Help find the world’s most famous car, ’22 Navigator goes green, an E-Boxster?
Solve a real-life Bond (car) mystery, and there’s $100K on the table
Intake: The 1997 disappearance of an Aston Martin DB5 that featured in Goldfinger is the subject of a new podcast series: The Great James Bond Car Robbery, hosted by Elizabeth Hurley. The show follows Christopher A. Marinello of Art Recovery International, who has been chasing the car’s whereabouts since it vanished without trace from an aircraft hanger at Boca Raton airport. Chassis DP/2161/1 was owned by Anthony Pugliese III, who was investigated at the time of the disappearance but never charged. In the podcast Marinello and Hurley sift through the evidence and examine new leads in the hunt for the DB5. The Bond car is now reckoned to be worth $25M and a $100,000 reward is on offer for information leading to its recovery. The show, from the SPYSCAPE Network, is available now on Apple and all major podcast channels.
Exhaust: “I’m a huge fan of James Bond, so I’m excited to share this fascinating heist story,” says Hurley. “I hope this podcast will intrigue 007 fans everywhere and help shine a light on the mystery and see the Goldfinger Aston Martin DB5 returned after all this time.” Us too, Liz.
Next-gen Subaru WRX keeps six-speed stick
https://twitter.com/subaru_usa/status/1427623798778601484
Intake: Subaru just released yet another teaser for the next-generation WRX, and one shot in particular caught our eye. Right at the beginning of the 15-second montage of dusty antics, we see a hand shifting a manual gearbox. The WRX was supposed to be unveiled at the New York Auto Show on August 19, but after the show’s late cancellation due to a spike in COVID-19 cases within the Big Apple, that debut (and that of the Subaru Forester) were put on hold. A replacement date has yet to be announced.
Exhaust: The enthusiast community around the WRX and STI models is one of the brightest and busiest among any new car today, so we’re thrilled to see a row-your-own option remaining part of the next-gen Subie’s formula. We’re looking forward to seeing the WRX unveiled in full sometime before the snow flies this year, perhaps even as soon as next week. The success of the Nissan Z reveal surely has Subaru gearing up to give its everyman enthusiast car the same treatment in short order.
Lincoln’s refreshed 2022 Navigator brings gorgeous green paint, more massaging seats, and symphonic alert chimes
Intake: Wearing a svelte refresh, Lincoln’s 2022 Navigator is ready to battle the updated Cadillac Escalade, GMC Yukon Denali, and the newcomer, the Grand Wagoneer. The biggest news is ActiveGlide, an adapted version of Ford’s BlueCruise hands-free highway cruising tech available on more than 130,000 miles of pre-mapped divided highways. The Navigator also gets Sync 4 and a new, larger 13.2-inch central touch screen. There’s a class-first second-row massage seat available, as well as a new 28-speaker Revel Ultima stereo system replete with alert charms prerecorded by the Detroit Symphony Orchestra to alert you to open doors, unclosed fuel caps, and more. Lincoln is also introducing two new Black Label themes: Central Park brings a delicious green leather interior and an exterior called Manhattan Green Metallic. Invitation swaddles you in black venetian leather and includes laser-etched Khaya wood decorative inserts. A new larger grille is flanked by new pixel projector headlamps, and there are new 3D LED tail lamps at the rear. This new Navigator will be built at the Kentucky Truck plant, and should arrive in dealerships early in 2022.
Exhaust: Lincoln’s leaning into the “American” part of American Luxury, and, even without the drop-dead gorgeous Manhattan Green Metallic paint, that’s a smart decision: The Navigator is responsible for a third of the customers won over to Lincoln from competing brands. Considering Black Label Navigators represent 20 percent of all Navigators sold, expanding this model’s six-figure trims is also wise.
Could the first e-Boxster be coming?
At @iaamobility, #Porsche is looking to the future, celebrating the world premiere of a future-oriented concept study on 6 September – live on https://t.co/e3Er20H448. #Porsche #IAA21 #PorscheIAA2021 pic.twitter.com/7gDaGQjG7d
— Porsche Newsroom (@PorscheNewsroom) August 16, 2021
Intake: Porsche is gearing up to reveal a new concept car which might be a lead-in to the brand’s rumored first electric two-seater. The teaser image shows just a Taycan-like headlight accompanied by the words “concept study” and “future-oriented,” which suggest it will be a little more “out there” than any future production car. All will be revealed at the IAA show in Munich on September 6.
Exhaust: If this isn’t a two-seater sportster, then what could it be? We know an electrified Macan is coming but some leaked images showed a very different headlight design, so that’s not likely. However, Autocar reports that Porsche is also developing a smaller sports sedan to rival the BMW i4 based on the Audi A4 e-tron platform, so that could be an option.
Ford Performance’s Racing School goes full Bondurant with a race-prepped Explorer
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Intake: Ford will show owners of ST grade Edge and Explorer SUVs an even better time when they enroll in the Ford ST SUV Experience. Starting with the already impressive Explorer ST, the new “4-passenger track vehicle” sports upgrades like four Recaro seats, GT500 front brake rotors, ECU recalibration from HP Tuners and the expected safety stuff like a full roll cage.
Exhaust: It’s 1984 all over again, but not in an Orwellian way. While Bob Bondurant, a Ford ally at the time, choose to make four-door race cars out of Fox Body Ford LTDs for his driving school, he didn’t have the already impressive performance of an ST-fettled Ford as a foundation. This new Explorer sounds like a blast, maybe next year its street legal counterpart will hit the showrooms a la the Ford LTD LX?
