First-ever M3 wagon, David Brown’s DB5, Warrior strikes a familiar Cord

Behold the first-ever M3 wagon

Intake: BMW has unveiled the M3 Touring, and whoa nelly, is it delightful. The M3 Touring is a longroof riff on the M3 Competition package, which means you’ll get the full 510 hp and 479 lb-ft of torque from the 3.0-liter twin-turbo straight-six, but it also means you’ll have to make do with the eight-speed automatic—no manual option to be found. Inside, you’ll get the new curved screen from the refreshed, 2022 model year 3 Series, as well as a smattering of the usual performance and luxury touches commensurate with a BMW. Orders open will open September of this year, with production beginning in November and deliveries to follow shortly after. The worst part? This gorgeous longroof won’t be coming stateside. 2047 can’t come soon enough.

Exhaust: A longroof M3 is something that BMW fans have been wanting and wishing for for as long as anybody can remember. Now, they have finally have it. Any sporty wagon produced in recent years has almost immediately become very popular among enthusiasts (but not so much with the general public), so it’s reasonable to expect these M3 Tourings to keep trading at high prices for the foreseeable future. 

David Brown’s DB5 could be yours

Intake: A 1964 Aston Martin DB5 Convertible originally ordered by erstwhile company owner Sir David Brown is for sale in the U.K. D.B. ordered his DB5 in the highest possible specification, of course. The Caribbean Pearl drop top featured a ZF five-speed gearbox, Power Lock rear axle, and chrome wire wheels. The interior was tastefully trimmed in dark blue, and was optioned with a Motorola radio. The Aston Martin Lagonda chairman kept the car for three years before selling it on to garage owner and DB4 GT driver John Wilkinson. Under Wilkinson’s ownership the car was meticulously serviced, although it did need to have a new engine block in 1969, which was probably not quite what Wilkinson had expected when buying the boss’s car. A full restoration was completed in 2014, which covered another engine rebuild, suspension, brake, gearbox and axle overhaul, plus a bare-metal repaint, and new Conolly hide for the interior. The car is offered for sale at Nicholas Mee, just north of London, for £1,150,000 or $1.4 million.

Exhaust: The Hagerty valuation guide shows DB5 prices soaring by over 18 percent in the past year, and #1 (Concours) condition dropheads like this are now worth $2.9 million. With the boss man’s provenance, this car is sure to be snapped up fast.

Cord soldiered on into the 1960s, and this one could be yours

Intake: The iconic Cord 810/812 survived E.L. Cord’s tumultuous startup business by first being reincarnated into Graham-Paige’s decadent Hollywood sedan, and then it became a “warrior” for the Sports Automobile Manufacturing Company (SAMCO). What we have here, as found on Craigslist, is the latter. The SAMCO Cords were introduced in 1968, and this 1969 model reportedly packs the upgraded Chrysler 440 big-block V-8. This is the shorter-wheelbase Warrior model, and appears to need a fresh paint job, a matching set of wire wheel covers, a good cleaning of the interior.

Exhaust: While the Cord became one of the most impressive vehicles of the late 1930s, the SAMCO Warrior was more of a nostalgic throwback catering to traditionalists living in the go-go 1960s. The body lacks the delicate contouring of the original, has a firewall that’s a bit too wide, and sports more modern door handles and exposed headlights that only make us long for the original. That said, we wouldn’t mind taking this Florida-based SAMCO Cord out for a spin, just to see how an icon was reinvented some thirty odd years later.

This electric Defender helped power the Glastonbury festival

Intake: A fleet of electric-converted Land Rover Defenders has been hard at work on Worthy Farm, home of the Glastonbury Festival, for the last 18 months. Now the company behind the technology, Electrogenic, is to offer an “easy to install” kit designed for rugged agricultural use to farmers everywhere. Electrogenic claims that any suitably qualified mechanic can fit the kit and that it will be maintenance-free. With a 52-kWh battery pack replacing the engine under the hood and a 121-hp electric motor bolted to the Defender’s clutch bell housing, there should be more than 100 miles of range on a charge. The Defender’s off-road ability is unaffected, and all gears, including low-ratio are retained, and the e-motor packs almost as much torque as a Land Rover diesel engine, but requires no servicing. Electrogenic says that the batteries will last 200,000 miles and that savings of more than $7000 per year on fuel will recoup the $35,000 cost in as little as four years. “It gives Land Rover Defenders—long a trusty workhorse for farms—an affordable new lease of life, reducing running costs while enhancing performance and driveability,” says Electrogenic co-founder Steve Drummond.

Exhaust: We’ve tried Electrogenic’s Mini and Porsche 356 conversions and have been impressed by the engineering that gives classic cars a potentially greener future. This move to electrifying agriculture looks smart, especially if it can save farmers some cash in the long run.