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A new generation of the Mercedes-Benz GLC-class is coming for 2023.The new compact luxury SUV looks similar to the current model but should include new features.The base GLC300 model will share its 255-hp turbo 2.0-liter inline-four with the C-class sedan.The Mercedes C-class sedan’s SUV sibling is slated to get a redesign soon, and these are the first official photos of the new 2023 GLC-class compact luxury crossover. This prototype seen undergoing winter testing still has a bit of camouflage, but we can clearly see its overall shape and proportions, and Mercedes has revealed some specs about this new X254-generation model that should arrive in the U.S. later this year.

Mercedes-Benz

The new model appears to be a bit larger than before, with a wider stance and more bulbous rear fenders. The five-spoke wheels on this prototype have an interesting triangular design, and the slim headlights and taillights look similar to the C-class sedan’s. Mercedes hasn’t released photos of the interior yet but says it will have a new steering wheel, the latest MBUX infotainment software, and large screens including a 12.3-inch digital gauge cluster and an 11.9-inch central infotainment screen.We anticipate the base model to again be called the GLC300, as it will share the C300 sedan’s turbocharged 2.0-liter inline-four and 48-volt hybrid system. This combination will produce 255 horsepower and 295 pound-feet of torque. 4Matic all-wheel drive will likely be optional, with rear-wheel drive standard, as the new GLC once again shares its platform with the C-class. More powerful AMG variants will follow and may use the same hybrid four-cylinder powertrains expected for the C43 and C63 AMG, with the latter expected to produce over 500 horsepower.Look for more information to come soon on the new GLC, which will likely be revealed in full within the next few months before arriving in the U.S. near the end of the year.
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We don’t exactly know what’s going to happen with gas prices in the U.S. in the next few weeks or months; nor do experts. But we’ve found out what analysts predict is coming soon.Their best guess: slight fluctuations up and down, depending on where you live. And state “gas tax holidays” that should help—but may also hurt.The list of factors that go into gas prices is long and growing: the pandemic, supply chains, OPEC’s attitudes, Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and all the consequences from that. The only certainty right now is uncertainty.Gas prices at the pump are constantly fluctuating. Given the state of our pandemic world, the numbers have been going up and down in what seems like confusing ways. Russia’s invasion of Ukraine a month ago set off the latest round of highs—leading to the highest ever gas prices in the U.S., depending on how you calculate it—but now prices have somewhat stabilized at this high level. Which brings to the next big question: What’s next? We’ll spoil the ending here to say we can’t be sure, but we can look at the various factors influencing the price and let you make your own predictions.

Some states have responded to the recent price spike by introducing gas tax holidays. While this does lower the price at the pump, removing the gas tax—even temporarily—actually works to drive prices up in the long run. GasBuddy’s Patrick De Haan posted on Twitter Monday that states should really be thinking of different approach to helping motorists when it comes to gas prices.
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According to De Haan’s numbers, gas tax holidays are boosting gasoline demand, especially in a place like Maryland, since that’s a place where D.C. residents can easily cross the border to fill up for less money. Maryland dropped its state gas tax (which is 36.1 cents per gallon for gasoline, 36.85 cents per gallon for diesel) on March 18 for a total of 30 days. As De Haan notes, demand for gasoline in the first nine days of the gas tax holiday was up more than 26 percent compared with right before the holiday was put in place. Georgia’s recent gas tax holiday resulted in a rise in demand of 13 percent. Nationally, demand for gasoline has been pushed up 8.7 percent since February, before these states lowered their state gas taxes.The problem is that reducing consumption is a long-term problem, while politicians often think in shorter-term efforts. AAA said Monday that with the price of a barrel of oil hovering around $110, the national average price for a gallon of gasoline has dropped a bit since the record highs earlier this month. On March 11, the average hit $4.33, but that has come down to $4.24 Tuesday.

AAA

“The global oil market reflects the volatility caused by the war in Ukraine grinding onward,” AAA spokesperson Andrew Gross said in a statement. “And with oil prices refusing to fall, the price at the pump is likewise meeting resistance at dropping further.”Oil prices are steady, in part, because oil a group of producing countries (known collectively as OPEC+) said Monday it is unlikely to increase oil output in the near term. Insiders told Reuters that the major OPEC members are keeping production stable and the OPEC+ group, which includes Russia, “has steered clear of the topic of Ukraine,” Reuters reported.While demand for gas in the U.S. has increased some in the last month, it is still low by historical standards. AAA cites new data from the Energy Information Administration (EIA) that shows that the overall drop in demand is helping bring prices down. “However, the steady increase in the price of oil is slowing that decline,” AAA writes. “If oil prices continue to rise, pump prices will likely follow suit, reversing course from the current downward trend.”De Haan is also on board the train that sees mild price fluctuations in the near term. “We’ll see a mix of slight decreases and some potential increases mixed in,” he said in a statement. “California markets should finally cool off and areas could even move lower in Southern California, while the Great Lakes could see gas prices jump up after having fallen for the last week or so. While the national average should start to stabilize for the time being, there’s no telling what’s around the corner, at least for now, as the volatility in oil prices persists.”
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Ford is adding yet another off-road variant to the F-150 lineup with the 2023 F-150 Rattler.The Rattler adds some of the equipment found in the FX4 package, including an electronic locking rear differential and hill descent control.Ford hasn’t revealed pricing, but we expect the Rattler to cost slightly less than the FX4 package when it arrives this fall. Ford F-150 buyers are already spoiled for choice, with eight versions on offer that range from the bare-bones XL to the desert-conquering Raptor. Each model is also available with several different packages and equipment groups. But now the Blue Oval is adding a new configuration as the F-150 Rattler joins the lineup as yet another off-road package.

Ford

Ford

The Rattler will be based on the four-wheel-drive F-150 XL model, which starts at $39,200 for 2022. It includes some equipment found in the FX4 package such as an electronic locking rear differential, hill descent control, and shock absorbers tuned for off-roading. There are also skid plates protecting the fuel tank, transfer case, and front differential, and the Rattler is fitted with all-terrain tires. The Rattler will only be available as a SuperCab or SuperCrew, and like the $1005 FX4 option, it requires selecting one of the optional engines—either the twin-turbo 2.7-liter V-6, 5.0-liter V-8, or twin-turbo 3.5-liter EcoBoost V-6—and a more expensive equipment package.

Visually, the Rattler is distinguished by a dual exhaust tips that Ford promises produce “a bold sound” and painted 18-inch aluminum wheels. There is also a Rattler badge on the fenders and a Rattler graphic with a snakeskin look on the side of the bed. The interior features bronze accents and stitching. Ford hasn’t announced pricing, but we expect the Rattler to cost slightly less than the FX4 package when it arrives this fall for the 2023 model year.
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• This 3700-mile 1982 Chrysler LeBaron may not be the car of your dreams—or, if your dreams come from Malaise Era Detroit, it might be exactly that.• Powered by a 92-hp 2.6-liter inline-four engine and armed with a cassette player, this Chrysler brings you top-down motoring as it once was.• The LeBaron is up for auction at no reserve on Bring a Trailer, with bidding set to end on Saturday, April 2. One of the many glories of Bring a Trailer (which, like Car and Driver, is part of Hearst Autos), and one of the reasons I peruse its listings daily, is its Herodotean featuring of time-capsule vehicles. The most compelling of these cars, for me, are ones that conjure the domestic automotive ignominy perpetrated on the public during my Malaise Era Detroit childhood. Often, these splendidly vile artifacts are located in the Midwest, where endless winters, rain-soaked bridge seasons, and ruinous salt-strewn infrastructure have catalyzed a cryogenic laboratory for the preservation of oddball Big Three physical culture.

Bring a Trailer

This 3700-mile 1982 Chrysler LeBaron convertible is a perfect exemplar. Of course it’s slathered in an era-defining Mahogany Metallic and highlighted with a contrasting safety orange pinstripe. But it is the ribbed caramel and mocha leather and pleather interior that truly captivates, not least because it attempts to hide (see what we did there?) the plebeian yet innovative front-wheel-drive K-car platform with deluxury from America’s Hermès, the Mark Cross company, founded, like its French co-rival, to accessorize the horse-and-buggy trade.

Bring a Trailer

But it isn’t simply nostalgia that fuels my interest in this car, or any of these archival archetypes. It’s archaeology. The ’82 LeBaron was responsible for reintroducing the factory convertible to the American marketplace, a form abandoned punitively as a domestic manufacturers panicked and resisted (as usual) in the face of increasing safety regulation. And it features a 92-hp/131-pound-foot 2.6-liter transversely mounted, Mitsubishi-sourced I-4 Hemi engine. It was a giant of displacement among four-pots and used counterrotating dual balance shafts to smooth operation—a technology that was subsequently licensed to Porsche for its big 2.5- and 3.0-liter ’80s fours.

Bring a Trailer

The white top powers down. The A/C blows cold. The cassette player will boom any ancient mixtapes you can unearth. Is this car historical, or simply hysterical? Either way, it’s captivating, and—with bidding only at $2500, albeit with nearly a week to go—a cheap way into top-down motoring, historic preservation, and Radwood darling status.

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