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.

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Honda, Wieck

At the turn of the 20^th century, the Detroit Pistons’ newly hired GM Joe Dumars kicked off the Ben Wallace era, the Tigers moved into their new Comerica Park home, the Red Wings suffered a shock first-round exit to the LA Kings in the Stanley Cup playoffs, and the Lions went 9-7, narrowly missing the postseason. Motown’s own Eminem broke through with The Marshall Mathers LP. Gladiator won Best Picture, PlayStation 2 sold like hotcakes, Vlad Putin was elected Russian president, Al Gore demanded a recount, America Online bought Time Warner and Santana’s “Smooth” became a mega-hit.

On the automotive front, the new millennium birthed a fleet of automotive notables from American sedans to sleek sports cars to a BMW SUV made in the USA.

Here’s a look at the new antiques.

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Henry Payne, The Detroit News

Bay City — Call it the Batmobile. The stealth fighter. The Black Widow.

Or, in long hand, the matte-black 2026 Toyota GR Supra MkV Final Edition. It’s the last hurrah for one of the most engaging, recognized, awarded sports cars in the U.S. market. My Final Edition tester was a paparazzi magnet on a weekend up north. In Charlevoix a Amazon delivery driver jumped out of his truck.

“I saw this come by down the block,” he said. “Do you mind if I take some photos?”

At a gas station, the driver at the next pump came over to ogle. “Nice car,” he drooled.

On I-75, an SUV shadowed me at 75 mph, its occupants hanging their smartphones out the window to take video.

On M-31, a Golf R tailed me to get a closer look.

Henry Payne, The Detroit News

Detroit — Exotic and practical, progressive and conservative, modern and traditional. The all-new 2026 Lexus ES has a dual personality: it’s offered in electric and gas models while sporting flashy design for customers shy on the latest tech.

Rolling into Supino’s Pizzeria in Eastern Market to satisfy my appetite for the best Brooklyn pie in town, my electric ES 350e turned heads.

If Lexus has been known for its expressive Spindle grilles, the electric ES’s design (and its hybrid ES 350h doppelganger) is inspired by the Lexus LF concept. Goodbye gaping mouth, hello dark sideburns. It’s a striking evolution from the last-gen Darth Vader fascia, and more pleasant to my eye.

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Leonard Kraud, The Detroit News

Tesla is expanding its Robotaxi rideshare service to include Florida, Texas, and California as it competes with Alphabet’s Waymo, Amazon’s Zoox, and other autonomous rideshare services. But consumers are already buying retail Teslas to self-drive them in cities across the United States.

Senior citizens most notably.

Determined to maintain their individual transportation independence, they are using Tesla’s hands-free Full Self Driving system as a driver assist. Though by no means exclusive to seniors in its ability to add another set of eyes to the road, FSD helps elderly drivers maintain a cocoon around their car as their confidence in reflexes and eyesight naturally deteriorate.

“It’s as good a driver as I am,” said Dick Amacher, 78, a retired General Motors engineer from Rochester Hills who drives his Model Y and Model 3 on FSD 98% of the time. “Here’s the thing: It will not go through a red light. It will not go through a stop sign. Every once in a while, I’ve driven through neighborhoods where stop signs were partially obscured by low-hanging branches, for example … and (the Tesla) sees them before I do.”

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Henry Payne, The Detroit News

FOOM! An all-wheel-drive, 1,250-horsepower, hybrid V-8/electric Chevrolet Corvette ZR1X, the most powerful American sportscar ever produced, exploded past the presidential viewing stand, defeating its mere supercar sibling, the rear-wheel-drive, 1,064-horsepower ZR1, by two car lengths in a drag race.

“I hit about 115 (mph) at the viewing stand,” said GM engineer and ZR1X driver Stefan Frick afterwards. “Then backed out of it at about 120.”

If he had kept going past the 1/8-mile makeshift dragway set up on Black Lake, the 67-acre asphalt skid pad at the north end of the Proving Ground’s 4,400 acres, the ZR1X would have hit 233 mph.

“That’s the largest piece of asphalt I’ve ever seen,” said Trump, a car buff with his own large collection, at a rally afterwards. Black Lake has been an engineering test ground for countless performance vehicles.

Ford, Ford

It’s the third stop of four on a U.S. tour that kicked off with a wild, airborne demonstration on San Francisco’s hills last winter. On February 21st at the intersection of Broadway and Divisadero, American off-road racer Mitch Guthrie Jr. raced up Broadway’s 11-degree incline and launched the Raptor T1 at 45 mph off a 5-degree ramp — soaring over the Red Bull F1 car that was performing smokey donuts on Divisadero.

Don’t expect similar jumps in the flat Dearborn terrain off Hubbard Road north of Ford headquarters. But Baja racer Chris Polvoorde ― who takes Guthrie’s seat in the T1+ this weekend ― promises it will still be wild.

“Really excited. Just went and ran (the course) the first time, and it’s really cool,” said the 2025 Baja 1000 overall race winner. “It’s got a mix of super-big areas, high-speed areas, and then some really tight areas that will be good for the crowd. A little nerve-wracking for the drivers … but I think it’s gonna’ be awesome.”

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Henry Payne, The Detroit News

Memphis ― Is candy food? Is the 2026 Toyota GR Corolla transportation?

Inspired by Toyota’s Gazoo Racing division, the hell-raising hot hatch is a daily sugar high. WAUUUURGH! I nailed the throttle out of my cul-de-sac into the twisties. WAUUUURGH! I nailed it onto the I-75 on-ramp north to Auburn Hills. WAUUUURGH! I stomped on it out of a stoplight onto Telegraph Road. WAUUUURGH! I stomped it out of a turn on M1 Concourse test track.

With an outrageous 100 horsepower per cylinder, the 300-horse GR (that’s pronounced GRRR) is one of the most entertaining cars in the market. All-wheel drive for drifting, front-rear limited-slip differentials, stiff track suspension, stick-shift from the gods.

It’s a go-kart with a license plate. But at nearly $50,000, does my Premium Plus model make any sense as a daily driver?

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