The 2015 Volkswagen Golf GTI is the new Yahoo Autos Car of the Year. Each year, the automotive journalism team at Yahoo publishes its choices for an array of cars considered best in class, with one winning the overall Car of the Year. This go-round, that top distinction goes to the 2015 Golf GTI. Following the Chevrolet Corvette Stingray last year and Tesla Model S in 2013, this year’s winner had big some big shoes to fill. Over the past months judges narrowed the field to 17 vehicles, then ran them through a battery of tests that involved hundreds of miles of driving loops and hours upon hours on Yahoo’s autocross course. “We set loose at speed, opened and closed everything with a hinge and debated questions from the nature of transportation in the 21st century to...

If you were a movie-going motorcycle enthusiast back in the early 1970s, you might well remember On Any Sunday, the documentary starring the “King of Cool” Steve McQueen. Hitting theatres in 1971, the film featured a varied cast of stars of motorcycling, following them as they passionately devoted their lives to racing – often risking everything for it. Director Bruce Brown, at the time already famous for his iconic 1966 surfing documentary, The Endless Summer, scored an Oscar nomination for the film. Fast-forward more than four decades and Brown’s son, Dana Brown, is revisiting his father’s famous film with On Any Sunday: The Next Chapter, set for nationwide theatrical release on Friday. The film gives viewers a heartwarming glimpse into the lives of...

Late actor Paul Walker’s final film, Furious 7, is set for release April 2015. Producers of Furious 7, the latest in the wildly successful film franchise, have released the trailer to the final film starring late actor, philanthropist and racing enthusiast Paul Walker. And we here at E3 Spark Plugs think it’s nothing short of amazing, beginning with a fleet of muscle cars parachuting from a cargo plane, an explosive gun battle and Walker’s character, Brian O’Conner, airborne at the edge of a cliff. This latest installment, set for release next spring, centers on character Ian Shaw’s (Jason Statham) bloodlust for revenge against Dominic Toretto (Vin Diesel) and his crew for the death of his brother, Owen, a former British Special Forces...

Children are more likely to be injured in a car / pedestrian accident on Halloween than any other day of the year. If you’re a parent, no doubt your kids are driving you batty, giddily preparing for tomorrow night’s trick-or-treating. Outside of Christmas and birthdays, it’s probably the best day of the year for a child. Unfortunately, it’s also day kids are most likely to be seriously injured or even killed in a car vs. pedestrian accident, according to a recent study. Many of us here at E3 Spark Plugs have children in our lives who we love, too. So, we want to make sure you know the risks. Among the study’s findings: An average 5.5 children nationwide are killed in pedestrian vs. car accidents each year on Halloween. That’s more than double the...

Actor James Dean driving his 1955 Porsche Spyder dubbed “Little Bastard.” Dean was killed in a crash just nine days after buying the car, which since has disappeared. Halloween is high time stories of hauntings. But it’s not just creepy old houses and psych wards that are thought to be inhabited by those lingering behind. Vehicles also can be haunted – and not just in the movies, believers say. Among the real-life rides thought to be haunted or cursed was the sleek, silver 1955 Porsche 550 Spyder that drove iconic actor James Dean to his untimely death. The car was customized by George Barris (famed designer of the Batmobile and the Munster Koach) and by master pinstriper and customizer Dean Jeffries who had a shop next to Barris’. It was Jeffries who...

The super exclusive Pininfarina Ferrari Sergio will go to an elite circle of just six high-dollar clients. As if Ferrari owners weren’t already a relatively exclusive bunch, one group just got a bit more so. The iconic Italian carmaker is gearing up for production of the new Ferrari Sergio and plans to produce a grand total of six of them. Yep. Six, count ‘em, SIX. And even if you could afford to pony up the cash for one of your own, it ain’t happening unless you’re already on the invitation-only list. Unveiled as a concept car at the 2013 Geneva Motor Show, the Ferrari Sergio was drawn up in collaboration with the Pininfarina design firm. At the time, it was unclear whether the car would go into production. But as E3 Spark Plugs reported back in June 2013,...

The famed VH1 / Peter Max Corvette collection, hidden away for 25 years, is back on the road and soon, back on the market. It was a classic Corvette buff’s dream – the 1990 VH1 contest awarding one lucky winner the unimaginable prize of 36 Chevrolet Corvettes – one from each manufacture year from 1953 through 1989. It was a marketing ploy to help boost the music television network’s dwindling ratings, particularly among its Baby Boomer target market. And though most of the cars, purchased for a grand total of $610,000, were considered “driver” quality, the promotion was deemed a success. Dennis Amodeo, A Long Island carpenter with a hot wife and a new baby, won the contest with a single $2.00 phone call to the 1-900 contest hotline and went home...

According to the NHTSA, 7.8 million vehicles have faulty air bags being recalled by multiple auto makers. If you happen to live and drive in an area with a hot, humid climate, take note. Toyota, Honda, Mazda, BMW, Nissan and General Motors all are recalling vehicles with air bags manufactured by Japanese parts maker Takata. Some 7.9 million vehicles are affected and thus far, the faulty air bags are known to have been involved in seven incidents, including one that killed an Orlando woman earlier this month. Recalled air bags that deploy in a crash can actually explode, sending shrapnel flying throughout a vehicle’s cabin and causing stab-like wounds in a victim’s face, neck and chest. Evidently, something about hot, humid climates makes the airbags more prone to...

Peter Fonda’s Captain America Harley-Davidson recently fetched a record-breaking $1.35 million at auction. But was the bike legit? Actor and motorcycle enthusiast Peter Fonda has never been one to hold back. Now, he’s unloading on the Los Angeles-based auction house Profiles in History, over the recent sale of the Captain America Harley-Davidson motorcycle featured in the 1969 film Easy Rider – a longtime cinematic favorite of ours here at E3 Spark Plugs. The $1.3 million selling price for the bike purportedly ridden by Fonda in the film is the highest auction price ever realized for a motorcycle to date. But the counterculture icon says something just ain’t right. “There’s a big rat stinking someplace in this,” Fonda says. Unconvinced of the...

Former pro race car driver Randy Lanier. seen here at the 1986 Indianapolis 500 where he was named Rookie of the Year, recently was released from a Florida prison despite a life sentence. If you’ve been a racing fan for the past few decades, you likely remember Randy Lanier, the up-and-coming pro racecar driver whose career came to a spectacular screeching halt when he was jailed for life for drug trafficking. But that life sentence just got overturned and no one is sure why. In the 1980s, young Lanier was building a name for himself in professional racing circles, winning the IMSA GTP title and landing an Indianapolis 500 Rookie of the Year designation. For a while, it looked as if the Davie, Florida-raised boy who married his high school sweetheart was bound for success both...