JANUARY 14, 2026

The original - and still our favorite - Autoextremist logo. 

The AE Quote of the Century: Everybody loves The High-Octane Truth. Until they don't. -WG 

SPECIAL EDITOR'S NOTE: We'd like to remind you that Peter's first work of fiction, "St. Michael of Birmingham" is out now. Make no mistake, it doesn't resemble anything you've read from him before. In fact, it is quite a dramatic departure. It is mystical. It is sexy. It is funny. It's moving. And it is a flat-out wild ride unlike anything you've experienced. Having said that, it is definitely not for everyone, but then, it is from PMD, so that probably shouldn't come as a surprise! Check it out on Amazon Kindle here. -WG

Editor-in-Chief's Note: If you're looking for our report from the Detroit Auto Show, there won't be one. The "event" has devolved into being a sub-regional show, with row after row of cars, trucks and SUVs arrayed on carpeting, like a giant indoor showroom. Oh sure, there are lame "experiential" mini-drives with Broncos climbing up and over ramps to display its alleged off-road prowess, but who's kidding whom here? The organizers, city and corporate leaders, and everyone else associated with the show are presenting a brave face in attempting to tout the show's relevance, but it is decidedly not working. The Detroit Auto Show is a flat-out embarrassment and a sad, pathetic display. -PMD

(Honda)

Editor-in-Chief's Note: Honda has unveiled a new logo (above left), which the company will slap on everything that moves. My question is "Why?" It certainly doesn't say "future" or anything close to that. And it is definitely not an improvement. “The timing and application to products and dealership signage will be implemented gradually, aligned with product changeover timing and regional characteristics,” spokesperson Kazumi Tamura said. “The open-armed expression represents embracing possibilities and facing users.” We love it when manufacturers talk to themselves, because it's usually so damn pathetic. I always expect more from Honda, but this is corporate nonsense to the Nth degree. -PMD

  

(Chevrolet images)

The Chevrolet Corvette ZR1X, the most advanced Corvette produced to date, is the quickest American production car available – and the fastest way to get down a quarter-mile drag strip for under a million dollars.

Testing on the ZR1X culminated in October 2025 with validation at US 131 Motorsports Park; reflective of the real-world environments where Corvette customers exercise their vehicles. On a prepped surface, the ZR1X completed the quarter mile in 8.675 seconds at 159 mph, on pump gas, using standard-equipment tires and production 50-state street-legal engine calibration, and achieving a 0-60 mph time of 1.68 seconds on the same run. The ZR1X blasted to 60 mph in less than 100 feet, generating a peak of 1.75G of acceleration force.

“When we made the revolutionary shift to a mid-engine platform, this is the type of performance we knew was possible,” said General Motors President Mark Reuss.

The car was equipped with ZR1X’s standard aero configuration, standard Michelin PS4S tires, and available carbon fiber wheels. This acceleration was not a one-off, either – the vehicle used for testing completed multiple back-to-back quarter-mile runs all under 8.8 seconds. The 2026 Corvette ZR1X uses its twin-turbo LT7 V8 engine and front-axle electric motor to generate a total of 1,250 horsepower, sending it to the ground via electrified all-wheel drive.

Competitive breakdown:

	Quarter Mile	Trap Speed	0-60 MPH	Starting MSRP
Corvette ZR1X (prepped surface)	8.675 seconds	159 mph	1.68 seconds	$209,700
Rimac Nevera R	7.90 seconds	186 mph	1.66 seconds	$2.5 million
Pininfarina Battista	8.55 seconds	155 mph	1.79 seconds	$2.2 million
Koenigsegg Jesko Absolut	8.77 seconds	185 mph	2.4 seconds	$3.4 million
Bugatti Tourbillon	8.80 seconds	176 mph	1.9 seconds	$4.6 million
Lucid Air Sapphire	8.95 seconds	158 mph	1.89 seconds	$249,000

Corvette development engineer and test driver Stefan Frick earned this record-breaking quarter-mile performance using Corvette’s standard Custom Launch Control feature, found throughout the lineup from Stingray to ZR1X. Custom Launch Control manages tire spin, transmission clutch application rate, and numerous other parameters, allowing the driver to optimize acceleration runs by adjusting launch RPM and wheel slip targets from the auxiliary driver display.

“There are many different parts and subsystems on this car, with teams across the company responsible for them,” said Frick. “We were all motivated by the mission to break into the eights – this is a powerful example of the in-house skill at GM, and the level of performance we developed into this car.”

On an unprepped surface, the Corvette ZR1X equipped with available ZTK Performance Package can complete the quarter mile in 8.99 seconds and accelerate 0-60 mph in 1.89 seconds. Watch the video here.  

 

(Stellantis)

We knew it would come to this: Just when you thought that the era of King Kong pickup trucks was fading from view, here comes the Ram TRX, billed as "the Fastest and Most Powerful Production Gas Pickup Truck in the World," by Stellantis PR minions. With the TRX, Stellantis is also relaunching its SRT Performance Division.

What do you get?

• The 2027 Ram 1500 SRT TRX is billed as the most powerful production street legal gas half-ton pickup ever, delivering 777HP and 680 lb.-ft. of torque.
• The 6.2-liter supercharged HEMI® V-8 is capable of launching the TRX from 0–60 mph in 3.5 seconds and a top speed of 118 mph..
• Bloodshot Night Edition (shown, above) presents the TRX in an exclusive Blacktop upper paint scheme, plus a Flame Red painted center hood stripe with matching accents, distinctive splash graphics, carbon fiber interior trim with red detailing, a glass-encased center console badge and red-outline TRX badging.
• Other stuff? Second-gen Bilstein Black Hawk e2 adaptive shocks, Ram Active Terrain Dynamics and 14 inches of maximum suspension travel; Hands-free Active Drive Assist (L2+) capability; A standard best-in-class 14.5-inch touchscreen, 12.3-inch digital cluster and Head-Up Display with 10-inch field of view.
• You also get hand-wrapped leather interior surfaces, heated, ventilated and massaging front seats, class-exclusive dual wireless charging pads, a 19-speaker Harman Kardon premium audio system, a leather-wrapped airbag cover with red stitching and a full suede headliner and visors.

Designed and engineered in the United States (Where else? -WG), the 2027 Ram 1500 SRT TRX arrives in the second half of 2026 at a starting price of $99,995 (not including $2,595 destination). 

Editor-in-Chief's Note: We're all about "buy what you like and like what you buy" around here, and we get the fact that Stellantis really doesn't have any other cards to play other than to stuff HEMI V8s in anything that moves, but this pickup stands as a rolling monument to abject stupidity, even before considering its flat-out ridiculous price. Absurdity does have a price, it seems, and it's embodied in the Ram TRX. -PMD

Editor's Note: As our readers know, we're not into the auction game, but every once in a while we come across an interesting one. This week it's the RM Sotheby's Paris auction, which features some exquisite machinery. My two favorites are below, a 1989 Porsche 911 Turbo Cabriolet and a 1964 Alfa Romeo 2600 Sprint by Bertone. And Peter's are below those, a 1973 Porsche 911 Carrera RS 2.7 Touring and a 1964 Shelby 289 Cobra. You can see the entire catalog here. -WG

(RM Sotheby's images)

Editor-in-Chief's Note: Alain de Cadenet's superb automotive series - "Victory By Design" - doesn't get nearly enough attention. We aim to rectify that in the coming issues of AE. This week, the subject is Jaguar. Watch it here. -PMD

The AE Song of the Week:

He had white horses
And ladies by the score
All dressed in satin
And waiting by the door

Ooh, what a lucky man he was
Ooh, what a lucky man he was

White lace and feathers
They made up his bed
A gold covered mattress
On which he was laid

Ooh, what a lucky man he was
Ooh, what a lucky man he was

He went to fight wars
For his country and his king
Of his honor and his glory
The people would sing

Ooh, what a lucky man he was
Ooh, what a lucky man he was

A bullet had found him
His blood ran as he cried
No money could save him
So he laid down and he died

Ooh, what a lucky man he was
Ooh, what a lucky man he was

"Lucky Man" by Emerson, Lake & Palmer from the album "Emerson, Lake & Palmer" (1970).* Written by: Gregory Lake. Publisher: BMG Rights Management, MUSIC SALES CORPORATION. Lyrics licensed and provided by LyricFind. Listen to it here. 

*Greg Lake started writing this song when he was just 12 years old. "I was round my friend's house and he had a broken-down old guitar," Lake explained on his Songs of a Lifetime tour. "In fact, it only had one string on it. Luckily, it was the bottom string. With a matchstick, I picked out this tune.

It made me think, you know, perhaps I could play guitar. So, it came to Christmas and I said to my mom, 'Do you think there's any chance of me having a guitar for Christmas?' And she said, 'No.' You know, we were pretty poor. So that was it. I just accepted it.

But anyway, Christmas came, and there it was, the guitar. And of course I was thrilled. The first four chords I learned were D, A minor, E minor, and G. With these chords I wrote this little song. It's a kids' song, really. And it was a medieval fantasy, really. And I never wrote it on a piece of paper. I just remembered the words."

Arguably Emerson, Lake & Palmer's best known song, this almost did not happen. On the last day of recording their first album, ELP did not have enough material to fulfill their contract requirements of 21 minutes per album side. Greg Lake explained: "Everybody looked round the studio, you know, 'Has anybody got any more material?' And there was deadly silence. So I said, 'Well, look, you know, I've got this little thing I wrote when I was a kid. And if there's nothing else, maybe that would do.' You know.

So Keith said, 'Well, you play it, then, let's have a listen.' So I played it, and nobody liked it. So I said, 'Yeah, but you know, the thing is we've got nothing else.' Keith said, 'Well, you record it on your own and I'm going to go down the pub.' So off he went down the pub.

So Carl Palmer and I, we recorded the first part together, just drums and acoustic guitar. And it sounded pretty dreadful. But then I put a bass on it and it sounded a bit better. And then I went and put some more guitars on it, and an electric guitar solo. Then I put these harmonies on, these block harmonies. And in the end it sounded pretty good, it sounded like a record."

The guitar chords on the chorus: A minor, E minor, D, then Dsus - just play a regular D chord and add a G played on the first string, according to Greg. The end of this song contains one of the most famous Moog synthesizer solos in rock history. Keith Emerson had just recently gotten the device, and only decided to play on this song after hearing the track Lake and Palmer came up with and realizing it was a legitimate song. "Keith came back from the pub and he heard it and was shocked," said Lake. You know, it had gone from this silly little folk song to this quite big production. And so, he said, 'Wow, I suppose I'd better play on that.' And so, I said, 'The thing is, I've already put the guitar solo on.' He said, 'Look, I could play something at the end.' He said, 'I've just had this gadget delivered next door. It's called a Moog synthesizer. I haven't tried it before, but maybe there's a sound on there that would work on this.' So, I said, 'Okay. Why don't we give it a try.'

And so, Keith went out into the next room. And he said, 'Run the track, then, for an experiment.' So, I flipped it in record and pressed play. And because he was experimenting, we didn't really listen. In fact, we put the speakers on dim. The track went through and Keith experimented, and when it got to the end, I turned to the engineer, Eddie Offord. I said, 'Was that me or did that sound good?' And Eddie said, 'I think it did sound good.' And we played it back. And that is the solo that's on the record."

This song does not have a happy ending. The "lucky man" has riches and acclaim, but he decides to fight for his country, gets shot, and dies. Greg Lake says that even though he wrote the song when he was very young, the story was always the same. "The lyrics never changed," he said. "But strangely enough, over time the way that people perceived the song changed. Perhaps it was vaguely something to do with the Vietnam War, that period, just at the end of the Vietnam War. Some people associated it with the John F. Kennedy assassination. It had those sort of overtones. So it was connected in a way to an era when there was a lot of war and drama like that. But the lyrics really got interpreted in a way in which I'd never intended them to be, of course, when I wrote it as a young kid." (Knowledge courtesy of Songfacts.com)

Editor's Note: Click on "Next 1 Entries" at the bottom of this page to see previous issues. - WG