The Car Curious Weekly for April 19, 2026

The Car Curious Weekly is a look at what the automotive podcast world is talking about, who's saying it, and what patterns emerge when you listen to all of them at once.

April 12 - April 18, 2026 · 234 episodes across 145 podcasts.

This week brought wins on the track and in the showroom. Ty Gibbs claimed his first NASCAR Cup Series victory at Bristol after a bold tire strategy during the final caution, while Porsche revealed its new 911 GT3 Sport Cabriolet with a manual-only transmission and surprisingly minimal weight penalty despite the folding roof.

Here are the four biggest storylines and where they showed up across the feed.

Ty Gibbs Wins First NASCAR Cup Series Race at Bristol; New Tire and Aero Package Creates Improved Racing

Gibbs took the win in his 131st Cup Series start by staying out on older tires during the final caution sequence while Blaney pitted and Larson took two tires, turning track position into the victory.

Bristol ran a new tire construction and compound plus a new diffuser and smaller spoilers for 2026, and the package delivered on its promise of multigroove racing once the rubber came in.

From Kevin Harvick's Happy Hour presented by NASCAR on FOX:

"The more impressive part wasn't the final restart, that was great. But how he defended the win with like 10 to go with those guys hounding him. He all but gave up the lead and then passed them back. For Ty to get up on the wheel, do everything right when the lights were bright and the stage was the biggest, it was fricking awesome."

Kevin Harvick's Happy Hour and SPEED with Harvick and Buxton both focused on the emotional weight of the Gibbs family moment alongside the tactical elements that decided the race, while the NASCAR Weekly Podcast dug into whether this win signals a genuine championship-contender arc or just a hot streak from a streaky driver.

From SPEED with Harvick and Buxton:

"There were a lot of questions going into Bristol about what the new tires were going to do. New construction, new compound, new diffuser, smaller spoilers. The traction compound spread out probably 75 to 100 laps into the race and it was top, bottom, couldn't really run the middle, but you could run the top and the bottom. The racing was spectacular."

Porsche Unveils 911 GT3 Sport Cabriolet with Manual-Only Transmission and Folding Roof

The 911 GT3 SC weighs just 1,497 kg, only 28 kg more than a standard GT3 coupe despite gaining 70 kg of folding roof mechanism, thanks partly to standard-fit carbon ceramic brakes (a 20 kg saving) and deleted rear seats. That said, as the quote below notes, Porsche is comparing against the heaviest GT3 variant. The gap to a lighter ST coupe is a less flattering 110 kg.

Porsche's GT boss Andreas Preuninger admitted he wasn't convinced the car would work, expecting major structural reengineering, but found modern crash structures so rigid that GT3 suspension geometry, spring rates, and damping transferred over completely unchanged.

From The Gassing Station:

"The total weight is 1,497 kilograms, and while it is 110 kilograms heavier than an ST coupe, more interesting is the comparison with the GT3 coupe, it's only 28 kilograms heavier than that, despite gaining 70 kilograms worth of roof and mechanism. They've gone and compared the heaviest version of the GT3 with the lightest version of the SC. It's a bit cheeky in the specs comparison."

The Gassing Station brought back a firsthand Stuttgart report full of parts-bin forensics and weight-figure skepticism, while P-Car Talk Podcast debated whether the manual-only spec and Andy Preuninger's personal love of convertibles shaped the entire project.

From P-Car Talk Podcast:

"Andy openly admitted to being a big-time convertible guy, the very first car he ever owned from Porsche was a 993 cab. And it's not limited. I think that's probably the best thing they've ever done. We'll see if this is the first GT car to have depreciation."

Kia and Hyundai Planning Body-on-Frame Midsize Pickups for U.S. Launch by 2030

Hyundai committed to building a new U.S. manufacturing plant to produce its body-on-frame truck with American steel, while Kia stayed quiet on production location, though the chicken tax makes domestic manufacturing essentially mandatory for price competitiveness.

Kia confirmed hybrid and extended-range electric powertrains for its pickup, while Hyundai said nothing about powertrains; the midsize truck from Hyundai is targeting a 2029 arrival, with Kia aiming for around the same window.

From TFL Talkin' Trucks:

"If they just bring the Tasman here to the States as is, I don't really think it's going to work. But it would be cool if they redesign the truck or create a whole new truck to bring here to the States. If you're kind of the new kid on the block, you've got a lot of work to do to establish yourself."

TFL Talkin' Trucks and The Drivecast both dug into the competitive gauntlet Hyundai and Kia face, with TFL noting the Tasman's mixed overseas reception as a warning sign and The Drivecast breaking down the sales math against a Tacoma that moved 275,000 units last year.

From The Drivecast:

"Hyundai said that they are going to make it in America for America with US made steel with a plant that doesn't exist today, which means they're going to build a plant as well. Now Kia said none of that stuff, but I guarantee you that they're going to make that Kia's pickup truck with that same steel and the same plant, because otherwise you have to pay the chicken tax."

Ford's Doug Field Exits; Company Reorganizes EV and ICE Development into New Product Creation Unit

Alan Clark, a former Tesla engineer currently serving as executive director of advanced EV development at Ford, was promoted to VP of advanced development projects and will lead the launch of Ford's universal EV architecture, with a mid-size electric pickup expected to be among the first vehicles on the platform.

Doug Field, who joined Ford in 2021 from Apple after previously launching the Tesla Model 3, departed on a voluntary basis, leaving behind an EV organization that had yet to turn a profit.

From EV News Daily:

"If Ford were on the precipice of something really good, why would someone so good jump ship at this time? He might leave with warm words, but plenty of questions remain. Ford is tearing up its previous plan, which at the time they said was meant to be their future direction, now reversing course on that."

EV News Daily gave the most detailed breakdown of the reorganization, noting the uncomfortable optics of a senior departure happening precisely as Ford scrapped its previous EV strategy.

Recommendations

If You Only Listen To One

AUTO STORIA Buying and Racing Multi Million Cars at Historic Week End in Monaco, Auto Storia

A sharp breakdown of what makes the Monaco Historic Grand Prix different from any other motorsport event: vintage F1 and sports cars running flat-out on the street circuit with minimal safety concessions. The segment on turbo lag in the new Series G cars (1981-85 F1) is vivid, and the RM Sotheby's auction angle, including Senna's first F1 car, raises a genuine question about whether racing validates collector prices or just turns the paddock into a showroom.

More Episodes Worth Hearing

• Andy Harris: The Ex Top Gear Safety Guy Breaks Silence About How He Made Millions (Road To Success with Benedict Fowler). Andy Harris spent years keeping the Top Gear circus alive behind the scenes, and this conversation covers what that actually meant: managing "lunatics," staying "visibly invisible," and watching it end abruptly after Freddie's accident. The Red Bull 2026 car reveal engineering breakdown is a genuine surprise. Harris's blunt take on pricing, ADHD, and why he hates the word "networking" makes this feel like a real conversation rather than a media tour.
• Unstoppable drum machine (Smith and Sniff). The episode starts with an apology about mixing up two different "Send Me an Angel" songs, detours through 80s gated drum sounds and a BMX movie, then lands on a supercharged nitrous 1997 Chevrolet Impala SS as the "pretend auction" pick of the week. It's the kind of show where you're never sure what's coming next. The Mercedes Actros "sad sloth face" critique is a highlight.
• 'All The Quirks and Features' with Doug DeMuro (Bloomberg Hot Pursuit!). Doug DeMuro is more candid here than in most of his own content, talking openly about buying a Ferrari 360, his obsession with the Countach and Carrera GT, and how he thinks about influencer transparency versus editorial integrity. The discussion on whether EVs can ever become collectibles and how auction market dynamics actually work gives it some real substance beyond the origin story.
• DONINGTON PARK BTCC 2026 QUALIFYING REVIEW (BTCP British Touring Car Podcast). The hosts don't sugarcoat it: the new qualifying format felt flat and strategic rather than exciting, and they say so clearly. But the sprint-to-pole race that followed delivered what the format promised: a controversial Ash Sutton incident, a double-yellow near a recovery vehicle, and a result that sets up Sunday with genuine uncertainty. Good racing analysis without the hype.

Next Week

With the BTCC season now underway at Donington and the Indy 500 entry picture still unsettled — Prema's participation in doubt, Colton Herta's F2 conflict unresolved — expect both series to generate real news heading into the open test weekend.

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234 episodes. 1264 car mentions. 8078 terms explained. Browse every episode with searchable annotations and plain-language term definitions in the Car Curious app.