Jason Cammisa
Verified- Host, The Carmudgeon Show
- Automotive Journalist and Editorial Video Producer, Writer and Host, Hagerty Classic Cars Magazine
San Francisco
Anything I say here is my opinion and mine alone. And might be slightly profane.
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Articles by Jason Cammisa
A new golden age: Corvette ZR1 vs. Mustang GTD vs. 911 GT3 RS
Jason Cammisa Much of our content is devoted to celebrating America's glorious automotive past (see recent stories on the Chrysler C-300 , why Packard still matters , and the history of the Offy , one of the most amazing engines ever to race), but we'd be remiss in not noting that our nation's automotive present is also pretty darned great. In fact, it may never have been this good. Consider as exhibits A and B the Chevrolet Corvette ZR1 and the Ford Mustang GTD .
Four Gold Telly Awards Presented to Hagerty, the Automotive Insurer That Built a World-Class Content Studio
Telly Awards Follow Four Consecutive ‘Best Journalism Film’ at the International Motor Film Awards TRAVERSE CITY, Mich., June 4, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- Hagerty, Inc. (NYSE: HGTY) continues to set the standard for automotive storytelling, recently earning four prestigious 2026 Telly Awards honoring excellence in video and television across all screens as judged by video platform, television, streaming network and production company leaders.
2016 BMW M2 First Test Review
As a car-producing country, Germany has achieved greatness perhaps more than any other land. Funny thing about German car companies, though, is that so many of their greatest achievements have been accidents. The history books are full of cars that happened not by the careful planning you'd expect from a company whose national pastime is Microsoft Excel, but instead from flukes. The BMW 2002 is a perfect example.
Four Gold Telly Awards Presented to Hagerty, the Automotive Insurer That Built a World-Class Content Studio
Four Gold Telly Awards Presented to Hagerty, the Automotive Insurer That Built a World-Class Content Studio Telly Awards Follow Four Consecutive 'Best Journalism Film' at the International Motor Film Awards , /PRNewswire/ -- Hagerty, Inc.
Never Stop Driving #92: Why save it for the next owner?
“Are you saving it for the next owner?” someone asked me a few years ago, when I was describing the steps I was taking to reduce mileage and wear and tear on my 1965 Mustang. Oddly I have no memory of the place or even the person who shared this wisdom, but every time I see a new nick or blemish on one of my old cars, I calm myself by thinking about those words. I’m not able to keep my cars forever. Obtaining a new one means selling something and I like to try different things.
Watch the Corvette Z06 Smoke a Porsche 911 GT3 in a Drag Race Original
The Corvette Z06 wasn't designed to be a drag racer, but with 670 hp and ultra-sticky tires, there's no arguing its straight-line pedigree. It's abundantly clear just how capable the newest C8 can be in Hagerty's newest head-to-head drag racing video, where the Z06 smokes a 911 GT3 and an Audi R8 in the quarter-mile. Hagerty brought these three cars together simply because they're all naturally aspirated and keep their engines behind the driver.
Sleepers and Q-Ships under $20,000: Window Shop with Car and Driver
Friend and former C/D contributor Jason Cammisa returns to Window Shop this week to help us look for sleepers that cost less than $20,000. Not to be confused with the 1973 Woody Allen movie, in the car world, a sleeper (a.k.a. a Q-ship or Q-car) is a vehicle that doesn't look fast but is. Think, wolf in sheep's clothing. First up is Santa Barbara's favorite son and Road & Track's newest staffer, John Pearley Huffman.
How Ugly Chins Help SUVs Dodge Regulations
I am fascinated by things that are related to something you’d never expect. Like, for example, the meaningless swirl of hair starting from the crown of your head and working its way out. Hair whorl isn’t actually meaningless, though. It is, for a variety of developmental reasons, significantly associated with sexual orientation.
Your Turn Signals Are Putting You in Danger
Forget airbags—the best way to survive any accident is to avoid having it in the first place. Thus, your car is a rolling arsenal of expensive safety equipment designed to prevent you from smashing into stuff. We tend to first think of things like electronic stability control and automatic emergency braking, but there are far more basic things keeping you safe, including headlights and horns.
2021 Polestar 1 Hybrid Is a Transcendent Grand Tourer
There’s a big divide in attitudes between the U.S. and Europe right now, and we’re not just talking about David Hasselhoff’s continued popularity. Where cars are concerned, consumer tastes have always differed between our continents. But there’s something new brewing across the pond: a full assault on emissions. Once upon a time, it was merely a bit gauche to show up in a gas-guzzler over there. These days you’re regarded as a gluttonous pariah.
Pilot Sport 4S Tires Turned My VW e-Golf Into a Grip Master Original
When I flung my freshly modified Volkswagen e-Golf into the first fast corner, it generated so much grip that I couldn’t see straight. I don’t know if it’s due to aqueous-humor slosh or retinal adrenalin saturation, but there’s a level of lateral acceleration at which my eyes go wonky. After years of testing cars, I’ve pegged that crossover point at around 1.10 g.
We Find the Best Sports Sedans for $15,000: Window Shop with Car and Driver Original
Sports sedans have always occupied a special place here at Car and Driver. Our annual 10Best awards almost always include at least one fun-to-drive four-door, and our collective memory looks back fondly on the most legendary sedans in the respective histories of BMW, Alfa Romeo, Audi, and many others. So in this episode of Window Shopping, we set out to find the best used sports sedans for sale on the internet for a price cap of $15,000.
Car Names Don't Make Sense Anymore
Face it: The idea of putting a badge on a car is silly. Does your garage door have a badge on it? No. Everyone knows it’s a garage door. And nobody cares how wide it is, how quickly it opens, or which kind of helper spring it uses. Yet car companies slap badges all over their products in an attempt to broadcast different facts about them to the public, which probably doesn’t care. This story originally appeared in the June 2020 issue of Road & Track.
Don't Trust Your Car's Speedometer
Back in high school, my best friend managed to get the speedometer needle in his mom’s 1987 Chevrolet Cavalier— we called it the “Lier-Jet”—so far past the end of the scale that it twisted all the way back to zero. That speedo admittedly maxed at just 85 mph, but a wrapped needle meant the front wheels were doing about 125 mph. A grand accomplishment, given that the rest of the car wasn’t actually moving. This story originally appeared in the May 2020 issue of Road & Track.
Big Cams Are a Lie
Once upon a time in Volkswagenland, a buck fifty was the magic number. We’re talking wheel horsepower — the amount of power that actually makes it to the ground, as measured on a chassis dynamometer. Back in the late 1990s, no one seemed to be able to cross the 150-whp mark in their 16-valve Volkswagen. From the factory, the Volkswagen Scirocco 16V’s 1.8-liter engine was rated at 123 hp. Tested on a Dynojet, a healthy 16-valve would lay down 105 hp.
The Porsche Taycan Turbo S Chases the Wrong Goals
It was 2013. R&T had just completed its first review of the new Tesla Model S Performance (April ’13 issue), photographing the car with a group of pastel-colored Fifties American sleds. “The last time the world was in awe of an American car,” the review said, “it had fins.” This story originally appeared in the March/April 2020 issue of Road & Track. If I remember those words, it’s because I wrote them.
Why Your Car Isn't as Fast as the Magazines Say
Back when I was just a wee enginerd, a car’s 0-to-60 time was the first number I looked for. The immutable net of all factors—horsepower, torque, weight, gearing, drive wheels—it was a single point of information that allowed me to accurately bench-race cars. This story originally appeared in the March/April 2020 issue of Road & Track. As a slightly less-young enginerd with a driving license, I often tried to replicate magazine test numbers.
What To Buy: 1990-2002 Mercedes-Benz 500SL
The R129-generation Mercedes-Benz SL debuted for the 1990 model year to tremendous pent-up demand. Its predecessor, the R107, had languished in production for 18 long years, and the new model was a quantum leap in design, engineering, safety, and performance. Delayed nearly a decade while Mercedes focused on its new small sedans (the 190E and 300E), Bruno Sacco's R129 matured in the studio and emerged as a timeless, sophisticated, and impossibly elegant triumph of industrial design.
Watch a Mustang Shelby GT500 Take on a Challenger Hellcat in a Drag Race
The 2020 Ford Mustang Shelby GT500 is a performance Goliath. It's just as capable in a straight line as it is in the corners, as we've seen time and time again. This time around, it's brought up against one of the most powerful muscle cars on the market: the Dodge Challenger SRT Hellcat. Road & Track columnist Jason Cammisa wanted to see how the new fast Ford matched up against one of the most popular new muscle cars in the game right now, so he brought the two to a closed runway for a drag race.
Watch a Mustang Shelby GT500 Take on a Challenger Hellcat in a Drag Race
The 2020 Ford Mustang Shelby GT500 is a performance Goliath. It's just as capable in a straight line as it is in the corners, as we've seen time and time again. This time around, it's brought up against one of the most powerful muscle cars on the market: the Dodge Challenger SRT Hellcat. Road & Track columnist Jason Cammisa wanted to see how the new fast Ford matched up against one of the most popular new muscle cars in the game right now, so he brought the two to a closed runway for a drag race.
Watch a Mustang Shelby GT500 Take on a Challenger Hellcat in a Drag Race
The 2020 Ford Mustang Shelby GT500 is a performance Goliath. It's just as capable in a straight line as it is in the corners, as we've seen time and time again. This time around, it's brought up against one of the most powerful muscle cars on the market: the Dodge Challenger SRT Hellcat. Road & Track columnist Jason Cammisa wanted to see how the new fast Ford matched up against one of the most popular new muscle cars in the game right now, so he brought the two to a closed runway for a drag race.
I Mowed Down a Lady
There was no impact sound. There wasn’t even a smudge in the uniform layer of dirt on the back of my filthy car, so there couldn’t have been much of an impact in the first place. But there was no denying the body bleeding onto the scalding-hot pavement less than a foot from my right rear tire. This story originally appeared in the February 2020 issue of Road & Track. I hit a woman. Granted, the car was barely moving.
Watch a Mustang Shelby GT500 Battle a Camaro ZL1, and Challenger Redeye in a Drag Race
With the new Mustang Shelby GT500, Ford wanted to create a car that was dominant on road courses and drag strips. The GT500 has to outgun the Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 and the Dodge Challenger SRT Hellcat. So, the folks at Edmunds got the three together on video to determine which is the straight-line champ.
All the Ways Automakers Squeeze Big Fuel Economy Out of Tiny Turbocharged Engines
I'm a devout displacement fan, so the thought of a four-cylinder engine in a Chevrolet Silverado makes me twitch. The issue isn't outright speed—the Silverado's new 2.7-liter four makes nearly the same horsepower and torque as the truck's optional 5.3-liter V-8—but refinement and response. I was concerned. Until I drove it. Turns out, you can say a lot of nice things about the Silverado's four-cylinder, but what's most impressive is the ease with which the engine seems to go about its business.
Why the C8 Corvette Has Such Quick Acceleration
We could forever debate the philosophical implications of the Chevrolet Corvette’s switch to a mid-engine layout, but when it comes to physics, the repercussions are clear: moving the Corvette’s heaviest component behind the driver has a dramatic effect on the car’s ability to accelerate. The Z51-package C8 and the outgoing Z51 C7 have similar weight-to-power ratios, yet the new car can sprint to 60 mph almost a second sooner.
Polestar 1 Drives as Beautifully As it Looks
Polestar is, as you probably know, a new all-electric car brand whose ownership is split evenly between Volvo and its parent, Geely. Or, in other words, it’s Volvo’s new electric sub-brand.
2020 Ford Mustang Shelby GT500 First Drive Review | What's new, performance, Corvette comparison
LAS VEGAS — The 2020 Ford Mustang Shelby GT500 has a lot riding on it, literally and figuratively. In the literal sense, it’s got nearly 4,200 hulking pounds of mass on its tires, the majority of which is over its front wheels. This is hardly a recipe for either handling or rear-wheel traction, the latter of which plays into the figurative pressure on this car.
2020 Chevrolet Corvette Can’t Possibly Make 650 HP, And Here’s Why
Using science to invalidate a scientific test. Everyone makes mistakes. Sometimes multiple people make mistakes, and that seems to be the case with a recent article by Motor Trend claiming that the pre-production 2020 Chevrolet Corvette Z51 the magazine dyno’d put 558 horsepower and 515 pound-feet of torque to the wheels. This, the magazine estimated, translates into a naturally aspirated 6.2-liter V8 making 656 hp and 606 lb-ft of torque at the crankshaft.
2020 Corvette C8 Stingray Z51: First Drive
Let’s get one thing out of the way: the 2020 Chevrolet Corvette is good. It’s not, however, great. The C8 Corvette is, without question, the most significant car of the year. It retains the previous Corvette’s main characteristics: big performance from a burly V-8, a bargain price, SMC (composite) body panels, and an aluminum frame. But, for the first time ever, the engine moves to the middle and ditches the manual transmission to close the gap between it and those pesky European supercars.
Manufacturers Are Emphasizing Efficiency More Than Ever
Photo credit: Carina Tous From Road & Track IN THE INFANCY of the battery-powered electric vehicle, such as we are, there’s only one metric that counts: how far an EV will go on a single charge. Tesla just shattered its own world record, bumping the range of the Model S to a bladder-busting 370 miles. Surprisingly, the 35-mile increase came about without a single physical change to the battery.
The MAT New Stratos Is a Better Ferrari
ACCORDING to the unofficial, unabridged, and entirely fictional Road & Track Dictionary of Modern Automotive English, the noun Ferrari, when italicized, is defined as any vehicle that exists for the joy of its own existence. A Ferrari is a car that doesn’t concern itself with comfort or efficiency, that couldn’t give a screaming synchro about tenths on a lap time or how long a gearshift takes. By that definition, the MAT New Stratos is a better Ferrari than any Ferrari sold today.
What To Buy: 1987-1993 BMW 325i
From the September 2019 issue of Car and Driver. Given how beloved the E30 is now, it's hard to believe that when the second-gen BMW 3-series launched, it was received with critical apathy. That's primarily because this 3-series didn't mature into the enthusiast's pick until a few years into its production, when the anemic 101-hp four-banger 318i and the efficiency-minded 121-hp 325e were supplanted by the hot-rod 325i.
Porsche Experience Center wet skidpad experience with 911 GT3 and 911 Turbo S
ATLANTA, Georgia — Recently, Porsche invited Autoblog to witness its semi-annual “moving day”, where the cars in its museum are swapped out for a new display. That was fun and all, but Porsche knows we love nothing more than to slide cars around — so they invited us to try out their facility in a 911 Turbo S and a 911 GT3.
Porsche Experience Center in Atlanta: Here's a view of moving day
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Road & Track Test: 2019 BMW M4 CS
THE PHRASE STILL APPEARS on BMW’s American website: the Ultimate Driving Machine. It’s a blue-and-white gut punch, conjuring memories of a time when the company made cars so good, you couldn’t help falling in love with them. The saying holds that it’s better to have loved and lost, but that doesn’t dull the disappointment: Today’s BMWs are no longer the sportsedan standard. This review originally appeared in the July, 2019 issue of R&T.
The Variable-Compression Engine Might Not Be the Holy Grail
As we near the end of the road for internal-combustion engines, manufacturers are spending big money to eke out small gains in fuel economy. The latest miracle is Nissan’s VC-T engine, the first production engine with the ability to physically alter its compression ratio. This story originally appeared in the July 2019 issue of Road & Track. This has been a holy-grail capability for a century, and Nissan admits it took 20 years of R&D to get it into production.
Dyno Testing Vonnen's Hybrid Porsche 911
After spending an afternoon driving the hybrid Vonnen 911, I wanted to dive into the numbers. Instrumented testing would have been fun, but on a car like this, I really wanted to see the dyno numbers. Luckily, the Vonnen guys did, too, and so they invited me to join them for a day at the dyno shop. To get you up to speed: The Vonnen system sticks a tiny electric motor in place of the flywheel, turning a stock, naturally-aspirated Porsche into a performance hybrid.
The Vonnen Porsche 911 Proves That Hybrids Are the Replacement for Displacement
Displacement is no longer a suitable metric for engine output. The Porsche 911 you're looking at here has the same old 3.4-liter in its ass—but don’t tell your ass, because it’ll swear there are five liters worth of grunt on tap. The trick? VSD, short for Vonnen Shadow Drive. Don’t feel badly if you’ve never heard of this—Vonnen is a new offshoot of Elephant Racing, a supplier of aftermarket high-performance Porsche 911 parts.
2019 Volkswagen Jetta GLI First Drive Review | A GTI with a trunk, almost
It's my long-held professional opinion that the seventh-generation Volkswagen Golf GTI is the best all-around enthusiast transportation device. It does more things better than anything it competes with and embarrasses cars costing twice as much with its better overall refinement and build quality. That's great news for the 2019 Jetta GLI, since it's effectively a GTI with a trunk that comes standard with a 20 percent off coupon.
2019 Mazda3 sedan and hatchback all-wheel drive review and specs
Here's some quick consumer advice: If you were considering buying one of those "premium" AWD compact sedans like the Audi A3 Quattro or the Mercedes CLA250 4Matic, don't you dare, because the 2019 Mazda3 AWD is a far better car than either. And you can have one for under $25,000. Not only does the little Mazda have an interior far nicer than any of its actual competitors, it also drives better than almost all of them, and it's prettier than any car at this segment has a right to be.
2020 BMW M340i xDrive: Quick Track Test
Adding all-wheel drive to a rear-drive car can create a handling deficit. This happens for a number of reasons—additional hardware on the front axle can dampen steering feel and introduce torque-steer; added weight up front can upset weight balance; and too much power sent forward can induce understeer. These things are not problems in the 2020 BMW M340i xDrive.
The 2019 BMW 330i Is Better, But Not a Game Changer
There is just one thing you need to know about the new BMW 3-series: it doesn’t have an available manual transmission. Even if you’re philosophically unperturbed by a two-pedal sport sedan, this fact signals a fundamental change in the way the geezers in Munich view this car—and us, the enthusiasts who drove this brand to success in the first place. In truth, we have more to mourn than just the clutch pedal: the 3-series has grown to the point where it’s not really 3-series-sized anymore.
20 Things You Need To Know About the 2019 BMW 3-Series
While we've now driven the brand-new 2019 G20 BMW 3-series, we can't quite tell you what it's like. However, our man Jason Cammisa learned a lot about the underlying car. Here are the big points he thinks you should know about BMW's new 3er before reading our first drive. - Ed. NO MANUAL You’ve probably heard it before, but it’s worth saying again: for the first time ever, the BMW 3-series isn’t available with a manual transmission.
1986-1993 Lamborghini LM002 - Luxury SUV Review - Automobile Magazine
If you share the belief that the best comedy comes from the unexpected and the absurd, then you’ll love the trucks those lunatics at Lamborghini built twenty-some years ago. Loving it, however, still won’t quite help your brain reconcile what the vehicle is actually supposed to be. From the cabin, you might think you’re in a Countach, except that the windshield is as big and vertical as a Times Square billboard.
2018 Volkswagen Atlas First Drive Review - Motor Trend
The first thing you notice about the newest Volkswagen is its name stretched across a large chrome strip on the rear tailgate. And it’s missing the T. AtLast. It should be called the AtLast because it’s a good decade and a half overdue. Then again, given the tongue-twisted names of other VW crossovers (Touraeg, Tiguan), maybe we shouldn’t complain. Alas, the Atlas is the latest entry in the crowded midsize three-row, seven-seat SUV segment.
2017 BMW M6 Gran Coupe vs. 2016 BMW Alpina B6 xDrive Gran Coupe
Every car is defined by a series of compromises, tradeoffs, and decisions that achieve one goal at the expense of others. The performance derivatives of the BMW 6 Series Gran Coupe define compromise—whether to emphasize style over function. We just can’t decide which set we like better. There are two Gran Coupes fighting for the top spot: the M6 and the Alpina B6, both of which you can buy from a BMW dealership with a full factory warranty. Both wear the same sexy body.
2017 Kia Sportage EX AWD Review - Update 5
You’ll get more than you expect with the 2017 Kia Sportage when it comes to features. And that’s the way it should be, as Kia has increased consumer buying consideration with bolder designs and great value. Our $32,595 2017 Sportage EX AWD is as loaded as it gets for the naturally aspirated model, but there’s value below $30,000, too. Take the 2017 Sportage EX.
2017 Kia Sportage EX AWD Review - Long-Term Update 4
Slow and inefficient isn’t a pairing you find often, but our long-term 2017 Kia Sportage EX AWD checks both boxes. Although no one expects practical, compact crossovers to be the quickest cars on the road, it’s hard not to be a little disappointed when the Kia is less efficient and slightly slower than others in this class. As I’ve found during my thousands of miles behind the wheel of the Sportage, however, there’s more to the story than just that.
What ha’ happen was … Behind the Scenes at 2017 SUV of the Year
Previously, we introduced the 2017 Motor Trend SUV of the Year contestants, the methodology, the judges, and the weather. But we forgot to introduce you to Pinch. We were warned about Pinch when we first arrived at Honda Proving Center of California. Don’t leave your bags on the ground, they cautioned us. Pinch will rummage through them. Watch where you step, or Pinch might get you in the ankle. Don’t sit on the ground, either, because Pinch will sting you in the hiney.
2017 Acura NSX vs. 2017 Nissan GT-R Head 2 Head Comparison - Motor Trend
Acura teased the world for years with endless reveals of its NSX hybrid supercar. But if you think you’ve waited a long time for the new NSX to actually appear on the streets, the R35-chassis Nissan GT-R has been waiting for a worthy opponent for its nearly decade-long existence. Like any elite warrior, the GT-R would tell you it’s lonely at the top, so watching the NSX roll into the ring is as exciting a proposition to the GT-R (and its creators) as it is to us.
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