Sports Cars

Like a unicorn in a prairie, the mid-engined 2020 Chevrolet Corvette C8 has become the stuff of myth, randomly showing up in a random corner of the U.S at, well, random times. It’s been spotted in Detroit, Arizona, Colorado, California, and Florida. Most of the time, the Corvette C8 is seen with heavy camo wraps, but a few photos of the mid-engine supercar sitting idle in a gas station revealed something unique about it: a spacious front trunk, or “frunk,” as people in the business call it. Apparently, the Corvette C8’s frunk is big enough to fit, not one, but two full-sized golf bags, complete with actual golf clubs. It’s unclear how much space there really is that compartment, but if it’s as big as the rumors say it is, then it counts as one of many surprises that await all of us once Chevrolet finally gets around to launching it. Speaking of which, when’s that going to be, Chevy?

A fresh batch of spy photos of the upcoming Mercedes-AMG CLA 45 has come to light. As expected, the new photos show very little of the model’s prototype. The sedan’s entire surface area is covered in wraps, though, so expect plenty of aesthetic changes to happen to the updated model. Mercedes-AMG has yet to pinpoint a specific debut for the for the upcoming CLA model, but all signs seem to indicate a 2019 launch timetable. As for the AMG CLA 45, that should happen a little later in the same year. Either way, the fact that the test mule has already made a few appearances indicates that development of the model is now in full swing.

Update 3/21/2019: The Mercedes-AMG CLA45 was caught doing some cold weather testing with a little less camo. Check out the new shots and learn a little more about it in our spy shots section below!

The popularity of Lister’s LFT-666, formerly known as the Thunder, prompted the British outfit to create the LFT-C as an attention-grabber while it works on the Knobbly. The LFT-C features "an almost unlimited options list," packs the same 657 horsepower V-8 as the fixed-head version, and it costs $182,424. Unlike the coupe, though, only 10 LFT-Cs will ever be made.

Lister seems to be doing better than ever. The company based in Cambridge, England currently assembles the LFT-666 Coupe and the F-Pace-based LFP that’s one of the fastest SUVs money can buy in Europe. More recently, CEO Lawrence Whittaker announced plans to revive the legendary Knobbly nameplate on a retro-chic two-seater sports car with Ferrari-rivaling output, and a rebirth of the Storm is also on the cards in the future. It is, then, surprising that Lister found time to create the LFT-C at all.

Making its big public debut at the 2019 Detroit Auto Show, the 2020 Ford Mustang Shelby GT500 is an absolutely beastly machine. Rocking a hyper-aggressive aero package with a plus-sized front intake and GT-style rear wing, a carbon fiber and suede interior, and a supercharged 5.2-liter V-8 blown to produce well over 700 horsepower, there’s no denying the appeal of this modern muscle car. Now we’re getting a listen to its exhaust note and a look at it on the streets of Las Vegas thanks to this recent post from YouTube user Speed Phenom.

Shot at a private event put on by FoMoCo, the video features a few nice glory shots of the GT500, as well as loads of info from a Shelby rep addressing the attending guests. Cutting through the PR talk, there are a few things that standout during the speech, including the assertion that the Shelby team is still working to pin down the GT500’s final horsepower figure “until the bitter end” (hence the “700+” number currently making the rounds), as well as a few performance numbers like a “sub-11” quarter mile and “mid-3’s” for the sprint to 60 mph. The video ends with a romp across the streets of Las Vegas.

If you’re hungry for anything and everything 2020 Ford Mustang Shelby GT500, then this is the video for you.

John DeLorean is, without question, one of the most colorful and interesting personalities the auto industry has seen. As the founder of DeLorean Motor Company and the creator of the Pontiac GTO, DeLorean’s fingerprints can be seen in all sections of the auto industry. His life is a fascinating story, and we’re all going to see it play out in movie theaters and video-on-demand when the movie Framing John DeLorean, starring Alec Baldwin as John DeLorean, comes out on June 7. In addition to Baldwin, the movie also stars Morena Baccarin (Deadpool, Homeland), Josh Charles (Dead Poet’s Society, The Good Wife), and Cristina Ferrare (Home).

Fast, expensive, rare, and achingly gorgeous - these are the words that describe the Alfa Romeo 33 Stradale. Produced in very limited quantities between November of 1967 and March of 1969, the Alfa Romeo 33 Stradale is a sports car based on the open-top Alfa Romeo Tipo 33 Sports prototype racer, promising all the mechanical good stuff of a track-born competitor, but packaged with the freedom and relative comfort of a street-legal machine. Not to be confused with the four-door Alfa Romeo 33 sedan built between 1983 and 1995, the 33 Stradale follows the time-honored Italian tradition of bringing competition technology to the street, and suffice to say, the end result is epic from every single angle.

The Mercedes-Benz SL Grand Edition is a special-edition version of the company’s familiar and fairly old SL roadster. Based on the sixth-generation SL, upgraded most recently for the 2017 model year, the Grand Edition is probably the last hurrah for the dated roadster, which should be replaced by 2021. Described as an "especially exclusive" Mercedes-Benz, the Grand Edition is indeed a more bespoke version of the SL, but upgrades are limited to special color and trim on the outside and a new leather upholstery inside the cabin. The Grand Edition also rides on a sportier suspension, but it features the same engines as the standard model. Let’s find out more about it in the review below.

Updated 03/20/2019: We’ve updated this review with fresh images of the 2019 Mercedes-Benz SL Grand Edition that were taken during the 2019 Geneva Motor Show. Check them out in the gallery at the bottom of this page!

The Bentley Continental GT is perhaps the most recognizable car coming from Crewe, England. Finally available with a V-8 in its newest form, the 2020 Bentle Continental GT V8 is capable of reaching 60 mph in 3.9 seconds, a top speed of 198 mph, and cruise for more than 500 miles on one tank of fuel. The performance isn’t far off of what the Bentley Continental GT W12 can do, but the range is considerably higher. Available in a coupe guise as a GT V8 and convertible layout as a GTC V8, the prices for the Continental with a V-8 engine come in at $203,825, and $223,675, respectively.

Now that the Geneva Motor Show is over, the Toyota Supra returns to the spotlight with a palette full of colors at its disposal. According to Toyota’s own website, the first year of the returning sports car will feature eight different colors, including the three colors available to the Supra Launch Edition. The three Launch Edition colors — Absolute Zero White, Nocturnal Black, and Renaissance Red 2.0 — will be available sometime this spring while the rest of the color choices will drop by the fall of this year.

Aston Martin is known as a maker of exquisite and refined grand tourers, long-legged cars that offer enough panache to satisfy Ian Fleming’s James Bond on many an occasion. You could say Aston Martin knows every trick there is to know when it comes to building a front-engined GT car and that’s why they’re now looking to build more and more cars with the engine behind the seats. But the Valkyrie, the new Vanquish, and the AM-RB 003 aren’t the first of their kind in Aston Martin’s history.

When you think of any DB model from Aston Martin, you imagine an elegant two-door tourer ready for long journeys with a sumptuous and well-appointed interior and a feisty engine in front of the windshield. The company’s one and only Le Mans winner, the DBR1, was also front-engined as was the futuristic brick-like Lagonda luxury sedan from the ’70s. But, then, in the ’80s, when Aston Martin returned to sports car racing, it did so with a mid-engined car. This effectively heralded a new breed of Aston Martins, one that has stayed away from the public highways up until now but one that’s interesting to look into nonetheless.

As good as he is at foiling international criminals from their evil schemes, not even James Bond himself can stop the onslaught of electrification in the auto industry. Proof of that lies in the next Bond film where 007’s ride-of-choice will be the Aston Martin Rapide E. The British automaker’s first-ever electric car joins a long list of Aston Martin models to appear in a James Bond film. The yet-to-be-titled Bond movie — it’s working title is Bond 25 — is scheduled to release in April 2020. It’s the 25th movie in the long-standing franchise, so you can expect it to have no shortage of surprises, including the array of gadgets and weapons that will be included in the Rapide E’s arsenal.

Known by most as the ultimate representation of the BMW ethos, the BMW M3 is an essential installation in the powerful and dominant line of Motorsport machines. Specially designed to attract driving purists, the BMW M3 has been a driver’s favorite for decades. The next generation is on the horizon and is expected to debut at the 2019 Frankfurt Motor Show with BMW M’s new 3.0-liter, S58 engine with 474 horsepower and 480 pound-feet of torque. That is a substantial improvement over the 444 horsepower of the 2018 BMW M3 Competition. The power bump is crucial as the new BMW M3 faces stiffer competition in the shape of the 500+ horsepower Alfa Romeo Giulia Quadrifoglio, 500+ horsepower Mercedes-AMG C63 S, and the impressive 450-horsepower Audi RS4.

In the late ’50s, Stirling Moss was a driver in high demand, and one of the brands he raced for was Lister. The Lister Knobbly he thrashed some 60 years ago is the inspiration for a new front-engined, two-seater with retro styling and, most likely, Jaguar power. How much power we don’t know but word has it that it’s going to be a lot since the continuation Knobbly built to 1958 specifications can reach 181 mph.

Lister, the company founded by Brian Lister in 1954, has been known for building rather successful sports cars and turning out especially quick Jaguars in its shops. Lister started out by racing a bespoke MG-engined model entered for Archie-Scott Brown, who became synonymous with the brand up until his tragic demise at Spa-Francorchamps in 1958. The company was revived by Laurence Pearce in 1986 and, since 2013, has been under the ownership of Lawrence Whittaker who broke the news on the production of the upcoming Knobbly.

Mustangs and Camaro are so common these days, that one may think their commercial success is more about cheap pricing than real merit. The truth could not be farther and the Chevy Camaro SS is here to remind everyone, especially those of German origins, that American muscle icons are not only alive but Reborn.

The Camaro/Mustang fratricide competition has pushed each generations further in terms of handling and overall build quality. The 2019 Camaro is now a very mature, modern sport car. The high displacement V8 rumbles above the turbocharged imports, and the many years of testing at the Nurburgring is paying of large dividends. Add to the mix a newly found interest for quality interior and you have a car Europeans would dream to put their hands on. So let’s go ahead and dive into this ’Americana driving machine’.

British race- and sports-car builder Ginetta attended the 2019 Geneva Motor Show with its latest creation, the Akula. Named after the Russian word that translates to “shark,” the Akula looks every bit like an asphalt predator. The Akula combines an attention-grabbing design with a low-weight carbon-intensive construction and Le Mans-derived performance equipment. That’s an excellent formula for a niche model that’s looking to strike down the titans of its segment. Can the Ginetta Akula do it? We’re going to find out.

When you are born with a silver spoon, you can have anything. And, if you are still a kid, all you have to do is cry a little and point your finger at this new machine, which also happens to be the first all-electric car from Bugatti’s stable. Bugatti seems to have tapped a ’niche’ market here. The automaker, known for its fiercely fast cars has a little something for the babies out there. The Baby II is all set to be your kid’s ultimate ride. What a way to inject some Bugatti love before the child even understands what a car is!

The 992-generation Porsche 911 arrived in 2018, replacing the old 991 model after seven years on the market. The Cabriolet version joined the lineup in January 2019, just ahead of the Detroit Auto Show. The drop-top shares everything from the design to its underpinnings with the coupe.

Notable highlights for the new generation include vintage-inspired design cues, a wider body, new technology, and a revised turbocharged engine. Just like the coupe, the Cabriolet debuted in Carrera S trim, but more models will be added later on. The newly designed soft-top is lighter and folds much quicker than its predecessor.

Update 3/13/2019: We’ve updated this review with fresh images of the Porsche 911 S and 4S Cabriolet that we took during the 2019 Geneva Motor Show. Check them out in the gallery below!

The Geneva Auto Show is the first and, arguably, the most important European car show of the season and, in 2019, it was unusually crowded with supercars and hypercars. Some were electric, some still moved by virtue of the good old combustion engine, but what was abundantly clear was that boutique manufacturers and coachbuilders-turned-automakers were out to steal the show and shade the giants. And that they did.

While other once-great auto shows have disappeared – take the Turin Auto Show as pertinent example – or have faded as years rolled by, like the London Auto Show, the Geneva Auto Show is as lively as ever. Granted, Ford, Volvo, Land Rover, and Jaguar elected to skip the Swiss show to save some cash, but almost everybody else was there - plus there was a healthy dose of smaller automakers.

The likes of Bugatti or Koenigsegg, manufacturers that are by no means small but that will never come forth with a genuine product for the masses, were also on site. The ones in the latter category stole many of the flashes from cameras and pundits dedicated long pieces to their extravagant lines and mind-bending spec sheets. Nobody from the established group of players in the exclusive supercar club had a proper answer to the small guys this year.

The 718 Boxster T is the first Porsche, alongside the 718 Cayman T, to sport the "T" badge, which stands for "Touring," after the 911 Carrera T. Unveiled in December 2018, it’s based on the base 718 Boxster but comes with a few extra standard features.

The "T" badge turns the already sporty 718 Boxster into a no-nonsense car that offers driving pleasure in its purest form. Although it’s powered by the company’s base engine for the Boxster and Cayman lineup, it’s equipped with chassis upgrades, the Sport Chrono package, and an infotainment system delete. It’s also a bit more affordable than the regular Boxster, with Porsche claiming you can save up to 10 percent compared to a similarly specced model. Let’s find out more about that in the review below.

Update 3/13/2019: We’ve updated this review with fresh images of the 2019 Porsche 718 Boxster T from the 2019 Geneva Motor Show. Check them out in the gallery at the bottom of this page!

Switzerland is known for a lot of things - chocolate, ski resorts, a square flag… but all-electric sports cars? Not so much. However, that could very well change with the introduction of the 2019 Piëch Mark Zero. Offered as the very first model from Piëch Automotive, a German-Swiss automaker based out of Zürich and Munich, the Mark Zero is a high-powered two-door EV with grand tourer aspirations, plus a low-three-second 0-to-60 mph time and head-turning good looks. Making its formal public debut with home-field advantage at the 2019 Geneva Motor Show, the Mark Zero could also provide the underpinnings for a number of upcoming models, as well as the most important EV battery tech upgrade of the modern era.