The Auto World

Prodrive boss admits Subaru’s gold wheels were a factory mistake. Speedline accidentally shipped gold wheels instead of charcoal gray. A victory at Monte Carlo forced Subaru to keep the accidental color combo. Some color combinations belong to one car and one car only. Subaru’s blue paint with gold wheels is one of them, a livery burned into the memory of a generation through the brand’s rally exploits. What few people realize is that it stuck around not purely through clever marketing, but partly because of a factory mix-up. Prodrive chairman David Richards played a pivotal role in transforming Subaru into a motorsports legend. The partnership between the British engineering firm and the Japanese automaker ran for 20 WRC seasons and delivered 46 wins, three straight manufacturers’ titles in 1995, 1996, and 1997, and three drivers’ crowns in 1995, 2001, and 2003. More: A Subaru So Rare Someone Mistook It For ...

EV trade-in rates rose from 67.1% to 72.1% between January and April. Used EV wholesale values jumped 11% this year and beat ICE prices for weeks. Analysts urge caution, citing high rates and more expensive gasoline. Data from Edmunds suggests the shift from gas to electric is gaining momentum at the dealership level. In January of this year, 67.1% of new EV purchasers at dealerships traded in a gas car. In April of this year, that figure had jumped to 72.1%. And it’s not just a first-time fad. Repeat EV purchase data also show an increase. Numbers for January 2026 show that 26.2% of buyers traded in an old EV for a brand-new one. That figure leaped to 35.4% in April. Worth noting: this uptick comes despite the removal of the federal $7,500 EV tax credit and several state-level incentives. So, is this a definitive trend, then? Read: America’s Used EV Market Is Heating Up For One Simple Reason Speaking to CNBC , Ivan Drury, Seni...

The Corvette renderings pull straight from the C2 and C3 era. A designer working for Jaguar made it during his free time. Chevy has every reason to admire this and few to ever build it. Many European carmakers have spent the past few years raiding their own back catalogues, and the results keep arriving. The Lamborghini Countach LPI 800-4 and the genuinely fabulous Renault 5 E-Tech, which we reviewed recently , are two ends of that spectrum. So the question almost asks itself: should Chevrolet do the same with the Corvette? With the Corvette having moved to a mid-engined layout for the C8, it’s highly unlikely Chevrolet would revert to a front-engined design and launch a new model as an homage to the C2 and C3 generations. Nevertheless, that hasn’t stopped Jaguar Exterior Design Manager Jason Battersby from imagining what such a creation could look like. This is a personal project done in his free time, with no connection to his wo...

Lexus says engineers debated shock absorbers until the very end of ES development. The fight centered on balancing comfort with road feel and driver connection. New body structure and rear multi-link suspension underpin the sedan’s ride improvements. It’s easy to think that during development of a new car that engineers and designers would argue most over styling, powertrains, or whether buyers want one option or another. While speaking with Lexus ES chief engineer Kohei Chiashi during the new ES first-drive launch event , we learned the fiercest internal debate centered on something far less glamorous: shock absorbers. Not batteries. Not horsepower. Not giant touchscreens. Dampers. When we asked Chiashi what tuning decision created the most debate during development of the all-new ES, his answer was immediate. “We discussed shock absorbers until the very end,” he told us. “We have to offer good road feel, but bal...