The Autoweek Dispatch

Friday, January 3, 2020

QUOTE OF THE WEEK
“If you get it wrong, you cartwheel across the desert, thanking the gods of HANS the whole way and figuring out how you’re going to pay for those parts you see flying off into the tumbleweeds.”
—Autoweek’s Mark Vaughn on what happens if you pilot a Trophy Truck (above) the wrong way, in his retrospective on the best sports cars and supercars (and, obvs, tubeframe desert race trucks) he drove in 2019.

MORE DESERT FUN
Longtime auto writer and 2007 inductee in the Off-Road Motorsports Hall of Fame Sue Mead takes us along for a drive of a lifetime as a group of seasoned off-roaders re-creates the first East-West crossing of the Simpson Desert in Australia 50 years later. The expedition included members from the original group Ian McDonald and John Eggleston (and a clutch of Jeeps, natch); the photos alone are worth the price of admission.

NEWS AND RUMOR
Sooo, in case you hadn’t heard, some guy just escaped house arrest in Japan and made it all the way to Lebanon without a passport or anyone noticing! Crazy! And while we’ve been begging Digital Editor Andrew Stoy to please let us use the headline “Ghosn in 60 Seconds”—or, better, “Ghosn with the Wind”—he’s kept us all walking the straight and narrow on this one. Boo. Catch up with all the tasty Carlos Ghosn/Nissan intrigue here and here.

And all those Mustang die-hards scoffed! Just a month after Ford started taking reservations for its pure-electric vehicle dubbed Mustang Mach-E, the First Edition models have sold out. But don’t fret! If you’ve got a hankering for the bulbous pony car-cum-crossover, Ford is still taking reservations for the Premium model, due out late next year.

Our money, however, would likely go toward a Ford Flex instead, or perhaps another car on the soon-to-be-offed list. Though several cars are set to be discontinued for 2020, only a few will be genuinely missed.

RACING LINES
As we count down the days to the 24 Hours of Daytona on Jan. 25, the unofficial opening of the racing season, relive the Top 20 Moments of the Decade in IMSA with our four-part breakdown, starting at No. 20 with the Taylor brothers’ first Rolex 24 win, in 2017.

And don’t tell mom, but the report cards are out: See how Autoweek’s motorsports editors grade the Best and Worst of IndyCar and NASCAR for 2019.

Our Steven Cole Smith gets a sneak peek at what to expect when the seventh-generation car debuts in NASCAR during Speedweeks 2021, but if that’s too cerebral, then make sure to check out Greg Engle’s compilation of the, ahem, “best” racing crashes of the decade.

WHAT WE’RE DRIVING
Don’t know that we were particularly good this year, but Santa was sure kind to us. At any given time, we could count an Audi TT RS, Volvo XC40 and Genesis G70 in the fleet, though it wasn’t exactly hard duty for those of us relegated to the Lexus RX 350L or Hyundai Santa Fe. Aaand then there’s the Lamborghini Aventador SVJ roadster Vaughn squeezed in before year’s end. In his own words: “Mama mia!”

BUY THIS
2019 hit a high water mark for supercar fun, and Mark Vaughn waxes enthusiastically about all the great cars he had the good fortune to fling around the tarmac last year. But if we’re being honest, we’re maybe more excited about what cars we’ll (theoretically) get to buy this year under the 25-year rule. Can you say Mitsubishi Pajero Mini?

SOME ODDS, MOSTLY ENDS
When motorsports goes into (semi-)hibernation, auction season goes full bore, and this year’s slate of offerings to cross the block should prove interesting, highlighted by the anticipated sale at Mecum’s mammoth Kissimmee auction of the Bullitt Mustang. We also took the opportunity to review and reflect upon our top 10 list of auction sales of 2019 (spoiler alert: Ferraris, lots of them). Not to be overshadowed, a 1961 Mercedes-Benz 300 SL roadster popped up for sale on the West Coast after having spent the previous 50 or so years hidden away in a garage on the East Coast.

LISTEN UP
On the “Autoweek Podcast” Ep. 90, Wesley Wren and Mike Pryson get a lesson on one of the year’s premier Midget car races, the Chili Bowl Nationals, from our Matt Weaver. Weaver explains what the Chili Bowl is all about, gives us his thoughts on the upcoming race and dives into the event’s name. Then Graham Kozak, Andrew Stoy and Wes Raynal take over the mics to dive into the Autoweek Fleet, with reviews of the Honda CR-V, Toyota Corolla and Mini Clubman. Tune in on autoweek.com, Spotify or wherever podcasts are played.

WHAT’S AHEAD
Make sure to check in with autoweek.com this weekend for all the latest racing notes and news from our never-say-sleep motorsports team.

--Natalie Neff, Executive Editor