– Mssrs. Johnson and Siler at your service. – The Rolls-Royce Phantom and I have a history, and with the exception of a seaside blast in a Phantom Coupé years ago, that history has revolved around me carting around my fellow humans. I spent a couple of days playing chauffeur for automotive gadfly Alex Roy in New York during an attempt at a TV demo reel that never got off
– Excitement for the latest James Bond 007 movie, SPECTRE, is growing, including, at least in our circle, for the flick’s hot cars. While there will be a Range Rover Sport SVR and some cool, modded Defenders, the real stars are the ultra-limited-production Aston Martin DB10 and Jaguar’s 890-hp hybrid C-X75 supercar concept. The movie’s makers have released a brief behind-the-scenes video of one of SPECTRE‘s car-chase scenes, and if you
– Well, that was quick. This report from 9to5mac.com indicates that a Tesla-controlling app for the Apple Watch is now a fully realized thing, and it’s pretty neat. There’s nothing about developer Rego Apps’ Tesla Model S Watch app that’s totally new or different from, say, Tesla’s own smartphone app for the electric sedan, or other automakers’ in-house apps that allow users a modicum of remote control over their vehicle, such as that from GM OnStar.
-The subcompact-crossover segment is erupting like an overdue volcano—witness the new Chevy Trax, Fiat 500X, and Honda HR-V joining other wee hatchbacks on stilts, such as the Buick Encore, Jeep Renegade, Kia Soul, Mini Countryman, and Nissan Juke. Now, having spent several hours behind the wheel of Mazda’s new CX-3, we think it just may be the most compelling of the bunch. Of course, only a comparison test can prove
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– The money is talking loudly in Gaydon this week after Aston Martin’s Italian and Middle Eastern investors committed £200 million ($307 million) for the British sports-car maker’s first-ever crossover SUV, among other products slated for the decade’s end. – – The company’s two major private-equity shareholders, the Italian Investindustrial and the Dubai-based Tejara Capital, have together purchased £100 million in new shares and will buy the rest within a year. Basically,
– Ford is adding 156,000 more cars to last week’s recall covering faulty door latches, the company said today. It’s the latest in a series of door-latch problems that have affected more than 1.1 million Ford models within the past year. – – There are now 456,440 vehicles in the U.S. that have pawl springs in the latching mechanism that can break. This can make it impossible to shut the
– From the May 2015 issue – Today’s active cruise-control systems can read the road, spot impending collisions, and automatically apply the car’s brakes. A few even steer to some degree. Seemingly every new luxury car boasts an incremental upgrade—now with gopher detection!—but by decade’s end, Porsche will debut an active cruise with one feature that no one else has mentioned: excitement. Its InnoDrive system will allow for cornering at
-We’re not sure how this flew under our radar, but at this year’s Detroit auto show in January, the Department of Energy showed off an electric vehicle it had 3D-printed out of carbon-fiber-reinforced plastic. It was inspired by the iconic Shelby Cobra, but its construction technique—and some liberties seemingly taken with the original lines—mean this isn’t a replica in the truest sense. – The folks at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory put it
– The auto industry isn’t exactly short of three-letter acronyms, or TLAs as they are sometimes referred to by those either proficient or deficient in the art of irony. But while the arrival of Jaguar Land Rover’s Special Vehicle Operations Division is adding a few more (including one set to designate a new generation of extreme off-roaders), we’re also promised a cull of some of the plethora of badging that’s previously been