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Bentley's first electric car, the Torcal, drops the round headlights
Bentley revealed the Torcal, its first electric car, on September 23. The fastback SUV shares the electric Porsche Cayenne's platform, makes up to 876 hp, and trades Bentley's round headlights for rectangular lamps and an illuminated diamond grille.
The Mazda RX-8 was one of the strangest sports cars ever sold
The Mazda RX-8 ran from 2003 to June 2012 with 192,094 built. Its Renesis twin-rotor made 189 to 238 hp and revved to 9,000 rpm, and rear-hinged freestyle doors gave it four real seats while still looking like a coupe. Emissions rules and falling sales ended it.
What is rake on a car? Nose up, nose down, and why trucks sit tilted
Rake is the tilt of a car from front to back. Hot rods run it nose-down, 1960s gassers ran it nose-up for traction, and pickups leave the factory with the rear sitting higher so they can carry a load.
The Batmobile from Batman Returns is headed to auction, and it could bring $7 million
The screen-used Batmobile from 1992's Batman Returns sells on November 23 through Julien's Auctions and Turner Classic Movies. Julien's estimates $5 million to $7 million, which would top the $4.2 million paid for the 1966 TV Batmobile.
What does USDM mean? The American-market car, explained
USDM stands for United States Domestic Market: cars and parts built to American rules. Those rules gave US cars side marker lights, 5 mph bumpers, and decades of round sealed-beam headlights, and they're why imports wait 25 years.
The Mid Night Club: Japan's most serious street racers, and why they quit
The Mid Night Club raced the Wangan from 1987 to 1999, required cars capable of 250 km/h, and made new members serve a year of apprenticeship. When a 1999 crash with a bosozoku gang killed two people and hospitalised eight, they disbanded on the spot.
What's the best color for the Mazda Miata?
For a new ND Miata, Soul Red Crystal is the pick. For an older NA, it's Mariner Blue, and Hagerty's auction data shows those cars sell for the biggest premium of any Miata color.
McLaren's new logo comes from the sign on Bruce McLaren's parents' gas station
McLaren's new wordmark is based on the sign above the 1926 Auckland service station Bruce McLaren's parents owned. It's the biggest change to the logo since the Speedmark arrived in 1997, and the Speedmark is staying.
Front, mid, or rear engine: what the layout does to how a car looks
Where the engine sits sets the hood length, the cabin position, and the balance, and you can read it from across a car park. Front engine gives the long hood people read as expensive, mid engine drops the nose and collects mass at the rear, and rear engine gives the 911 its unmistakable falling tail.
Apple's new CEO is an amateur racer with one of 77 Porsche 935s
John Ternus became Apple's CEO on September 1. He's also an amateur racer who reportedly laps Laguna Seca in under 1:40 in a Porsche 935, a 700-hp track car Porsche built just 77 of.
Why you see a face on the front of every car
Around 90 percent of people see a face in the front of a car, and 94 percent see one in production models. Headlights act as eyes and the grille as a mouth, and slanted lights over a downturned grille read as anger. Designers aim that deliberately, which is why so many cars look angry.
Porsche's next supercar may get a flat-eight, an engine it has only ever raced
Handelsblatt reports Porsche is planning a flagship supercar, known internally as the S1, with an eight-cylinder boxer engine and a price near €500,000. Porsche has only raced flat-eights, and an earlier 750-hp Cayman prototype was shelved.