Fast Corvettes, posh Concours, and space crystals
Many adventures within.
Hello there, and welcome to June. Yes, we're almost halfway through this year already, yet based on how cold and miserable it's been in the northeast lately, it feels like we're still shrugging off the last of winter's embrace.
Apologies for the lack of an update last week, but I was off on the shore of Lake Como, mingling with people who sit comfortably at least a notch or three higher than myself on various social and economic tiers. It's nice to pretend for a little while, but it's even better to be home.
Anyhow, lots of adventures over the past few weeks. Let's dig into it.
Driving the 1,064-horsepower Corvette ZR1 on track
What a ride this was. Chevrolet kindly invited me down to Austin, Texas, to get a go inside the new Chevrolet Corvette ZR1. The last few iterations of the ZR1 have been something like a game, where GM's latest group of best engineers try to one-up the previous best group of engineers.
I pity the next best group because this car is something special. On my third lap in the full-fat ZTK-equipped car, the one with big aero and sticky tires, I ran a lap time just a few seconds short of the former track record set by a McLaren P1. I don't know what I could have done with a little practice, but it's worth noting that the Corvette costs about a tenth of what a P1 would go for today.
Anyhow, it was a hell of a ride. You can watch me making all sorts of faces from behind the wheel in the video above or read my impressions at any of these fine outlets:
The World's Most Sublime Concours
After I'd gathered my senses and my breath, I was shuttled away from COTA to AUS airport, where I caught a flight out to Milan. That's a bit of culture shock, I assure you, going from the food truck capital of Texas to the fashion capital of Italy.
I was out there to attend the Concorso d'Eleganze Villa d'Este. There are many Concourse events over the year, each one remarkable in its own way, but there's only one Villa d'Este. This was my first time attending, and I felt very privileged to be rubbing elbows with (and trying to shoot photos around) some of the most knowledgeable auto gurus on the planet.
More significant, though, were the cars. Amazing. And, if the historical icons and engineering oddities weren't enough, BMW rolled out a trio of new machines to admire, including a concept superbike that was among the most purposeful-looking machines I've ever seen on two wheels.
BMW's Stunning Concept Speedtop Is Hatchback Haute Couture - Edmunds
2026 BMW M2 CS: Germany's Little Powerhouse Is Back - Edmunds
Hyundai's Ioniq 9 Delivers
Sorry to keep you waiting on Ioniq 9 impressions after I teased them last time, but the embargo has lifted, and so my tiny words on Hyundai's big new EV are now scattered out there on these great internets. Suffice it to say, it's a winner from a looks and drive standpoint, but I just wish it were priced a little closer to Hyundai's other three-row powerhouses, the Palisade and the Telluride.
In Search of Sharper Space Crystals
A fun one from a few weeks back: For The Verge, I wrote about Sierra Space, which is getting ever-closer to flying its reusable space plane, Dream Chaser. It's been a long, difficult road, but its first mission could help move us forward in the quest for a next generation of cancer treatments.
Autonomous Plug, Meet Autonomous Truck
Finally this week, it's an exclusive I had for Ars Technica, digging into an interesting demonstration that took place in Sweden last month. It was the literal conjoining of a driverless truck with an automated plug, potentially eliminating the last human link in an increasingly automated logistics chain. It was fascinating to learn about the level of automation in today's most modern ports, so much so that some of the only people left are the ones plugging in vehicles at the end of the day.
That's all from me this week, and it's a lot. I'm going to go enjoy one last day on the home front before I'm back on a plane again tomorrow. This week, I'm off west to drive some excellent-looking Audis, and then it's back to Europe to get some drive time with something that's almost finally ready for production.
More on that to come. Until then, do good, and be well.