• Acura has released a concept previewing its second all-electric vehicle, dubbed the Performance EV Concept.
• There are gigantic wheels, sticky tires, and big brakes, indicating this is very much a performance-minded vehicle.
• Like the ZDX before it, we expect Acura to turn this concept into a production vehicle sometime next year.

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The ZDX was Acura’s first foray into electrification. But at this year’s Monterey Car Week, the luxury brand is showing an electric SUV concept that previews its next production EV. Unlike the ZDX, this one will use a totally unique EV platform.

Acura calls it the Performance EV concept. The coupe-like SUV has a long wheelbase with short overhangs, introducing an entirely new design language for the brand. The front end has a pointed nose, a vented hood, and extra-wide headlights. If you squint, it looks like some modern Buicks (sorry).

Acura

In sticking with trends, the Performance EV concept has a sleek coupe-like profile and a full-width light bar on the rear. Sizeable 23-inch wheels wrapped in 295/35R23 performance tires hide four-piston brakes with neon green accents.

This concept has no specs, but as mentioned, this will be Acura’s first electric vehicle on the brand’s first dedicated EV platform. So it won’t use GM’s Ultium platform. This SUV will also be manufactured at Honda’s EV Hub in Marysville, Ohio.

“The Acura Performance EV Concept is the archetype of Acura Performance in the electrified era, taking full advantage of the extreme design freedom of stance and proportion offered by our next-generation EV platform to push the boundaries of Acura design even further,” said Dave Marek, Acura Design Executive. “As with our previous Acura concept vehicles, the Acura Performance EV Concept introduces a number of design themes that will be seen on future Acura vehicles.”

Acura

This is the fifth concept Acura has debuted during Monterey Car Week. The original NSX concept showed up to Monterey in 2013, the Precision concept in 2016, the Type S concept in 2019, and the Precision EV concept in 2022. And like all of those concepts prior, we fully expect this one to reach production.

• The Indianapolis Motor Speedway Museum partnered with RM Sotheby’s to auction some incredible cars.
• Most important is this extremely rare Mercedes-Benz W196 Streamliner.
• Also coming up for sale are the 1966 Le Mans-winning Ferrari 250 LM, a Ford GT40 MkII, and a number of important pre-War cars.

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The Indianapolis Motor Speedway Museum has an extraordinary collection that extends beyond Indy cars. However, it wants to refocus its efforts on collecting cars that raced at the Speedway, so it’s thinning the herd a bit. The cars its selling, in partnership with RM Sotheby’s are extraordinary.

Perhaps none more so than this 1954 Mercedes-Benz W196 Streamliner. With standard open-wheel bodywork, Juan Manuel Fangio ran this car in a non-championship Formula 1 race in 1954, and with the sleek body you see here, it was campaigned by Stirling Moss in the 1955 Italian Grand Prix at Monza. Sir Stirling set the fastest lap of the race, and though he retired, Fangio won the race in the sister car. It was Mercedes’ last streamliner. RM Sotheby’s estimates it will sell for between $50 and $70 million, which is a bargain compared to the $143 million 300 SLR “Ulenhaut” coupe, the world’s most expensive car. 

Bill Pack | V12 Enterprises

Then, there’s the Ferrari 250LM that won Le Mans in 1965, the last for the automaker until its stunning comeback with the 499P last year. At Le Mans, it was campaigned by Luigi Chinetti’s North American Racing Team and driven to victory by Masten Gregory and Jochen Rindt. The car went on to run at Le Mans twice more, and at the Daytona 24 Hours four times in its racing career. It’s one of the most significant Ferraris ever made, and while RM doesn’t have a price estimate, it might not be far off the Mercedes.

Also coming up for sale are a 1966 Ford GT40 that placed second at Sebring and ran at Le Mans in 1966, though it retired early on. Because of its short racing career, RM Sotheby’s believes it’s one of the most original GT40s in existence. There’s also an ex-Michael Schumacher Bennetton B91B, a rare 1957 Corvette racing protoype, and a handful of very significant pre-War race cars.

RM Sotheby’s hasn’t announced sale dates yet, but it says the cars will be auctioned later this year and into next year. The goal of the sale, per a statement, is for the IMS Museum to “to increase its endowment and long-term financial sustainability, enhance the restoration and care of its collection, and acquire new artifacts that reflect a more comprehensive history of the Indianapolis 500 and Indianapolis Motor Speedway.” Given the sale of the Mercedes alone, it should have no trouble achieving these aims.

Monterey Car Week, as it is every year, will be littered with cool Porsches. From survivors to restomods, they’ll be no shortage of amazing 911s prowling the streets of Northern California. But this one will undoubtedly be the coolest. 

Restored by bb-Auto, a restoration firm resurrected by Galpin Motors in California, this 1986 Porsche 911 Targa is far more than just a brightly colored paint job. It’s sporting a 400-horsepower 4.0-liter air-cooled flat-six from Ed Pink Racing—the same shop that supplied engines for Singer’s early reimagined 911s. But that’s not all.

There’s also a 110-kilowatt electric motor from Vonnen—the people who made the first 911 hybrid street car—sandwiched between the engine and the G50 five-speed manual gearbox. Combined, the two power sources make a healthy 550 horsepower. There’s also bespoke “997 GT3-style” suspension geometry with coilovers and adjustable sway bars, custom Brembo six-piston brakes, and two-piece Fuchs style wheels wrapped in Michelin Sport Cup 2 tires.

Galpin Motors

Galpin Motors

Galpin Motors

The funky rainbow design isn’t an entirely new thing. It was first used in 1976 by a German workshop, also called bb-Auto, on a Turbo Targa in collaboration with Polaroid for that year’s Photokina photography show. The funky design would go on to be featured on the covers of magazines like Auto Motor und Sport and Road & Track. 

This Targa Hybrid’s cabin is equally as flashy as the exterior. The modern power seats, as well as the door cards and dashboard, are covered in a spectacular bright blue cloth material. There’s a rainbow pattern on the floor carpets, and a polished wooden shift knob. The gauges have been revamped and customized, while electric air conditioning has been installed to keep the cabin cool, even with the extra sunlight from the glass targa roof panel.

“This project is a true labor of love, blending classic Porsche heritage with our own Galpizined style,” Galpin Motors CEO Beau Boeckmann said in a statement. “Honoring the iconic bb-Auto company and continuing its legacy with our team was our mission.”

The bb-Auto Targa Hybrid will make its debut at the Werks Reunion in Monterey on Friday, August 16. Want your own? Order books are open now.

• A new composite Dodge Charger body for the NHRA Jr. Drag Racing League is available.
• It’s sold through Direct Connection and costs $3,765.
• Cars in this league can reach speeds up to 85 mph.
  

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The next-generation Dodge Charger will soon hit the streets, reborn as an electric vehicle. There’s also a gas-powered version coming next with six-cylinder power, but if you’re small enough to fit inside, you can have a new fuel-burning Charger right now.

This is the new Dodge Charger Junior Roadster, available as a body through Direct Connection. It’s a half-scale replica of the full-size NHRA Funny Car, restyled to resemble the new car right down to the Fratzog logo in the grille. It’s made from composite materials and weighs under 30 pounds, and it’s designed to fit a mini-dragster with an 85.5-inch wheelbase.

That’s a very specific dimension, but there’s a reason for it. The NHRA Jr. Drag Racing League is a proper series open to kids from age 5 to 17. The older you get, the faster the speeds, and these little dragsters can move down the strip with surprising gusto. In top trim, they can turn a 7.90-second pass in an eighth mile, reaching 85 mph in the process. On the lower scale, these dragsters still go 45 mph. And now, you can do it with a new Dodge Charger body.

All cars in the Jr. Drag Racing League use a single-cylinder engine, though modifications and racing fuels are allowed for more power depending on the class. Starting costs for a tiny dragster are generally around $5,000; Direct Connection lists just the new Charger body at $3,765. It recently made its public at Dodge Roadkill Nights ahead of the Woodward Dream Cruise, and it’s available for order now.

The market for real rally tires is incredibly niche. We suspect fewer than 1,000 people in the country actually care about which gravel tire performs better on dirt. That doesn’t make this comparison test put on by the Team O’Neil Rally School in New Hampshire any less exciting.

The school wanted to find out once and for all which of the three prominent rally tire manufacturers actually perform the best on a twisty tree-lined road. So it brought together compounds from Michelin, Hoosier, and Pirelli and used its closed rally course to find out. 

Team O’Neil enlisted the help of two pro drivers and their respective cars for this test. The first, Antione L’Estage, is a 10-time Canadian rally champion and seven-time North American rally champion. He brought along his all-wheel drive Ford Fiesta R5, a purpose-built rally car you’re probably used to seeing carve through WRC stages. Then there’s Chris Cyr, an up-and-coming pro American rally driver who also instructs at Team O’Neil. He’s driving a front-wheel-drive Ford Fiesta ST that’s been converted to rally duty.

The drivers tested each tire in two compounds: soft and medium. The kicker? They didn’t know which tires they were running. Team O’Neil mounted them to the cars without telling the drivers, meaning they gave opinions and ran times without being skewed by perceived opinions of the brand.

The testing was extensive. Team O’Neil recorded a comprehensive set of data points from each run, including things like tire pressures and temperatures. If you want to see the full dataset—a must if you actually plan to buy a set of new gravel tires—head on over to Team O’Neil’s website. 

The crew also took lap times, of course. It was the Michelin that was consistently quickest, putting up the fastest times for both the front- and all-wheel drive applications. The Hoosier, considered a “budget” tire in this test, came close to beating the Michelin on several occasions, while the Pirellis were slowest.

As lead instructor and host Wyatt Knox points out, lap times are only half the story here. Tire longevity wasn’t tested, meaning it’s possible the faster tires could fall off over time, while the Pirellis might last longer. Either way, now you know which gravel tires are fastest, at least in the short term.

When you fill up your tank, you don’t really think much about the gasoline that’s going inside. Just choose the correct octane rating for your car, and that’s it, right? Wrong. Which premium fuel you choose can differ wildly in quality, according to the experts. 

Total Seal Piston Rings on YouTube breaks down the difference between standard premium fuel and the good stuff you should actually be putting in your car. Legally, all fuels sold in the United States must adhere to the EPA’s Least Additive Concentrate (LAC) mixture, requiring a minimum amount of detergents present in the gasoline. 

But there’s another level of higher-quality fuel that goes beyond the bare minimum. It’s a standard called “Top Tier” gasoline, founded by OEMs to promote a healthier blend of available fuel. For a fuel to qualify as Top Tier, it must meet a series of quality levels when it comes to detergent and additives that sit far beyond the EPA’s LAC requirements. Automakers like BMW, Stellantis, General Motors, Ford, Mercedes-Benz, Honda, Toyota, and Volkswagen all sponsor the development of Top Tier gasoline, according to its dedicated website.

AAA ran an independent study comparing Top Tier gasoline to fuel that simply met the minimum EPA requirements, and it discovered that Top Tier gas left 19 times less deposits on vital engine parts like injectors, valves, and pistons over a 10,000-mile simulation. 

Buildup on those components eventually leads to excess fuel dilution in your oil, which is bad, because that leads to more engine wear. More buildup also means less efficiency and performance, so it’s best to minimize it as much as possible. If you’re the type who wants to keep your engine healthy and deposit-free, the benefits of running Top Tier gas are obvious. 

Not every gas station offers Top Tier-quality gasoline. But most of the biggest names—Shell, Mobil, Chevron, Sunoco, Exxon, 76, etc.—are all participating retailers. So next time you need to gas up, be sure to check before you hit the pump.

Aston Martin is shaking down its Valkyrie AMR-LMH endurance race car, and no surprise, it sounds wonderful. The brand posted a very short video clip of the car running at both Silverstone and Donnington Park, and while there’s unfortunate music in the background, we get a very good listen to its naturally aspirated 6.5-liter Cosworth V-12. We can’t wait to hear this echoing down the Mulsanne at Le Mans.

The Valkyrie AMR-LMH is based on the Valkyrie road car, but modified to fit the FIA’s Le Mans Hypercar rules. Developed in tandem with the Heart of Racing team, the Valkyrie AMR-LMH ditches the road car’s hybrid system and will run a detuned version of the V-12, as its 1,000-hp output far exceeds the limits for Hypercars. Aston Martin and the Heart of Racing intend to enter both the 2025 IMSA WeatherTech championship and the World Endurance Championship, so both are hard at work testing for next year. Per our colleagues at Motorsport.com, Aston hasn’t confirmed whether it plans to run the 2025 IMSA season-opener Rolex 24 at Daytona, but it will run at Le Mans.

Whenever it hits the track, it’ll be the only Hypercar derived from an actual road car, a throwback to the GT1 era of the late 1990s. It’ll also be the only sports prototype with a V-12, with the rest of the field running V-6s and V-8s. So you’ll be able to hear it coming.

Vintage Ferrari race cars are rare enough, and successful ones even more so. That’s why it’s so heartbreaking to see one go up in flames. Video and photos posted to social media show a 1971 Ferrari 512M, supposedly driven by Sam Posey to a third-place finish at that year’s 24 Hours of Le Mans, engulfed in flames as it circled Watkins Glen International raceway last month.

It’s unclear exactly what happened, but a broken fuel line is the suspected cause. The video starts with the car already on fire, flames and black smoke billowing out from the back. It’s a short clip that doesn’t reveal the aftermath. Photos posted on Facebook show the Ferrari stopped on the track with flames tearing through the rear-end bodywork before a track crew doused the fire. Another photo shows the driver standing outside the Ferrari unharmed, with white smoke obscuring the car and the extent of the damage.

 

 

Sam Posey raced a Ferrari 512M in 1971 for NART. After DNF-ing in both the 12 Hours of Sebring and the 24 Hours of Daytona, Posey teamed up with Tony Adamowicz and entered the 512M into the 24 Hours of Le Mans, where the pair took third place. The car, a modified version of the 512S, featured a 5.0-liter V-12 engine.

If this truly were Posey’s Ferrari, we would hope for nothing less than for the current owner to do a complete restoration if possible. The fire supposedly burned for about four minutes before a crew arrived, mainly damaging the body. We’ll have to wait and see if it ever hits the track again.

 

Well before the NSX, Honda had a beautiful wedge-shaped concept called the HP-X—the brand’s first modern concept car. Designed by Pininfarina, the HP-X debuted at the 1984 Turin Motor Show and previewed a radical, ultra-aerodynamic sports car.

The HP-X had a 2.0-liter V-6 engine derived from Honda’s Formula 2 race car, and employed kevlar and carbon fiber to keep things light. It also used “ground effects” for the first time and had a driver-controlled air brake. Unfortunately, the HP-X never saw the light of day; The NSX debuted about five years later, and the rest is history.

Honda

But at this year’s Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance, Honda is dusting off its 40-year-old concept car and competing on the main stage. The fully restored Honda HP-X will be the first Japanese car on the main event field in over 50 years. It will compete in the obscure “Wedge-Shaped Concept and Prototypes Class.”

Honda kept the HP-X as original as possible throughout its restoration. It has the same two-tone white-and-navy-blue paint job with red accents from 1984, a red-and-white suede interior with a button-heavy center stack—and no doors. The original used a single-piece Perspex acrylic canopy with a fighter-jet-inspired hatch revealing a two-seat layout, and that’s still true here.

“The Honda HP-X Concept was the star of the 1984 Turin Auto Show, showcasing elements of engineering excellence and cutting-edge design, with extreme wedge-shape styling that continues to inspire future generations of car designers and engineers,” said Acura Design Executive Dave Marek.

“The forward-thinking HP-X had an undeniable impact on the industry, highlighting our commitment to pushing the boundaries of what is possible in automotive design.”

The Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance takes place on Sunday, August 18, 2024.

In 2004, Ford offered a variation of its color-shifting Mystic paint for the SVT Mustang Cobra called Mystichrome. Only offered for that one year, Mystichrome is now back as an option. But there’s a catch: You have to get it from RTR Vehicles.

The Ford-friendly aftermarket company now offers Mystichrome as a Premium Paint option for new Mustangs starting with the 2024 model year. It’s one of several colors available on the Mustang RTR, but for obvious reasons, it garners the most attention. Mystichrome blends blue, purple, green, brown, and gold into a single finish. Depending on where you stand and how the light hits the car, you could see just a couple, or all of them at once.

RTR Vehicles

RTR Vehicles

RTR Vehicles

Mystichrome isn’t quite the same as Mystic, the Ford’s other color-shifting paint offered only on the 1996 SVT Cobra. Aside from having a more subdued look, Mystic incorporated the same dye used to print US currency. To this day, simply getting a portion of the paint for repair work requires government intervention. Mystichrome, while complex, doesn’t have the same restrictions.

“This is more than just a paint job—it’s about giving RTR owners a chance to express their individuality and passion in a way that’s never been possible before on a Mustang,” said RTR’s Vaughn Gittin Jr. “Our team has worked very hard to offer some unique colorways to choose from, and I love all the colors we’ve curated and made available.”

As you might imagine, this isn’t a cheap color option. RTR lists it as a $15,995 upgrade, but not everyone can get one. Mystichrome is only available on RTR Spec 2 and Spec 3 Mustangs, and production will be limited to 1,000 vehicles.