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Car posters—you probably had one on the wall over your bed before you could drive. And at the heart of each photo lies great photography: a Porsche 911 frozen midair, a Lamborghini Countach basking in golden light, or two Ferrari Testarossas in perfect reflection. Car photography, when done right can inspire an entire generation of enthusiasts.

Just like cars, the photography world has rapidly shifted from analog to digital, and it seems like these machines are doing all the work for us. Even so, here are five reasons why car photography matters.

There’s Room for Everyone (Even Non-Professionals)

Whether you post to Instagram for fun or direct car campaigns for a living, there is space for everyone. You don’t have to be a professional to shoot cars, and there are plenty of categories to consider, from editorial and commercial to motorsports and even spy photography. Get creative! Shoot the cars you want to be surrounded by.

Use the Tools You’ve Got

Anyone can photograph cars. A new iPhone is closer in quality to a basic DSLR than a DSLR from 2008 is. Sensor technology, pixel count, and megapixel size now means you can get high-quality shot from the palm of your hands.  Just point it at a car.

It Keeps the Passion (for Cars) Alive

Where there are cars, there are cameras. Go to any supercar event or a Cars and Coffee meet and you’ll find a crowd of eager photographers trying to get just the right angle for a photo. A genuine passion for cars will drive a generation of enthusiasts to preserve them. As long as there are cameras pointed at cars, the interest will follow.

Brings Cars Into Focus

Each car is different, distinguished by the contours of its sheetmetal, or sometimes simply by the color of interior stitching. When photographing your subject, you pause to digest every detail and element, a rarity in this age of instant gratification. You start to appreciate the car as a whole, working your way down to its personality. Eventually these photos might find their way into Instagram, but during the moment, you’re observant and aware what is directly in front of you.

It Will Make You Happy

Whether a car-spotter captures the exact moment an Aventador spat flames, or a Porsche enthusiast encounters a 959 peeking out from under a car cover, photography can be fulfilling. Whether intentional or unexpected, there is a simple satisfaction of creating an image.

The post 5 Reasons Why Car Photography Matters appeared first on Motortrend.

The color made it impossible for me to ignore. Almost unnaturally bright and saturated, the paint adorning the Volkswagen Golf R delivered to the MotorTrend Group offices wouldn’t let go of my gaze. That vivid hue—“Sarantos Turquoise,” as it’s officially known—provided an invigorating splash in an automotive world that’s dominated by bland, subdued shades.

Sarantos Turquoise is available through the Volkswagen Spektrum program, which applies its brush on the 2019 Golf R in the U.S. Spektrum comprises of a whopping 40 optional paints across saturated and subtle colors, as well as various metallic shades. Most drivers would balk at their $2,500 cost, but Volkswagen thinks that for enthusiasts who seek expression through cars, it’s a worthwhile expenditure.

The 2019 Volkswagen Golf R in Sarantos Turquoise

It certainly makes sense to me. We’ve determined the Golf R is fun, but I knew the turquoise paint—or any other exciting Spektrum tone—would make it even more so. Spektrum Golf Rs have no performance modifications, but undoubtedly add a sense of excitement and occasion to every drive. I could visualize looking out over the hood like staring at a Caribbean sea, sitting in my own turbocharged tropical island.

Except with paint like this, it’s not only for the driver. Everyone on the road receives a dash of pigment they might otherwise not. Whether with bouquets of flowers or festive clothes, many already seek to add color to their lives, and to the lives of those around us. For something with as much range-covering potential as a car, colorful paint has the ability to etch memories in a lot of minds.

Volkswagen isn’t the only automaker to play with unorthodox paint options. Porsche offers Lava Orange or Miami Blue on the new 911, and its Paint to Sample program makes color possibilities nearly endless. Dodge’s Sublime green or Plum Crazy purple transform Chargers and Challengers from rental-car lookalikes to head turners, even if there isn’t a Hemi under the hood. Some BMW paints, like Phoenix Yellow or Laguna Seca Blue, border on offensive but add to the legends of the M cars that wore them.

The trouble is that for as many people who like looking at these colors, far fewer actually buy them. An enthusiast car is an indulgence, but for most of us it’s also something we live with every day. As we weigh our options sensibility takes over, and often end up heading home with drab silver or black. It’s still quick, we say. It looks badass, we assure ourselves. But does it look as fun as it drives?

Performance cars are built to thrill the driver; a solitary pursuit. Crackling exhaust echoing off the street involves others, but may upset more than it pleases. Yet color works as well in motion as it does sitting still, and captures the attention of everyone who sees it, just like the Golf R in our lot. If it’s your time to express enthusiasm with a car, opt for exciting paint—it’ll make every drive more fun.

The post Look on the Bright Side: Why Colorful Cars are More Fun to Drive appeared first on Motortrend.

Lyft passengers will be able to dial 911 directly from the ride-sharing company's smartphone application. The company said Tuesday the in-app emergency service contact is one of several ways it aims to boost rider safety. Using the 911 feature within the Lyft app provides a police dispatcher crucial information such as exact location and the...

We test cars … trucks, SUVs, hatchbacks, vans, and even a few three-wheelers. This is what sets MotorTrend apart from bloggers, Vloggers, and influencers. We do the things others cannot do and have been testing vehicles for nearly 70 years.

As we approach our 70th anniversary, we decided to take a snapshot of how many vehicles we’ve tested over the past 10 model years. In that period, we’ve tested 2,454 vehicles including 391 coupes, 812 sedans, 635 SUVs, and 163 trucks. Interestingly, average curb weight from 2009 to 2019 has increased from 3,909 pounds to 4,060 yet average fuel economy (from 2012 after the EPA revised its testing methods) has increased from 22/29 city/highway mpg to 25/31 mpg.

Coupes

In the past decade, the number of coupes we tested peaked at a high of 48 tested in 2010 to just 11 halfway through 2019. In 2010, it seems like every other print-magazine cover featured some combination of Camaros, Mustangs, and Corvettes.

Coupes Tested by Year Sedans

Meanwhile, sedan tests peaked in 2012 with 105—and the first appearance of the Tesla Model S. We’ve only tested 42 four-doors so far this year.

Sedans Tested by Year SUVs

As expected, the number of SUVs we have tested has been on a steady climb. Last year was huge with nearly 90 going to our test track. It’s no wonder then, that more SUVs than cars compete in their respective “…of the Year” contests these days.

SUVs tested by year Trucks

Finally, the number of trucks tested has bounced around over the past decade. It’s interesting to note there was a spike in gasoline prices that started in 2011 and carried on until it eased up in 2015.

Trucks Tested by Year

In the coming months, we’ll bring you more interesting looks at our testing over the years. You never know what the data will reveal about what we drive and what drives us.

Read MotorTrend First Test reviews here.

The post MotorTrend Testing: How Much Times Have Changed in 10 Years appeared first on Motortrend.

Mazda has long had a reputation for building vehicles that are fun to drive. From the Miata to the CX-5, Mazdas have historically offered higher levels of engagement compared to their rivals. Since its introduction in the early 2000s, the Mazda3 has been a compelling choice for driving enthusiasts; a compact sedan or hatchback that offered sporty handling and communicative steering in a class not known for driving excitement.

Carrying the torch as the successor to the Protégé (which replaced the 323), the Mazda3 offered a compelling blend of affordability, fun, well-built interior and versatility. When it first arrived for the 2004 model year, we praised it for its confidence-inspiring driving dynamics. “This isn’t distressed merchandise you must settle for; it’s a right-size rocket you’ll want to drive,” we said back in 2004. There was even a 263-hp Mazdaspeed3 variant complete with a six-speed manual to lure in enthusiasts looking for the hottest of hot hatches.

Now in its fourth generation, the Mazda3 remains one of the most engaging compact cars you can buy and is now available with all-wheel drive. However, it’s no longer alone; Hyundai and Kia have sporty versions of the Elantra and Forte, the Honda Civic has gotten its mojo back, and the Toyota Corolla’s handling has improved in a bid to shed its merely-an-appliance image. The fourth-generation Mazda3 recently went on sale, and it points the model in a new direction that’s consistent with Mazda’s premium ambitions. Take a look at how the Mazda3 has evolved through the years in the photo galleries below.

2004-2008 Mazda3

2009-2013 Mazda3

2014-2018 Mazda3

2019 Mazda3

The post Mazda3 Through the Years: The Evolution of an Enthusiast Favorite appeared first on Motortrend.

Enthusiasts are divided on whether the 2020 Toyota Supra’s BMW bones are a sacrilege or a nonissue. Regardless, the pairing means that what one brand says about their own car might expose interesting details about the future of the other.

A recent press release covering updates to BMW’s European models announced the entry-level Z4 sDrive 20i will come standard with a six-speed manual gearbox. Right now, the Euro-spec base Z4 is the only variant to offer a stick, but who knows? With enough demand a manual could make its way to inline-six equipped cars, too.

We won’t waste words further explaining the Supra’s similarities to the Z4. Earlier this year we learned the 2.0-liter turbo-four shared between the entry-level Supra and Z4 overseas earned emissions certification in the United States. At the time, Toyota told us that BMW sought certification to explore a “variety of uses” but the Japanese automaker wasn’t planning on offering a four-cylinder in the Supra here—at least not initially. Given the evidence we have for an I-4 Supra potentially coming to the U.S., and the fact that the four-cylinder Z4 is getting the aforementioned six-speed manual in Europe, we had to wonder if a row-your-own-option might be in the A90’s future.

We asked Toyota if BMW’s announcement meant anything for the Supra, and a spokesperson had this to say:

“We may have heard a time or two (or more) that there’s a desire for a manual transmission in the Supra. However, we’re confident in the performance of the current setup… We feel it’s the optimal combination for the U.S. market at this time and we’re anxious for customers to drive the new Supra and experience it for themselves. We’ll be sure to check back into the conversation at that time and see what people have to say.”

Seems like Toyota’s thinking about it at least as much as we are.

Toyota isn’t wrong about the Supra’s current engine-transmission combo. When we drove it we loved the lightning-quick shifts and faultless programming from its eight-speed automatic. Still, for a car so focused on driver involvement, it seems like a mistake not to offer it with a stick. We think the hint from BMW makes that possibility more likely than ever. Not to mention, we’d be happy to see a third pedal in the North American Z4’s footwell, too.

The post New Hints From BMW, Toyota Suggest the Supra Could Get a Manual appeared first on Motortrend.

BMW has a long history of debuting concept cars at Villa d’Este, and an even longer tradition of collaborating with Italian coachbuilders. Those ties go back as early as the 1930s, when the Bavarian carmaker commissioned Carrozzeria Touring to build the BMW 328 Mille Miglia.

In a slight detour from tradition, the Munich brand’s one-off debut at this year’s Villa d’Este Concorso d’Eleganza isn’t a futuristic reinterpretation, but rather a recreation of a long-lost sedan concept that was unveiled at the 1970 Geneva Motor Show. The idea for the angular (and inscrutably named) original Garmisch concept came from design boss man Nuccio Bertone himself, who assigned the task of penning the midsize coupe to none other than Marcello Gandini, the man who essentially invented wedge design through such stunners as the Lancia Stratos Zero concept, the Alfa Romeo 33 Carabo prototype, and the Lamborghini Miura and Countach.

Using a BMW 2002tii as a starting point, Gandini and his team spent four months re-sculpting shapes and shifting proportions to create the coupe, which was named after a once-glamorous Italian ski town that also happens to be geographically close to Munich. The concept was pure Gandini, with his signature touches embedded throughout, from the Dino 308 GT4’s linear tail to the Lamborghini Marzal–inspired honeycomb mesh over the rear windows. Those elements carry over to the re-creation, as do the square, glass-covered headlamps framed a positively futuristic depiction of BMW’s familiar kidney grilles, and the avant-garde touches inside, including a clean horizontal dashboard panel bisected by a vertical radio and ventilation controls. Folding out of a tray is a gargantuan letterboxed vanity mirror for the passenger. Take that, multimedia screens.

Because the original concept car has never been recovered, BMW design head Adrian van Hooydonk approached Gandini in summer of 2018 for permission to piece together the puzzle of the Garmisch. Using historical photos, drawings, and 80-year-old Gandini’s recollection of how the pieces fit together, BMW Group Design and BMW Classic created a 3D rendering, then a full-scale model. The final product was produced in Turin, where the original was also built.

We’ll take it as a positive sign that BMW is taking a moment to reexamine its design past and embrace a potentially polarizing concept car. It may not have been the most outlandish or influential design, but the Garmisch represented an important link between the hugely successful 2002 series and the E12 5-series that would see its exterior co-penned by Gandini under design director Paul Bracq. Taking a moment to recognize past successes is, after all, key to building a compelling future.

The post BMW Just Reincarnated a Long-Lost, 50-Year-Old Concept Car appeared first on Motortrend.

Almacantar has put its Southbank Place office buildings on the market for around £875m.

In honor of Memorial Day, we’re bringing back this 2015 story on the greatest American cars of all time. Did your favorite make the list?

America may not have invented the automobile. That honor goes to German engineer Karl Benz and his Patent Motorwagen of 1886. But America quickly made the automobile its own. By 1904 the United States led the world in automobile sales and production, and by 1913 80 percent of all the cars made in the world were made right here. American automakers — there were 253 of them active in 1908 alone — were pioneering new technologies and new vehicles at an astonishing rate.

So as we celebrate the Fourth of July, why not celebrate the 10 greatest American cars of all time? You can define greatness is many ways, but these are all automobiles that were hugely influential in terms of their technology, design, engineering, and their impact on society and popular culture. These are machines that changed our world.

There are other cars that are perhaps equally deserving of inclusion on this list. So let the arguments begin. If you think we’ve missed an all-time great, let us know.

Ford Model T

 

Henry Ford’s Model T was produced for 19 years, from 1908 to 1927, and almost 15 million were made, with prices falling from $825 to $260 by 1925 as Ford refined the mass-production process. But the Model T was more than just a car. It put America on wheels and so changed the way Americans worked, the way they lived, and the way they played. Shopping malls, motels, planned suburbs with affordable housing, well-paid manufacturing jobs, and an emerging middle class eager to enjoy the perks of prosperity — this was modern, 20th-century America, and the Model T helped create it all.

Ford Model 18

Launched in 1932, the Ford Model 18 was the first mass-market car in the world with a V-8 engine, and created a paradigm for American cars that continues to this day. In the 1930s Ford V-8s were prized for their performance — gangster John Dillinger wrote to thank Henry Ford for building “as fast and sturdy a car as you did” — and after World War II they formed the backbone of the nascent hot rod movement, being cheap, plentiful, and easy to modify for extra performance. With ’32 Fords still regarded as the most desirable of all hot rods, this is a car that’s remained a pop-culture icon for more than 80 years.

Duesenberg Model SJ

Also launched in 1932, the Duesenberg Model SJ was the antithesis of the cheap and cheerful Fords and Chevys most Americans drove through the depths of the Depression. The Duesenberg SJ was, simply, a hand-built, money-no-object supercar, the 1930s equivalent of a Bugatti Veyron. With their twin-cam, four valves per cylinder, supercharged straight-eight engines, Duesenberg SJs were said to be capable of 104 mph in second gear and 140 mph in top; in 1934 a lightweight roadster averaged 135 mph for 24 hours on the Bonneville Salt Flats. Just 36 SJs were built between 1932 and 1935. Gary Cooper and Clark Gable owned the only two short-wheelbase SSJ Duesenbergs ever built.

Jeep MB

“The Jeep, the Dakota airplane, and the landing craft were the three tools that won the war,” claimed Dwight D. Eisenhower, Allied Supreme Commander during World War II. More than 700,000 Jeeps had been built by the war’s end, giving Allied troops overwhelming superiority of movement on the ground. Post-war, the tough, nimble, go-anywhere Jeep enjoyed a second, more peaceful career as a recreational vehicle, establishing the nexus between capability, style, and functionality that still underpins 21st-century car buyers’ love affair with crossover vehicles. The Jeep is the car that saved democracy. And it was the seminal SUV.

Oldsmobile “Rocket” 88

 

Rock ’n’ roll began with a song about a car: Elvis Presley was still driving a gravel truck when 19-year-old Ike Turner walked into a tiny studio owned by Sam Phillips in Memphis in 1951 and recorded “Rocket 88,” a paean to the fastest American sedan you could buy at the time, the Oldsmobile 88 powered by the 135-hp Rocket V-8 engine. Launched in 1949, the Rocket-powered 88 was America’s first muscle car, proving almost unbeatable in stock car racing through 1951. The record “Rocket 88” was an unexpected hit, and the royalties enabled Phillips to start Sun Records, the label that gave musicians such as B.B. King, Jerry Lee Lewis, Johnny Cash, and, of course, Elvis their starts.

Chevrolet Corvette

 

Making its debut in 1953, the Corvette is 10 years older than Porsche’s 911, and every bit as iconic. Like the Rolling Stones, the Corvette has had a patchy track record — the asthmatic 165-hp C3 of the mid-’70s is the equivalent of disco-era Mick and Keef phoning it in. But when it’s been good, the Corvette has been breathtaking. The beautiful Bill Mitchell-designed C2 Sting Rays, particularly the fuel-injected 327s with four-speed manual transmissions, were arguably better cars than contemporary E-type Jaguars, while today’s 650-hp Z06 is a true high-performance sports car with leading-edge technology and performance equaling that of rivals costing two or three times the price.

Ford Mustang

 

The Ford Mustang not only created a new automotive genre — the ponycar — but was also one of the first cars designed for a specific demographic. When Ford’s Lee Iacocca realized the first wave of baby boomers were coming of driving age, and that they would want to drive something very different from the big, soft land yachts their parents loved, product planner Hal Sperlich proposed wrapping mundane Falcon mechanicals in sporty sheetmetal. The Mustang proved an overnight sensation, with more than 1 million sold in the first 18 months of production. But performance that truly matched the style wasn’t really unlocked until the Shelby GT350 appeared in 1965, establishing the formula that has kept the Mustang alive for more than 50 years

Ford GT

 

Henry Ford II thought he had a deal. Nine months of negotiation were over, and on July 4, 1963, he was planning to be in Maranello, Italy, signing a $10 million deal with Enzo Ferrari that would give Ford Motor Company a half share in the storied Italian sports car maker. A Ferrari-Ford sports car was already being planned, with an Italian V-12 engine in an American chassis. But the deal never happened — Enzo Ferrari pulled out at the last minute. An enraged Henry then authorized the development of the Ford GT40, with the express goal of humiliating Enzo’s blood-red racers in the Le Mans 24 Hour race. Which it did, convincingly, in 1966.

Chrysler Minivan

Others had toyed with the concept, notably VW’s Microbus of the ’60s and Lancia’s 1978 Megagamma, but it was Lee Iacocca and Hal Sperlich — the same team who’d made the Mustang happen at Ford 20 years earlier — who at Chrysler in 1983 revealed the perfect combination of size, seating, and drivability that came to define a new segment-busting family vehicle, the minivan. Within a decade almost every mainstream automaker offered a minivan in the U.S., making traditional station wagons obsolete. The segment has declined in recent years, but the basic formula established by Chrysler remains the definitive one: front drive, sliding side doors, and a highly flexible seating package for seven or eight passengers.

Tesla Model S

 

The mere fact the Tesla Model S exists at all is a testament to innovation and entrepreneurship, the very qualities that made the American automobile industry the largest, richest, and most powerful in the world. We’ve not yet become a nation of bankers or burger-flippers. America can still make things. Great things. But what marks the Tesla Model S as one of the all-time great American cars is that it has single-handedly changed the tenor of the conversation about electric vehicles. The Model S made electric cars cool for auto enthusiasts. How? It’s good-looking and quick. In fact, with 0-60 mph taking just 3.2 seconds, it is the quickest American sedan ever built. And in an exclusive story, we attempted to drive an updated Model S from San Francisco to Los Angeles on one charge. Read about it here.

The post Top 10 Greatest American Cars of All Time appeared first on Motortrend.

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The British Property Federation has called for Theresa May’s successor as Prime Minister to “act urgently” to unite the Conservative Party and avoid a no deal Brexit, following the resignation of Theresa May.

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We drove the 2020 Toyota Supra for the first time recently, and our experience confirmed the new model is a worthy successor to the storied original. Some of the highlights: It benefits from extremely precise steering, and it features a compliant ride and a quick shifting eight-speed automatic transmission. But does it look like an iconic sports car should? Let’s compare the Supra to some of its prime competitors below.

Up front, the Supra features a distinct nose with a gaping, low-mounted grille. The headlights feature stylish individual LED lighting elements. From this angle, you can easily make out the double-bubble roof. Like the Supra, the Porsche 718 Cayman/Boxster features three separate openings in the lower valance, although they’re much more subdued, as is the overall design. Looking at the headlights and shape of the hood, you can say the design is unmistakably Porsche, but you probably couldn’t say the Supra’s design is unmistakably Toyota. The Corvette boasts a wide front end with a sharply sculpted hood, lending it an assertive look that, despite its age, still holds up against more modern competitors. The Supra’s mechanical twin, the BMW Z4, features a more conventional look with rounded headlights and a narrow kidney grille.

The side profile is probably the Supra’s best angle. Here, you really get a sense of its long hood, windswept haunches, and seductively sloping roofline. We also like the blacked-out A-pillars, which give the appearance of a wraparound windshield. Porsche’s entry looks even more low-slung, taking on a rounded shape with large vents forward of the rear wheels. The Corvette features the most dramatically raked windshield, and features a sharp beltline kick-up that results in a very tapered rear quarter window. The Z4 again bears little resemblance to its platform-mate from the side, going with a more upright front end and straighter character lines.

Just like the front, the rear of the Supra is a bit controversial. Some would say the rear lip looks awkward, jutting up sharply in the air. The narrow taillights suit the small proportions of the rear end, and the trapezoidal bumper shape is another nice touch. The Cayman has its own appeal at this angle, showing off its sharply sloped roofline. The Corvette features a boxy rear end with bulky taillights, but these elements fit with the model’s personality. The Z4’s rear profile offers little drama: slim taillights and a simple bumper design.

Peek inside the Supra’s interior, and you’ll find a lot of BMW influence. Take a look at that shifter, for instance, and the iDrive infotainment system. That said, the Supra’s interior looks different enough from BMW’s interior, particularly when it comes to the placement of the screen and the design of the center console box near the driver. The Cayman goes old-school with circular air vents set off by a low-mounted square infotainment screen. The Corvette also has a square screen, and decidedly nonpremium buttons and knobs.

Which sports car looks the best? Let us know in the comments on Facebook.

Check out more Toyota Supra content here:

• The Quickest Toyota Supras We’ve Ever Tested
• 2020 Toyota Supra: 9 Tuner-Ready Features Baked into the MKV
• Toyota Supra or Souped-Up Toyota 86: Which Sports Car Should You Pick?

The post Refreshing or Revolting: Toyota Supra Vs. its Sports Car Competition appeared first on Motortrend.

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