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Poor headlights cause 40 cars to miss IIHS Top Safety Pick rating

Over the past few months, we've noticed a number of cars and SUVs that have come incredibly close to earning one of the IIHS's highest accolades, the Top Safety Pick rating. They have great crash test scores and solid automatic emergency braking and forward collision warning systems. What trips them up is headlights. That got us wondering, how many vehicles are there that are coming up short because they don't have headlights that meet the organization's criteria for an "Acceptable" or "Good" rating. This is a revision made after 2017, a year in which headlights weren't factored in for this specific award. This is also why why some vehicles, such as the Ford F-150, might have had the award last year, but have lost it for this year. We reached out to someone at IIHS to find out. He responded with the following car models. Depending on how you count, a whopping 40 models crash well enough to receive the rating, but don't get it because their headlights are either "Poor" or "Marginal." We say depending on how you count because the IIHS actual counts truck body styles differently, and the Infiniti Q70 is a special case. Apparently the version of the Q70 that has good headlights doesn't have adequate forward collision prevention technology. And the one that has good forward collision tech doesn't have good enough headlights. We've provided the entire list of vehicles below in alphabetical order. Interestingly, it seems the Volkswagen Group is having the most difficulty providing good headlights with its otherwise safe cars. It had the most models on the list at 9 split between Audi and Volkswagen. GM is next in line with 7 models. It is worth noting again that though these vehicles have subpar headlights and don't quite earn Top Safety Pick awards, that doesn't mean they're unsafe. They all score well enough in crash testing and forward collision prevention that they would get the coveted award if the lights were better.

The 11 most expensive American cars ever

Here's a Pro Tip for all you would-be classic car investors out there: buy Ferraris. With the Pebble Beach festivities kicking off this week, including any number high end car auctions, we thought it would be entertaining to compile a list of some to the most expensive cars ever sold with the bang of a gavel. Trouble is, once you get past the splendor of everyone's favorite Italian sports car maker, that list is pretty boring.
Ferrari dominates the all-time auction sales list; seven of the top ten most expensive cars sold wear the Cavallino Rampante badge, as well as more than half of the top fifty. Sure, a nearly $30-million Mercedes-Benz W196 racecar might be the new top dog as of last year, but it's even possible that Ferrari could take that title back in Monterey this weekend. Long story short: we think a list of the most expensive American cars ever sold at auction is a lot more entertaining to read. Hell, our list has a friggin' Batmobile on it, how can it go wrong?
Follow on below for the top ten cars that are red, white, blue and a whole lot of green.

Ford blows up Takata airbag recall by over 447k vehicles

Ford is the latest automaker to announce an expansion to its Takata driver-side airbag inflator recall, and the latest increase adds an additional 447,310 vehicles to the nationwide total. The company says that this expansion comes at the request of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. The expanded recall campaign covers: The 2005-2008 Ford Mustang built between August 18, 2004, and June 25, 2007, at the at Flat Rock Assembly Plant The 2005-2006 Ford GT built between February 11, 2005, and January 30, 2006, at the at the Wixom Assembly Plant As of December 18, Ford knows of a total of 502,489 vehicles in need of replacement driver side inflators. Of those, 462,911 are in the US, 27,516 in Canada, 7,578 in Mexico and 4,484 outside of North America. The automaker is aware of one injury that may be related to these exploding parts. Earlier in December, the automaker issued an expanded recall covering passenger side Takata airbag inflators for the Ranger pickup and Ford GT. When taking this into account, the grand total of Ford products with inflators that need replacement for the driver or passenger side is 538,977 vehicles. Scroll down to read the company's full announcement of this enlarged safety campaign. FORD EXPANDS TAKATA DRIVER-SIDE AIRBAG INFLATOR SAFETY RECALL DEC 18, 2014 | DEARBORN, MICH. At the request of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, Ford is expanding its recall on Takata driver-side airbag inflators. This recall includes approximately 502,489 vehicles, an addition of approximately 447,310 vehicles. This brings the total number of Ford vehicles being recalled for Takata airbag inflators to approximately 538,977. This expanded recall includes 2005-2008 Ford Mustang vehicles built Aug. 18, 2004 to June 25, 2007 at Flat Rock Assembly Plant and 2005-2006 Ford GT vehicles built Feb. 11, 2005 to Jan. 30, 2006 at Wixom Assembly Plant. As of Dec. 18, 2014, Ford is aware of approximately 462,911 vehicles in the United States and federalized territories, approximately 27,516 in Canada and approximately 7,578 in Mexico affected by this recall. Approximately 4,484 additional vehicles outside of North America are also included in this action. Ford is aware of one accident with an injury that may be related to this condition. Dealers will replace the airbag inflator at no cost to the customer.