RideLust

Formula One stars generally drive fast sedans in their downtime, or so conventional wisdom says. Sebastian Vettel, the boy wonder of F1, bucks that trend by driving an Infiniti FX50 crossover. We can’t tell you why Vettel opted for the FX50 over, say, an AMG Mercedes or a BMW M5. Even if you tie it to Vettel’s contract and the Red Bull team’s Infiniti sponsorship, an M56 sedan seems like a more logical choice for the reigning world champion. Read More…

Ford's Fiesta ST concept. Image: Ford Motor Company

You can’t buy Ken Block’s 600-horsepower, all-wheel-drive Ford Fiesta WRC car. Technically, you could probably buy on just like it if you had the $500,000 price of admission, but it wouldn’t be street legal and it wouldn’t exactly be pleasant as a daily driver. Now Ford is offering up the next best thing, but the jury is still out on whether or not we’ll get it in the United States. Read More…

By 2036, I think that most transportation will involve horses and ox carts, but Mercedes-Benz has a more pleasant and upbeat view of the future. Debuting at this week’s Frankfurt Auto Show is Mercedes’ F 125 Concept, which shows the possible future of motorized transportation, as interpreted by Mercedes Benz. Read More…

Jaguar's C-X16 Concept. Image: Jaguar

I’ll come clean up front: I’m not a hybrid guy. If you’re a long-term reader, you already know this, but if you’re new to RideLust it might be the first time you’ve heard this. I’ve driven plenty of hybrids, but all of them to date have been built with an eye to fuel economy, not performance. In fact, hybrids add weight and complexity, two thing that tend to have a negative impact on acceleration, braking and even long-term reliability. Read More…

The Abarth 695 Competizione. Image: Fiat

In 2009, Fiat tuner Abarth got a crazy idea: work with Ferrari to build the world’s fastest Fiat 500, then put it into limited production at a cost-be-damned price just under $50,000. The result was the Fiat 500 Abarth 695 Tributo Ferrari, and the Italian tuner soon found that the stratospheric price was no barrier to sales. Since the car’s launch in July 2010, some 1,300 examples have been delivered to customers. Read More…

The 2012 Porsche 911 Carrera S. Image: Porsche AG

Porsche’s 2012 911 Carrera and 911 Carrera S make their official world debut at the upcoming Frankfurt Motor Show, but you can see the 911 Carrera S on the road in the video below. At first glance, the 2012 Porsche 911 looks a lot like the 2011 version, until you view them side by side. The new car is longer, wider, and just a bit shorter, which gives it a lower center of gravity and allows for slightly better weight distribution. It’s shed some 100 pounds since last year, and both versions get more powerful engines for 2012. Read More…

Image: Jaguar Land Rover

The Land Rover Defender is known the world over as a non-nonsense SUV that will get you anywhere you need to go. Period, end of sentence. It has no luxury aspirations, but it enjoys a rabid cult following that ranges from British farmers through explorers and adventurers to well-off suburbanites who like to portray the image of adventure. The Defender will get you to the grocery store, even if you have to take game trails or forge your own path to get there; in fact, long after the human race has been wiped off the earth, giant cockroaches will probably be driving the last remaining Defenders, at least until fossil fuel runs out. Read More…

Ford's Evos Concept. Image: Ford Motor Company

When I was in Detroit with Ford last week, the highlight of the opening night dinner was the presentation of Ford’s Evos concept car, which will make its debut at next month’s Frankfurt Motor Show. We were sworn to secrecy and told not to write about the car until August 31, but the universal response from every journalist in the room was “build it.” Read More…

The 2012 Porsche 911 Carrera. Image: Porsche AG

When it comes to an iconic sports car like the Porsche 911, change is usually measured in gradual increments. A millimeter here, a slight change to a curve there, update the technology and call it done. What Porsche can’t afford to do is alienate the brand loyalists who’ve purchased the 911, in all of its forms, over the past 48 years. Read More…

The light at the end of the tunnel gets dimmer for Saab with every passing day. Despite a series of global investors sinking money into Swedish Auto, Saab’s parent, there have been no indications that Saab will restart production at the end of August as planned. You may recall that Saab shut down production last April, when suppliers cancelled deliveries due to non-payment of invoices. Since then, Saab’s raised a boatload of cash by selling cars to Chinese distributors, selling off real-estate holdings and even selling shares of common stock on two separate occasions. Read More…