Author: Tabitha
Equus Automotive (no, it isn’t Hyundai-related) of Rochester Hills, Mich., has created a bespoke, luxury-oriented muscle car called the Bass 770. The mostly aluminum-bodied coupe resembles a 1965 Ford Mustang 2+2 fastback that has received a nose graft from a 1971 Plymouth Satellite. Beneath the skin is a custom-fabricated, racing-inspired aluminum chassis. Under the hood is a supercharged 6.2-liter V-8 borrowed from the Chevrolet Corvette ZR1. It generates an impressive 640 horsepower and 605 pound-feet of torque. Equus claims that the 3,460-pound street beast will hit 60 mph from rest in 3.4 seconds. Prices start at $290,000 and head up…
Before automakers began developing alternative-fuel vehicles, Chrysler Corporation’s engineers tinkered with jet-turbine propulsion. Author Steve Lehto documented their efforts in his book ‘Chrysler’s Turbine Car, The Rise and Fall of Detroit’s Coolest Creation.’ The creation Lehto refers to is the 1963 concept car designed and built by Ghia of Italy. Fifty-five Turbines were built and loaned out for testing by prospective buyers, or used as dealer demonstrators. Chrysler ultimately decided against turbine power and all but nine of the vehicles were destroyed. (Comedian and car collector Jay Leno owns one of the surviving Turbines.) Order Lehto’s book in paperback for…
Most people who work on cars or other machinery are usually packing carry a variety of wrenches, screwdrivers, etc., which means a handy tool tote is essential. The Best Made Co. has designed a unique Front Loading Toolbox that makes the accessibility part particularly convenient. Once unlocked, the front opens to reveal your tools and other equipment. It’s not necessary to remove the top tray to get at the stuff stored beneath it. The hand-fabricated box is powder-coated in classic red and comes with a heavy-duty handle on top and one on each side. The Front Loading Toolbox sells for…
Yesterday Reclaimed, a Virginia company begun by transplanted Manhattanite Roque Castro, makes furniture out of a variety of recycled items. For gearheads and lovers of old pickup trucks, there’s a line of Blue Collar Benches made from discarded tailgates. The example shown here uses an old GMC pickup tailgate for the seat back, antique barn wood for the arms and base and old steel tubing for the legs. The resulting patina is quite striking and the bench would make an interesting conversation piece. Castro’s Blue Collar Benches sell for $1,150 each, but you can have one built to order if…
The Master Spy hears that Volkswagen’s ultra-expensive single-car brand is planning to expand into an entire model lineup that could include a tall wagon, a sedan, an electric car of some sort and yet another sports car, albeit less expensive. Currently, the only Bugatti model is the mid-engine 1,479-horsepower 16-cylinder Chiron sports car, which is the replacement for the Veyron. That limited-production all-wheel-drive hyper-car (available starting this fall) can attain a top speed of 261 mph and will take about a $2.6-million bite out of your trust account. Even at that price, more than one-third of the 500-car production run…
The oft-delayed plug-in hybrid version of the Outlander tall wagon has again been put off. Officially, the PHEV, which is currently on sale in Europe, is not quite ready for its U.S. and Canada debut. But word is that the wagon’s fuel-economy numbers and the maximum distance that it can operate with only the electric motor aren’t where Mitsubishi wants them. These issues are expected to be fixed by the third quarter of 2017, leaving fans of the seven-passenger Outlander no choice but to go with gasoline four-cylinder or V-6 editions in the meantime. If you’ve been waiting for the…
Mercedes-Benz is reportedly considering an electric version of its next-generation Sprinter commercial van. The electric Sprinter could arrive by the end of the decade, coinciding with the arrival of the next-gen van, according to Trucks.com. If approved for production it would join a handful of electric vans already on sale, mainly outside the United States, “and prove that Mercedes is serious about electric commercial vehicles.” Tesla Motors CEO Elon Musk has also hinted at an electric van. Electricity delivery vans make particular sense as they are generally used on short, predictable routes, making range anxiety less of an issue. “They…
Here’s another way that Californians aren’t like the rest of the country: they buy electric and hybrid cars with enthusiasm not seen in other states. Hybrids, plug-in hybrids and battery-electric cars typically sell in much larger volumes in the Golden State than anywhere else in the United States, notes alternate-vehicle website Green Car Reports. Case in point: through May of this year, about four out of every 10 Ford Fusion mid-size sedans sold in the Los Angeles area were hybrids or plug-in hybrids, according to research company IHS Automotive. In June, L.A.-area sales of the Fusion Hybrid increased 35 percent…
The Spy Guy has overheard some high-placed scuttlebutt to the effect that a way-over-the-top sports car (something more far-reaching than the current Mercedes-AMG GT) could very well make it to streets. The idea for such a road beast, code-named R50, originates with AMG, which is the automaker’s in-house performance division. The AMG folks are apparently drawing inspiration from the 2013 Vision Grand Turismo concept, although the final version likely won’t look exactly like that particular model. A gas-electric propulsion system with dedicated electric motors for each wheel is also contemplated for the mid-engine two-seater that would produce somewhere between 1,000…
The Sleuth isn’t overly surprised, yet he’s still blown away by the impending demise of Chrysler’s mid-size sedan. The second-generation 200 was introduced at the 2014 North America International Auto Show in Detroit, Mich. Fiat Chrysler Automobiles (FCA) spent vast sums installing the latest in robotic manufacturing equipment at its plant in Sterling Heights, Mich. Oh well, then? The automaker will end production of the 200 at the end of 2016. FCA will spend a further $1.2 billion preparing the plant for assembly of the next generation Ram 1500 pickup. Although there’s no official word on the future of FCA’s…