Chevy’s 2023 Colorado Z71 vs. Trail Boss vs. ZR2

Do not go gentle into that good night, or anywhere at all. That's (probably) Dodge's internal motto. To wit: our sources tell us that a brand-new generation of V-8 powered, rear-wheel drive muscle machines are coming, and coming soon. Here you thought Dodge was going fully EV, and turning its back on the burning of gasoline. Not yet, bro! Yes, everyone knows that the current generation of Charger goes back to the year 2005 when it was introduced as a 2006 model, making the Dodge's bread and butter almost old enough to buy a gun. The Challenger went on sale in 2008. Both were updated in 2011. While the future is InEVitable, and there will be a time when electric cars will represent the bulk of new car sales in the U.S., that's still a decade (or more) off. In the meantime, Dodge is electing to make a little hay while the sun is shining. Meaning profits on the backs of many burnouts.Wait, Really?Yes, really. Dodge has said that fully 50 percent of its product portfolio will be BEV by 2030. That's only half of the lineup in 8 years. Until then, most of what Dodge sells will be internal combustion, and even by 2030, half will still burn gasoline. Dodge is reaching (or has long ago reached) the limits of what's possible with yee olde LD platform, which is actually a slightly refreshed-in-2011 LX platform, which as every single 14-year-old on the internet will tell you, dates to the 2002 era W211 E-Class and W220 S-Class, as if that's some sort of bad thing. DaimlerChrysler, remember? Let's not forget the 900-pound cash cow in the room: since 2006 Dodge has sold over 2,156,000 Chargers and Challengers, and that's not counting 2022. Don't forget, sales jumped in 2015 when the Hellcat models were introduced.What We Think We KnowA new, large Stellantis rear-drive platform is coming and can fit a V-8. This platform will be separate and unrelated to the EV skateboard chassis that will underpin other large Stellantis EVs. This vehicle architecture will underpin a new Charger, a new Challenger, as well as possibly a new Chrysler 300, and the next generation Maserati Quattroporte. Any chance a large Alfa Romeo 5 Series or 7 Series fighter could come along? Nope, as Alfa Romeo has announced its going all-EV by 2027. Opel? Vauxhaul? Could either of those brands get a gas-powered V-8 capable chassis. No clue, but hey, why not?The new Charger and Challenger will be lighter than the cars they replace, and they will handle better, if not much better. The designs are currently being finalized, so our sources haven't seen anything yet. We do hear that Dodge is aware that looks played a big part keeping both models alive for this long, so don't expect anything too radical. Expect ZF's ubiquitous (and excellent) 8-speed automatic to remain the transmission of choice, and of course for our friends in the Northeast there will be an AWD option.What About the Firepower?We don't know which engines specifically will show up in Dodge's new muscle cars, but you don't need to be a scientitcian to guess, with an asterisk. Currently, the 392 V-8 puts out 485 horsepower. Not bad for natural aspiration. However, Mopar's new 3.0-liter twin-turbo Hurricane I-6 pumps out "more than" 500 horsepower. It's a tough intellectual conundrum for the muscle car fan, take the less powerful V-8 or go with more power but fewer cylinders. We're betting that Dodge decides to offer two flavors of Hurricane I-6 (standard will be over 400 hp, high-output will again be over 500 hp) and save the V-8 for the all-powerful, all-profitable Hellcat variant. Figure 800 hp minimum for the next gen evil kitty.

You've seen Volkswagen's ID Buzz electric van, the new-age microbus, haven't you? If not, what are you waiting for? The automaker's iconic bus is back, first as a two-row compact-ish van with a boxy profile and simple, retro-futuristic interior, and later in all likelihood as a three-row, slightly larger variation. Having just debuted for global markets, the ID Buzz is headed to the U.S. sometime next year—which gives VW and longtime brand affiliates time to make a few classic microbus and Vanagon variations happen. We're talking Dokas (the DoppelKabine crew-cab pickups based on T1s and Vanagons), Porsche racing support vans, Westfalia campers, and more. To get you as excited as we are based on nothing but wild speculation, we've whipped up these illustrations of the ID Buzz models we hope to see soon:

People blow up expensive cars with surprising frequency, for various reasons. Some are mad that the car exhibits problems, while others just blow up fancy rides to dunk on haters, exhibit wealth, or for no good reason. One artist who goes by the name "Shl0ms" just blew up a Lamborghini Huracan, and is now selling highly detailed videos of 888 of the supercar's remains as individual NFTs via auction. Pricing starts at 0.01 Ether, or roughly $26 apiece, per Fortune.Another 111 so-called "$CAR" NFTs exist, for a total of 999, but they're being held for the team behind the elaborately choreographed explosion, as well as the investor behind the whole project.At first blush, the whole thing feels like a cunning, slickly marketed missile aimed at the intersection of crypto, NFTs, and a host of other recently gold-rush-generating buzzwords. Maybe that's because many of us are conditioned to think of NFTs and crypto as some kind of bad-faith gold rush.The Exploding Lamborghini VideoA visit to Shl0m's Twitter account is a seeming immersion into the sort of pump-'n-dump hype machine you'd expect to find behind many other cryptocurrency or NFT opportunities of the moment.Though, a closer look a Shl0ms reveals that atmosphere comes from other Twitter users excitedly sharing news coverage of the Lamborghini explosion and feverishly pinning that exposure to perceived increases in the (yet-to-be-released) NFTs' value.We know you're probably here for the Lamborghini explosion, so here's that:When reached for comment via their website, the faceless artist insists it isn't a protest against crypto, as other outlets have reported, but rather a critique of short-term greed and hopefully an example of how digital currencies can be used for more than just "zero-sum wealth extraction."Still, Lamborghini the automaker did just partner with an artist to sell off five NFTs of a graphically-exploded Lamborghini being shot into space, so it does seem like this could be mocking that a little bit.NFT Auction Proceeds Will Fund More ArtMost of the proceeds of the sales, we're told, will fund future public art installations. Shl0ms views NFTs for their original purpose—minting a digital entity's singularity on the blockchain as proof of its originality—and wants to use the digital artwork's intersection with currency as a way to funnel value toward good. Therefore it makes sense, to some degree, that just as demolishing his Huracan is performative, the air of publicity from others feels like a performance in itself.If it leaves some observers with a scammy crypto scheme taste in their mouth, know that Shl0ms doesn't want you to think of their project that way, and hopes the buyers of the NFTs are looking to appreciate the creation and the future art it funds, rather than simply accruing value. It's not supposed to be taking advantage of anyone in particular, but rather of the broader financial movement of the moment to raise funds for further art projects.Blowing Up The CarThat blow-up was more complex than you'd imagine, with the artist mentioning how carefully charges needed to be placed to avoid obliterating the Huracan too much. We doubt, based on the video evidence above, that the Lambo was left in exactly 999 pieces post-'splosion, but hey, 999 feels like a nice, cool number, doesn't it?In all, Shl0ms and company spent about two weeks testing explosives and even blowing up another (presumably less interesting) car before turning their hired explosives expert (said to be "federally licensed") on the used Lamborghini. If you're salty about the lost car, Shl0ms says it was purchased for about a quarter of a million dollars and apparently had lots of miles on its odometer.Following the big boom, the artist collected the 999 pieces and took detailed, closeup, rotating 4K videos of each one. Those are what are being sold off as NFTs, or non-fungible tokens, inimitable digital properties on the blockchain. Again, the proceeds of the NFT auction taking place February 25 will go to funding artistic installations.