Want a Race car? These 4 Cars Are Pretty Close

by Gabrielle DeSantis

Many people have dreamed of taking a racecar around a track or lap or two. Maybe you’re a racing fanatic or just love the design and power of the world’s fastest cars. There’s something about being able to feel like you’re going both deliriously fast and yet still in control. Just because you can’t drive at super fast speeds off a track doesn’t mean you can’t have some of the fun of owning a race car. If you’ve ever thought that having a racecar as your daily driver would be cool, you should check out these race car inspired road cars. 

2021 Chevy Corvette | Chevrolet

The Dodge Charger is one of the fastest cars

The Dodge Charger has a huge following and is a favorite among both muscle car enthusiasts and those who love cars with the ability to go fast. Forbes magazine called the 2021 Dodge Charger “the fastest sedan on Earth,” and they’re probably not far off. With 797 horsepower and 707 lb-ft of torque, it’s definitely got a race car vibe going. If you want a car that’s both tough and fast, the Dodge Charger is the car for you. 

The 2022 Porsche 911 is as close to a race car as a car can get

Porsche has a long history of making fast cars. A huge part of their reputation surrounds fast cars. The 2022 Porsche 911 GT3 is a pretty quick little car. It comes with a 4.0-liter, 502-horsepower engine with 346 lb-ft of torque. Autoblog says this is just 8 horsepower shy of Porsche’s actual race car, the GT3 Cup car. You can also get it with a manual transmission. If you want a high-end race car inspired car, you’ll love the Porsche 911 GT.

The 2022 Ford Mustang is completely revamped

Ford has totally redesigned the Ford Mustang for the 2022 racing season, and there are similarities to the kind of Mustang you can go down to the dealership and buy. The 2022 Ford Mustang has 647 horsepower and 550 lb-ft of torque. Like many vehicles these days, the GT has downgraded its engine to a V6 from a V8.

The 2021 Chevrolet Corvette is a race car inspired road car

You can get the 2021 Chevy Corvette with 495 horsepower and 470 lb-ft of torque with an optional performance exhaust, according to MOTORTREND. This isn’t too far behind its racing counterpart, the C8.R. One of the biggest differences between the road-ready Chevy Corvette and the C8.R is their weight. The Corvette comes in at 3,587 pounds and the C8.R is just 2,733 pounds. 

Race cars will always inspire road cars. Car manufacturers can try out equipment and setups while attracting fans. Car enthusiasts get to see the potential of some of their favorite cars. Each of these cars brings something from the track into their road car, making a perfect blend of performance and reliability. If you love racing and want a fast – or fast-looking – car, any of these race car inspired cars would be a great choice.

RELATED: Porsche Is Launching a New EV Battery Company

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Kansas Has Spent 5 Years Trying to Destroy a 1959 Corvette

by Gabrielle DeSantis

The Kansas Highway Patrol wants to destroy Mr. Martinez’s 1959 Corvette. He bought it in 2016 and while registering it some undisclosed issues popped up. This pulled in the Kansas Highway Patrol who, in turn, seized the classic Corvette.

Kansas admits the Corvette owner is innocent

1959 Chevy Corvette | Getty

Mr. Martinez had no idea there were problems with the Corvette’s VIN number. Additionally, the state’s attorney says Martinez is completely innocent of any wrongdoing. Yet, the state maintains the Corvette must be destroyed and has spent years fighting in court to do so.

The case Kansas Highway Patrol v. 1959 Chevrolet Corvette, State of Kansas, ex rel. 1959 Chevrolet Corvette, an amicus brief was filed in an attempt to protect Martinez’s private property rights. Especially, since the KHP recognizes him as innocent. 

The Kansas Highway Patrol says the Corvette is “contraband”

red 1959 Chevy Corvette | Getty
1959 Chevy Corvette | Getty

“Asset forfeiture is when the government takes a person’s property without a criminal conviction,” says Martinez’s attorney. “In some cases, the person is never even charged with a crime, as was the case with Mr. Martinez. The government should not get to destroy an innocent person’s car.”

What the KHP says is that the car needs to be destroyed due to it being “contraband.” Without further explanation, we can only guess the scenario that Martinez’s Corvette became contraband. The simplest outline is that the Corvette was used at some point as either collateral or as partial payment for something illegal. That probably means it is illicit drug-related. 

“They shouldn’t use their power and resources to take property”

1959 Chevy Corvette
Restored red 1959 Corvette | getty

“When the government knows someone is innocent, they shouldn’t use their power and resources to take their property,” says Kansas Justice Institute Litigation Director, Sam MacRoberts. “Kansas’ forfeiture laws are to blame. The United States and Kansas Constitutions do not permit the government to acknowledge a person’s innocence, on the one hand, and then with the other, declare the innocent person’s property ‘contraband’ and take it.”

The amicus brief was filed earlier this month, so it will take some time to wind its way to an end. And it is anybody’s guess how it will end. On the surface, the judgment should go to Martinez. But a lot rides on how it could be potentially interpreted in years to come. 

If it sets a bad precedent for future forfeiture seizures then it could go against Mr. Martinez. In that case, we at least hope the KHP takes video of the Corvette’s destruction. At least that would leave a record for how the classic Corvette met its end.

RELATED: Report: Minnesota Cops Can Seize, Sell, and Keep Money Even If You’re Innocent

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GM Announces an Important Detail About the Chevy Bolt EVs Recalled for Fire Risk

by Gabrielle DeSantis

Last month, General Motors recalled Chevy Bolt EVs a second time for battery fire risk after two models burst into flames. In a move that shows GM is eager to end its battery problems, the automaker recently clarified which parts it will replace in the affected Bolt EVs and vowed to continue investigating the matter. Read on for more details about the recall and proposed fix.

Battery fire problems and the Chevy Bolt EV recall

The battery information screen in a 2017 Chevy Bolt EV | Joanne Rathe/The Boston Globe via Getty Images

Experts from LG and GM identified the presence of two rare manufacturing defects in the automaker’s lithium-ion battery modules as the cause of battery fires in Chevy Bolt EVs. GM also stated it might adjust its plan concerning the defective batteries if an additional investigation reveals a different remedy. 

Also, Chevy Bolt EVs repaired under the previous recall will need to be fixed again under the new effort. The first recall, in November 2020, relied on a software update to ensure the Bolt’s maximum battery charge remained at 90%. But that was only a temporary fix.

Last month, two more Bolt EV fires prompted GM to issue another action. This time, the automaker warned owners not to leave their Chevy Bolt EVs charging overnight or parked inside. In fact, the two Bolts that caught fire had already been fixed under the first recall. To date, there are a total of nine reported Bolt EV fires in the U.S.

These incidents happened when the vehicles were plugged in and almost fully charged and involved a fire originating from the battery packs. GM transitioned to the “design level N2.1” cells in mid-2019 and has said none of the vehicles affected have such cells.

GM announces it will replace all battery modules, not just defective ones, in the Chevy Bolt EVs under recall

In a bid to mitigate the risk of fire, GM says it will replace all lithium-ion battery modules — not just defective modules — in thousands of 2017 to 2019 Bolt EVs under recall. The repairs will begin soon, and GM says it has begun mailing recall letters to the owners of affected 68,600 Bolt EVs globally.

The battery modules in the recalled cars include five lithium-ion modules, and GM will swap them with new lithium-ion battery modules. The current update is reportedly more specific than the one the automaker provided in July.

Then, the plan was to replace defective battery modules only, but now, the automaker intends to replace every module in the recalled Bolts, the Detroit Free Press reports.

An overview of the 2022 model

Although not much has changed for the 2022 Chevrolet Bolt EV since the current model year, it comes with some new tech and a new look, Chevrolet says.

A new front fascia replaces the playful, toy-like look of the EV’s predecessor for a more premium, grown-up look. Plus, the Bolt’s wide eyes are no more. Instead, it has narrow LED signature lights. Additionally, the space previously occupied by fog lights has the actual LED headlamps on it.

That, in turn, gives this compact EV an appearance of super-slim concept headlights in the day but also offers adequate illumination at night.

Inside, an all-new center console connects more naturally to the dashboard, which wasn’t the case with the previous floating design. Also, the 2022 Bolt EV has a dedicated button for the one-pedal driving mode, and a vertical bank of PRND buttons replaces the shift lever.

Starting at $31,000, the 2022 Chevy Bolt EV can travel 259 miles per charge according to EPA estimates, making it an ideal commuter car.

Note that later models — including 2020, 2021, 2022 Chevy Bolts — do not have any known battery fire issues. Of course, that is good news for anyone planning to buy the all-new EV.

RELATED: Car and Driver Can’t Deny the ‘Dorky’ Chevy Bolt’s Attractiveness

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Ernest Hemingway and Jack Kerouac: United By Parallel Road Trips

by Gabrielle DeSantis

Many readers consider Jack Kerouac the patron saint of the great American road trip. So it may be surprising to learn writer Ernest Hemingway loved road trips too. Hemingway and Kerouac were born over twenty years apart and led very different lives. Yet, they both wrote the novel that defined their respective generation and became literary celebrities. They both revolutionized American prose. And they both loved to drive. They loved driving so much that after each of them published their first book, they each completed a great American road trip in their beloved Ford.

Ernest Hemingway in 1928

By twenty-eight years old, Ernest Hemingways was the brightest literary star of his generation. Living amongst expatriate writers in Paris, he published several revolutionary short stories collections, his prose style forever changing American literature. Then, inspired by his friend F. Scott Fitzgerald’s “The Great Gatsby,” he wrote a novel. 

Hemingway’s debut “The Sun Also Rises” is about a posse of young expatriates behaving badly at the bullfights in Spain. But, unlike “Gatsby,” “Also Rises” explores exactly why the 1920s roared. In the book, Hemingway names his fellow disillusioned veterans the Lost Generation.

Hemingway enjoyed taking trips by train from Paris to Austria and Spain. But while a starving artist in Europe, he was never been able to afford his own car.

Then in 1928, Hemingway returned to the United States, triumphant. Ernest Hemingway’s wealthy uncle-in-law, Gus Pfeiffer, bought Hemingway a car. He ordered the Hemingway’s a brand-new Ford Coupe, loaded with all the available options. 

Hemingway and his wife, Pauline Pfeiffer, landed in Key West, Florida to take delivery of the car. The Hemingways fell in love with the town and would live there until 1938. 

Ernest Hemingway’s First Road Trip

A two-lane in Utah | Photo by: Dukas/Universal Images Group via Getty Images

That spring, the Hemingways road tripped up Florida and then drove their brand-new Ford west. Pauline was very pregnant. So the couple stopped their road trip in Pickett, Arkansas, to see the Pfeiffer clan, then continued to a hospital in Kansas City, where Pauline gave birth.

Hemingway left Pauline and his new son, Patrick, in Pickett to rest and continued driving the new Ford westward on his own. He became hooked on road-tripping. During the day, the landscape of the country captivated him. And in hotel rooms at night, he worked on what would be his most celebrated novel: a love story set during World War One titled “A Farewell To Arms.”

In 1928, Hemingway was drawn to the Rockie Mountains, as he would be for the rest of his life. He spent the fall hunting and fishing in the western wilderness. Pauline came west to join him. The Hemingways loved their transcontinental road trip so much that they continued it as a yearly tradition.

Jack Kerouac in 1950

At twenty-eight years old, Jack Kerouac feared he was a literary failure. His first novel, “The Country and The City,” had been a commercial and critical flop. He aspired to write “a great road novel” but did not know how to begin or end it. 

Kerouac knew his novel would center around his wild friend Neal Cassady. Kerouac had already hitch-hiked across the country to meet up with Cassady and later road-tripped across the country as Cassady’s co-driver. But as he poured over his pocket notebooks, he couldn’t help feel that the story was incomplete.

Kerouac attempted to move his family to his beloved Rockie Mountains with the bit of money he made from his first book. He rented a house in Denver, Colorado and paid to move his widowed mother, sister, and brother-in-law out from the East Coast. They decided they did not like Denver and returned east. Broke and broken-hearted, Kerouac ambled about Denver. Then Neal Cassady arrived.

Jack Kerouac and Neal Cassady’s Final Road Trip

A dusty road thought the desert in Navajo Land Arizona | Photo by: Xavi Talleda/VWPics/Universal Images Group via Getty Images. On roads like this Jack Kerouac and Ernest Hemingway both enjoyed road trips.
A dusty road in Arizona | Xavi Talleda/VWPics/Universal Images Group via Getty Images

Kerouac and Neal Cassady had talked about a Mexican road trip for years. Then in 1950, Cassady decided the time had come. So in New York, Cassady bought (or stole) an ancient Ford and drove to Denver. Kerouac described the car as a “sedan with the right-side door unhinged and tied on the frame. The right-side front seat was also broken, and you sat there leaning back, face to the tattered roof.” (Kerouac, 217).

Reunited, the two friends partied in Denver for a night. Then, beginning where Hemingway’s 1928 road trip had ended, Kerouac and Cassady drove their Ford straight south.

Kerouac and Cassady’s road trip became legend: they slept in bug-infested jungles and partied all the way to Mexico City. Finally, Kerouac famously realized that his beloved road continues beyond America and circles the world. But when Kerouac fell sick, Cassady abandoned him in Mexico City and drove north. 

Cassady’s ancient Ford blew a differential just over the U.S. border and hitch-hiked home. While Kerouac convalesced in Mexico City, he had time to reflect on Cassady’s true nature, and as importantly, how his road novel should end. When Kerouac finally published “On The Road,” the book introduced the Beat Generation to the public and launched its writer into stardom.

Sources: Arkansas.com and The New York Times

RELATED: Why Does Cuba Have so Many Classic Cars?

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