The Nissan GT-R is an old car at this point. The car’s design dates back to 2007, which was 12 years ago. With a design this old, you might be thinking there’s no way that the GT-R can even compete with the new designs out there, but Nissan has spent a lot of time and effort fine-tuning its AWD supercar.Henry Catchpole of Carfection decided to get behind the wheel of the new Nismo version of the car to see if it’s still worth it.
What Catchpole finds is that the updates that Nissan has made some very important updates. The car is definitely better than it was before. Nissan’s fine-tuning efforts have turned the GT-R, especially in Nismo trim, into an even more impressive machine.
It’s clear that Catchpole feels there’s still plenty to love in the GT-R. It will be interesting to see how much longer Nissan chooses to continue on with the vehicle’s current design. We’d assume they have the next-generation GT-R in the works, but it seems like all the fine-tuning the company has done over the last several years has been worth it.
With that said, he says that he would get the Track Edition over the Nismo version. The reason is that you get much of the notable upgrades–like the suspension and some of the fine-tuning elements–at a lower price point.
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July 30, 2019 / Comments Off on Is the New 2020 Nissan GT-R Nismo Worth It?
The most basic version of the Porsche 911 Carrera has now been unveiled. Porsche chose to detune the twin-turbocharged flat-six engine and downgrade some of the chassis components. These cars offer very good performance and driving dynamics for a slightly lower price.
In the base 911 Carrera, you only get 380 hp. That’s down from the Carrera S’s 444 hp. Despite this drop in horsepower, the car is still capable of making the 0-62 mph sprint in just 4.2 seconds. The base model only comes with the eight-speed PDK automatic transmission. The model’s weight is down by about 22 pounds from the Carrera S.
The car also features 19-inch wheels at the front and 20-inch wheels at the rear. Providing the stopping power are fou-piston calipers. These are slightly smaller than the ones on the Carrera S. When you go inside the car, you’ll notice that it features essentially the same cabin as other 911s. It offers the same 10.9-inch PCM infotainment system and central rev counter with two high-definition displays.
According to Car and Driver, the coupe version of the car will cost $98,750 and the cabriolet version costs $111,550. These cars will go on sale at the beginning of 2020.
July 29, 2019 / Comments Off on Porsche Revealed the Entry-Level 911 Carrera Coupe and Cabriolet
After many years of waiting, the company SSC North America will finally deliver the first of its Tuatara hypercars. The car was first shown off nearly a decade ago, and now the first official model will appear at August 16 at The Quail, A Motorsports Gathering and be delivered to the buyer, according to Motor Authority.
The SSC Tuatara is no run-of-the-mill hypercar. It’s more than a crap-ton of horsepower in a mid-engine machine. The vehicle has been purposefully and masterfully designed. For example, its aerodynamic shape offers a drag coefficient of just 0.279, lower than most other hypercars. This should help make the car capable of nearly 300 mph. The company’s CEO says it should be able to break 300 mph.
The Tuatara comes packing a lot of heat in the form of a 5.9-liter twin-turbocharged V-8 that was developed by SSC. That engine can make up to 1,750 hp with the right fuel. The car also comes with several active aero elements, which should help with stability at speed. Pair all these impressive notes with the fact that the car only weighs 2,750 pounds, and you get the picture as to why this car is so important.
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July 29, 2019 / Comments Off on SCC Will Deliver the First Tuatara at Monterey Car Week
In this episode of This Week In Gear: Meg Lappe reveals Nike’s latest running/recovery shoe, the Joyride FLyknit; Tucker Bowe talks about the IKEA x Sonos “Symphonic,” a wi-fi speaker collaboration available in August; and Tanner Bowden explains why The North Face’s newest material tech is super advanced.
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Nike Joyride Run Review: First Impressions from Nike’s NYC HQ [embedded content]Three of our staff members test Nike’s newest running shoes with zero preparation – and give some honest feedback.
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Stocked: Gear Patrol’s Product Culture Conference
This Week In Gear is brought to you by Stocked: A Product Culture Conference presented by Hill City. Join the entire Gear Patrol team and our special guests at Classic Car Club Manhattan on September 27th and 28th for two days of product discovery and storytelling.
Ikea Symphonik Wi-fi Speakers Sonos and Ikea announced their partnership forever ago, or so it seems, and we now finally have a product to talk about. Meet Symfonisk. It’s a Sonos-powered speaker that will be officially unveiled on April 9 and then become available sometime this August.
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The North Face Futurelight: All-New Breathable, Waterproof Fabric Tech Futurelight is created using a process called nanospinning, a technique already used in tech and medical fields that arranges and layers nano-sized fibers in a complex network with plenty of gaps for air but not water. Laminated to fabric, this membrane exhibits all of the waterproof properties you need and expect in the mountains but, according to The North Face, provides a magnitude more breathability.
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Watch Now: This Week In Gear, Episode 15 In last week’s episode: Will Sabel Courtney goes off-roading in a $125,000 Land Rover Defender, Will Price shows off Smithey Ironware’s new carbon steel skillet, Meg Lappe discusses Halo Sport 2 neuropriming headphones and our staff gets very hands-on with Bob Kramer’s latest knife. Watch Now
Note: Purchasing products through our links may earn us a portion of the sale, which supports our editorial team’s mission. Learn more here. In some instances, brands have provided access to, or loans of, the products included in this episode.
July 27, 2019 / Comments Off on Nike Joyride Run Review: First Impressions from Nike’s NYC HQ
If you looked at the new 2020 Chevrolet Corvette and said, “Nope not the midengine car for me,” and you also don’t want a McLaren, Ferrari, Lamborghini, or any of the other exotics out there, then you should look to the aging but still lovely Lotus Evora. The company just put out a new car specifically for the North American market. It’s the Lotus Evora GT, and it’s quite lovely.
For under $100k ($96,950 to be exact) you can get your hands on the most powerful street-legal Lotus available right now. The Evora GT features either a two-seat or a 2+2 seat arrangement. It also comes with a 3.5-liter supercharged six-cylinder engine that puts out 416 hp and 317 lb-ft of torque. That engine is paired with a six-speed manual transmission or a six-speed automatic transmission (only a masochist would buy the automatic in this car).
This powertrain makes for a 0-60 mph time of just 3.8 seconds. The car’s top speed? It’s 188 mph. The automatic transmission is a tenth of a second slower, so that’s yet another reason to buy the manual gearbox. In terms of suspension, Eibach springs and Bilstein dampers are standard. The car also gets 19-inch wheels up front and 20-inch in the rear. Those wheels are wrapped in Michelin Pilot Sport Cup 2 tires.
Lotus also updated the exterior with front lip spoiler, wheel arch louvers, ducts behind the wheels, and a rear diffuser. Inside there’s Alcantara and carbon fiber materials as well as a magnesium steering wheel with Alcantara and leather. Lotus put in a 7-inch infotainment screen with Bluetooth, Apple CarPlay, Andriod Auto, and navigation. Overall, it looks like one killer driving machine.
July 26, 2019 / Comments Off on The Lotus Evora GT Is for North America
It has been more than half a decade since Pagani revealed the Huayra, but the company continues to refine its creation with new models and improved aerodynamics, engines, and variants. The next expected version is the Huayra Roadster BC, and it should appear at Pebble Beach.
Pagani just teased the new version of the car with the shadowy image you see above. The car in the image is cloaked and you can’t see much of what is there. What you can tell is that it’s definitely the Huayra. We did some digging on the company’s website and looked at the page source of the website’s homepage. What we saw surprised us. The image below was crafted in code.
Below this was the links to the lead image which were clearly labeled “PAGANI_HUAYRA_ROADSTER_BC.” There was some speculation that the company would use that nomenclature for the car. EVO Magazine speculated on the nomenclature. Now it seems pretty clear. The car will be the Pagani Huayra Roadster BC, and it will be awesome.
There’s always the chance that the design in the codes has always been there, but we’d like to think we would have noticed it. It looks to us to be the rear of the car. Again you can’t see much, but it’s a neat element nonetheless. We looked for additional gems on the source page and failed to see anything else. We’re pumped for the official reveal of the Huayra Roadster BC at Pebble Beach.
July 26, 2019 / Comments Off on Pagani Teases the Huayra Roadster BC and Hides Some Easter Eggs in the Code of its Homepage
The Caterham Seven 485 CSR is the sharp end of the stick for the sports car company. It takes the 485 and turns it into an even more of an impressive sports car. The best news? It’s available outside of the UK, meaning all of Europe can enjoy this special Caterham for a mere $61,441 or €54,995. That’s not chump change, but when you consider the performance of such a car, it’s an absolute bargain.
The Caterham Seven 485 CSR can do a 0-62 mph sprint in just 3.9 seconds. It has a top speed of 140 mph. This kind of performance comes from the combination of the Ford Duratec 2.0-liter engine that produces 234 hp and 152 lb-ft. How does a car with so little power go so fast? Lightweighting. The 485 CSR weighs just 1,279 pounds. That gives it roughly the same power-to-weight ratio as a Lamborghini Huracan, according to Motor1.
The vehicle gets inbound front suspension, double-wishbone rear suspension, and 15-inch alloys with Avon ZZS tires. Additionally, there are some aerodynamics goodies, a Momo steering wheel, carbon fiber dash, limited-slip differential, and adjustable seats clad in leather. There are some options including more carbon fiber trim, LED lights, and Alcantara on the dash.
While all of this is wonderful, the big news is that Caterham will bring the car to markets outside the UK. The CEO Graham Macdonald said this of the business choice: “We’ve had to trim our EU range because of the WLTP regulations, but I’m delighted that we can still offer our continental European customers something that really reflects what Caterham has always been about – the thrill of driving.” He also called the car the “ultimate Caterham Seven.” We agree with him.
July 25, 2019 / Comments Off on The Caterham Seven 458 CSR Is Now Available Outside of the UK
This hardly seems like a fair race. Hennessey took the ZR1 Corvette and boosted horsepower to 1,000 and then pitted it up against the Ferrari 488 GTB. It’s clear from the start which car would win. The Ferrari is at a major displacement deficit and down on power. It was bone stock. With that said, it’s still fun to watch in the video below.
With all of the buzz out there about the new 2020 mid-engine Corvette, Hennessey had to remind people about how insane the C7 Corvette actually is. Also, the Ferrari 488 GTB while down on power compared to the heavily modified Chevy honestly performed very well. The car has a 3.9-liter V8 engine that produces 661 hp and 561 lb-ft of torque. That’s down considerably from the HPE1000 Corvette’s 1,000 hp and 966 lb-ft of torque.
Despite the Ferrari being far down in terms of power and displacement, the car performs admirably. The HPE100 should blow it away, and it does by the end of the strip, but for a split second when they first cross the cones, the Ferrari looks like it’s going to hold on. Then the Corvette begins to stretch its legs and its all over. It’s a short and entertaining video. We highly suggest you check it out.
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July 25, 2019 / Comments Off on Hennessey’s HPE1000 Corvette vs. a Ferrari 488 GTB in a Rolling Drag Race
How fast will you dare to go in an open-top speedster? How fast before the skin on your face flaps in the wind? Those are the first questions we had when we read that McLaren would produce a speedster hypercar. According to Autocar, the company plans to build a speedster that will sit at the top of the company’s model line right up there with the Senna and the Speedtail.
Designed for the road, the point of the speedster will be to maximize the driver’s engagement and enjoyment. It’ll do this while still providing extremely high levels of performance and technology. According to Autocar, the unnamed source who discussed the model will feature a more fluid interpretation of the company’s design language.
The car is supposed to have McLaren’s 4.0-litre V8 twin-turbocharged engine. The model won’t include any electrification. Official power numbers aren’t known but Autocar suspects it’ll be below the Senna’s 789 hp. The vehicle will likely get a dual-clutch gearbox and should weigh even less than the Senna. The price will likely fall around $1.9 million.
Autocar reached out to McLaren for further details but the company wouldn’t reveal any more information and said they couldn’t comment on possible future vehicles. We’ll keep you updated with any new developments.
July 24, 2019 / Comments Off on McLaren to Build Open-Cockpit Speedster
Some cars just won’t die. At the top of that list right now is the Saleen S7. The car originally came out in the year 2000, and now 19 years later, the Jiangsu Secco Automobile Technology Corporation will bring the model back again—it has done so in the past—with even more horsepower.
This time, the car makes a whopping 1,500 horsepower from a 7.0-liter Ford Windsor V-8 with two turbochargers. The engine will also produce about 1,327 lb-ft of torque, according to Jalopnik. That kind of power will rocket the S7 from 0-60 mph in just 2.2 seconds and give the car an insane top speed of 298 mph.
The company has said it will produce the vehicle in limited numbers. The last time the company decided to sell the S7, they made only seven models. It’ll be interesting to see how many it decides to make this time around. We’re hoping for 70, but we highly doubt that.
There’s no word yet either on the price of this insane car, but you can bet it’ll be an expensive machine. The Saleen S7 isn’t the only car that the company is working on. It also has the S1 and an SUV and an electric minicar, according to Motor Authority. We’re pumped to see a new higher-performance S7, but we want to see those new cars be made a priority, too.
July 23, 2019 / Comments Off on The Saleen S7 Will Return With 1,500 hp
The company Ecurie Cars recently released the first images of the reimagined Jaguar XJ13 it calls the Ecrosse LM69. This car takes the iconic racer and makes a car for the road out of it. The company’s mission is to make a vehicle as close to the original vehicle as possible in small volumes. The company wants to remain true to the spirit of the vehicle, and judging by these photos it’s done just that.
Ecurie said it will build 25 of the road-going recreations. The company has developed a vehicle that totally looks the part. Not only does it look the part, but the car also features a quad-cam V12 engine. While it mostly follows the old car’s formula, there are some new aerodynamic elements, a fixed roof, and a permanent rear wing.
The car is made of a special composite material, which means it weighs less than the original car on which it’s based. The technical details of the car have not yet been announced. The vehicle will be handbuilt at the company’s factory in the UK.
For those who don’t know, the Jaguar XJ13 was designed and built back in 1966. Jaguar did so to keep its title at Le Mans. However, when the racing rules changed the car was excluded from competing, which means this car never actually raced.
July 23, 2019 / Comments Off on Ecurie Car’s Ecrosse LM69 Is a Reimagined Jaguar XJ13 Racer
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July 23, 2019 / Comments Off on How to Become a Pro Cyclist Without Ever Leaving Your Home
Top Gun is back and Pete “Maverick” Mitchell returns (Tom Cruise) in top form 34 years after the original movie. The first peek at the long-awaited follow up to the iconic combat pilot action/drama just…
In this episode of This Week In Gear: Will Sabel Courtney goes off-roading in a $125,000 Land Rover Defender, Will Price shows off Smithey Ironware’s new carbon steel skillet, Meg Lappe discusses Halo Sport 2 neuropriming headphones and our staff gets very hands-on with Bob Kramer’s latest knife.
This episode of This Week In Gear is presented by Flipboard, where quality content from the world’s best publishers and storytellers of every type is discovered.
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Master bladesmith Bob Kramer has introduced the Shokunin, a “Nakiri vegetable slicer made with a combination of 15N20 and 1084 tool steel, hardened to 62 HRC.” Each is hand=sharpened by Kramer himself.
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Defender by Himalaya Himalaya, based in South Carolina, has earned its reputation building high-end resto-mod Defenders featuring far-from-stock features like powerful Corvette V8s and leather-swaddled cabins. But the company also makes more straightforward versions, packing traditional engines and interiors. This is one such vehicle, and we took it off-road.
Smithey Ironware Carbon Steel Farmhouse Skillet Smithey’s Farmhouse Skillet is a low-walled, 12-inch skillet that’s equal parts art and cookware. The hand-forged, hand-hammered carbon steel pan was made with neighboring North Charleston blacksmith Robert Thomas.
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Halo Sport 2 Specifically geared toward athletes, Halo Sport headphones make use of neuropriming science to directly influence your body’s behavior. During usage, Halo Sport sends a small electric current to a specific area of the brain that controls movement, theoretically developing muscle memory faster.
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Watch Now: This Week In Gear, Episode 15 In last week’s episode: Will Sabel Courtney drives the limited-edition Jaguar XE SV Project 8; our staff’s first impressions of Sony’s ANC earbuds; Tanner Bowden shows off The North Face’s updated Banchee hiking backpack; Will Price uses the relatively affordable, full-service De’Longhi La Specialista espresso machine to pull a couple shots. Watch Now
Note: Purchasing products through our links may earn us a portion of the sale, which supports our editorial team’s mission. Learn more here. In some instances, brands have provided access to, or loans of, the products included in this episode.
July 20, 2019 / Comments Off on This Perfect Classic Defender Is Actually Brand-New From the Ground Up
Many would say a good sports car has to be lightweight and have rear-wheel-drive at least. Well, that’s the basis for the Jannarelly Design-1, but this car has much more than just those two things. It’s made of either a composite material or carbon fiber and located behind the driver is a 3.5-liter, Nissan-sourced V6.
The engine isn’t some crazy billion horsepower mill. It makes a strong, but modest by sports car standards, 325 hp. Pair that with the curb weight of either 1,675 pounds or 1,785 pounds depending on the materials, and you have a car that will do a 0-62 mph sprint in just 3.9 seconds.
Jannarelly plans to unveil the Design-1 in full at the UK debut at Salon Privé. That event will take place from September 5 to 8. Anthony Jannarelly sounded excited about the car’s reveal in this quote on Carscoops:
I was often asked if I drove a Lykan and the more I said no, the more I wondered what kind of car I would like to drive on a daily basis. I started sketching some ideas during a flight and then met my now partner, Frederic Juillot, who made boats and composite parts and is also based in Dubai. Such was the enthusiasm, that we decided to go the whole way and launch our own sports car brand and so Jannarelly was born.
The car can be had in a wide variety of configurations. These include a hardtop, soft top, and even a low-level windshield speedster version. The exterior and interior of the car can be extensively customized as the customer wants. This makes the Jannarelly perfect for anyone who wants a seriously special car.
July 19, 2019 / Comments Off on The Jannarelly Design-1 Is the UK Sports Car of Your Dreams
The auction company Gooding & Company will have plenty of cars to auction off at Pebble Beach this year. One of the standout models is the 1958 Ferrari 250 GT Series I you see here in photos. The car is expected to fetch between $7 and $8 million.
Only 40 250 GT Series I Cabriolet of the cars were built. Of those 40, only four featured coachwork by Pininfarina. This is one of those four, which is what makes it such a special car. Finished in black, the car is absolutely gorgeous. As you can see, the interior features a green carpet and green leather seats. The cabin of the car is absolutely stunning. The green pairs nicely with the black exterior.
Italian aristocrat Prince Alessandro Ruspoli previously owned the car, according to The Supercar Blog. He was a Ferrari VIP and since his ownership, the car changed hands several times. Over the course of its life, the car was shipped to the U.S. and underwent a full restoration. It has since won many contests. This is a numbers-matching car, and Gooding & Company offers a well-documented history for the car, making it even more desirable.
July 17, 2019 / Comments Off on This 1958 Ferrari 250 GT Series I Could Fetch $8 Million at Pebble Beach
Season 27 of BBC America’s Top Gear just recently premiered. It’s genuinely the best season of the show since the departure of the show’s long-time talent. The new three hosts have good chemistry, and it makes for plenty of fun and some good laughs.
We had a chance to sit down and chat with Top Gear presenter Chris Harris before the season premiere. In addition to talking with him about the show, we also asked him some questions about the industry in general. Over the course of our conversation, it became clear that Harris believes the industry is going through a major transition.
Hybridization, Electrification and the Internal Combustion Engine
One of the key things he pointed to was electrification. He said that he recently spent time in Morocco and didn’t believe it would have the infrastructure to support electric cars. He said many other places in the world will be the same way. “I think there’s a dichotomy between the developing world and the Western world,” he said.
As a part of that Harris said the internal combustion engine will likely live on, saying it “has much longer to live than people realize.” While Harris said gasoline engines will continue on, he’s not ruling out adding electrification to the ICE equation. “It will be hybridized,” he said. “It will be made more and more efficient. It’ll be made cleaner and cleaner, but I think it’s there for a while.”
That’s not to say that Harris is against electric cars. “The electric dream, which when it works well, is brilliant,” he said. “If you live in LA and you have a supercharger on your way to work and a charger at home there’s no way you would buy a petrol engine car. You’d have to be a flat earther, I think.”
However, he said that for rural communities, even in the developed world, electric cars largely don’t make much sense. “If you live in a rural community in the Midwest, and depending on how you live your life, you’re not going to buy an electric vehicle.”
The Future of Supercars
We discussed many things during the course of our discussion. One of them was the Ferrari SF90 Stradale and other hybrid supercars. Chris didn’t seem to be overly optimistic about the car and some of the other supercars out there at the moment.
“I think we’re going into an era of the supercars that won’t be viewed kindly in 20 years time because they’re at a transitional point in technology,” said Harris. He discussed the weight and complicated powertrains of the vehicles. Harris said he’d rather have a lower horsepower and lighter weight machine. “It’s contrary to how we all live,” he said. “Really you want to go a bit slower and have a bit more fun at lower speeds.”
He also discussed concerns with the batteries in these hypercars. “What happens with these hybrid batteries in 15-year’s time? What’s the battery life like? I’m hearing horror stories of people fitting new batteries to their Ferrari’s or McLaren P1s,” he said.
The Manual Transmission
I also asked Harris about his thoughts on the manual transmission. While the manual is quickly disappearing from many cars on earth, Harris thinks some automakers, like Aston Martin and Porsche, will continue to build cars with this option in them for some time.
“I think the last petrol engine car that Porsche makes will have a manual gearbox in it,” Harris said. “People want them. There are enough people out there that want them.”
Harris said he’s all for keeping the manual in as many cars as possible. He discussed the super-fast supercars with paddle shifters and sounded a little annoyed that there were so many. “I’m over it,” he said. “I really am.” That’s not to say that he doesn’t still enjoy driving them, but he’d rather have a manual car for a fun car. “If I want to go driving I’ll have more fun in my 2CV.”
July 17, 2019 / Comments Off on Exclusive: We Asked Chris Harris About Electrification, Manual Transmissions, and the Future of the Supercar
The new season of BBC America’s Top Gear will debut on Sunday, July 14. With the last few seasons as a reference point, the idea of a new season of the show may have lost its luster for some. However, season 27 has some new hosts and is bringing back one of the best car reviewers in the business for another go, Chris Harris.
I had a chance to screen a few episodes of the new season and then have a quick chat with Chris before the premiere.
For those who don’t know, Harris will be joined by Andrew “Freddie” Flintoff and Paddy McGinness. Freddie isn’t largely known in the states, and neither is Paddy, but they’re both huge stars in the UK.
Freddie was is a former cricketer and was one of the best players in the game in the 1990s and early 2000s. Since then, he’s made a name for himself in broadcasting. Paddy is a well-known comedian, actor, and television personality. Together they bring a rough-and-tumble sense of humor to the show and are a nice complement to Chris.
The Right Group
Image provided by BBC America
“It’s fantastic fun,” Chris told me over the phone. “You can’t fake what we’re doing.” He went on to say that he’s been a fan of both Freddie and Paddy for a while now. “I’m in a wonderful position of getting to work with two people who I think are great.”
Chris did say he had to get used to the banter a bit and be able to hit back with quick lines to the other two hosts of the show. “Last year, I’d have asked him for his autograph,” Chris said when speaking of Freddie.
The banter is what helps make this season special. The last season featured Chris Harris, Matt Leblanc, and Rory Reid. It was a notable step in the right direction. However, the addition of Freddie and Paddy brings back a level of humor that hasn’t been with the show since the departure of Jeremy Clarkson, James May, and Richard Hammond.
You can tell the three like each other, but they also love embarrassing each other and competing with each other. It’s a good dynamic and a lot of fun to watch. “I think as a team, we’re really strong,” Chris said.
More Than Just a Car Show
Chris also discussed the need to reach a wider audience with the show. He said it can’t just be a car show anymore. It’s about entertaining a wide audience, and these new hosts help do that. “I think we have a really good balance of knowledge, entertainment, fun—just joy really.”
Usually, when I hear something like that I roll my eyes, but having screened a few of the episodes early, I can genuinely say Chris is right. The new season of Top Gear is just enjoyable. That’s not to say it’s not without a few cringe-worthy moments. There are some stumbles over lines in front of the studio audience and some of the banter borders on outright bullying, but it feels like nobody is taking anyone too seriously, which is exactly what the series needed.
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It’s a silly car show, and it feels fun and unguarded again in a way it hasn’t recently. That’s what makes this season worth watching.
Chris talked a little bit with me about the process. He said that it’s largely off the cuff. While the in-studio and in front of an audience portion of the show is at least partially scripted, the drives the team does and a lot of the challenges are not.
“So, we start with an outline,” Chris said. “You have to have an idea of what you want to do and what you want to achieve, but nothing is really scripted. The producer’s job is to find extraordinary locations, create things to do, and then throw us into the mix.”
Plenty of Amazing Cars
While the show is definitely trying to branch out and be appealing to more people, don’t for a second think that cars aren’t the focus of the show. The hosts drive some of the best and worst cars imaginable. In the first episode, they all buy similar cars to the first ones they purchased and go on a massive road trip through Ethiopia.
There’s plenty of fun track stuff, too. Chris takes the helm of the supercars and hypercars most of the time, driving everything from the Ferrari 488 Pista and McLaren 600LT to the Tesla Model 3 and the Dallara Stradale among many others. It’s fantastic to have him doing his own thing in these cars.
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When I asked him about these test drives, he said he thinks many of the Top Gear test drives will be “a bit straighter now.” He said some of the older tests in previous seasons tried to be more humorous because they thought they needed that. Now they can do longer and more focused segments on specific cars. “The show can carry that,” he said. “They’re a bit more like the stuff I used to do on the Internet.”
The bottom line for the show it will continue being what people have come to expect from Top Gear, but now it’s what it should have been since its three well-known hosts left and went to Amazon. Is it perfect? No, far from it. But it’s a lot of fun, and there are now three hosts who have some genuine chemistry on screen and who all seem do enjoy doing ridiculous things in cars.
July 12, 2019 / Comments Off on EXCLUSIVE: We Chatted With Chris Harris About Season 27 of Top Gear
Today seems to be a “cool Rolexes” kind of day. Thought to be lost to time (so to speak), the Rolex GMT Master ref. 1675 worn by Marlon Brando as Col. Kurtz in “Apocalypse Now,” Francis Ford Coppola’s incredible adaptation of Joseph Conrad’s “Heart of Darkness” set during the horrors of the Vietnam War, has surfaced and is hitting the auction block on December 10th. Phillips’s “Game Changers” auction “will be a tightly curated thematic auction dedicated to watches owned by extraordinary people who are considered “game changers” in their fields.”
Interestingly, the watch has no bezel, as Brando removed it during filming when someone remarked that the watch seemed too clean to belong to his character. Otherwise, it’s a fairly run-of-the-mill (though beautiful) matte-dial reference 1675 Rolex GMT Master, though — and here’s the kicker — this one also happens to be hand-engraved with “M. Brando” on the back, done by the actor himself.
Evidently Brando gifted the watch to his adopted daughter, Petra Brando Fischer, in 1995, after which she in turn have it to her husband in 2003. Following the sale of Paul Newman’s 6239 Daytona, Fischer decided to bring the GMT Master to auction. A portion of the proceeds will go to a foundation set up by the Fischers benefiting children living in hardship due to neglect, poverty or abuse, a cause that Petra says would have been particularly important to her father, who was himself a noted supporter of several charitable causes.
Expect bidding to begin “in the six figures,” according to Phillips.
July 12, 2019 / Comments Off on This Rolex GMT Master Was Featured in One of the Best Movies of All Time. And It’s for Sale
Porsche cars are some of the most customizable from the factory that you can buy. There are 39 different variants between the 911 and 718 and then there’s a long list of options to choose from. According to Autocar, plant manager Christian Friedl said the company only produces the same exact car “a maximum of two times per year.” The company wants to add even more personalization, too.
When you look at the plant that makes the 911 and 718, Porsche builds about 25,000 of those cars. With all of the different variants and special features for the cars, that’s a lot of models to be churning out. Porsche wants to take the next steps to take personalization to the next level.
Friedl said Porsche will work on putting out more options for customers to choose from. this means even fewer of the cars built each year will be identical. The Porsche 911 or 718 you want will be the car you’ll get, and it’ll be a lot different than your neighbor’s Porsche. Freidel said that the company wants to build “the most personal car” out there.
This is good news for anyone who wants to have a special one-of-a-kind sports car. With Porsche the 911 and 718 already being what they are, it’s cool to see Porsche pushing the envelope. You can bet, however, that those new fancy options will come with a high price tag. You have to pay for exclusivity.
July 12, 2019 / Comments Off on Porsche 911 and 718 Models to Become Even More Personalized
