Vintage 1963 Corvette Race Car Found After Being Parked for 44 Years!

ProsEngine apparently runs on TanneriteBalanced chassisStupid quick ConsToo many drive mode settings for someAWD adds some heftThat faceThere are two places where you'll probably never catch a glimpse of the new BMW M3's garish front end: from its driver's seat and,  anyone sharing the road with one, from another car. Why? Because it'll take some fairly exotic machinery to keep up with, let alone pass, the BMW M3 Competition.Even when the M3 is coming at you, it'll streak by so fast, those big ol' vertical nostrils will seemingly blur into wider shapes that recall BMW's kidney grilles of yore. Whatever your thoughts about it, BMW did ensure the M3's sniffing schnoz shovels a ton of air into the engine bay, where its fierce 3.0-liter twin-turbo inline-six lies.BMW says the engine produces 503 hp and 479 lb-ft of torque. But man, it seems like there's no way this I-6 punches below 600 hp. Equipped with BMW's available xDrive all-wheel drive, the M3 Competition we tested shoots to 60 mph in 3 seconds flat. The quarter mile is dispatched in 11.1 seconds at 124.7 mph. That's Porsche and performance electric vehicle territory.The 630-hp Lamborghini Huracán STO bests it by just two tenths to 60 (2.8 seconds); the advantage of the 720-hp Mercedes-AMG GT Black Series is even slimmer—just 0.1 second. How can we reconcile that the M3, despite loading each of its horsepower with 7.8 pounds, somehow keeps up with those supercars, which carry 5.1-5.4 pounds per hp? We can't. BMW historically has underrated its beefier engines, but this is egregious.As features editor Christian Seabaugh summed things up, "It's just hilariously unhinged." There exists a drive mode where power is only sent to the rear axle, with predictable results. But you needn't activate the RWD setting for lurid oversteer. Forget chucking the M3 into a corner; you can just as easily induce drifts by pressing harder on the gas with the steering wheel turned. BMW's xDrive seamlessly sends so much engine torque to the rear wheels that you'd swear the car is rear drive.Speaking of, compared to the rear-drive M3 Comp he'd driven previously, senior features editor Jonny Lieberman bemoaned the heft, which he swore he could feel the M3's AWD gear added to the front axle. Indeed, some judges found it was often necessary to briefly lift off the gas or dab the brakes to get the M3's mass to transfer to the front for optimal turn-in, especially on the Streets of Willow Springs—a behavior Lieberman insisted was the result of the hundred or so extra pounds the AWD M3 Competition carries up front. But without a rear-drive M3 Comp on hand for comparison, most didn't find it disqualifying.More noticeable are the personality shifts from the previous M3 to this one. Gone is the sensation that the M3 tries to pummel the earth into submission with its overly firm suspension and heavy controls. In its place is a pleasant new delicacy to its dynamics. The suspension seems to have more travel and compliance, the body is allowed to roll and pitch slightly rather than remaining stiffly dead-level at all times, and even in the sportiest modes its steering is almost light.This smidge of movement lends the M3 a more natural feel, and you can easily detect where you are in its grip envelope by dint of the body lean. Our shoulders like the transition to the less weighty steering, which, along with the suspension's newly up-on-its-toes feel, gives the M3 Competition a furtiveness to its responses that's nearly Alfa Romeo-like.This harmonic lightness let several editors settle into a satisfying, fast-paced flow. On the Angeles Crest portion of our evaluation, where the M3 changed several judges' minds, Lieberman was able to keep pace with features editor Scott Evans driving the   Mercedes-AMG GT Black Series. Of the two, only Evans could spot the M3's awful nose—in his mirrors—as it bore down on his 720-hp über-sled. Alexander Stoklosa 2022 BMW M3 Competition (xDrive) Specifications Base Price/As tested $77,895/$108,545 Power (SAE net) 503 hp @ 6,250 rpm Torque (SAE net) 479 lb-ft @ 2,750 rpm Accel, 0-60 mph 3.0 sec Quarter-mile 11.1 sec @ 124.7 mph Braking, 60-0 mph 105 ft Lateral Acceleration 1.03 g (avg) MT Figure Eight 23.3 sec @ 0.89 g (avg) EPA City/Hwy/Comb 16/22/18 mpg Vehicle Layout Front-engine, AWD, 5-pass, 4-door sedan Engine, Transmission 3.0L Turbo direct-injected DOHC 24-valve I-6, 8-speed automatic Curb Weight (F/R DIST) 3,899 lb (54/46%) Wheelbase 112.5 in Length x Width x Height 189.1 x 74.3 x 56.4 in On Sale Now Show All

In what may come as a shock to many of us, Subaru has announced that the new WRX it just launched will not be getting a higher-performance WRX STI model, at least not one based on the 2022 Subaru WRX. Instead, Subaru is looking into electrification for its future performance applications, and we may not see another STI until the next generation of the WRX, which might be awhile.In its announcement, Subaru cited "the regulations and requirements for greenhouse gasses (GHG), zero emissions vehicles (ZEV), and Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFÉ)" as the impotence for holding off on a developing a new STI right away. It appears an internal-combustion-powered STI would struggle to pass increasingly stringent regulations for sale, without first going hybrid or fully-electric. "A next generation internal combustion engine WRX STI will not be produced based upon the new WRX platform," the statement declares.The move is surprising, considering the company gave no hint that it was potentially facing delays with a next-gen STI at the reveal of the new WRX sedan last year. The STI is a popular model among enthusiasts, and sales for the outgoing WRX and STI models remained consistent for almost the last decade. It's possible this announcement is intentionally vague, and Subaru may intend to co-develop separate WRX and STI models on separate platforms to still get a new model out within a few years—technically releasing a WRX STI in the same life cycle as today's WRX, albeit with a different underlying platform and powertrain altogether.It's not clear how far along, if at all, Subaru's team has been looking into "opportunities for the next generation Subaru WRX STI, including electrification," as the announcement says. Subaru also promised to incorporate "the essence of STI" into the next-gen vehicles it actually is going to produce.If we're not getting a new STI soon, if at all, then what can we expect? The automaker just announced its new E-RA, a carbon-neutral, all-electric, all-wheel drive race car intended for production and customer racing in the upcoming FIA E-GT racing league. The company could potentially use this as a starting point for its next-gen STI, if Subaru really is starting from scratch and is free to use other platforms than the WRX's.

Volkswagen just filed a patent application for an intriguing pickup-truck version of its upcoming ID Buzz electric van, and we're desperate to learn more. An image filed with the patent (above) depicts a four-door, crew-cab ID Buzz trucklet—essentially a 2024 Volkswagen ID Buzz van with its aft roof section removed and its rear sliding doors replaced with what appear to be conventionally hinged pieces. It immediately brings to mind the classic "Doka" versions of the vintage VW vans—short for doppelkabine.The patent image is unusual in that it's rendered in full color, and not in the typical axonometric, line-drawing style. Given the ID Buzz already is patented, we figure this is enough for VW to secure this kind of design, at least as a spin-off model.It also gives us an idea of what to expect should this truck become a reality. The cargo bed is quite deep and has seemingly thin walls to maximize its utility, while there is what looks to be a black-plastic-lined foot step just ahead of the rear wheel. Seeing as how the roof sports a ribbed section with the same kind of plastic treatment as the bed liner, we figure it's designed for carrying loads; that foot step therefore would come in handy for loading things atop the ID Buzz, too. We can even faintly make out a round Lidar unit similar to the pop-up pieces VW has been previewing on its semi-autonomous setups of the future; it's located on the front right corner of the roof, by the windshield pillar. There likely is a matching unit on the left side.Some of this ID trucklet's styling cues indicate it might be a concept car, however. The forward door cut line is slightly different from that on the production ID Buzz van; the tires are very low-profile and sport an unusual tread pattern; and instead of big glass side mirrors, there appear to be pop-out cameras. There also is a long LED strip running from the nose to the tail along the body line separating the green lower section from the silvery top.You've also probably noticed that this pickup is less "truck" and more, uh, van. The green vehicle shown here has absolutely zero off-road pretense, and doesn't even wear extra body cladding on its bumpers. It is a street-first type of truck, and that's okay—in fact, it's downright different; these days, most trucks sit relatively high off the ground and wear I'm-tougher-than-you styling. This ID Buzz pickup is a van with a buzz cut, and we're here for it (in fact, we even rendered just such a vehicle soon after the ID Buzz debuted!). We'll know more about this intriguing design if or when it appears in the metal; were it to go into production, don't expect an on-sale date before 2024, after the ID Buzz van hits the market here.