Vettel Retires, Alonso Moves In, Piastri Moves On Since the Belgian Grand Prix isn’t scheduled until August 28, Formula 1 is currently on its summer break. Break time is affectionately known as “silly season” in racing circles, and this season seems sillier than most. See, it all started when four-time world champion Sebastian Vettel announced his upcoming retirement at the end of the 2022 season. This opened a seat up at Aston Martin, and Aston wanted an experienced household name to fill its vacancy....

What the hell is going on here? I feel like the scene was supposed to be all about balloons and fun and kids but the photographer thought, hey, what this scene really needs is a bit of tension, so why not add a lawyer to the mix, reminding that pale little fella in the plaid hat that we have rules around here regarding balloon inflation and you should be aware that all yellow balloons are trademarked by the saffron collective, which he represents, and they are very prepared to take immediate and decisive action regarding misuse of yellow balloons, which you are clearly in violation of....

It’s quite easy to think of the Cadillac BLS as the missing link between the controversial Cadillac-badged 1980s Chevy Cavalier called the Cimarron and the more modern Cadillac ATS. After all, this compact luxury sedan made between 2006 and 2010 pairs a small footprint with Cadillac’s Art and Science design language in one mildly discomforting package. That’s not to say that the BLS is ugly, it’s just a bit uncanny....

What’s the theme, here? Is this Oldsmobile in the Russian-occupied part of Narnia or some shit? Are those streamers or vines? Was this representative of Old’s target market? Witches and Russians? As for the witch and the Russian guy…I got nothing. Also, this is a costume party. The woman as a fairy godmother (wand has a star), the man as a cossack, and the Delta 88 as a sports car....

I know people have been thinking about this, because we at The Autopian were awoken by the incredibly loud klaxon and flashing, caged red light that goes off whenever we’re tagged on Twitter. People are discussing fuel gauge notation, and they want us involved, and this is not something I can say no to. I’ve tried to distill down the variety of fuel gauges into six main categories; I know there will be some outliers, which I’ve covered here before, or on the Old Site, so if there’s a hyper-specific variant I’ve missed, please know this was not a personal slight, at least not one I’m admitting publicly, but I’m pretty certain You Know What You Did....

I guess the car is really more themed in Adventures in Odyssey livery, which seems to be some sort of Christian-themed audio drama series involving an old guy with an ice cream shop and a lot of wholesome goings-on that end with some manner of evangelical messages, I guess. I’m not familiar with the property, to be honest, for reasons I’m guessing you can figure out. [Editor’s Note: Jason has spoken with the creators of Pixar’s Cars series, and has written ad nauseam about how the franchise screwed up the location of the characters’ eyes....

I got my motorcycle license in the spring of 2018 and wasted no time before collecting all kinds of old Japanese motorcycles. Almost all of them were what motorcyclists call UJM, or “Universal Japanese Motorcycle.” Japanese motorcycles of the 1970s and 1980s not only looked similar between brands, but their spec sheets were remarkably similar, too, hence the “universal.” Motorcycle.com says the term describes standard-class motorcycles, but it’s really far more expansive....

This week I’m bringing you an import from Greece, a sweet K5 Blazer-based camper, and maybe a Volkswagen that you’ve never seen before. I often search the entire country for a good balance of price and vehicle condition. But sometimes, some really cool cars end up for sale with really high prices. It’s disappointing, of course, but there’s nothing wrong with window shopping and dreaming. So join me in looking at some fun cars, motorcycles, and commercial vehicles....

This is good timing from GM (or, I guess, GM via CorvetteNut) because the weather outside is indeed frightful. Imagine if those Seattle drivers all had all-wheel drive Corvettes! And also spiked tires! And were trained drivers! It’s fun to watch the Corvette malamute around, though there isn’t much that’s particularly edifying, at least to my eye. The big figure everyone wants to hear is the combined power of the electric motor and the gas motor....

But before we talk about all of that, it’s time for a short sociology lesson. As we humans grow up and develop into adults, we tend to gravitate to other kids who share our common interests and backgrounds. We also tend to do stupid stuff that gets us into trouble. My formative years were no different, and in my High School in 1970’s New Jersey, we had the jocks, the nerds, the music and drama types, and the greasers....

Well, that’s pretty conclusive. And as it so happens, I agree; I’d love to have a Rampage, but I think I’ll hold out for one that isn’t quite so derelict. And I’ve been a fan of Nissan trucks for many years. Speaking of derelict, for today I found a pair of crusty Fiats that have complete drivelines and reasonably solid bodies, but no interiors to speak of. As such, they are good candidates to become LeMons race cars or Gambler cars or or maybe just headaches waiting to happen....

When a giant corporation takes on a task that is typically done by small industries, you can typically see advancements that would be unheard of from little manufacturers. The outstanding 1973-78 GMC Motorhome is a perfect example of something that tiny recreational vehicle makers didn’t have the capacity to do. However, Torch wanted to know what would happen if it was the other way around. Say, a camper company wanted to make a car?...

You chose the Toyota Land Cruiser, which, if memory serves, means you have to take the low road through the valleys, but make sure to stop and grease the suspension after the river crossing, and then use the garlic to chase off the vampire bat in the gold mine (wait, that last one might be Zork). Anyway, when you’re done, turn to page four to start the speed race. [Editor’s Note: I have no idea what Mark is talking about, here....

Ryvid Inc. is a fresh face in the motorcycling world, and it wants to hit the ground with its wheels turning. The company just announced its first motorcycle, and aims to bring some aviation tech and thoughtful ideas into the space for a surprisingly reasonable price. You’ll notice that something is different about the Anthem the first moment that you lay your eyes on it. There’s little bodywork; the bike’s frame is exposed....

The Ideal Brake Curve is a graph that brake engineers create before they know anything about the brake system of a car. It is the first step in designing the new system. It shows us the stopping power of the front and rear axles under ideal conditions. In other words, if we had a perfect brake system that could use all the available traction of the front and rear axles at all times and under all possible road conditions, what would the stopping power of each axle be?...

If you haven’t heard of the Gambler 500 before, I’ll give you a rundown. The best way that I could describe the Gambler 500 is that it’s like that Wacky Races show, but in real life. It’s a 500-mile endurance rally meant to be done in cars as close to $500 as possible. This isn’t really a race, and you won’t get a trophy for finishing first. Instead, you’re encouraged to buy the worst possible car that you can find, send it through the woods with your friends, and remove all of the junk that other people leave behind....

I was 14 when this game debuted and I’d glimpsed other cars through the “World Rally Championship” on SPEEDVISION and through the German car magazines my relatives would bring back from the Frankfurt airport. I thought I was cool. I was not cool. I knew nothing! I got Gran Turismo for Christmas in 1997 and, honestly, I don’t remember much of 1998. Did I kiss a girl that entire year?...

So, let’s all give it up for the Mustang II, because combing through hundreds of car ads this morning, this was the first one I hit that didn’t have exclusively caucasian people. Cars are for everyone, and it’s worth remembering that. Have a great holiday, everyone. How you folks doin up north? On the plus side, maybe I can hold a Red Bull Crashed Ice competition on my neighborhood streets tomorrow....

(Full Disclosure: Toyota invited me to Austin, Texas to attend the Toyota Crown’s reveal. The company paid for my travel and a night in a swanky resort.) Last week, Toyota made lots of people feel lots of emotions with the unveiling of the new Toyota Crown lineup. America is getting the Crown back after a 50-year absence, but the new car isn’t what some–including myself–expected. The understated luxury sedan that you may know the Crown to be is staying in Japan....

The turnout was far better than I expected. In my mind, as I drove to the event, I was sort of expecting maybe one or two other cars parked sadly in a corner of the parking lot, one of which maybe would be holding an irate reader who just wanted to yell at me for being such a numbnuts online, punctuating his loud, saliva-spraying points with a thick finger jabbed into my chest....