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Poor headlights cause 40 cars to miss IIHS Top Safety Pick rating

Over the past few months, we've noticed a number of cars and SUVs that have come incredibly close to earning one of the IIHS's highest accolades, the Top Safety Pick rating. They have great crash test scores and solid automatic emergency braking and forward collision warning systems. What trips them up is headlights. That got us wondering, how many vehicles are there that are coming up short because they don't have headlights that meet the organization's criteria for an "Acceptable" or "Good" rating. This is a revision made after 2017, a year in which headlights weren't factored in for this specific award. This is also why why some vehicles, such as the Ford F-150, might have had the award last year, but have lost it for this year. We reached out to someone at IIHS to find out. He responded with the following car models. Depending on how you count, a whopping 40 models crash well enough to receive the rating, but don't get it because their headlights are either "Poor" or "Marginal." We say depending on how you count because the IIHS actual counts truck body styles differently, and the Infiniti Q70 is a special case. Apparently the version of the Q70 that has good headlights doesn't have adequate forward collision prevention technology. And the one that has good forward collision tech doesn't have good enough headlights. We've provided the entire list of vehicles below in alphabetical order. Interestingly, it seems the Volkswagen Group is having the most difficulty providing good headlights with its otherwise safe cars. It had the most models on the list at 9 split between Audi and Volkswagen. GM is next in line with 7 models. It is worth noting again that though these vehicles have subpar headlights and don't quite earn Top Safety Pick awards, that doesn't mean they're unsafe. They all score well enough in crash testing and forward collision prevention that they would get the coveted award if the lights were better.

Jay Leno takes a ride in Gabriel Iglesias' classic 1966 VW bus

We've seen Jay Leno driving all manner of vehicles, many of them epically fast. But few (this is side of his steamers, anyway) have been as slow – or quite as beautiful – as this classic 1966 Volkswagen Samba. While many of the vehicles featured on episodes of Jay Leno's Garage have actually been from Jay Leno's own garage, the former talk-show host has been known to feature some interesting rides from fellow comedians. A couple of weeks ago it was Adam Carolla's '68 Lamborghini Islero, and this vintage, pristine VW bus belongs to Gabriel Iglesias. It's in beautiful condition and is a sight to see, even if it has a little trouble making its way down the highway. Or starting up again after a quick snack break.

MotorWeek recalls the glory days of the VW Cabriolet

Remember the car that the rich, very attractive girl in your high school got on her 16th birthday? Was it a Volkswagen Cabriolet? But time marches on, and the boxy convertibles have attained a certain quirky coolness in the modern day. MotorWeek weighs in with a look at the 1989 model in the latest entry in its Retro Review series. MotorWeek actually comes away rather impressed with the Cabriolet, especially its handling. The show doesn't even complain about the big roll bar over the center of the car that has always looked more like a basket handle than a safety aid. Host John Davis must have enjoyed driving the droptop VW, too – despite his very '80s windbreaker and polo shirt ensemble, he was sporting quite the tan in this clip. The small, inexpensive convertible segment has largely disappeared today, but as MotorWeek shows by comparing the Cabriolet to the Chrysler LeBaron and Chevrolet Cavalier, it wasn't always this way. Take a ride in VW's droptop to see how it scores.