Sunday
Mar222026
MARCH 25, 2026
Sunday, March 22, 2026 at 07:39AM
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
(BMW images)
BMW fans are about to get a serious jolt. The BMW 3 Series, the essence of the BMW brand for five decades, has been completely transformed. The new, fully electric BMW i3 - the next model in BMW's "Neue Klasse" - enhances the familiar character of the BMW 3 Series with a technological quantum leap into a new era. The first all-electric BMW 3 Series launches as the BMW i3 50 xDrive, which has an electric motor on both the front and rear axles. The combined system power output is 463HP, while maximum torque is 476 ft-lb. "The highly efficient sixth-generation BMW eDrive technology, together with the new BMW Panoramic iDrive and 'Heart of Joy,' delivers driving pleasure on a level never experienced before," according to BMW PR minions. With BMW Symbiotic Drive, the assisted driving experience is also entering a new era. The BMW i3 also stands for a modern interpretation of the hallmark design features of a BMW Sedan. The hallmark BMW silhouette proportions are reflected in the new 2.5-box design. Notable features are the long wheelbase, the greenhouse that slopes towards the rear and the short overhangs. The BMW grille and twin headlights merge into an innovative light signature; flared wheel arches emphasize the wide stance of the new BMW i3, and the rear features horizontal rear lighting.
The new BMW i3 maximizes the capabilities of the all-new EV architecture, "offering impressively precise, effortless, and assured handling," according to the manufacturer. The "Heart of Joy" high-performance computer shapes the BMW i3 driving experience. Its responses are ten times faster than in previous systems. Together with three other super brain high-performance computers, the Heart of Joy forms the centerpiece of the new software and electronics architecture.
The new BMW i3 stands out for its excellent suitability for long journeys. Its estimated range is up to 440 miles (estimated range of up to 440 miles according to preliminary BMW AG tests based on the EPA’s test procedure standards). DC charging capacities of up to 400 kW also drastically reduce charging times. Sixth-generation BMW eDrive technology provides the prerequisites for this rapid progress. It comprises highly efficient electric motors, 800-volt technology, and new high-voltage batteries with new cylindrical cells. The cell-to-pack design used enables high energy densities at pack level and a flatter high-voltage battery. The BMW i3 also features the bidirectional charging functions Vehicle-to-Load, Vehicle-to-Home and Vehicle-to-Grid charging functions.
The BMW i3 will be manufactured at the BMW Group plant in Munich, which is the home plant of BMW. For more than a hundred years, the plant in Milbertshofen, in the north of Munich, has been producing premium vehicles. Over the last four years, the plant has seen significant modernization: Alongside a new body shop, a cutting-edge vehicle assembly area incorporating logistics space has been constructed. The new buildings are in their final stages of expansion. Production of the new BMW i3 will start in these halls beginning in August of 2026. The first vehicles will be delivered in autumn this year. One year later, the production portfolio will be switched to exclusively fully electric vehicles of the Neue Klasse. Editor-in-Chief's Note: I will wait to see it in person, but at first glance I'm liking the look of this "Neue Klasse" a lot. -PMD
Editor-in-Chief's Note: For our featured video this week, we return to Florida for the 1964 12 Hours of Sebring which saw a 1-2-3 victory for Ferrari. Watch it here. -PMD
The AE Song of the Week:
Just like the white winged dove
Sings a song
Sounds like she's singing
Ooh ooh ooh
Just like the white winged dove
Sings a song
Sounds like she's singing
Ooh baby, ooh, said ooh
And the days go by
Like a strand in the wind
In the web that is my own
I begin again
Said to my friend, baby
Nothin' else mattered
He was no more than a baby then
Well he seemed broken hearted
Something within him
But the moment that I first laid
Eyes on him all alone
On the edge of seventeen
Sings a song
Sounds like she's singing
Ooh ooh ooh
Just like the white winged dove
Sings a song
Sounds like she's singing
Ooh baby, ooh, said ooh
And the days go by
Like a strand in the wind
In the web that is my own
I begin again
Said to my friend, baby
Nothin' else mattered
He was no more than a baby then
Well he seemed broken hearted
Something within him
But the moment that I first laid
Eyes on him all alone
On the edge of seventeen
Just like the white winged dove
Sings a song
Sounds like she's singing
Ooh baby, ooh, said ooh
Just like the white winged dove
Sings a song
Sounds like she's singing
Said ooh baby, ooh, said ooh
Well, I went today maybe I will go again
Tomorrow
Yeah, yeah
Well the music there, well it was hauntingly
Familiar
When I see you doing
What I tried to do for me
With the words from a poet
And a voice from a choir
And a melody nothing else mattered
Just like the white winged dove
Sings a song
Sounds like she's singing
Sings a song
Sounds like she's singing
Ooh baby, ooh, said ooh
Just like the white winged dove
Sings a song
Sounds like she's singing
Said ooh baby, ooh, said ooh
Well, I went today maybe I will go again
Tomorrow
Yeah, yeah
Well the music there, well it was hauntingly
Familiar
When I see you doing
What I tried to do for me
With the words from a poet
And a voice from a choir
And a melody nothing else mattered
Just like the white winged dove
Sings a song
Sounds like she's singing
Ooh baby, ooh, said ooh
Just like the white winged dove
Sings a song
Sounds like she's singing
Said ooh baby, ooh, said ooh
The clouds never expect it
When it rains
But the sea changes colors
But the sea
Does not change
So with the slow, graceful flow
Of age
I went forth with an age old
Desire to please
On the edge of seventeen
Ooh
Just like the white winged dove
Sings a song
Sounds like she's singing
Ooh baby, ooh, said ooh
Just like the white winged dove
Sings a song
Sounds like she's singing
Said ooh baby, ooh, said ooh
The clouds never expect it
When it rains
But the sea changes colors
But the sea
Does not change
So with the slow, graceful flow
Of age
I went forth with an age old
Desire to please
On the edge of seventeen
Ooh
Just like the white winged dove
Sings a song
Sounds like she's singing
Ooh baby, ooh, said ooh
Just like the white winged dove
Sings a song
Sounds like she's singing
Ooh baby, ooh, said ooh
Well then suddenly
There was no one left standing
In the hall yeah, yeah
In a flood of tears
That no one really ever heard fall at all
Well, I went searchin' for an answer
Up the stairs and down the hall
Not to find an answer
Just to hear the call
Of a nightbird singing
Come away, come away
Just like the white winged dove
Sings a song
Sounds like she's singing
Ooh baby, ooh, said ooh
Just like the white winged dove
Sings a song
Sings a song
Sounds like she's singing
Ooh baby, ooh, said ooh
Well then suddenly
There was no one left standing
In the hall yeah, yeah
In a flood of tears
That no one really ever heard fall at all
Well, I went searchin' for an answer
Up the stairs and down the hall
Not to find an answer
Just to hear the call
Of a nightbird singing
Come away, come away
Just like the white winged dove
Sings a song
Sounds like she's singing
Ooh baby, ooh, said ooh
Just like the white winged dove
Sings a song
Sounds like she's singing
Ooh baby, ooh, said ooh
Well I hear you in the morning
And I hear you
At nightfall
Sometimes to be near you
Is to be unable to feel you
My love
I'm a few years older than you, my love
Just like the white winged dove
Sings a song
Sounds like she's singing
Ooh baby, ooh, said ooh
Just like the white winged dove
Sings a song
Sounds like she's singing
Ooh baby, ooh, said ooh
Ooh baby, ooh, said ooh
Well I hear you in the morning
And I hear you
At nightfall
Sometimes to be near you
Is to be unable to feel you
My love
I'm a few years older than you, my love
Just like the white winged dove
Sings a song
Sounds like she's singing
Ooh baby, ooh, said ooh
Just like the white winged dove
Sings a song
Sounds like she's singing
Ooh baby, ooh, said ooh
"Edge Of Seventeen" by Stevie Nicks, from the album "Bella Donna" (1981).* Written by Stephanie Nicks. Publisher: Kobalt Music Publishing Ltd., Universal Music Publishing Group. Lyrics licensed and provided by LyricFind. Watch the Original Music Video here.
*Stevie Nicks wrote this song about the death of her uncle and the death of John Lennon. The line about the "words from a poet and a voice from a choir" refers to Lennon. Speaking about the song in commentary for her Live In Concert video recorded on her Bella Donna tour, she explained: "I was in Australia when John Lennon was shot. Everybody was devastated. I didn't know John Lennon, but I knew Jimmy Iovine, who worked with John quite a bit in the '70s, and heard all the loving stories that Jimmy told about him. When I came back to Phoenix, I started to write this song.
Right when I got to Phoenix, my uncle Bill got cancer, got very sick very fast, and died in a couple of weeks. My cousin John Nicks and I were in the room when he died. There was just John and I there. That was part of the song when I went running down the hallways looking for somebody - I thought where's my mom? Where's his wife and the rest of the family? At that point I went back to the piano and finished the song."
Right when I got to Phoenix, my uncle Bill got cancer, got very sick very fast, and died in a couple of weeks. My cousin John Nicks and I were in the room when he died. There was just John and I there. That was part of the song when I went running down the hallways looking for somebody - I thought where's my mom? Where's his wife and the rest of the family? At that point I went back to the piano and finished the song."
Speaking further in her video commentary, Nicks spoke about the "white-winged dove" and what this song means to her: "It became a song about violent death, which was very scary to me because at that point no one in my family had died. To me, the white-winged dove was for John Lennon the dove of peace, and for my uncle it was the white-winged dove who lives in the saguaro cactus - that's how I found out about the white-winged dove, and it does make a sound like whooo, whooo, whooo. I read that somewhere in Phoenix and thought I would use that in this song. The dove became exciting and sad and tragic and incredibly dramatic. Every time I sing this song, I have that ability to go back to that two-month period where it all came down. I've never changed it, and I can't imagine ending my show with any other song. It's such a strong, private moment that I share in this song."
Stevie came up with the title when she asked Tom Petty's wife Jane when the couple met. Jane said, "At the age of seventeen," but she had a very strong southern accent and Stevie thought she said "the edge of seventeen," which makes a great song title. Telling the story in a 1981 interview with Los Angeles disc jockey Robert W. Morgan, Nicks said she told Jane: "It's got to be 'edge.' 'The Edge of Seventeen' is perfect. I'm going to write a song."
At first, the song was going to be about Tom and Jane, but it became something completely different. Bella Donna was Stevie's first solo album. "Edge Of Seventeen" was the third single; the first two were duets: "Stop Draggin' My Heart Around" with Tom Petty and "Leather And Lace" with Don Henley. The album proved that Nicks had enormous appeal outside of Fleetwood Mac, and this song in particular gave her tremendous confidence, as it's a very personal track that resonated with listeners and went over very well live.
At first, the song was going to be about Tom and Jane, but it became something completely different. Bella Donna was Stevie's first solo album. "Edge Of Seventeen" was the third single; the first two were duets: "Stop Draggin' My Heart Around" with Tom Petty and "Leather And Lace" with Don Henley. The album proved that Nicks had enormous appeal outside of Fleetwood Mac, and this song in particular gave her tremendous confidence, as it's a very personal track that resonated with listeners and went over very well live.
"Edge Of Seventeen" has very prominent backing vocals courtesy of Nicks' longtime accompanists Lori Perry and Sharon Celani. Nicks was very good at finding and retaining top talent for her solo work. That distinctive guitar riff comes courtesy of Waddy Wachtel, who first worked with her pre-Fleetwood Mac when she was a duo with Lindsey Buckingham. Wachtel is one of the most revered but unheralded session guitarists in rock history, with credits on tracks by Randy Newman, Linda Ronstadt, Bob Seger and many others. He, Perry, and Celani all toured with Nicks for years following release of the Bella Donna album (Wachtel is easy to recognize - he's the guy with hair that looks like electrified spaghetti). Also playing on this track were bass player Bob Glaub, drummer Russ Kunkel, piano player Roy Bittan of Bruce Springsteen's E Street Band, and organist Benmont Tench of Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers. (Knowledge courtesy of Songfacts.com)