Yahoo Autos This Week in Cars: a New Civic, a New BRZ, and a 470-HP Wrangler
Highs and Lows
Elon Musk suffered a setback when a COVID-19 diagnosis kept him from attending the launch of NASA's SpaceX Crew-1, which carried four astronauts to the International Space Station. The launch was a success, and four astronauts were safely delivered to the ISS, and Musk's luck continued when Tesla stock rose 8.2 percent on the news that the carmaker would be included in the S&P 500 index starting December 21. It's all about silver linings.
This Week in Sheetmetal
In a perfect world, the 2020 Los Angeles Auto Show would have taken place this week. In this imperfect world, we were forced to enjoy the glut of new product reveals from the safe remove of our home offices. Here's the bounty:
Honda revealed a prototype for the 11th-generation Civic, which will hit dealer lots for the 2022 model year. The design is more refined, the active safety features more plentiful, and the Si and Type R models are alive and well. The same cannot be said for the Civic coupe, which took its final bow in 2020 and will not return with the new generation.
The Subaru BRZ will finally enter its second generation with the 2022 model, on sale in fall 2021. The new car will feature significant design changes and a new 2.4-liter naturally aspirated flat-four making 228 horsepower, but the BRZ retains its rear-wheel-drive layout and a six-speed manual transmission.
The 2021 Lincoln Nautilus got a swanky interior makeover, borrowing heavily from its Aviator and Corsair siblings. Expect the refreshed Nautilus at dealers in early 2021.
GMC allowed us the first glimpse of the SUV variant of the Hummer EV (previously shown in pickup guise) during a video call for investors. General Motors also gave us a peek at an as-yet-unnamed Chevrolet EV pickup, which was parked in the shadows behind chief EV officer Travis Hester during the call.
Infiniti showed us its QX55 for the first time, essentially a coupe variant of the 2022 QX50.
Jeep announced the 470-hp Wrangler Rubicon 392, powered by a 6.4-liter V-8 and expected to launch to 60 mph in 4.5 seconds, even more impressive considering its standard 33-inch all-terrain tires. The 392 will go on sale in early 2021.
