Good morning and welcome to our daily digest of automotive news from around the globe, starting with…
Google Launches Android 12 With New Car Smart Key Functionality
Smartphones have already made bank cards and MP3 players redundant, and it looks like car keys are next. Google says your Android phone will soon be able to unlock and start your BMW, and compatibility with other brands will follow.
Jaguar F-Type Gets Dropped From A Truck, Smashes Into Chevy Silverado, Damages Nissan GT-R
It’s hard to imagine the delivery of a new car going much worse than it does for the truck driver tasked with handing this F-type roadster over to its new owner.
QOTD: Who Got It Right, Ford’s Straight-Laced F-150 Lightning Or Tesla’s Cocky Cybertruck?
The F-150 Lightning EV is such a huge deal for Ford, for trucks, for the electric car market, and for America, that even President Biden demanded a go. But did Ford play it too safe with the styling?
Bugatti Chiron Sport And Rafale Fighter Jet Meet In Asphalt-Vibrating Race
Back in 2007, Richard Hammond raced a Bugatti Veyron against a Eurofighter Typhoon for the old Top Gear show, and despite its impressive straight-line performance, the hypercar found it hard to keep up with the fighter jet. But how does its successor, the Chiron, fare against 54,000 lbs of Rafale fighter thrust?
Walter Röhrl Shows Us Around The Upcoming 631 HP Porsche Cayenne Coupe
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The 671 hp plug-in Cayenne Turbo S E-Hybrid might have more grunt, but this lighter, driftier Coupe definitely looks like it’s going to be the most fun Cayenne you can buy. Even stone-faced rally legend and Porsche ambassador Walter nearly cracks a smile.
Roll Like Automotive Royalty With Henry Ford II’s 1966 Mustang Convertible
The original Mustang helped pioneer factory-order personalisation, but as boss of the company, Henry Ford II really could get the ‘Stang of his dreams. This ’66 convertible used by the big man during his vacations in France, and now up for grabs, is fitted with an interesting auxiliary gauge pack in the leather covered dashboard, plus the seats and door panels from a Mercury Cougar.
BMW i4 M50 Reportedly Outed Before Its Debut Next Month
An image of what appears to be BMW’s first M-badged EV has surfaced on social media. The sporty i4 features a blacked-out grille and window trims, a more aggressive front bumper and unique fender vents.
What Else Is Making The News
Snap’s New Spectacles Let You See The World In Augmented Reality
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The company behind Snapchat and those crazy photo filters is moving into the AR field with a pair of smart glasses that overlay images on the wearer’s view of the world, explains The Verge. The downside – apart from making you look like one of Biff’s goons from Back To The Future – is that you can’t buy them yet.
Japanese Bullet Train Driver Takes Bathroom Break As Train Cruises At 90 mph
When you’ve got to go, you’ve got to go, or at least that’s what a Japanese train driver thought when he left a lowly conductor at the controls of a bullet train for three minutes while he dealt with some, er, abdominal discomfort, CNN reports. His crappy misdeed might have gone unnoticed if he hadn’t slowed the 200mph train to 90mph, causing it to be 1 minute late to the next station.