Don't get too excited about the new Hurricane torque numbers. If it is tuned similarly to the Ford Ecoboost ( extremely likely to get the MPH numbers), the torque power range is likely only 1000 rpm wide. That's why 10 speed transmissions are made. Driveability is significantly compromised. The torque/horsepower spec is now virtually meaningless for comparison. You have to go to the curves from 1000 - 5000 rpm to get a real idea of how drivable the engine will be. Instead of flat these new engines look like sine waves with very narrow peaks. ... View more

Last year we evaluated both engines and opted for the 2017 , the last year of the V6. Our obsevations: The econoboost 4 is a great lawnmower engine. It requires a 10 speed auto because of its severely narrow torque curve. Driving it, the computer is constantly seeking out the best gear to the point of being annoying. While on paper the V6 appears less powerful , driving it gives you a feel of more power. We drove 3 different Ecoboosts to confirm that our impressions weren't a one off. And looking at the reliability, the V6 wins hands down. Gas mileage in daily driving is very close. ... View more

Nice except for that unnecessary and distracting front grill. ... View more

How long before the 5 year old children are trained to assemble these? Geely is controlled by the Chinese government. Lotus is dead to me. ... View more

I want real stock car racing. Give me a bunch of off the showroom cars. For safety purposes only, a maximum weight limit plus a roll/crash cage for the driver. Speed limit them to 100 MPH by digital governor, again for safety. Then let them race on a variety of courses and ovals. Only allow dealer supplied standard parts. It would be cheap to operate and much more fun for fans. Horsepower torque, weight, aerodynamics and handling would all become interesting variables across the various manufacturers. Lets call it the RASCAR series: Real Authentic Stock CARs. Creatively you might even be able to find a way to race ICUs against electrics. ... View more

I have a 69 Mustang with a 390 and petronix in the distributor that I had owned for less than a year. Car would run nicely, then inexplicably stall. After reading forums I discovered the pink resistor wire was dropping the voltage to the petronix, which needs 8 volts minimum. I bypassed the pink wire, but the problem continued. On a particularly bad running day I started the car and then ran a temporarywire directly from the battery to the distributor. The engine ran flawlessly without any hint of stalling. A friend lianed me his spare voltage regulator. No difference. The schematic led me to the ignition switch as the last remaining element, but how could that be the problem source? With complete skeptcism, I pulled the ignition switch and then with a DVM I measured the resistance across the terminals in each key position. To my amazement the same position would give wildly different resistance readings each time I switched it, from 2 ohms to over 40 ohms. Obviously a bad switch but I had never seen one fail like that before. I replaced the switch and the problem disappeared. ... View more

I had the pleasure of visiting his garage two years ago for a Hagerty/Tom Cotter event. One thing that impressed me is the diversity of his collection from brassies through race cars. The other is that he has acquired duplicate engines for some of his rarest cars, with the original engine on display next to each car. So he gets to drive them hard if he wants without worrying about doing potentiasly catastrophic damage to the original. He was a welcoming host as well, and the RK Motors side where business is done was also impressive. ... View more

The Petrol lounge concept is ok for one or two cars that you rarely use. None of them them that I know of offer 7x24 spontaneous access. An alternative growing in popularity is a garage condo. You own it (at least the interior) identical to a residential condo. The $ math works. Large home garages have virtually no positive value on equity, they are money down the drain. Car condos are appreciating similar to other commercial buildings. I have 6 cars in a 25 x 50 size, also with a lounge/loft, half bath and 4 post lift. It costs me far less than $2400 (6 cars x $400) per month, plus I have 7 x 24 unfettered access to my cars and no worries about someone else dinging or otherwise messing with them. And in the last 4 years mine has appreciated 40%. ... View more

Polestar is to Volvo as Lincoln is to (fill in the blank). Doubtful it will establish a unique identity. Bonded aluminum is not new to automobiles. Even Jaguar has used it across its lineup for years. ... View more

Just ugly, especially that rear end. And if earlier reports are correct, you can't touch anything under the hood yourself. I'm waiting for the next step which is that you purchase a "base" model, and to get all the performance features you have to be purchased yearly via a subscription model if you want to keep them. ... View more

I'm surprised no one else has brought this one up. Whenever I am seriously looking to buy car that is located far away, I find a car club local to the car with expertise in that marque. I contact them and ask for a judge or expert in that marque that I can pay to look at the car for me. They typically charge between $100-$200, and many are flattered to be asked. Much better than using a generalist appraiser and most often cheaper It has also resulted in good contacts for me as well. On another note, many people believe that BaT vets a car out. They don't. They depend on the representations of the seller who was a broker for the local owner (legit). I once viewed a very high end vintage Mustang on the site represented as a complete and accurate numbers matching restoration. Had the Marti Report. It ended up not sellling for the reserve and I negotiated with the seller after the auction ended. We mutually reached a price. Then I called up the local Mustang Club. Found a Mustang expert of that vintage who I paid to look at the car, including up on a lift. He discovered that it had a replacement engine (date codes off by over 9 months), wrong carb and more. Turns out that the owner "thought" it was numbers matching. Worse, the underside of the car was rusted so badly the torque boxes were compromised. In the resto, they simply painted everything over to make it look right. Bottom line, for $200 I saved myself from being about $30K underwater. I passed on the car but made a friend in the process. Note that if I had won the auction on BaT I would have been on the hook to buy the car and BaT wouldn't have intervened even though the representations of its condition were wildly incorrect. If a car is remote to you always have it inspected by a highly knowledgeable person, noa a generalist, before you pay money. Cheapest insurance you will ever buy. ... View more

Wrt fuel gauge on most cars negative ground, the fuel gauge is on the hot side when ignition is on. Current goes through the gauge down to the variable resistor in the "sending" unit then to ground. A short to ground anywhere in the wire between the gauge and sending unit will cause a full reading. So will a shorted resistance wire in the sending unit. And least likely, a float inside the tank that is somehow wedged or frozen at the top of the tank would cause an always full reading once the ignition switch energizes the circuit. ... View more

Dr. Evil could even pitch a Yugo and I would love it. Bravo! Carvana's regular announcer's voice is so annoying I have tuned out of everything Carvana. Polestar had my attention until they showed the car - just another box with the swervy lines in eactly the same places as everyone else. I frankly couldn't pick it out stylistically versus a Volvo or a Kia. ... View more

Laughable prices. Trendy now, but these restomods will depreciate faster than a new Jaguar, as the next set of techno-resto-gizmos makes these go out of style. All we have to do is look back to what customs were 10 years ago and their current values. As long as the buyers don't care about long term value, hope they just have fun. Meanwhile, factory correct split window examples will silently continue to appreciate. ... View more

Right to repair is a good step but still inadequate. Take virtually any car over 10 years old and to find a replacement computer module for it anyehere but in a salvage yard is next to impossible. Yet, no third party company can engineer a replacement because the firmware/software is copyrighted and the auto manufacturers won't release it. Even a10 year old car with only 5,000 miles on it but having a control module fail will be obsolete. The manufacturers know it and like it that way. The problem is only going to get worse as cars move from discrete control circuits to Ethernet networks within the car itself. And wait until you can't buy a car with the optional features on it, but rather have to pay for optional features annually every year on a subscription basis. It's coming. ... View more

Subaru, the auto company that still can't figure out how to make heads/head gaskets not fail at 60K miles. ... View more

With reference to Hyundai ( and GM, et al) it appears that automakers are falling yet again into government mandate traps, where the rules of the game can change much faster than automakers can respond (10 MPH bumpers anyone?). You think they would learn. There simply is no where near the electrical generating capacity in existance to serve these electric auto forecasts. And now we just got proof: For all the "greens" out there, new US regulations on domestic oil and gas not only limited supply this year but also resulted in a 20% increase in 2021 coal consuption over 2020. Yes, all those clean electric cars are being powered now and for a long time hence by none other than COAL. Just when all these automakers go all-electric, the govt. will change its mandates once again (and not even considering lithium extraction pollution). Then we'll see what the reality truly is for the "green" future. ... View more

To the true Ferrari fanatics it doesn't matter what's under the cover. You could take a Pontiac Aztec, paint it Ferrari red, rebadge it and call the new model the "Modena Fantastico". The car mag writers would swoon and Ferrari would sell a bunch of them. ... View more

I used to do these same five steps until four years ago when I discovered this one step process: Step 1: Move to South Carolina With this simple one step process, my cars are now available year round. Ahhh, happiness! ... View more

Rob, I'm totally in agreement with you on both counts. While reading the article, I was uncomfortable in my chair until I reached the point where you rescued the original parts from the trash! You now have a car you can enjoy plus some peace of mind. I can't tell you how many times I have silently cursed previous owners of my cars for removing parts and items that I have had to source and painfully replace, and not like yours that seriously affect driveability and safety. So, to you, from some unknown future owner of your car many years hence, thank you in advance! ... View more

I had the same issue with a 1940 International D-2 pickup but lucky for me my problem got worse. It turned out to be a cracked feeder tube coming out of the fuel tank, which caused periodic loss of suction. ( I removed the tank and found the issue.) While putting some air pressure on the tank, I also found two small areas that "weeped". So I had the irreplaceable tank sealed and thereby avoided another potential issue down the road. ... View more

Unquestionably thick A pillars are responsible for many collisions and injuries, however their numbers are not measureable. When I purchased a modern SUV, I nearly hit a pedestrian on one occassion and another time didn't see a car coming in a traffic circle and jusy barely avoided a collision, both incidents my fault. I had to develop a sideways head bob to check from both sides of the A pillar, which I still do today. I hate the lack of visibility. ... View more

Hi under_neath, As someone who wrenches on their cars and has owned multiple XK8/XKRs of this vintage, I'll tell you that I won't own another. Engines berfore 03 need chain tensioners replaced. All convertibles require replacing the hydraulic hoses $3K. Body control modules, main computers and other modules are beggining to fail and no one carries replacements, so you are at the mercy of salvagers who you hope have scruples. XKRs are the most challenging in this respect. Beautiful cars, but only for the highly adventurous. ... View more

The big automakers brought the chip shortage on themselves. Going with specialized vs. general processor chips, negotiating on the cheap and unwilling to invest with a chip foundry on capacity for themselves. Oh well car executives, you lose. Try to get a semiconductor part for any car more than 15 years old. You can't. You better hope that some circuit board you buy at salvage doesn't have the same failure mechanism that yours failed from. What a joke if it wasn't today's reality. ... View more

Electric power steering can be incorporated almost invisibly,enabling a more reasonable driving experience for many with less strength. Also, be cautious when upgrading your charging circuit to an alternator, especially high output alternators. Many a fire has resulted from overheated bulkhead connectors and old wire harnesses not designed to handle higher currents. ... View more

I'll start embracing the climate thing for electric cars when the price sticker includes an estimate of the total energy consumed by the process of building the car. That includes all the energy to create the metals, plastics, motors, batteries, everything. For a new car, that energy is all net new consumption this year. For an old car, that number is zero impact for this year. What this means: I can operate an existing older car likely for many years before the net energy and net carbon impacts cross over to favor the new car. Ironically, the best thing you can do to help the environment is NOT buy a new car, but rather keep your old car well maintained. ... View more

So that new EV you will consider purchasing is a complex software managed computer network on wheels. But unlike conventional computer networks, where large customes can demand that vendors put the software code in escrow to protect access in the case that the vendor withdraws support or goes out of business, you have utterly no protection when an automaker ends support, which can occur in as little as five years after model production ceases. Car manufacturers refuse to release software code to independent third parties to enable aftermarket support. The industry is intentionally obsoleting vehicles far before the end of their useful life and our goverment intentionally looks the other way. Not a pretty picture. ... View more

I suggest you search youtube for people who have owned and run these aftermarket EFIs for more than a year versus the warm and fuzzy videos that cover installation and first day performance. Despite their learning curves they are not set and forget. One would be much better off in this car to get a good rebuilt carb and install an aftermarket AFM ( about $160 including Bosch sensor, exhaust bung, cables and digital gauge), then tune the carb and timing. for efficient fuel burn. You will get as consistent performance and econoly as EFI for one tenth the price. ... View more

If Ford really wants to make Bronco customizable, they will release the control firmware and bus interfaces for the Bronco. But don't hold your breath. Fourth and Fifth generation low mileage Mustangs are starting to see main computer failures. Ford doesn't offer replacements for most, but no aftermarket maker can duplicate them without the code, which Ford won't release. Jags and RR's whose computer controls were designed under the same regime are also seeing failures which totally prevent the vehicle from operating. And don't expect the current US administration to force automakers to release code even when automakers no longer offer replacement parts It is happy to see otherwise perfectly good gasoline powered cars scrapped to push the electric car agenda. ... View more

The Jaguar XK150 is a 3.8L and not a 3.4L. If it is an "S", being a 3.8 it could fetch $250K -$300K fully restored to concours standard. ... View more

Sorry to be a downer, but I don't believe that the Nazi era (1930 to 1945) Mercedes belong in any auction. These cars are not to be celebrated given their (dubious) origins. ... View more

I've never quite understood why Jaguar, despite significant investments from each of its owners, has never improved quality. Bonehead decisions like a two piece plastic coolant pipe underneath the supercharger that separates, requiring a full engine out to repair. And no availability of replacement electronics after only a few years after production. Seems like Jags strategy is to design and manage their vehicles to a 5 year lifetime, factor in high warranty repair costs into the initial price, and once out of warranty then treat them as disposables relative to (no) support. I agree with @MATTMERICA that Jag most likely will not be around by 2025. And I am a 3 time Jag owner. ... View more

On the XK150S Jaguar, I could not find anywhere in the description that this is one of the rarest 3.8L models. I rathercsuspect it is a 3.4L. That said, zooming in on the pictures, those must have been a really hard 1000 miles since the restoration, and with many details sorely lacking. Still, maybe $10K low in this condition. ... View more

My favorite vanity plate story is from Connecticut. A late friend of mine worked for Pratt and Whitney Aircraft as a humble forman his entire career once he returned from WWII where he flew B26s. When vanity plates came out he applied for and got the letters PWA. When Harry Gray, the CEO of Pratt, went looking to apply for the PWA license plate with the DMV, his staff discovered it was already taken, found out it was a Pratt employer who owned it and offered my friend thousands. But, he and his wife lived modestly, and he just loved having that plate. Part of it was having people look at his car, look at him, and figure he was some P&W top brass. Ole Harry and team never got it from him. It was always good for a laugh. As a footnote, I don't know if the estate ultimately sold the plate after his passing. But he had that plate for at least 50 years if not longer. ... View more

Lest we forget, the XKE was primarily designed in the mid to late 50's as a result of Jaguar's racing experience. The body was an evolution from the successful C and D types. The innovative rear end with inboard brakes a new design, but the 3.8L DOHC engine and 4 speed transmission lifted directly from the previous XK150S. By the time it hit production, the racing department was long gone and with it the really differentiated and innovative breakthroughs that had been Jaguar. Lyons sold out to British Leyland a few years later and Jaguar has never been the same. Today it spends all its money on advertising, making generic looking vehicles that have very marginal support once they reach the end of their five year warranties, as witnessed by their poor resale values. ... View more

It is impossible to have a profit margin of greater than 100%. What the author likely means is the markup - the difference between cost and sell price. For example, if it costs you $40 and you sell it for $100 that's a 150% markup but only 60% profit margin (simplistically). Electronics devices such as TV's have very low margins - sometimes 1%-2% but that is not the margin on electronic parts inside. Most importantly in electronics is unit volumes. A car model might sell 100K units, whereas one might make 50 million TVs of a particular model. So the higher volume is much more attractive to the electronic components manufacturer. But more importantly, that TV is a throw away item after a few short years. No need to keep many electronics parts around. However a car should be different, but we are seeing it is not. The dilemma is that as those electronics manufacturing lines go to higher densities, they no longer make the old parts. And the parts they do make aren't military spec - they are consumer spec designed to last for only a few years. So if your auto manufacturer didn't buy electronic spare parts to sell for the long term, you are out of luck if, for example, your body control module fails in year ten. Your car is inoperable and ready for the scrap heap even if it only has 30,000 miles on it, unless you can find a used part in a salvage yard ( if any of those still work). The problem is made more acute by the use of specialized integrated circuits, where there is little or no other market for the same devices outside of autos. This is by far the most compelling reason that we may not see cars from the late 1990's or 2000's on the classic scene in the long term. As their electronics age out, they simply won't run any more without the availability of replacement electronics. The problem is already happening with models of some of the lower volume cars of this time period. I haven't seen any creative aftermarket solution, likely because the parts are so specialized. If autos used generic processors there would be a chance of an aftermarket answer, but with these specialized silicon integrated circuits, there is far less a chance of a solution. ... View more

So JLR is reimagined. Right. The real strategy of JLR is to design cars to be made with as cheap parts as possible regardless of reliability, market them aggressively. Build in warranty repairs for the first five years into the initial sales price, then soak the fool that tries to buy a used JLR that is more than five years old as multiple parts and systems fail. Worse yet, also eliminate electronics parts availability on any JLR more than a few years old so they have to be trashed even if they have very low mileage on them. We've seen in Texas this week what can happen with high demand on the power grid at night. Now imagine that 15% of all cars in the US are charging at night, and you have a formula for disaster. What will happen to JLR and GM sales when their entire fleet is electric and the power grid becomes overloaded and people discover they can't charge their cars overnight? A rerun of the 1980's gas crunch? Hmmm. ... View more

At the risk of sounding prehistoric, I find these moves toward all electric to be very high risk. In the last analysis of the US power grid I saw, it appeared that the grid is maxed out when 15% of all cars are charging at night. If correct, the cost of necessary power grid infrastructure upgrades would be staggering, and a carmaker betting all its marbles on electric versus a combination of electric hydrogen and petroleum may find itself strangled, not much different from the times of gasoline shortages in the 70's- 80's. Better to maintain a two-pronged approach if you want to remain resilient. ... View more

I can't believe the BMW i8 survived as long as it did, because it really does nothing very well. Fast? Not really. Great handling? Nope. Well then, it looks good so how about for taking weekend trips? No the driving range sucks. Comes down to be an extremely expensive ride for getting your local groceries. ... View more

Seems to me this is more focused on the range rover crowd versus serious offroaders. " Excuse me please, but would you take off your boots and put a towel on the seat before you get back in? I don't want the carpets to get dirty."   Where's the version where you get it caked with mud inside and outside, pop out the interior floor plugs, and hose it out?  That's what a serious offroad vehicle offers.  This one is for wannabes. ... View more

I did my storage prep in only one step and I'm now good forever: I simply moved from CT to SC and can run all my cars year round. Easy solution and less costly by far than before. ... View more

Much more vidially appealing than the Lucid  but as others correctly pointed out, China no thank you ... View more

I use simple green on all my high end wheels and it takes the dirt off instantly without rubbing. Cheap too if you buy it in gallon concentrate. Start with fairly diluted and increase concentration just until it is easy to get dirt off.  Better than any specializer wheel cleaner I ever purchased. ... View more

The Ford 2.3L turbocharged in-line 4 cyl is, in my opinion, one of the worst engines I've ever experienced. I drove it in a 2020 Mustang. I knew within 2 miles why Ford needed a 10 speed automatic.  The torque power curve feels only 1000 RPM wide, so the transmission is constantly shifting like it's on ritalin.  ( I ended up test driving two cars just to make sure one wasn' t kust a fluke.)   Manually moving through the gears will give you tendonitis.   I can't imagine how it would be much better with only a 7 speed manual tranny, rather it will likely be worse with such a narrow torque curve.  The previous V6 that the I4 replaced in 2018 was a far better engine with only slightly less gas mileage but orders of magnitude better driveability.  The only hope is to see if the Bronco becomes available with the turbo 6, assuming the torque curves aren't compromised on that engine as well. ... View more

You think this is bad? Wait until there are true self driving cars. China can't wait to control its population's mobility including when and more importantly where they can travel, and in the worst case, rerouting them to government offices for "investigation".  The US may not be far behind.  This is a huge issue with networked vehicles that is being ignored. ... View more

If you can get a Lightning for 15K it likely has 100K miles on it or more.  I just sold a solid #2 with 48K miles at the start of covid to a dealer for $20K, he flipped it to another dealer for $22K and that dealer was asking $25K for it. ... View more

Sorry, but I for one will never celebrate a German car  (the MB here) manufactured in the middle of the Nazi era for the very affluent.  It's none of my business if someone chooses to own it despite its questionable heritage, but another thing to glorify it in shows and articles. ... View more

I for one, am not surprised to see their demise.  Yes, they designed some nice wheels and rode the wave of popularity.  But their customer service was dreadful as was their parts support.   ... View more

I used to take Cerberus, but it always gave me those nagging side effects. When I told my doctor, he said "Let's try Stellantis. It's very similar to Cerberus, but the next generation."  Still. I worry that it's just another repackaging at higher prices. ... View more

I'm frankly surprised that there is much of a market for this stuff.  My assumption has been that most of the guys going for the restomod look spend time disguising most everything including the firewall and want a set of molded covers that make the engine look like something from a 2020 dealership. ... View more