Muscle cars at the Classic Remise Berlin. Welcome to our weekly round-up of the biggest breaking stories on Driving.ca from this past week. Get caught up and ready to get on with the weekend, because it’s hard keeping pace in a digital traffic jam.Here’s what you missed while you were away.Europeans are buying tens of thousands of American classics every yearThanks to a certain orange loudmouth, America does not have the best reputation overseas in Europe and the U.K. right now, but according to a Hagerty report, Europeans can’t get enough of their classic cars. Data gathered from shipping companies indicates around 30,000 classic cars are shipped from America to Europe each year, with muscle cars and Corvettes being the most commonly imported. One shipper believes it’s the quality of cars from rust-averse U.S. climates as well as the variety to choose from that has been enticing overseas buyers, even if they’re shopping for vintage European vehicles. Fisker released a photo of its upcoming electric SUVEV company Fisker pulled back a part of the sheets covering its forthcoming US$40,000 electric SUV this week. CEO Henrik Fisker posted a partial sidelong shot to Facebook, highlighting the D-pillar and the LED turn signal embedded therein, saying the lamp “will provide extra safety when you change lanes.” The company is allegedly “moving fast” to develop the Tesla Model Y competitor, and currently shopping around for a manufacturing plant.Supposedly ‘abandoned’ Plymouth GTX put up for sale despite owner’s objectionsEarlier this week, Hagerty reported a 1969 Plymouth GTX that had been forgotten in a Michigan storage facility with fees accumulating was going up for auction, despite the fact that its owner had come forward to legally claim it. Initially, the person wasn’t able to prove ownership to the authorities and the auction was allowed to continue. Since then, however – and just in the knick of time really – his ownership was proven, a legal motion filed and the sale of the rare GTX stopped. Watch our editors try to justify the 797-horsepower 2019 Hellcat Redeye 2019 Dodge Challenger Hellcat Redeye Nick Tragianis / Driving Adding another 80 horses to an already 717-horsepower engine is like putting Nutella on top on an Oreo: entirely unnecessary and probably quite dangerous, but, hey, since it’s just sitting there, you might as well eat it. As Driving’s Clayton Seams and Nick Tragianis note in their joint review, the Hellcat Redeye may be a bit of a “stupid car” with way too much power for most situations, but for the kind of person who lives life by the quarter-mile and appreciates machinery with real personality (even the obnoxious kind), there’s nothing quite like it. You can buy Patrick Dempsey’s 1965 Mustang fastbackHow much do you love Grey’s Anatomy? Even if your answer to that is negative fifty, you may still appreciate this custom Mustang build commissioned by actor Patrick Dempsey, who played Dr. Derek Shepherd, a.k.a. McDreamy, on the popular medical drama. A little over a decade ago, Dempsey hired Panoz Custom Sports Cars in Georgia to inject some modern style (to the tune of US$300,000) into this 1965 Mustang fastback, using a 2004 SN95 Cobra SVT as a donor. The result is a black-on-black 420-horsepower custom build with a six-speed manual transmission. And you can own it. Dempsey’s former baby is up for sale at a garage in Utah. Canadians can’t get enough of these seven aging vehiclesIf it ain’t broke, don’t update it. We went through some figures from manufacturers and other online sources to put together a list of seven aging cars Canadians can’t seem to quit. There’s the Dodge Grand Caravan that hasn’t been significantly updated since 2011 but remains the best-selling minivan in the country. Or the Toyota Tundra, which was last majorly overhauled in 2007 but had its best year for Canadian sales in 2018. Or the most ancient on the list, the Nissan Frontier, which has been playing the same song for 15 years, and we’re still giving it a standing ovation!Too many crossovers could kill the market, report saysIt’s called “market saturation,” and according to a new report, that’s where we’re headed if automakers don’t make a course-correction away from the concentrated production of SUVs and crossovers. The “Car Wars” report produced by the Bank of America Merrill Lynch suggests that the market could experience a 30-per-cent decline in auto sales by 2022. It’s projected that SUVs, crossovers and light trucks will make up 70 per cent of the 246 new or significantly updated models expected to arrive between 2020 and 2023.
Origin: News Roundup: Europe’s thing for classic American cars, a new affordable electric SUV, and Patrick Dempsey’s custom Mustang
Mustang
The 2020 Shelby Mustang GT500 will have 760 horsepower
2020 Ford Mustang GT500Ford The 2020 Shelby Mustang GT500 was revealed five months ago with the promise of extreme aerodynamics; a new dual-clutch gearbox; and an engine that would deliver more than 700 horsepower.So, sure, Ford warned usbut we didnt expect the final production engine to have almost 800 ponies.Yes, the new GT500 will make a ton of horsepower.Some 760 to be exact, and 625 lb.-ft. of torque to go along with it, which is leaps and bounds over almost everything else in the field.The top Chevrolet Camaro, Corvette and Dodge Challenger Hellcat all fall behind the new Shelby, save for the Hellcat Redeye. Even some exotics cant catch up, like the Porsche 911 GT2RS, and the Ferrari F8 Tributo. The all-new 2020 Mustang Shelby GT500 will produce 760 horsepower and 625 lb.-ft. of torque, making it the most powerful street-legal Ford ever – with the most power- and torque-dense supercharged production V8 engine in the world. Ford Of course, it isnt likely the GT500 will be able to stack up to the likes of the Ferrari and the Porsche, but with a dual-clutch transmission that can shift in less than 100 milliseconds and aero that can provide almost 550 pounds of downforce, Ford looks like its gunning for the big boys once again.Ford uses the 5.2-litre V8 from the GT350 as a starting point (but not the flat-plane-crank R version) and adds a supercharger to give it the extra oomph. The extra power should help the GT500 run a sub-11-second quarter-mile timeat least, thats what Ford says. The zero-to-100-km/h time is still not being revealed, but were sure it isnt too high.Pricing has still not been released, but if we know Ford plans to overdeliver on the horsepower, perhaps itll also give the 2020 Shelby GT500 a nice
Origin: The 2020 Shelby Mustang GT500 will have 760 horsepower
Patrick Dempsey’s 1965 Mustang fastback is up for sale
Back in 2008, Patrick Dempsey was busy saving lives on screen as neurosurgeon Dr. Derek Shepherd, a.k.a. McDreamy, on the TV medical drama Grey’s Anatomy. In real life, he was making more than a surgeon would and spending it on stuff like custom Mustang builds he could love forever, or at least a few years. The car the actor poured over US$300,000 into to build just over a decade ago is now up for sale in at a garage in Utah. Dempsey, a racer himself, commissioned the restomod from Panoz Custom Sports Cars in Georgia, beginning with a 1965 Mustang fastback as the base and a 2004 SN95 Cobra SVT as a donor. “The goal of the build was to take a classic design, preserve its beauty and at the same time make a piece of history into something that is practical, livable and completely contemporary for today’s environment,” reads the car’s description on Blacksmith Garage’s website, where there is no price listed. “The Panoz build took two and a half years and more than 3,900 hours of computer-assisted design (CAD), engineering, fabrication, custom molds, assembly and finishing time.” The team tuned the SVT’s supercharged 4.6-litre V8 up to 420 horsepower from 390, and pulled its T56 Tremec six-speed manual as well. They also fashioned a custom side-exit exhaust system with variable-tune mufflers. Suspension is Panoz’s version of the ‘04’s, which it made to improve handling and stiffness as well as provide a crumple zone for passengers. Design, meanwhile, is pretty straightforward: black. Gloss black exterior paint with chrome trim and black leather interior. The Dempsey Mustang has driven some 8,400 miles since Mustang Monthly put it on the cover of its May 2008 issue, writing “If they handed out Academy Awards for resto-mods, actor Patrick Dempsey would get the Oscar for his Panoz-built ’65 Mustang.” True story. If you don’t want to buy the thing but wouldn’t mind looking at more pictures, check out this Silodrome post by a photographer who got to take it for a rip “in the middle of nowhere,
Origin: Patrick Dempsey’s 1965 Mustang fastback is up for sale
Mustang from ‘Tokyo Drift’ for sale, but without Nissan RB26 engine
One of the 1967 Ford Mustangs used in the third instalment of the will-it-ever-end Fast Furious movie franchise is being offered for sale by RK Motors in Charlotte, complete with a thumping American V-8 underhood. Wait, wasn’t the Stang in Fast Furious: Tokyo Drift driven by a Nissan GT-R RB26? You’re right, it was—at least one of them, anyway. Apparently, three of the muscle cars were built for the film, two of which had V-8s displacing 430 cubes. Details are fuzzy, as they often are with Hollywood movies, but there may have been as many as six Mustangs on set at one point or another. This unit at RK is listed as having a 347-cubic-inch mill under its king-sized hood and being a gen-u-wine member of the cast. Billed as a restomod, the Mustang also has a Tremec TKO600 five-speed manual backing up the Roush crate engine. Original(-to-the-movie) 19-inch Volk Racing wheels bring a dose of screen-correct accuracy, and the rear end is a Moser 8.8 with a limited-slip diff and 3.73 gears. According to the seller, that Nissan-powered Mustang we all saw in the film was only used for stills and close-up shots, with the drifting duties left to the other V-8 Mustangs on set—of which this car is one. While it may not have the same engine used during its filming sequences, the car does have a heckuva story, one for which certain collectors will happily
Origin: Mustang from ‘Tokyo Drift’ for sale, but without Nissan RB26 engine
Nebraska State Patrol still uses a beautifully preserved 1993 Ford Mustang
Every now and then, it’s great to haul out an old piece of hardware to get the job done. If it’s got a bit of a cool factor, all the better. Nebraska’s finest have a weapon in their arsenal which checks both of those boxes. Remember the Ford Mustang SSP? Most gearheads do. SSP stood for Special Service Package, a trim which appeared in the early 1980s, imbuing the Fox-body’ Mustang with a goosed 5.0L V8, heavy-duty suspension parts, and a growly dual-exhaust. Ford’s no stranger to building machines to make the Blues Brothers drool — cop engine, cop shocks, cop brakes, and so forth — but the Mustang SSP holds a special place in the hearts of most car fanatics. Unless it’s sitting behind them roadside with the reds and blues flashing, of course. Sure, this 1993 Mustang might not have the snazzy tech of a modern Dodge Charger or Ford Explorer cruiser, but it has an undeniable road presence that can’t be replicated by either of those present-day machines. Remember, the ‘trunk-style’ Fox-body notch was the Mustang of choice for those in the know, thanks to its light(er) curb weight and slightly-under-the-radar appearance. While the Nebraska force does deploy its sole remaining Mustang SSP — it was once part of a fleet of Mustangs — in road duty from time to time, PR reps for the force say it generally spends its semi-retirement years travelling to public service events, like fundraisers or school-day presentations to kids. In a profession where most cars are ridden hard and put away wet, it’s great to see one of these survivors make it through years of service and still be allowed to stretch its legs from time to time. It has even retained its OE-style wheels, fer chrissakes. As cool as it is, though, I don’t want to spy one in my rear-view
Origin: Nebraska State Patrol still uses a beautifully preserved 1993 Ford Mustang
News Roundup: Ford entry-level Mustang coming, new Brubaker Box in the works and more
2018 Ford Mustang GTNick Tragianis / Driving Welcome to our weekly round-up of the biggest breaking stories on Driving.ca from this past week. Get caught up and ready to get on with the weekend, because it’s hard keeping pace in a digital traffic jam. Here’s what you missed while you were away. Ford announces an ‘entry-level’ Mustang 2018 Ford Mustang Graeme Fletcher / Driving The new Ford Mustang’s base model is slated to have a V8 engine under the hood, but now it seems the car will be presented with a more approachable power plant as well. A promised ‘entry-level’ Mustang may put the 2.3-litre EcoBoost four-cylinder in the current model to use—that engine makes 350 horsepower in the Focus RS, so it’s tune-able enough. The other potential power source is the 3.7-litre V6 EcoBoost, which the brand hasn’t fit into its Mustang since 2015. Expect more details on the entry-level all-American sports car later this month. Woman leads police on high-speed chase because she’s ‘late for work’ There really aren’t that many legitimate reasons for engaging authorities in a high-speed vehicular chase. A passenger bleeding out in the back seat or a bomb-on-bus Speed type scenario may be the only two that will actually get you out of trouble. The excuse one woman recently gave Ohio highway patrol officers after leading them on a dangerous, life-threatening pursuit was less compelling. The pursuit began when they tried to pull her over for having tinted windows and ended only when her vehicle was sandwiched between a cruiser and a pole. When the vehicle finally stopped moving, the driver told authorities she hadn’t pulled over because she didn’t want to be late for work. How’s that for employee dedication? Cali company plans to bring back the Brubaker Box A Brubaker Box fibreglass kit car Brubaker Box Fans The Brubaker Box was created in the 1970s to give surfers something to take their boards to the beach in, and maybe a place to get changed out of their wetsuits afterward. Unfortunately, due to liability issues expressed by VW, which was providing the chassis, the chunky minivan-esque vehicle was never fully realized, though it was sold in kit form. Now, however, a duo of Cali-based entrepreneurs are lining up the Box’s comeback, with its original creator onboard and planning to recreate the vehicles from the ground up, complete with the sole sliding door and removable roof panel. Here’s hoping that comeback is swift and glorious. Future Toyota Tundra and Tacoma to share platform Toyota’s Tacoma and Tundra TRD Pro Derek McNaughton / Driving Word on the street is that Toyota is planning to underpin its two popular pickup products, the Tacoma and Tundra, with the same modular global platform. Despite the difference in stature between full-sized Tundra and mid-sized Tacoma, the so-called “F1” platform will allegedly be at the base of both. Toyota still has it in the workshop, but it’s expected to be used in the 2021 Tundra, so we’ll likely see it in some form later this year. Mercedes-Benz unveils the 2020 AMG CLA 35 The 2020 Mercedes-AMG CLA 35 4MATIC Handout / Mercedes-Benz Following hot on the heels of the announcement of the new Mercedes-AMG A 35, Mercedes-Benz has confirmed the impending arrival of a similar beast, the 2020 AMG CLA 35. Changes have been made to the car’s performance as well as its appearance. The new AMG-class CLA 35 will be powered by a 2.0-litre turbo four-cylinder making 302 horsepower and 295 lb.-ft. of torque, shooting the sedan to 96 km/h in 4.6 seconds. The front end, meanwhile, gets a modified grille with chrome trim and a pair of horizontal bars connecting to the brand logo in the centre, while the rear gets a diffuser and round exhaust outlets. The AMG CLA 35 will debut in full on April 16 in New
Origin: News Roundup: Ford entry-level Mustang coming, new Brubaker Box in the works and more
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