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Jeep revealed several off-road-ready concepts ahead of this year’s Easter Jeep Safari event.There’s a “bobbed” Gladiator pickup truck with a foot lobbed off its cargo box and a special hardtop roof.There’s also an assertive Grand Cherokee Trailhawk 4xe with unique 20-inch wheels and chunky 33-inch tires. One of the best parts about owning a Jeep, specifically the Wrangler or Gladiator, is their inherently customizable nature. To showcase the huge selection of accessories as well as tease potential future models, the company revealed several cool and colorful concepts ahead of the 2022 Easter Jeep Safari, including a “bobbed” Gladiator and a plug-in-hybrid Grand Cherokee Trailhawk 4xe.

The annual Easter Jeep Safari event is held in Moab, Utah, and it draws in thousands of the brand’s fans and off-road enthusiasts alike. This year the crowd will be treated to a new crop of custom-built Jeeps, with more than a few featuring electrified powertrains. While the all-electric, manual-equipped Wrangler Magneto made an appearance at last year’s Easter Jeep Safari, the others are new and interesting in their own right.Gladiator “Bob” Concept
This wild-looking concept started life as a Gladiator Rubicon, but it has received some not-so-subtle alterations. Its cargo bed has been shorted by 12 inches–a technique referred to as “bobbing”–which here shrinks the rear overhang and gives the truck a better departure angle. It also rides on a set of massive 40-inch tires with orange 20-inch beadlock wheels. Along with removing the doors, the B-pillars are gone, giving the interior a real open concept. The orange roof is another piece you won’t find on a regular Gladiator. Jeep says the design features a perforated hard top with canvas over the top that lets natural light shine through.Grand Cherokee Trailhawk 4xe Concept
This plug-in-hybrid Grand Cherokee Trailhawk 4xe isn’t as ostentatious as some of the other concepts, but it boasts a distinctly assertive appearance. It wears a custom Industrial Blue paint color that’s nicely contrasted by its black-painted roof that’s actually made from a bedliner material. Completing the overlanding vibe are a roof rack, rock rails, upgraded lighting elements, and a sweet wheel-and-tire package. The unique 20-inch wheels are mounted on 33-inch mud-terrain tires underneath flared fenders. The Trailhawk also has an adjustable air suspension and a sway-bar-disconnect feature that help make it as capable as it is cool.Jeep ’41 Concept
Jeep’s legacy is forever linked to the original military-spec Willys MB, and this ’41 concept based on a plug-in-hybrid Wrangler Willys 4xe is a fitting tribute. From its matte olive green paint job to its color-matched steel wheels to its stenciled graphics, the connection to the original is undeniable. We also love its half doors and steel bumpers, which include a Warn winch mounted up front. The ’41 concept is also equipped with 35-inch tires and a 2.0-inch lift kit. Inside, the military-grade aesthetic continues with a matte green bedliner material covering the floor and seats covered in canvas with digital camo inserts. Birdcage and D-Coder Concepts

Jeep

Jeep

To highlight some of the countless accessories available through Jeep Performance Parts (JPP), a Wrangler and Gladiator were transformed into concepts called the Birdcage and D-Coder. The Birdcage is pictured on the left in Eagle Brown paint and fitted with all sorts of heavy-duty off-road hardware, including 37-inch tires and what JPP says is the industry’s first 2.0-inch lift kit with Fox shocks that was specifically developed for the Wrangler 4xe’s plug-in-hybrid powertrain. The D-Coder is shown on the right in black, but most notable are the copious red-painted JPP add-ons. Essentially a rolling catalog, the list of parts ranges from tube doors to a three-piece modular front bumper to a snorkel air intake.
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Tesla’s CEO, Elon Musk, arranged to speak at 10 p.m. Central time tonight as part of festivities for the opening of the company’s massive Giga Texas facility, the sixth Tesla factory worldwide and now named as Tesla global headquarters.Giga Texas, first announced in 2020, is the plant slated to build the long-awaited Cybertruck, and that vehicle was an important part of Musk’s talk.Earlier in the day workers were seen setting up for a large-scale event that Tesla’s calling the ‘Cyber Rodeo,’ and Electrek and other sources noted that Cybertrucks were spotted on the grounds this week.UPDATE, 10;45 p.m. ET: Musk has officially promised the Cybertruck and the Tesla Semi in 2023. “We’re going to move to . . . scale that no company has ever achieved in the history of humanity,” he said. Among the planned future product will be a “dedicated robotaxi [that] is gonna look quite futuristic,” and the Tesla robot Optimus, he said, which will help create “an age of abundance . . . that’s gonna transform the world to an extent even greater than the cars.” This, too, he said is coming next year. Following that announcement, Musk rolled out the first Texas-built cars next to a sign saying “Deliveries begin now.” Showing the Cybertruck (pictured above), he said, “It’s been an intense couple years, but we’re gonna have this for you next year, and it’s gonna be great.” He and design chief Franz von Holzhausen pretended to consider, then reject, the idea of smashing its window with a hammer as they famously did at the original reveal of the Cybertruck in 2019.At 10:28 p.m., Elon Musk arrived in an original Tesla Roadster from 2008, wearing a black cowboy hat, to an enthusiastic reception from cellphone-wielding invited guests. He called it, the company’s first production vehicle, “a very simple car” and recalled saying at that time that he thought “optimistically we had a 10 percent chance of succeeding.” Musk also doubled down on his enthusiasm for Full Self-Driving, saying it will “revolutionize the world,” and promised that it will go into wider beta usage during 2022.At 10:15 p.m., the Austin sky was briefly dominated by a light show that created images of cars, a human head [which one reader IDed as that of Nikola Tesla], the Giga Texas logo, the dog symbol of the cryptocurrency Dogecoin, and eventually the Cybertruck, to the cheers of spectators. Musk has not yet taken the stage.

Tesla via YouTube

The Giga Texas facility near Austin where Tesla expects to build the Cybertruck is having a big party tonight. Musk promised he would have an announcement as part of the grand opening festivities. There is speculation he will have more to say about the truck.

Tesla via YouTube

At the time the plant was first announced, in 2020, Musk said the 2500-acre facility will be where Tesla will build Model 3 and Model Y vehicles that will be delivered to the East Coast, along with the Tesla Semi and the Cybertruck. More recently, the company acknowledged that 2022 would not see any Semi or Cybertruck vehicles built. In January Tesla took the edgy electric truck’s production timeline off its website entirely and, until today, had not given further information about when (or if) it will be built.

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• Our Bring a Trailer pick of the day is this refurbished 1962 Dodge W200 Power Wagon.• It’s hard to imagine a truck that would stand out more at your local car show. • Bidding is open on this 1962 model until Monday, April 11. You can’t throw a rock at a new off-road truck today without hitting a crew cab. Actually, don’t throw rocks at trucks. Instead, consider that the four-door crew-cab configuration wasn’t really a thing in the U.S. until the 1960s. That means this 1962 Dodge W200 Power Wagon might be the closest thing to a direct ancestor to today’s 2022 Ram HD 2500 Power Wagon, which is only available with a crew cab.

Bring a Trailer

Shortly after the International Travelette, the first generation of Dodge’s D and W 200 series pickups (D for two-wheel drive, W for four-wheel drive) was among the first in the U.S. to offer a crew-cab configuration. Added seats aside, the style of these versions remains distinct to this day.
As for the Power Wagon moniker, it reaches far back to the civilian versions of the heavy-duty military trucks Dodge built during World War II. Think of these trucks as off-road-ready work trucks built for towing and hauling anywhere rather than high-speed Baja toys.

Bring a Trailer

According to the ad, this Power Wagon was originally purchased and used by the Rollins Fire Department of Montana before undergoing cosmetic and mechanical refurbishment. It has a 225-cubic-inch inline-six-cylinder engine, commonly known as the slant-six, and a four-speed manual transmission. The auction listing states that both have been rebuilt. Whoever handled the refurbishment has good taste. The green and white exterior shows well, and we admire the restraint in wheel and tire sizes. The 19-inch steel wheels are wrapped in Goodyear tires and house drum brakes at all four corners.

Bring a Trailer

Inside, the tan vinyl on the doors, roof, and front and rear bench seats are a nice addition to an otherwise utilitarian interior. Some other highlights include an optimistic 100-mph speedometer and an ashtray in the center console. You won’t find cupholders; instead there’s a sticker explaining the direction to shift the levers aside the shifter to engage the front axle and two-speed transfer case. Also note these 1962 models featured locking front hubs. This W200 Power Wagon currently has a high bid of $27,000, and the auction is set to end on Monday, April 11.

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On Tuesday, March 15, we held our first Lightning Lap track day, in conjunction with Kaizen Autosport. It took place at our favorite track, Virginia International Raceway, in the same Grand Course configuration we use for our annual running of the year’s hottest performance cars. About 40 entries showed up across a huge spectrum of performance and price, populating all our price-based LL1 through LL5 categories for street cars and all but the most expensive race-car class. Each class winner received a $1000 prize, a trophy, membership in our Track Club, and the satisfaction that they beat out everyone else vying for that top spot.It was sunny and cool, perfect when going for times. Or even when not, as when we did a few less-than-committed laps in our long-term C8 Chevrolet Corvette, BMW M3, and Ram TRX so they could earn a Grand Course decal to wear proudly for the rest of their 40,000 miles in our fleet. It was great to hear from attendees—even some VIR regulars—that this was their first time on the 4.1-mile Grand Course. That was one of the reasons why we wanted to do this: to give people the chance to experience it the way we do, which is a configuration rarely used for track days.Plans are already in motion for the next Track Day. Stay tuned.LL1 (under $35,000)[composite mediaId=’79541480-59d8-42b5-aba1-90e0bcc0c671′][/composite]Michael Congelosi is the original owner of his 2005 Dodge SRT4 ACR, and he drove it with the skill that comes from a decades-long bond with a vehicle. Also helping is that Congelosi’s day job is pushing tires to their limits for Yokohama. The SRT4 is old enough that we never ran one during our 15 years of Lightning Lap, but we know that his 3:08.6 lap time is plenty impressive, beating out a Mazda Miata and a Hyundai Veloster N, and putting it in the neighborhood of the Veloster N we ran in 2019. For reference, we did a 3:20.8 in the hot Neon’s successor, a 2008 Dodge Caliber SRT4.LL2 ($35,000 to $64,999)[composite mediaId=’cb40aa81-783c-443d-9f05-0cb751713151′][/composite]LL2 was the largest of the street-car classes, consisting primarily of Camaros and Mustangs, plus a Cayman and a BMW M2. After two afternoon sessions, the car with the swiftest time was a brand-new 2021 Ford Mustang Mach 1 piloted by Jeff Quesenberry. Although Quesenberry has thousands of laps at VIR, this was his first time on the Grand Course, and our own David Beard, who drove a Ford Mustang Mach 1 to a 2:51.4 in the most recent Lightning Lap, was giving some pointers. Although the winning 2:56.9 was a bit off Beard’s pace, his Mach 1 also didn’t have the Handling package and its adjustable front camber plates and the Michelin Pilot Sport Cup 2 tires that ours did.LL3 ($65,000 to $124,999)[composite mediaId=’855b0265-bcf3-4d2b-bc38-2a4378514e2e’][/composite]The 2017 Chevrolet Corvette Grand Sport driven by Cody Hunt laid down the best time in LL3, beating out three other storied performance brands: a Dodge Viper, a Nissan GT-R, and a BMW M4. Hunt’s best lap of 2:46.6 just beat our 2:47.1 in that car in 2016, although his new R compound tires were likely an advantage over the stock Michelin Cup 2s of five years ago that the C6 Grand Sport wore from the factory.LL4 ($125,000 to $249,999)[composite mediaId=’3815c64a-4f31-4aed-8311-83c0ee0d2c84′][/composite]Nothing could match Corey Radcliff in a 2017 Dodge Viper ACR Extreme in LL4, where his very impressive 2:40.9 beat out a trio of 991 Porsche 911s: a GT3 RS, a GT3, and a GT3 Touring. Radcliff’s win is well deserved, as his time is a solid chunk better than the 2:44.2 we recorded in 2016—driver K.C. Colwell remembers the heat being oppressive that day—and is closing in on Dodge development driver Chris Winkler’s 2:40 flat. Impressive. The other news to come out of the LL4 class is that a Tesla Model S Plaid ran a 2:50.7, 4.5 seconds quicker than the Porsche Taycan Turbo S we lapped in 2021, which is equally surprising; and the supremely fortunate tank slapper up the esses during that quickest lap that somehow didn’t end in disaster.LL5 ($250,000 and above)[image id=’a19f28b2-4eae-4732-8b02-c5c07dfdc02d’ mediaId=’863ddc76-4c7f-4c50-8383-28d1123f8d08′ align=’left’ size=’medium’ share=’false’ caption=” expand=” crop=’original’][/image]Piloting a beautiful 2018 Porsche 911 GT2 RS, Randy Copeland took the honors in the top LL5 street category with a 2:48.6 lap time. Although our K.C. Colwell went considerably quicker with a 2:37.8 in a GT2RS in 2018—beating out a Corvette ZR1 and McLaren 720S for the quickest time that year and, at the time, the quickest lap ever—kudos to Copeland for being the rare owner who exercises his car in the way Porsche’s GT squad intended it to.LLR1 (under $65,000)[composite mediaId=’91aec92a-89a9-406a-806f-937984e51457′][/composite]This least expensive race-car class was the most contested, with a brand-new Subaru BRZ coming out ahead of a trio of BMWs—E30, E36, E46—a Nissan 350Z, a Porsche Boxster, a Mustang, and a Miata. We loved the new BRZ when we ran a 3:12.4 at this year’s Lightning Lap, which is almost two seconds quicker than the best previous-gen BRZ, a tS model. But the fully race-prepped TC America Subie built by TechSport Racing and driven by Devin Anderson shows the true potential of this excellent lightweight rear-drive sports coupe, with his best time of 2:56.5.LLR2 ($65,000 to $124,999)[composite mediaId=’e436432a-051c-4106-a02f-ef191bc4f158′][/composite]The gap between Eric Magnussen’s LS-swapped E46 M3 and the rest of the LLR2 field was nearly nine seconds large, proving that the fire-spitting and insanely loud yellow BMW was far more than pomp. Magnussen’s best time of 2:39.3 puts it in the top five most rapid street cars we ran, between a McLaren 765LT and Corvette ZR1.LLRP (prototype)[composite mediaId=’136d74b9-d929-4f8b-9026-9a6196b3f73a’][/composite]Convincingly proving our point that VIR’s Grand isn’t a horsepower track, Jonathan Finstrom ran an epic 2:27.2 lap—a new Grand Course record—in his lightweight and lightly powered Staudacher S08 P1 prototype racer. The Suzuki GSX-R 1.0-liter engine makes a mere 152 hp and 75 lb-ft at the wheels, and Finstrom’s peak speed down the straight was just 137 mph—about the same as the BMW M240i from our most recent Lightning Lap. Yet the 782-pound machine went 7.7 seconds quicker than the McLaren Senna that currently sits atop our all-time Lightning Lap leader board, and nearly that many ticks ahead of the next-quickest competitor, too.[gallery id='14c706cf-fb0e-44a0-a2af-cf5069ac4be2' mediaId='ce538d44-5bd8-4f62-91ad-3d8d75ee5377' display='slider' align='center' size='medium' share='true' expand='' captions='true' suppress-title='true'][/gallery]

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Kia has released the first images of the updated 2023 Telluride SUV.The headlights look slightly different, and the interior features a big, wide screen that stretches across the dashboard.The 2023 Telluride will debut next week at the New York auto show and go on sale later this year.Like its sibling the Hyundai Palisade, the Kia Telluride three-row SUV is about to get some updates for the 2023 model year. A teaser image of the front end shows some slight changes, but the interior looks to get more of an overhaul thanks to a new dashboard that features a large screen stretching across two-thirds of the cabin’s width. Kia has also confirmed that the Telluride will add an X-Pro off-road model to its lineup.

Kia

We’re guessing that this new layout will be similar to what’s in other Kia models such as the Sorento, where separate screens for the digital gauge cluster and central infotainment display are housed in a single bezel. The main changes to the exterior appear to be different headlights and some reshaping of the lower front fascia, and the rear may get similar tweaks. The Telluride X-Pro, like the Sportage that debuted this new off-road trim level, will likely feature all-terrain tires, different bumpers, a roof rack, and other bits meant to make it look more rugged.

The Telluride’s single powertrain choice, a 3.8-liter V-6 and an eight-speed automatic transmission, is likely to stay intact. Front-wheel drive will remain standard, with all-wheel drive optional. A Telluride hybrid would be a logical addition to the lineup given that many competitors offer gas-electric drivetrains, but we haven’t heard anything about this becoming a reality anytime soon. Kia has confirmed that it will launch an electric three-row SUV called the EV9 next year, which will be a similar size as the Telluride.Look for more information about the 2023 Telluride next week, April 13, when it makes its debut at the New York auto show.
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The Mercedes-AMG SL43 is an entry-level model for the latest generation of the SL. It is powered by a 389-horsepower turbocharged inline-four.This is the first production vehicle to feature a turbo with an electric motor on the turbocharger shaft that can spin the compressor wheel to reduce lag and maintain boost pressure when the driver lets off the gas pedal.Mercedes is still deciding whether it wants to bring the four-cylinder SL43 to the United States market.The new Mercedes-AMG SL43 may be the entry-level model in the grand tourer’s lineup, but that doesn’t mean the SL43 is basic. While it has only half as many cylinders as its higher-performance, V-8-powered SL55 and SL63 siblings, this model has technology derived from Formula 1 that promises increased responsiveness from the turbocharged inline-four.

Mercedes-Benz

The SL43’s party piece is a turbocharger with an electric motor plus the typical exhaust-gas plumbing. This production-car first is fitted to the M139 2.0-liter inline-four, the same engine found in the CLA45 and GLA45 AMG models. The motor is only about an inch and a half thick and mounted on the shaft between the turbine wheel and compressor wheel. The whole point is that this motor can spin the compressor wheel before the exhaust gases do, reducing turbo lag, providing a near-immediate response when the driver pins the throttle, and maintaining boost pressure even when the driver lets off the gas or hits the brakes. This same technology is found in the turbocharged 1.6-liter V-6 hybrids used by the Mercedes-AMG Formula 1 team.

Mercedes-Benz

The four-cylinder engine pumps out a continuous total of 376 horsepower and 354 pound-feet of torque, while the 48-volt, belt-driven starter-generator can provide a brief boost of 13 extra horses. The 48-volt setup also allows the SL43 to recoup energy while slowing and smoothing out the engine’s start-stop function. The M139 is, for the first time, mounted longitudinally in the SL43 and linked to a nine-speed automatic transmission with the AMG-typical wet clutch pack in place of a torque converter. Mercedes claims the rear-wheel-drive roadster can hit 62 mph in 4.9 seconds on its way to a 170 mph top speed.

A few minor visual changes distinguish the SL43 from the 55 and 63. The tailpipes are round and the rear bumper is simplified, ditching the vents behind the rear wheels. The front bumper is also reshaped, and the SL43 rides on 19-inch wheels as standard, with optional 20- and 21-inch wheels. The SL43 isn’t confirmed for the United States, with a Mercedes spokesperson telling Car and Driver that the roadster is “is currently still under consideration for the U.S. market.” If it does reach our shores, expect it to be considerably cheaper than the SL55, which we estimate will cost around $135,000.
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Hyundai will show an updated version of the Palisade next week at the New York auto show.This teaser photo shows a glimpse of its redesigned front end.We expect the 2023 Palisade to go on sale in the U.S. later this year.Hyundai’s three-row Palisade SUV already has a distinctive front-end design, and it will be getting a significant facelift for 2023 if this teaser photo is any indication. The 2023 Hyundai Palisade will make its official debut April 13 at the New York auto show, and we expect there to be a few interior updates as well.

The image Hyundai released shows that the grille has a chunkier texture and differently shaped chrome trim, while the new lighting treatment features a large vertical light strip that could be either the daytime running lights or LED accent lighting. Hyundai isn’t talking about the interior yet, but we figure the updated Palisade could have new upholstery options and a few added tech features. Hyundai says that this image shows the top-of-the-line Calligraphy model; the new version should still be available in SE, SEL, and Limited trim levels too.

Hyundai

We don’t anticipate any changes to the Palisade’s powertrain, a naturally aspirated 3.8-liter V-6 that’s available with either front- or all-wheel drive. A hybrid model remains conspicuously absent from the lineup, given that Hyundai sells gas-electric versions of both the Santa Fe and Tucson, but we haven’t heard any rumors of a Palisade hybrid recently.The closely related Kia Telluride, which shares its platform and powertrain with the Palisade, is also a likely recipient of some freshening for 2023, but Kia has yet to confirm that model’s debut.
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Lexus will reveal the new 2023 RZ450e electric vehicle on April 20.A new photo of the interior shows its yoke-style steering wheel, which Lexus confirmed is coming to the U.S.The RZ is expected to share some components with the Toyota bZ4X and Subaru Solterra.A new photo of the 2023 Lexus RZ’s interior reveals that it will have a yoke-style steering wheel. And what’s more, Lexus confirmed to C/D that this unconventional setup will be offered in the U.S. version of this new EV—unlike the related Toyota bZ4X, which is only set to offer the yoke in other global markets.

The inclusion of such a feature is a clear shot at Tesla, which offers a yoke as standard in the Tesla Model S and Model X. But we’re thinking that the Lexus’s setup may end up feeling quite different than the Tesla’s in practice. When Toyota first detailed the yoke system in the bZ4X, it said it would limit the total rotation of the wheel to 150 degrees and use the steer-by-wire technology to turn the wheels an appropriate amount based on the driver’s input. When we sampled Tesla’s yoke in a Model S Plaid, we found its execution to be poor, as it sometimes requires the driver to turn past about 180 degrees, which makes it awkward and unpredictable to use.Fans of conventional, round steering wheels shouldn’t worry too much, as we’re certain that the yoke will be an option on the RZ rather than standard equipment. From this interior photo we can also see that the RZ will have a rotary-style shift knob, a touchscreen infotainment system, and a power button—unlike some other EVs which automatically turn on when you enter the cabin.
Although we’ve already seen photos of the 2023 Lexus RZ450e’s exterior, Lexus will reveal more details—likely including powertrain specs and range estimates—on April 20 when it makes its official debut.
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