Category: News

VW sends off the Beetle with ‘The Last Mile’ short film tribute

In case you'd forgotten — and it would be difficult to, since Volkswagen has seemed determined to remind us every few months — 2019 was the final year of production for the VW Beetle. As a final send-off, VW put together an animated short film commemorating the nameplate's contributions to pop culture over the past eight (!) decades. 

This 90-second tribute, dubbed "The Last Mile," can be forgiven for lacking depth, but it will probably still manage to tug on your enthusiast heartstrings. It features cameos from Ren McCormack, Kevin Bacon, Andy Warhol, and Andy Cohen, and is set to a cover of The Beatles' “Let it Be” performed by the Pro Musica Youth Chorus of Oak Park, Illinois. 

"The Beetle is easily one of the most recognizable cars in the history of automobiles," said VW marketing VP Saad Chehab. "Honoring it properly required a medium with just as much versatility and universal appeal as the car itself."

While the film focuses on the original Bug's place in history (and our hearts), fans of the reincarnated generations of VW's iconic coupe can take heart; they're not being left out of the celebration. 

"While we chose the classic Beetle as the star of the animation, additional campaign components in Times Square honor the latter two generations of cars and their place and presence in American culture," Chebab said. "We are proud of our past but our eye is on the future – hence our choice of New Year’s Eve to hint at our upcoming long-range EV and the 2020 Atlas Cross Sport.”

"The Last Mile" will be featured alongside other VW memorabilia and hints about the brand's future in Times Square Tuesday night as part of the company's sponsorship of "Dick Clark’s New Year’s Rockin’ Eve" on ABC.

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Video captures semi truck careening into first responders at freeway pileup

Two people were hurt, including a Texas state trooper, after a horrific incident caught on video that shows an 18-wheel semi truck barreling off the freeway behind a pileup in heavy fog, sending emergency responders and others fleeing before jackknifing, sweeping aside at least two other vehicles and crushing a pickup truck with the driver still inside.

NBC affiliate KCBD-TVcaught video of the incident, which took place Friday on Highway 84 southeast of Lubbock. The state trooper who was struck while trying to escape the onrushing semi was reportedly released from the hospital later that night with a sprained ankle, a cut to the back of his head and some bruising. The driver of the pickup, who was extracted by firefighters, was reportedly held at the hospital and was being monitored for internal injuries. He was said to be in stable conditions with few substantial injuries.

Police were there responding to a two-vehicle crash that had blocked the westbound lanes when a semi traveling eastbound (not shown in the video) jackknifed and came to a rest in the center median, with several other vehicles crashing into it, KCBD reports. Then on camera, another eastbound semi traveling at speed appears out of the fog, colliding with a red SUV that was attempting to pull over in front of it, causing the semi to jackknife, careen off the pavement and roll over, striking several vehicles in the process.

KCBD reports there were a total of five crashes involving four semi tractor-trailers and four passenger vehicles. The area was under a dense fog advisory at the time, with visibility limited to a quarter mile or less.

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Our favorite Autoblog videos of 2019 | Behind the Wheel S01 // EP09

Behind the Wheel is a new video series that shows you a bit of what it’s like to work at Autoblog. The Editors and Video Producers will show you the cars we have in our fleet, and you’ll get a behind the scenes look at some of the personalities that help make the site run. 

In episode 09 the Autoblog crew looks back at some of our favorite videos from 2019 and reflects on the moments that meant so much to us.

Do you have a favorite video you’d love to share? We’d love to hear from you, so please comment below!

Gear we used to make this video: 

Panasonic GH5s

Panasonic Lumix 12-35mm F2.8

Rode VidMic Pro

JOBY GorillaPod 3K Stand

Tiffen 58mm Variable ND Filter

GoPro Hero 7 Black

Adobe Premiere

Autoblog is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to amazon.com. These deals are available through our affiliate partnership with Amazon.com. Deals are subject to Amazon's schedule and availability.

Driver-assist technologies may encourage distracted driving: Study

2019 Cadillac CT6 with Super Cruise engaged.

Common driver-assist technologies like adaptive cruise control and lane-keep assist are meant to keep vehicle occupants safe, but a new study finds that they also make distracted driving more likely — especially with drivers who are more familiar with the technology.

The AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety reports that drivers who use both safety technologies were more likely to be distracted — by their mobile phones, adjusting the car stereo or other controls, or simply taking their eyes off the road — when they were accustomed to the advanced driver-assistance systems than those who were using them for the first time. The study authors say the disparity could reflect “a lack of trust in the automated systems.”

The Virginia Tech Transportation Institute combed through data from two previous studies. In one, researchers observed 30 people driving their own personal vehicles for the equivalent of one year's worth of data. In the other, they gave 120 participants a study vehicle and observed each of them driving for a month. All the vehicles featured adaptive cruise control and lane-keeping assistance systems. They were also equipped with video cameras and sensors to collect data about the driver and other information.

Drivers in the former group with their own cars were 50% more likely to engage in secondary tasks and 80% more likely to engage in visual or manual distractions when using the semi-autonomous systems, researchers found. They also took more frequent and longer glances at non-driving-related tasks and kept their eyes on the road less.

Participants in the other group were less likely to be distracted while adaptive cruise control and lane-keep assist systems were engaged than they were during manual driving. But these drivers, who received leased vehicles and some training on how to use the systems, were slightly more likely to speed when both systems were active than the drivers who used their own vehicles.

The researchers theorize that people may become over-reliant on automation features the more familiar they become with them. They also note that the group of drivers who operated their own vehicles did not receive the same training on the safety systems, despite ostensibly receiving some information about them before or after purchasing their vehicles.

The study adds new wrinkles to what we know about distracted driving, which accounted for 3,166 fatalities in 2017, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, and the emergence of semi-automated driving systems. Earlier this year, the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety issued a study in which it found that, while usage of phones while behind the wheel dropped, more people were using them for texting or other messaging while driving.

Nebraska State Patrol reenacts ‘A Christmas Story’ in its vintage ’50s Ford

The Nebraska State Patrol (NSP) made news in Summer 2019 when word got out the force was still occasionally using a 1993 Ford Mustang SSP, but that's not even the coolest car in its police family. The NSP also has a fudging cool 1950 Ford Mainline police cruiser. In the spirit of the holidays, some of the officers put the classic on camera and reeancted the flat tire scene from A Christmas Story. It's no 1937 Oldsmobile Six, but it does the job.

When we previously spoke to NSP about the Mustang, we also inquired about the Mainline that was seen in occasional social media posts. While the SSP was still in service, the Mainline was not, and we were told it was not running at that time. Whether or not somebody was able to get it going for this video is unclear, as the opening scene presents a fake driving scenario, but the next scene shows the car rolling to the sound of a fluttering engine. We couldn't get a hold of the NSP this time, but our guess is the movement was the result of a big push, and the sounds were part of the movie magic.

Running car or not, the two-minute clip is pretty cute, if not hilarious. Just like in the movie, four people are "riding" in the car when the tire blows. The father, played by the lieutenant colonel, gets into the pit stop mindset for the tire change. Son Ralphie, played by a trooper in the backseat, comes out to help, but the whole thing blows up when the lugnuts go flying. That's when Ralphie blurts out the infamous curse word. You (should) know how the rest goes.

Below the NSP video is the original clip for comparison. And for another look at the immaculate Mainline, check out State Trooper Plates, which which has a fantastic photo of the cruiser in its former glory.

Sherp The Ark is the dream we weren’t brave enough to have

Sometimes what hurts most is realizing your dreams weren't big enough. Here we've been lusting after #VanLife, when we should have been imagining the possibilities for an overlanding Sherp. The Ukrainian go-anywhere 4x4 began trundling over and through everything on 63-inch tubeless tires in 2016, the compact four-seater good for perhaps a few days in the back of beyond. Now its makers have revealed their get-off-the-grid version called Sherp The Ark. This puts an upgraded Sherp on tractor duty, pulling a 15.75-foot trailer that rides on six driven wheels, creating a 10x10 that almost makes us wish for a less-than-total Apocalypse.

Note, this isn't a Sherp simply hooked up to a trailer at will – Sherp The Ark is a complete unit. Whereas the Sherp uses skid steering to turn, like a tank, Sherp The Ark gets three-axis steering like an airplane. That means turning the steering yoke can lift the tractor's front end, and raise and lower the tractor's rear end independently. The technique helps the minidozer climb over five-foot-high obstacles, traverse 6.5-foot-wide ground openings, and up and down 40-degree inclines. That grade angle is five degrees more than can be climbed and descended with the standard Sherp Truck and Sherp Pro. Switches in the cabin permit the driver to disconnect any of the driven wheels on the trailer individually, and to disconnect the four wheels on the tractor so the trailer becomes a push vehicle.

The standard, 8.26-foot-long Sherp is powered by a Kubota 1.5-liter, four-cylinder diesel with 44.3 horsepower and 88 pound-feet of torque, charged with moving 2,866 pounds up to 25 miles per hour on land, 3.7 mph in the water. The 31.6-foot-long Sherp The Ark, with a dry weight of 10,500 pounds, gets a Doosan 2.4-liter four-cylinder diesel with 74 hp and 206 lb-ft, and can run up to 18.6 mph on land and 3.7 mph in the water. The Sherp can hold 76.2 gallons of fuel in five tanks, Sherp The Ark hauls 213 gallons in one tank and ten auxiliary canisters, good for around 82 hours of running. 

There are three trailer units available – a flat load platform, a liquid tanker, and an enclosed box – all with 6,600-pound load capacity. The box unit can be turned into a personnel carrier with up to 21 seats. We are naturally more interested in the Dwelling Module for "long expedition projects in hard-to-reach areas" that is "properly isolated with energy-saving materials." For an example of what looks like, check out this video from last year, which we'll guess was a prototype run for The Ark. Glorious. With two of these in convoy, there'd be no such thing as the end of the Earth. About the only thing that can stop the non-street-legal Sherp The Ark is a paved road.

Sherp hasn't released a price yet, but the $119,999 price for the Sherp Pro gives one a good floor to start looking upward.

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Autoblog video week in review | Dec. 15-21

The video roundup post is your weekly landing spot for all things video from Autoblog. This week we drive the bestselling non-pickup in the United States, try our hand at the newly released Battle Royale mode in Forza Horizon 4, and get a first-person look at the 2019 Porsche Cayenne E-hybrid. 

Monday, Senior Producer Chris McGraw took us Behind The Wheel of two popular Nissan models, the Altima and the best-selling Rogue. 

If you're a gamer you know that we stream live to our Twitch channel every Tuesday (and Thursday). This week host Erik Maier was joined by Alex Malburg as we attempt our first ever Forza Battle Royale match! 

The Wednesday POV Drive featured the 2019 Porsche Cayenne E-Hybrid:

On Thursday'sTwitch Stream rerun, Erik was joined by Joel Stocksdale and John Snyder. They continued their quest to get a win in the new Forza Horizon Battle Royale mode, unsuccessfully. 

Autoblog Podcast #608 went live Friday. In this week's episode Editor-in-Chief Greg Migliore and Senior Editor, Green, John Beltz Snyder head to Bollinger HQ in Ferndale, Michigan, to chat with the CEO of Bollinger Motors, Robert Bollinger. 

Our next video roundup post will be in 2020. Happy Holidays, and thanks for watching!

Watch this GMC pickup crash through a wall into a Florida airport terminal

A man in Florida has been accused of driving his pickup truck through airport grounds and through a wall into the airport's baggage area. It is unclear whether or not the incident was on purpose or an accident, but the shocking scene was captured by numerous cameras and angles. The driver sustained serious injuries but nobody inside the airport was hurt. 

The wild crash happened at the Sarasota-Bradenton International Airport at about 3 a.m. on December 19, 2019, according to the Herald-Tribune. Reportedly, the 2015 GMC Sierra was seen driving erratically on a nearby highway earlier in the night, but officers were unable to catch the driver. The truck ended up driving through a chain-link fence, down a service road, and through a wall into the airport's main terminal.

As seen in the clips, the truck smashed through the wall and hit a car rental service desk, behind which two people stood. Luckily, the secured desk prevented the truck from hitting the employees, and they escaped without any injuries. The area was mostly empty due to the late hour.

In addition to the damage caused to the building, the truck also hit a luggage conveyor belt. Total damages are estimated to be around $250,000. Read more about the crash on WWSB or the Herald-Tribune.

VW Passat wagon flunks Sweden’s ‘moose test’

Volkswagen's European-spec Passat wagon came up short in the world-renowned "moose test," swinging its long tail out wide in the infamous maneuverability test designed to evaluate a vehicle's ability to spare a hypothetical moose (not to mention the vehicle's occupants) in the event that he wanders into the travel lane.

In this case, the evaluation performed by Km77.com (spotted by Motor1) produced results that might raise a few eyebrows, especially among those who covet the wagon variant of VW's midsize car.

The Passat initially fails the test at 48 mph, with its tail snapping loose as the driver completes the initial lane change. It then swings wide in the opposite direction as the driver attempts to correct for the oversteer.

Over the course of the test, the Passat manages to tag cones on both ends of the maneuver. If this were a real road — especially a narrow two-lane in Europe — those would be curbs or perhaps even soft shoulders. 

Km77.com repeated the test multiple times, finally getting the Passat to behave at 45 mph (73 kph), which the outlet described as "quite slow" as evaluation speeds go. 

While "moose test" may be the catchy term for it, the evaluation is simply an emergency lane-change maneuver. It is far more likely to be relevant for drivers who may encounter children or reversing cars encroaching on the road than the four-legged beast that inspired its name. 

It's notorious for punishing vehicles engineered with a high center of gravity, with American-market crossovers and SUVs often getting called out for their poor performance in one of the most notorious evasive maneuver tests in the world. 

Sedan-based station wagons simply aren't supposed to suffer from the same shortcomings. VW's Euro-spec Passat wagon is the rare exception. It's not only a low-slung wagon, but one engineered in Europe — where expectations for vehicle dynamics are ostensibly higher. We don't get the Passat wagon here in the United States. But we do get the sedan.

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Autoblog video week in review | Dec. 8-14

The video roundup post is your weekly landing spot for all things Autoblog video. This week we discuss the pros and cons of the Limited trim of the Jeep Cherokee, show you the first-person POV of the all-wheel-drive Dodge Challenger GT, rant about how Epic games is ruining Rocket League, and we've got a new episode of the Autoblog Podcast featuring the Civic Type R and Hyundai Veloster N. 

On Monday the new Behind The Wheel episode went live. In it, Senior Producer Christopher McGraw takes a Jeep Cherokee Limited to Rocky Mountain National Park.

Host, Erik Maier was joined by Producer Amr Sayour for the Tuesday Twitch stream for some heated Rocket League competition. Erik also has a nice rant about some recent money-grubbing tactics perpetrated by Epic Games in Rocket League.

On Wednesday we took the 2019 Dodge Challenger GT out for a spin. You can experience the outing too by watching the latest POV Drive:

The Thursday Twitch stream features Erik and Associate Editor Joel Stocksdale playing Need For Speed: Heat. Watch Erik and Joel complete two in-game "day challenges, 2 Star A Drift Zone and Reach 4x Drift Multiplier.

On Friday Editor-in-Chief Greg Migliore sat down with Associate Editor Joel Stocksdale for the Autoblog Podcast. In episode #607 they discuss the Honda Civic Type R and Hyundai Veloster N.  

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