When you’re told to think of Italian race car manufacturers, Ferrari and Maserati come to mind. You may not have thought of Dallara, but the company has regardless worked behind the scenes of prestigious racing series for nearly 50 years. Building chassis for IndyCar, Formula 1, and Le Mans teams, as well as providing street …
Automotive design is just as much an art as it is a science, and some of the best car-tists are living in Italy. These companies, known as design houses, are responsible for some of the most iconic auto concepts to hit the streets. Both in their home country, and globally. The design houses evolved from …
The original Corvette was created by Chevrolet in an effort to steal some thunder from popular British sports cars, but the Vette itself wasn’t much of a performer. It was saddled with a weak straight-six engine and a two-speed automatic gearbox. After a few years of mediocre sales, the Corvette would finally gain its trademark …
Since the 70’s, the 911 Turbo has been one of Porsche’s most prestigious nameplates. The original 930 brought racing technology to the street, and each subsequent Turbo has upped the ante with technical advancements like all-wheel-drive and anti-lag. They’re also some of the most powerful and violently accelerating cars to bear the Porsche badge. Stick …
Shedding their old boring image, station wagons have become another segment that car fans pine for. From a practical standpoint it’s easy to see why, as wagons can marry the cargo space of an SUV with the road manners and handling of a sports sedan. Like everything fun, this segment has basically gone extinct in …
The most exclusive supercars on Earth all essentially have one thing in common: An engine mounted directly behind the driver. It’s not just a design choice. Mid-mounted, or midship, engines have proven to be the choice for uncompromised performance. But why is that? It’s a fairly simple matter of gravity and weight distribution. 2005 Ford …
In the modern day, two-seat droptop roadsters are often seen as an enthusiast’s luxury item, but going back over a century, the segment actually describes many of the world’s most pioneering cars. These early “horseless carriage” models were quite literally based on horse carts, and naturally inherited their open-top design. Ford Quadricycle – Images by …
Not to be confused with Chrysler’s old “K Car” platform. Dating back to 1949 in Japan, the Kei designation offers some of the tiniest vehicles that could still be legally considered a car. In Japan, and other East Asian countries, vehicles are often subjected to tax rates based on their external dimensions and engine displacement, …
For almost 20 years, the GT3 RS has been one of the Porsche 911’s most desirable packages, mating a lightened chassis with strong downforce and high-revving power. Porsche takes the already-formidable GT3 formula, and spices it up with racing-spec goodies like carbon fiber trim and center-lock magnesium wheels. Every time an RS is released, it …
Updated: May 19, 2021 Although they are currently associated with Porsche and Subaru, horizontally-opposed “boxer” engines were once one of the most popular engine types, with lineage going back over 100 years. The first boxer was patented by automotive pioneer Carl Benz in 1897, and the design would go on to be adapted to all manner …