crossover, and a larger crossover that Toyota is calling an “Estate,” or station wagon.

We don’t think that any of these other Crowns will come to the U.S. in exactly this form, but it’s possible they could preview future Lexus models destined for our shores. Toyota hasn’t released details on the powertrains for these Crown variants, but we’d bet that they’ll all offer hybrid setups, as the 2023 Crown will come only with a choice of two gas-electric drivetrains.Crown (Sedan-type)
Given the visual similarities between this Crown sedan and the Toyota Mirai hydrogen fuel-cell vehicle, we’re pretty sure that this vehicle shares its TNGA-L longitudinal platform with the Mirai and the Lexus LS. Previous versions of the Lexus GS mid-size luxury sedan were related to Crown sedan models sold in Japan, so could this signify a return of the GS to our shores? We doubt it given the slow sales of that model that led to its discontinuation, but it’s interesting nonetheless.Crown (Estate-type)
Although Toyota is referring to this version of the Crown as wagon, we think it looks more like a mid-size crossover. We’re not sure of the size, or if this model has three rows of seats, but we could see something shaped like this slotting into the Lexus lineup. However, it may not be large enough to be the upcoming Lexus TX three-row SUV, and it would likely overlap with the new 2023 Lexus RX in terms of size.Crown (Crossover-type)
This red compact crossover is the smallest of the four Crown models, and it has a sloping roofline reminiscent of “coupe-like” SUVs such as the BMW X4. It also strikes us as a potential Lexus SUV, as it could slot in between the UX and NX in the lineup as a sportier crossover offering.
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