synd-vehicle-history
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Adapt, improvise, and overcome. That's exactly how Jason Watt has decided to perceive things these days. The ex-racer was involved in a motorcycle accident in 1999 that left him paralyzed from the chest down. Today, Watt is still able to drive, and he owns a very special Ford GT. Watt's GT is equipped with hand controls that allow him to operate the supercar without his feet. The photo above shows the hand controls mounted to the right of the steering wheel, but Watt also provided a few other photos of the special setup. Not only does the GT have hand controls, but a special roof rack affixed...
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Indiana State Trooper enforces state's Slowpoke law, goes viral
One Indiana State Trooper has gone viral after enforcing the state's "Slowpoke" law, or "move-over" law. The internet has spoken, and many like State Trooper Stephen Wheeles' logic. Wheeles tweeted a photo on Saturday of a vehicle after initiating a traffic stop on Interstate 65. According to the...
Sean Szymkowski -
Why is Toyota developing a new hypercar?
On Friday Toyota announced it would build a hypercar and that development has already begun. On Sunday, the Japanese automaker finally won the 24 Hours of Le Mans. Don't for a second think these two developments aren't related. When Toyota showed the Gazoo Racing Super Sport concept at the Tokyo...
Joel Feder -
Apple poaches ex-Waymo senior engineer for self-driving car technology
Apple's Project Titan self-driving car program has stumbled over the past few years, but it may have just received a major boost. The Information reported on Friday that Apple has hired on ex-Waymo senior engineer Jaime Waydo. Waydo, according to the report, was instrumental at Google's Waymo...
Sean Szymkowski -
Tesla now building cars in a tent, first AWD performance Model 3 built
After announcing a 9-percent reduction in its full-time workforce last week, Tesla CEO Elon Musk took to Twitter on Saturday to announce that the company is now producing vehicles on a new general assembly line housed in a tent. In addition, the first Model 3 all-wheel-drive performance model has...
Sean Szymkowski -
Audi CEO arrested in Germany over dieselgate
Audi CEO Rupert Stadler was arrested in Germany on Monday in relation to the dieselgate scandal, according to multiple reports. The German authorities took Stadler into custody over concerns that he would suppress evidence. Munich prosecutors said Stadler's arrest was not made at the request of the...
Kirk Bell -
The Polestar 1 is an achingly beautiful coupe that will be the first stand-alone vehicle for the newly formed performance brand. On Monday Polestar released select details about the car's carbon-fiber structure, the first news about the structure since the car officially broke cover in October 2017. Carbon fiber is light-weight reinforced polymer that is stronger, stiffer, lighter, more expensive, and far more complicated to use in vehicle construction than steel. Polestar said the use of carbon fiber over steel in the coupe's construction will save more than 500 pounds. Marking the first...
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Volvo invests in Silicon Valley lidar company for autonomous driving technology
Volvo and the Silicon Valley-based Luminar have announced a new partnership that gives the Swedish brand access to the company's lidar sensing platform for continued self-driving car development. Neither company commented on just how much Volvo Cars Tech Fund invested in the company, but it's the...
Sean Szymkowski -
Ford Eagle Squadron Mustang GT honors US pilots who defended Britain
This year will mark the 20th time that Ford has supported the the Experimental Aircraft Association event called The Gathering. The EAA holds a number of events throughout the year, but it's The Gathering in Oshkosh, Wisconsin, that serves as the organization's largest fundraising opportunity. Ford...
Jeff Glucker -
2019 BMW 8-series coupe: return of the bodacious 'Bahnstormer
After 20 years, the BMW 8-Series is officially making its return. BMW showed the 2019 M850i xDrive luxury coupe on the sidelines of the 24 Hours of LeMans Friday where its sibling, the BMW M8 GTE race car, will compete in the FIA World Endurance Championship. The 8-Series moniker denotes that the...
Kirk Bell -
Vantage V600 badge returns on bespoke V-12 model
Update: Photos of the actual car have been posted to Instagram by Chris Harris. Scroll to the bottom of this post to see the Vantage V600 in the metal. The Aston Martin Vantage V600 is back, only this time it's packing a V-12 under the hood and limited to just 14 examples—seven coupes and...
Viknesh Vijayenthiran -
The Boring Company tunnels given green light for line to Chicago's O'Hare airport
The Boring Company has plans to invade Chicago's O'Hare airport. The Chicago Infrastructure Trust (CIT) announced on Thursday that it has chosen The Boring Company to design, build, finance, operate, and maintain a high-speed rail line called the Chicago Express Loop from downtown to the O'Hare...
Sean Szymkowski -
Dramatic music begins to play. The voice-over rolls in like thunder through verdant hills. A ballerina leaps through a dark space; she is power and poise personified. We've set the stage and now it's time to take a visual journey through a handful of Porsche models by way of a series of jolting, quick cuts. Is this going to be one of those cliche-laden brand videos? Yes it is, and at the end you'll know how to pronounce the name of Porsche's newest model: the Taycan. The video above is basically the plastic bag scene from "American Beauty." Heck, the music is almost the same. Now to be fair...
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Drones may one day fix potholes
Nothing ruins a spectacular piece of roadway more than cracks, bumps, and enormous potholes. These road imperfections can be more than just annoyances. They can also cost drivers and cities money in repairs for blown tires and ruined wheels. One day, drones could make the process of fixing roads...
Sean Szymkowski -
Truly keyless entry: Turo Go unlocks registered cars with a smartphone
Car-sharing service Turo is prepared to take a major step forward in the service's usability. The company announced on Tuesday that it will roll out Turo Go, which will let users unlock cars through their smartphones. Turo Go makes the entire car-sharing process easier by eliminating the need for...
Sean Szymkowski -
This Detroit-based company just rebooted the Hummer H1
Singer reimagines the Porsche 964, and makes buckets of cash doing so. Icon does a similar job on Toyota Land Cruisers, Ford Broncos, and other vintage vehicles. Now a company called Mil-Spec Automotive (MSA) plans to bring its own resto-mod vision to life, and it's doing so using an unlikely hero...
Jeff Glucker -
Toyota invests $1B in Southeast Asian ride-hailing giant Grab
Toyota announced Wednesday it will invest $1 billion in ride-hailing giant Grab, valuing the six-year-old company headquartered in Singapore at approximately $10 billion. It represents the largest investment by an automaker in ride-hailing and is the fourth for Toyota in the sector. The automaker...
Viknesh Vijayenthiran -
2018 Ford F-150 Raptor sees price hikes
Ford was definitely onto a good thing when it launched the original F-150 SVT Raptor almost a decade ago. The desert-racing pickup truck is now into its second generation and it's priced quite a bit higher than the original. Per Cars Direct, Ford's latest order guides for the 2018 F-150 range...
Viknesh Vijayenthiran -
GMC has added a splash of darkness and a dose of performance to the Yukon full-size SUV. The brand on Monday revealed the 2019 Yukon Graphite Edition and Graphite Performance Edition. The better of the two is undoubtedly the Yukon Graphite Performance Edition, which gains all of the exterior design elements plus a 6.2-liter V-8 engine. It's the same engine that graces the Tahoe Rally Sport Truck and Suburban Rally Sport Truck (RST) from Chevrolet. However, the Chevys gain extra performance equipment, such as a new exhaust and bigger brakes; the Yukon Graphite Performance Edition only receives...
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2019 Volvo S60 first with Polestar Engineered performance upgrade
The redesigned 2019 Volvo S60 due to be revealed on June 20 will be the first of the Swedish automaker's cars to receive the new Polestar Engineered treatment. Recall, Polestar is now a standalone brand so will no longer be building dedicated performance offerings for Volvo like the current S60 and...
Viknesh Vijayenthiran -
Daimler recalls 774,000 diesel vehicles in Europe because of illegal emissions control devices
Daimler, the parent company of Mercedes-Benz, has been ordered to recall some 774,000 vehicles in Europe after German transportation officials allegedly found up to five illegal emissions control devices on a handful of cars. According to Bloomberg, the German newspaper Bild am Sonntag reported...
Sean Szymkowski -
Tesla cutting costs by eliminating 9 percent of workforce
On Tuesday CEO Elon Musk announced the automaker is reducing its workforce by 9 percent in an effort to cut costs and become profitable. While Musk didn't mention how many employees specifically will be let go, Tesla's annual filing from December 2017 showed it had 37,543 full-time employees. Rough...
Joel Feder -
Meet the NXT 360, the next-generation Humvee
The Hummer brand may have bit the dust last decade, but Humvee is still kicking. And the next-generation Humvee, the NXT 360, wants to kick some butt on the battlefield. AM General debuted the new Humvee on Monday in Paris, France, at a defense and security exhibition and detailed the changes that...
Sean Szymkowski -
New 2020 Ford Explorer hybrid SUV teased first as a cop car
Prepare to start memorizing another set of headlights as the police are getting another vehicle option next year. Ford announced Tuesday that its next-generation Police Interceptor Utility—Ford-speak for "cop car"—will come standard with a hybrid powertrain. With the new police...
Joel Feder