Lamborghini’s next bull, Ford’s big batteries, radial-engined Porsche 356
Heavily-camo’ed Lamborghini Aventador successor spied in Italy
Intake: The Christmas holiday may be nearing, but that doesn’t mean the folks at Lamborghini are calling it quits early. Spy photographers just captured these images of what appears to be the successor to Lamborghini’s wildly-popular Aventador outside the firm’s Sant’Agata Bolognese factory. While much of the car is obscured in wrinkly coverings, a few things are immediately apparent. First and foremost, the next flagship retains a mid-engined layout like every flagship Lambo should. This camouflaged tester sports high-mounted central exhaust outlets. In July, Lamborghini President and CEO Stephan Winkelmann told Autoblog that the new flagship would still be powered by a V-12, but that the engine would be a completely new design that includes a hybrid system.
Exhaust: Don’t expect a radical departure from the Aventador’s angular design language, seeing as the door and mirror lines are just as curve-free. Massive brake rotors front and rear, plus Pirelli P-Zero tires, indicate this car’s antisocial intent to grip curves with ferocity. To be sure, we’ll be sad to see the operatic, free-breathing V-12 from the current Aventador exit stage left, so we’re holding our breath for whatever comes next. It’s not certain, but the new V-12 may also include a pair of turbochargers, in addition to any electric components, to further bolster efficiency but also performance. The send-off Aventador, the Aventador LP 780-4 Ultimae, squeezed 769 horses out of its 6.5-liter V-12. And remember— numbers only tend to go one way in the world of high-six-figure supercars.
Ford’s F-150 Lightning has hefty batteries and vehicle-to-vehicle charging capability
Intake: Intake: Ford has revealed the battery sizes for its F-150 Lightning, along with a nifty piece of tech that will allow your electric truck charge other electric vehicles. A Ford spokesperson confirmed to Hagerty that the standard-range battery pack will be 98 kWh, while the extended-range pack will be a hefty 131 kWh. Ford estimates that the standard-range F-150 Lightning will offer around 230 miles of range, while the extended-range truck will target 300 miles of range. The platform will also be capable of vehicle-to-vehicle charging for gas-powered F-150s equipped with the PowerBoost hybrid system. All that’s required is a power adapter—the Ford Mobile Power Cord and the 240-volt Pro Power Onboard outlet in the bed of both pickups—to get level 2 charging that can add anywhere from 10-20 miles of range per charging hour, depending on the recipient vehicle. A Ford spokesperson also noted that the depletion of range on the vehicle doing the charging will be only slightly more than the range it’s giving to the vehicle being charged.
Exhaust: Those are some large battery packs—but then again, this is a hefty vehicle. For comparison, the Rivian R1T’s largest battery pack is 135 kWh, and it’s rumored that the Hummer EV will carry a battery pack in excess of 200 kWh. Vehicle-to-vehicle charging is a neat touch and something we’d expect to see a lot more of in the coming years. Kudos to Ford for allowing the tech to charge not just Blue Oval-branded rides, but any stranded EV that uses the SAE J1772-style charge port—the most common port for modern EVs.
This radical Porsche 356 has a radial engine
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Intake: Some creative Australian engineers have swapped the classic flat-four engine from a Porsche 356, replacing it with a radial three. With three cylinders in a Y formation this type of motor is normally seen in the skies, powering aircraft, but in Radial Motion‘s down-to-earth application, it’s been squeezed into the back of the Porsche. You can see two of the cylinders poking out beneath the car’s hind end, and the Aussie firm says this lowers the center of gravity without significantly affecting ground clearance. To prove that point, Radial Motion completed the Adelaide Rally with its prototype installed in a VW Beetle. The engine comes in a wide range of tunes, and customers can choose between water or oil/air cooling. The humblest tune, basically the stock version, offers 120 hp at 5500rpm. Next is a Street Performance engine with 170 hp at 6500rpm, followed by a Race Performance model with 215 hp at 8,500 rpm. Flying highest are the 240 hp Extreme NA version which revs to a mighty 10,000 rpm and the Turbo Sport which adds your choice of turbo or supercharger to boost power to 260 hp. Prices start at around $25,000, not including your donor car.
Exhaust: This is definitely one of the more unusual engine swaps we’ve seen, but if you want to add sky-high performance to your old Porsche or Beetle, this radial is one radical solution.
A million-dollar 007 stunt car from Spectre is for sale
Intake: The Jaguar C-X75 was supposed to be a 21st century XJ220 with a novel hybrid gas turbine-electric powertrain, searing performance, and stunning styling. Unveiled at the Paris Motor Show in 2010, the car was developed in conjunction with Williams Advanced Engineering and Jaguar said 250 examples would be built. In reality the only cars assembled were for the 24th James Bond film, Spectre, and one is for sale right now in the U.K. by Simon Drabble Cars. Although visually faithful to the 2010 concept, the movie cars were fitted with a dry sump supercharged Jaguar V-8 engine instead of the fancy hybrid system. Seven cars were built for Spectre, and to further add to this car’s provenance, it wears chassis number 007. Unsurprisingly, the asking price is a blockbuster $1.1 million.
Exhaust: There’s big money in Bond cars and big money in concept cars, so when these two worlds collide, it’s a license to make a killing.
It’s showtime for GMC’s Hummer EV pickup
Intake: The first examples of the all-electric GMC Hummer pickup—all of which are limited-run $112,595 Edition 1 units—have begun rolling off the assembly line at GM’s Factory Zero, formerly the Detroit Hamtramck assembly plant. The Hummer is one of the first production models to employ GM’s new Ultium battery platform, with the likes of the Cadillac Lyriq and the Chevy Silverado EV soon to follow. VIN 001 of the Hummer pickup was auctioned off last march for charity by Barrett Jackson for a hammer price of $2.5 million. The Edition 1 Hummer boasts three separate motors and two Ultium drive units to deliver a monstrous 1000 horsepower and 350+ miles of range on a full charge.
Exhaust: Will a six-figure, 9000-pound pickup be the vehicle that revolutionizes the country’s opinions on the fidelity of an electric future? Doubtful, but the Hummer EV is an impressive engineering achievement nonetheless. That the first examples are on their way to customers is a sign that General Motors is making headway toward its stated goal of selling exclusively zero-emission vehicles by 2035.
After losing Ford projects to other states, Michigan enacts $1.5B economic development fund
Intake: After missing out on two major automotive development projects in Tennessee and Kentucky, Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer has signed a package of bills to create two funds, totaling $1.5 billion, for business development and aid in the Great Lakes State. According to the Automotive News, the bills were inspired by Michigan missing out on Ford Motor Company’s massive EV investment outside the state. Whitmer said the funds will attract “tens of thousands of jobs” and make Michigan competitive for the next generation of manufacturing. State officials said there are dozens of projects in consideration that could benefit from the funds, but she would not elaborate. Automotive News speculated that one likely candidate is the General Motors battery plant planned for Lansing.
Exhaust: Considering that Ford Motor Company is headquartered in Michigan, the company’s decision to build two developments elsewhere was particularly painful to state officials. Realizing Michigan needed a more comprehensive incentive plan to compete for future projects, legislators acted quickly. Kudos to them. We’ll soon learn if it makes a difference in not only keeping business in the state but attracting new development.
