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2017 Fiat 124 SPIDER – Road Test Review + HD Drive Video

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It is 124 Spider week here on CRD! Carl Malek got the joy of hooning the Abarth 124 around Monticello, New York while we were flinging the 124 Lusso around Charleston, SC. Both cars are absolute heroes.  Is any 124 Spider one of those rare cars that you’d love to drive 1000 miles at the drop of a hat? Yes, yes it is. His Abarth slid in with pricing in the mid-30s, while our midspec model with automatic transmission kissed 32k out the door with a few options. For these prices, there is nothing else on the road that will bring …

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2017 Nissan ARMADA – Road Test Review

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When Nissan announced the details of the 2017 Armada, we were confused but optimistic.  Optimistic because this is indeed a huge upgrade versus the outgoing model, but confused because it appeared virtually identical to the Infiniti QX80. Nissan has sold their version of the QX80 globally for a few years now under the Patrol badge.  But it is only very-slightly cheaper than the QX80 proper in most markets.  That is how close these two platform-mates are.  The last QX80 we tested, mind you, cost close to $100k with its Limited package.  And it is still supremely competitive with the latest Navigator, …

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Road Test Review – 2016 BMW 340i xDrive – By Tim Esterdahl

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Review: 2016 BMW 340i xDrive – Exhilarating Driving Performance For years, BMW has boasted that it builds the “Ultimate Driving Machines” and while critics and competitors have increasing sought to counter that claim, a recent weeklong drive in a 2016 BMW 340i only confirmed that claim. If driving, real fun, spirited driving is at the top of your buying list, the 340i has to be a top choice. Delivered to me in a Melbourne Red Metallic, the iconic looking 340i certainly had all the distinctive character and desirable appearance attributes reminiscent of BMW models over the years. While I’ve watched …

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Fast & Amorous! Michelle Rodriguez Roars Past 200MPH in F-Type

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An endless road?  Check. Helicopter with steady-cams, and team of thirty to run shadow drones and other AV?  Check. 200-mph Jaguar SVR flagship?  Check. Beautiful tomboy actor Michelle Rodriguez at the wheel, delivering real-time whoops and joyous hollers?  Check. Annnnddd… Action!   Watching Michelle’s face light up as she feels how spectacular the F-Type is?  She clearly loves the car.   Capturing that is movie magic, people! The funny thing about this big-budget shoot is that the SVR and F-Type R are sooo, sooo fast…. anyone really could do this in real life.  With the right closed-road conditions… 201-mph in the F-Type R …

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2016 Dodge Charger SRT392 – Road Test Mega Gallery

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Extension of the glowing review just published:  all these stunning photos (and crazy-fun launch videos!) all by themselves. The photos below are still a gallery lightbox on click, but using a single column layout to give you a close look without any clicking.  Cheers. Thanks Dodge.  May I please have some more? =] Drive Video 1       Drive Video 2 2016 Dodge Charger SRT392 – Road Test Mega Gallery http://www.dodge.com/en/  

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HD Road Test Review – 2016 Dodge Charger SRT392 – Balls Deep in the 4.2s ThunderCat!

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World Class FAST! The 2016 Dodge Charger SRT392 is a life-changing machine. Normal drives become the highlight of your day.  The remote start is a thunderous event in itself!  Waking the 6.4-liter, 485-horsepower HEMI V8 happens with pure raging fury. Hence, our loving ThunderCat nickname! The 2016 Charger is an instant Best-of Award winner.  A week in this car is enough to make anyone feel like a man’s man.  Women included.  It puts hair on your chest and a baritone in your throat. Full review here with standard headings of Exterior, Interior, Performance, Pricing and Summary.  Two HD drive videos …

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Mecum 2016 Favorite – 2012 Factory Five GTM Road Special Is Mid-Engine Vette!

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If you ever wondered why Chevy flirts with a mid-engine Corvette so regularly… here is proof positive. The concept works. The concept works. The sum of stock Corvette parts flipped to mid-engine is a race-winning car right out of the box. Fast barely begins to capture the experience. This 2013 GTM Special is the car we most wanted to rip away from the Mecum auction lineup for 2016! 2012 Factory Five GTM Road Special   Mecum Auctions Lot F276// Kissimmee 2016 // Jan 15-24 2012 Factory Five GTM LS3/480 HP, 5-Speed   Engine LS3/480 HP Trans 5-Speed Color Red Interior …

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HD Track Drive Review – 2016 Dodge VIPER GT – LOVE at Full Throttle

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2016 Dodge Viper – HD Track Drive Video It is pretty fashionable to hate on the Viper right now. Its latest generation took a big leap in price, dropped its ragtop bodystyle option, and lacks the sheer, effortless sprint times so adored in the Nissan GT-R, Porsche 911 Turbo, and even the Hellcat twins. We have heaped a bit of scorn on the Viper as well, and after an oh-so-brief drive last year came away confused. This hulking beast of a car felt heavy, uncomfortable and hopelessly one-dimensional versus the STELLAR Corvette Z06 and even Z51 base engines. Even that …

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Car of the Year Review – 2015 Lexus RC-F

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The RC-F was a true highlight among all the cars tested in 2015. And in the weeks since the Lexus sports flagship spent time in my garage, the deep longing and feelings for the car have not subsided. The first week was deep mourning at its absense, and the other seven stages of grief have passed over the CRD team like the eye of a hurricane. Finally, a bit of a light at the end of this tunnel: we must crown the RC-F the Car of the Year. In doing so, we honor its incredible strengths and the legacy it …

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TVR Inks New Sportscar Deal with Gordon Murray and Cosworth – 2018 Launch Possible!

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If there are two better names than Gordon Murray and Cosworth to attach to the TVR rebirth, we cannot imagine them. All are icons of English performance — and together promise great things. A new sportscar announcement today includes no new sketches or even outlines of the upcoming new TVR, but it does signal work behind the scenes. The car will be designed and produced using iStream from GMD and engine mechanicals via Cosworth. iStream is intended to be a highly robotized assembly system using the latest in 3D printing and materials to give low-weight and high-strength components. The iStream …

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Fast Drive Video Review – 2016 Acura ILX Is Shockingly Fun and Fast With New 8-Sp DCT

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2016 Acura ILX Review HD Drive Video We’d wager that no auto writer has been harder on Acura over the years than Car-Revs-Daily.com. A headline for some TLX renders last year wondered aloud: “How Much More Wood Can Acura Woodchuck Chuck.” That is seriously harsh. But as the TLX was revealed with the same much-hated shield grille… we could not help but vent some frustration. Fast forward to driving the TLX and its new ILX kid brother. We have to correct the record. Acura is on a mission, folks. Its two latest cars introduce exceptional new drivetrain tech and the …

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Mecum Indy 2015 – 1993 Toyota Supra Official Fast Furious Movie Car Seeking $150k+

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Movie cars sometimes have a hard life after the filming stops. They have sometimes been abused to the point of no return – with only one or two of the original six-pack of action stars making it to the premiere on four wheels. This 1993 Toyota Supra is the exception. Thanks to fairly gentle use in The Fast and The Furious, this Paul Walker whip survives today in perfect condition. One of one, this Supra is a perfect slice-of-life from the early 2000’s SoCal car scene. The time is right for a big-money sale in 2015, 14 years after the …

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Fast Wagon Classics – 1952 Mercedes-Benz 170VA Panel Wagon and 1954 170SV Ambulance

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Finishing out this quick/quirky series of classic wagons with a pair of Mercedes-Benz commercial cars. One a panel van 1952 170VA Station Wagon and the other a LWB 170S-V Ambulance. The 5-door brought in around $75,000 at the RM Auctions London 2013 sale, where the panel van around $60,000.   1952 Mercedes-Benz 170VA Panel Wagon         8-9 September 2013 Lot 126 1952 Mercedes-Benz 170 Va Station Wagon To be auctioned on Sunday, September 8, 2013 Without Reserve Sold for £40,320 Chassis no. 136.074.01413/52 Engine no. 136.923.01602/52   1954 Mercedes-Benz 170SV Ambulance 1954 Mercedes-Benz 170 S-V Ambulance RM …

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Fast Wagon Classics – 1933 Mercedes-Benz 290 Pullman Limousine

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If the previous Pullman was a bit too Bond-villain for you in its black on black, here is another really cool example: a SWB 290 Pullman from six years before. This tasty blue example only sold for a third of the price of its LWB cousin: just $50k for this makes it well-bought. 1933 Mercedes-Benz 290 Pullman Limousine London 8-9 September 2013 Lot 173 1933 Mercedes-Benz 290 Pullman Limousine To be auctioned on Sunday, September 8, 2013 Without Reserve Sold for £28,000

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Fast Wagon Classics – 1939 Mercedes-Benz 320 Pullman Limousine

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Mercedes-Benz has made many fantastic wagons in its long history, but they hit a sweet spot in the 1930s in terms of perfecting the wagon as a long-distance limo. This black/black LWB Pullman has a huge lounge back seat and even a cloth sunroof to let in the breeze! This car ran a straight six through a four-speed manual transmission, so despite just 77-horsepower the Pullman was happy to cruise up to 85-mph or so — very quick for the time. 1939 Mercedes-Benz 320 Pullman Limousine RM Auctions London 8-9 September 2013 Lot 150 1939 Mercedes-Benz 320 Pullman Limousine To …

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2015 Audi Prologue Avant Concept Shows 4-Door, Fast-Wagon Style Ahead of Geneva Show

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We have seen two iterations of the Prologue concept so far from Audi: both coupes with the scale and presence to compete between the BMW 6 series and the Mercedes-Benz S-Class Coupes. With a design that harks back to the low and lean appearance of the Audi 5000 from the late 1980s, the Prologue design does feel much better as a deeply-sloping wagon silhouette. More naturally Audi, but still a bit blah for our tastes. It engenders little to no visual passion or excitement, despite being a clean and pure design. This latest Prologue Avant dramatically decorates the exterior details …

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2015 Bultaco Brinco is New Hybrid EV DirtBike – Priced From $8k But Going Fast!

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  The 2015 Bultaco Brinco a cool idea, design and execution from the reborn Spanish bike-maker Bultaco. It is a pedal and EV-powered all-terrain bike with the chunky rubber to take on mountain trails, but the cool and sleek shape to make city commutes a cool adventure too. The major problem with battery-powered motorcycles until now has been their crazy pricing. Sure, they are fast and full of potential, but generally cost $40,000-plus. That is two loaded BMW sportbikes. They usually weighed as much as two other gasoline-powered motorcycles, too. This new Bultaco Brinco solves for three problems: lightweight design, …

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HD Road Test Review – 2015 Toyota Camry XSE Is FAST and QUIET!

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  Fast and Quiet? Yep. A variation on Fast ‘n’ Loud is what most sedan shoppers actually prefer in their daily drivers, and the Camry XSE nails these benchmarks better than any other mid-size sedan. INTRO Can you imagine how tough the Camry is on competing cars like the Accord and Fusion? As far as we see it, the Camry gets better and better every year — without one slot in the armor of this best-seller to sneak an arrow through? The only area where the previous Camry let its competition get some ideas was with the overall exterior design, …

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Update1 – Road Test Review – 2015 Ford Fiesta ST Is Freaky Fast, Freaky Good

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 Updated 10.18.14 With New Videos Performance Specials. They are the cream of the crop. They are the CTS-V’s of the world, the M5s and the Lancer Evo’s. They are freaky specials that are the product of pure driving joy, allowed to slip into showrooms every now and then. For car guys, they are the holy grail. Rare. Special. Excellent. From the moment you sit in the Ford Fiesta ST, you know that it is going to be a hugely fun drive. The seats are packed with support bolsters and the engine start button kicks the Fiesta into life with a …

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Road Test Review – 2015 Ford Fiesta ST Is JJ Fantastic: Freaky Fast, Freaky Good! Even Better than BR-Z and FR-S

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Performance Specials. They are the cream of the crop. They are the CTS-V’s of the world, the M5s and the Lancer Evo’s. They are freaky specials that are the product of pure driving joy, allowed to slip into showrooms every now and then. For car guys, they are the holy grail. Rare. Special. Excellent. From the moment you sit in the Ford Fiesta ST, you know that it is going to be a hugely fun drive. The seats are packed with support bolsters and the engine start button kicks the Fiesta into life with a snort from up front and …

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Updated With 188 New Images – Road Test Review – 2013 BMW 535i M Sport – Animated Visual Buyers Guide

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Updated 7.29.14 with 188 new images Update info: BMW GLOBAL The BMW 5 series is incredibly trim-sensitive. It can obviously look amazing in full M5 track apparel, but looks very lonesome and humdrum in the low-range 528i and even 535i without the M Sport package. As a strong indication that this four-year-old model range is on the way out next year — there are hardly any new BMW press photos of the car since 2011. So we turned to the BMW.com global site configurators to try and make an amazing-looking 535i or, even better, a 550i. Even *more* recent update! …

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TVR Sportscars Brand Chronology 1956-2006 Plus a Roadmap to Global Sales for 2014 and Beyond

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TVR is one of the greatest success stories in British sports cars. Not by sales or commercial volume, mind you, but the global popularity of TVR is evidence of: — universal appeal of low-volume sportscars with character — broad appeal of English-language auto journalism with a highly qualitative edge — global appetite for automotive and supercar-themed entertainment content — the power of visceral appeal to an exotic car that is nothing like anything sold locally or by big OEM makes As an American who has lusted after TVR’s since first glimpsing the Tuscan in the pages of BBC’s TopGear magazine …

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Road Test Review – 2014 Honda Accord Coupe V6 is Family Sports Coupe of the Year

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As you can see from this first video – taken moments after I first sat down in the Accord Coupe – the car is really fun and fast. That is the key take-away if you read nothing else below! INTRO I thoroughly enjoyed the 2014 Honda Accord V6 Coupe that spent a few weeks here this summer. Two previous articles followed the Accord Coupe’s adventures here in the Carolinas, with… — a mega photo shoot from historic Charleston — as well as the Great Smokey Mountains National Park and Blue Ridge Parkway up toward Tennessee. And this really hones in …

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2014 Bentley Continental GT V8 S – Road Test Review of AMG and BMW’s New Daddy

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Does anyone else recall the Fox TV network’s endless promo’s many years ago for that crappy show called Wife Swap? “Meet your new mommy!” the announcer crowed over video of the horrified children — shocked that their parents would sign up for this reality-show charade? That is my face now as I say to myself, “Wow, meet the new luxury supercar ‘Daddy.’” The Bentley Continental GT has faced many harsh critiques over the years it has dominated its market segment – criticized even while selling so many that it defined what a modern, successful Bentley Cars Ltd should be in …

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2014 Hyundai Genesis Coupe 3.8L V6 – Road Test Review of FAST and FUN RWD Sportscar

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Does something or someone become more beautiful the more you love it? I think we all know that the answer is: Yes. Such were my feelings after driving the 2014 Hyundai Genesis Coupe 3.8. Coming home, I find some of the most stunning photos and time-consuming angles of any car in recent memory – and the car is looking stellar. Sporty, lightweight, expensive and fast – but most of all, bright red. Was I so smitten that I kept snapping away long after I had the basics for a road test review? It would clearly seem that way. After all, …

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HD Road Test Review – 2013 BMW 535i M Sport

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2013 BMW 535i M Sport Review Carmax? Oh yes. A new depth of drudgery in our quest to bring amazing car news to the world! This pre-owned BMW 535i M Sport called my name today across five lanes of traffic. I zoomed in on the beefy Alpine White/Gloss Black M Sport presence and knew: you must be mine!  

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Helicat22 At Miami Boat Show — Twin-Engine Catamaran is Cool and FAST — Even In Very Rough Seas

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Most of the boats and yachts in the world employ a single-hull design, with the classic shape offering merits via the huge enclosed living space they can provide. But every bit of hull displacement becomes extra problematic over rough waters. These videos show: a wakeboarding trial with the red Helicat22 a rough-water scenario at speed. Watching some of the bone-jarring impacts suffered by James May and the TopGear team over the years is proof enough — and reason enough — to slow down to a crawl in any rough seas. But how un-fun is going slowly in a fast car?  …

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