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2027 Car, Truck, Utility nominees announced amid ‘product desert’
Posted by Talbot Payne on September 16, 2026
Henry Payne, The Detroit News
The North American Car, Truck and Utility Vehicle of the Year Awards judges announced their nominees for 2027 this week amid a drought of new product.
Dubbed the Best of 2027, the 25 new vehicles set the field for NACTOY’s 2027 awards season.
Five cars, four trucks, and 16 utility vehicles will vie for the prestigious trophy, the only award presented by an independent jury of auto journalists. The list boasts eight models from Detroit-based brands, including all four in the truck category (including newcomer Troy-based Slate) and four in the SUV category.
The 2027 NACTOY awards come against a backdrop of industry disruption after state and federal government efforts to force automakers to sell electric vehicles and sunset their internal-combustion-engine lineups. Automakers are retooling to meet market demand as consumers haven’t warmed to EVs, government mandates were withdrawn, and federal subsidies subsided.
“Automakers (are) tearing up product plans built for an EV future that has not arrived,” reported the Murphy Automotive Product Pipeline this week, authored by respected ex-Bank of America “Car Wars” analyst John Murphy. “Automakers face the worst three-year new-product drought on record and intensifying global competition and policy uncertainty are raising questions about which brands ultimately survive.”
The NACTOY Best of 2027 represents shifting industry trends. Just 10 years after NACTOY expanded its categories from car and truck to include sport utility vehicles, SUVs dominate the list. A decade ago, Best of 2017 included 15 cars, 12 SUVs and four trucks.
While Detroit automakers still rule the U.S. truck market, no Motown makers are represented in the car category for 2027 — a segment they have largely exited. About 30% of nominees are from U.S brands, consistent with 2017 — though best-selling EV automaker Tesla is conspicuously missing despite offering a new three-row version of the Model Y, the seventh best-selling vehicle in market. Tesla does not offer vehicles for NACTOY testing.
How Ford baked its 2027 F-150 in desert heat before serving
Posted by Talbot Payne on September 16, 2026
Henry Payne, The Detroit News
WHITTMAN, Arizona — It’s hot at Ford Motor Co.’s Arizona Proving Grounds in the Mojave Desert 48 miles northwest of Phoenix. Beastly hot, with average triple-digit temperatures during August, and test track temps climbing over 150 degrees.
Which is just how Ford F-150 pickup engineers like it.
At the wheel of a 2027 F-150 prototype, Thermal Systems Engineer James Konstantino tore around APG’s 2.1-mile oval at 60 mph, towing a bright red dynamometer simulating a 10,000-pound trailer on a five-degree grade. In 114-degree heat.
How 2027 Honda TrailSport leans into the off-road SUV trend
Posted by Talbot Payne on September 11, 2026
Honda, Honda
“Our team of passionate engineers is taking our ultimate Honda adventure SUV and making it even more capable for 2027,” said Honda National Auto Sales Assistant Vice President Luis Guerra. “By enhancing both the driving experience and off-road capability, Honda Passport offers our customers an SUV for their daily life and next great adventure.”
The two-row, midsize off-road segment has long been dominated by the Jeep Grand Cherokee (and its lifted Trailhawk halo model featuring all-terrain tires) with annual sales north of 200,000 units.
The Passport TrailSport takes direct aim at the Toyota 4Runner TRD Off-Road and Land Cruiser, rugged Japanese SUVs that have followed the Grand Cherokee in offering customers an adventurous-looking SUV even if it’s only used as a daily driver. The strategy has worked with the 4Runner/Land Cruiser pushing nearly 150,000-unit sales in 2025. The Passport sold a record 55,231 units in 2025 and sales are up 20% this year through August.
Pedal to the metal in the 810-horse Mustang RTR Spec 3
Posted by Talbot Payne on September 11, 2026
Henry Payne, The Detroit News
Point Pleasant, West Virginia — During Prohibition, my home state of West Virginia was notorious for bootleggers running moonshine across state lines. To outrun the law, shiners like future NASCAR racer Curtis Turner famously ran hooch through the state, using the treacherous mountain passes to escape the feds in modified Ford Coupes, Studebakers and Dodges with big engines and hidden storage.
Boy, would they have loved the supercharged-Coyote-V8-powered, 810-horse, 2025 Ford Mustang RTR Spec 3.
I spent a week flogging it everywhere from West Virginia’s old moonshine routes to Michigan’s M1 Concourse Champion Motor Speedway.
BRAWWWWGH! I downshifted from 4th to 3rd and then nailed the throttle down WV-869, the Coyote’s howl bouncing off the nearby hills, before hanging a left on WV-817 running along the Kanawha River. Flat, traffic free, with nothing but roadside cornfields and abandoned Mail Pouch Tobacco barns, WV-817 is one of the most enjoyable two-lane roads in the eastern U.S.
As EV rush fades, automakers pivot to multi-energy platforms
Posted by Talbot Payne on September 8, 2026
Henry Payne, The Detroit News
Indeed, the eighth-generation ES was originally planned as an electric model as U.S. and California regulations pushed automakers toward EVs — and as Lexus targeted the Chinese market in addition to its traditional U.S. and Japanese markets.
Despite the government mandates, however, U.S. EV demand plateaued around 8% of the market in 2025. When a new Republican administration in Washington relaxed federal-and-state-imposed regulations and EV demand fell, Lexus shifted gears.
“The original intent was for the ES to be predominantly a battery-electric vehicle. But when we were given more flexibility and listened to our customers and what they were asking for, we made the shift into being more of a 80% hybrid, 20% BEV” mix, continued Hurlow. “(We were) able to make that shift as the market shifted on us. That’s the flexibility the multi-pathway approach (gives us).”
Payne: Aston Martin Vantage Roadster is a work of art. With teeth
Posted by Talbot Payne on September 6, 2026
Henry Payne, The Detroit News
With a colossal 670 horsepower from its 4.0-liter, twin-turbo V-8 (14 more than the standard Vantage), the supercar inhaled the landscape in front of me. Developed alongside the Vantage GT3 car that is leading the 2026 IMSA Weathertech SportsCar Championship’s GTD class, the Vantage is remarkably nimble for a 4,000-pound production car.
After cruising across Washtenaw Couty, I entered Hell and selected TRACK mode. The variable shocks noticeably stiffened, making the car feel as one with the road. Sticky, summer Michelin Pilot Sport S tires gripped the asphalt. Switch the eight-speed automatic transmission to MANUAL mode. Pull the bat-wing-shaped paddles behind the steering wheel to keep the V-8 in its fat, 3,000-6,000 RPM torque band.
Third gear. Full throttle.
Snatch fourth gear. Brush the brakes into a right-hander. Back to third.
SNAP! CRACKLE! POP! Fireworks from the quad exhaust.
Back to throttle.
Sweet V-8 music. And for 2026, it comes in a convertible.
Historic Freedom 250 Grand Prix garnered historic TV audience
Posted by Talbot Payne on September 2, 2026
Finn Gomez, Getty Images
The race was a spectacle. Washington, D.C., Mayor Muriel Bowser presided over the traditional calling of drivers to their cars. Drivers from 15 countries reveled in a backdrop that included the Washington Monument, U.S. Capitol, National Gallery of Art and Air & Space Museum. Spectators ogled seven flyovers featuring everything from the B-2 stealth bomber to F-22 fighters to Air Force One — not including a bald eagle that joined the winner’s podium.
Penske Corp. estimates the race brought in $100 million-$200 million in economic benefit to the D.C. region in addition to global exposure.
The Freedom 250 GP was vigorously opposed by congressional Democrats, who called it a vanity project for President Donald Trump, and the race would not have been run were it not for an executive order from the White House.
Same but different: How Freedom 250 and Detroit Grand Prix compare.
Posted by Talbot Payne on August 27, 2026
Chris Graythen, Getty Images
WASHINGTON, D.C. ― The NTT IndyCar Freedom 250 race around the National mall was one of the most electric races in the history of American motorsport. Like the Indianapolis 500 on Memorial Day weekend, it was a stage unlike any other ― its trophy coveted by drivers and teams.
In execution, however, D.C.’s street race celebrating the nation’s 250th birthday was similar to Penske Entertainment’s annual home race, the Detroit Grand Prix.
The traveling IndyCar circus is the world’s most challenging race series because it tests drivers (and organizers) on venues from 240-mph ovals to writhing road courses to gritty street courses. This year, IndyCar had five urban slugfests on its 18-race calendar: St. Petersburg, Florida; Long Beach, California; Markham, Ontario; Detroit and D.C.
The latter pair have the most in common. “The track is a lot like Detroit, actually,” said Indy 500 winner and Andretti Global ace Marcus Ericsson in a trackside D.C. interview. “Very bumpy with a long front straight that is the best spot to pass.”
Kia K4 Hatchback punches way above its price class
Posted by Talbot Payne on August 27, 2026
Henry Payne, The Detroit News
While the Elantra N takes inspiration from its IMSA Michelin Pilot-class, championship-winning Elantra with a scowling fascia covered in more black greasepaint than Baltimore Ravens Hall-of-Famer Ray Lewis, my Kia tester is dressed for a night on the town.
The elegant front end is framed by Cadillac-like vertical DRLs (Daytime Runing Lights) that glow orange. Look at them head-on and they remind of a Fu Manchu mustache at the corners of Kia’s signature tiger grille. The distinctive styling continues in the rear with a red horizontal taillight that turns down at the ends like, well, a handlebar mustache. It’s cool.
“Wow, very dramatic,” said friend Lisa as Mrs. Payne and I picked her up for a night out.
It’s reminiscent of the Stinger GT that turned heads in the market from 2018-24. It changed consumers’ perception of Kia. Like K4, it was a hatchback with can’t-turn-my-eyes-away styling. And man was it affordable, offering Audi A7-like performance for two-thirds the price.
‘We are American.’ Honda waves the flag at the Freedom 250
Posted by Talbot Payne on August 25, 2026
WASHINGTON, D.C. — In one of the most extraordinary events in America’s year-long celebration of its 250th birthday, the Freedom 250 Grand Prix brought IndyCars to the nation’s capital Sunday, August 23 to race around the National Mall. Organized by American racing legend Roger Penske, the event was wrapped in a red-white-and-blue who’s-who of Americana: U.S. Air Force aircraft flyovers, the president of the United States lapping the track in a Cadillac limo and Andretti Global racing team’s popular American driver Kyle Kirkwood holding the trophy.
The winning powertrain manufacturer? Honda Motor Co.
The prominence of the Japanese automaker in the historic U.S. event is a testament to the integration of the Tokyo-based brand in American life. If Coca-Cola, McDonald’s and Ford Motor Co. are U.S. brand ambassadors abroad, Honda is as American as, well, the Freedom 250.
With nearly 10% of the U.S. auto market, Honda shares the same challenges as domestic automakers from regulatory changes to tariffs to rising Chinese competition. At the Freedom 250, top Honda executives, drivers and engineers joined in celebrating an America that has brought Honda riches well beyond Japanese borders.
Freedom 250 is hybrid-powered. How IndyCar signals industry direction.
Posted by Talbot Payne on August 23, 2026
IndyCar
WASHINGTON ― As the NTT IndyCar Freedom 250 Grand Prix roars into the nation’s capital this weekend, it coincides with the unveiling of the series’ new, next-generation hybrid chassis.
The success of the mild hybrid chassis in IndyCar the last two years has affirmed the decision by IndyCar’s owner, Penske Entertainment, to go slow on motorsports electrification compared to the headlong rush to full electric by its European open-wheel peers.
“We didn’t buy the Indianapolis Motor Speedway to run around there with electric cars,” Penske Chairman Roger Penske famously told The Detroit News at the outset of this decade.
A lap of the Freedom 250 GP in a Corvette Z06
Posted by Talbot Payne on August 23, 2026
Henry Payne, The Detroit News
WASHINGTON, D.C. – With the 670-horsepower, 5.5-liter V-8 engine screaming behind my ear at a stratospheric 8,400 RPM, the Chevrolet Corvette Z06 hit 135 mph on west-bound Pennsylvania Avenue before hot shoe and General Motors’ Vice President for Product Programs and Motorsport Ken Morris buried the brakes into Turn 2 and pulled the eyeballs out of my head.
And no cops pulled us over.
The nation’s capital has hosted military flyovers, parades, and riots over its 226-year history but it has never seen anything like the NTT IndyCar Freedom 250 Grand Prix that will race around the National Mall Saturday and Sunday, August 22-23.
I got a taste on my Friday afternoon hot lap of what it’s like to go (legally) 110 mph over the 25 mph speed limit down Washington’s six-lane main street that connects the White House and the Capitol Building. This weekend, IndyCar’s will top that by another 50 mph – hitting 185 before diving into Turn 2, the best passing opportunity on the track.
The Freedom 250 roars onto the National Mall. How Penske pulled if off
Posted by Talbot Payne on August 22, 2026
IndyCar
WASHINGTON — For America’s 250th anniversary celebration of the Declaration of Independence, Washington, D.C.’s National Mall has featured a massive fireworks display July 4 and the Great American State Fair from June 25-July 10.
Now it’s the auto industry’s moment to make noise. A lot of noise.
The NTT IndyCar Series’ Freedom 250 Grand Prix comes to the Mall this weekend, August 22-23, showcasing some of the fastest race cars in the world. Powered by screaming Chevrolet and Honda engines, 25 open-wheel rockets will reach speeds of over 180 mph on a 1.7-mile, seven-turn track around the capital’s iconic landmarks. It will also feature President Donald Trump taking a lap of the course in The Beast, the presential limo made by General Motors Co., plus a 1,250-horsepower Corvette pace car and military flyovers.
Payne: Livin’ large in the Bronco RTR ROVR
Posted by Talbot Payne on August 22, 2026
Henry Payne, The Detroit News
Holly — In addition to capturing multiple Formula Drift championships in a Ford Mustang, Vaughn Gittin Jr. has made a name for himself as one of America’s top off-road racers, winning class victories at the Baja 1000 and King of Hammers in a Ford Bronco. The self-described “fun-haver” is one of the most engaging, outsized personalities in motorsports.
My purple and aqua Mystichrome-painted, 37-inch-tire, dirt-kicking Bronco RTR ROVR tester from his Ready to Rock mod shop is infused with Gittin’s DNA.
RTR is responsible for Ford’s forthcoming in-house Bronco and Mustang RTR models, but the North Carolina-based company continue to make its own, dealer-installed mods that are fully covered by Ford warranty. ROVR is one of those packages, and my Bronco Badlands-modified fun-haver was loaded to the gunwale.
The great thing about off-road performance vehicles, of course, is you don’t have to travel all the way to Drummond Island in the Upper Peninsula (117 miles of trails) or legendary Moab, Utah, to be a fun-haver.
Thundering Ford Le Mans Hypercar breaks cover on track
Posted by Talbot Payne on August 19, 2026
Henry Payne, The Detroit News
Ford Motor Co.’s Le Mans Hypercar has broken cover at the Paul Ricard circuit in southeast France. Though still concealed under a camouflage wrap, the Hypercar was unmistakable with its sleek lines, long dorsal fin and high wing similar to other cars in its class, including Cadillac, Ferrari and Toyota.
Nor could the wrap conceal the very American roar of its 5.4-liter, naturally-aspirated V-8 hybrid engine as it thundered around the 3.6-mile circuit.
The Ford will join Cadillac’s V-Series.R Hypercar on the World Endurance Championship grid next year as the Detroit brands seek to win the Indy 500 of international sportscar racing: the 24 Hours of Le Mans.
Cadillac unveils V-One Concept Hypercar for the street
Posted by Talbot Payne on August 19, 2026
GM, GM
Here’s a stoplight drag race we’d like to see at a future Woodward Dream Cruise: the Porsche 963 RSP vs. the Cadillac V-One.
At Carmel, California’s summer autopalooza last week, The Quail, General Motors Co.’s luxury brand unveiled the wicked-looking V-One Concept based on the Cadillac V-Series.R hypercar that endurance-races across the globe from Daytona to Le Mans.
The V-One comes a little over a year after Porsche’s street-legal hypercar — also based on their Le Mans endurance racer — debuted at the 2025 24 Hours of Le Mans in France. The car was gifted by Porsche to Roger Penske, Porsche’s partner in international sports car racing.
Like the 963 RSP (short for Roger Searle Penske), the V-One is a street-focused version of the V-Series.R. The two cars are likely the fastest street-legal vehicles ever conceived. Unlike the Porsche, Cadillac hailed the V-One as a halo for future V-Series brand design.
Dream Cruise Saturday wakes up with a roar in Pontiac
Posted by Talbot Payne on August 15, 2026
Pontiac – Dawn broke over the Woodward Deam Cruise here Saturday revealing asphalt black with burnout marks at the intersection of Woodward and Pike.
It’ll got a lot blacker today.
The bookends of the Woodward Dream Cruise have very different personalities. Ferndale opens the Cruise Friday at 5.30 PM each year – blessed by the presence of Ford’s sprawling Mustang Alley display at Como’s – with an official ribbon cutting at Nine Mile and the Lights & Sirens Parade of city emergency vehicles.
Pontiac is the Wild West. No ribbon cutting. No officials. No manufacturer presence. Just wall-to-wall car owners enjoying the world’s biggest car event. After the sun went down Friday, the revs turned up as cars cruised the West Track Loop at the north end of the Cruise’s 16 mile strip before turning south.
Livin’ the Dream: Cars loud and proud cruise down Woodward
Posted by Talbot Payne on August 15, 2026
David Guralnick, The Detroit News
Pontiac — Drivers in their twin-turbo, gold-rimmed glory will be indulging fuel-injected fetishes on Woodward Avenue Saturday.
Hot-steppin’ Hemis with four-on-the-floor will be letting them unwind during the Woodward Dream Cruise.
With apologies to rocker Bruce Springsteen, the bard of the automobile, the annual car extravaganza will be jammed with people who found the key to the universe in the engine of an old parked car.
But nobody will give a hoot about the skyrocketing cost of gas.
Sun (and Mustang Dark Horse SC Convertible) rises on Friday Dream Cruise
Posted by Talbot Payne on August 14, 2026
Henry Payne, Detroit News
Ferndale – On an overcast Friday morning at 6:38 a.m., an orange sunrise failed to poke through the clouds over Woodward Avenue.
But a purple Mustang did.
Hoisted 40 feet in the air on a crane, the 2027, Purple Precision Ford Mustang Dark Horse SC Convertible — shrouded in a Ford blue cover — rose over Nine Mile and Woodward for its big debut when the Woodward Dream Cruise officially gets under way later in the day.
Read full article here.
Mustang unveils topless, 795-horse Dark Horse SC Convertible
Posted by Talbot Payne on August 14, 2026
Henry Payne, The Detroit News
Ferndale ― Now you can go topless riding 795 ponies.
Just in time for the Woodward Dream Cruise, Ford on Friday unleashed the 2027 Mustang Dark Horse SC Convertible, the drop-top version of its wicked, 795-horsepower, 5.2-liter, supercharged V-8 Dark Horse SC. With its soaring soundtrack, Ford Racing-engineered performance, and sleek styling, the SC Convertible takes aim at luxury, six-figure coupes like the Porsche 911 Cabriolet, Mercedes SL, and BMW 8-series.
The SC Convertible expands the Dark Horse lineup to four models, establishing it as a premium sub-brand within the Mustang lineup to appeal to upscale muscle-car customers enticed by the range-topping, limited edition, GT3-race-car-based, $330,000 Mustang GTD halo.
Read full article here.