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Zombie cars: Discontinued vehicles that aren't dead yet

Car models come and go, but as revealed by monthly sales data, once a car is discontinued, it doesn't just disappear instantly. And in the case of some models, vanishing into obscurity can be a slow, tedious process. That's the case with the 12 cars we have here. All of them have been discontinued, but car companies keep racking up "new" sales with them. There are actually more discontinued cars that are still registering new sales than what we decided to include here. We kept this list to the oldest or otherwise most interesting vehicles still being sold as new, including a supercar. We'll run the list in alphabetical order, starting with *drumroll* ... BMW 6 Series: 55 total sales BMW quietly removed the 6 Series from the U.S. market during the 2019 model year. It had been available in three configurations, a hardtop coupe, a convertible and a sleek four-door coupe-like shape.   BMW i8: 18 total sales We've always had a soft spot for the BMW i8, despite the fact that it never quite fit into a particular category. It was sporty, but nowhere near as fast as similarly-priced competitors. It looked very high-tech and boasted a unique carbon fiber chassis design and a plug-in hybrid powertrain, but wasn't really designed for maximum efficiency or maximum performance. Still, the in-betweener was very cool to look at and drive, and 18 buyers took one home over the course of 2021.   Chevy Impala: 750 total sales The Impala represented classic American tastes at a time when American tastes were shifting away from soft-riding sedans with big interior room and trunk space and into higher-riding crossovers. A total of 750 sales were inked last year.   Chrysler 200: 15 total sales The Chrysler 200 was actually a pretty nice sedan, with good looks and decent driving dynamics let down by a lack of roominess, particularly in the back seat. Of course, as we said regarding the Chevy Impala, the number of Americans in the market for sedans is rapidly winding down, and other automakers are following Chrysler's footsteps in canceling their slow-selling four-doors. Even if Chrysler never really found its footing in the ultra-competitive midsize sedan segment, apparently dealerships have a few leftover 2017 200s floating around. And for some reason, 15 buyers decided to sign the dotted line to take one of these aging sedans home last year.

Toyota MR2 shows why we still love the 1990s

Was there a better time for Japanese performance than the 1980s and 1990s? It seems like looking back, Japan was on a roll, producing cars that were affordable, economical, reliable, fast and lightweight. And while all the attention is - thanks to a certain film series - focused on cars like Toyota Supra and Mazda RX-7, there is a lesser-known model that's establishing its own enduring legacy without the help of Paul Walker and Vin Diesel.
The MR2, affectionately known as the "Mister Two" to fanboys, first arrived in 1984 as a lightweight, mid-engined sports car that proceeded to eat the lunch of the Pontiac Fiero in terms of performance. That car was replaced in 1989 with the more familiar, rounded-out MR2, which is the subject of this latest video from the team at Petrolicious.
The video takes a look at a group of MR2 drivers, and attempts to explain what it is about the car that is destined to make it a future classic. Scroll down to see Petrolicious examine the MR2 Connection.

Toyota calling for independent, industry-wide Takata airbag testing

The initiative is still very new, and there's no set timeframe for this third-party testing to begin. With Takata's airbag inflator recall expanding nationwide soon, the scope of this safety campaign is only growing, and is set to affect millions of additional vehicles. Toyota thinks that it can help, though. The Japanese automaker has announced an initiative to get all of the affected companies to band together to fund independent, third-party testing of the faulty components. The goal of this work is to "ensure the inflators that require replacement are accurately identified and promptly fixed," according to Toyota. All of the data would be shared among the participating automakers to better understand the causes of these problems, which still aren't entirely known, and come up with the best way to repair the affected vehicles. "By combining our collective efforts behind a coordinated, comprehensive testing program, we believe we can achieve greater results. Together we will be better equipped to address this issue more rapidly for all customers," said Simon Nagata, President and CEO, Toyota Motor Engineering and Manufacturing North America, in the company's release. According to Toyota spokesperson Cindy Knight speaking to Autoblog, the initiative is still very new, and there's no set timeframe for this third-party testing to begin. The automaker's first step is simply getting the word out that it's looking for partners. She said Toyota "has spoken with colleagues in the industry" about setting up the independent evaluations and specifically said the company has already reached out to Honda and Ford about possibly working together on this. Honda also released a statement calling for similar third party testing, and when reached for comment about Toyota's proposal, Ford spokesperson Kelli Felker responded: "Ford takes the safety of our customers very seriously. We plan to join the proposed industry wide effort to investigate and develop solutions to address this critical issue. We look forward to discussing next steps with NHTSA and other automakers." Scroll down to read Toyota and Honda's full announcements of these safety initiative.