Revelations with Jason Cammisa

The Renault 5 Turbo is hot-hatch fire: imagine if today's hot-hatches out-accelerated and out-handled today's mid-engine Ferraris. The R5 Turbo beat up on the contemporary Ferrari 308 — as well as every other supercar — by moving its turbocharged engine to the back, where rear seats used to be. Compare that to enthusiast cars like today's Volkswagen Golf R, which is merely a GTI+. VW, too, built a mid-engine, rear-drive GTI, the W12-650. But the Germans built one as a marketing exercise. The French put their Le Supercar into production and sold thousands of them to the lucky public. The photo car is a Renault R5 Turbo 2 Evolution, owned by Bring-a-Trailer cofounder Randy Nonnenberg. The Evo added back in the aluminum bits lost in the switch from Turbo to Turbo 2, and had a bespoke engine with a fractionally larger displacement. For homologation purposes, of course — because this was a WRC rally car.

Months away from production, no journalists have driven the Mk2 BRZ — but we've spent some time with its specs. And a calculator. The BRZ's torque curve tells an important story: adjusted for weight and gearing, at almost all engine speeds, the 2022 BRZ will pull harder than a 181-hp Mazda MX-5 ND2 Miata — a car that is almost universally agreed does not need a turbo. The problem with the old, 2.0-liter BRZ wasn't its peak torque — it was the outrageously high engine rpm required to hit that peak; the torque dip in the everyday rpm range; and the uninspiring noise the engine made. The Mk2 BRZ and Toyota GT86 solve that with a new FA24 engine variant — and fake engine sounds coming through the stereo speakers. Adding a turbocharger at the manufacturer level means a cascading avalanche of cost. Had Subaru put a turbo on the 2022 BRZ, it would likely follow in the footsteps of every other affordable, sporty coupe: it would become so expensive that it would die off. Toyota already has

Porsche has just announced the 992 GT3, and it's the most extreme GT-car yet, with a wholly reengineered double-wishbone front suspension replacing the regular 992's struts. This is the 7th-generation of GT3, and the massive engineering signals a sea change for Porsche: the GT3 is now, unquestionably, the most important car in the 911 lineup. Porsche's GT-Car Division, run by the talented and charismatic Andreas Preuninger, exists within Porsche's Motorsport Department — and has made the most desirable 911s of the last 20 years. It's time to look back at the 996, 997, 991.1 and 991.2 variants to understand the progression of the GT cars in Porsche's lineup. At the Porsche Experience Center's Los Angeles track, Jason drives the 996 GT3 RS, 997 GT3 RS 4.0, 997 GT2 RS, 991.1 911 R, and 991.2 GT2 RS — while recording high-quality sound — so you can see and hear just how far the GT cars have come. Think of this as Andy Preuninger's Greatest Hits, Volume 1.

It's hard to imagine a world without Honda and Lamborghini, but they both first started making cars in the early 1960s. Honda's first-ever passenger car (its first "car" was actually the T360 "truck") was first shown in 1962 as the Sports 360 and Sports 500 prototypes with 356- and 492-cc four-cylinders. The S500 made it to production a year or so later with a slightly larger 531-cc four, which was eventually supplemented by the 606-cc S600 and the 791-cc S800. The aluminum engine was the highlight of this tiny roadster (and coupe), with DOHC, hemispherical combustion chambers, and a roller-bearing crankshaft. Its design allowed it to rev to the moon — up to 9500 rpm in the case of the S600 — a redline that no other production passenger-car engine has beat even today. The car itself was a marvel of simplicity and elegant engineering, with chain-drive independent suspension (later replaced by a conventional solid axle), a 4- or 5-speed synchronized transmission, rack-and-pinion ste

There are a lot of misconceptions about the Porsche-built W124 Mercedes 500E, and Jason explains why the 500E and E500 was NOT a Porsche sports sedan with a Mercedes badge. First off, there's not a single Porsche part on the car. Porsche Engineering Services helped with reengineering the W124's engine compartment to fit in the 32-valve, 4-cam M119 V-8 — for both the 400E and the 500E. But the 500E doesn't use the same V-8 as the 500SL. It needed shorter connecting rods so that it fit in the same physical space as the 4.2-liter 400E — this way only one structural variant needed to be produced. The 400E was a response to the Lexus LS400. Why do you think it wasn't called a 420E? Porsche also did the engineering to bolt up wheels, tires, brakes, and suspension components from the wider and heavier R129 500SL and W124 500SEL. That necessitated fender flares so wide that the 500E didn't fit down the regular W124 production line in Sindelfingen. For both models, Porsche performed the p

The Roma is a sign that things are changing at Ferrari. For the last decade or so, Ferrari's sports cars have gotten more and more aggressive in looks — that's the opposite of the cars that Enzo Ferrari loved: comfortable, drivable GTs. In this episode, we examine the meaning behind the Gran Turismo — and how it's an obsolete term today. But also how the Roma, more so than the Ferrari California upon which it's based, is a return to the idea of an everyday Ferrari. It has adaptive cruise control, free scheduled maintenance, and a back seat. And while it has a rear spoiler, it has no button to make it go up and down — perhaps a way of saying, "leave those showoff antics to the Lamborghini owners." It is a modern Ferrari, after all, so it has a twin-turbocharged flat-plane-crank V-8; light and incredibly precise electric power steering; an instant-shifting 8-speed dual-clutch automatic; and suspension tuning that makes it feel as though it weighs just 2500 lb. And it's elegant. And

The original Bronco was a logic-based response to the Jeep CJ-5, Toyota Land Cruiser, and other 4x4s favored by aging, ex-GIs in the early 1960s who wanted creature comforts. And it was a massive success — in that very small market. It wasn't until the Big Bronco, modeled after the enormous Chevrolet K5 Blazer 12 years later, that Ford achieved real sales success. But the small, billygoat Bronco has become a legend because of its incredibly simple good looks, powerful engines, and (compared to its rivals) easy on-road comfort. History is repeating itself — the 2022 Bronco follows the same recipe, but this time, Ford knows a 4-door will sell in larger volumes. So the new car will be sold in both Big and Little versions. And we suspect it'll be the little, 2-door Bronco that will wind up in videos like this one day.

With a development budget of $3.5 billion, the Taurus was Ford's most expensive project ever. It was also a Hail Mary for the company, which was in financial trouble. And the SHO was the fastest version of the Taurus. If the Taurus failed, so, too would Ford. It was so important to the success of the company that Ford restructured the engineering and design teams to work together on the new family sedan. The Taurus's design was so revolutionary that Ford kept its previous mid-size sedan, the LTD, in production at the same time, just in the new car failed — as the other American car executives predicted it would. Instead, Taurus was an enormous success, eventually becoming the bestselling car in America. The performance version, the Taurus SHO, used the same basic 3.0-liter Vulcan V-6, but instead of pushrods, it used four overhead cams and 24 valves. The DOHC 4-valve heads were designed, manufactured, and assembled by Yamaha in Japan. The SHO used a Mazda-sourced 5-speed manual a

The Porsche 924, 944, and 968 were never meant to be Porsches. This lineup started as a consulting gig for Volkswagen, code named EA425. Which was to be sold as an Audi or VW. VW killed the project, leaving Porsche without one of the two prongs for its 911 replacement, the 4-cylinder transaxle 924 and the V-8 928. So Porsche bought the rights to the project, applied an arbitrary "924" badge to the EA425, and Audi built it under contract for Porsche in Neckarsulm. There wasn't a single Porsche part on it. However, over time, the 924 became the 924S and the 944, with a real Porsche engine, rather than the old Daimler-inspired, Audi-built 2.0-liter from the VW LT transit van. By the end of the car's 20-year run, the 968 had the second interior, second engine, third body — but still used suspension components designed for the Super Beetle (VW Type 1 1302), Mk1 Golf / Rabbit, Microbus, and Thing. And yet it won awards for its handling. That is something only Porsche could accomplish

The recipe for a successful sports car is simple: great looks, great name, and a vocal engine. VW's Scirocco replacement had gorgeous styling and an Italian-sounding name. But the supercharged G60 engine was a disappointment. Slower than the Scirocco 16V it replaced, the new-technology four-cylinder Corrado G60 didn't find many fans. Resurrecting an engine design pioneered by Lancia in 1922, VW created the VR6 — originally called the RV6 internally, which was a 2.8-liter 15-degree narrow-angle V6/straight-six hybrid that fit in the place of the previous four-cylinder. The original 12-valve VR6 is one of the best-sounding engines in a production car; combining the smooth, sultry sound of a straight-six with a wookie warble and none of a V-6's harshness. It was a revelation then and now — and combined with Mk3 GTI suspension components, the Corrado SLC cleaned the floor of the supercoupe class in every performance metric. Including price. It was easily the most expensive car in its

This is an in-depth review of the 2022 Volkswagen GTI, delivered by a VW Fan with a closeup perspective on the previous Mk7 Golf. The Mk7 GTI might have no bigger fan than Jason Cammisa — and in this episode of Revelations, he explains why he thinks it's a better overall car than the new Mk8. This, after comically admitting that his house looks like a Volkswagen shrine. Being a fanboy cuts both ways — it can mean blind adoration for a new car based on the previous version, or it can result in unrealistic expectations. Perhaps both are true this time around. The Mk8 is quicker than the Mk7 (we include testing results) but the problems start with cost-cutting and questionable decisions that seem to prioritize gimmicks over substance. Things like the overwrought exterior styling, GPS-blocking cell-phone holder, or worse — the fact that the interior accent lighting is infinitely color-adjustable, but there's no illumination at all for the volume temperature controls; the two most-used

The Maserati Quattroporte V was developed while Ferrari owned the company, under the guidance of Enzo The Second, Luca Cordero Di Montezemolo. It used a Ferrari-built V-8 whose sound was, thanks to a 2008 study, scientifically proven to increase sexual arousal. This is just the beginning of its appeal — though the Quattroporte wasn't a home-run at first. Thanks to the Ferrari influence, it used a single-clutch automated manual transaxle called "DuoSelect." Automated manuals were, mercifully, a short-lived fad in sports cars, and in heavy luxury sedans, they worked even less well. Drive a Quattroporte 12,000 miles per year and you're looking at $500 per month just in clutch wear. Luckily, after FIAT took control of Maserati away from Ferrari, it reengineered a huge portion of the car to fit a conventional 6-speed automatic. And the Automatica then gave the fifth-generation Quattroporte a chance at being the best-driving full-size luxury sports sedan of all time. Which it became.

The GMC Syclone wasn't just quick — in its day, it was among the quickest vehicles ever tested. And that success was lingering: the Turbo Truck was, by a significant margin, the quickest pickup truck in the world for a staggering 30 years. That's nearly twice as long as the McLaren F1 held the top-speed record. Surprise: it also handled well, keeping up with the supercars of its day. What's not a surprise: the Syclone, and its SUV-bodied brother, the Typhoon, were not conceived through the regular product-planning channels at General Motors: they were dreamt up by a Real Car Guy — Kim Nielsen — and pushed through using the help of outside consultants. To get into production quickly, before the S-15 Sonoma pickup and Jimmy SUV ended their product cycle, Nielsen worked closely with ASC/McLaren and then Production Automotive Services to develop the turbo truck. And then PAS won the contract to engineer, certify, and build the SyTy (Syclone and Typhoon.) With just a little wheelspin o

Beauty is only skin-deep, but the Alfa Romeo SZ is also beautiful underneath its composite skin. The love-it-or-hate-it design (we lurve it!) was chosen because it was so attention-grabbing, but the SZ's mechanical layout traces back directly to Alfa Romeo's 1938 race car, the 158 "Alfetta." More than a decade later, a small upgrade turned it into the 159 Alfetta, which competed in Formula 1 — and was one of the most successful race cars in history. Giuseppe Busso did more than design the lusty V-6 in the SZ; it was his dream to put the Alfetta's rear-transaxle and de Dion-suspension layout in a street car. He realized this dream with the original Alfetta (Type 116) in the early 1970s, and that basic layout carried over directly into the SZ, giving this two-door coupe (and the RZ, its roadster twin) predictable, easy handling. The SZ's styling is polarizing but its driving experience is not — it's universally praised as a driver's car, with great visibility, an incredibly responsive

The Saab 99 Turbo and 900 Turbo were Swedish Crystal Balls: they more accurately foretold the future of automotive powertrains better than perhaps any other car until Tesla's EVs. The similarities are many: Saab wasn't a car company; it was an airplane manufacturer, so it did things differently than other automakers. Saab was obsessed with safety. And Saab was concerned about real-world speed and efficiency rather than looking just at numbers. And as a result, Saabs were bought by non-mainstream buyers. Just like today's EVs. In this episode, Jason Cammisa explains why the 99 and 900, which were effectively the same car, were revelations. They included a handful of world-firsts, including low-boost-pressure, high compression-ratio four-cylinders that more closely resemble today's turbos than anything else of the era.

One of the design briefs for the C4 Corvette was that it had a minimal frontal cross-section, so it was less visible to radar. In other words, it helped you get away with speeding. Another target was to be the most powerful car sold in America. The 1990 - 1995 Corvette's ZR-1 option package was the most expensive in the history of Detroit, but it gave the Corvette world-beater firepower. Its LT5 V-8 was designed by Lotus and built by Mercury Marine, an all-aluminum, four-cam V-8 that was developed from the Lotus Etna concept engine, not a Small Block. It shared the traditional Small Block 4.40-inch bore spacing (after a quick redesign) and used an early form of passive Variable Valve Timing. The 32-valve V-8 breathed through 16 individual intake runners, half of which could be closed off at low loads. When opened, those runners breathed through valves that ran on a far more aggressive cam profile. This allowed the engine to be both torquey and efficient at low-rpms, but powerful at

The 3rd-gen Mazda RX-7 has it all: beauty, performance, a Le Mans tie-in, and a sales failure. Like so many other legends, it's everything we want in a sports car. Which made it a hard sell in its time. The FD RX-7 was developed at the same time, by the same man, as the 4-rotor 787B that won the 24 Hours of Le Mans. It was a lightweight, fast, focused sports car that walloped its competition on the road and on track, thanks to a sequential twin-turbocharged rotary engine and a obsessive lightweighting. But it might have gone too far. The 13B-REW engine is fragile and finicky, and the chassis was one last-second reinforcement away from being too light to be structurally sound. Then again, what sports car doesn't suffer from a few problems? At least the RX-7 had incredible performance and looks to kill. It was designed to be a classic, with forms that would make it one day appear on the lawn at the Pebble Beach Concours d'Elegance. Given how well it's aging, there's little doubt the