Fun Friday Roundup

Not everything in the automotive industry is newsworthy, but that doesn’t mean that nothing cool is happening. We feel like TGIF is the perfect time to share with you some really awesome stuff that happened during the week. So take a few minutes, kick back and enjoy.

Racing Maserati brings the heat up

The Italian automaker announced earlier this week that they are entering the 2016 GT4 championship and will be competing both in the Pirelli World Challenge and European GT4. So of course, they need the right car for the job. So they decided that the GranTurismo MC will be their challenger in the competition. Does the model’s 4.7L naturally aspired V8 have enough power to earn a title, or at the very least some class wins? It actually has too much! Maserati had to fit the car with an air scoop to reduce its output from 488 hp to 430 hp to power the 1,410 kg (3,108 lb) car. And what a sight and sound the result is.

Big size kid toy

When you meet adorable Sophie, she’s introduced as Volvo’s test driver of the day. She’s in a booster seat, has a flower in her hair and is the target audience for Trix cereals. Don’t be silly Volvo, she can’t drive. And yet, you give her a remote control that’s bigger than she is and the kid turns the knobs and pushes the levers and navigates a radio-guided Volvo truck on a closed course better than I probably could! Way to go, Sophie! And thanks to autoTRADER.ca for the share.

The last P1 rolling off the production line

This is a solemn moment, please observe a minute of silence, as the very last of the limited-production McLaren P1 rolls off the production line. The production days of the P1 are now over and each of the 375 units produced will be an eternal reminder of the glory from yesteryear. Until somebody crashes one. Then they will be 374. And what better way to sneak a peek at the brutal British than to have Jeremy Clarkson talk about it in his own quirky words.