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Despite costing more than three times what the C1500 listed for, the Grand Marquis takes it. Hey, it’s hard to beat a full-frame boat of a sedan for comfort and durability. Anyway, let’s jump into today’s battle. Before the Japanese bubble economy burst, three Japanese automakers signaled some serious intent by launching luxury brands. The premise is great – luxury cars that work like Camrys and Accords. But are these posh depreciated sedans still desirable today?...

Well, I’d say that’s pretty decisive. Reader “greatfallsgreen” called this a tortoise-versus-hare race, and I’m mad I didn’t think of that one myself. But it looks like slow and steady has indeed won the race. It’s the Benz by a landslide, weird misspelled ad and all. Now, today’s choices aren’t the sports cars you’re looking for. One has the wrong transmission, and the other has the wrong engine. Still, the price is right on both of them....

Well, turn off the Iron Maiden and crank up the Dean Martin, because the old Chieftain is the winner. (And I just now noticed I spelled “Chieftain” wrong in the poll. Dangit. Oh well.) If anybody does buy it, my finder’s fee for this one will be my pick of the records in those boxes. Sound fair? If there’s a common theme among the dead brands we’ve been looking at, it’s that they were largely superfluous....

The Mehari seems an ideal car for sunny days in Europe: as open like an hors d’oeuvre tray, great vivid color, and yet still frugal on expensive Euro gas with its tiny flat-twin air-cooled engine. That pic (taken by my drive partner Ezra Dyer) is also great because the contrast of that bright orange bathtub next to that huge tanker truck is just kind of perfect. There were other great cars just around Copenhagen, too....

If you’ve read my stories for long enough, you know that I have a soft spot for Volkswagens and the products of Volkswagen AG. Of my 21 cars, SUVs, buses, motorcycles, and trailers, five of my cars are Volkswagens. Add in my Audi TT and that’s six VAG products in the fleet. I’ve also tested a variety of Volkswagens in my professional career thus far. Yet, none of these vehicles have been Volkswagen’s famed Golf GTI....

Back in the 1970s and 1980s, Americans hit campgrounds in a new kind of camping trailer. The fiberglass camper promised lower maintenance, light weight, and a distinctive style. Americans were downsizing in this era thanks to a fuel crisis, tightening vehicle emissions, and a recession. A lot of people no longer owned vehicles that could tow a huge camper, paving the way for fiberglass trailers to become a favorite for campers....

Welcome to The Morning Dump, bite-sized stories corralled into a single article for your morning perusal. If your morning coffee’s working a little too well, pull up a throne and have a gander at the best of the rest of yesterday. Cadillac Knows How To Build A Beautiful Race Car Cadillac has been a serious player in top-level American endurance racing for years. The marque’s outgoing DPi-V.R won the 24 Hours of Daytona in 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, and 2021....

The automaker today announced that its all-new 3.3-liter turbocharged inline-six motor will put out 340 horsepower and 369 lb-ft of torque on premium gas. That’s much better than previous announcements about this new motor, which had a more disappointing output below 300 HP—at least in some markets. But in the U.S., where it will debut on the all-new three-row CX-90 crossover—more on that in a second—it’ll be much more impressive, putting down torque on par with a BMW 340i and the Mercedes GLE 450....

First, there is the small matter of David’s sanity as it relates to two prospective project cars. Let’s see how the votes came out: Of course. It wasn’t even a contest, really. Nor was it a fair comparison – that dusty T-bird isn’t even in the same league as the Corvair. So we’re going to leave this result out of Friday’s matchup, leaving just three cars to vie for Shitbox Of The Week....

“Your alternator is shot,” reads a rather short text from my dad, which includes the photo you see above. My van is going to have to be towed back to their house, and why? Who the hell knows. Do I really think a bad alternator would shut down a vehicle that requires pretty much no electricity to run (it’s an old-school diesel with a mechanical fuel pump)? Well, there is a solenoid that needs 12-volts to allow fuel flow, but the current draw is basically zero....

Well, the Camry is a used car yardstick and since the ES300 is fundamentally a fancy Camry, it shouldn’t be surprising to see it take the win over the Legend. Anyway, back to today’s focus: Cars that are known for expensive and sometimes spectacular problems along with an incredible amount of driving fun. Let’s see how far you want to ride the roller coaster of risk. 2001 Porsche Boxster: $10,900 Engine/drivetrain: 2....

Welcome to The Morning Dump, bite-sized stories corralled into a single article for your morning perusal. If your morning coffee’s working a little too well, pull up a throne and have a gander at the best of the rest of yesterday. The Toyota GR Corolla Seems Very Reasonably Priced While the Toyota GR Corolla has always looked absolutely wicked, pricing is key in the hot hatch segment and nobody really knew if Toyota would aim high or shoot low....

Seriously, that first re-born Microbus concept is old enough to buy beer now. I mean, look at this: modernized buses since 2001, teasing us over and over, with each new revision. I’d also like to note that I was pushing for VW to introduce a new electric bus as early as 2015, since I saw it as VW’s best chance to get a favorable reputation back after the whole Dieselgate fiasco....

A post shared by Sol Marburg (@sol_sees_cars) Let’s start with what we know about the Hornet. The Detroit Free Press reported in April that Dodge CEO Tim Kuniskis dished out a little bit of information on Dodge’s new baby. Alright, so Dodge is talking about a C-segment product with some sort of plug-in hybrid variant. What vehicle already exists in the Stellantis portfolio that matches this description and will be homologated for U....

Hop onto Detroit’s Facebook Marketplace and type in “2000 Jeep Cherokee,” and you’ll find one listing that really stands out from the rest: You may be inclined to click that photo of the rusty Jeep for sale in Romeo, Michigan, because even though it has 275,000 miles on the clock, it’s also only $650! And that’s dirt cheap. What you’ll find when you do execute that click are a bunch of pictures of the XJ stuck in a mud pit, along with a hilarious description from someone who, ostensibly, wants to actually sell his automobile....

Welcome to The Morning Dump, bite-sized stories corralled into a single article for your morning perusal. If your morning coffee’s working a little too well, pull up a throne and have a gander at the best of the rest of yesterday. What The Hell Is Going On At Toyota? Reuters his this exclusive report from Japan saying Toyota is maybe going to completely redo the big EV plans they announced just last year....

Welcome to The Morning Dump, bite-sized stories corralled into a single article for your morning perusal. If your morning coffee’s working a little too well, pull up a throne and have a gander at the best of the rest of yesterday. Volvo CEO Sees Price Parity Between EVs and ICE-powered Vehicles By 2025 The Volvo EX90 is a big deal and part of the brand’s play to establish itself as a major part of the electrified, semi-autonomous future....

Back in August 2021, fuel stations in Algeria finally stopped dispensing leaded gasoline. The nation was the last in the world to fuel cars with leaded gas. Here in the United States, the EPA banned leaded gasoline in 1996, and unleaded fuel was already widely available as early as 1975. With Algeria catching up, it means that no matter where you are in the world, you can rest easy knowing that the car in front of you isn’t spewing out lead....

But first let’s see who you picked as victor in our Beetle battle: This one was close, but it appears that the blue Beetle is our winner. It’s hard to deny the appeal of a running engine in a project car; even if you end up having to tear it apart later, at least you know it was once something besides an inert hunk of metal. I guess that means the orange Bug is still “Holding Out For A Hero,” which is too bad, because to me, that patina with the classic ’70s stripes is “Almost Paradise....

Welcome to The Morning Dump, bite-sized stories corralled into a single article for your morning perusal. If your morning coffee’s working a little too well, pull up a throne and have a gander at the best of the rest of yesterday. A Cruise Self-Driving Car Gets Involved In A Crash A question that weighs on my mind constantly is “What if self-driving cars are largely bullshit?” I mean come on, autonomous cars don’t help commuters escape traffic, that’s what public transit is for....