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Experimental mid-engine XP-819 Corvette going up for auction

It seems to be commonplace that when a new Corvette is in development, rumors swirl about a possible mid-engine layout. As is the case of Chevy's most recent C7 Corvette, these rumors never pan out.
In any case, the idea for a 'Vette with an engine mounted behind the driver can probably all be traced back to a single car, the 1964 XP-819 prototype. Built as an "engineering exercise" back in 1964, the prototype was designed with a rear-mounted engine. History tells us that the idea of a rear-engine Corvette fizzled, and the XP-819 was eventually cut up into pieces and stored at a shop in Daytona Beach, FL.
After sitting for untold years, a restoration project started on the car, and while it isn't yet fully completed, the current owner of the car, Mid America Motorworks, will have the car on display at the 2013 Amelia Island Concours d'Elegance as a "driveable chassis" with hopes of having a fully completed car ready to bring to next year's show.

Outrageous Thor24 semi truck to appear in the new season of 'Jay Leno's Garage'

Wednesday is Jay Leno's birthday, and CNBC used the occasion to announce the upcoming season of Jay Leno's Garage. In a new teaser video, Leno is seen with a stacked list of guests, some new, some repeats, as well as a wild gamut of vehicles, including the absolutely insane 24-cylinder, 3,424-horsepower Thor24.  The outrageous semi build, which sold at auction in Saudi Arabia earlier this year for a whopping $12 million (or $1 million per supercharger) will join the likes of the Tesla Cybertruck and a recliner on wheels on the upcoming season of Jay's series.  Thor24 View 24 Photos The formula for Jay Leno's Garage is simple, successful, and not changing anytime soon. He brings out a bunch of famous people, some of which are real enthusiasts, others who have more casual driving backgrounds, and they experience a vehicle together. In the short clip released by CNBC, Leno is accompanied by Elon Musk (again), Danny Trejo, Bill Burr, Tim Allen, Jon Hamm, Brad Garrett, Jeff Dunham, Kelly Clarkson, Matt LeBlanc, Blake Shelton, Norm MacDonald, Edd China, and Jon Lovitz.           View this post on Instagram                   Thank you for sharing your dream with us. Happy Birthday, Jay! Love always, your @cnbcprime Family. A post shared by Jay Leno's Garage (@jaylenosgarage) on Apr 28, 2020 at 8:27am PDT The people, however, are merely social lubricants to spotlight the real stars of the show, the cars. This season will include the Tesla Cybertruck, the record-breaking Bugatti Chiron Super Sport 300+, a 1965 Buick Riviera, a naked cat car, an Aston Martin DBS Superleggera, a Porsche Taycan, a modern Ford GT, a Chevrolet Corvette C8 hard-top convertible, amphicars, a snail car, a beetle car, a couch car, and the 24-cylinder, 12-supercharger, 3,424-horsepower Thor24 semi. Just to name a few. As usual, there will be racing, stunts, spinouts, smoke from both tires and engines, and lots of silly dad jokes. Season 5 of Jay Leno's Garage debuts on CNBC on May 20 at 10 p.m. ET. Related Video: Celebrities Green TV/Movies Aston Martin Bugatti Chevrolet Tesla Special and Limited Editions Jay Leno Jay Lenos Garage

Weekly Recap: Volvo buys Polestar, makes performance a priority

Volvo is taking its performance business in-house, and the Swedish carmaker announced Tuesday that it bought tuning company Polestar, which has long been known for producing sporty Volvos. The move allows Volvo to ramp up its performance business, and it plans to increase Polestar-branded vehicle sales to 1,000 to 1,500 annually, up from the 750 total projected for this year. The companies have been working together on motorsports projects since 1996. Financial terms of the sale were not released, and Polestar workers will move over to Volvo. Former Polestar owner Christian Dahl will keep control of the Polestar racing team and operate it under a new name. In addition to sales volume, Volvo has ambitious plans for other parts of Polestar, including its aftermarket business. Volvo also said it will use its twin-engine hybrid technology for Polestar models in the future, though specifics and timing were not revealed. Meanwhile, Volvo announced it will offer a run of 265 total Polestars in the United States for the 2016 model year, with S60 and V60s available. "Driving a Volvo Polestar is a special experience. We have decided to bring this experience to more Volvo drivers, placing the full resources of Volvo behind the development of Polestar as the model name for our high performance cars," Volvo CEO Hakan Samuelsson said in a statement. OTHER NEWS & NOTES 2016 Chevy Silverado, GMC Sierra, get nose jobs Automakers tend to refer to light updates as 'facelifts,' and that's exactly what Chevy gave the 2016 Silverado and GMC Sierra. Chevy slightly changed the front end of the truck. Using the one photo released of the new Z71 model as a guide, we can see that the headlights went from a stacked vertical design to single bulbs, and they are set on top of LED running lights. The grille has more body-colored elements instead of shiny metal, and the hood has a new line running down the middle (look really closely). The design theme will be similar across the portfolio, though materials and details will vary, a spokesman said. Some models, like the High Country and LTZ will have more chrome, and the LEDs are only for the upper trims. Chevy also said it will use the eight-speed automatic transmission on more versions of the Silverado, and it updated the MyLink feature to support Android Auto and Apple CarPlay.