Car and Driver April 2022

JUDGES CORNER From a Porsche Carrera–, Corvette C7–, seventh-gen-GTI-owning faithful 50-plus-year subscriber, congrats on the December 2021 issue. All is forgiven regarding the September issue. Brock, David E., Red Ball Garage, and all former masthead stars—all is well. David Kirchgessler La Verne, CA Had to agree with folks about your September issue. But the December issue more than covered it with reviews of affordable, fun cars as well as cars most of us can only dream of. Good job! Doug Klynstra Hudsonville, MI REV IT The new Corvette Z06 looks awful nice [“Heart Attack,” December 2021]. But I think I’ll hold out for the Z06 hybrid, with 400 horsepower of electric motor in the frunk driving the front wheels. The whole car probably won’t cost any more than the roof scoop of the recently tested Pagani Huayra Roadster…

Political commentator, satirist, and bestselling author P.J. O’Rourke, who we maintain did some of his best work for Car and Driver, died February 15 of complications from lung cancer at age 74. The world is a poorer place. O’Rourke made his name as a contributor to and later editor-in-chief of National Lampoon, the irreverent 1970s humor magazine that helped shape American comedy for decades. Though O’Rourke went on to write for the screen and many other major publications, as well as author more than 20 books, we will always remember him for his car writing. A 1978 piece for Car and Driver, “Sgt. Dynaflow’s Last Patrol,” tells the story of a liquor-fueled journey O’Rourke took with an English chum, Humphrey, transporting a sickly 1956 Buick from Florida to California. Two years…

At age six, I found Car and Driver, or maybe Car and Driver found me. At a supermarket newsstand in suburban Detroit, my life changed when I picked out the June 1981 issue. I asked if I could have it. Sometimes I wonder what my life would look like if the answer had been no. Once home, I pored over spy shots of a C4 Corvette and color photos of the Ferrari Berlinetta Boxer. Most of it might as well have been in Chinese, but there was something there that even a first grader could grasp. The people in that magazine—David E. Davis Jr., Don Sherman, Patrick Bedard, Csaba Csere, Jean Lindamood, Rich Ceppos—were having an insane amount of fun and getting paid for it. Adults playing with full-scale toys and…

Ford’s new Bronco Raptor learns a few tricks from the F-150 Raptor. TIME TO SIZE UP The Ford Bronco already gives off beastly vibes. To bulk up to monster Bronco Raptor proportions, its front and rear track were increased by a respective 8.2 and 8.6 inches, necessitating the bulging fender flares that look like SunSetter awnings. The extra girth makes the Bronco Raptor 85.7 inches across, wide enough for the amber marker lights required on vehicles over 80 inches broad. The big Bronco has a Dana 44 differential between a control-arm suspension in the front and a Dana 50 live axle in the rear. Both represent upgrades over the base version and feature 4.70:1 gears and locking differentials. Rounding out the package are standard 37-inch BFGoodrich all-terrain tires—meaning the Bronco Raptor comes…

1: 2017 NORTH AMERICA Brinkerhoff’s first race in the 356 was La Carrera Panamer-icana in 2013. Two years later, a crash sidelined her ambitions. After spending 2016 rebuilding and upgrading the car, she kicked off Project 356 World Rally Tour the next year by returning to Mexico and winning her class. 2: 2018 AUSTRALIA Unable to pre-run at Targa Tasmania, Brinkerhoff had to keep speeds down. While that frustrated her, the slower pace likely made Redhead’s job easier. “We had no problems there, mechanically,” he says. Again Brinkerhoff claimed a podium spot, second in her class. 3: 2018 SOUTH AMERICA Peru’s Caminos del Inca rally proved to be one of the most challenging. The 356 cleared customs, but the spare parts didn’t. Then the engine struggled in the thin mountain air. Overheating issues claimed the…

THE SECRET LIFE OF POTHOLES The world around us is crumbling, but nothing faster, it seems, than the pavement on our commutes. “We don’t have to settle for potholes,” says Larry Galehouse, founder of the National Center for Pavement Preservation. The group encourages earlier sealing of cracks, before weather and traffic create costly canyons on Main Street. AAA has reported that annually, vehicle damage from potholes costs Americans about $3 billion, equivalent to a stack of dollar bills stretching nearly 204 miles into the sky. The same study revealed that the average pothole repair bill comes in at $300—a sum well below the average American car-insurance deductible of $500, putting you on the hook to pay out of pocket. The most common victims of pothole carnage are tires. Hitting a deep one at speed…