Electric vehicles are a significant part of what we report on here because they’re newsworthy, regardless of whether every potential car buyer fully embraces them or not. Yes, they’re expensive, and their support infrastructure, such as recharging, isn’t fully formed yet. But the combination of tax incentives to buy them and the undeniably reality of climate change means that they’re here to stay. As one indication, we offer the most recent sales results from Volvo, which came off a record September by selling 12,446 new cars in the U.S. and Canada this month.

That total represents a year-to-date sales increase of nearly 27 percent, but perhaps more notably, sales of Volvo’s fully electric and Recharge plug-in hybrids rose by 34 percent in the U.S. and nearly half in Canada. Electrified vehicles now make up an average 30 percent of overall Volvo sales across the United States and Canada. An electric vehicle is not for everybody, not yet, and this household just bought two gasoline-fueled vehicles to meet its own transportation realities, proof positive that the ICE market still exists and will remain a sales force into the foreseeable future. But for the first time in about 100 years, electric cars are back and they’re here to stay.

While nobody was looking to closely, the Audi TT roadster gradually became an icon of the German marque, selling steadily across three generations of the model. With the two-seat roadster now at the end of its production cycle, Audi is giving it a farewell on these shores by offering the Audi TT Final Edition in just 50 copies for the U.S. market, all of them finished in an exclusive Goodwood Green shade with gray roadster top and carbon fiber inlays, plus a reinterpretation of the original TT’s stitched leather interior in Palomino Brown.

Riding on 20-inch wheels and outfitted with the S line exterior package, the Final Edition will, naturally, offer the quattro all-wheel-drive system as standard fare. The rest of the powertrain consists of the 2.0-liter turbocharged four-cylinder engine, with 228 rated horsepower, mated to Audi’s seven-speed S tronic automatic transmission. Pricing for this sure-fire collectible starts at $67,800, plus destination charges.

Very apparently, Volvo is envisioning big things for its EX30 compact SUV, a fully electric vehicle that has won strong reviews since its introduction earlier this year. Up to this point, EX30 production had been centered at Geely’s Volvo-dedicated assembly plant in Zhangjiakou, China, with the first EX30s scheduled to reach customers later this year.

Beginning in 2025, EX30 production will be expanded to include Volvo’s longstanding automotive assembly plant in Ghent, Belgium, where good things like the S60 sedan and V70 wagon used to be built. The added capacity is based on expected growth in EX30 demand in both the EU and export markets, which likely means that the EX30 will arrive here at some point. Volvo expects its global car production to be 50 percent electric by 2025, with full electrification of all models anticipated by 2030.

You can make a strong argument that in North America, the Toyota Prius introduced the marketplace to the hybrid electric powertrain. It’s recently grown an adjunct version, the plug-in Prius Prime – say that three times fast – which mates Toyota’s well-proven Hybrid Synergy Drive power system with new plug-in recharging capability. No special infrastructure is needed, given that the Prius Prime can be plugged directly into a normal household electrical outlet, with an 11-hour recharge using a normal 120-volt receptacle or about four hours on a Level 2 charger, ensuring a full charge while you pack for your trip.

With its dramatic looks, the Prius Prime will be sold across three trim levels: SE, XSE and XSE Premium. The vehicle’s all-electric range lasts up to 44 miles, and the hybrid powertrain is capable of up to 52 MPG in SE packaging. The fifth-generation hybrid drive is based on a 2.0-liter ICE powerplant augmenting lithium-ion batteries, with the package giving the Prius Prime the equivalent output of 200 horsepower regardless of trim level.

If you own a Subaru that was built within the past 30 years or so, there’s an excellent chance it was put together at Subaru Indiana Assembly in Lafayette, Indiana, where Subaru has been producing cars since 1989 at a plant it originally opened jointly with Isuzu. SIA, as it’s commonly called, has since rolled out more than 7 million new Subarus, including the top-selling Outback wagon among the four models it now builds. SIA is the only Subaru assembly plant located outside Japan.

SIA and its workforce of 6,500 have been newly honored by induction into the Indiana Manufacturers Association (IMA) Hall of Fame, chosen from a group of Hoosier nominees for its contributions to Indiana business and its commitment to employees and the Lafayette community. SIA is now the first U.S. auto manufacturing plant to qualify for zero-landfill status, and now accounts for half the Subaru products sold in the United States, a total that includes the Ascent, Crosstrek and Legacy in addition to the Outback.

Imagine, there was once a time when people simply junked old racing cars because they either weren’t fast enough anymore or had been obsoleted by rules changes. Thankfully, people have much more respect for history today, as evidenced by the vintage racing event that the estimable international champion Brian Redman has been putting on in Florida for more than 30 years now. Registration is now open for Brian Redman’s Targa Sixty Six, which marks its 33rd running February 16th to 18th at Homestead-Miami Speedway in Homestead, Florida.

The registration process provides driving privileges for each entrant and one passenger. Homestead-Miami’s attributes include a big paved paddock, garages with space for up to 130 race cars, a large hospitality suite and plenty of nearby lodging options. Vintage, historic and even modern cars will be accepted for the event. And what’s better than being in south Florida while everybody else is freezing in February? Click on the hyperlink to get started.

BMW spent the summer readying for the rollout of its new compact X2 series of all-activity crossover, and is marking its entry into the marketplace by entering a prepped version of its in the 2023 Rebelle Rally, the longest off-road rally competition in the United States, which covers 1,200 miles in eight days from Mammoth Lakes, California, to Indian Dunes near the Mexican border. The all-new X2 will take part in the X-CROSS category and will be crewed by rally veterans Rebecca Donaghe and Sedona Blinson.

Given the nature of the route, a rally-prepped car is essential for anyone intending to take on the Rebelle. To that end, the rally X2 has been beefed with specialized Falken tires, Rotiform wheels, a Thule roof race, Smittybilt recovery gear, and all-important tow straps from BMW M Performance Parts. Interested? The X2 will hit BMW showrooms in the first quarter of 2024, with an opening MSRP of $42,000.

Here’s a dealership promotion that we really like. Longo Toyota in El Monte, California, part of the Penske ownership group, has been the United States’ largest-volume Toyota dealer for 56 straight sales years. As a give-back to its community, Longo Toyota is raffling off a 2023 Toyota Corolla GR MORIZO this month, a pure go-fast subcompact created in large part by Toyota Gazoo racing. Longo Toyota is donating the proceeds to El Monte schools and to Vision to Learn, a nonprofit that helps to diagnose and treat vision problems among young students.

The El Monte school district in Los Angeles County now serves about 15,000 students in its TK-12 system. The dedicated funds from the Corolla GR MORIZO raffle will go directly toward STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Art and Math) courses within the district, along with creating dedicated learning spaces at the schools. Vision to Learn provides screenings, examinations and glasses for students experiencing vision issues at schools. Longo Toyota is huge, with some 550 employees that aid customers in their neighborhood by speaking more than 40 languages.

Imagine growing up in an island paradise where drag racing was largely unknown and you were the only guy you knew who was really, totally into it. That would constitute a daunting uphill climb in search of knowledge and experience for most people. But from the 1960s forward, that was the path pioneered by Hawaii native Roland Leong, who became a brilliant car owner, builder and tuner for some of drag racing’s very best. This is Leong’s long-overdue, and largely untold, life story.

As the cover images make clear, Leong quickly became legendary for fielding some of the most beautifully turned-out cars ever to thunder down a dragstrip. Not only that, but his brace of cars, all of which carried the moniker Hawaiian, were top runners and record setters, whose best-known driver was arguably the young Top Fuel gunfighter Don Prudhomme, who delivers the foreword of this 176-page softcover volume. Written by the estimable quarter-mile historian Lou Hart, this is another entry in CarTech Publishing‘s fine lineup of tight, information-filled volumes on drag history. Long overdue, and affordably priced at $36.95.

One of the most rewarding activities we do here is researching and writing articles for Tazio magazine, the lavish quarterly journal of international motor racing history that’s based in Belgium. In its just-published ninth issue, Tazio marks the 60th anniversary of the fabled Porsche 911’s introduction with a whole editorial budget of 911-related heritage. Part of it is my own story that tells, in-depth and with help from the participants, the tale of how Porsche achieved its first great win with the 911 at the 24 Hours of Daytona in 1973, when a 911 running in the Prototype class won the race outright.

We marked the 50th anniversary of this landmark win by speaking to Hurley Haywood, the surviving driver who took the Jacksonville-based Brumos Porsche entry to victory along with the late Peter Gregg. Hurley – who’s a Tazio contributor – lent his memories, along with those of veteran Brumos mechanic Jack Atkinson, among others. It’s a very deep dive into the story, which is typical of the journalism that this magazine presents. You ought to go to the website and subscribe.