These days, almost any vehicle on the road with even a hint of off-roading pretense sports some combination of boxy styling, tall tires, and hoisted bumpers front and rear. They’re dirt-aggro, in all—or most of—the right ways.

But that wasn’t always the case. Back in the 1990s, things got a little, erm, weird. Case in point: The two off-road oddballs you see here.

Meet contestant number 1, a 1998 Mitsubishi Pajero Jr. Flying Pug, a boxy, topply little thing with a face best fit for radio. The one seen here is part of Mecum’s Indianapolis auction, slated to cross the block on Thursday, May 16.

The Pajero Jr. was an off-road SUV produced for the JDM market exclusively between 1995 and 1998. Riding on the platform that underpinned the contemporary Mitsubishi Minica, a tiny little hatchback also only sold in Japan, the Pajero Jr.’s svelte footprint allowed it to fit under the “small size car” limitations of the Japanese government, thus lowering the tax burden owners would face when they bought the little two-door ute.

Despite the tiny proportions and a 1.1-liter, 79-hp four-cylinder engine, this thing had real off-road chops. Power routes through a wee three-speed automatic transmission that turns the rear wheels by default, but the real four-wheel-drive system offers high- and low-range capabilities.

To drum up interest in the little dirt devil, Mitsubishi created several special-edition versions of the Pajero Jr., including the Flying Pug. (Brief moment of appreciation for the idea of a snub-nosed dog cruising through the air. Probably with a cape, because these little cars are nothing if not optimistic.)

The Flying Pug was the third special-edition Pajero Jr., styled to look like a classic British car. Built from September 1997 to June 1998, the Flying Pug was Mitsubishi’s attempt to capitalize on the rising popularity of older British cars in Japan. The results were … well, not great. The contemporary motoring press criticized the Flying Pug for having an ugly face, and although 1000 units were planned, a mere 139 saw the light of day before Mitsubishi axed the thing due to slow sales.

Styling notwithstanding, this little fella is in remarkably good condition, with the wine-colored paintwork still shining brilliantly, and the gray interior showing very few signs of wear. According to Mecum’s listing, this one has plenty of nice features, including air conditioning, power locks, power windows, tinted glass, and a folding rear seat that gives our little Pugger quite a bit of cargo capacity. The odometer displays 116,044 kilometers, which translates to about 72,100 miles. Our regards to the brave soul(s) who bopped about in this thing.

Tea-time trucklet not really your vibe? Might we interest you in contestant number 2: The 1996 Heuliez Intruder convertible? This one-of-one concept, which debuted at the 1996 Paris Salon, will cross the block tomorrow at Bonhams’ Miami auction, and woof is it a sight to behold.

The shapely convertible bodywork comes courtesy of French coachbuilder Heuliez, a shop founded in the 1920s that spent decades designing buses and commercial vehicles through the 1970s but then turned to cars. Among Heuliez’s body of work are two ’80s rally icons: the Renault 5 Turbo, a mid-engine, boost-huffing, flared-fender Group 4/Group B monster, and the Peugeot 205 T16, a similarly riotous little hatch that nabbed two World Rally Championships in Group B.

This beast, however, is very much not of that ilk. The Intruder rides on the chassis of a Mercedes G320 off-roader—that’s right, there’s a G-Wagen under there. The bodywork is unique from the floorplans up, styled by and constructed under the watchful eye of designer Marc Deschamps. It’s part Tonka truck, part contemporary SLK, part G-Wagen, all absurdity.

Power comes from the G320’s M104 3.2-liter twin-cam inline-six, which is rated for 208 hp. The Intruder retains all the G320’s other running gear as well, including the four-speed automatic transmission; the live front and rear axles; and the locking front, center, and rear differentials. There’s a full 12 inches of ground clearance under there, meaning this thing could really get down and dirty if you needed it to.

The interior is mostly off-the-shelf Mercedes parts, including the seats, although those now wear wild blue leather. The convertible top is fully functional, according to the listing, and can either be stored in the trunk or removed entirely.

After a tour of the show circuit, where the Intruder wore many different paint jobs, including red, white, and the silver you see here, it arrived at DK Engineering, a restoration firm in England. There, the Intruder was treated to an extensive restoration that reportedly cost around $300,000. It was imported to the States earlier this year and is now offered for sale with promotional brochures, extensive documentation of the restoration, and much more.

You could have any old Bronco, Wrangler, or 4Runner for your off-roading exploits, but where’s the fun in that? If you want to go that extra step, perhaps you need a little Flying Pug or (a lot of) Intruder in your life. Variety is the spice … well, you know the rest.

***

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The post Pick Your ’90s Oddball Off-Roader: Flying Pugs or Intruder Convertibles? appeared first on Hagerty Media.

Audi’s latest concept goes from crossover to truck with the push of a button

Intake: What a bizarre and intriguing concept to come from such an unexpected source. This is the fourth concept in a series of four from Audi, and it’s called the Activesphere. A “four-door crossover coupé with an astonishingly versatile body design is now making its debut.” The “highly elegant car is more than a mere luxury-class sports car,” as the Sportback rear of the Activesphere “can turn into an open cargo bed  at the touch of a button, perfect for carrying recreational equipment such as e-bikes or water and winter sports gear.” In other words, press a button and it’s a pickup truck.  It’s a U.S. creation, conceived at the Audi Design Studio in Malibu, California. Studio manager Gael Buzyn and his team are the creative minds behind the project. The idea: “The Activesphere is unique. It is a new type of crossover that cleverly combines the elegance of an Audi Sportback, the practicality of a SUV and true offroad capabilities,” if he does say so himself.

Exhaust: It’s electric, of course, and we’ll never see such a vehicle from Audi, but Subaru could maybe pull it off. Still, says Oliver Hoffmann, Member of the Audi Board of Management for Technical Development: “As a perfect all-rounder, the Audi Activesphere concept is ideally suited for the high demands of a future-oriented generation of Audi customers – people for whom individual mobility and sustainability are not mutually exclusive. “ —Steven Cole Smith

Colin Chapman’s own Lotus Elan could be yours

Intake: A 1972 Elan +2 owned by Lotus founder Colin Chapman will go to auction in the U.K. in February. The car is finished in its original Tawny paintwork with a contrasting silver roof and an oatmeal vinyl interior, while the dashboard is a single piece of walnut veneer. When the Elan +2 was launched in 1967 its job was to move Lotus upmarket and perhaps even tempt buyers away from the likes of Jaguar. For that reason, it was the first Lotus not also offered in kit form for DIY mechanics to assemble. Although it was larger in every dimension than the original Elan, the +2 stuck to its founder’s lightweight principles and remained an agile, entertaining drive, just with a dash of luxury never previously available. Chapman drove the car for its first 6,600 miles and it then spent many years at the Lotus museum before being sold into private hands. Less than 400 miles have been added since and the car still wears its original Dunlop SP tires. For sale at Silverstone Auctions on February 25 it is estimated to fetch £60,000–£70,000 ($74,000–$86,500) and joins seven other celebrity Elans on the block whose previous owners include Peter Sellers, Jochen Rindt, and Rob Walker, as well as the car driven by Diana Rigg as Emma Peel in The Avengers.

Exhaust: Despite its importance in repositioning the Lotus brand the Elan +2 has never quite had the same appeal to collectors as the two-seater S1. The Hagerty valuation guide shows that a #1 Concours S1 would be worth $54,600 while a +2 in equivalent condition would fetch $10,000 less. Being owned by Chapman himself this car will, no doubt, buck the trend. — Nik Berg

Ford recalls 462,000 SUVs for rearview camera issues

Intake: Ford is recalling more than 462,000 SUVs globally for rearview cameras that may be defective. The recall involves Ford Explorer and Lincoln Aviator SUVs from the 2020–23 model years and Lincoln Corsairs from 2020–22, all of them equipped with a 360-degree camera. The recall covers almost 383,000 vehicles in the U.S. Ford said it is aware of 17 minor accidents that may have resulted from the defect. The video output of the cameras may fail, preventing the rearview camera image from displaying and increasing the risk of a crash while in reverse, according to a recall report submitted Monday to NHTSA.

Exhaust: Ford really doesn’t need any more recalls, but fortunately this is a minor one, and apparently can be fixed with a software update. — SCS

Public Citizen is still mad at Toyota

Intake: Ralph Nader’s Public Citizen advocacy group has been openly protesting Toyota and its chairman, Akio Toyoda, since Toyoda said we should pump the brakes a bit before we push everyone into electric vehicles prematurely. They picketed the Washington, D.C. auto show where Toyota was showing the new Prius, claiming that Toyota, almost criminally, should have made it all-electric, calling the new car “a monument to pollution and stagnation.” Now that Toyoda has said he will step aside from the CEO job in April, Public Citizen is still at it. Says Deanna Noel, climate campaign project manager, about Toyoda’s replacement, Koji Sato: “This change of leadership appears to signal Toyota knows it’s far behind on EVs and must rush to remake itself… Along with committing to a 100 percent ZEV future, Mr. Sato must reverse Toyota’s anti-climate lobbying and commit the company to clean up its supply chain and protect human rights. Without a clean, fossil free, and equitable supply chain, ZEVs will fall far short of meeting climate imperatives.”

Exhaust: No comment, aside from: Give it a rest.  — SCS

First days of Mecum Vegas motorcycle auction bring shocking prices

Intake: The Mecum Las Vegas motorcycle auction is the largest motorcycle-specific auction and was primed to sell over 2000 bikes this year. The sales reports are just starting to cross our desk, and there are a few sales of note already: a 1973 Kawasaki Z1 900 sold for $55,000 (plus buyer’s premium), and a 1972 Honda CL350 equipped with the “Flying Dragon” dealer-installed gas tank and side panels netted $72,000. If sales like this are any indication, it is shaping up to be a wild year.

Exhaust: “Prices that were shocking last year are being eclipsed by double or more in some cases this year. And that’s only Thursday of the auction week,” says Hagerty senior information analyst James Hewitt. That Z1 sale is $20,000 over the current #1-condition pricing, so the seller is likely quite happy to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the Z1 model with a payday like that. The CL350 Flying Dragon is a truly odd instance as a #1 (Concours) Condition CL350 is $10,000 and the dealer-installed Flying Dragon parts can still be sourced NOS for prices in the $3000–5000 range. Since these were not factory parts, there is no way to tell the bike was originally sold with these wild-painted parts so it rarely bumps value in this significant way. — Kyle Smith

Integra Type S prototype will bow at Daytona

Intake: Acura will debut a camouflaged version of the forthcoming Integra Type S at the Rolex 24 Hours of Daytona this weekend. The car will be wearing a special camouflage wrap and will be in the paddock the entire weekend, also serving as the lead car for the start of the race. The Integra Type S will be powered by a larger four-cylinder engine than the standard car (2.0-liters vs. 1.5-liters) that Acura says will produce north of 300 horsepower. Expect a lot of the mechanical bits on the Type S to come from the new 2023 Honda Civic Type R. More details about the car will arrive closer to launch later this year.

Exhaust: If our time with the new Civic Type R is any indication, the Integra Type S should be an absolute riot to drive. We’re a little worried about pricing, however; The Civic Type R already clears $40,000, and there’s a real chance we might be looking at a $50,000 front-wheel-drive compact here. Still, it will be neat to see the car out in front of the packed field for this weekend’s endurance race. Let’s go racing! — Nathan Petroelje

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All-electric Ram concept truck to debut at CES in January

Intake: Stellantis is gearing up to unveil the Ram brand’s answer to Ford’s F-150 Lightning at the Consumer Electronics Show. Held in Las Vegas on January 5, visitors to CES 2023 will have the chance to experience the “Ram Revolution” BEV concept, to see what Stellantis offers relative to the electric trucks currently on the market, and in the pipeline. Details are nonexistent for now, but the Ram Revolution might be a disguised version of the production EV truck slated to arrive in Ram showrooms by 2024.

Exhaust: Stellantis and CES sure got a thing going on, as this year’s event included their Chrysler Airflow CUV concept. While the Ram Revolution’s singular photo raises more questions than it answers (that’s a mighty sleek A-pillar for a work-oriented vehicle!) at least we know it looks like a proper descendent of the Rams before it. That’s in stark contrast to the Airflow, which could have been so much more. Perhaps that’s the reason why Stellantis chooses to debut these vehicles to a tech-heavy audience. After all, if your biggest competitors are already in the game, why not do a Willie Keeler and hit ‘em where they ain’t? Because after experiencing both the Lightning and the Rivian, it’s clear that the competition isn’t making many mistakes. Stellantis better bring their A game when they arrive in Vegas next January. — Sajeev Mehta

Your first look at Volvo’s biggest, most luxe electric SUV

Intake: Behold Volvo’s most expensive, most luxe SUV—its nose and side, at least. These partial views are our first look at the exterior of the EX90, which we’ll see in full on November 9. Volvo isn’t getting too wild with this new offering, in keeping with its calm, minimalist aesthetic. The closed off “grille” bearing the company’s crossbar and arrowed circle (which hides a camera) mimics the schnozes of the company’s tiny BEV runabouts, the XC40 Recharge and the C40. Here, however, the logo sits closer to flush with the car’s front sheetmetal. The door handles will also tuck into the car’s sides, increasing aerodynamic efficiency. We’d expect these to operate like a Jaguar’s: pull out one end with a finger to activate the latch, press the notched end into the body to lock the door. On the car’s roof will be a lidar unit, which functions “as the car’s eyes,” says T. Jon Mayer, Volvo’s head of exterior design, whose team successfully avoided a “coffee can” packaging.

Exhaust: Since Volvo has the advantage of learning from its Geely-owned, all-electric sibling Polestar, we expect this SUV to be well-executed and high-tech. The EX90 kinda has to be, to keep Volvo in the big leagues of luxury, where it wants to play.—Grace Houghton

“Style Edition” brings ’90s makeup to base Boxster/Cayman

Intake: Porsche is adding a pair of new models to the 718 range, and throwing in a splash of color. Available in Ruby Red Neo paintwork, which is a tribute to the Ruby Star hue of the 964 Carrera RS, the Boxster and Cayman Style Editions gain 20-inch 718 Spyder wheels in high-gloss black, black sport tailpipes, and Porsche lettering in high gloss silver at the rear. Boxster versions also get their name embossed in the convertible top above the side windows. Hood stripes and Porsche logos for the side are optional. Interior additions include a heated leather steering wheel, and a black leather cabin with contrasting chalk stitching. A six-speed manual transmission comes as standard, mated to the two-liter turbo four-cylinder motor, with a seven-speed PDK and Sport Chrono Package both on the options list.

Exhaust: As is often the case, Style comes to Europe first, with U.S. sales set to follow during 2023. Those not quite tickled pink by the Ruby Red Neo paint scheme will be glad to hear that a wide range of colors will also be available. — Nik Berg

“Trailhunter” is Toyota’s love letter to overlanders

Intake: SEMA, otherwise known as fall’s biggest aftermarket-kit party, is popping off, and the automakers are in on the fun. Toyota debuted the Trailhunter Concept, a Tundra-based rig upfitted with popular mods for the off-the-grid exploration community. The accessories—a bed rack, rooftop tent, meaty bumpers, and more—are sourced directly through Toyota’s new Associated Accessory Products line, a catalog of third-party pieces that Toyota offers for a more streamlined customization experience right from the get-go. Notable partners include ARB, Yakima, Rigid Industries, and more. The Trailhunter concept is riding a bit higher than a stock Tundra, likely courtesy of a 3-inch lift-kit that the automaker announced late last month.

Toyota says that the Trailhunter name—think about it as a sub-brand, like Ford’s Tremor/Timberline models or Chevy’s ZR2 models— will distinguish an entire line of trucks and SUVs. We’d expect the Tacoma, the 4Runner, and perhaps the new Sequoia to also get the Trailhunter treatment in the future. Trailhunter vehicles will be developed in-house by the Toyota engineering teams to provide factory-backed overlanding rigs that still meet OEM expectations.

Exhaust: Someday, Harvard Business School is going to have a case study on the automakers aggressive efforts to capitalize on the overlanding craze. SEMA has long been The Place to reveal overlanding rigs realized to their full (and heinously expensive) potential, and it’s no longer a customer-only affair. This Trailhunter looks legit, though off-roaders on a budget (your author included) are most excited to cherry-pick from the catalog, once published. — Nathan Petroelje

Lamborghini lights up the silver screen

Intake: Shunned by Enzo Ferrari and spurred on to create his own legend, Ferruccio Lamborghini is the subject of a new biopic which opens in theaters on November 18. Scripted and directed by Academy Award-winning Bobby Moresco (Crash), and starring Frank Grillo as Lamborghini and Gabriel Byrne as Ferrari, the movie tells the story of their rivalry and Lamborghini’s incredible drive. “I want the world to never forget my name,” he says. Enjoy the trailer and book your tickets now.

Exhaust: We’re in for a bumper few months of motor movies. Following Lamborghini in 2023 will be Michael Mann’s Ferrari, with Adam Driver and Patrick Dempsey, while Brad Pitt’s Formula 1 film is also in the early stages of production. See you at the drive-in! —NB

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Lincoln’s Model L100 Concept has epic styling, no steering wheel

Intake: Lincoln released a wild concept car with stunning proportions, streamlined styling, extensive accent lighting, and rear-hinged doors that also actuate a rear-hinged roof panel. Called the Model L100 for a 100th (actually 102nd) anniversary homage to the 1922 (err, 1920) Lincoln L-Series, this concept car hints at an electric powertrain and shows a lofty interior design with floating seats, a lighted floor, and a featureless dashboard worthy of Level 5 autonomous driving technology. While most photos given to the media are computer generated renderings, the Model L100 exists in the flesh, and is on display at the Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance.

Exhaust:Subtle yet stunning details like the reintroduction of the 1926 Greyhound mascot (only now in solid crystal) and the aforementioned lighting signatures are likely to make production on a future Lincoln flagship. So what’s the biggest takeaway from this Concept EV Lincoln? Probably the most impressive light show made in the short history of Lincoln Embrace, the brand’s signature approach detection system that gives you a functional yet entertaining light show at night. While lighted wheels are an extreme, odds are the forthcoming embrace will be even better than what Chinese buyers currently experience with the Zephyr sedan. – Sajeev Mehta

70 years on, the BRM V-16 will race again at Goodwood

Intake: A recreated BRM Mk1 P15 V-16 will soon do what it does best and go racing. Under the direction of Simon, Paul, and Nick Owen,—grandsons of former BRM team manager Sir Alfred Owen—three “new” examples of this most spectacular 1950s racer are being built by specialists Hall and Hall. Engineer and helmsman Rob Hall will take the wheel of chassis number four during the Goodwood Trophy at September’s Goodwood Revival, making it probably the loudest race of the event. Hall’s car will wear the number five in tribute to Froilan Gonzalez who won the Goodwood Trophy in 1952, and a selection of other BRM machines will be on show as British Racing Motors marks 60 years since it won the 1962 Formula One World Championship.

Exhaust: Goodwood just got even more glorious, and hats off to the Owen brothers for not only bringing their grandfather’s vision back to life, but for setting it loose amongst a pack of hard-charging racers, despite the millions invested in it. “We have been very clear from the start of the project that the final three MK1 P15’s are to be built so that they can be seen and be heard,” says John Owen, son of Sir Alfred Owen and BRM Director. “They form an incredibly important part of British Motor Racing and British engineering history and it is vital that this is not forgotten. What better way to demonstrate this to the next generation by actually racing?” —Nik Berg

GM Defense, American Rheinmetall partner in bid to win military truck contract

Intake: GM Defense and American Rheinmetall Vehicles, a leading developer of tactical wheeled and tracked combat vehicles and systems, are teaming up to win a contract to create a Common Tactical Truck (CTT) for the U.S. Army. After auditioning multiple entrants, the Army plans to award the $5 billion contract in December 2022 and will purchase approximately 5700 vehicles. The Rheinmetall-GM Defense HX3-CTT is the next-gen variant of Rheinmetall’s HX family of military-off-the-shelf tactical trucks. GM Defense successfully delivered hundreds of Infantry Squad Vehicles (ISV) to the Army, and GMD President Steve duMont is eager to score another win. “With American Rheinmetall Vehicles’ HX3 as the starting point, I’m confident that together we will deliver a winning solution that meets or exceeds the Army’s requirements and provides a platform for growth and technology insertion to support our warfighters well into the future.”

Exhaust: Unlike the Ultium-based electric light reconnaissance vehicle (eLRV) that GM Defense announced in November 2021, the HX3-CTT (like its HX3 namesake) will likely be diesel-powered, hopefully proving that there is room—and a need—for both EVs and ICE-powered vehicles in the military, as well as the real world. — Jeff Peek

Tuthill Porsche is unveiling an 11K-rpm 911 restomod today

Intake: U.K.-based Tuthill Porsche will debut a positively bonkers 911 restomod today at The Quail today in Monterey. Dubbed the 911K, this carbon-bodied, sub-2000-pound golden masterpiece boasts a flat-six engine with an eleven-thousand-rpm redline. Holy moly. From details like the chrome grate over the rear engine cover and the chrome outlining on the rear taillamps seen in Instagram posts teasing the machine, we can infer that this appears to be styled like an original (1963–1972) 911. But rather than try to nail down a specific model year that this is derived from, it’s best to think of this creation as another respected Porsche shop’s take on the absolute ultimate 911. We’ll find out more details later today when this gilded machine takes to the lawn at the Quail Lodge & Golf Club.

Exhaust: Getting any engine to rev to 11K is no small feat; Singer, California’s famous Porsche restomod shop, had to leverage the technological might of Williams Advanced Engineering just to get the 4.0-liter flat-six engine is uses to rev to 9000. The rest of the car looks positively sublime, from the matte aluminum shift knob for the five-speed manual transmission, to the drool-worthy carbon-fiber intake plenum, to … well everything, really. Expect the price tag to be properly ludicrous—if they even mention such a thing; this could very well be a Singer scenario in that sense, as well: If you have to ask, you probably can’t afford it. — Nathan Petroelje

The Geneva Motor Show is back on… in Qatar

Intake: For the fourth year in a row, the halls of Geneva’s Palexpo will remain empty in February 2023, as the Swiss auto show has once again been cancelled. Instead, the Geneva International Motor Show will be held in November at the Doha Exhibition and Convention Center in Qatar. Originally the Doha event was to be in addition to the home venue as part of a sponsorship deal with Qatar Tourism, but now the Middle Eastern event will go it alone. “In these uncertain times, many brands are not in a position to commit to participating in a show in Europe in the winter,” said CEO Sandro Mesquita. “After assessing all the elements, it has become clear to the foundation that the 2023 Salon cannot take place in Geneva as planned.”

Exhaust: As the first major European auto show of the year, Geneva has played host to some of the most memorable motoring debuts in history, from the Lamborghini LP500, to the Jaguar E-type, original Range Rover, Audi quattro, McLaren P1, and both the Ferrari 288 GTO LaFerrari. We suspect that Qatar won’t attract quite the same level of interest. –Nik Berg

Porsche simulates a hydrogen engine on the Nordschleife

Intake: Computer simulations are a staple of new car development. Nearly every aspect of a given design is tested endlessly in code before becoming metal or plastic. The latest example of this is Porsche’s simulation of a hydrogen engine running a lap of the Nürburgring Nordschleife. The 14.18-mile loop is not the entire Nürburgring, but still a hot testing bed for many manufacturers. The eight cylinder engine was merely a data set based on a current engine and was created to solve some of the problems that come with burning hydrogen; low exhaust gas temperatures means turbochargers require redesign to deliver appropriate air mass and raised compression to make for efficient burn. All this math calculated to a 8 minute, 20 second time around the north course in Porsche’s digital environment.

Exhaust: Those of you familiar with hydrogen engines will know that last word—environment—is an interesting one to use. While hydrogen engines tend to have very low C02 emissions, they can easily exceed ICE powerplants when it comes to Nitrous Oxide, otherwise known as NOx. Porsche claims this simulation was merely to examine the potential of alternative fuels and expand the power of its engineering tools. That said, Porsche says the emissions from this digital engine would have passed Euro 7 standards, which would be no small feat. This powertrain will likely never leave the computer, but trying new things is not bad and it is fun to see what is possible. — Kyle Smith

Acura’s revives ZDX nameplate for first electric SUV

Intake: Despite much speculation around a United States Patent Office filing (including from us), Acura’s forthcoming electric SUV will not be called the ADX. Instead, the company will revive for it a bygone nameplate, ZDX. Acura says the ZDX will arrive at market sometime in 2024, cribbing many of the styling themes from the Precision EV concept that bowed earlier this week at Pebble Beach. There will also be a driver-focused Type S variant, joining the NSX, MDX, and TLX. The ZDX will be co-developed with General Motors as part of a partnership the two automakers announced in Spring of 2020. GM’s Ultium battery platform to underpin the model. (A Honda-badged vehicle, to be named the Prologue, will also come into being as part of this partnership.)

Exhaust: The ZDX nameplate first landed on a coupe-like SUV that debuted at the 2009 New York International Auto Show, the production version of which was offered for sale from the 2010 model year through 2013. Just 7,191 examples of the older ZDX were produced and sold before Honda axed the model due to poor sales. In retrospect, in an industry now flooded with such vehicles, the ZDX was an avant-garde idea that Acura simply introduced too soon.

Given that the new ZDX will be Acura’s first zero-emission vehicle, spearheading the marque’s pivot to electrification, we’d say it’s a fitting model name to revive. We’re curious to hear what sort of details will set apart the ZDX Type S from the standard variant, but we’re going to have to wait a while to find out. Hopefully Acura’s superb Super-Handling All-Wheel Drive (SH-AWD) tech can take on some form in the electric future. — NP

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Acura’s next-gen ARX-06 preps for battle against Porsche, Cadillac, BMW in IMSA GTP

Intake: Though the public unveiling will be Friday at The Quail in Carmel, California, Acura has released some photos and a lot of details about its upcoming entry into the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship’s new GTP class, which replaces the current top-rung DPi Prototype class starting in January at the Rolex 24 at Daytona. Two Acura ARX-06 GTP cars will compete against entries from Porsche, Cadillac and BMW, and in 2024, Lamborghini. The Acura is powered by a twin-turbocharged 2.4-liter V-6, coupled to an Xtrac transmission. Like all the GTP cars, the Acura will have a hybrid component: The hybrid power plant includes an IMSA-specified electric Bosch Motor Generator Unit and Williams Advanced Engineering battery pack. The chassis is an Oreca LMDh. “Precision crafted performance is at the heart of everything Acura does,” said Jon Ikeda, vice president and Acura brand officer. “If you’re a performance brand, you have to go racing. It’s that simple.”

Exhaust: The 24 Hours of Daytona should be downright fascinating, with no clear favorite. The two Acura teams—Wayne Taylor Racing and Meyer Shank Racing—are proven winners, and the current-generation Acura sits atop the DPi leaderboard for the 2022 WeatherTech season. There’s no reason to think the seventh generation won’t be fast, too. –Steven Cole Smith

BMW is testing a four-motor electric M car

Intake: BMW’s M division has confirmed it is working on taking EV performance to the next level. After 50 years of making some of the most memorable combustion cars, the brand is trialling a sophisticated M xDrive system which has a motor for each wheel for “infinitely variable, extremely precise and at the same time very fast distribution of drive torque.” The motors are connected via a central control unit which constantly monitors driving conditions and driver inputs. By taking data from accelerator pedal position, steering angle, longitudinal and lateral acceleration, wheel speeds, and other factors, the precise amount of power for the conditions can be applied to the road in milliseconds. Currently under testing in a camouflaged and highly-modified version of the i4 M450 with two doors, wider arches, and the body strut concept from the M3 and M4, it paves the way for the first all-electric M car in half a century.

Exhaust: The glorious cacophony of combustion may soon be silenced at BMW M, but the performance and handling of its cars is only set to be elevated by electrification, says Dirk Häcker, Head of Development at BMW M GmbH. “Electrification opens up completely new degrees of freedom for us to create M-typical dynamics. And we can already see that we can exploit this potential to the maximum, so that our high-performance sports cars will continue to offer the M-typical and incomparable combination of dynamics, agility and precision in the locally emission-free future.” —Nik Berg

Pricing and packaging changes announced for 2023 Mazda3

Intake: Mazda is shuffling the packaging strategy for its Mazda3 compact. The 2023 model will drop the 2-liter naturally aspirated four-cylinder from the bottom of its lineup, making the 2.5-liter SkyActiv-G the new standard on most trim levels. That engine gets 5 additional ponies for 2023, up to 191 hp and 186 lb-ft of torque. New cylinder deactivation technology also increases fuel efficiency, now up to 28/37/31 city/highway/combined, up from 26/35/30 in the 2022 MY cars equipped with the same engine. As before, a turbocharged version of the 2.5-liter engine is also offered on select higher-grade trims, good for 250 hp and 320 lb-ft on 93 octane gas or 227 hp and 310 lb-ft on regular 87 octane.

The new entry point into the Mazda3 lineup is now the 2.5 S, which will run you $23,615 for the sedan version (a $1850 increase over the outgoing 2-liter-equipped Mazda3 Base). Mazda will also again offer all-wheel drive on certain trims, the cheapest being the 2.5 S Carbon Edition, which will run you $29,665 for the sedan or $30,665 for the hatchback. The cheapest avenue into the turbocharged models, which all include AWD, is the $33,515 2.5 Turbo hatchback. Mazda says that 2023 Mazda3 hatchback models will begin arriving in dealerships this fall, while the 2023 sedan models will arrive this winter.

Exhaust: We’ve become accustomed to package trims and price increases in a segment such as compact sedans and hatchbacks, partially because they’re just not as popular anymore, but also because supply chain issues has forced automakers to tighten up product lines that don’t constitute the bulk of its profitability. We’re not sad to see that base engine go, as you can still find your way into a great-driving machine for well under $30K. We’d say the one you want is the 2.5 S Premium hatchback, which is the highest trim level you can get with a manual transmission—that one will run you $30,215. — Nathan Petroelje

Rare McLaren P1 prototype could fetch $2.4 million

Intake: Demand for the O.G. McLaren hybrid was so high that the British Formula 1 constructor took 14 P1 prototypes and refurbished them for the road. After being put through the ringer on proving grounds in the U.K. and Spain and used for promotional work, Validation Prototype 5 was totally rebuilt at a cost of $1.8 million before finding a home with its current keeper. Originally delivered in Volcano Yellow, the buyer later bought a second set of metallic purple carbon fiber body panels which you see in the photo. The black Alcantara interior was left unchanged in the transformation. After covering 4000 miles, it has been returned to its original yellow shade and, with the purple parts supplied, the 903-hp hypercar is for sale at LaSource, where it could fetch as much as $2.4 million.

Exhaust: The valuation is pretty high relative to what the Hagerty Valuation Tools say a #1 Concours condition P1 is worth—$1.7 Million, by the way. However, think of this car as one of 14, rather than one of 375, and perhaps the added scarcity will also add to the price. —NB

How does the Inflation Reduction Act change EV tax credit rules?

Intake: The IRS has clarified how the newly enacted Inflation Reduction Act influences EV tax credits and what 2022–23 vehicles that may be eligible. A press release from the U.S. Department of Treasury says the only change to the previous electric vehicle credit is that final assembly must occur in North America—effective August 16, when President Biden signed the IRA into law, through December 31, 2022. “Further changes to the eligibility rules will begin in 2023.” The treasury also lists 26 2022 model year EVs and five 2023 MY EVs that “may be eligible” for a tax credit based on the final assembly requirement. The press release adds, “Separately, starting in 2023, the Inflation Reduction Act also establishes tax credits for pre-owned clean vehicles (section 25E) and for commercial clean vehicles (section 45W). Treasury and the Internal Revenue Service will release more information on all the clean vehicle credits in the coming months.”

Exhaust: We waded through a lot of legalese and FAQs—including why it’s important to know what a written binding contract is—to farm out the details above, but if you think the information seems a bit too simple and perhaps a little thin on specifics, you aren’t alone. We too are left wondering what we’re missing. As you should before making any automobile purchase, we suggest you do yourself a favor and read deeper into the minutia—and ask a lot of questions—if receiving a tax credit is a deciding factor in buying an EV. — Jeff Peek

Acura Precision EV Concept bows at Pebble

Intake: Following a teaser video released late last week, Acura has unveiled in full its new Precision EV Concept, signaling how the brand that touts “Precision crafted performance” will transition to the EV age. Designed by the Acura Design Studio in Los Angeles, the distinctly SUV-shaped concept features a wide stance with sharp character lines that evoke hints of the styling we see on contemporary Acura products. That lovely matte exterior shade is called Double Apex Blue. Up front, there’s an illuminated pentagon grille with special “particle glitch” lighting elements in the lower fascia. Peep those bright yellow front brake calipers behind the 23-inch wheels. Inside, Acura has taken a page from Tesla’s book and gone for a yoke steering wheel (yuck), and there’s oodles of sustainably sourced materials covering everything from the seats (100 percent biomass leather) to the dashboard (recycled plastics). Acura says that the car will feature two distinct driving modes: Instinctive Drive for when you want to take the wheel and handle the act of driving yourself, and Spiritual Lounge, for when you want to kick back and surrender some degree of driving functionality to the car itself. The former will change the cabin’s atmosphere to a more exciting and racier place to be, while the latter will slip everything an Ambien and shift the mood to a warm and calming aura. The Precision EV Concept will be available for public viewing tomorrow at The Quail, a Motorsports Gathering out at Monterey Car Week.

Exhaust: Automakers use these types of concepts to make broad statements about the trajectory of the brand—both in the design department but also with regards to user experience. For Acura, it’s a clear focus on sharp, angular styling, as well as an effort to create a machine with two very distinct personalities. We’ll likely see some forms of these ideas enlisted in Acura’s first production BEV, which may don the ADX nameplate, when it arrives in 2024 through a partnership with GM. — NP

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With its first production model, the grand-touring Polestar 1, soon to be leaving production, the Swedish-Chinese electric luxury automaker will soon be down to just one model: the Polestar 2. The next model in the pipeline, the Polestar 5, is a four-door sedan that will sit atop the model hierarchy and should debut in about two years. Polestar has been trickling out information about the upcoming sedan, including news that its bespoke chassis will be Polestar-exclusive and distinct from anything in Volvo’s arsenal. We also know that the Precept concept, first shown a year ago, is more than a mere hint at future design language. All rumors suggest that much of Precept’s sleek design has been greenlit to effectively become the production Polestar 5.

If you’d like to get an up-close look at the Precept, you’ve got one more week to see it in person at the Petersen Museum in Los Angeles. We leveraged our in-person visit to get a feel for the car’s presence and wonder how many of the interesting design elements would endure in final form.

The overall look of the car is athletic but clean, efficient, and without many extraneous lines. The sleek, hardtop roofline will likely be updated with a B-pillar for the sake of rigidity; the recent news of the Polestar 5’s aluminum-intensive chassis also showed B-pillars in the body-in-white. We also wouldn’t expect to see rear-hinged “coach” rear doors such as those that made it to the snazzy Lincoln Continental Coach Door Edition.

Thin strips are located at the trailing edges of the C-pillar glass, with lights that show charging status at a glance. Those certainly add to the design and are an elegant solution we hope survive to production. The headlights and driving lights, evocative of Volvo’s “Thor’s hammer” signature, are split and nearly mirrored horizontally. There’s some family resemblance with the lights on the Volvo concept-derived Polestar 1, but these are much bolder. Finally, slim side-view cameras are mounted where we’d naturally expect to see side mirrors. The side view will be displayed on monitors inside.

Something rather obvious is missing in the Precept, and it took us a moment to realize it: there’s no rear window. Instead, the rear-view “mirror” will be a display that uses video from a rear-facing camera. Given how useless as some modern car and crossover rear windows are, this seems perfectly logical, and many manufacturers (like Cadillac) boast displays that can alternate between a rear camera view and a traditional mirror. It appears that this will be heading to production if Polestar’s body-in-white is any indication. Let’s hope there’s at least a washer built in, because if that camera gets obscured by ice, dirt, grime, or salt it becomes pretty useless.

Finally, there are two design elements from the Precept that we don’t think will make it to production: the center-lock wheels and the protruding LIDAR atop of the vehicle. The center-locks will likely be replaced with Volvo’s traditional wheel bolts. While the LIDAR may stay, we’d expect it to be blended into the roof construction. Could a feature like this be designed to minimize wind noise in such a conspicuous location?

If you plan on visiting the Polestar Precept while it’s still in Los Angeles, make sure you sign up for a tour of The Vault, as the Precept, along with a production Polestar 1 and Polestar 2, are located in a room adjacent to The Vault in the Petersen’s basement. Get your tickets here.

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It was billed as Ford vs Ferrari: Round Two, with a new Detroit supercar to take on Maranello’s finest. So what happened to GN34, the secret prototype that could have wowed the world? Steve Saxty, a former Ford product designer and author of Secret Fords, takes you inside the hidden world of the canceled supercar.

The Ford GT40 might have crushed Ferrari on the track in the Sixties, but twenty years later Ferrari and Porsche were winning the sales race for highly profitable sports cars—and Ford had no answer.

Or at least, that was the perceived wisdom. Behind the scenes at Ford, a crack team of product planners and engineers were putting their heads together in response to growing numbers of buyers with money to burn on sports cars and luxury models, which were bursting with profit if you played your cards right.

Since the start of the Eighties, Ford had been pondering how it could enter the sports car market with a Ferrari rival costing Corvette money. By the end of October 1983, some of the brightest brains in the company had pulled together a strategic paper that set out the case for a world-class supercar and tackled the thorny issue of how to circumvent the company’s corporate culture that was tuned to conceptualizing and building mass market, everyday cars. At the time, even the Mustang was limping along on just four cylinders.

The Detroit product planners ran the numbers; there was money to be made and an obvious place to start looking for it. They reached out to Ford’s Special Vehicle Operations group (SVO), the performance division ultimately responsible for the turbocharged Mustang SVO. (The department’s equivalent in the U.K. was the British Special Vehicle Engineering group that created the Capri Injection and Sierra Cosworth.) SVO consisted of a 30-strong team of engineers, planners and marketers led by Mike Kranefuss, Ford’s competitions manager who had successfully campaigned the Cologne Capris against the BMW Batmobiles a few years before moving stateside.

Kranefuss was a racer through and through, unused to making road cars, but after his young team created the highly regarded Mustang SVO, it was clear that they could move far faster than Ford’s huge, but lumbering, engineering team. SVO were perfect for the job; an internationally-minded group of Ford mavericks familiar with the external resources necessary to assemble a Ferrari rival sold at a Corvette or Porsche 944 price.

Kranefuss’s 30-strong team, aided by its 46-year-old Chief Engineer Glen Lyall and abetted by 36-year-old Planning/Program Manager Ronald Muccioli leapt at the chance. “For us it was more than a job and another product, it was our dream.” SVO took on the supercar project, now dubbed GN34.

To meet the brief, and create something far greater than Ford’s Corvette, demanded the sophistication of a mid-engined platform and stylish design to mix it with the Italians. Muccioli, and his product planner Tom Smart, identified the two longest-lead areas needed to get the fastest Ford since the GT40 on the road: designing a suitably slinky body and a high-tech, high-performance motor.

Engine choices were limited. SVO visited Lotus to examine teaming up on the next Esprit, but, to nobody’s surprise, Hethel had no defined plans. Within Ford there was the Sierra Cosworth engine, but it was expensive and its harsh four-cylinder turbo would never entice someone from their V-8 Ferrari. Ford’s upcoming modular V-8 engine was promising, but too far off into the future, while externally purchased engines like Porsche’s V-8 were ruled out on grounds of cost. The standout option was Ford’s upcoming Super High Output quad-cam V-6, then being designed with Yamaha for the high-performance Taurus SHO model. Its 3.0-liter capacity could be expanded as needed and its sophisticated design had an appeal of its own in the face of a V-8.

SVO lucked out, and GN34 would use the Yamaha-Ford motor that was—in its day—one of the more advanced V-6 engines around. Only Honda and its V-6 VTEC motor in the later NSX would better Ford’s effort.

Things were going well. SVO had an engine. Now, in spring ’84, Muccioli and Tom Smart turned their attention to the car’s styling, and this was a headache. None of Ford’s factories were geared up to make 20,000 specialist mid-engined cars annually, so they packed their bags and headed to Europe—the home of supercar suppliers and specialist manufacturers.

Heuliez, a French coachbuilder, was keen and even offered some speculative sketches, but once the SVO boys landed in Turin and visited Italdesign, it was clear that they had found a potential partner. Giorgetto Giugiaro’s company could not only style the vehicle but also handle the body engineering necessary to facilitate production by a third party like Heuliez or, their favored option, Chausson in France.

It was perfect timing. The Italians were starting work on an Esprit-like show vehicle called Maya—no doubt hoping to win a Lotus contract to design the British company’s next mid-engined car. In March ’84, Italdesign cannily suggested that perhaps SVO might like to donate a Ford V-6—for a six-figure sum—to power the Maya show car. It was a genius move, for both parties. The Ford-powered Maya jump-started the GN34 project with all the credibility of one of the world’s best designers, while Italdesign won a new client and hopefully a juicy design and body engineering contract.

GN34 was moving so quickly that it was perhaps inevitable that things would veer off the road. In July ’84, SVO presented its initial proposals to Don Petersen, Ford’s CEO, and other senior executives. The product planners had done their sums and calculated a significant profit, but nobody had prepared for the reaction of Stuart Frey, Vice President of Car Product Development. Frey was a Ford lifer and knew full well the risk of engineering a vehicle using external suppliers, especially one targeted at millionaires and sold through Ford dealers. Point-by-point he set out his concerns; warranty, quality, safety, and cost overruns—in his opinion GN34 was too big a risk.

Ronald Muccioli, who was Planning and Program Manager for GN34, recalls the meeting. “Ultimately it was Stuart’s responsibility, and he just did not believe that a handful of car nuts could pull it off when he had an army of engineers.”

Frey dropped his bombshell with chilling accuracy and, to the horror of the SVO team, asked that cheaper options be explored.

The Sierra was the right size; it handled well and was already being sold, with modest success, as the XR4Ti in North America. SVO needed to think fast if it were to protect GN34 from being diluted into a rebodied family sedan. Italdesign, keen to keep SVO’s business, hurriedly built a full-sized foam model using Sierra hard points. But politics were coming into play—surely Ford’s in-house Advanced Design group should design its flagship supercar? SVO couldn’t fight this battle, but it could be smart about winning the war. Muccioli and Smart asked Advanced Design to offer a submission based on a highly-modified Sierra platform that sat the SHO V-6 low in the chassis, as a third option to the mid-engined Maya and Italdesign’s Sierra-derived foam model.

SVO spent five months assembling the three concepts that planner Tom Smart labelled Alternative 1, 2, and 3 along with their relative appeal to three benchmarks: a sporty BMW; a Porsche 944; and finally a Ferrari. The trio of GN34 alternatives—two Sierra-based and the Maya show car—were lined up in December ’84. Against expectations, SVO won the day and was granted its wish to proceed with a mid-engined car to take on the Ferrari 308/328.

However, there was no time for back-slapping. The SVO team was given just 10 months to come back to the board with a finished design for Program Approval—the all-important point in Ford’s design process where cheques start being written for supplier tooling. The program was back on track, but SVO had its work cut out during ’85 if GN34 was to ever reach buyers in ’89.

Italdesign had been contracted to do more than style the car. Now the program was once more proceeding down the mid-engined route, the Italians built a prototype named Maya EM (M for muletto) that resembled a simplified Maya body over more thoroughly engineered mechanicals. Its role was to give a rough approximation of how the car would perform and in September ’85 it was evaluated by Ford’s ultimate test driver, Jackie Stewart, the three-time Formula 1 World Champion.

This could have gone badly, had Stewart been unimpressed by what he encountered and passed his feedback directly to Don Peterson. Yet the news was more than positive: compared to the Porsche 944, Ferrari 308, and Corvette the prototype was more than competitive, not just in speed but comfort—important on rough American roads where the Vette shimmied and shook while the Porsche banged and bounced along the blacktop.

The mechanical layout was well underway, but a bigger battle loomed; what was it to look like? Italdesign built another full-sized model, the Maya II ES (styling) that was far more refined than the earlier Lotus-like Maya show car. The stunning-looking machine featured a sheer-sided Germanic purity of line with the profile of an Italian exotic. But it had competition; the rest of Ford was well-aware of the GN34 project. Ford Design VP Don Kopka instructed the Detroit-based Advanced Design team to offer up a submission and requested another from the Ghia studio in Turin.

Now there were four GN34s; the muletto and the three alternate styling proposals from Italdesign, Ghia, and Advanced Design. The three full-sized models, indistinguishable from a real car, were lined up in Ford’s massive design showroom from which two survivors were selected for market research testing. Italdesign’s Maya II ES design was the one to fall, leaving the Lamborghini-like Detroit proposal to face off against Ghia’s submission that had all the glamour of a Ferrari 308.

Ford’s market research team arranged customer clinics with Ferrari, Corvette, and Porsche owners, in Los Angeles in late ’85. It was a nail-biting moment in the development of the new supercar. If they panned its design, or suggested the pricing was too ambitious, the likelihood was the project would be canned.

Imagine the sighs of relief, then, when word reached the SVO team that the research revealed they adored Ghia’s slinky design and estimated that it would cost the same as a Ferrari. Crucially, even when the secret car’s identity was revealed to be a Ford they still assumed it would be priced above the intended 944/Corvette price point.

Things were looking good, and the project was approved.

More prototypes were made, one an Escort-based mule with a Super High Output (SHO) V-6, plus two modified De Tomaso Panteras built by Jack Roush Engineering using the production-spec chassis designed by Canewdon Consultants in Essex, one with a SHO V-6 and the other a tuned V-8 driving through a ZF transaxle. This most international supercar of all—America-inspired, Italian-styled, powered by Japanese engine technology through a German gearbox and British chassis and assembled in France—was on the brink of production.

But … well, you already knew a “but” was coming, didn’t you? In July ’86 the axe fell on GN34. The American dollar had devalued by 20 percent against the French franc and the car’s profitability was suddenly marginal. A decision had to be made. Ford’s execs needed to choose between a risky supercar sold to tens of thousands—or fund a more Ford-like product that would sell in the millions.

Ironically, it was one of the best-known “car guys” in the industry that would bring about the ultimate demise of GN34. At the time, Bob Lutz headed up the Ford Truck Division in North America and was proposing a four-door Bronco—something his team termed a Sport Utility Vehicle, which promised volume sales. The numbers won and SVO lost. The team’s dream of once again taking the fight to Ferrari was dashed, and Ford’s new Explorer helped Ford ride a wave of profitability through the ’90s.

The accountants ruling Ford’s head said the Explorer was the way to go, but the pony car maker’s heart still pounded for wrestling with the prancing horse. The dream refused to die;  Ford took another shot at Ferrari in the mid-2000s with a reprise of the GT40 in modern form. But, unlike GN34, it cost three times as much as a Boxster or Corvette and it was more of a backward-looking GT40 homage than the of-the-moment GN34.

The bullseye that Ford nearly hit—Ferrari appeal at a Corvette price—remains as elusive today as it ever was.

Via Hagerty UK

***

Limited quantities of Steve Saxty’s book, Secret Fords, are held in stock in New York to reduce shipping prices. The Volume One and Two author-signed and numbered Compendium Sets can be purchased together for a $14.45 saving using the code 2BOOKSAVE at www.stevesaxty.com

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While EVs and hybrids are no strangers to public roads these days, they’re still left behind at the gate when it comes to most off-roading adventures. This situation doesn’t represent an inherent flaw in electrified powertrains as much a lack of development for this specific application. Passenger cars driving on the street have been the focus of EV innovation, and even with upstart companies like Bollinger and Rivian tackling the challenge, and GMC on the cusp of relaunching the Hummer sub-brand, we’ve yet to see all-electric trucks and SUVs proliferate off-road.

Jeep is studying what a battery-powered rock-crawler could and should look like, and is open about its electric Wrangler Magneto concept being an early prototype. The concept’s debut in Moab, at the 2021 Easter Jeep Safari, was strategic. Instead of squirreling the project away during development and later thrusting it out from behind the curtains, engineers are eager for the world to examine and criticize the idea. By engaging with its customer base in this way, Jeep hopes to refine the concept into a production variant that will satisfy fans. With that in mind, what is the Magneto, really? An electrified comment box for the 4×4 enthusiast.

With so many preconceived notions about what an EV is and isn’t capable of, the whole concept of an all-electric Wrangler might seem strange. Jeep built its whole reputation on off-road dominance, so reconciling its core product with the impending bans on combustion engines and the unshakable expectations of its dedicated community is a major challenge. Compromising capability is out of the question, unless an angry mob storming Auburn Hills is the goal.

The Magneto, however, represents an interesting trail map for how Jeep might tread forward. Rather than reinvent the traditional 4×4, like GM did with the crab-walking Hummer EV, why not just treat an electric off-roader the same as an internal-combustion one? Jeep offers a wide selection of engines in the Wrangler, from the 2.0-liter four-cylinder turbo to the venerable Pentastar 3.6-liter V-6, and for those real weirdos, a 3.0-liter turbodiesel. Soon the 392 Hemi V-8 will join the party, and the hybrid 4xe is already on sale. The Magneto’s electric powertrain is just another option within the bounds of an already well-loved recipe.

For this early drivability concept, the Magneto we drove in Moab in many ways is a showroom-stock Wrangler Rubicon with the engine pulled out. Jeep instead dropped in an electric motor with 285 hp and 273 lb-ft of torque, nearly identical to the V-6’s output. Powering the e-motor are four battery packs running an 800-volt system and totaling 70 kWh, sealed inside individual machined aluminum boxes that are placed throughout the chassis. One is under the hood, another replaces the fuel tank’s spot on the frame, and another sits opposite of that through the area where the exhaust used to route through. Out back, where the muffler used to be, resides the fourth and final pack. At 5750 pounds, the Magneto concept is roughly 1500 pounds heavier than a standard gas-powered model. Otherwise it’s conventional Wrangler underneath, including the the six-speed manual transmission.

“It’s a drivetrain that you’ve probably never driven,” said Mark Allen, head of Jeep design. “Our intent with this is really just to research and ask people openly [what they want].”

Jeep’s best guess, naturally, was that Wrangler fans would want more of the same. Very few vehicles are developed exclusively for enthusiasts like the Wrangler is, which means there is no boring version, no two-wheel-drive or independent-front-suspension derivative; every single Wrangler rolls out the door with a pair of axles tied to a 4×4 transfer case. Unlike, say, the Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution or Subaru WRX STI, which are dirt-clawing rally machines with economy car roots, even the base Wrangler is ready for action.

In off-roading, drivers highly value certain Wrangler traits, and many of these are more subtle than the Dana axles swinging below the frame. Jeep’s powertrain team, for example, has carefully calibrated the throttle to gives drivers precise low-speed modulation that feels natural. At the same time, it’s still responsive enough to open the flood gates when required, and it all happens automatically through the selected transfer case gear without requiring any special off-road modes. (Though the throttle is further tailored to low-speed driving in Off Road+.) Once the dash confirms that traction control has been disabled, it is truly out of the picture. With manual transmissions, Jeep even has dialed in a robust idle compensation for slipping the clutch until it’s just beginning to engage, which allows someone to easily creep into gear to reduce the shock-load on the tires when twisted uphill on an obstacle. Some critics decry that the Wrangler is anachronistic, but that is—again—exactly what many people are looking for.

All of these little details are what battery-pack maker Webasto worked closely with Jeep to retain. In an EV with a single-speed gearbox, torque delivery is smoothed by the tall gear ratio, which reduces the mechanical advantage of the motors over the tires, ironing out the effect of inputs and creating that long-pull slingshot feel to the powertrain. With a multi-gear transmission, like the six-speed manual in the Magneto, finesse in torque delivery becomes more vital because small changes in the motor’s output will have a big effect at the tire—like the difference between driving at 20 mph in first gear instead of second or third. This is especially true combined with a 4:1 transfer case. For perspective, Tesla’s final drive ratios have meandered as low as 7.4:1, while the current JL-generation Wrangler Rubicon’s crawl ratio is an astonishing 84.2:1 when equipped with a manual transmission and using four-low with first gear. With that short of a crawl ratio available, Webasto’s focus was on creating a torque calibration that, at least initially, would mimic the V-6’s output while also integrating the aforementioned gear- and transfer-case activated throttle maps for low-speed driving.

So then what makes this all-electric driving experience truly different for the off-roading fiend? Since we know that the chassis has largely been unaffected, it’s fair to say we’re judging the differences at the throttle pedal. The Rubicon’s long-travel suspension and articulation made sure Jeep’s demonstration loop posed no real challenge, but with a mix of rocky trails and sandstone stair steps, the course provided us the opportunity to click a few gears and crawl at sub-mile-per-hour speeds.

In many ways, the electric concept drives more like the EcoDiesel model than the Pentastar V-6, just without any lag in throttle response. Torque is ample and strong from the bottom end, but not jumpy. Without pistons to draw air there is no engine braking, and in its current configuration, the electric motor is allowed to freewheel. Regenerative braking could be implemented, but the lack of it allows the driver to coast with very little effort down smoother trails and dole out power in small bits to maintain momentum. Once the Magneto arrives at an obstacle, the linear torque of an electric motor shines—there’s just no comparison to that direct connection between the pedal, the motor, and the drivetrain.

It was possible to creep the Magneto up to a point of balance on a given obstacle and hold it still using just the torque of the motor and a light amount of throttle. With a gentle lift, the Jeep rolled back slowly, resisting gravity with the tiny amount of torque we commanded, before we fed more throttle to stop it again, and crept forward. There is an ability to precisely inch the Magneto back and forth on obstacles in a manner that was like no other off-road experience. Add to the equation that the electric motor does not need to spin at idle, meaning there’s no requirement to use the clutch during these low-speed antics, where automatic transmissions usually excel. Having that manual transmissions means Jeep could tailor the power curve and response to the vehicle speed at which the Magneto operates, which is a lot different than the Power Wheels-like experience a contemporary single-speed BEV powertrain tends to yield. It’s alien at first to break the muscle memory of slipping a clutch off the line, but once you get used to it a world of possibility opens up. There’s nothing stopping you from doing the three-pedal shuffle on an obstacle if you want that challenge, but otherwise, the Magneto happily gets rolling with no drama.

Equally alien is the different flavor of engine noise; in the place of a howling V-6 is a truly sci-fi soundtrack from the electric motor winding up.  Jeep and Webasto even programmed the motor to rev off the throttle pedal even while the transmission is in neutral, which an entertaining degree of control that drivers rarely get to experience over an electric powertrain. It may not bark like the 392, but the motor’s torque still throws the chassis around as the Magneto hums like a UFO. With no visceral combustion engine booming away, the mostly quiet Magneto presents a unique opportunity to really listen to the world around you—which is half the point of off-roading in a roofless, doorless Wrangler, right? It’s an accessible, adventurous way to immerse yourself in what this Earth has to offer.

As for refueling, it’s not like any of the fossil-fuel-powered Jeeps can refill while off the grid from anything larger than a portable container. It’s also plausible that enough solar panels could be strapped to the roof of an electric Wrangler to support something like an overlanding trip, where the daily mileage is relatively low and the Jeep sits as a basecamp days at a time for other activities, like mountain biking or hiking.

It’s unlikely that the all-electric Wrangler to come will resemble the Magneto exactly, but this concept is a convincing step in many ways. Battery power is compatible with off-roading in more ways than people might think, and it doesn’t have to come at the expense of tried-and-true Wrangler features or capabilities. Tailpipe emissions or not, there’s no question Jeep is striving to deliver an experience its loyal customers will love.

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Ford announced today that it is teaming up with Filson, a storied outdoor outfitter, to create the ultimate wildfire-fighting concept based on the Bronco four-door. Dedicated Bronco fans may find that color scheme familiar, and for good reason—Broncos have historically been one of the preferred rides of the U.S. Forestry service.

More than just a marketing exercise, this new concept rig is part of an effort between Ford and Filson to collaborate and raise funds and awareness for the Nation Forest Foundation’s reforestation programs via limited-edition Bronco + Filson outdoor gear available on Filson’s website. The partnership comes during one of the gnarliest wildfire seasons on record, with north of 7.5 million acres devastated by raging flames. Ford hopes that this concept can serve as a model for developing future firefighting rigs, as well.

The modified Bronco began life as a four-door Badlands model equipped with the optional Sasquatch package. Ford then slathered on U.S. Forestry Service green paint and a heap of gear perfectly tailored to fighting fires in the remote woods. Up front, the modular steel bumper packs a Warn Zeon 10-S winch to lug downed trees out of the way or rescue the Bronco when it steps too far beyond its comfort zone.

Because this is perhaps one of the more utilitarian applications of the Bronco (definitely more so than the Bronco Overland concept revealed earlier this month), there’s a heavy-duty roof rack fitted with a Rigid LED light bar and smaller LED lights at the corners. The rack carries all manner of firefighting equipment, from a Pulaski fireman’s tool to shovels. The rack can double as a firefighter lookout, too. The roof and cargo divider are made of fireproof ripstop nylon and can be rolled back and secured quickly.

Out back, there’s a purpose-built skid from Kimtek with a Hannay Reels firehose reel, as well as a 50-gallon water tank and a Davey high-pressure water pump. Because firefighting in the forest involves more than simply dousing an area in water, there’s also a Stihl chainsaw, and two hard hats, should more trees need to come down or be cleared away.

Inside, Filson’s famous otter-green duck canvas can be found everywhere from the door bolsters and armrests to the seat trim surrounds. The rest of the seating surface is covered in quilted black leather. There’s also a CB radio for communicating with home base and forestry workers.

This concept comes on the heels of an announcement earlier this week about something called the Bronco Wild Fund, in which Ford pledges financial and physical support to both the National Forest Foundation and Outward Bound USA, two groups that Ford feels embody the outdoor spirit that it hopes the Bronco will come to represent.

Amidst this good news, there is a mild bummer, unrelated to the concept. According to this report from FordAuthority, it sounds like Ford is nixing the sweet donut doors that we saw on the Cyber Orange two-door Bronco at the unveiling. While we’re sad to see that the McLaren Senna-esque doors don’t appear to be on the production docket anymore, we think Ford going back to the Bronco’s roots and pledging support for our national forests is a pretty solid trade-off.

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Hyundai’s new concept EV, the Prophecy, hints at the brand’s future design language with a drop-tail four-door that manages to be both sporty and elegant. With its short overhangs, and six-bladed wheels pushed way out to the corners of the car, it leaves lots of open cabin space, though the rear seat headroom looks a bit compromised by the sloping roof. Par for the course.

SangYup Lee, Head of Hyundai Global Design Center, says the Prophecy embodies “Optimistic Futurism.” What we see is some Bauhaus inspiration combined with a more fluid, futuristic sculpting that brings the luxury car trend of four-door “coupes” to a more mainstream brand in a gorgeous package that, hopefully, proves that the future isn’t all tall crossovers.

From some angles, the Prophecy looks more like a four-door 911 than even the Taycan or Panamera. The prominent rear spoiler, made from transparent acrylic, certainly doesn’t hurt the resemblance.

A lovely side effect of the smooth body is a low coefficient of drag, helping to eke out every bit of range from the electric powertrain—which Hyundai didn’t elaborate on. Instead, it chose to highlight the Prophecy’s novel interior and driver interface. To take advantage of the concept’s spacious cabin, the driver will operate the vehicle using a pair of joysticks when the vehicle is not driving autonomously. This design allows the dashboard to remain low, giving passengers an unobscured view out the windshield.

Hyundai currently fields an electric Veloster in Pure ECTR, an electric touring car racing class, and has also shown that they’re committed to internal combustion performance as well. As their current sporty offerings merge with this new design language, Hyundai should keep buyers interested and competitors on their toes.

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If we’re to judge by the Concept i4, BMW’s confidence in its electric i sub-brand seems to be growing just as its kidney grille looms ever larger. Are big grille jokes old yet? In any case, BMW is finally offering an all-electric model that’s neither stuck in an urban commuter niche like the i3 nor restricted to the luxe GT sphere like the six-figure hybrid i8. The i4 is basically an all-electric 4 Series, and despite the concept name, it’s clear that this car is awfully close to production-ready.

Take a glance at the car below—the concept we saw back in November of last year—and the model BMW unveiled this week just under that:

This newer i4 iteration has more production-friendly door handles and a more sensible greenhouse profile. The taillights, shown below, are more integrated into BMW’s current design language. The rearview mirrors, although we’d guess there’s a cornucopia of camera views, now feature some glass, compared to the needle-thin protrusions of the earlier concept. Also, the whole car rides high enough to be feasible on public roads (and, more specifically, public curbs).

There’s even a space for a front license plate… if you wear white gloves and concentrate extremely hard. And maybe use superglue.

In case you were distracted by all that Frozen Light Copper paint, the i4 also bears BMW’s newly designed roundel. The new badge is lower profile than its domed predecessor and ditches the circular black background to show off the paint color beneath it. The blue-and-white center, without the black lines separating each quarter, has a more minimalist interpretation—in keeping with the times. (Hang on, did someone say big grille? Oh right, it’s an “intelligent panel” on the i4.) However, BMW has since confirmed that this logo won’t be gracing any production cars; aside from the concept version of the i4, the new low-profile roundel will be reserved exclusively for the brand’s communications.

The fifth generation of BMW’s eDrive will enter production in the form of the iX3 crossover this year, cruising around in compact SUV form before it scoots around the four-door 2021 i4. Riding on the same modular platform as the upcoming 3 and 4 Series, the i4 should be able to hold its own with even the hotted-up M3 and M4; BMW confirms that, in the i4, the eDrive electric motor will make 530 very quiet horsepower. That’s paired with a new 550-kg (1212-pound), 80-kWh battery pack, with a promised EPA range of around 270 miles (the EPA just handed Tesla’s Model Y a 315-mile estimate). BMW says that its “four-door coupe” will swish to 60 mph in four seconds flat.

In case you’re worried about the lack of aural drama, BMW rounded up Hans Zimmer to help create “individual sound worlds” to correlate to each of the i4’s driving modes: Core, Sport, and Efficient. What’s a sound world, you ask? We’re not entirely sure, but it includes what you hear upon starting the vehicle and the sound of the doors. The cabin also thoughtfully changes the color of the ambient lighting depending on which mode you’re in, just in case the gigantic curved screen didn’t make that obvious.

BMW also declared that by 2023, 25 models in the Bavarian lineup with “electrified drive.” This latest generation of eDrive, with its motor, transmission, and other electronics tucked into a single housing, can be used on its own, as in the i4, or in plug-in hybrid vehicles. The battery pack has a charging capacity of up to 150 kW, which figures to about six minutes of charge time per every 100 km (or 62 miles). Keep your eyes peeled for future BMWs on this architecture, whether fully or partially electric (such as the BMW iNEXT crossover).

BMW will begin production of the i4 starting in 2021 at its main plant in Munich. Unsurprisingly, the facility will need some re-tooling to assemble these battery-powered cars, but BMW says 90 percent of its existing equipment can be integrated into i4 assembly. The other 10 percent of equipment can be retooled for a reasonable $220M.

We haven’t heard any pricing information yet, but since the i4 will tout both high-tech electric efficiency and performance figures comparable to the M3/M4, expect it to slot fairly high in the 4 Series range.

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