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Payne: Slinky Crown Signia is the cure for the common Toyota SUV
Posted by Talbot Payne on February 5, 2026
Oakland County — The station wagon is back. And from an unlikely source.
My Toyota Crown Signia is long, sleek and roomy. Remove the badge and you might mistake the profile for the Volvo V90 Cross Country or Audi A6 Allroad, European stalwarts in the midsize wagon business. While wagons are common across the Atlantic pond, we Yanks prefer boxy, lifted SUVs — thus the limited offerings from the likes of Volvo and Audi.
Now comes Signia, the midsize cure for the common Toyota SUV.
Henry Payne, The Detroit News
How Stellantis got back into NASCAR truck, with an eye on the Cup
Posted by Talbot Payne on February 5, 2026
Motorsports mania has hit Detroit, and everyone is jumping in the pool.
Cadillac, Chevrolet and Ford are competing across the globe in everything from Formula One to Le Mans GT racing, and now here comes Ram. The Stellantis truck brand is back in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series for the first time since 2012 and is starting the season with a bang as racing legend (and current NHRA Top Fuel dragster racer) Tony Stewart takes the wheel at Daytona International Speedway on Feb. 13.
And American Brands chief and gearhead Tim Kuniskis is not ruling out a Dodge entry in the premier NASCAR Cup Series down the road.
Henry Payne, The Detroit News
How Cadillac and Acura are using motorsports to sell V-8s and EVs
Posted by Talbot Payne on January 30, 2026
Daytona Beach, Florida — At the Cadillac display here at Daytona International Speedway, racing fans mobbed the collection of battery and gas-powered cars. Rolex 24 attendees told The Detroit News they disagreed with government electric vehicle mandates and said the market should offer a choice of gas, electric, hybrid, etc.
With an assist from motorsports, luxury brands see opportunity to sell all of the above.
The highly-touted electric revolution has hit a pothole as U.S. buyers have shied from electrics’ high prices and limited range. As high-powered, high-cost hybrid Cadillac and Acura race cars thundered around the 3.6-mile track, Cadillac and Acura wooed upscale buyers with multi-car garages.
Samuel Hope, 61, of Jacksonville, Florida, left, and Darin Schroyer, 59, of Daytona Beach at the Cadillac stand. Neither was interested in the GM brand’s EV offerings. Henry Payne, The Detroit News
Rolex 24: Life in the fast lane with Ford CEO Jim Farley
Posted by Talbot Payne on January 30, 2026
Daytona Beach, Florida — CEO Jim Farley was at Daytona International Raceway last weekend as Ford Motor Co. kicked off the North American sportscar season at the Rolex 24 Hours of Daytona. January begins a historic 2026 assault on motorsports as Ford Racing competes across five continents in everything from Raptor T1 off-roaders to Mustang GT3 racers to Formula One rocket ships.
The boss had time to take to the track himself and pick up one of racing’s most prestigious driver awards.
“I’m driving a Ford-powered 2002 Riley & Scott prototype in the HSR IMSA Classic,” Farley said Friday. Two nights earlier, he had received the Bob Akin Award, coveted as the top prize for amateur drivers. “We have qualifying tonight for our Saturday race. But right now, I’ve got to go congratulate my Mustang drivers for taking pole.”
Ford CEO Jim Farley buckles into his 2002 Riley & Scott racer in Daytona Beach. Henry Payne, The Detroit News
Payne: Get the Griswolds a Honda Pilot road-warrior
Posted by Talbot Payne on January 29, 2026
San Diego — Honda makes sensational hot hatches for gearheads with the ferocious, corner-carving Civic Type R at the front of the parade
The Honda Pilot is not that car.
The three-row SUV is Honda’s band leader for a different hatchback parade: ergonomically brilliant hatchback for families. If the driver-centric Civic Type R is built for adrenaline-pumping short sprints, Pilot is made for the long haul — a rolling living room for 4-7 passengers.
Henry Payne, The Detroit News
How Corvette’s 2001 Daytona win launched a new era of Detroit motorsport
Posted by Talbot Payne on January 27, 2026
Daytona Beach, Fla. — Before Cadillac and Red-Bull Ford F1, before Cadillac and Ford hybrid Hypercars, before Ford Mustang GT3 racers — there was the OG Corvette.
Twenty-five years ago, Chevy’s sportscar won the Rolex 24 Hours of Daytona for the first time, launching a new era of Motown motorsports that has blossomed into a second Golden Era (after the 1960s) with multiple brands competing across the globe.
Corvette brought an army of five cars to the Rolex 24 this year (two in the GT Pro class, three in GTD) on its anniversary — and nearly won again. After the #3 and #4 Pratt Miller Corvettes dominated the early going in GTP Pro, misfortune struck in the late stages to spoil the party. The #4 Corvette finished fourth in GT Pro while the #13 Corvette finished fourth in GTD class.
Henry Payne, The Detroit News
Rolex 24 thriller: Motown icons Penske and Cadillac put on a show
Posted by Talbot Payne on January 27, 2026
Daytona Beach, Fla. — Twelve manufacturers, 47 race teams and 232 drivers from all over the world came to Daytona Beach over the weekend for North America’s most prestigious 24-hour sportscar race, the Rolex 24 Hours of Daytona.
But in the end, all eyes were on two Detroit icons battling it out for the win.
In a repeat of the 2024 result, Porsche Penske Motorsports beat Whelen Cadillac Racing to the finish line by a scant 1.5 seconds. Capping an epic race across 24 hours, a six-hour fog delay and Daytona’s 30-degree bankings, the Team Penske Porsche 963 and Cadillac V-Series.R went hammer and tongs over the final hour at speeds up to 200 mph.
Henry Payne, The Detroit News
Payne: Toyota Prius Nightshade looks hot, drives easy
Posted by Talbot Payne on January 27, 2026
Charlevoix — The Toyota Prius is really getting cheeky.
America’s favorite green nerd car underwent a fourth-generation transformation in 2025 from ugly duckling to swan. Sleek fascia. Scalloped flanks. Horizontal rear taillight. I saw your head swivel when I sailed by.
For 2025-26 it got a hot Nightshade edition. Take a look at my hot hatch tester (also being featured at the Detroit Auto Show) with yellow paint, black wheels, black mirror caps. It’s a look familiar to enthusiast hellions like the Honda Civic Si and Ford Mustang that offer look-at-me Skittle colors.
Henry Payne, The Detroit News
Racing Day at the auto show: Stars, race cars and Corvette E-Ray rides
Posted by Talbot Payne on January 21, 2026
Detroit — The Detroit Grand Prix street circuit doesn’t go hot until June, but IndyCar and IMSA Weathertech Sportscar Championship drivers gave fans hot laps inside Huntington Place on Tuesday as part of the Detroit Auto Show’s Racing Day.
In Chevrolet Corvette E-Rays.
VROOM! VROOM! VROOM! Driver of the #12 Team Penske IndyCar David Malukas, Dutchman Rinus VeeKay of the Junkos Hollinger IndyCar team, and IMSA Corvette ace Alex Sims peeled out one after another on the show’s Detroit GP-sponsored gas-car track — the rear tires breaking loose on the slippery concrete surface.
Payne: Ford v Cadillac F1 rivalry takes center stage at auto show
Posted by Talbot Payne on January 21, 2026
Detroit — Oh, it’s so on.
A wheel hasn’t been turned on the race track yet but crosstown Motor City rivals Ford Motor Co. and General Motors Co. are already knocking heads in their maiden Formula One year.
Ford dominated Detroit Auto Show media events last week with its Ford Racing Season Launch at Michigan Central. The glitzy event saw a stream of Ford motorsports drivers from NASCAR to the IMSA Weathertech Sportscar Series to Baja 1000 to Formula One. The gathering opened the opportunity for the brand to make a string of performance announcements including the Bronco RTR (shown by drifting champ Vaughn Gittin Jr.) to the Mustang Dark Horse SC to the livery of the Red Bull-Ford Formula One car (introduced by Red Bull F1 ace driver Max Verstappen).
But not before the General stole the spotlight on Tuesday at its new Hudson’s Detroit headquarters by pulling the wraps off its Cadillac Formula One car.
Henry Payne, The Detroit News
Payne: The Dandy Dozen, Detroit Auto Show 2026 highlights
Posted by Talbot Payne on January 21, 2026
Detroit — Brave the ice outside, come see the ICE inside the 2026 Detroit Auto Show.
After years of taking a backseat to electric vehicles as automakers strained to meet government emissions and gas mileage mandates, the internal combustion engine is back inside Huntington Place.
From muscle cars to trucks to off-road dirt-kickers, ICE vehicles are the stars of the show. Even Aston Martin brought a quartet of its greatest ICE hits. Not that EVs have gone away. General Motors Co. is still bullish, with electrics fronting the Chevy display — and you can take test rides on a dedicated EV track.
Henry Payne, The Detroit News
Q&A: At the Dakar Rally, Ford’s CEO talks Raptor, V-8s and hybrids
Posted by Talbot Payne on January 18, 2026
Riyadh, Saudi Arabia — Ford Racing helps the Dearborn-based automaker across the globe by growing brand profile, employee talent and tech learnings for production cars.
Its latest racing venture is the brutal 14-day Dakar Rally across the Saudi sand. It’s the toughest off-road race on the global calendar — the Le Mans of off-road. Ford entered eight Raptor T1 Ultimate racers — four of them factory entries — in an all-out assault to win the top class in 2026.
CEO Jim Farley sat down in Ford’s Dakar paddock (bivouac in Dakar-speak) to talk with international media — including The Detroit News. The wide-ranging discussion touched on racing, hybrids, quality control, software development, Chinese competition, the Saudi and European markets, and the irresistible sound of an American V-8 in the desert.
Ford CEO Jim Farley speaks with media members during the Dakar Rally in Saudi Arabia. Farley set an ambitious goal of and winning the Dakar Rally to elevate Raptor as a global off-road brand.
Henry Payne, The Detroit News
Ford hones its off-road ambitions in the desert: ‘We want to dominate’
Posted by Talbot Payne on January 18, 2026
Henry Payne, The Detroit News
Riyadh, Saudi Arabia — Surrounded by some of the world’s best off-road drivers, motorsports technicians and his Ford Racing lieutenants — including Henry Ford’s great-great-grandson Will Ford — CEO Jim Farley rallied his troops for the Dakar Rally in the middle of the Arabian Desert.
“This is our business,” he said with a boyish glint in his eye. “We want to dominate off-road in our industry. We’re a stone-cold killer team, and we’re going to win this f—— race!”
The bivouac (French for paddock) erupted in cheers. This was the start of week two in the world’s most demanding off-road race, and Ford was neck-and-neck with Toyota and Renault performance brand Dacia for the outright win.
Ten thousand miles from Dearborn in the middle of Saudi Arabia, the power of the Ford brand is palpable. It is part of an American business and entertainment juggernaut that reaches every corner of the globe, including this royal kingdom anchored in the Sunni religion.
Ford Raptor T1 Ultimate racer: An off-road GT40 to win Dakar
Posted by Talbot Payne on January 18, 2026
Riyadh, Saudi Arabia — The desert-focused, 2026 Ford Raptor T1 Ultimate Dakar Rally car and the track-focused 1966 Ford GT40 Le Mans racer couldn’t be more different. The Raptor has half the top speed of the 200 mph-plus GT40, looks like a painted cockroach next to the sleek sports car, and bounces around on 37-inch all-terrain tires relative to the stiff GT40 whose roofline is only 40 inches tall.
But the V8-powered monsters’ mission is the same: establish the Dearborn automaker as the premier motorsports company on the planet.
In 1966, that meant beating Ferrari at the 24 Hours of Le Mans — the world’s premier sports car race — with the GT40. Sixty years later, the target is Toyota in a competition for bragging rights in the marathon 14-day Dakar Rally across Saudi Arabia desert. But if Ford’s Le Mans win was wrapped in marketing braggadocio, the Raptor T1 is part of a more sophisticated business model for the early 21st century.
Riyadh, Saudi Arabia – Ford Raptor T1 designer Sam Purvis of M-Sport at Dakar Rally.
Henry Payne, The Detroit News
Detroit Winterfest: Off-road-palooza comes to snowy Holly Oaks
Posted by Talbot Payne on January 18, 2026
Mt. Holly ski slopes will be buried under fresh powder this weekend, and so will the Holly Oaks Off-Road Vehicle Park.
Just in time for the Detroit Winterfest off-road-palooza.
For just $25 on Saturday, hundreds of attendees can take their own Jeeps, Broncos, Rams and Chevys off-road in the 250-acre sandbox-turned-snow globe. Winterfest also is the only time that Holly ORV Park is open on a Saturday night so riders can experience the three-dimensional landscape and its 250-foot elevation changes under the stars.
Detroit Winterfest, Detroit Winterfest
Ford Racing unveils F1 liveries, Le Mans hypercar at season kickoff
Posted by Talbot Payne on January 18, 2026
Detroit — Ready, set, Ford.
The Dearborn automaker that sprung from the winnings of Henry Ford’s 1901 racetrack victory in Grosse Pointe has kicked off its highly anticipated 2026 racing season that features Ford Motor Co.’s return to Formula One after a 22-year hiatus through a powertrain partnership with Red Bull Racing. It’s Ford’s most intensive testing ground for learnings and innovations that wind up in Mustangs, Broncos, Raptors and other Fords rolling down the street.
“The heat management strategies we are refining for the 2026 F1 grid are the same building blocks that will eventually allow a future electric Ford truck to tow further and charge faster,” said Christian Hertrich, Ford Racing Powertrain chief engineer. “We are using the world’s most expensive laboratory to ensure our customers get the innovation they deserve.”
Posted by Talbot Payne on January 18, 2026
The 2026 Chevrolet Corvette ZR1X is available in multiple colors including Sebring Orange. Henry Payne, The Detroit News
Detroit — Detroit News readers have spoken, and it’s Motown brands in a landslide.
One hundred readers of The News descended on the Detroit Auto Show Floor on Wednesday to render their verdict in nine categories: Hottest Tech, Most Electrifying, Bargain Buggy, If Money Were No Object, Off Road Warrior, Family Hauler, Muscle Machine, Top Concept and Best in Show.
Detroit’s best swept them all.
Though the show is diminished from its heady days as the North American International Auto Show, there is no dearth of toys on the floor, from exotic European chariots to off-road weapons to mega-utes. Here are the Readers’ Choice Awards for 2026:
Mustang Dark Horse SC marks V-8 performance lineup for new generation
Posted by Talbot Payne on January 18, 2026
Dearborn — Ford Motor Co. is expanding its V-8-powered Mustang Dark Horse muscle with a supercharged version standing in place of the Shelby GT500 that’s targeting thrill enthusiasts and younger buyers.
The Mustang Dark Horse SC couldn’t come with much better timing. The Dearborn automaker is pulling back on its electric vehicle endeavors to the tune of nearly $20 billion because of a lack of demand that’s augmented by a federal defanging of carbon emissions regulations and rollback of fuel economy standards. Although the vehicle would’ve hit the streets regardless of those changes, they sure make it easier to sell, analysts said.
Prototype model of the Mustang Dark Horse SC Track Pack sports a Teal Accent Package. The V8-powered addition to the performance lineup seeks to appeal to younger buyers. Courtesy Of Ford Motor Co.
Payne: Chrysler Pacifica minivan is super cool — no kidding
Posted by Talbot Payne on January 18, 2026
Henry Payne, The Detroit News
Memphis, Michigan — You think minivans are uncool?
I emerged from a game of Padel into a black Michigan night. With my arms full of a tennis bag and water bottle, I walked up to my red 2026 Chrysler Pacifica minivan tester and swung my foot under the rear door.
Open sesame!
The door automatically slid sideways, exposing the cavernous interior. I deposited my bag, then shut the door behind me with the push of a button on the B-pillar. Then I strolled around back where I had kept my laptop bag secured and did the same with the rear hatch.
How North American Car, Truck and Utility of the Year winners did it
Posted by Talbot Payne on January 18, 2026
The NACTOY awards are among the industry’s most prestigious honors. They’re given at the Detroit Auto Show in January. Henry Payne, The Detroit News
Detroit — The envelope, please. . .
The North American Car, Truck and Utility Vehicle of the Year (NACTOY) awards held their big annual awards ceremony to Wednesday to open the Detroit Auto Show. After a deluge of electric product in recent years, the awards marked a return to bread-and-butter gas-powered muscle and utility.
Winner of Car of Year was the gas-fired Dodge Charger Sixpack coupe in a nail-biter over the Honda Prelude and Nissan Sentra. Ford has dominated Truck of the Year honors since 2021 and ’26 was no different with a runaway win by the Maverick Lobo. In another blowout, the Hyundai Palisade took home the Utility of the Year honor.