Car guides

Toyota’s usual lineup for the SEMA Show is centered mostly around SUVs and trucks, but the 2019 edition brings the fifth-generation Supra into the spotlight. The Japanese carmaker took the 2019 SEMA Show by storm with a handful of modified Supras, either built by aftermarket tuners or developed by Toyota itself to preview upcoming parts and accessories. Here’s the four most interesting coupes you’ll find on the show floor.

In order to even begin understanding what to expect from the upcoming track-only Aventador, we must first look at Lamborghini’s supercar roster from two standpoints: one of them relates to Sant’Agata Bolognese’s road-going cars over the years, while the other has to do with its race cars currently involved in various motorsport competitions around the world.

Lamborghini Squadra Corse already released a CGI-filled teaser video that drops small hints at its upcoming track-only beast under the “purest track experience” punchline. Join us as we try to anticipate what can such a car deliver in terms of performance, especially acceleration and top speed...

Back in 2008, Ferrari launched its One-Off personalization program to a lot of fanfare at that year’s Geneva Motor Show. The goal was to give Maranello’s most important clients the opportunity to create their own Ferraris. It’s been over a decade since that announcement, and it’s safe to say that Ferrari’s program has become a resounding success. Every year, a number of one-off Ferraris enter our lives, commissioned by an individual who Ferrari deems as one of its VIPs. Models like the 2012 Ferrari SP Arya, 2014 Ferrari SP FFX, and 2018 Ferrari SP38 Deborah have been built. Each of these one-offs is unique from every other Ferrari in existence, largely because they came to life as a result of someone’s vision for his or her perfect Ferrari. The 2019 Ferrari P80/C is the latest one-off Ferrari to arrive, but given the success Ferrari has had with the program and the growing demand among customers to get their own “1of1s” — there’s a five-year waitlist, in case you qualify — the P80/C won’t be the last one-off Ferrari in the world. On the contrary, this first ten years of the whole program could be just the beginning of what will most likely turn into one of Ferrari’s most successful customer-centric programs in its long and illustrious history. In case you haven’t paid attention over the last ten years, check out some of the most memorable one-off models that Ferrari has created.

The world of resto-mods is the promise land of beautiful, vintage, bodyworks on top of modern, state of the art, powertrains with performance figures that embarrass modern sports cars. Be it an Alfa Romeo on steroids, a Mercedes bettered by AMG themselves, a Bronco that looks 35 years old but very much isn’t under the skin, the variety in restomods is ever increasing with quality as the main differentiator between the good, the really good and the exceptional.

The automotive industry has created some real design icons over the years, cars like the Mercedes 300 SL, the Alfa Romeo Giulia GTA, or the Porsche 911 remain etched into the minds of many petrolheads. Such emblematic designs seem to never age but, sadly, the engineering-wise, they are all outdated. Of course, you get a kick out of driving them merely because you get a chance to do it in the first place, but some want even more than that.

A select few look at classic cars as a starting point for a tough undertaking: transforming these icons of the past in machines that are able to keep up with whatever’s new on the road right now. The key is to have everything come out in pristine condition – hence the term restoration in ‘resto-mod’ – while modifying what’s under the skin. Some choose to start from existing cars while others do something more radical - building their own chassis from the ground up and then wrapping everything up in a retro bodywork that clearly reminds you of their inspiration. The Eagle E-Type and the Singer Porsches fall in the latter category.

Whichever road you choose, resto-mods are a brilliant – yet highly expensive – way to experience classic cars re-imagined in with technology that was barely on the drawing boards when some of these cars were new.

Keep reading to find our seven resto-mods picks

Picking the ten best Ferraris of all time is not an easy exercise, but somebody had to do it. Sports cars don’t come finer than those with a Prancing Horse badge, and in the 70 years that it has been around, Ferrari has built some of the finest and most desirable performance cars in the history of the industry. A lot of Ferrari models have climbed the ladder to iconic status, and even some of today’s models are on their way there, too. It took a lot of work — and arguments — but we managed to narrow down our choices for the ten best Ferraris of all time.

The Volkswagen Golf is arguably one of the most recognizable models in Volkswagen’s lineup. That stature comes with the pressure of standing out in a sea of hatchbacks looking to take some shine away from the famous nameplate. Now that the eighth-generation Volkswagen Golf (Mk8) is here, it looks like the competition will have its hands full trying to catch up with the Golf Mk8. See, there are a lot of things to like about the Golf Mk8, but arguably the most important of these things is the incredible amount of new technologies Volkswagen was able to pack into the hatchback. Believe me when I tell you, the eighth-generation Volkswagen Golf is so tricked out in new technology, it’s hard to imagine how Volkswagen managed to fit all of them into the hatchback.

After years of promises, teasers, and concept cars, Porsche finally unveiled the Taycan. A major turning point in the company’s history, the Taycan is the first Porsche with an all-electric drivetrain. What’s more, the Taycan is an EV of the high performance variety, so it goes against one of the most popular electric vehicles on the market, the Tesla Model S. A strong seller in the United States and a market leader in some European countries, the Model S is tough to beat. The big question is whether the Taycan has what it takes to give the Model S a run for its money and that’s exactly what we will find out in the comparison below.

The 1990s were an interesting decade for the auto industry, though most of us remember it more because of what took place in the supercar segment. Back then, the “term” supercar wasn’t as widely used as it is today, but that didn’t stop automakers like Ferrari, Lamborghini, Porsche, Mercedes, and, yes, McLaren from developing performance beasts that didn’t rely on driving aids to be considered super. For the most part, the 1990s supercars were machines that came with insanely powerful engines, sleek and functional bodies, and low curb weights. Traction control? KERS? Launch control? None of these existed in that era, and, in some ways, that’s what made those exotics so pure and completely awesome. There’s a long list of supercars that shot to fame in the 1990s. We could’ve identified all of them, but that would’ve taken up a lot of space and time. Instead, we chose eight of the best and fastest supercars of that decade that have evolved into unicorns in today’s era of supercars.

It’s no secret that with the copious amounts of torque they carry, electric vehicles are considered some of the fastest-accelerating cars in the world, faster even than most of their non-EV counterparts. The eight cars on this list are proof of that. These are some of the fastest electric cars on the road today, so if you happen to see one on the road, try not to look at them the wrong way, unless you want to see first-hand just how fast they can go.

If you’ve ever wondered about the etymology of Tesla’s Ludicrous Speed upgrade for the Model S, look no further than Mel Brooks’ Spaceballs, the parody of the Star Wars movie franchise that was released back in 1988. “Ludicrous Speed,” as it was called, was a unit of speed that traveled faster than “Light Speed” and “Ridiculous Speed.” It also opened the door for the next fastest form of speed in outer space, referred to only as “Plaid.” All of this is relevant only in Tesla’s world because of the upcoming arrival of the Model S Plaid. This is everything we know about it.

It has recently been confirmed that Jeep will unveil a pickup truck version of the JL Wrangler at the 2018 Los Angeles Auto Show. Called the Gladiator, according to leaked documents, it will be Jeep’s first pickup truck since 1992. And, needless to say, fans have been clamoring for a Jeep with a bed ever since the Cherokee-based Comanche was discontinued.

The Gladiator name will also make a comeback after no fewer than 47 years, but Jeep built more than two pickups throughout its history. It actually made six of them, and even though they were built under different ownership and names, they’re all iconic in their own right. With Jeep’s first truck in more than two decades underway, we decided it’s the perfect time to look through the company’s history as a pickup manufacturer.

Truck enthusiasts often hear the terms half-ton, three-quarter ton, and one-ton in the description of their favorite rigs, but what’s it all mean? The short answer – it’s a weight classification. Unfortunately the long answer is more complicated and is plagued by a history of shifting standards and marketing hype. Let me explain.

Back in the early days of trucks, the terms simply described how much a truck was rated to haul. You bought a half-ton truck and you can haul up to 1,000 pounds of cargo and passengers. Simple. Well as trucks became more popular and technology evolved, the terms became more of a placeholder, especially when truck makers began competing with each other in advertising.

Pickups gained their popularity in the late 1940s as GIs came home after the war and went back to work. Trucks had proven their worth on the battlefield, and the civilian market recognized the possibilities. Sure there were civilian trucks before this, but on a much more limited scale. What’s more, with the U.S. economy saved from the Great Depression of the 1930s, businesses actually had money to spend on equipment.

Nowadays pickup trucks are found in just as many driveways as on job sites. The boom of recreational pickup use has moved this discussion about weight classifications from the fleet manager’s office to the dinner table as Mr. and Mrs. Everyman decide what truck they need to pull their boat or fifth wheel RV.

So let’s dive in and sort out the jargon.

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Porsche is known for continuously bringing race-bred technology into its road cars. The Stuttgart-based manufacturer that has been perfecting the rear-engine formula for over five decades now is also famous for its homologation specials, road-worthy counterparts built by Porsche to race thoroughbred competition machinery in production-based classes of sports car racing. 20 years ago, Porsche introduced the latest model that would spawn a myriad of racing versions: the Porsche 911 GT3, a track-oriented 911 that could be used as a daily driver (if you dared). It came at the same time as the not-for-the-purist 996 generation but, in spite of this, can you now imagine a world without the 911 GT3 in it?

Where were you in 1999 when Porsche unveiled the 996.1-generation Porsche 911 GT3? Well, you probably weren’t at the Geneva Auto Show where Porsche took the wraps of what was, in essence, the road-legal version of the newest Porsche 911 Cup car that would compete in the Porsche Carrera Cup Germany and later in the Porsche Supercup sharing the bill with the Formula 1 World Championship. The first 911 GT3 looked a bit tame but, as years rolled by, it evolved, growing bigger, more aggressive, and more insane and overshadowed with ease the 911 GT2, a model we originally thought it’d replace before Porsche decided to continue making GT2 models, somewhat as even more extreme versions of the 911. This is the story of the GT3, a model more famous than all of the track-focused 911s that have come before it, even the Carrera RS 2.7 of 1973.

It’s that time of the year again. No, not quite Christmas, but that time when adults need to start figuring out their Christmas shopping lists. So, if you happen to have a gearhead or two in the family, know that we’ve come up, as always, with the best Lego car sets you can buy right now. They’re suited to almost all ages and who knows, you might end up getting a cool Lego car for yourself. Let’s check them out.

I am in love with the new Land Rover Defender. But at first, I was not. I was disappointed with its move towards an unibody chassis, and I have resented all the "soft-touches" Land Rover prepped for it. But I have changed my mind.

True, it is a mommy automobile, and a kids-to-school mover, but it is the best mommy automobile and kids transportation device I have ever seen. It’s tough, robust, well-engineered, rugged, and seriously capable. Plus, Land Rover offers it with 170 accessories, like roof racks, tow hitches, steel wheels, a rinse system, an armrest cooler, and a front bench-style seat. Find me another car that offers all of that. There’s no way you can. But!

There is a big "but" here. The 2020 Land Rover Defender is seriously expensive. It starts at $50,925 (plus destination charges) in the U.S. That’s huge. That is the price of the base BMW X4 xDrive30i. Take a deep dive in the configurator and you can spec it out at more than 100 grand. That is absurd.

In 2012, the Land Rover Defender started at $22,000 in Australia. Then again, the only thing that’s left from the old Defender on the new one is the name. Nothing else. This is a wholly new car. I only hope that Land Rover invested heavily in quality control. If it manages to ace reliability and dependability surveys with the new Defender, I’d say that the price may even be justified.

Here are several cool quirks and features that set this Defender apart from any other car in the world.

A lot of stress is being given to safety features in vehicles today. Although cars and SUVs use this as a selling point, trucks never really came loaded with a lot of safety tech. However, things are changing now for good, and automakers have upped their game. The 2020 Ram 1500 bagged the Top Safety Pick + award, something unheard of in the truck segment. There’s no doubt that the larger trucks are a lot more equipped than the compact trucks, but what is the benchmark in this segment, and which trucks have scored the best and the worst?

Small luxury SUVs haven’t been around that long. In a way, they represent a niche within a niche (the broader pool of SUVs and crossovers), created by carmakers such as Audi, Mercedes-Benz, and BMW, in their hunt for more income. The purpose of a small luxury SUV is to offer the plush comfort and technological bells and whistles of their larger peers, in a package that’s less expensive yet doesn’t compromise too much on the overall driving experience, assembly, and the quality of the materials used inside the cabin.

Pickup trucks these are days are not only about their hauling and towing capacities; they are fast, they often come with a luxurious cabin, and are loaded to the gill with high-tech features. So, why should they lag behind in terms of safety? People use trucks today as their daily driver, and family haulers, and they are concerned about safety. Automakers have started offering safety features, but which one tops the list and which truck scrapes the bottom of the barrel?

The Ford Explorer has been around for almost 30 years. In that time, the SUV segment has evolved in ways no one could’ve dreamed of. Through it all, the Explorer has remained one of the segment’s backbones, a pillar from which the SUV world has stood on for close to three decades. The Explorer’s life reads like a Hollywood script, too. It started off with a bang, establishing itself as one of the most popular SUVs on the market. That success lasted for more than a decade before the Explorer lost its way as other SUVs arrived. Sales eventually cratered, leaving Ford desperate to recapture the magic the Explorer had when it became the breakout hit of the early ’90s. The return to form eventually took place as the SUV segment in the U.S. exploded. With the Explorer now entrenched as one of the most popular SUVs in the market, Ford’s banking on the sixth-generation model to keep that momentum. Whether it does so or not remains to be seen, but the all-new Explorer appears fully equipped to take on that challenge.