We’ve written a little bit before about the power and significance of nostalgia—how the bittersweet emotion connects us to the past while keeping us grounded in the present and motivated for the future. Sometimes, however, the objects of our nostalgic affection take on the same kind of redshift that the James Webb Space Telescope was […]
Author: Chris Chasse
Dinosaur-Burning Engines are Going Extinct in California
They did it, those crazy sunnuvaguns, they actually did it! On August 25th, 2022, California officially became the first state to ban the sale of gas and diesel-powered vehicles via the Advanced Clean Cars II Act (ACCII) passed by the California Air Resources Board (CARB). Now, don’t panic, petrolheads––the near-total ban on the sale of […]
Back to the Future: The DeLorean Returns!
Watching Back to the Future as a kid, my focus wasn’t on Marty McFly, his family, or the time travel aspect of the story. Instead, I was mesmerized by the vehicle that Doc Brown transformed into a time machine, provided it reached 88 mph. The DeLorean became a favorite with me, and I mourned the […]
It’s No Joke – The Lexus RZ Has a Yoke!
This spring, Lexus announced an electric alternative to the next-generation RX called RZ. Built on the same platform as the co-developed Subaru Solterra and Toyota bZ4X, there is much about the RZ to generate interest. However, perhaps nothing is drawing more attention than the optional One Grip Steering control system. The pictures show, and the […]
Wrangling Colorado’s Greatest Trails
The great outdoors––almost everyone says they love it, but who’s actually got the nerve to go there? And I don’t mean glamping in Grandpa’s backyard in the Catskills. I’m talking deep woods, into-the-wild, find-the-gaps-in-T-Mobile’s-coverage great outdoors, man. There’s nothing like the serenity of a truly silent landscape totally devoid of human influence. The trouble for […]
Four Rings and Four-Wheel Drive
For reasons known only to the ether, I will never forget my first exposure to the “quattro” name––it was associated with the breathtaking “Le Mans quattro” concept car, which heralded the coming of the Audi R8 mid-engine supercar. I wasn’t remotely tuned in to racing at the time (the concept’s name honored Audi’s incredible Le […]
All-New American Classics
Ahh, 2013. No war in Ukraine. No COVID. No fake news, no Brexit, we still had Kobe and Betty White, and I’m pretty sure Lance Armstrong was still cool, too, but don’t quote me on it. But you, dear reader, I know that you suffered. You adored Ford’s badass F-150 Raptor, then a 4-year-old model […]
The 2022 Chevy Colorado Z71: Uncompromisingly Itself
“A good compromise is when both parties are dissatisfied,” – Larry David. Many of us have heard some version of that quote; it’s an astute observation and something to keep in mind anytime one finds themselves at an impasse with another. But compromise in a motor vehicle is just…disappointing. In a competitive environment, where a […]
The Quiet Dawn of a New Era
Everything in the observable universe is in constant motion, and much of that motion can be perceived as sound. The air we breathe, flowing in and out of our lungs, rising or falling along hot or cold surfaces, streaming through a door left ajar, is constantly abuzz with the sounds of its own motion and […]
Addicted to AWD? It’s a Subie Thing
You take a deep breath as you climb out of your current whip and slam the door. Maybe this is your first time here, although research suggests it probably isn’t, but either way, you know you’re in for a memorable experience when you walk through the entrance of your local Subaru dealer. “Hello!” a voice […]
Thought Cheap Sports Cars Were Gone? Think Again!
Much attention is lavished on brand-new big-name models for pushing the limits of performance, technology, and luxury. It can seem that the industry standard is 0-60 in 3 seconds or less, telepathic infotainment and an $80,000 starting price. However, while they aren’t grabbing as many headlines, cheap sports cars get even more love from enthusiasts […]
Cracking the Code of BMW’s B58 Engine
You know you’re getting seriously deep into car culture, vicariously or not, when you start to recognize and talk about specific vehicles by their internal identification codes. Some of this jargon is intuitive––it doesn’t take long to figure out that the C8 Corvette is the 8th generation; the same goes for the Mk 8 Golf […]
A New Challenger Approaches the Crossover EV Segment!
It’s a little hard to believe that the company responsible for the Prius—and with it, almost the entire market of hybrid electric vehicles—is this late to the battery electric vehicle (BEV) game, but it’s true. The year is 2022 and the world is finally seeing the first mass-market Toyota BEV—the 2023 Toyota bZ4X. (Please don’t […]
The Lucid Air: a Super-Efficient Super Sedan
There are two kinds of people: Jedi who do not deal in absolutes and Sith lords with access to unlimited power. In a similar manner, there are two kinds of BEV (battery-powered electric vehicle), those from established legacy automakers and start-ups. Beyond that oversimplification, EVs are taking on increasingly diverse forms––though they started as super […]
The 3rd Generation Ford Raptor is Clever, Indeed
The end of 2020 brought with it much exciting news, but at the time, auto fans like me were stuck waiting for details on the 2021 Ford F-150 Raptor. Never before in the Raptor’s 9-year history had so much been riding on the announcement of the next model year’s specs! The all-new Ram TRX was […]
Optimizing the Automobile with Grace, Space, and Pace
They’ve been around since 1935. They functionally owned Le Mans for nearly a decade and crafted what is widely regarded as one of the most beautiful cars of all time before slipping into obscurity due to ineffective state-sponsored management. Their return to private independence in the early 1980s is a glowing capitalist success story, with […]
There’s Something in the Air Around the New Z06
It might be the most anticipated sports car of 2023––the car that permanently lays to rest the idea that a Corvette is a poor man’s Ferrari. With a mid-engine layout, the most powerful naturally aspirated V8 engine in a production car (ever), and a flat-plane-crank design that redlines at 8600 RPM, the 2023 Chevy Corvette […]
NASCAR is Poised to Deliver the Ultimate Race Car in 2023
On March 17, 2022, a panel consisting of Steve Phelps, Jim France, Rick Hendrick, Jim Campbell, Stu Grant, Pierre Fillon, and John Doonan made a remarkable announcement at Sebring: NASCAR had established a plan to make a return to the 24 Hours of Le Mans in 2023, 47 years after American stock cars last thundered […]
If I Had $383 Million – Toyota’s Investments in US Manufacturing
Toyota’s recent announcement of a $383 million investment in American production operations is the latest in a series of major commitments made by the world’s largest automaker to the US manufacturing sector. It is not clear as of the time of writing whether this, and other multi-million-dollar investments by Toyota, are in addition to the […]
The EV of my Dreams is a Porsche
What do Bill Nye, Travis Barker, A’ja Wilson, and Keanu Reeves have in common? If your guess is that they’re all blood type O-, you’d be…well, weird, maybe correct, and distressingly in sync with the corny misdirection that I’ve imposed on this opening. If, however, your guess is that each of them has driven a […]