Articles
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The organized mayhem of the Mid Night Club
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You’re rich. You’re bored. You want to drive very fast. This should mean that you find your nearest racing circuit, book some time, and let loose. In 1980’s Japan, however, an elusive group of speed seekers set out to do things a bit differently. The Mid Night Club was formed in 1987. This wasn’t the…
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Hooniverse Asks: What’s your favorite specific design element from any car?
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On a Z31 Nissan 300ZX, I can quickly tell you if the car is of the two seat or two-plus-two variety. A glance at the rear side glass reveals interior secrets. I like the way the two-seater glass looks but fully dislike the slightly altered look of the 2+2. I do like that this design…
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The News for March 8th, 2019
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Welcome to the Hooniverse News! As always, this is a weekly recap of the biggest stories in the automotive industry without the fluff or bull. This week: the all-new 2020 Hyundai Sonata and some other hypercar things with weird names. Plus your automotive news for the week. 2020 Hyundai Sonata The Geneva Motor Show was a platform…
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The challenging task of selling full-size vans to normal people
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Image: cycleworld.com Many of you shared my excitement about the Ford Transit full-size being available with a 3.5-liter twin-turbo EcoBoost V6 engine and all-wheel-drive. But while we, car dorks, would get excited about such thing, the general public won’t. Vans, simply aren’t cool. Even minivans, as great as they are, are slow sellers. Most people buy…
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Hooniverse Asks: What do you want to know about the Honda Talon?
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The UTV market has exploded the last few years. While multipurpose side by sides are king of the world in this segment, it’s the sport-based units that have catapulted interest to a new dimension. Just last year, the UTV universe was a six billion dollar industry. And it’s still growing. Polaris is the current king of the…
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The juggernaut: Life with Ram’s 1500 Rebel
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Switching out of the posh, luxurious Ram 1500 Limited, the top and most-expensive trim in the 1500 lineup and climbing up into the 1500 Rebel felt like shifting from a classy conversation with Frank Sinatra to a grungier storytelling session with Metallica. One truck is a street king, the other a beast that belongs on…
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With twin-turbo and AWD, is it wrong to be excited about the 2020 Ford Transit?
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In the middle of the Geneva Auto Show, Ford dropped a press release about its US-market vehicles. It included things about commercial vehicles, specifically the F-600, which unsurprisingly slots in between the F-550 and the F-650. It also included model year 2020 updates to the Ford Transit van. The updated Transit van gets new front…
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Bugatti have built a new car for Hotblack Desiato
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Being the frontman for Disaster Area is a well-paying gig. It pays enough to buy entire star systems. Or, we assume, the most expensive new car ever built… at least here on Earth. This is the Bugatti La Voiture Noire. It costs $12.5 million before any taxes have been applied, and you can’t buy it…
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Hooniverse Asks: How will tires evolve to meet the demands of future cars?
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Your tire will be connected to your car by more than just a set of wheels and lug nuts. Michelin has developed a system called Michelin Track Connect, which allows your car and tire to talk to each other while out on the race track. Besides standard performance metrics like g forces and lap times,…
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Weird Flex but (more than) okay
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You overlooked this one. It was never appealing to you because you didn’t think to give it a shot. Why would you though, since it basically looked like a retro-futuristic minivan minus the useful sliding doors. What the Ford Flex really was though, is the modern interpretation of the brilliant Country Sedan. It’s a person-hauling…
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Hooniverse Asks: Do you commute in the snow?
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A snow storm is the favorite drama of local news stations. Despite the fact that we have been getting snow storms every winter since forever, it’s always special for those people. It’s all hands on deck time. Multiple reporters stationed throughout the viewing areas, reporting on the snow. One guy by the road, some lady…
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The News for March 1st, 2019
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Welcome to the Hooniverse News! As always, this is a weekly recap of the biggest stories in the automotive industry without the fluff or bull. This week: there’s a new Ferrari and I make fun of its name again, Polestar reveals their first mainstream EV, Ginetta shows off a new track-ready supercar, and Lamborghini does the Spyder…
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Mystery Car
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Welcome to another episode of the Mystery Car series. Today we have a tastefully rusted candidate for your guessing pleasure. It shouldn’t be too hard but it may be tricky. Make and model, please. There were several winners last week across multiple platforms. I am not sure who got the right answer first but congratulations…
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2019 24 Hours of Le Mans entry list is here
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The 87th running of the 24 Hours of Le Mans is coming this June. Today, the official entry list has been revealed. The 60-car field is made up of four classes: LMP1, LMP2, LM GTE Pro, and LM GTE Am. The LM P1 class features a handful of former Formula 1 drivers. Click here for…
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This 1986 Ford RS200 is going to fetch a lot of dough on BAT
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Bring A Trailer has been kicking out some amazing auctions over the course of the last few years. Right this moment, there are (at time of writing) 205 live auctions. And you can find something that would make you happy, if you had the cash to spend. Be it a low-mileage BMW M Coupe to…
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Obituary: Alex Mills, 1984-2019
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Alex Mills, also known by his online handle “Viper007Bond”, passed away yesterday after a long illness. He was 34. Alex was a web developer, working for years with WordPress-related things, but for many he was best known for setting up the FinalGear website and forum some 15 years ago. The site, initially meant for sharing…