All the Automotive News You Missed This Week That You Should Know About

It’s been an interesting week here at the Gear Patrol Motoring Desk. We brought some exciting news about new car launches like the V8-powered Lexus IS 500, the Ford Explorer King Ranch and Hyundai’s groundbreaking Ioniq 5 electric car. We also looked at some cool cars that might go electric soon and the car brands that are building the best vehicles.

But, as per usual, there wasn’t time enough to get around to everything we wanted to tell you about. Here are some of the noteworthy news items we missed.

Gordon Murray is a beautiful, beautiful man who made a beautiful car

Gordon Murray Automotive

McLaren F1 designer Gordon Murray built the ultimate $3 million, V12-powered, manual transmission supercar with the T.50. But if you thought it couldn’t get better…it just did. Here’s the track-only T.50S Niki Lauda, named after the F1 legend.

The track car has a tuned-up version of the 3.9-liter V12 engine with a 12,500 rpm redline putting out 725 horsepower. It’s also about 200 pounds lighter than the road-legal version.

The next generation of mail delivery trucks will look…odd

USPS

The U.S. Postal Service has awarded Wisconsin-based Oshkosh Defense the contract for building new postal vehicles. Their Next Generation Delivery Vehicle (NGDV), seen here, should be on the road by 2023, looking rather…distinctive.

BMW plans to keep trolling you with its grilles

BMW

BMW has been doing big, weird things with its kidney grilles of late. Designers are justifying pressing on despite the criticism because of their desire to create a product that “stands out” and may not be for everyone. This definitely feels like BMW reaching the bargaining stage of the “we need to change our design” grief cycle.

Dodge Chargers are getting stolen like crazy in Detroit

FCA US LLC

The Dodge Charger is exceedingly popular on its home turf in Detroit, to the point one can’t drive another fast car without hearing one rumble in response. (Either a Charger or Challenger was clocked at 180 mph during the pandemic.) It’s also popular with Detroit thieves, apparently; more than 1,000 Chargers were stolen during the last year alone.

Harley-Davidson debuted its adventure touring bike

Harley-Davidson

Harley-Davidson unveiled their first adventure touring bikes for on and off-road use, the Pan America 1250 and the Pan America 1250 Special, which they describe as “two-wheel multi-tools.” The bikes arrive in May 2021 and start at $17,319.

These Are the 16 Best Cars to Buy in 2021

Ford

Kelley Blue Book has released their best cars to buy awards for 2021. The results may surprise you.

It seems Valhalla is actually located in Stuttgart

Aston Martin

Aston Martin’s Valhalla hypercar is coming in 2023, but there will be a significant change: instead of building their first in-house engine in more than 50 years, Aston Martin will use a powerplant from part-owner Mercedes. Not surprising, given the present financial climate Aston Martin finds itself in.

Yes, you do need your own personal bubble sub

Triton Submarines

At some point, you reach the wealth stage where owning a megayacht feels old hat. You don’t have quite enough money to invest in your own private space firm. It’s time to invest in Triton’s new Titanic Explorer bubble sub which, as you would anticipate from the name, is capable of diving down to the Titanic.

Don’t try and power your house with your Tesla

Robert Marquardt

Ford F-150 Hybrid owners have been powering their homes in Texas. Superficially, it would seem like Teslas would be able to do the same, since the car has a giant battery. But unlike the Hyundai Ioniq 5, Teslas do not have V2L (vehicle to load) capability to send power back out. And even if you find a work-around, using the battery as a stationary power source will void your warranty.

We can all meet in the middle again

Jeep

Jeep has reposted the Bruce Springsteen Super Bowl ad after federal prosecutors dropped his DWI charge because his blood-alcohol level was not high enough to warrant it. Springsteen pled guilty to drinking alcohol in an unauthorized area, however, and hopefully will (but probably won’t) break down the incident in full on his new podcast with Barack Obama.

The 11 Pieces of Gear You Need for Car Camping

Huckberry

Car camping makes getting away easy as pie. These items will make it even tastier.

Feeling Blue? Here’s a special edition VW Jetta concept for you

VW

VW unveiled the first of what are promised to be several concept cars for its 2021 “Enthusiast Fleet.” The first is the Blue Lagoon Jetta GLI which pays tribute to the 2004 Mk4 Jetta GLI with body mods and a blue metallic vinyl wrap.

Related Topics