Added on January 20, 2017  The News Wheel   , , , , , , , , , , , ,
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In the Rearview: Demons and Death Race

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Welcome to In the Rearview, where I bring you some of the top car news of the past week.

First up this past week is a News-Wheel-exclusive look at Roger Corman’s Death Race 2050 before it was released on the 19th. Enjoy looking back at the cult classic that started the Death Race off, getting a in-depth look at the cars and drivers of the new movie, reading Kyle Johnson’s entertaining review, and even entering to win your very own copy (given you enter before February 1st).

Then, we look back at the highlights of the Detroit Auto Show, which was strangely lacking in new car reveals this year, and bring you the seven most interesting cars, including the Ford GT (it’s nice in red, but I would personally want a blue one), the Kia Stinger (actually looking pretty cool), and the Chrysler Portal Concept (looking kinda weird and a little pandering to “millennials”).

A more high-profile new car would be the possibly leaked video of the 2018 Ford Mustang, looking fairly close to but subtly different from the current generation. However, take this look with a healthy dose of salt because it was leaked on a Mustang forum/blog, and has since been taken down on YouTube (although we still have screenshots).

Then, either someone edited the Mitsubishi Motors Wikipedia page or the maker of the Outlander wants you to keep an eye out for demons living within you. Either way, someone got on and added a very lengthy essay on how a demon lives inside you and makes you do things, while also adding tidbits about how all music is demonic if you think about it and how the demons are all ugly (although the writer admits he has no proof of that) and come in a variety of colors. The page has since been edited, but we have a link to the page including the writings.

Speaking of bad things, Fiat-Chrysler’s diesel engines are under investigation by the EPA, who say that FCA didn’t disclose several programs that increase the amount of emissions given off. CEO Sergio Marchionne firmly denies this (because of course he would), but the EPA is withholding certification until the investigation is ended.

Back to new cars, though, I kinda love Lexus’ reveal video for the new LS 500. It reminds me a lot of The Last Airbender, in a sort of modern-day, fan-ficiton-y kind of way.

In more serious news, though, a new study has said that, should president Trump actually pull us out of NAFTA, it might result in the end of about 31,000 automotive jobs. Then again, with all of the automakers loudly announcing their investments in US manufacturing, perhaps he won’t bother going past threats.

Finally, Kurt “Motorsport Man” Verlin has all the information for us on the changes to the 2017 Formula 1 driver lineup, where only three teams kept their driver pairs. Coupled with aerodynamic car changes, it should prove to be an interesting season.