All posts by Francis Mitterrand

NEW CARS

BMW Built the M3 Touring GT3 You Didn’t Think Was Real

BMW has a long history of building cars that feel like inside jokes made real—machines that exist because someone in Munich couldn’t resist asking, “But what if we actually did it?” This time, though, the punchline came first.

What began as an April Fools’ gag has turned into something far more serious: a full-blown, Nürburgring-bound race car. Meet the BMW M3 Touring 24H, a machine that takes the sensible, dog-hauling, IKEA-running M3 wagon and transforms it into a fire-breathing endurance racer. Yes, really.

From Meme to Machine

Last April, BMW tossed out a render of an M3 Touring GT racer on social media—widebody, winged, and wonderfully absurd. The internet did what it does best: it lost its mind. But instead of letting the hype fade into the usual digital ether, BMW did something unusual. It listened.

Eight months later, the joke has rubber, fuel lines, and a Nürburgring entry slot.

According to BMW, the response to that post was “overwhelming,” and crucially, it aligned with something already brewing internally: the idea of a competition-spec M3 Touring. The green light came quickly, and the result is what you see here—a car built in a compressed development window that would make most racing programs sweat.

Touring Car, Literally

Let’s get one thing straight: this isn’t just a tuned-up wagon with a roll cage. Underneath its elongated roofline, the M3 Touring 24H is essentially an M4 GT3 in a different outfit. That means a race-honed 3.0-liter twin-turbo inline-six pushing out 586 horsepower to the rear wheels—about 86 more than the road-going M3 Touring.

BMW hasn’t released performance figures, but you don’t need a stopwatch to understand the implications. Less weight, more power, slick tires, and full aero mean this thing should demolish its street-legal sibling in every measurable way—especially somewhere like the Nordschleife, where stability and high-speed composure are everything.

And then there’s the silhouette. Long roof. Extended rear. A wagon—on a grid full of coupes and purpose-built racers. It’s gloriously wrong, which somehow makes it feel completely right.

A Car for the Comments Section

BMW calls the M3 Touring 24H a “car for the fans,” and for once, that’s not just marketing fluff. The car’s initial livery literally incorporates comments from fans who reacted to last year’s April Fools’ post. It’s a rolling tribute to the internet’s ability to shout something into existence.

By the time it lines up for its competitive debut in the Nürburgring Langstrecken-Serie, it’ll wear a different livery—but the spirit remains the same. This is a car born from engagement, not just engineering.

Nürburgring, Naturally

The debut will happen where cars go to prove they’re more than just good ideas: the Nürburgring Nordschleife. Entered by Schubert Motorsport in the SPX class, the M3 Touring 24H won’t go head-to-head with the top-tier GT3 entries, including BMW’s own M4 GT3s in SP9. But that’s not really the point.

This is less about outright victory and more about spectacle—and perhaps something more strategic. A proof of concept. A rolling “what if?” that might quietly be answering bigger questions about future customer racing programs.

Will You Be Able to Buy One?

That’s the million-dollar question—or, more accurately, the half-a-million-pound one, given what BMW charges for an M4 GT3. So far, BMW is staying coy. There’s no confirmation that the M3 Touring 24H will be offered to private teams, nor any indication of a broader racing campaign beyond its initial outings.

But let’s be honest: cars like this have a way of snowballing. Today it’s a fan-service special. Tomorrow it’s a limited-run homologation curiosity. The day after? Who knows.

Also left hanging is the fate of another April Fools’ fantasy: the off-road-ready M2 Dakar. If the Touring can make the leap from joke to grid, don’t bet against BMW having a few more surprises tucked away.

The Bigger Picture

Andrea Roos, head of BMW M Motorsport, summed it up best: this is a project unlike anything the division has done before. And that’s precisely why it matters.

In an era where performance cars are increasingly shaped by regulations, electrification, and market pressures, the M3 Touring 24H feels refreshingly rebellious. It exists because people wanted it to. Because engineers were curious. Because someone, somewhere, decided that a racing wagon wasn’t just funny—it was necessary.

And really, isn’t that the best kind of car?

Source: BMW

News

Audi’s Electric 4×4 Dream Isn’t Dead Yet

Audi has always flirted with the edges of its own identity. It builds supercars, it builds sensible crossovers, it builds everything in between—but one thing it’s never quite committed to is a proper, mud-slinging, ladder-frame (or at least convincingly rugged) off-roader. That may be about to change.

At Audi’s annual media conference, CEO Gernot Döllner did everything short of confirming it outright: Ingolstadt is, once again, circling the idea of a fully electric luxury 4×4 aimed squarely at the establishment—namely the Land Rover Defender and Mercedes-Benz G-Class. And while the company line remains carefully noncommittal, the subtext is loud and clear: Audi wants in.

“There has always been speculation,” Döllner said, in the kind of statement that usually precedes a reveal by about 18 months. More telling, though, was his framing of Audi’s breadth: from entry-level EVs to sports cars to “rugged SUVs.” That last category has always felt like a missing tooth in the brand’s otherwise polished smile.

This isn’t a new idea. The notion of a flagship Audi 4×4 has been floating around since at least 2023, when then–design boss Marc Lichte pointed out the obvious: in a segment dominated by two premium heavyweights, there’s room—and profit—for a third. Audi, despite its quattro heritage, has never truly capitalized on that lineage in the hardcore off-road space. Instead, it’s spent decades making all-wheel-drive cars that look adventurous but rarely venture far beyond a gravel driveway.

The timing now, however, feels different. Audi is deep into its electric transition, and an EV off-roader offers something more than just another body style—it’s an opportunity to redefine capability. Instant torque, precise motor control, and software-defined drivetrains could give Audi a technical edge, even if it lacks the decades of off-road credibility its rivals trade on.

There’s also a strategic angle, and it’s spelled U-S-A.

Döllner made no secret of Audi’s renewed focus on the American market, where big, expensive SUVs aren’t just popular—they’re practically a requirement. The upcoming Q9, set to become the brand’s largest and most luxurious SUV yet, is being developed with U.S. buyers front of mind and will even launch there first. That alone signals a shift in priorities for a company that historically designed from Europe outward.

An electric off-roader would slot neatly into that playbook. It’s the kind of halo product that resonates in the U.S., where image and capability go hand in hand, even if most examples will spend their lives commuting between Whole Foods and a ski lodge.

And then there’s the production question. With shifting tariffs and geopolitical pressures complicating imports, Audi is actively exploring the idea of building cars locally in the United States. A niche, high-margin model like a luxury electric 4×4 could justify that investment—especially if it shares bones with other Volkswagen Group projects, like the upcoming Scout-branded SUV and pickup being prepped for a South Carolina factory.

Still, there’s an apparent contradiction here. Döllner has also been vocal about simplifying Audi’s lineup, trimming complexity, and focusing on core models. So where does a low-volume, high-cost off-roader fit into that vision?

Paradoxically, it fits perfectly.

As Döllner himself put it, these kinds of “niche” vehicles aren’t distractions—they’re incubators. They build brand image, showcase new technology, and allow ideas to trickle down into the mainstream lineup. Think of it less as a side project and more as a rolling laboratory with leather seats and a six-figure price tag.

And perhaps that’s the most compelling reason to believe this thing is real. Audi doesn’t just need another SUV—it needs a statement. Something that says its electric future isn’t just about efficiency and screens, but about capability, presence, and maybe even a bit of attitude.

For now, the company remains coy. No name, no timeline, no official green light. Just a carefully chosen line from the CEO himself: “Don’t give up on that dream.”

In the world of automotive corporate speak, that’s about as close to a promise as you’re going to get.

Source: Autocar

NEW CARS

Bentley Doubles Down on EVs While Rivals Hedge Their Bets

Bentley is not hedging its bets. While rivals scramble to retrofit their electric ambitions with a safety net of combustion, Crewe is doubling down—quietly, confidently, and perhaps a little defiantly.

At a time when Lotus Cars has pivoted midstream—reengineering its Lotus Eletre X to accommodate a range-extending combustion setup amid cooling demand—Bentley Motors is choosing a different path. Its forthcoming “Luxury Urban EV,” set to debut in the second half of this year, will remain exactly what it was always meant to be: fully electric, no backup plan required.

CEO Frank-Steffen Walliser doesn’t sound like a man interested in engineering compromises. Retrofitting an internal combustion engine—or even a plug-in hybrid system—into Bentley’s new EV platform isn’t just off the table; it’s fundamentally incompatible. The PPE architecture underpinning the car simply wasn’t designed for such duality. And more to the point, Bentley doesn’t want it to be.

That’s a notable stance in a segment that’s showing early signs of hesitation. Premium EV adoption hasn’t exactly stalled, but it has lost some of its initial inevitability. Walliser himself admits that one of the key challenges ahead lies in figuring out just how large the market really is—and who, exactly, is ready to spend six figures on silent propulsion.

Bentley’s answer isn’t to dilute the product. Instead, it’s to diversify the showroom. The plug-in hybrid Bentley Bentayga remains in play as the brand’s bridge to combustion loyalists, ensuring that the new EV doesn’t have to be all things to all buyers. “We’re not here to force anyone,” Walliser effectively says. Translation: if you’re not ready for electric, Bentley still has something for you. If you are, they’re building something entirely new.

And that’s the interesting bit. Bentley insists this isn’t a replacement, but an expansion—a strategic reach toward a different kind of customer. Which raises the question: what exactly is a Bentley EV supposed to be?

Clues are thin, but not nonexistent. The new model will share key underpinnings with the upcoming Porsche Cayenne Electric, suggesting serious hardware. Think dual motors, all-wheel drive, and outputs that could climb into four-digit horsepower territory. If Porsche’s numbers hold—up to 1140 hp and nearly 400 miles of range from a 113 kWh battery—Bentley’s version won’t be lacking in muscle or stamina.

But performance alone doesn’t define a Bentley. According to Matthias Rabe, the goal is something more nuanced: “very comfortable like a Flying Spur and agile like a Continental GT.” That’s a tall order—melding limousine ride quality with grand-tourer sharpness—but if achieved, it could mark a new kind of flagship. Not just electric, but distinctly Bentley.

Rabe goes further, promising blistering acceleration figures and, perhaps most boldly, calling it “the best Bentley on the road.” That’s either marketing bravado or a sign that Crewe sees this car as more than a compliance exercise.

So while others hedge, Bentley commits. No hybrids, no range extenders, no safety nets. Just a clean-sheet EV aimed at buyers who don’t need convincing—or at least, don’t want compromise.

In a market still figuring itself out, that kind of clarity might be the biggest luxury of all.

Source: Bentley