Yahoo Autos New cars in 2023 we most want to drive
The automotive world started to look a bit more normal this year as returning auto shows and smaller, automaker-run events combined to pull the covers off the new cars coming for 2023 (and beyond). Since the cars we got to see in photos and on static show stands this year will become the ones we actually get to drive next year, our editors sat down to ponder which we're most looking forward to testing. We didn't do this list last year (we honestly don't remember why), but back in the waning days of 2021, we put together a list of cars and SUVs that turned out to be just as good, or at least intriguing, as we had hoped. There were names like Bronco, Defender, BRZ, Mach-E and Wagoneer. We jumped the gun on the Nissan Z a bit (that arrived this year), and I personally picked the Rivian R1S, which I'm still waiting to drive. As you'll see, I apparently did not learn my lesson about choosing unobtanium for this list. - Senior Editor James Riswick
Cadillac Celestiq
Senior Editor, Green, John Beltz Snyder: I saw an early show car version of the Celestiq at the beginning of the pandemic, and it was stunning. Then I drove the Lyriq, and saw what a fine EV Cadillac could make for a fraction of the price. Just imagine what it can do with a $300,000 car. My only fear is that, with such a rarified vehicle, I might not actually get the chance to drive it. Fingers crossed.
2023 Porsche 911 Dakar
Senior Editor James Riswick: This is another potential bittersweet choice, cause I'm pretty sure there's little chance I'll ever be able to drive a 911 Dakar. Neither will my fellow editors below. With only 1,500 set to be built, period, and the press launch set to include only a handful lucky journalists, we'll be living just as vicariously as you are through the report filed here on Autoblog by freelance journalist and former Autoblog editor Steven J. Ewing. He's a nice guy. But he's also a jerk for getting to drive that car in Morocco, or anywhere, instead of me. Yeah, I'm bitter. I'm going to be really persnickety editing that story. He'd better not put a semi-colon in the wrong place. Anywho, the 911 Dakar that I won't be able to drive. It's damned amazing, turning what should be an utterly ridiculous, cynical, cash-grab exercise of "off-road 911, chuckle chuckle" into something that looks like one of the most insanely capable and fun cars on the road. Or off it. That Porsche is only making 1,500 seems like sheer lunacy. Nevertheless, I like to think of myself as an optimist, so here's hoping I'm wrong and I do get to drive a Dakar.
Associate Editor Byron Hurd: Well, Riswick beat me to my first choice and for pretty much the exact same reasons. The best part of this gig is getting precious moments of seat time in cars that will inevitably be sold in limited numbers and locked away, rather than driven. I missed out on the Demon; I'd hate to say the same about this.
