After teasing, promises, and COVID-related delays, the Infiniti QX55 debuted a few weeks ago, as Infiniti eagerly drew direct comparisons between their new “classy” successor and the departed FX35/45. You might remember that shapely SUV headed to its demise in 2017 after it was left to rot for a few years, then renamed QX70. Infiniti chose to ignore its final QX70 name in the press materials and call it FX instead, which says something about their branding strategy, doesn’t it?

Today I’m here to tell you this “new car” is a perfect example of exactly what’s wrong at Infiniti, and the changes needed years ago, not sometime in the future.

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We all know about the Ford Mustang Bullitt’s heritage and its connection to the movie Bullitt. We all know the main chase scene with McQueen in a Mustang and the bad guys in a Dodge Charger cemented its status as one of the great car chases in Hollywood history. The actual car used in the movie, a GT390, was owned by a family for decades, and the owner even turned down an offer from Steve McQueen himself, documented by a letter in their possession. This tale just adds to the legend.

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Putting a Hellcat motor in every vehicle you sell, at this point, comes off as a bit lazy. We’ve become almost numb to cars in the Dodge lineup making 700 horsepower or more, so numb that we sometimes forget how insane 700 horsepower is in a family car. But the tactic works for Dodge, and each subsequent Hellcat I drive I find them more and more surprising. For the 2021 Dodge Durango Hellcat, the same thing applies.

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It’s been five weeks since I opined VW should cancel the Arteon and the North American Passat, and replace both with the European Passat instead.

Late last week, Volkswagen complied with part of my request. They must read TTAC!

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In my mid-20s I had a boss who once said to me “We all gotta grow up sometime”.

I don’t remember the specifics of why he said that, other than he wasn’t chewing me out or anything like that. I think maybe we were talking generally about post-college life and the responsibilities of adulthood.

The specifics don’t matter. What does, at least for the purposes of this post, is that the Mazda 3 is learning that lesson. With Mazdaspeed more or less shelved and the manufacturer trying to move the 3 upscale, away from its spunky past, while not leaving the “zoom-zoom” reputation fully behind, the 3 is supposed to be all grown up yet still cool.

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The new 2022 Subaru BRZ is here, and it’s …. not all that different.

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We told you last week that the eleventh-generation of the Honda Civic would be shown on streaming service Twitch, and lo and it behold, it was on Tuesday night.

At least in prototype form.

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The flood of new-car debuts continues unabated.

Why are you seeing so much news this week? Because the LA Auto Show was supposed to have been right around this time, but as with everything else, COVID canceled it. Also, with Thanksgiving next week, automakers are trying to get news out before you spend next week eating turkey and arguing politics over Zoom.

Add Infiniti to that list, with the QX55 crossover. (Read More…)

Today’s Rare Ride started out in life as an already very expensive Aston Martin Vanquish. Then it was reworked in a significant way by that Italian house of all things coupe, Zagato. Surprisingly, the Italians resisted painting it Rosso Corso Collezione or whatever, as its owner demanded a nice BRG-adjacent matte color.

Let’s check out this sports wagon shaped Aston Martin.

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Truck wars. Pony-car/muscle-car wars. Sports-car wars. Now, we have off-road wars.

The 2021 Jeep Wrangler Rubicon 392 is a not-so-subtle way for Jeep to lob a grenade, metaphorically speaking, at Ford.

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While the world seems to be abandoning small cars, Hyundai is committed to making them and making them great. How great? We spent some time in the entire lineup of Elantras recently to find out, including special access to the new Hyundai Elantra N.

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I’ve long resisted being the kind of person who could have The Simpsons “old man yells at cloud” jpeg thrown at me. Figuratively speaking, of course, since you can’t really throw a jpeg.

My reaction to the announcement that the unveiling of the 2022 Honda Civic will take place on Twitch is dangerously close to putting me at risk of having that meme used against me. If I had a lawn, and you were on it, I might start to form the words “get off.”

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As we reported a couple of weeks ago, Ford is set to debut its new E-Transit electric van tomorrow. An announcement was made yesterday regarding the Transit’s production location. And the new van brings along some cash, and jobs as well.

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Car Twitter was abuzz on Saturday, as eagle-eyed automotive journalists noticed a bunch of brand-new vehicles, mostly Jeeps, in the front row of the socially-distanced acceptance speech by Joe Biden that marked his being voted president-elect of the United States

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I don’t much care for tea, unless I am sick.

Some folks find it refreshing, though. And tea time is a thing in Britain.

Speaking of British things, the 2021 Land Rover Discovery is refreshed.

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