Andrew’s A-List: Auto News & Chatter You Need to Know

EDITOR’S NOTE:  TUNDRA is thrilled to announce its new weekly column "Andrew’s A-List" summarizing the latest & greatest as shared by Gen Z industry insider Andrew Goetz – who you may recognize as host of Auction Street Watch. Don’t miss Andrew’s take on an industry that’s taking the world-by-storm like never before.

TROUBLE IN PARADISE: Lawsuit involving classic Porsche sold at 2016 Amelia Island Concours d’Elegance by Jerry Seinfeld is finally settled? 

Three years after the extravagant 2016 Amelia Island Concours d’Elegance (now called The Amelia), a glamorous multi-day extravaganza of automobiles along the sunny beaches of Florida, the collector car world was thrown into a tailspin after two lawsuits were filed relating to a special edition 1958 Porsche 356 Speedster sold at the Gooding and Company auction house. One of the eighteen total cars sold by comedian and Porsche extraordinaire Jerry Seinfeld at Gooding, which all together sold for around $22 million, the Porsche sold to Fica Frio Limited for over $1.5 million, a number below the expected hammer price of $2 million. The first suit was filed by Fica Frio Limited, who felt Seinfeld purposely sold them a fake car, despite a lack of evidence pointing towards the car’s inauthenticity. After Seinfeld apologized to the company and claimed he was unaware of the car’s state, Seinfeld eventually sued the group that he originally purchased the restored vehicle from: European Collectibles, inc. of Costa Mesa, CA. The long and confusing high-profile legal battle, just recently settled out of court, sheds light on the fact that the used car world, even for the most high-profile and expensive cars is a scary place for many, including Jerry Seinfeld. It’s no secret that collectors such as Seinfeld typically hire people to buy, sell, and manage cars in their collections. This case, in particular, demonstrates how easy it can be, regardless of how much money is involved, to stumble upon a potentially fake car that could lead to a Porsche-sized legal headache. 

ELECTRIFY EXPO NATIONAL TOUR DEBUTS IN HISTORIC LONG BEACH, CA  

Throughout the winding, traffic-filled roads and superhighways of Los Angeles, Teslas are about as common as the Toyota Camry or Prius. So when a single event harnesses the instant-torque adrenaline and efficiency for which electric mobility is renown during a time when product tech is advancing at breakneck speeds, consumers show up, which is exactly what auto enthusiasts did June 3-5 at Electrify Expo in Long Beach. Manufacturers didn’t disappoint either – they were all there for the first of the Expo’s five-show national tour, featuring a vast line-up of EVs that were nothing short of eye candy that had audiences buzzing along streets surrounding the Long Beach Convention Center. This event was all about show and tell folks, with conferences keynoted by industry leaders, thought leaders and CEOs filling out an agenda that wasn’t just cars: electric scooters and bikes were also on display, along with Harley Davidson’s LiveWire EV Motorcycle otherwise known as a rocketship on two wheels. With California being the nation’s hottest EV market, it’s no surprise that EV brands would choose the Golden Coast to launch its new products and services. With the never-ending advances in the segment, there’s no shortage of curiosity about EV’s practicality, affordability, and usability, which justifies a national tour to explain it to the other 49, with the next legs of its debut 2022 tour popping up in Seattle, New York, Miami, and Austin. Don’t miss it. 

SEA OF SCREENS: APPLE CARPLAY CAPITALIZING ON AUTO TECH 

For those who want to stick to conventional gasoline but want to leverage the latest technology of auto industry, Apple recently announced at its annual Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC) a slew of changes coming to its famed CarPlay system, originally brought to market in 2014, but now setting out to capitalize on the latest trend in autos: screens. It’s no secret that nearly every new vehicle on the road has Apple CarPlay (or Android Auto), with many offering it as standard, with CarPlay occupying a small, rectangular space in the center screen. That’s all about to change. According to Apple, the more screens, the better. Apple’s new CarPlay system hopes to take advantage of every single screen, including digital gauge clusters. When the major iOS 16 update is released this fall, the update that needs an entire article for itself, it’s likely you’ll find the latest version of CarPlay in a new vehicle from each of these major automakers: Audi, Acura, Mercedes-Benz, Porsche, Nissan, Ford, Lincoln, Jaguar, Volvo, Honda, Infiniti, Polestar, and Renault. Simply by plugging in your iPhone, the new CarPlay system will take over each and every pixel of the vehicle’s infotainment system and digital cluster, no matter the screen size and shape. And that ain’t all, folks. Apple has hopes of displaying info on the gauge cluster such as navigation, engine speed (RPM), vehicle speed, fuel range and level, temperature, interior climate, and more. But, and this is a very big “but,” numerous automakers have previously committed with companies such as Amazon to develop new infotainment systems of their own, meaning that there’s a chance automakers and consumers alike could be thrown into a technological tailspin. That’s all going to depend on how well Apple will work with each automaker in the coming months, since most of them have released little to no information on progress made with integrating this system. 

All New TOYOTA SEQUOIA SUV: IT’S ABOUT TIME 

Fifteen long years after Toyota released the second generation of the full-size sports utility in 2008, the all-new 2023 Sequoia is hitting the streets this summer with a base price just shy of sixty large, seeking to capture the minds and driveways of America’s suburbs. Based on the same platform as the tried-and-true Land Cruiser, the Tundra pick-up, and Lexus LX600, Toyota loyalists can rejoice as the brand seeks to pack a three-row-SUV-sized punch to its rivals, primarily the Ford Expedition and General Motors’ GMC Yukon, Chevrolet Tahoe, and Cadillac Escalade, all of which have undergone significant changes across two generations of models in the fifteen years since the outgoing Sequoia’s release. This time, the SUV features numerous distinctive trim pieces from the base SR5 to the range-topping Capstone luxury trim ($76,795) and TRD Pro trim ($78,395), loaded with off-road goodies and even a light bar across the grille. Although it’s been criticized as a vehicle that fails to raise the bar in terms of design and technology, unlike some of its rivals, it embodies a characteristically conservative “evolution over revolution” approach that has brought years of success and legendary reliability from Toyota’s products.  

And that, folks, was all from this week’s top stories featured on Andrew’s A-List. Be sure to check back next Thursday for the exciting news, including the world-renowned Petersen  

Automotive Museum’s newest exhibit opening the 18th featuring the cream of the crop of oh-so-British McLaren racing cars. Stay tuned so you’ll never miss a beat in the hottest of auto news.