Say what you want about Michael Bay, but the man has good taste in cars. When he’s not bathing our childhood heroes in massive CGI explosions or awkwardly zooming in on female characters, the Transformers director is busy driving his Ferrari 458 Italia, Bentley Continental GT, Lamborghini Aventador, or Porsche 911 Turbo.
Until recently, Bay was the proud owner of a 1967 Chevrolet Camaro SS, the very same model that played Bumblebee in Transformers: Age of Extinction. The muscle car is due to receive another owner soon, as the car will be sold at the 2016 Barrett-Jackson Collector Car Auction in Scottsdale, Arizona in January.
The one-off was heavily customized for its appearance in the 2014 blockbuster, and features an LS-series Corvette engine (the particular model is not specified), six-speed manual gearbox, custom suspension, a 9-inch Ford rear end, a roll cage, and Wilwood brakes. On the aesthetics side, the SS wears a satin black exterior with yellow accents, three-piece racing wheels, custom LED headlights, bespoke carbon fiber fender flares, and of course, graphics from the Transformers franchise. The car also equips a touchscreen navigation system and leather seats from a late-model Camaro.
Transformers: Age of Extinction was almost universally panned by critics, but according to Box Office Mojo, the movie grossed over $1.1 billion worldwide. Another sequel starring Mark Walhberg — the fifth in the franchise — is planned for release sometime in 2017.
DT Cars editor Alexander Kalogianni recently got a chance to take his very own Bumblebee on a trip around the southern United States. His 2016 2LT Camaro may not have saved the planet from hostile aliens or evil robots, but the bright yellow two-door proved a loyal companion just the same. Check out the video from his trip around the bayou here.
BYD has launched the third-generation Qin Plus DM-i in China, and the first thing that caught my eye is its price. According to CarNewsChina, the plug-in hybrid sedan starts at 79,900 yuan, which is about $11,980. That’s an incredibly low price for a brand-new car, especially by US standards.
What’s even more impressive is the range. The Qin Plus DM-i can drive up to 137 miles on electricity alone, which should cover most people’s daily commutes without using a drop of gas. Once the battery runs out, the 1.5-liter engine takes over. Thanks to its 17-gallon tank and roughly 91 mpg with a drained battery, the combined range reaches up to 1,423 miles.
Apple won the PC market’s worst quarter, but that’s not the entire story. It won the race by stumbling less than everyone else.
PC makers shipped just 57 million computers worldwide in Q3, which might look good, but it’s a 21% year-over-year plunge (via Counterpoint Research). And despite Apple’s Mac shipments falling by 11%, to 5.6 million, its market share rose from 8.7% to 9.8%. How did that happen?
Update (October 22 23:54 PT): In response to our query, GM clarified that offline recording support is already available on eligible vehicles. Like Tesla's Sentry Mode, it requires owners to connect a USB drive to save incident recordings, which can be viewed on the vehicle's infotainment screen. The upcoming Connected Cameras feature will build on this by giving owners remote access to these recordings via the revamped OnStar app, allowing them to check footage without walking out to their car.
General Motors has announced plans to add a new Connected Cameras feature to its OnStar service starting next year, giving drivers a way to monitor parked vehicles remotely and capture footage of certain incidents.