CarandDriver included the above shot of a BMW X6M beating out a hopped-up Chevy Nova II at Michigan's Milan Dragway for their review of the Bimmer. The only problem is it never happened. C&D's response below.
A member of THE H.A.M.B. forum posted the picture from the review showing his car being raced against the X6. The car's owner stated:
This months car and driver has a artical about a bmw twin turbo suv that goes anywhere,hauls anything and beats anything.They show it hauling bails of straw and driving on the e-way and then beating a stright axle,fuel injected,altered wheelbase 63 chevy II on the dragstrip................Whooooooa. That is my chevy and that little red suv couldn't beat my car in its wildest dreams. Do they really have to photo crop and mis-represent the public into thinking if they buy a bmw suv,then thay too can do what their mag says. I hope someone who advertises in that book see's this and decides on why they support the down rite lies they print.
Though the article never explicitly states that it's racing the other cars, the phot ogallery is full of shots of the X6 racing various vehicles it turns out weren't actually there. So what does CarandDriver have to say about this? They use this obviously embarrassing moment to take a tongue-in-cheek potshot at John Phillips, a writer for the buff book who penned the article.
CarandDriver Official Response:
John Phillips became so attached to the BMW X6M that it - appropriately enough - triggered many irrational responses. One of these was his insistence that we photoshop the BMW beating the clearly superior Chevy Nova. Any attempt to dissuade him - by telling him, for instance, that only an idiot would believe a BMW SUV could beat a purpose-built drag car - just resulted in heated calls to the suicide hotline and even more foaming at the mouth than usual.
It's funny, but we think CarandDriver needs to either apologize to the owners whose cars were being portrayed as losers or actually race them for pinks. We'll even pay Csaba to come out and judge.
(Hat tip to Cody!) [THE H.A.M.B.]