The world of automobiles is rarely boring. Here are the craziest moments from the past year.
“After five years of operation, DriveTribe will shut down its website at the close of this month. According to a blog post from the company, tightening marketing budgets related to the ongoing chip shortage have made it impossible for the ad-supported site to stick around.
DriveTribe, founded in 2016, aimed to be the go-to hub for online auto enthusiast content and digital socializing. It was founded and supported by Top Gear legends Jeremy Clarkson, Richard Hammond, and James May along with their longtime producer Andy Wilman. CEO and entrepreneur Ernesto Schmitt handled the operations side, while the big names brought attention and enthusiasts to the site. There, users could join “Tribes” hosted by members of the Top Gear/Grand Tour trio or start their own centered around a particular model, theme, or sect of car culture.”
“Among Chevrolet’s vast lineup of LS-badged small-block V-8 engines, one stands out as the most special: the LS7. Displacing an incredible seven liters (427 cubic inches), the 505-hp motor made a name for itself in the stunning C6-generation Corvette Z06 before appearing in the incredible Camaro Z/28. Though both of those cars have long since ended production, the LS7 and its cheaper, wet-sump variant, the LS427/570, have since been offered as crate engines direct from Chevrolet. Until now, that is.
On Friday, a keen-eyed Reddit user spotted that both the LS7 and the LS427/570 have recently been marked as discontinued on Chevrolet’s performance website. A Chevrolet spokesperson confirmed the news to Road & Track via email, telling us the automaker plans to fulfill all current orders until its inventory of the engines has been depleted.”
“The GT Silver Metallic-painted Carrera GT you see here has been driven just 250 miles since new, and just sold for an astounding $2,000,000 through a no-reserve Bring a Trailer auction. That makes it the most expensive car to sell through the website, and the most expensive car to ever be sold via online auction.
The Carrera GT in question definitely deserves the attention. Seemingly untouched from new, every inch of the car looks absolutely flawless, from the carbon body panels to that epic 5.7-liter V-10 engine. Its sale price, despite its relatively pedestrian silver-on-terracotta spec, is a testament to its legitimately perfect condition.”
“Sports Business Journal’s Adam Stern reports that over 50,000 attended the race. Between blocked-off lower sections and mostly-empty upper corners, my estimate would be closer to 40,000 in a venue that seats 77,500 for football games. Either way, it was a strong and promising crowd, but not a sellout. NASCAR’s major investment in the race itself probably did not return a significant profit. But the series proved it can go into a stadium, build a track, and host a worthwhile race inside. That can be repeated in cities across the world, potentially even sold as a package to corporate and public partners. It is a meaningful new product in NASCAR’s arsenal that seems infinitely repeatable, its first since the boom of permanent intermediate tracks in the 1990s.
The race in Los Angeles probably did not make NASCAR a success in its most coveted market overnight, but it offered real hope that NASCAR has something new that fans will want to see. NASCAR has something here, something worth repeating.”
“The Felicity Ace, the cargo ship that caught fire while carrying thousands of brand new Volkswagen, Porsche, and Lamborghini vehicles, sunk Tuesday morning, according to a press statement.
The ship, which was carrying around 4000 cars, sank after it “suffered a list to starboard,” a press release from its operators said Tuesday. The Felicity Ace became submerged around 253 miles away from the Portuguese archipelago of Azores around 9 a.m. local time on Tuesday. A spokesperson for the Felicity Ace told Road & Track the information comes from a local ship salvage team. Bloomberg reports that the ship and its salvage crews were fighting harsh seas before it sunk.”
“The new Ford Bronco is an exceptionally capable off-roader from the factory. Rock climbing is a particular strength of the car, which can leave most major obstacles in its dust even as a four-door. Capability stops mattering pretty quickly when an engine dies, though. As Bronco owner and TikTok user TXBroncBuster found out the hard way, no amount of off-road prowess is going to save a car halfway up a steep obstacle then.
As his video shows, he was halfway up a steep rock incline at full throttle when his engine apparently died suddenly. Brakes could only do so much to stop the truck from rolling backward, leaving it to slowly roll down the rock before falling on its driver’s side at the bottom. Then, in a cruel bit of comedy, the car alarm starts.”
“Whenever Subaru releases a new WRX, we expect its higher-performing sibling, the much-loved WRX STI, to follow closely behind. And with the introduction of the 2022 WRX last year, we assumed we’d also get an STI by the end of 2022. Well, that won’t be the case according to Subaru.
The company released a statement today confirming there will be no STI version of the latest-generation WRX. From the release:
As the automotive marketplace continues to move towards electrification, Subaru is focused on how our future sports and performance cars should evolve to meet the needs of the changing marketplace and the regulations and requirements for greenhouse gasses (GHG), zero emissions vehicles (ZEV), and Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFÉ).
As part of that effort, Subaru Corporation is exploring opportunities for the next generation Subaru WRX STI, including electrification. In the meantime, a next generation internal combustion engine WRX STI will not be produced based upon the new WRX platform.”
“After a week and a half of consideration, Nikita Mazepin and his family sponsor Uralkali has been dropped by Haas F1. The decision comes in response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, which Haas responded to in a previous test by removing Uralkali’s Russian flag-themed branding from their car. As the invasion continues into its second week, the team has decided that any relationship with Uralkali would be untenable.
Mazepin steps away from Haas F1 after just one season, a year in which he and the team failed to score a point in F1. He was ultimately scored 21st in the 20-driver series after losing a tiebreaker on best finish to Robert Kubica, who filled in at Alfa Romeo for just two races.”
“The rented 2018 Model S was jumped at 12:10 a.m. Sunday at the intersection of Baxter Street and Alvarado Street in Echo Park, police said. After its launch, the Tesla hit two parked cars and some trash cans. The stunt was performed in front of a crowd that gathered following a Tesla meet that occurred earlier in the evening, according to YouTuber Alex Choi who posted a video recapping the jump. The YouTuber claimed no one was injured in the stunt.
A video published by the Los Angeles Police Department Central Traffic division on Sunday also shows several angles of the jump and subsequent impact taken by other bystanders who were at the scene at the time of the incident.”
“There are some videos on the internet that leave you speechless. This one, filmed in central Texas Monday, is one of those videos. It shows what looks to be a red first-generation Chevy Silverado pickup truck being tossed around by a tornado and dragged across the ground, with at least one person inside. But that’s not the crazy part. After the tornado moves on and the truck is thrown back upright… the truck simply drives away like nothing happened.
This happened on a four-lane highway in Elgin, Texas, according to Brian Emfinger, a storm chaser who published the video to Twitter and YouTube on Tuesday. The Chevy is caught in the tornado and subjected to the full force of its winds, causing the vehicle to roll onto its driver side. It does a 360-degree spin while sitting perpendicular to the road before being pushed back upright by the tornado’s gusts. Despite what must’ve been the scariest moment of their life occurring, the driver has no trouble continuing down the road.”
“The Aston Martin Valkyrie is an expensive car. At roughly $3 million, a single example of the mid-engine V-12-powered supercar is worth as much as 100 brand-new MX-5 Miatas. So it’s a bit scary to see one lose control at high speed and kiss the wall at Silverstone.
This video, published by AMG factory driver Adam Christodoulou to Instagram on Thursday, shows a Valkyrie coming out of turn 8, also known as Woodcote, and losing control. The driver overcorrects a couple of times before slapping the rear portion of the car into the right-side wall and regaining control.”
“After being unable to compete in the first two races of the season due to COVID-19, four-time champion Sebastian Vettel is finally able to make his 2022 season debut in Formula 1. With 15 minutes left in the first session of practice in Melbourne, however, his Aston Martin came to a stop with engine issues.
Vettel attempted to cool the car himself with a fire extinguisher, but by the time the session ended, it was clear he wasn’t going to be able to drive his car back to the pits. So he borrowed a scooter from one of the marshals and rode back to his stall himself, using the track as a pathway to get there. While it made for a fun time for fans at Albert Park, the FIA didn’t like Vettel’s joyride very much. The sanctioning body announced today it has fined the German driver €5000 (roughly $5400) for entering the track without permission.
Vettel recounted the incident in a press briefing, insisting a marshal allowed him to take the scooter.”
“A Ford GT owner in Boca Raton, Florida crashed his recently purchased supercar into a tree Friday evening because he was “unfamiliar with how to drive stick shift,” police say.
The driver, 50-year-old Robert J. Guarini, told cops he lost control after downshifting while leaving his housing development at around 6 p.m, a police report says. This led to a head-on collision with a palm tree. Guarini then told a nearby security worker that he did not have his phone and needed a ride back to his house, where he spoke to authorities via landline after leaving the vehicle unattended, the report says.
Though the police report says Guarini told officers the crash was caused by inexperience with a manual transmission, the Ford GT owner told Road & Track over the phone that there was more to the event. Guarini claims old tires, muddy pavement, and a fresh detailing were all factors causing the 550-horsepower supercar to swing out and hit a tree. The driver also told R&T the crash occurred as he shifted up into second gear from first, not while downshifting, as the official report says.”
“When Parnelli Jones and Bill Stroppe debuted the purpose-built Bronco racer dubbed “Big Oly” in the early Seventies, they began a revolution. The tube framed off-roader inspired a generation of other purpose-built Baja racers, making it impressively capable for its era. When you have a vintage racing car capable enough of taking on modern off-road events, you take it to modern off-road events. When you take your vintage racing car to modern off-road events, sometimes it rolls over.
“Big Oly” was running in the NORRA Mexican 1000, a week-long event that started on Friday. A clip shared by desert racing video producer NTR Films shows the Bronco spinning out of control mid-corner. It then slides off the side of the road, tipping over before ultimately coming to a stop on its massive front wing.”
“The FIA bans drivers for wearing jewelry during a race, which irks Lewis Hamilton, who has a number of ear piercings. New Formula 1 race director Niels Wittich sent teams a note on Thursday indicating that the FIA will be checking to see if drivers are wearing jewelry and proper underwear as part of pre-race scrutineering. In what is not at all a coincidence, Hamilton showed up at the FIA pre-race press conference on Friday wearing eight rings, four necklaces, three watches, at least one bracelet, and his earrings.”
“The inaugural Miami Grand Prix will be remembered as the race with the fake water. Not the race with the sellout crowd, not the most-talked-about day in F1’s history in America, not even the race where Max Verstappen wore a football helmet on the podium. If you build one fake marina with painted water for dry-docked boats in the middle of a corner, you’ve branded yourself as the race with the fake water. The absurdity of it all was a joke online, but on the ground it was a source of pure joy. There’s a novelty to it in person, the place being so shamelessly fake that you knew even the wealthiest clients had to be in on the joke. At an event where the main sense is that everyone is trying to impress everyone else, the concrete marina felt like some of the most genuine fun available. There are boats, the boats are parked in a parking lot, and F1 cars are going around that parking lot. It’s not Monaco, but it’s a good time.”
“As part of the Historic Grand Prix of Monaco, Leclerc was given a chance to get behind the wheel of a later-spec Ferrari 312B3 owned by Methuselah Racing and formerly driven by Niki Lauda. All was going well until the end of his third lap, when he reported a brake failure at Rascasse. Leclerc spun in the middle of the corner before backing into the barrier, damaging at least the rear wing and some bodywork of the iconic car.
Leclerc tweeted about the incident shortly afterward, again indicating that sudden brake failure was the reason for the crash. He’ll be back at Monaco in two weeks for the Grand Prix with his F1 championship lead on the line, so he’ll have to hope his time at the legendary track in Ferrari’s 2022 challenger goes better than his times here in their 1974, 2019, and 2021 cars.”
“Mercedes confirmed Thursday it has sold one of its 1955 300 SLR Uhlenhaut Coupés from its own collection for €135 million (roughly $142 million), shattering the record for most expensive car ever sold. The announcement confirms a report first published by Hagerty earlier in the month.
The company made the sale on May 5 at the Mercedes museum via a private auction held by RM Sotheby’s. The sale price makes this SLR the most valuable car by almost $100 million, beating out the Ferrari 250 GTO that sold for $48 million in 2018. It’s also one of the top 10 most valuable items ever sold at auction, according to RM. The proceeds for the auction will go towards establishing the “Mercedes-Benz Fund,” a program for providing scholarships for students in the environmental science and decarbonization fields.”
“But on lap 346 his night, and that of Chris Buescher, ended in spectacular fashion. Exiting turn 4, the Chevy of Suarez got loose and slid up in front of the Ford of Chase Briscoe. Suarez was sent spinning down the front stretch being hit first by the Ford of Todd Gilliland. Just behind Buescher slid sideways trying to avoid Suarez and the two made contact and the Ford of Buescher was send sideways across the front stretch turf.
The right front suspension on Buescher’s car broke off and the tethers designed to keep the wheel from flying off instead held the wheel and sent it under the car sending it barrel rolling several times before coming to a stop on its roof.
NASCAR immediately red flagged the race and the safety crew was on scene in under 25 seconds by which time Buescher had disconnected the window net indicating he was okay.”
“In 1974, Hyundai showed a concept for a Pony Coupe designed by Giorgetto Giugiaro at the height of his powers. That concept never came to be, although much of the original design would later be recycled by Giugiaro in the DeLorean DMC-12. While the Pony would go on to become Hyundai’s core hatchback, the coupe was forgotten. That is, until today.
This is the Hyundai N Vision 74, Hyundai’s latest rolling lab car for their N brand. Like the RM20e before it, the N Vision 74 is a concept meant to test the viability of sustainable future performance technologies for the N brand. However, while the other “Rolling Midships” the N imprint has used chose to work with existing Hyundai designs, the N Vision 74 is instead built around this revived and modernized take on the Pony Coupe. Combined with aggressive aerodynamic elements, the N Vision 74 looks like the future, the past, and science fiction all at once.”
“The driver of a Porsche 911 was arrested on June 9 after a police helicopter in Spain caught him traveling at 285 km/h (177 mph) on a highway, according to Spanish officials.
The perpetrator, an unnamed man from Ireland, was driving a 992-generation Porsche 911 Carrera with British license plates at the time of the incident. He was allegedly clocked hitting an average maximum speed of 285 km/h on the AP-6, a highway in Spain just outside of Madrid with a speed limit of 120 km/h (75 mph). The speed is just a few mph off the Carrera’s top speed of 182 mph.”
“The McMurtry Spierling, an electric single-seat track car, certainly does not look this fast standing still. The 90s-take-on-a-Batmobile design hides substantial power and very little weight, although the company has not yet shared official numbers for the year-old concept. More uniquely, it hides a Chaparral 2J-style fan. Combined with the outlandish acceleration expected from a fast electric car and the tiny physical shape of the single-seat Spierling, the resulting car is startlingly quick.
In the video of Chilton’s timed run, that quickness is visibly shocking. With the noise of the fans drowning out the now-traditional loud road noise of an electric racer, the Spierling looks quicker both in every corner and accelerating out of every corner than you can imagine from a closed-fender car. That results in a final time of 39:08, more than two seconds faster than the official quickest timed run up the hill (set by Nick Heidfeld in a McLaren F1 car in 1999) and nearly a second faster than the outright record held by the I.D. R. Considering the Volkswagen it just beat holds the Pikes Peak International Hill Climb record and the record for electric cars at just about everywhere it’s ever run, McMurtry may have a few years of record setting left.”
“The driver behind YouTube channel Chillin’ with Chet recently got a Tesla Model S Plaid. As a Tesla owner with a YouTube channel, the eponymous Chet has already cut out most of his interior in pursuit of speed and attempted to drive the car underwater twice. However, Chet noticed that the car’s brakes could not keep up with its massive combination of power and weight. He decided to make a change to a more track-ready braking system, then immediately went to test it out on the track. In a decidedly not chill moment, Chet then suffered brake failure at 170 mph.
While the driver was wearing a seat belt, he did not have a helmet on. He also did not have track-specific seats or a five-point harness. He suffered a fractured knee, a torn ACL, and five broken ribs, but survived the impact.”
“Yesterday’s Pikes Peak International Hill Climb was marred by substantial fog, which greatly reduced both visibility and grip in the lower sections of the track. How substantial? Take a look at Pikes Peak rookie Levi Shirley, who was flying up the hill in his King of the Hammers-style Ultra4 spec buggy when he came up on a fog-shrouded corner out of control and slid off course. He rolled completely and landed on his wheels. Then, he just kept going.
As Shirley’s onboard video shows, the roll happened surprisingly early in the run. Shirley’s line, alongside the inside of where the corner would be, suggests that he had simply misjudged when the next corner was coming up in the thick fog and had to adjust too quickly. (The day’s winning times up Pikes Peak were considerably slower than in past years with a fully-paved track, a good exhibition of how much the fog cut into what drivers could see.) Fortunately, Shirley slid off at a relatively gentle slope and into as perfect a rollover as you’ll ever see. He rolls just once, does not hit anything in the air, lands on all four wheels, does not stall, and settles onto the runoff with a path to simply drive away.”
“The new venture, Bugatti-Rimac, was officially announced earlier today with the same structure that was reported in June and very similar to what was first rumored last September. Rimac will own 55 percent of the new company, while Porsche will hold on to 45 percent of Bugatti after an internal transaction moving that ownership stake over from Volkswagen. In addition, Porsche will retain its 24 percent stake in Rimac itself.
Mate Rimac will become the CEO of the newly-formed Bugatti-Rimac, while Porsche’s Oliver Blume and Lutz Meschke will join a supervisory board for the company. The venture will retain both the Bugatti facilities in Molsheim, France and the Rimac facilities in Zagreb, Croatia. For now, Bugatti Chiron production will continue in France as it had before this deal.”
“A few hours into today’s Six Hours of Monza, it happened again. Aston Martin driver Henrique Chaves spun before a corner protected by a set of sausage kerbs, hitting them sidewall-first at significant speed. Rather than gliding over and then using the runoff area to slow safely before any potential impact, the No. 33 TF Sport Aston Martin then instantly flips into the air, spins around, and slams down on its roof at speed.
It’s a rare situation, a safety feature that makes a track significantly more dangerous. Monza, in particular, has had issues with sausage kerbs launching cars for years, including the various open wheelers that come to the legendary track for the Italian Grand Prix weekend. In the most startling incident, a sausage kerb threw Formula 3 driver Alex Peroni into the air at speed after he went off track on a corner exit. Hopefully, today’s crash will be enough for Monza to reconsider its kerb design.”
“NASCAR has disqualified race-winner Denny Hamlin and his second-placed teammate Kyle Busch from today’s Cup Series race at Pocono. As a result of the decision, Chase Elliott has been promoted to race winner. Elliott’s car passed a similar post-race inspection and no other cars have been disqualified.
The cars were deemed to have illegally-positioned “material” on the front fascia, leading to an apparent aerodynamic advantage. As a series official explains, those cars will now be fully investigated at NASCAR’s R&D center. Restricting modification to aero components are major focuses of the Next Gen car, so NASCAR has determined to use its most powerful penalty available. As the appeal process has not begun, the series has chosen not to explain the disqualification in detail yet.”
“The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) has opened an investigation into a potential issue with the valvetrain in V-6-equipped 2021 Ford Broncos that could lead to catastrophic engine failure at highway speeds, according to a public filing published this week.
The filing, which was first reported on by the Wall Street Journal, states that “[i]n a June 7, 2022 meeting with Ford, [the Office of Defects Investigation] learned this alleged loss of motor power is a result of catastrophic engine failures due to the engine valves failing. Ford identified the root cause as the valve ‘keepers’ not holding the retainer in place allowing the valve spring to detach from the valve resulting in interference between the valve and piston. This interference can cause an engine lockup.””
“The Triple F Collection wanted to get its Ram 1500 TRX 6×6 Warlord—a $250,000 aftermarket conversion kit done by Apocalypse Motors in Fort Lauderdale, Florida—airborne for a video. Except it went all wrong.
The driver of the Warlord didn’t pick up enough speed before hitting the man-made dirt ramp, causing the gigantic Hellcat-powered pickup to fall nose first into the landing ramp at roughly 30 mph. Thankfully no one was injured by what looked to be a pretty severe impact.”
“The saga of the 2022 Toyota GR86 blown engine may be coming to an end.
If you’ve been on the internet this week you probably saw the story of Blake Alvarado’s GR86, which spun a bearing during an autocross in mid-July. According to Alvarado, his dealership decided against covering the engine rebuild under warranty after finding a picture online of the car getting sideways, leaving him with an $11,000 repair estimate.
The story’s popularity seems to have caught the attention of higher-ups at Toyota, because the automaker has changed course on the decision. Alvarado told The Drive his warranty claim will now be approved after speaking with a representative from Toyota. That representative also told Alvarado he should be able to use the car at future autocross and track day events without putting his warranty in jeopardy.”
Keyword: Viral Automotive Moments of 2022