Autos

Electric scooters are a familiar sight, thanks in part to companies such as Bird and Lime that make it easy to ride around town. But what if you had a scooter you could fold like a sweater and stuff into your backpack? Say hello to Poimo, a clever inflatable scooter developed at the University of Tokyo. Right now, Poimo is just a prototype. But we’ve never seen anything quite like it before. Instead of bulky metal parts that require welding and complex assembling, Poimo is made from thermoplastic polyurethane. The result is a body that is simple to make and weighs about 5 pounds. A small, in-wheel motor gets this scooter up and running. Add all the pieces up and this scooter prototype weighs approximately 17 pounds. More Videos Yes, This Is an *Inflatable* Scooter That Fits in a...

The Mazda RX-Vision concept is just too good a design to exist merely as a static object, a concept car without a future out on the road. Its long nose and dramatically swept-back cabin are simply begging to be viewed in motion. If you’ve been waiting for the day this low-slung sculpture on wheels becomes fire-breathing, rotary-powered, roadgoing thing, that day is here. Well, virtually at least. The Mazda RX-Vision GT3 Concept is now downloadable and playable in Gran Turismo Sport on PS4, and it is awesome. The Mazda RX-Vision GT3 Concept takes the already-hot RX-Vision’s original design and reimagines it as a full-blown race car (hence the “GT3” in the name). The fenders now walk that fine line between cartoonishly wide and GT racer flared wheel perfection. The RX...

The Mini Hardtop Oxford Edition brings some of the model’s most desirable features to a low-cost trim. Now, Mini is offering the value-oriented package on the Countryman, and it drops the crossover‘s entry price by a considerable amount. Prior to the introduction of the Oxford Edition, an entry-level Countryman started at $29,250. The new trim, however, brings the crossover’s price of admission down to $26,750. The Oxford Edition is available in both Cooper and Cooper All4 variants. The latter includes all-wheel drive and raises the cost of entry to $28,750. See all 31 photos Countryman Oxford Editions get all the standard equipment of the Classic trim, including a 6.5-inch touchscreen infotainment display, leatherette upholstery, rear parking sensors, and a panoramic sun...

Ever since long-term paramour Arbitrage Ken traded his plastic-fantastic Dreamvette for a bespoke Roll-Royce Phantom several years back, Bel-Air Barbie has found herself listless and indecisive when scanning her fleet of 1:8-scale conveyances. “Should I take the Trademark licensed Volkswagen New Beetle or Fiat 500? I clearly can’t be seen in one of those license-dodging quasi-brand cars, like the vaguely Jag F-Type ‘Convertible Vehicle’ or the almost-Wrangler ‘Off-Road Vehicle!'” And next to Ken’s car, that hoary pink plastic Corniche just won’t do. So, what about a Cullinan SUV? See all 9 photos Rolls-Royce making Bel Air Barbie’s dreams come true, with a 1:8-scale Rolls-Royce Cullinan SUV built to the same exacting standards as Arbitr...

You probably already know the film C’était un Rendez-Vous (“It Was a Date”), which has been passed around online forever—and via videotapes for years before that. There’s zero dialogue, the car is never shown, and the plot is nonexistent. But it’s a legend, shot illicitly in 1976 by Claude Lelouch on the open but uncrowded streets of Paris early in the morning at high speed in order to arrive on Monmartre while his girlfriend walks up the stairs for a hug. Allegedly, he drove his own Mercedes-Benz 450SEL 6.9, but the soundtrack applied is quite obviously a different car—it’s actually a Ferrari 275GTB. Like Climb Dance, a film about Ari Vatanen’s blast up Pikes Peak in a Peugeot, or Faszination am Nürburgring, RUF’s iconic film about its ...