1993 - Nissan 300zx on 2040-cars

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Submit your questions for Autoblog Podcast #305 LIVE featuring Matt Edmonds of the Tire Rack!

We record Episode #305 of the Autoblog Podcast tonight, and we'll be joined by Matt Edmonds of podcast sponsor The Tire Rack, so drop us your questions and comments via the Q&A module below, especially if they have to do with tires and wheels! Subscribe to the Autoblog Podcast in iTunes if you haven't already done so, and if you want to take it all in live, tune in to our UStream (audio only) channel at 10:00 PM Eastern tonight.
Discussion Topics for Autoblog Podcast Episode #305
2014 Chevrolet Silverado

Zombie cars: Discontinued vehicles that aren't dead yet

Car models come and go, but as revealed by monthly sales data, once a car is discontinued, it doesn't just disappear instantly. And in the case of some models, vanishing into obscurity can be a slow, tedious process. That's the case with the 12 cars we have here. All of them have been discontinued, but car companies keep racking up "new" sales with them. There are actually more discontinued cars that are still registering new sales than what we decided to include here. We kept this list to the oldest or otherwise most interesting vehicles still being sold as new, including a supercar. We'll run the list in alphabetical order, starting with *drumroll* ... BMW 6 Series: 55 total sales BMW quietly removed the 6 Series from the U.S. market during the 2019 model year. It had been available in three configurations, a hardtop coupe, a convertible and a sleek four-door coupe-like shape.   BMW i8: 18 total sales We've always had a soft spot for the BMW i8, despite the fact that it never quite fit into a particular category. It was sporty, but nowhere near as fast as similarly-priced competitors. It looked very high-tech and boasted a unique carbon fiber chassis design and a plug-in hybrid powertrain, but wasn't really designed for maximum efficiency or maximum performance. Still, the in-betweener was very cool to look at and drive, and 18 buyers took one home over the course of 2021.   Chevy Impala: 750 total sales The Impala represented classic American tastes at a time when American tastes were shifting away from soft-riding sedans with big interior room and trunk space and into higher-riding crossovers. A total of 750 sales were inked last year.   Chrysler 200: 15 total sales The Chrysler 200 was actually a pretty nice sedan, with good looks and decent driving dynamics let down by a lack of roominess, particularly in the back seat. Of course, as we said regarding the Chevy Impala, the number of Americans in the market for sedans is rapidly winding down, and other automakers are following Chrysler's footsteps in canceling their slow-selling four-doors. Even if Chrysler never really found its footing in the ultra-competitive midsize sedan segment, apparently dealerships have a few leftover 2017 200s floating around. And for some reason, 15 buyers decided to sign the dotted line to take one of these aging sedans home last year.

New world record set with 507 EVs in parade [w/video] *UPDATE

Let's be honest, with more and more electric vehicles out in the world, it's getting easier to bring more and more of them together in one spot. Still, the work that goes into convincing over 500 EV owners to show up at one place at one time should be rewarded. And, in the case of the San Francisco Bay Leafs and Electric Auto Association Silicon Valley Chapter efforts yesterday as part of this year's National Drive Electric Week celebrations in in Cupertino, CA, the reward is a new Guinness World Record for the most electric vehicles in a parade. The number? 507 pure EVs gathered (sorry, plug-in hybrids). Recent similar records were set with now-small-looking events that had 305 cars or 431 EVs. The most recent target that the groups were trying to beat was a record originally set at the WAVE rally in Stuttgart, Germany earlier this year, where organizers also claimed to have 507 EVs. Plug In America (PIA) now says that the Stuttgart number was actually 481, giving California a 26-vehicle lead. The most unusual EV at the event was Stella, the solar-powered EV that is touring the world. PIA says that this four-person EV "can produce twice as much energy as it needs in a day," so it should feel right at home in the Golden State. *UPDATE: A previous version of this article said that the parade was organized directly by PIA. We have corrected the error. We've also added a video from Nissan about the parade below. This content is hosted by a third party. To view it, please update your privacy preferences. Manage Settings. NEW GUINNESS WORLD RECORD FOR NUMBER OF EVS IN A PARADE SET TODAY DURING NATIONAL DRIVE ELECTRIC WEEK IN CUPERTINO World Record set with 507 EVs, beating previous record by 26 CUPERTINO, Calif., Sept. 20, 2014-Philip Robertson, a judge with GUINNESS WORLD RECORDS®, today pronounced a new world record for most electric vehicles in a parade: 507. The record-breaking EV procession took place at the National Drive Electric Week event in Cupertino, Calif. Every vehicle was zero-emission, all-electric. No hybrid-electrics were allowed. 399 Panoramic view taken by Bruce Southwick. Stuttgart, Germany held the previous world record for a 481-EV parade in May 2014. "Congratulations on helping to drive the future of automotive technology," Robertson said upon presenting the Guinness certificate to a cheering crowd of thousands.