News Roundup: Stupid car thieves, an impaired police driver, and EV wait times

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Welcome to our round-up of the biggest breaking stories on Driving.ca from this past week. Get caught up and ready to get on with the weekend, because it’s hard keeping pace in a digital traffic jam.

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Here’s what you missed while you were away.

Celebrating car thieves who are very bad at thieving cars

In almost all professions, it’s excellence that gets celebrated by the public. But when it comes to the age-old job of burglary, we tend to more often note the opposite: ineptitude. 

Recently in Australia, for example, a pair of poorly prepared classic car bandits made off with a rare 1960s Brabham BT21, but had to abandon it just blocks away after being outsmarted by its manual transmission and starting gear. Well done, mates. Meanwhile in the U.S., multiple catalytic converter thieves have learned that not only does crime not pay, but it can demand the ultimate cost, life itself. Two attempted robbers recently lost their lives trying to make off with the valuable part, one when the vehicle’s driver awoke from a nap and drove off without knowing there was somebody underneath, and the other when the vehicle they were sawing on fell on top of them. 

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Read our roundup of failed automotive thefts here, also including the story of a Tesla getaway driver who got nabbed while charging just miles away from the electronics store they’d hit. 

Watch: Oklahoma police captain tries to talk himself out of DUI

An Oklahoma City Police Department Captain is in serious hot water after being caught on video attempting to talk his way out of an impaired driving charge. Captain James French was pulled over by his colleague Christopher Skinner, who saw him driving erratically and reported noticing that his “breath smelled of alcohol, his eyes were watering, and his speech was slurred,” when he pulled him over. 

The Oklahoman reports French allegedly attempted to use his status as a get-out-of-jail-free card, telling Skinner “I’m a captain on the police department,” and repeatedly asking him to turn off the camera. But the sober officer kept rolling tape and the almost 14-minute video is quite cringey, at one point saying, “I understand that sir… I’m a sergeant, and I’ve taken an oath to uphold the law. I don’t show favouritism to anyone regardless. I don’t care if you’re a gang-banger or the President of the United States.” Skinner’s chief has since publicly praised his actions. 

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The one-off sports car rumoured to have inspired the Boxster is up for sale

It’s one-of-a-kind, Canadian-made, and about the last car you’d ever want to roll over in. Twisted together by the Porsche nuts at Montreal-based Wingho Auto, the Spexter was imagined in the ’80s as a new take on the classic Porsche 356 Speedster, built from a 1981 Porsche 911SC Targa, and shaped with Kevlar and fibreglass, though barely at all above the hood and body. The car has no A-pillars, side windows, or roof.  

But a Hemmings classified ad for the car shows it has just 3,741 km on the odometer and looks as stunning as the day it made the cover of Motortrend in 1988. The Spexter has never before been for sale. It’s now for sale for a firm $616,000.

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All the EVs with the least-ridiculous wait times

Buying an EV these days requires a fair bit of money, but even more patience. Because although there’s plenty of talk of EVs taking over the market, there aren’t a lot of actual models available right now. Sure, you can chuck money at them, but it often takes months or even years for them to arrive in driveways. But not all EVs have the same wait times. There are, in fact, a number that are much more readily available, especially if you’re willing to pay a premium and forgo the government’s rebates that only apply to vehicles priced under a certain point.

Driving’s Nadine Filion spoke with a number of automotive dealers across the country to learn what E-inventory they have readily available and came back with a list including the NIssan Leaf and some trims of the Ariya SUV, the Mazda MX-30, a number of Hyundai and Kia options, and even Tesla, which, believe it or not, still has some Model 3s available in Canada.  

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GM will face class action lawsuit over shaky transmission, judge

A federal judge in Detroit has said they will allow class-action lawsuits to come against General Motors over an alleged transmission issue in around 800,000 of its vehicles from 2015 to 2019 model years. 

The impacted parts are the *L45 or 8L90 eight-speed automatic transmission in multiple Chevy and GMC trucks and SUVs, some Cadillacs, and the Chevrolet Corvette and Camaro. Drivers report the transmission causing shuddering and shaking, and in some cases lurches so extreme it feels like the vehicle has been rear-ended. The Judge says they found evidence that GM “rapidly accumulated irrefutable evidence of a widespread defect as a result of a years-long – and apparently still ongoing – investigation,” and did not disclose the information to drivers. GM has declined to comment.

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Driving the Dodge Hornet and admiring the 2023 Dodge Challenger SRT Demon 170

When Dodge announced the Hornet, there were concerns that the brand synonymous with American muscle was moving away from its roots. But a drive in the 2024 Dodge Hornet CUV reveals those concerns to be largely misplaced, because here is a crossover that honours its heritage as what Dodge calls a “mini muscle car.” First Drive reviewer Clayton Seams feels it stacks up nicely against the MX-5 and Tucson competition, offering best in class horsepower and torque with the GT’s 2.0L turbo, and ultimately providing a sporty and fun drive. 

But the automaker hasn’t entirely shifted its strategy just yet. The last of the “Last Call” muscle car models was revealed this week as a 1,025-horsepower, limited-run 2023 Dodge Challenger SRT Demon 170. It guzzles E85 ethanol but will spit out a 8.91-second quarter-mile time in exchange, making it the quickest muscle car ever. Dodge says it plans to make just 3,300 models, 300 of which will come to Canada, but they may have to play production numbers by ear for a while as the parts and microchip shortage continues. Learn more about the literal ultimate Dodge muscle car here.