Motor News

The Ford E-Transit Custom is an electric version of the popular Transit Custom commercial van.The E-Transit Custom will start production sometime next year, but it likely won’t be sold in America.It has an estimated range of 263 miles, but Ford hasn’t revealed its battery capacity or charging times.Europeans will soon be getting an electric version of the popular Ford Transit Custom commercial van. Predictably coined the E-Transit Custom, Ford has released limited details and several images of the upcoming EV, which like its gas-burning counterpart isn’t expected to be sold in America.

Photos show the E-Transit Custom painted in a snazzy blue color and wearing a distinctive grille surrounded by a striking light signature. Its face is more assertive than the bug-eyed design worn by its internal-combustion stablemate. The electrified version also has chiseled lines around its wheel arches and across its flanks. Just below the passenger-side headlight is a charging port, but Ford hasn’t revealed the van’s battery capacity or powertrain specs.

Ford

Ford Pro, which is responsible for the company’s commercial vehicles, did announce that the E-Transit Custom is expected to have a driving range of around 263 miles on a single charge—we assume this is on the WLTP standard. It’ll also have DC fast-charging capability–because obviously–but maximum charging rates and estimated charging times are currently unknown. We’re told more information will be released this fall, and Ford says the E-Transit Custom will start production in the second half of 2023 at its Otosan factory in Turkey.

Ford

As with the full-size Ford E-Transit that’s sold in the U.S., the smaller Custom model will have Pro Power Onboard, which is a built-in AC power source that’s useful at work sites or wherever electricity is needed. Whatever the E-Transit Custom is used for, we’re just bummed out it probably won’t be coming to our shores, especially if the rest of its paint options are as rad as the ’90s vibes given off by the one in these photos.
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Rivian’s stock price has fallen to around $24 per share, following a report from CNBC that Ford would be selling eight million of its shares in the company.Ford originally had an 11.4 percent stake in Rivian, equivalent to 102 million shares, and Ford would not comment on the matter.Rivian stock debuted at $78 per share last November, but has fallen by around 70 percent this year.When electric truck startup Rivian went public last November, its IPO was the biggest for an American company since Facebook debuted on the stock market in 2012, with an initial valuation northwards of $77 billion. Since then, Rivian’s stock price has fallen significantly, dropping by 72 percent this year. Now it has plummeted even further after a report from CNBC that Ford is selling eight million of its shares in Rivian.A stock lockup period—a length of time after an IPO when early investors and company insiders are prevented from selling their shares—expired on Sunday, and on Saturday CNBC reported that Ford would be shedding eight million Rivian shares. Ford previously owned around 102 million shares in the EV startup, or around 11.4 percent of the company, so it will still retain a sizable stake in Rivian. A Ford representative told Car and Driver that “We haven’t been and aren’t presently commenting on Rivian, including about CNBC’s report.”

The news caused Rivian shares to drop by more than 15 percent to around $24 per share, according to CNBC. Rivian’s stock had debuted at $78 per share in November of last year, and early on rose well above $100 per share. CNBC reports that JPMorgan Chase will also be selling between 13 and 15 million shares for an unknown seller. Rivian is expected to report its first quarter results on Wednesday.

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Toyota is finally launching a mass-market, battery-electric vehicle—the bZ4X—just as it is about to trigger a phase-out of federal EV tax credits.Toyota is reaching the 200,00-vehicle limit thanks to strong sales of its plug-in gasoline-electric hybrids, both the Prius Prime and the RAV4 Prime.If you’re interested in a RAV4 Prime or a bZ4X, you should still be able to get the full credit of $7500 until October of this year.Toyota has long made a big deal about the Prius name meaning “to go before.” When it comes to electric vehicles, though, Toyota is more accurately going third—at least in regards to it reaching the full limit federal tax credit on EVs and plug-in gasoline-electric hybrids (PHEV).

At the end of 2021, 183,000 EV and PHEV Toyotas qualified for the federal tax credit, with another 8421 cars added to the ledger at the end of the first quarter of 2022, according to Automotive News. At this rate, Toyota expects to run out of these full credits—which are limited to 200,000 for each automaker before starting a gradual deduction reduction throughout the course of a year—sometime before the summer. Once Toyota hits this mark, its newest EV and PHEV buyer will be able to nab a tax credit worth half the maximum sum for six months, followed by a tax credit worth a quarter of the original sum for another six months. After that, Toyota EV and PHEV consumers will have to purchase these vehicles sans a tax incentive from the federal government.”We’re planning for it, because Tesla’s out, and General Motors is out, and we’ll be out probably in the second quarter,” Toyota Motor North America’s executive vice president of sales, Bob Carter, told Automotive News. “When you’re out, you enter a step-down phase down, so we’re planning for that.”
On the one hand, reaching this milestone is a positive thing for Toyota. After all, this means the brand succeeded in selling 200,000 fully and partially electric vehicles. On the other hand, it’s a poor time for Toyota to be looking down the barrel of a tax credit phase-out. The brand is currently introducing its first dedicated battery-electric model across the United States (prior EVs that Toyota’s sold in the 21st-century have been limited to certain states), the bZ4X. As such, only a small batch of initial buyers will be able to take advantage of the full $7500 credit the vehicle qualifies for. Nissan, which is about to launch the Ariya electric SUV, is in a similar boat thanks to more than a decade of Leaf sales. Carter told Automotive News that Toyota is considering lowering the starting price of the EV in response to its federal EV tax credits expiration.
If Toyota indeed hits the 200,000 level in the second quarter (before July 1), then all sales through the end of October of this year will still qualify for the full credit. Come November, though, the credit will drop to $3750, then to $1875 on April 1, 2023, which means Toyota will potentially hit the federal EV tax credit ceiling by October 2023. Despite just formally entering the EV space, Toyota’s popular Prius and RAV4 PHEV models managed to cut into the brand’s threshold of 200,000 sales of electric and partially electric vehicles. As a result of these models’ smaller battery packs, the plug-in Prius of 2012–2015 qualified for a $2500 tax credit, while 2017 and newer Prius PHEVs nab a $4502 credit. The RAV4, meanwhile, takes home the full $7500 … for now, that is.
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Mechanical bits the Crawler shares with the Mercedes G-class include its powertrain, locking diffs, and front and rear axles.Brabus increases the displacement of the G63’s V-8 from 4.0 to 4.5 liters for Crawler duty.Output jumps from 577 horsepower to 888.Whether you’re a Russian oligarch dodging bullets, an African despot on a rhino hunting trip, or a Los Angeles-based movie star, you’ll soon need to find room in your budget to add the radical, Mercedes-AMG G63-inspired Brabus Crawler to your extensive collection of cars. This is assuming you’re able to claim ownership of one (or more) of the 15 Crawlers that Brabus intends to build.

While it’s technically not a G-Wagen, the Crawler relies on a few essential parts from the three-pointed star’s racy G63. Additionally, the Brabus-built dune buggy’s carbon-fiber body panels also crib styling cues from the boxy Mercedes. Notably, the Crawler uses the SUV’s twin-turbo V-8 for motivation—albeit bored and stroked to 4.5 liters and boosted to 888 horsepower (the G63’s 4.0-liter unit, meanwhile, makes do with just 577 horses)—as well as its nine-speed automatic transmission and solid rear and independent front portal axles, replete with front, center, and rear locking differentials from the G 4×42. Other G-class pieces on the Crawler include its round headlights, tiny taillights, steering wheel, and two 12.0-inch dashboard-mounted displays. The entire frame is a custom high-strength steel tube design that shares no dimensions with the actual G-class (look how narrow the front grille looks). The Crawler’s 21.0 inches of ground clearance takes the opposite approach of the slammed G63 900 Rocket, although this door-free SUV leashes itself to 99 mph.
The Crawler is also ill-equipped for overlanding. For that, you’ll want the roof rack and pickup bed of the Brabus 800 Adventure XLP. Additionally, the Crawler’s oversaturated red bucket seats are far too conspicuous for those in search of a Brabus-badged Mercedes with a more monochrome look (for that, there’s the 800 Black Ops Edition).All 15 of these tube-frame terror machines include four carbon helmets and synthetic upholstery from the company’s speedboat interiors. Where you take your Crawler is up to you, but Brabus asks you to inform its cartographers of your travel plans in advance. This way the dune buggy’s passenger-facing GPS unit will show the correct custom-made topography maps (a feature you won’t find in the G63’s MBUX infotainment system). At what price does one get to brag about owning a vehicle that looks and performs like the lovechild of a G63 and a UTV? About $800,000 at current exchange rates.
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Lucid Motors announced that it will be increasing prices for its first car, the Air, due to a bump in raw material costs and global supply chain issues.The base Pure model will cost about $10,000 more, now starting at $89,050, while the Grand Touring goes up by over $15,000 to $155,650.Reservation holders can order their Air at the original prices, and new reservations at the original prices can still be made before the new prices go into effect on June 1.Startup automaker Lucid Motors has announced that it will be raising prices for its Air sedan, citing an increase in raw material costs and issues with the global supply chain. Lucid says that all current reservation holders will have the chance to order their Air EV at the price quoted when they reserved it. The pricing adjustments will take effect on June 1, and interested customers can still put down a reservation at the current pricing before the end of this month.

The entry-level Air Pure sees its price increase by $10,150 to $89,050, while stepping up to the Air Touring will cost you $109,050, up $12,550 from its original price. The biggest price hike is for the Air Grand Touring, which will now start at $155,650, a full $15,150 more than it was previously listed at. Interestingly, the Grand Touring Performance—the new range-topping model now that the Dream Edition is sold out—only slightly increases to $180,650 due to the $150 higher destination charge. Lucid started production of the Air last fall and has delivered 360 vehicles so far in 2022. The company stays it has more than 30,000 reservations, and that its 2022 production is still on track for between 12,000 and 14,000 vehicles. Lucid had originally planned to build 20,000 Air sedans in 2022, but downgraded its outlook earlier this year.
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Irony in iron is what makes the American luxury cars of the 1970s and 1980s lovable. These were cars built with things like “opera windows,” “carriage lights,” and “landau roofs.” High-performance never really entered the conversation as they all seemed to have lazy, soporific, low-compression V-8 engines choked by primitive emission controls. Bolting up to those low-specific-output engines were three-speed automatic transmissions and suspensions tuned like mashed potatoes. To distract buyers from the mechanical deficiencies, most luxury cars of the era are as over-decorated as Liberace’s home. Quality? Why bother?The challenge on this week’s exciting (meh) episode of Window Shop was, apparently, to find a luxo-barge from this era that you could enjoy ironically like an old episode of Barnaby Jones or a lava lamp. The budget was $25,000 . . . which is enough to get something that superficially in good shape but horrible down to its dissolving marrow.One the episode’s finest contributors actually was dinked for finding a car that was too good for the challenge. That’s right, he found a car someone might actually enjoy driving as opposed to one that could wallow to Cars and Coffee at the Ann Arbor Arby’s.Yes, that would be the Ann Arby’s. Special guest Adam Wade, whose hair looks great runs a YouTube channel called “Rare Classic Cars” His channel is totally delightful, filled with tons of trivia, and this week he’s joined by the usual gang of mumblers including Jonathon Ramsay who contributes, K.C. Colwell who plays the testing game, John Pearley Huffman who migrates over from Road & Track, and editor-in-chief Tony Quiroga who orders everyone around.Is it a great time? Hey, what else are you doing anyhow?

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• Presumably a daily driver before it was refurbished 20-plus years ago, this 1971 first-generation Z dates from the desirable pre-5-mph bumper era.• Some 44,780 miles are shown on the five-digit odometer, but there’s no telling how many times it has rolled over during this car’s 51 years of existence.• Bidding is open until Wednesday, May 11, and the current high bid of $8000 already eclipses its original base price.This is not a concours-level example of the Datsun 240Z, up for auction on Bring a Trailer, which like Car and Driver, is part of Hearst Autos. But it is a fairly clean car that has spent its entire life in California, apparently in the care of one primary owner until it changed hands last year. The car underwent a fairly comprehensive refurbishment back in 2000 and looks like it has been treated as the classic it has become since then. But 22 years ago is not recent, as evidenced by the included VHS tape that documents the restoration. Still, the end result is a Z that’s mostly faithful to its as-new condition in a way that suggests that this is how it may have looked when it was, say, three years old and still partially owned by the bank.The original skinny wheels and rim-protector tires have been replaced, as they almost always were, but instead of going for the slotted 5-hole mags that were the default choice back then, this owner opted for Center Line lookalikes. It also has period-correct aftermarket side mirrors but, thankfully, the owner did not see fit to install a set of the rear window louvers that were all the rage at the time.

Bring a Trailer

Looks-wise, this car’s best feature may just be that it predates the 5-mph bumper era. Z-cars that were produced from 1973 onwards, such as this other listing for a 1977 280Z, looked a little less cool because of the huge bumpers that were grafted on to meet the new rule. But that other listing also underscores a fact that is often overlooked. The first generation of the Z-car consisted of lookalike 240Z, 260Z, and 280Z phases, which is probably why people started simply calling it the Z-car. The second generation was called the 280ZX, with the added X probably deemed necessary by the marketing department at the time to denote the model’s redesigned status. And that’s why we’re not bothered by the fact that the 2023 Nissan Z is named Z. The number never mattered much. The Z was the thing.

In this car, you can see hints of what the new Z’s designers were going for. It’s even yellow, the color chosen for the 2023 Nissan Z Proto Spec, the special launch edition that will be limited to just 240 units. The long hood and its domed center appear on the new car, and they faithfully reproduced the sloping roofline and sharply-defined Kammback tail. The new Z’s taillights are reminiscent of the taillights on the Z32 300ZX, but the designers of that car were in turn paying homage to this one.It’s also worth looking at the squared-off grille opening just below the lip of the hood, which appears smaller than it is because the chrome bumper bisects it. There is a horizontal mesh grille above the bumper, and a similar-looking mesh also appears on the top half of the new Z’s grille opening. Inside, the three pods on top of the dash represent a through-line that appears on the new Z, but the interior is far more raw and bare-bones.It will be interesting to see how much this car goes for–and the 1977 280Z, as well. With the swell of hype and nostalgia in the air surrounding the new car, we can’t help thinking these listings are trying to surf that wave.
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Mercedes teamed up with will.i.am to create this one-off concept called WILL.I.AMG.It’s based on the AMG GT 4-Door and has a face similar to the G-wagen’s.The car supports will.i.am’s philanthropic project called “The Flip.” Musician and philanthropist William James Adams, Jr, better known as will.i.am, has joined forces with Mercedes-AMG to create a one-off concept car called “WILL.I.AMG.” The car will serve as the centerpiece of will.i.am’s latest philanthropic project, but, before we get into that, let’s examine the creation itself. It’s based on a Mercedes-AMG GT Four-Door and was built by West Coast Customs, a purveyor of multiple over-the-top one-off automobiles—you might recognize the name from MTV’s “Pimp My Ride.” This is the sixth project will.i.am has employed West Coast to build for him, and it’s far more restrained than most of the far-out rides he’s had West Coast put together for his personal use.Will.i.am and West Coast Customs reworked the AMG GT’s body to convert it from four doors to two—we’re thinking these must be in contention for the largest doors on any car, ever. Hinged at the rear, suicide-style, they open like a pair of welcoming arms. If this were a daily driver, you’d be trapped inside after pulling into a parking spot at your local grocery store.

Mercedes-Benz

We don’t know what inspired the squared-off, truck-like front end clearly taken from the G-Wagen, but it certainly won’t be confused with your neighbor’s AMG GT. The three-pointed Mercedes star in the grille was replaced with the image of a bear, which symbolizes the phrase “Bear Witness.” It’s the name of line of limited-edition apparel and accessories that Mercedes says will be available online and at its Mercedes-AMG Experience Center in Miami. There’s also a six-part documentary covering the build, titled “Drive” that will premiere at the 2022 Cannes Film Festival.The car is part of will.i.am’s latest philanthropic undertaking called “The Flip – Innovation for Purpose,” which is intended to give students from disadvantaged communities access to STEAM (science, technology, engineering, arts, and math) education. That, in turn, will enable them to grow the skills needed to earn future tech-focused jobs that help them lift themselves, their families, and their communities out of poverty. The rapper/song writer/singer and founding member of the Black Eyed Peas explained his desire to build a special Mercedes this way: “I grew up in a ghetto. I grew up with hip-hop. I watched legendary hip-hop artists rap about Mercedes, so it was always a dream to own a Mercedes. For a lot of inner-city kids, owning a Mercedes is a symbol of progress and advancing out of struggle.”

Mercedes-Benz

The Flip program is new, but it’s actually one of many STEAM educational initiatives supported by the musician’s i.am/Angel Foundation, which has been performing these good works for more than a decade. The organization supports and funds students in underserved communities including will.i.am’s home town, the Boyle Heights neighborhood of Los Angeles. The support enables participation in courses focused on robotics, information systems, computer coding, computer-aided design, and art. The foundation has also supplied both after-school tutoring and scholarships that have helped inner-city students attend and graduate from college. The foundation has raised millions of dollars of funding for these programs.At this point, will.i.am and Mercedes have said only that all the activities surrounding the WILL.I.AMG will benefit the efforts of the singer’s i.am/Angel Foundation “to help build a STEAM-ready talent pool that will lift families and communities out of poverty.” When it comes to custom cars, there are as many opinions of what looks cool as there are people. But no one can argue with the good intentions, positive outcomes, and hopes for the future that this one represents.

Mercedes-Benz

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