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Staring down fuel prices that seem to rise with every passing moment, even those of us blessed with corporate fuel cards are a bit spooked. Maybe fuel economy really does matter.But fun always matters. So, what’s a good fuel-efficient car that still packs some fun? That is the challenge of this week’s episode of the nearly weekly Window Shopping with Car and Driver. Join editor-in-chief Tony Quiroga as he tyrannically forces his underlings to choose cars available for under $25,000 that pack both stingy fuel economy and a few smiles into one compelling package.Be calm. No one picked a Miata. But three Hondas, a Nissan, and, naturally, a Cadillac were the uncovered gems in this mélange of Zoom-misery. This week’s starting grid includes something-something-something tech dude K.C. Colwell, yadda-yadda-yadda enthusiast Joey Capparella, new guy Greg Fink who is now in charge of yo hubbadah, and Road & Track’s senior hospitality hostess, John Pearley Huffman. It’s a riot of bad takes presented with the absolute confidence of lunatics.This isn’t entertainment aimed at a general audience. It’s a piece of show business honed and refined for the select and enlightened few. That being, people who like cars and have an Internet connection stable enough to watch a YouTube video. Market research tells us that is you.

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Smart has debuted its first crossover, called the #1, for the Chinese and European markets.The #1 is powered by a single electric motor on the rear axle good for 268 horsepower and 253 pound-feet of torque.A sleek design helps the #1 achieves between 260 and 273 miles of range on the European test cycle.Smart has been absent from the American market since 2019, the final model year for its puny EQ Fortwo. Now a joint-venture between Mercedes and Geely (which also owns Volvo, Polestar, and Lotus), the city car brand is still kicking in Europe and China, where it just released its first all-new product in years. Dubbed the #1, Smart’s latest creation is also its first SUV, a modern-looking electric crossover seeking to do battle with the Mini Countryman.

Smart

The #1 measures 168.1 inches long, around two inches shorter than the Countryman, but its electric powertrain allows it to have a wheelbase just over three inches longer than the Mini’s. Despite the diminutive footprint, the #1 still weighs 4012 pounds. That EV powertrain consists of a 66-kWh battery connected to a single electric motor on the rear axle providing 268 horsepower and 253 pound-feet of torque. Smart claims a top speed of 112 mph and a range between 260 and 273 miles on Europe’s WLTP test cycle. The #1 can charge from 10 to 80 percent in less than 30 minutes on a DC super-fast charger, according to Smart.

Smart

The new Smart design language is clean and contemporary, with a smoothness reminiscent of a bar of soap. The sleek shape is enhanced by flush electric door handles and frameless doors. As is the trend these days, the #1 has a floating roof design, which echoes the color of the trim piece running below the doors, and full-width light bars front and rear. The Smart rides on 19-inch wheels, which are decked out in a checkered design for the Launch Edition.

The interior features lots of brushed metal surfaces, continuing the two-tone color scheme from the exterior. There’s a sizable 12.8-inch infotainment screen and 9.2-inch digital gauge cluster, as well as ambient lighting and a glass roof. The #1 is expected to go on sale in China before it hits the European market, with no pricing details announced yet. While Smart sales never took off stateside, we wonder how the #1 would do in crossover-obsessed America, especially given that the “Smart car” retains fairly good brand recognition despite exiting the market three years ago.
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Jeep revealed several off-road-ready concepts ahead of this year’s Easter Jeep Safari event.There’s a “bobbed” Gladiator pickup truck with a foot lobbed off its cargo box and a special hardtop roof.There’s also an assertive Grand Cherokee Trailhawk 4xe with unique 20-inch wheels and chunky 33-inch tires. One of the best parts about owning a Jeep, specifically the Wrangler or Gladiator, is their inherently customizable nature. To showcase the huge selection of accessories as well as tease potential future models, the company revealed several cool and colorful concepts ahead of the 2022 Easter Jeep Safari, including a “bobbed” Gladiator and a plug-in-hybrid Grand Cherokee Trailhawk 4xe.

The annual Easter Jeep Safari event is held in Moab, Utah, and it draws in thousands of the brand’s fans and off-road enthusiasts alike. This year the crowd will be treated to a new crop of custom-built Jeeps, with more than a few featuring electrified powertrains. While the all-electric, manual-equipped Wrangler Magneto made an appearance at last year’s Easter Jeep Safari, the others are new and interesting in their own right.Gladiator “Bob” Concept
This wild-looking concept started life as a Gladiator Rubicon, but it has received some not-so-subtle alterations. Its cargo bed has been shorted by 12 inches–a technique referred to as “bobbing”–which here shrinks the rear overhang and gives the truck a better departure angle. It also rides on a set of massive 40-inch tires with orange 20-inch beadlock wheels. Along with removing the doors, the B-pillars are gone, giving the interior a real open concept. The orange roof is another piece you won’t find on a regular Gladiator. Jeep says the design features a perforated hard top with canvas over the top that lets natural light shine through.Grand Cherokee Trailhawk 4xe Concept
This plug-in-hybrid Grand Cherokee Trailhawk 4xe isn’t as ostentatious as some of the other concepts, but it boasts a distinctly assertive appearance. It wears a custom Industrial Blue paint color that’s nicely contrasted by its black-painted roof that’s actually made from a bedliner material. Completing the overlanding vibe are a roof rack, rock rails, upgraded lighting elements, and a sweet wheel-and-tire package. The unique 20-inch wheels are mounted on 33-inch mud-terrain tires underneath flared fenders. The Trailhawk also has an adjustable air suspension and a sway-bar-disconnect feature that help make it as capable as it is cool.Jeep ’41 Concept
Jeep’s legacy is forever linked to the original military-spec Willys MB, and this ’41 concept based on a plug-in-hybrid Wrangler Willys 4xe is a fitting tribute. From its matte olive green paint job to its color-matched steel wheels to its stenciled graphics, the connection to the original is undeniable. We also love its half doors and steel bumpers, which include a Warn winch mounted up front. The ’41 concept is also equipped with 35-inch tires and a 2.0-inch lift kit. Inside, the military-grade aesthetic continues with a matte green bedliner material covering the floor and seats covered in canvas with digital camo inserts. Birdcage and D-Coder Concepts

Jeep

Jeep

To highlight some of the countless accessories available through Jeep Performance Parts (JPP), a Wrangler and Gladiator were transformed into concepts called the Birdcage and D-Coder. The Birdcage is pictured on the left in Eagle Brown paint and fitted with all sorts of heavy-duty off-road hardware, including 37-inch tires and what JPP says is the industry’s first 2.0-inch lift kit with Fox shocks that was specifically developed for the Wrangler 4xe’s plug-in-hybrid powertrain. The D-Coder is shown on the right in black, but most notable are the copious red-painted JPP add-ons. Essentially a rolling catalog, the list of parts ranges from tube doors to a three-piece modular front bumper to a snorkel air intake.
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Tesla’s CEO, Elon Musk, arranged to speak at 10 p.m. Central time tonight as part of festivities for the opening of the company’s massive Giga Texas facility, the sixth Tesla factory worldwide and now named as Tesla global headquarters.Giga Texas, first announced in 2020, is the plant slated to build the long-awaited Cybertruck, and that vehicle was an important part of Musk’s talk.Earlier in the day workers were seen setting up for a large-scale event that Tesla’s calling the ‘Cyber Rodeo,’ and Electrek and other sources noted that Cybertrucks were spotted on the grounds this week.UPDATE, 10;45 p.m. ET: Musk has officially promised the Cybertruck and the Tesla Semi in 2023. “We’re going to move to . . . scale that no company has ever achieved in the history of humanity,” he said. Among the planned future product will be a “dedicated robotaxi [that] is gonna look quite futuristic,” and the Tesla robot Optimus, he said, which will help create “an age of abundance . . . that’s gonna transform the world to an extent even greater than the cars.” This, too, he said is coming next year. Following that announcement, Musk rolled out the first Texas-built cars next to a sign saying “Deliveries begin now.” Showing the Cybertruck (pictured above), he said, “It’s been an intense couple years, but we’re gonna have this for you next year, and it’s gonna be great.” He and design chief Franz von Holzhausen pretended to consider, then reject, the idea of smashing its window with a hammer as they famously did at the original reveal of the Cybertruck in 2019.At 10:28 p.m., Elon Musk arrived in an original Tesla Roadster from 2008, wearing a black cowboy hat, to an enthusiastic reception from cellphone-wielding invited guests. He called it, the company’s first production vehicle, “a very simple car” and recalled saying at that time that he thought “optimistically we had a 10 percent chance of succeeding.” Musk also doubled down on his enthusiasm for Full Self-Driving, saying it will “revolutionize the world,” and promised that it will go into wider beta usage during 2022.At 10:15 p.m., the Austin sky was briefly dominated by a light show that created images of cars, a human head [which one reader IDed as that of Nikola Tesla], the Giga Texas logo, the dog symbol of the cryptocurrency Dogecoin, and eventually the Cybertruck, to the cheers of spectators. Musk has not yet taken the stage.

Tesla via YouTube

The Giga Texas facility near Austin where Tesla expects to build the Cybertruck is having a big party tonight. Musk promised he would have an announcement as part of the grand opening festivities. There is speculation he will have more to say about the truck.

Tesla via YouTube

At the time the plant was first announced, in 2020, Musk said the 2500-acre facility will be where Tesla will build Model 3 and Model Y vehicles that will be delivered to the East Coast, along with the Tesla Semi and the Cybertruck. More recently, the company acknowledged that 2022 would not see any Semi or Cybertruck vehicles built. In January Tesla took the edgy electric truck’s production timeline off its website entirely and, until today, had not given further information about when (or if) it will be built.

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• Our Bring a Trailer pick of the day is this refurbished 1962 Dodge W200 Power Wagon.• It’s hard to imagine a truck that would stand out more at your local car show. • Bidding is open on this 1962 model until Monday, April 11. You can’t throw a rock at a new off-road truck today without hitting a crew cab. Actually, don’t throw rocks at trucks. Instead, consider that the four-door crew-cab configuration wasn’t really a thing in the U.S. until the 1960s. That means this 1962 Dodge W200 Power Wagon might be the closest thing to a direct ancestor to today’s 2022 Ram HD 2500 Power Wagon, which is only available with a crew cab.

Bring a Trailer

Shortly after the International Travelette, the first generation of Dodge’s D and W 200 series pickups (D for two-wheel drive, W for four-wheel drive) was among the first in the U.S. to offer a crew-cab configuration. Added seats aside, the style of these versions remains distinct to this day.
As for the Power Wagon moniker, it reaches far back to the civilian versions of the heavy-duty military trucks Dodge built during World War II. Think of these trucks as off-road-ready work trucks built for towing and hauling anywhere rather than high-speed Baja toys.

Bring a Trailer

According to the ad, this Power Wagon was originally purchased and used by the Rollins Fire Department of Montana before undergoing cosmetic and mechanical refurbishment. It has a 225-cubic-inch inline-six-cylinder engine, commonly known as the slant-six, and a four-speed manual transmission. The auction listing states that both have been rebuilt. Whoever handled the refurbishment has good taste. The green and white exterior shows well, and we admire the restraint in wheel and tire sizes. The 19-inch steel wheels are wrapped in Goodyear tires and house drum brakes at all four corners.

Bring a Trailer

Inside, the tan vinyl on the doors, roof, and front and rear bench seats are a nice addition to an otherwise utilitarian interior. Some other highlights include an optimistic 100-mph speedometer and an ashtray in the center console. You won’t find cupholders; instead there’s a sticker explaining the direction to shift the levers aside the shifter to engage the front axle and two-speed transfer case. Also note these 1962 models featured locking front hubs. This W200 Power Wagon currently has a high bid of $27,000, and the auction is set to end on Monday, April 11.

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On Tuesday, March 15, we held our first Lightning Lap track day, in conjunction with Kaizen Autosport. It took place at our favorite track, Virginia International Raceway, in the same Grand Course configuration we use for our annual running of the year’s hottest performance cars. About 40 entries showed up across a huge spectrum of performance and price, populating all our price-based LL1 through LL5 categories for street cars and all but the most expensive race-car class. Each class winner received a $1000 prize, a trophy, membership in our Track Club, and the satisfaction that they beat out everyone else vying for that top spot.It was sunny and cool, perfect when going for times. Or even when not, as when we did a few less-than-committed laps in our long-term C8 Chevrolet Corvette, BMW M3, and Ram TRX so they could earn a Grand Course decal to wear proudly for the rest of their 40,000 miles in our fleet. It was great to hear from attendees—even some VIR regulars—that this was their first time on the 4.1-mile Grand Course. That was one of the reasons why we wanted to do this: to give people the chance to experience it the way we do, which is a configuration rarely used for track days.Plans are already in motion for the next Track Day. Stay tuned.LL1 (under $35,000)[composite mediaId=’79541480-59d8-42b5-aba1-90e0bcc0c671′][/composite]Michael Congelosi is the original owner of his 2005 Dodge SRT4 ACR, and he drove it with the skill that comes from a decades-long bond with a vehicle. Also helping is that Congelosi’s day job is pushing tires to their limits for Yokohama. The SRT4 is old enough that we never ran one during our 15 years of Lightning Lap, but we know that his 3:08.6 lap time is plenty impressive, beating out a Mazda Miata and a Hyundai Veloster N, and putting it in the neighborhood of the Veloster N we ran in 2019. For reference, we did a 3:20.8 in the hot Neon’s successor, a 2008 Dodge Caliber SRT4.LL2 ($35,000 to $64,999)[composite mediaId=’cb40aa81-783c-443d-9f05-0cb751713151′][/composite]LL2 was the largest of the street-car classes, consisting primarily of Camaros and Mustangs, plus a Cayman and a BMW M2. After two afternoon sessions, the car with the swiftest time was a brand-new 2021 Ford Mustang Mach 1 piloted by Jeff Quesenberry. Although Quesenberry has thousands of laps at VIR, this was his first time on the Grand Course, and our own David Beard, who drove a Ford Mustang Mach 1 to a 2:51.4 in the most recent Lightning Lap, was giving some pointers. Although the winning 2:56.9 was a bit off Beard’s pace, his Mach 1 also didn’t have the Handling package and its adjustable front camber plates and the Michelin Pilot Sport Cup 2 tires that ours did.LL3 ($65,000 to $124,999)[composite mediaId=’855b0265-bcf3-4d2b-bc38-2a4378514e2e’][/composite]The 2017 Chevrolet Corvette Grand Sport driven by Cody Hunt laid down the best time in LL3, beating out three other storied performance brands: a Dodge Viper, a Nissan GT-R, and a BMW M4. Hunt’s best lap of 2:46.6 just beat our 2:47.1 in that car in 2016, although his new R compound tires were likely an advantage over the stock Michelin Cup 2s of five years ago that the C6 Grand Sport wore from the factory.LL4 ($125,000 to $249,999)[composite mediaId=’3815c64a-4f31-4aed-8311-83c0ee0d2c84′][/composite]Nothing could match Corey Radcliff in a 2017 Dodge Viper ACR Extreme in LL4, where his very impressive 2:40.9 beat out a trio of 991 Porsche 911s: a GT3 RS, a GT3, and a GT3 Touring. Radcliff’s win is well deserved, as his time is a solid chunk better than the 2:44.2 we recorded in 2016—driver K.C. Colwell remembers the heat being oppressive that day—and is closing in on Dodge development driver Chris Winkler’s 2:40 flat. Impressive. The other news to come out of the LL4 class is that a Tesla Model S Plaid ran a 2:50.7, 4.5 seconds quicker than the Porsche Taycan Turbo S we lapped in 2021, which is equally surprising; and the supremely fortunate tank slapper up the esses during that quickest lap that somehow didn’t end in disaster.LL5 ($250,000 and above)[image id=’a19f28b2-4eae-4732-8b02-c5c07dfdc02d’ mediaId=’863ddc76-4c7f-4c50-8383-28d1123f8d08′ align=’left’ size=’medium’ share=’false’ caption=” expand=” crop=’original’][/image]Piloting a beautiful 2018 Porsche 911 GT2 RS, Randy Copeland took the honors in the top LL5 street category with a 2:48.6 lap time. Although our K.C. Colwell went considerably quicker with a 2:37.8 in a GT2RS in 2018—beating out a Corvette ZR1 and McLaren 720S for the quickest time that year and, at the time, the quickest lap ever—kudos to Copeland for being the rare owner who exercises his car in the way Porsche’s GT squad intended it to.LLR1 (under $65,000)[composite mediaId=’91aec92a-89a9-406a-806f-937984e51457′][/composite]This least expensive race-car class was the most contested, with a brand-new Subaru BRZ coming out ahead of a trio of BMWs—E30, E36, E46—a Nissan 350Z, a Porsche Boxster, a Mustang, and a Miata. We loved the new BRZ when we ran a 3:12.4 at this year’s Lightning Lap, which is almost two seconds quicker than the best previous-gen BRZ, a tS model. But the fully race-prepped TC America Subie built by TechSport Racing and driven by Devin Anderson shows the true potential of this excellent lightweight rear-drive sports coupe, with his best time of 2:56.5.LLR2 ($65,000 to $124,999)[composite mediaId=’e436432a-051c-4106-a02f-ef191bc4f158′][/composite]The gap between Eric Magnussen’s LS-swapped E46 M3 and the rest of the LLR2 field was nearly nine seconds large, proving that the fire-spitting and insanely loud yellow BMW was far more than pomp. Magnussen’s best time of 2:39.3 puts it in the top five most rapid street cars we ran, between a McLaren 765LT and Corvette ZR1.LLRP (prototype)[composite mediaId=’136d74b9-d929-4f8b-9026-9a6196b3f73a’][/composite]Convincingly proving our point that VIR’s Grand isn’t a horsepower track, Jonathan Finstrom ran an epic 2:27.2 lap—a new Grand Course record—in his lightweight and lightly powered Staudacher S08 P1 prototype racer. The Suzuki GSX-R 1.0-liter engine makes a mere 152 hp and 75 lb-ft at the wheels, and Finstrom’s peak speed down the straight was just 137 mph—about the same as the BMW M240i from our most recent Lightning Lap. Yet the 782-pound machine went 7.7 seconds quicker than the McLaren Senna that currently sits atop our all-time Lightning Lap leader board, and nearly that many ticks ahead of the next-quickest competitor, too.[gallery id='14c706cf-fb0e-44a0-a2af-cf5069ac4be2' mediaId='ce538d44-5bd8-4f62-91ad-3d8d75ee5377' display='slider' align='center' size='medium' share='true' expand='' captions='true' suppress-title='true'][/gallery]

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