MARCH 13, 2024

The original - and still our favorite - Autoextremist logo. 

The AE Quote of the Century: Everybody loves The High-Octane Truth. Until they don't. -WG 

(Cadillac)

The American luxury manufacturer is teasing what the future of its next-generation high-performance EV might be like, sharing a sneak peek at "Opulent Velocity" — a concept vehicle designed to celebrate the past, present and future of Cadillac and its performance brand, V-Series. Opulent Velocity "represents the duality of the Cadillac brand defined in the name itself, Opulent + Velocity," according to Cadillac PR minions. “Opulent Velocity is designed to foreshadow a zero emissions expression of performance and modern luxury leadership,” said Bryan Nesbitt, executive director, Cadillac Global Design. “We will share more later this year, so stay tuned.” Watch the video here. Editor's Note: Curious about the new Cadillac Celestiq? Watch this video here. -WG

(Porsche)

Porsche is expanding the model lineup of its all-electric sports sedan to include the Taycan Turbo GT and the Taycan Turbo GT with Weissach Package. The latter is built for the track and dispenses with the rear seats in favor of an even better power-to-weight ratio. At peak power, both models can deliver more than 1,000HP. "In combination with various lightweight construction and aerodynamics measures, these all-electric GT sports sedans raise the bar in terms of driving dynamics," according to Porsche PR minions. (But don't get too excited, they both weigh well over 5,200 lbs. -PMD) A more powerful and efficient pulse inverter that uses silicon carbide as the semiconductor material is used on the rear axle. The Taycan Turbo GT with Weissach Package earned the title of fastest electric series-production car at the Weathertech Raceway Laguna Seca, in California, on February 23, 2024. With a time of 1:27.87, Porsche development driver Lars Kern put in a faster lap than any other driver has before with a series electric car. Not long before that, a pre-production version of this same new model set a new class record on the Nürburgring. Kern was also at the wheel on that occasion and posted a lap time of 7:07.55 on the Nordschleife. This official lap time is 26 seconds faster than Kern recorded for his last record lap in a Taycan Turbo S sport sedan equipped with the performance package back in August 2022. This time also stands as the current record for series-production electric cars and also makes the Turbo GT the fastest four-door of any powertrain type on the Nürburgring. Porsche is the unchallenged king of extracting as much ca$h-ola from its so-called faithful; it's not even close, in fact. So, how much for the privilege of being the Biggest Tool in the Shed in your neighborhood? The MSRP for the 2025 Taycan Turbo GT and the Taycan Turbo GT with Weissach Package starts at $230,000. The MSRP does not include tax, title, registration, dealer charges or a $1,995 delivery, processing and handling fee, of course. Both models are available to order now and are expected to arrive at U.S. dealers this summer.

Editor-in-Chief's Note: The automotive media distinguished themselves - yet again - as graceless, knee-jerk shills by their absolutely gushing reports over the Rivian announcement of three upcoming, "smaller and more affordable" SUVs named the R2, the R3 and the R3X. I don't really care what was promised at that event. Why? Let's review, shall we? This is the company that announced last month that it is cutting its salaried workforce by ten percent and forecasting "flat" 2024 production compared with last year's 57,000 vehicles. Rivian also reported a net loss of $1.5 billion in its fourth-quarter earnings and announced a ten percent reduction in salaried staff as a cost-cutting measure. And this company is now claiming that it will bring these vehicles out beginning in the first quarter of 2026? This is simply Not. Gonna. Happen. Dot. Com. I've seen plenty of smoke-and-mirrors auto reveals over the years and they're all frighteningly similar, filled with bragging and boasting about The Future only to end up being inevitably delayed, or ultimately missing in action altogether. I gave up expecting more of the automotive media long ago, but it's still depressing to contemplate. -PMD

(Hagerty Media)

This stunning 1953 Corvette by Kindig-It Design won the Ridler Award at the 2024 Detroit Autorama. The machine is owned by Dave and Tracy Maxwell, and was secretly designed and built over the last five years. Everything on this custom machine is hand-fabricated, according to Hemmings, "including the body, chassis, suspension and luxurious interior. With a body painstakingly hand-built out of aluminum, the Corvette’s overall design was inspired by Chevrolet’s 1954 concept car called the Corvair, though in Kindig-It fashion, the smooth, sloping lines are further enhanced and even more pleasing to the eye. What’s even more impressive is the car’s V-12 powerplant built by Race Cast Engineering, a company based in Australia best known for its LS engine-based 12-cylinder engines. As it sits, the 9.2-liter V-12 Corvette sends almost 800HP to the rear wheels via an 8L90E eight-speed automatic transmission. The suspension utilizes coil over shocks activated by a cantilever design, with some of the rear components visible in the package tray behind the rear seat to add to the aesthetics." Editor-in-Chief's Note: We have been fans of the creative artistry displayed by the master craftsmen at Kindig-It Design for years, but this machine is truly magnificent and sensational. Just, WOW! - PMD

(Hemmings)

(Street Muscle Magazine)

(Corvette Blogger)

The AE Song of the Week:

Mott the Hoople and the Game of Life, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah

Andy Kaufman in the wrestling match, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah
Monopoly, twenty-one, checkers, and chess, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah
Mister Fred Blassie in a breakfast mess, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah
Let's play Twister, let's play Risk, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah
I'll see you in heaven if you make the list yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah

Now, Andy, did you hear about this one?
Tell me, are you locked in the punch?
Andy, are you goofing on Elvis?
Hey baby, are we losing touch?

If you believed they put a man on the moon
Man on the moon
If you believe there's nothing up his sleeve
Then nothing is cool

Moses went walking with the staff of wood, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah
Newton got beaned by the apple good, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah
Egypt was troubled by the horrible asp, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah
Mister Charles Darwin had the gall to ask, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah

Now, Andy, did you hear about this one?
Tell me, are you locked in the punch?
Hey Andy, are you goofing on Elvis?
Hey baby, are you having fun?

If you believed they put a man on the moon
Man on the moon
If you believe there's nothing up his sleeve
Then nothing is cool

Here's a little agit for the never-believer, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah
Here's a little ghost for the offering, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah
Here's a truck stop instead of Saint Peter's, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah
Mister Andy Kaufman's gone wrestling, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah

Now, Andy, did you hear about this one?
Tell me, are you locked in the punch?
Hey Andy, are you goofing on Elvis?
Hey baby, are we losing touch?

If you believed they put a man on the moon
Man on the moon
If you believe there's nothing up his sleeve
Then nothing is cool

If you believed they put a man on the moon
Man on the moon
If you believe there's nothing up his sleeve
Then nothing is cool

If you believed they put a man on the moon
Man on the moon
If you believed there's nothing up his sleeve
Then nothing is cool

If you believed they put a man on the moon
Man on the moon
If you believed there's nothing up his sleeve
Then nothing is cool

"Man On The Moon" by R.E.M. from the album "Automatic For The People" (1992)*. Written by John Michael Stipe, Michael E. Mills, Peter Lawrence Buck and William Thomas Berry. Publisher: Kobalt Music Publishing Ltd., Universal Music Publishing Group. Lyrics licensed and provided by LyricFind. Watch the Official Music Video here.

*This song was inspired by the late comedian Andy Kaufman. When he was a teenager, R.E.M. lead singer Michael Stipe saw Kaufman on Saturday Night Live, and has cited him as a huge influence ever since. People and things mentioned in this song: Mott the Hoople, Life, Monopoly, Twister, Risk, checkers, chess, twenty-one, wrestler Fred Blassie, Elvis Presley, Moses, Sir Isaac Newton, and Charles Darwin. Kaufman was known for his Elvis-impersonations, which he once performed on Saturday Night Live. Stipe tries one of his own on the line, "Hey, baby are we losing touch?" This was used as the title for a 1999 movie about Andy Kaufman, starring Jim Carrey. R.E.M. did the soundtrack, which included this song. In the liner notes for Part Lies, Part Heart, Part Truth, Part Garbage 1982-2011, Peter Buck recalled how the music for this song came together: "'Man on the Moon' was something that Bill [Berry] had this one chord change that he came in with, which was C to D like the verse of the song, and he said, 'I don't know what to do with that.' I used to finish some of Bill's things ... he would come up with the riffs, but I would be the finish guy for that. I sat down and came up with the chorus, the bridges, and so forth. I remember we showed it to Mike and Michael when they came in later; definitely we had the song finished. I think Bill played bass and I played guitar; we kept going around with it. I think we might have played some mandolin on it in the rehearsal studio." The lyrics, though, were another matter. Stipe struggled to find the right words and was against the clock because the album was due soon. Instead of working through it in the studio, the band took a few days off, during which Stipe listened to the track on a cassette in his rental car until he found inspiration. "When we reconvened, Michael walked into the studio, sang, 'Man On The Moon' once, and walked out," Peter Buck said in the In Time compilation. "We were all stunned. It was one of those magic moments I'll remember long after the award ceremonies and the photo sessions have disappeared into the mists of time." (Knowledge courtesy of Songfacts.com)

 

Editor's Note: You can access previous issues of AE by clicking on "Next 1 Entries" below. - WG