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There is something counterintuitive, bordering on offensive, about cutting the fenders off a Ferrari and bolting on riveted overfenders. Yet that contradiction is exactly why Liberty Walk works. The Japanese tuner built its reputation on taking pristine supercars and applying the deliberately reckless aesthetic of kaido racer culture, the loud, exaggerated car styling that came out of Japan's 1980s street scene. When Liberty Walk's widebody Murciélago appeared at SEMA in 2009, it violated a sacr

Everyone knows that if you want a car’s paint job to look nice you need to sand every body panel until it is as straight as possible. But what does “straight” actually mean when you are talking about big, long, curved panels? What about big, long, straight panels? Does it mean the same thing? There might be a bit more to this than you think. Watch the video below for more, as Jeremy Bumpus explains what straight really means when it comes to finishing bodywork. Video Description: A panel can f

Cadillac has earned a reputation for being America’s benchmark luxury brand. Even as rivals like Lincoln and Lucid Motors push into the premium space, the marque continues to redefine what a high-end cabin experience means. Lately, that effort has moved beyond materials, screens, and tech into sound. At a recent experience at the National Association of Music Merchants (NAMM), music producers used the so-called “Car Test” inside modern Cadillacs to help decide when a track is truly finished. Not

Nissan has announced that its Murano SUV, built right here in the United States, will be sold in Japan early in 2027. Nissan is one of a growing group of Japanese automakers taking advantage of new certification rules for U.S.-built vehicles, making it possible to sell left-hand-drive vehicles in Japan (a right-hand-drive market) without any changes. A boost in Japan sales will help to balance the strain of U.S. tariffs, but some industry analysts question how popular U.S.-spec models like the M

PHEVs: The Best Compromise? It's easy to understand the appeal of a plug-in hybrid vehicle. You get a decent amount of battery-only range, and you don't get the typical range anxiety one might get from a pure-electric vehicle. If it's out of juice, it acts like a normal hybrid, so it's still relatively efficient — at least that's the promise these PHEVs deliver. On paper, it sounds like the best of both worlds. However, a recent study in Germany has revealed that some PHEVs consume up to three t

German Collaboration It's now very common for automotive brands to work together; we see the likes of Porsche and Audi signing agreements to share platforms, technology, and, probably, people, to develop next-generation models. This practice is considered a cost-effective way to build and develop new cars. Back in the day, it was more of an individuality-driven industry where it was more important to one-up the competition. However, the very rare occasions when brands worked together produced so

Marketing is Everything Any product's success is invariably linked to great marketing. With a global economy like ours and many brands offering variations of the same product, standing out matters. In automotive speak, while the cars and the brands seem different on paper, they all generally offer the same cars per segment. Rivian is a newer brand in the EV space, and while it has already carved out a niche, a new product launch looms, and the company is pulling out all the stops.

Europe's foremost vehicle safety organisation, Euro NCAP, functions much like America's NHTSA and IIHS, which independently crash tests new cars and rates them on a scale of one to five stars so buyers know what they're actually getting into. Euro NCAP technical director Richard Schram told Drive that some brands are deliberately targeting fewer than five stars to keep costs down. The clearest example he gave was Dacia, a budget-focused brand that clearly doesn't aim for five stars. Instead, it

EVs and Motion Sickness There is an odd phenomenon in EVs wherein passengers seem to suffer more from motion sickness compared to ICE-powered vehicles. Now, this isn't because of psychology, but rather, your body struggling to adapt to a quieter environment, among other things. Because our bodies are used to the usual sounds and sensations that fuel-fed cars offered for decades, transitioning to a full EV takes away some of that. Couple that with the more immediate response of these vehicles, ag

LED Light Bars Are Taking Over Over the last decade, we’ve seen LED taillight bars on new cars become pretty much the go-to design choice, in the process also becoming one of the most divisive changes in car design. Everyone from Kia to Porsche uses a horizontal strip of LEDs at the rear. Some designs, like on the new Tesla Model Y, take things even further, with a truly unconventional glowing light bar design. So unconventional, in fact, that a Model Y driver was pulled over in Indiana because

Emerging Safety Crisis in the Used Car Market The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) has issued a warning after faulty replacement airbag inflators have been confirmed to be behind multiple deaths in car crashes that were deemed ‘otherwise survivable’ by investigators. The inflators in question, not manufactured or approved for use by carmakers, appear to have been installed as replacement parts after an airbag deployment during a prior crash. The NHTSA says that these inflat

Tesla's Self-Sufficient System Tesla has always prided itself on being self-sufficient in all aspects of automotive manufacturing. Over the years, they've maintained a focus on offering only self-developed products and features, creating their own ecosystem. Times are changing, and most car owners are looking for features not available in Tesla's offerings, such as seamless phone connectivity via apps like Apple CarPlay. Integration of which has been challenging, but recent news indicates it has

Tesla is showing its robotaxi strategy as a complete operating model rather than a single futuristic car, with the key idea being that revenue scales with paid miles and high utilization, not with how many passengers fit in each vehicle. The argument is that most real trips are small, so Tesla can optimize its dedicated robotaxi hardware for the most common use case, then cover edge cases with other vehicles already in its lineup.

Surprise Safety Leaders With advances in automotive safety, no one brand can truly claim to build the absolute safest cars on the road. Case in point, Hyundai has raked in more IIHS Top Safety Pick+ awards than any other automaker this year, and we're not even including Kia and Genesis, which are also under the Hyundai Motor Group (HMG). Does it mean Hyundais are safer than Volvos these days? Not necessarily, but it goes to show that safety shouldn't be selective of brand, as proven by HMG's pro

(Almost) Everyone's Favorite Modern 3 Series Which BMW 3 Series is the best 3 Series? You'll probably hear the second-generation E30 or the fourth-generation E46 as the top answers. It's totally understandable, though, as those two are often regarded as peak models. The E46 3 Series is a proper classic now. It was introduced on November 11, 1997, and reached showrooms in most parts of the world in 1998. Stylistically, it looked like an evolution of the successful E36, but work on the E46 started

The CLA That Will Likely Be the Volume Seller Both EV and hybrid versions of the Mercedes-Benz CLA are now available in Europe, and the electric model is now sitting in showrooms stateside. But back in Europe, the compact sedan is available in a wider variety of trims and model lines, and even comes in incredibly basic forms if the buyer so chooses. That said, the U.S market usually gets the more loaded version of European models, and that’s the case for the hybrid CLA. With that, we can now con

Finnegan’s Sick Week adventures, like most of his adventures in Blasphemi, featured some unfortunate drama that would really be okay to leave behind. But in typical Finnegan fashion, he took it with a sigh and a smile, and with some help from friends and co-pilot Joe was able to make a fix. But man it wasn’t a cheap one! Swapping transmissions is rarely fun, and this one was no different. So what do you think? Is it time for an automatic in Blasphemi? Video Description: Episode 392 of Finnegan

Tech Nerds Would Know the Name Jony Ive isn’t a household name unless you follow tech closely, but his influence is everywhere. As the designer who put the iPhone on the map, he changed how we use technology by making touch the default way in. So when his name popped up in connection with Ferrari, it got people’s attention. Ive was tapped to help design the interior of Ferrari’s first all-electric model, the Luce. On paper, you’d expect that to mean a dashboard dominated by touchscreens, especia

Toyota, Hyundai, and several Chinese automakers could feel the effects of the escalating conflict involving the United States, Israel, and Iran sooner rather than later. Analysts from the investment firm Bernstein warn that the situation could affect everything from regional vehicle sales to global supply chains and fuel prices. On top of that, instability around key shipping routes and oil infrastructure could ripple through the global auto industry, potentially having similar economic repercus

The Compass That Can’t Find North Needless to say, the current U.S.-spec Jeep Compass is long overdue for an update. While the third-generation Compass debuted globally in 2025, production has so far been limited to Italy, leaving U.S. buyers without the redesigned model. Unfortunately, those waiting for the updated version may have to wait a little longer, as MoparInsiders reports another delay at the Belvidere Assembly Plant in Illinois. The report states that United Auto Workers Local 128 Pre

The Quintessential Classic Mercedes Ask anyone to paint a picture of a classic Mercedes-Benz, and chances are the image of a W123 might appear. Such is the impact of that model that it still makes an impression today. It was renowned for its reliability and durability, and it was a car that truly lived up to the mantra of 'Engineered like no other car in the world.' Launched in January 1976, this icon celebrates its 50th anniversary. In those 50 years, it's been offered as a traditional family s

At First, It Doesn’t Sound Like Big News When Mini announced the Countryman E with a claimed electric range of more than 500 kilometers (311 miles), the reaction was muted. In 2026, figures like that under the WLTP cycle do not sound revolutionary. Several EVs already way exceed that number, which makes the headline easy to dismiss at first glance. The assumption was that this must be a plug-in hybrid story. Achieving that kind of range on electricity alone in a PHEV would have been genuinely im

Golden Anniversary The year 1976 saw its fair share of significant car launches. There's the near-indestructible W123 Mercedes-Benz, the cool (but terribly-built) Rover SD1, and the Honda Accord. Over in Bavaria, that year saw the premiere of the E24 BMW 6 Series. The original 6 Series has the honor of being the longest-running model BMW has ever produced. The first cars rolled out in '76, and they were retired in 1989, a total of 13 years. For over a decade, the E24 has well and truly establish

Toyota may struggle to keep up with Detroit’s big 3 in the full-size pickup truck segment, but it’s another story in the midsize category, where the Tacoma dominates. This run of success has continued with the current Tacoma generation, which has just been named the winner of the Texas Auto Writers Association (TAWA) Truck of Texas. It’s the second consecutive year the Tacoma wins, and it also marks only the second time a midsize pickup has achieved the honor. That’s quite something since this i

The Mazda RX-8 has always had a cult following, but the rotary engine can scare off buyers who want something simpler to live with. That’s exactly why swaps like this exist. A V6-swapped RX-8 currently up for auction on Bring a Trailer shows what a thoughtful engine conversion can look like, one that stays true to the car’s original purpose rather than turning it into something completely different. Two days of the auction remain, with the top bid sitting at just $14,500. Why This RX-8 Swap Actu