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   In the '70s, street rods experienced a revival in popularity after being knocked out of the spotlight during the muscle car era. That revival came with a change. The prominent rod builders of the late 20th century were not building early roadsters and coupes in the traditional styles of earlier years but rather in a modern style characterized by high-tech chassis with independent front and rear suspensions, extensive use of hand built components (with an abundance of billet aluminum), reshaped bodies, and the elimination of emblems and trim. The result was a super-clean, streamlined style that almost instantly became known as "smooth." Of all the designers and builders associated with the "smooth" style, some of the most famous are  Boyd Coddington ,  Lil' John Buttera ,  Chip Foose , and Larry Erickson. Of all the owners, probably the most successful was Fred Warren, owner of the AeroCoupe, Smoothster, and Shockwave, among others. No other car owner in t...

    Have you ever wondered how we produce some of the fantastic photography that accompanies  MotorTrend 's written words? In short, automotive photographers will put their bodies on the line and shove themselves into and out of just about any opening in order to get the best possible shot. If we're lucky, we use a vehicle with a cushy ride and a hatch to hang out of as we shoot car-to-car—those pretty, in-motion action shots you see all over  MT  stories. Most of the time, our bodies end up sticking halfway out the side window, feet hooked to any willing crevice, core muscles clenched and arms taut. (Yes, we use harnesses.) We can use nearly any vehicle to capture those bread-and-butter  car-to-car photos , but there are usually plenty of compromises to be made. That's why the  MT  photo team was so eager to give the Arcimoto Cameo prototype— an Arcimoto FUV  made more camera- and photographer-friendly with an open-air rear-facing seat—a go ...

   When Bentley in 2016 launched   the Bentayga , its first-ever SUV, the company's flagship vehicle was the Mulsanne sedan.   Imposing and charismatic, the $300,000-plus Mulsanne   was German-engineered but a quintessentially British ultra-luxury car. Its interior was redolent with the rich tang of leather, the warm glow of wood, bright splashes of chrome, and a rumbling torque monster of an engine under its long hood. The last Mulsanne rolled off the assembly line in Crewe, England, in 2020. And stepping up to replace it as Bentley's new flagship model is the 2022 Bentley Bentayga EWB, a stretched  version of the SUV  that was just a gleam in a Bentley product planner's eye when the Mulsanne made its world debut at Pebble Beach in 2009. A stretched SUV is, at first glance, an oddly prosaic choice for a marque steeped in  the romance of the road  and  the legend of Le Mans . But it's a necessarily pragmatic one. Indeed, the Bentayga has...

   If you’re after a bit of inexpensive fun and you’re looking for an open-top, two-seat sports car of decent swervability and reasonable affordability, your thoughts might immediately gravitate towards a used   Mazda MX-5   of some sort, but may I introduce you instead to the third-generation   Toyota MR2 ? This little jewel ran from 2000 to 2006 and can now be bought for peanuts, and while it shares much in common with the iconic Mazda, such as the wind-in-the-hair pleasure and the promise of at least decent long-term reliability, it differs by having its engine mounted amidships, just as its two predecessors did. Oh yes, those predecessors. You see, it was in 1985 when Toyota first offered an MR2, a mid-engined, two-seat, rear-wheel-drive, T-bar-roofed bundle of fun, heavily influenced by the delightful Fiat X1/9. In 1990, it was replaced by the Mk2, which was larger, more rounded in its styling, heavier and, certainly in its earlier versi...

  The Mercedes-Benz EQS SUV, revealed here as an all-new luxury flagship for the German marque’s fast-growing line of EVs, will rival the Audi E-tron and BMW iX when it arrives at the end of this year. As with the Mercedes-Benz EQS and Mercedes-Benz EQE saloons, the US-built EQS is based on the dedicated electric vehicle architecture (EVA) platform, which supports both single-motor, rear-wheel-drive and dual-motor, four-wheel-drive layouts. Power for all launch models is provided by a 107.8kWh battery – the same lithium ion unit used by the EQS saloon – packaged within the floorpan to give the luxury SUV a largely flat floor and what  Mercedes-Benz  says is the lowest centre of gravity of any of its SUV models. At 5125mm in length, 1959mm in width and 1718mm in height, the EQS SUV is 82mm shorter, a scant 3mm wider and 105mm lower than the Mercedes-Benx GLS SUV. It also rides on a wheelbase that is 75mm longer th...

    The eyes of new-car buyers may be on the recently launched third-generation   Hyundai i10 , but savvy city car customers would do well to check out its predecessor. This dinky hatchback proves that basic transportation doesn’t have to mean basic transport. From around the £3000 mark, you can pick up a modern car that’s easy to drive in cut-and-thrust traffic but also offers the equipment and refined feel of something far bigger. Power comes from one of two petrol engines. There’s a 65bhp 1.0-litre three-cylinder unit that’s just about satisfactory around town but, if you’ll ever be venturing out onto the open road, you’ll appreciate the greater vim and vigour offered by the 86bhp 1.2-litre four-cylinder. This is almost as economical, too. Stick with the five-speed manual gearbox because, although the four-speed slusher is the best automatic in the class, it’s still rather old-school. The trim levels start with S, which is pretty meagre, with 14in steel wheel...

   Aston Martin is weighing up potential ties with  Lucid ,   Rimac   and   Mercedes-Benz   architecture for its first electric sports car, due in 2025. The firm has today announced a huge, £653 million investment plan aimed at paying back debts, ramping up production volumes and boosting profits - but the package will also be instrumental in the fruition of Aston's electrification strategy. The Gaydon firm's first plug-in hybrid – expected to be based on the Aston Martin DBX SUV – will be launched in 2024, before a pure-electric model arrives in 2025 on the way to a "fully electrified GT/sport and SUV portfolio" in 2030. Both an electric sports car and SUV have previously been mooted for a 2025 launch, with executive chairman Lawrence Stroll saying: “We’re literally defining now the products we want to launch with and expect to have an answer early next year.”  Details of the first electric car are unclear, but Stroll con...

   Aston Martin is weighing up potential ties with  Lucid ,   Rimac   and   Mercedes-Benz   architecture for its first electric sports car, due in 2025. The firm has today announced a huge, £653 million investment plan aimed at paying back debts, ramping up production volumes and boosting profits - but the package will also be instrumental in the fruition of Aston's electrification strategy. The Gaydon firm's first plug-in hybrid – expected to be based on the Aston Martin DBX SUV – will be launched in 2024, before a pure-electric model arrives in 2025 on the way to a "fully electrified GT/sport and SUV portfolio" in 2030. Both an electric sports car and SUV have previously been mooted for a 2025 launch, with executive chairman Lawrence Stroll saying: “We’re literally defining now the products we want to launch with and expect to have an answer early next year.”  Details of the first electric car are unclear, but Stroll con...

   Among the crucial models in development as part of Volvo’s EV onslaught is the all-new, all-electric and all-important successor to the   Volvo XC60 . The SUV has been the Swedish brand’s best-selling car for the past four years running.  Due in 2024 to fill the gap between the XC40 Recharge electric SUV and the long-awaited electric replacement for  the XC90 SUV coming later this year , the XC60 successor (which will have a name rather than a numerical designation) will play a core role in taking Volvo to its goal of all-out electrification by 2030.  EVs accounted for just 6.5% of  Volvo ’s global sales last year (its best on record), but the Swedish company aims to boost that figure to 50% by 2025 on the way to ditching combustion entirely by 2030. A swiftly expanding line-up of EVs, heavy investment in production facilities and new car construction processes will be key to achieving this goal, as Volvo looks to emerge as a front runner among the ...

  Now for those of us who like to have the latest gadgets and the best in performance, the Samedi 28.7 is here for a little indulging. Let's start with the biggest upgrade – the motor. As with all Samedi 28s, Bosch is the manufacturer of choice for their motor and battery systems.  The 28.7 features the Performance Line mid-drive motor, which produces a maximum of 65N m of torque. I found it to be excellent and worked well with the overall balance of the bike. The low centre of gravity helps to keep the bike planted in corners and provides a stable ride on the road. There are five assist modes, Off, Eco, Tour, Sport, and my favourite – Turbo. There is also a handy walk-assist mode which can help if you're walking the bike up a hill, for example.  A PowerTube 625 Wh adorns the Samedi 28.7, offering plenty of range, but the real show starts with the Bosch Nyon display. My test bike came with the Bosch Kion display, which is equally as good but uses a control pad. However, n...

   In the last four years, Toyota has unveiled three new models that have set fresh benchmarks for affordable and desirable performance. The powerful head-turning Toyota GR Toyota Supra, the advanced 5-star review-scoring Toyota GR Yaris hot hatch and the incoming Toyota GR86 sportscar each sit at the apex of their class. And apex is perhaps the perfect word, as all three come from a performance division that truly epitomises a race-bred track-to-road philosophy: Toyota GAZOO Racing. Toyota GAZOO Racing was born in 2007 to build on Toyota’s 60 years of motorsport engineering experience, and put it back at the heart of the performance car segment. In the decades since Toyota first entered its iconic Toyota GT2000 in Japanese sportscar events, Toyota’s race teams have built an impressive array of success in Formula 1, 24-hour sportscar racing, US oval racing and rallying. As Toyota founder Kiichiro Toyoda said: “To test the durability and performanc...

   When the   BMW 1 Series   went front-wheel drive in 2019, it had something to prove, and with the   Volkswagen Golf R -baiting, four-wheel-drive   BMW  M135 xDrive, it demonstrated it could build an effective hot hatch, while also retaining the expensive ‘premium’ feel of a   BMW . And now it’s received an update. This isn’t the proper facelift – that’s not due until 2024 – and apart from some new paint options like the retina-searing Sao Paulo Yellow in the photos, the changes are purely mechanical. The aim, say the engineers, was to create a wider broadband for the M135i as a model range by focusing the standard M Sport suspension as the driving enthusiast’s choice, while preserving the adaptively suspended car’s capabilities as an all-rounder. To that end, all versions get more sound piped in through the speakers, more alert torque vectoring by braking, retuned xDrive and Michelin Pilot Sport 4 tyres, but cars with M Sport suspension get new...

   A year ago, we road-tested the new   Citroën C4   – the French brand’s family hatchback, now with a strong but not overwhelming hint of crossover to it – and awarded it a bang-average three stars. That car was in fancy Puretech 130 Shine Plus auto specification, meaning it had a 129bhp turbocharged 1.2-litre three-cylinder petrol engine, an eight-speed torque-converter gearbox and the fanciest of the four trim levels (Sense, Sense Plus, Shine and Shine Plus). What are the differences between 130 and 155? Well, apart from the obvious, you will get from 0-62mph a tad quicker (8.5sec, compared with 9.4sec), do 1.5 miles fewer to the gallon (according to the official WLTP tests) and pay your Citroën dealer £1000 more up front. Its residual value after three years is predicted to be about £500 better too. If you’re getting it on a PCP finance deal, it will cost you an extra £19.40 per month over 48 months.  Is it worth that? Perhaps, if performance really is your ...

  Honda has also given initial details of its rapid-fire global EV roll-out in the run-up to 2030, which most shockingly looks to include an all-electric successor to the Honda NSX supercar and a new grand tourer flagship. "Honda always has a passion to offer fun for its customers," the firm said, giving no details of the new sports cars but promising they will continue to offer a "sports mindset and distinctive characteristics". The Honda NSX is currently in its third generation as a 573bhp hybrid with a mid-mounted V6 and will bow out of production at the end of this year. This latest announcement is the first official indication that Honda plans to remain in the supercar segment as it transforms its business. Honda is the latest Japanese brand to commit to offering dedicated sports cars in the electric era. Toyota has previewed a lightweight two-seater  in the vein of the MR2 ,  Lexus is working on an EV follow-up to the LFA , Nissan recently showed the drop-top ...

  The  Audi A6   will gain an all-electric equivalent in 2024, complete with an Avant-badged version that is set to be the first all-electric offering in the executive estate segment.  Following the reveal of the  saloon-shaped A6 E-tron concept  last year, Audi has revealed a follow-up concept that closely previews the estate variant. It won’t immediately replace the A6 Avant, though, because Audi is planning to launch a ‘parallel offer’ powered by combustion in the future.  Like its saloon sibling – which sports a rakish silhouette in line with a vision to provide an EV alternative to both the current A6 and A7 – the new A6 Avant E-tron sits atop the Premium Platform Electric (PPE) architecture, which Audi is developing in partnership with Porsche and will be deployed first in the new  Porsche Macan EV  and  Audi Q6 E-tron  in 2023.  This platform blends elements of the  Porsche Taycan  and  Audi E-tron GT...

  Another compact-class value champion from ascendent budget brand Dacia, and this time a bit of a versatility champion too. The   Dacia Jogger   is a smallish estate-cum-seven-seat MPV; an indirect replacement for the old   Logan MCV   in a way, but done with much greater individuality and charm. We’ve already had a go in Europe , but with the UK launch of the car, Dacia has confirmed the numbers that matter most about it. They are £14,995 (the car’s scarcely believable entry-point showroom price) and £195 (the monthly outlay for which you can get one on a personal finance deal, after a deposit of… wait for it… £195). A car in this position doesn’t really need to be particularly well packaged, refined, versatile or nice to drive in order to find a receptive market; it probably just needs to exist. The Jogger, however, does quite a bit better than that. It’s ostensibly a 4.5m-long, seven-seat family car built on a supermini platform, which is why Dacia can ...