By Christopher A. Sawyer
The Virtual Driver

(July 25, 2016) About 10 years ago, Audi was launching the then-new TT near Napa, Calif., and chose the highest, most sinuous trails it could find to show off the car’s dynamic capabilities. Co-driver and friend Tom Lankard took the first turn behind the wheel, and attacked the roads with gusto. But it didn’t take long before he grew bored by the confined nature of the roads (seemingly there were no sweepers or straights of any note), and aware that I was looking greener by the second as I fought motion sickness.

(July 23, 2016) A 1931 Mathis motorcar, which was hidden in France during World War II, will be offered for sale by Silverstone Auctions at the Silverstone Classic taking place July 29-31.

The now rare and collectible Mathis PY 7CV has spent the last 72 years behind lock and key at a Chateau in Northern France, having been concealed from the invading German forces who stripped the area of valuable collectibles in the early 1940s.

(July 22, 2016) A coupé or a cabrio? A soft top or a solid roof? smart blurs the borders: the smart fortwo coupé now has a unique solid roof with a black fabric covering as standard. This roof with the special look will be introduced together with further changes in model year 2016. Front fog lamps with cornering light are a further new feature. Sales start this week and the first models will reach dealers in September.

(July 20, 2016) OXNARD, Calif. — The Mullin Automotive Museum will bring rare and iconic vehicles to Monterey in mid-August that showcase the engineering, art and elegance that defined the best French automakers from the dawn of the automotive age through the performance era of the early 1970s.

Eight vehicles will be shown at four events over the course of the famed “car week,” including a 1912 Delaunay-Belleville Omnibus Chassis 3197, a 1927 Delage ERA, a Chapron-bodied 1937 Delahaye 145, a 1938 Delahaye 135M.