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This is what a 2017 Chevy Camaro Z28 could look like

The latest Camaro Z28, the enthusiast darling of the somewhat frumpy fifth-generation pony car, only hit the scene in 2014. It housed the wonderful 7.0-liter, naturally-aspirated LS7 small block V8 and featured a ton of aero bits. The trickest pieces may have been the dynamic spool valve shocks, legitimately race tech for the road. So with the new Camaro out in the wild, we were wondering what a new Z28 might look like, and thus, commissioned these renders based on our best guesses as to what a future Z28 might be. Since Chevy didn't stray too far from the Zeta-chassis Camaro formula with its new Alpha-based car, our vision of a new 2017 Camaro Z28 likewise is a sequel rather than a reboot. The exterior styling and aero details are similar, but sleeker. The defining and protruding front splitter is back, but it's smoothed slightly and better integrated. It shares quad exhaust pipes with the lowlier SS, but they're of the beveled Z06 variety, and sized up to a howitzer caliber. Instead of a weak faux rear fender vent, our version gains a real brake cooling duct. Some iconic elements, like the hood extractor vent and the large decklid spoiler, remain. What we can't see, we have to speculate on. As the track-focused, hardcore pony car in the Camaro lineup, the Z28 will have to do battle with the Ford Shelby Mustang GT350R. There's simply no avoiding it. And whereas Ford distinguished that car with a 5.2-liter, 526-horsepower, flat-plane-crank V8, Chevy is likely to look to the parts bin to find motivation. This isn't a knock; the LS and LT-series small block V8s are both numerous and power-dense. And there's one engine that seems to do the trick: the LSA, last seen in the old CTS-V and still on sale in the Camaro ZL1 (and of course, still being produced as a crate engine). In ZL1 form, the LSA makes about 580 hp, which is a nice margin over the GT350R. It's also a high-zoot but not top-of-the-line mill, having been mostly superseded by the 650-hp LT4. That puts our probable Z28 far enough behind the new CTS-V and current Corvette Z06 in the pecking order to be a safe bet, without hobbling it with the LT1 shared with the Camaro SS and regular Corvette. Will those trick spool-valve shocks from Multimatic make it to the Z28 again? Ford is taking the GT350R very seriously, and if the expensive but supremely capable suspension system is required to manhandle the Shelby at the track, you can bet that Chevy will pony up for it.

Best new convertibles for 2024 and 2025

If you’re here, then youÂ’re already in the right mindset. Convertibles rule, and we have all the best convertibles listed for you further below. Driving around with the top off is an experience you need to live to fall in love with. When the weatherÂ’s right, youÂ’re on a proper bit of road, and the car youÂ’re in is a good one, few automotive experiences can top it. The experience is extra special when you have a musical exhaust note filtering directly into your ears and echoing off the landscape around you. And while rolling the windows down and opening a moonroof can get you part of the way there, it's nothing like feeling the wind wash over you with absolutely no roof overhead. The downsides can be just as harsh as the upsides when youÂ’re in the wrong conditions, though. Convertibles are typically worse to live with in cold climates, and driving around with the top up frequently means you might be subject to more road noise and worse visibility than an equivalent coupe. And when it comes to pure performance, convertibles are inherently compromised from a weight and structural rigidity perspective. All that said, we still think the upsides outweigh the compromises if your number one objective is to simply have fun. ItÂ’s a good thing then that there are a ton of great convertibles for sale these days. And no, the list of possibilities isnÂ’t as long as it used to be. Long-running standbys like the Mercedes-Benz E-Class and C-Class Convertibles are gone (replaced by the one CLE-Class). And so are others like the Audi TT Roadster, Fiat 124 Spider and Nissan Z Roadster. Nevertheless, opportunities abound from the ultra-cheap and fun, to physics-defying supercars and everything else in between. WeÂ’ll give you options for which new convertibles we think are the best below, so read on to find out.   Mazda MX-5 Miata Pros: Lightweight and compact; great engine and transmission combo; one of the most raw and pure driving experiences out thereCons: Not great for tall people; infotainment is dated; tiny trunk Read our Mazda MX-5 Miata Review Miata is always the answer, right? In this case, that rings even more true than usual. In fact, you could stop reading this list right here and go buy a Miata and youÂ’d likely be just as happy driving it around as you would be in any of the more expensive offerings that follow. ThatÂ’s just the magic of the MX-5.

GM might lose 90-year U.S. sales crown over chip shortage

Automotive News editor Nick Bunkley tweeted on October 1 that according to AutoNews data, General Motors "has been the largest seller of vehicles in the U.S. every year since passing Ford in 1931." With automakers having turned in light car and truck sales data for the first three quarters of 2021, GM's 90-year-run might not reach 91. According to AN figures, Toyota was 80,401 vehicles ahead when the October workday started. Worse, GM is so far behind its historic pace that it might only sell enough light vehicles in the U.S. to match its numbers from 1958.  Meanwhile, the New York Times put a few more salient numbers to the pain GM and Toyota are enduring alongside the the rest of the industry. GM sold 33% fewer cars in Q3 2021 than it did in Q3 2019 during the dark days of the pandemic, 446,997 units this year as opposed to 665,192 last year. GM's Q3 2020 was only down 13% on Q3 2019. Over at Toyota, the bottom line showed a 1% gain in Q3 2021 compared to 2020, with 566,005 units moved off dealer lots. The finer numbers show two steps forward and one step back, though; Toyota's September sales were down 22% compared to last year.  GM remains optimistic about what's ahead, GM's president of North American operations telling the NYT, "We look forward to a more stable operating environment through the fall." We'd like to see that happen, but we don't know how it happens. The chip shortage said to have been the inciting incident for the current woes isn't over, and not only can no one agree when it will be over, the automakers, chip producers, and U.S. government still can't get on the same page about who needs what and when. Looking away from that for a second shows articles about "No End In Sight" for supply chain disruptions in early September, before China had to start working through power supply constraints, global supply chain workers started warning of a "system collapse," and roughly 500,000 containers sat waiting to be unloaded at Southern California ports — a record number seemingly broken every week. And back to chips, we're told just a few days ago the chip shortage is "worse than we thought."   For now, the NYT wrote that GM dealer inventory is down 40% from June to roughly 129,000 vehicles, and down 84% from the days when dealers would cumulatively keep about 800,000 light vehicles in stock. However, GM just announced it would have almost all of its U.S. facilities back online next week, although some would run at partial capacity.