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Tesla is losing a major revenue stream. Ferrari is taking the V12 to new heights. Citroën made a cute little EV van.
It was a busy week here at the Gear Patrol motoring desk. We reviewed the new F-150 hybrid, Genesis's all-new GV80 SUV and Harley-Davidson's new adventure motorcycle. We also looked at Ford's new rugged SUV, car brands planning to go electric very soon and the awesome Ferrari restomod you should start saving up for.
But, as always, there wasn't enough time to get to every news item we wanted to talk about. Here's a roundup of scintillating news items from the automotive world to mull over while you're waiting for Elon Musk to deliver his tight five (and possibly inflate the value of some cryptocurrency) on the Saturday Night Live stage.
We knew Ferrari was coming out with a wild new limited edition of the 812 Superfast with a 6.5-liter V12, more than 800 horsepower and a crazy 9,500 rpm redline. The official reveal gave us a few more details.
There's the name: the new car will be the 812 Competizione. There's a surprise targa top version: the Competizione A. The hardtop will accelerate from 0-60 mph in 2.85 seconds and hit 211 mph. It also sounds real nice lapping Ferrari's Pista Di Fiorano track.
Ferrari did not mention pricing or build numbers, but we'd expect all the 812 Competizione cars are already spoken for.
Fiat Chrysler Automobiles was perhaps the planet's most polluting automaker. The company's green strategy essentially amounted to pooling its fleet with Tesla for a substantial fee — $2.2 billion from 2019-21 — to avoid paying billions in fines.
That deal has been a substantial revenue stream for Tesla — enough to make the difference between having a profitable quarter and not. And there's nothing wrong with that. The problem is, it's going away. Now that FCA has merged with PSA to form Stellantis, it no longer needs to buy the credits.
Tesla can still ink deals with other manufacturers, of course. But losing that revenue stream will put enhanced pressure on the brand's car manufacturing and cryptocurrency speculation divisions.
Citroën does not sell its cars in the U.S. — and even if it did, the use case for the Ami, a tiny electric city car you can charge on a standard socket with a range of about 43 miles, would be minimal. But like many Citroën efforts, it's cool, cute and kind of weird. Call it the tiniest morsel of forbidden automotive fruit.
Well, Citroën announced an even more practical version: the My Ami Cargo. Basically, it's an Ami with the passenger area cut out and replaced by 14 cubic feet of cargo space. So, now it's an even more alluring de facto tiny van. We eagerly await the inevitable fetal position camper conversion.
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Former F1 champion Jenson Button and others are reviving Radford, a legendary British coachbuilder best known for building custom Minis for the Beatles and others. The brand just announced its first new vehicle project, a collaboration with Lotus on a modernized tribute to the 1969 Lotus Type 62.
Radford will, fittingly, build 62 of the vehicles. You can apply to buy one on the website. Pricing isn't mentioned, though that will probably be a trifling consideration for folks in the market for a coach-built Lotus tribute.
NASCAR unveiled its new seventh generation "Next Gen" Cup cars. They will be built on a common platform and not bear much resemblance to the road cars — Toyota isn't dropping a Camry with a 670-horsepower 5.8-liter V8 anytime soon. However, NASCAR will let manufacturers make them look more like road cars, so you'll get cars that look more like stock Mustangs, Camaros and Camry TRDs.
The new cars will also be joining the 2020s with an independent rear suspension, rack and pinion steering and carbon fiber reinforced plastic body panels. Car and Driver has the full details.
Brembo is the name brand for performance brakes, whether it's for a Miata or a MotoGP bike. The company has just unveiled its vision for the braking future with its G Sessanta concept. These motorcycle brake calipers use LED lighting that can be customized, adapt lighting to the surroundings and communicate with the driver (can't find your vehicle on a dark night?)
The lighting should enhance one of the core appeals of having Brembo brakes: a colorful caliper to inform others that your vehicle has Brembo brakes.
Buying a Bugatti is perhaps the ultimate automotive expression for the "high-performance connoisseur." But Bugatti ownership is not just about what you're seen in driving to work or to a swanky affair at the Monaco Yacht Club. It's really a lifestyle decision.
And now you can live that Bugatti life at home or at sea with a more than $300,000 carbon fiber Bugatti pool table. Yes, that's a pool table that costs more than a fully-loaded Porsche 911 Turbo S.
The table can be fitted with optional "highly advanced gyroscopic self-leveling technology" for use on your megayacht.
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