“We sold 27.” Toyota chief engineer Masato Tanabe is curt with his answer. I had asked if Toyota had plans to sell its recently redesigned Century—the chauffeur-driven, ultra-luxury sedan that’s been in production since 1967—in markets outside Japan. He first, quickly, answered, “No.” Then I ask why not. Because, Tanabe-san explains (through a translator), they tried to do so with the previous generation. And it flopped.
The second-gen Century launched in 1997 with a 5.0-liter V-12. Yes, a Japanese V-12. For a single car model. Not even Lexus could borrow it. Toyota offered that Century for sale in Germany, Austria, Great Britain, Australia, and a few Middle Eastern countries. One hundred left-hand-drive examples were built, with some winding up in the U.S. to shuttle Toyota’s local executives.
But selling even 100 units was a bridge too far. Even through the cheery-voiced translator, I can sense Tanabe’s bitterness at the rest of the world’s miscomprehension of [...]
The 2020 Ford Mustang GT500 is without question the highest-performance Mustang ever. Its 5.4-liter supercharged V-8 makes 760 hp and 625 lb-ft of torque through a seven-speed dual-clutch automatic, all wrapped up in a lightened and aerodynamically optimized body. It’s a seriously impressive machine, made more so by seeing how far the GT500 nameplate has come—just look at this 1968 example on auction at Barrett-Jackson’s Northeast sale.
The year 1968 was the second year of GT500 production, at which point it was still something of an aftermarket conversion, unlike today’s factory-built car. After initial assembly by Ford as a big-block-equipped Mustang fastback, Shelby transformed it with new fiberglass body panels, a distinct front fascia, ducktail spoiler, new taillights, and plenty of new vents and scoops.
A massively upgraded engine is a core component of any GT500, and 1968 delivered. Under the hood was a 428 cubic-inch, 7.0-liter V-8 [...]
We’ve known about the Ford Bronco’s return for some time now but when it comes to details like powertrain choices, we’ve been in the dark. Until now that is. A leak on Twitter appears to have confirmed at least one engine option for the 2021 Ford Bronco.
A photo taken by Twitter user Matthew the Car Guy indicates that an item locator in a parts shop has listed the 2021 Ford Bronco being available with a 2.3-liter turbo-four. That’s the same engine used by the Ford Ranger pickup, which is also the platform mate of the upcoming Bronco. In the Ranger that mill makes 270 hp and 310 lb-ft of torque, and comes paired exclusively to a 10-speed automatic.
Well that’s interesting. #bronco pic.twitter.com/z5gZD5whCx
— Matthew the Car Guy (@DudeDrivesCars) June 22, 2019
We expect the 2.3-liter turbo-four to be the base engine on the 2021 Ford Bronco. Whether it gets a higher output version [...]
Land Rover has been working on and teasing a next-generation Defender for quite some time now—in 2001, the company released a pair of DC100 concepts to take the public’s pulse on a possible direction for the model. That didn’t go well. But with a fresh design executed and development work almost complete, the new Defender is almost here. While the official debut won’t take place until September, a photo posted to the landroverphotoalbum Instagram account has given us a very good idea of what to expect.
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The All-New Defender! Someone managed to sneakily photograph the display cluster of the New Defender. #AllNewDefender #landroverdefender #landroverphotoalbum #landroverevolved #Defender2020
A post shared by landroverphotoalbum (@landroverphotoalbum) on Jun 24, 2019 at 2:40am PDT
The photo reveals the gauge cluster of the new Defender, ostensibly that of the longer, four-door 110 model, as that’s what’s shown. (A shorter, two-door 90 model is [...]
With all the hubbub about Ram, Ford, and now Chevrolet offering light-duty diesel engines in their 1500 and 150 series trucks, it’s easy to forget it isn’t a new idea down at Chevy HQ. Up until 1999, you could get a turbodiesel V-8 in a Chevy 1500 truck that made, at its zenith, 215 hp and 440 lb-ft of torque. For the bowtie brand, then, the all-new 3.0-liter turbodiesel I-6 in the 2020 Chevrolet Silverado 1500 is old-hat.
It’s also an all-aluminum testament to engineering progress. That old cast-iron V-8 was a workhorse, but it couldn’t keep up with today’s tech. This new motor makes 277 hp and 460 lb-ft with two fewer cylinders and less than half the displacement. Thanks to modern turbocharger technology, 95 percent of that torque is in production at just 1,250 rpm, so the only time you’ll ever experience turbo lag is when you floor it at a stop. Nothing [...]
