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Aston Martin DBX and the craziest car redesigns | Autoblog Podcast #716

In this episode of the Autoblog Podcast, Editor-in-Chief Greg Migliore is joined by Senior Editor James Riswick. They chat about slumming it in the Aston Martin DBX, the brand's first SUV, which they didn't have terribly high expectations for yet utterly blew them away. Riswick in particular notes it's one of the best cars he's ever driven, describing it as a family GT car. They then switch to a very different family vehicle: the 2022 Kia Carnival, and the unique second-row seating arrangement we've dubbed the "Captain Kirk chair." Greg has also been driving the Chevrolet Tahoe Premier. They also chat about two of Riswick's recent features: the 20 craziest car redesigns of the past 20 years and the best cars for snow.  Autoblog Podcast #716 Get The Podcast Apple Podcasts – Subscribe to the Autoblog Podcast in iTunes Spotify – Subscribe to the Autoblog Podcast on Spotify RSS – Add the Autoblog Podcast feed to your RSS aggregator MP3 – Download the MP3 directly Rundown Cars we're driving Aston Martin DBX 2022 Kia Carnival 2022 Chevy Tahoe Features 20 craziest car redesigns of the last 20 years Best cars for snow Feedback Email – Podcast@Autoblog.com Review the show on Apple Podcasts Autoblog is now live on your smart speakers and voice assistants with the audio Autoblog Daily Digest. Say “Hey Google, play the news from Autoblog” or "Alexa, open Autoblog" to get your favorite car website in audio form every day. A narrator will take you through the biggest stories or break down one of our comprehensive test drives. Related Video: 2022 Chevy Tahoe Premier Walkaround | Autoblog Short Cuts

Junkyard Gem: 1991 Ford Festiva with 317K miles

Most cars that make it to astoundingly high mileage figures tend to fall into one of two categories: engineering masterpieces that ended up being hard to kill (and got a lifetime of at least the most important maintenance items) or machines that inspired unquestioning love from owners willing to keep opening their wallets for decades to keep them on the road. Today's Junkyard Gem falls into neither of those groups; it's a penny-pinching Ford Festiva, one of the cheapest cars available in its time … and yet it cracked the magical 300,000-mile mark before getting discarded. So, a total of 317,207.3 miles over its nearly 30 years on the road. We just saw a discarded 1989 Honda Civic with a mere 308,895 miles on the clock, and this Festiva comes close to topping this 1993 Honda Civic DX. The highest-mileage junkyard car I've ever found (keep in mind that most cars before the middle 1980s had 5-digit odometers, and most cars this century have unreadable-in-the-boneyard electronic odometers) is this 1987 Mercedes-Benz 190E with an amazing 601,173 miles. This Mercedes-Benz 300D came close, with 535,971 miles. Detroit went to six-digit odometers late in the game, but this 1986 Olds Calais reached 363,033 miles, and this Ford Crown Victoria Police Interceptor reached the 412,013-mile figure thanks to a second career as a taxi. A Festiva surpassing the 300k mark, though, is not something I ever expected to see. These cars were sold as cheap, no-frills transportation, period. The MSRP on a base-level Festiva started at $6,620 in 1991, or about $12,610 in 2020 bucks. Not many cars could squeeze under that price at that time; the Subaru Justy could be purchased for $5,995, the Hyundai Excel 3-door hatch cost $6,275, and the Yugo GV (yes, it could still be obtained new as late as 1991) had a hilarious $4,435 price tag. Even the lowly Geo Metro, Pontiac LeMans, and Toyota Tercel EZ cost more than this Festiva. Still, this car came with snazzy pinstripes, now faded to near-invisibility by the Colorado sun. You can see the cover plate in the spot where the air-conditioning button would have gone, had the original buyer of this car been willing to squander precious dollars on such frivolity. Five-speed manual transmission, naturally. You could get an automatic in the Festiva, but anyone willing to spend that kind of money on extras would have been able to afford a much nicer Tercel EZ.

Wonder Woman Kia Sportage is anything but invisible

The spectacular partnering of Kia and DC Entertainment (the company we grew up loving as DC Comics) continues here at the New York Auto Show, with this Wonder Woman-inspired 2013 Kia Sportage. Ardent Autoblog readers will undoubtedly remember the fruits of earlier Kia/DC efforts: Batman Optima, Flash Forte Koup, Green Lantern Soul, Cyborg Forte, Aquaman Rio and Superman Optima Hybrid. (We're still trying to figure out who Cyborg is, too.)
The Wonder Woman Sportage, sporting the Amazing Amazon's particularly patriotic livery, is perhaps the most, eh, eye-catching super-Kia to date. (Actually, no, none of the superhero rides seared our eyeballs like Supe's hybrid.) Red, white and blue paint with spangled sides, an aggressively low body kit and a WW logo grille really sell the theme. Of course, The Lasso of Truth is represented too, showing up in the design as a subtle gold line that wraps around the bodywork.
As with the earlier DC concept cars, the Wonder Woman Sportage's real goal - aside from entertaining the kid-contingent of auto show goers - is to raise awareness for the We Can Be Heroes charity. The DC charitable program seeks to raise money and awareness about the hunger crisis in Ethiopia, Kenya and Somalia. Get a better look at Wonder Woman's crossover in our attached galleries and find the Kia press release below.