Audi Q5, Bentley Bentayga Get the 4x4 Squared Treatment

Santa's just around the corner, and people who are into expensive cars and charities will start to wonder what's the best excuse to trick out their cars for winter. So why not take an ordinary "boring" SUV to the next level with a formula that's tried and tested?

Due to all the money Mercedes was making off the G-Class, it approved several low-volume version, knowing that some customers will pay anything for the exclusivity. One such project was the G500 4x4 Squared.

Not only was this twice the SUV, fitted with the now legendary portal axles, but also came with the 4-liter V8, which at the time was a brand new engine. The cost matched its exclusivity, and you might think that Mercedes is the only company that can get away with something like this, but you'd be wrong.

Bentley also has a rich history of limited-edition exotics, and while it's never made anything lifted before, there's never been an SUV before the Bentayga either. "Oh, but the G-Class is built differently from the unibody Bentley," we hear you say. That's true, but car construction didn't stop Mercedes from lifting the E-Class All-Terrain 4x4 Squared.

Completely revising the air suspension of a Bentley could add about 50% to its cost. But plenty of folks are into having the most expensive and outrageous vehicle, so finding customers wouldn't be a problem.

Unfortunately, these photos aren't real, just 3D models created by @banglaautodesign. They used the same sets of chunky off-road tires for both the Bentayga and an Audi Q5 and Q7, which look built for arctic expeditions with an extra-wide footprint dispersing weight. The rest of the body kit also perfectly captures the spirit of the 4x4 Squared, using the "under rider" bumper extensions, some fender extensions, and a safari-style roof rack, not for shooting, but for carrying Santa's gifts and stuff.

V12 Toyota Supra Rendered, McLaren F1 Engine Penetrates the Hood

Anybody wishing to get up close and personal with the amazing machines currently adorning the SEMA show floor needs to deal with the wave of 2020 Toyota Supras present at the Vegas event. And while you'd normally expect this to lead to a saturation effect, you should know certain virtual artist actually feel the need to add... even more custom Supras.

Case in point in the work of Gurdeep Panesar, which is the eye candy that brought us here. We're looking at an Mk V Supra that has been given a thorough transformation, one that might seem like it comes straight from the just-launched Need For Speed: Heat.

Nevertheless, it's worth mentioning the pixel wielder actually created these renderings back in March when the Supra was one hell of a fresh arrival.

Of course, the first thing that catches the eye is the acid lighting surrounding the Japanese sportscar. However, the devil is in the details with this one and you might notice that, in the first rendering below, the front end packs quite a few mods.

Chief among the changes is a... V12 engine protruding through the hood. And this isn't any V12 swap (as if such a thing exists), since the motor has been borrowed from the McLaren F1.

The BMW-supplied engine has obviously migrated from the middle section of the British beast to the nose of the Supra, which is only another reason for purists to engage on a rage journey when discovering this virtual build.

Motivation aside, the front fascia of the Toyota has been redesigned, with this now being able to provide proper cooling to that motor. Oh, and let's not forget the beadlock wheels of the Supra, which keept those tires in place under the extreme loads such a contraption would deliver.

And since we talked about artists displaying extra 2020 Supra content as a result of the said SEMA flood, here's another example of the sort.

GM Lordstown Factory Sold to EV Startup Lordstown Motors Corp.

With 197 likes on Facebook and 223 people following the Facebook page, Lordstown Motors isn’t exactly a promising rival to Rivian’s electric truck business. But as it happens, General Motors sold the Lordstown factory to Lordstown Motors with the hope of bringing new jobs to the Mahoning Valley in Ohio.

State senator Sean J. O’Brien is optimistic about the latest developments, calling the news “encouraging. There is a lot of potential for the Lordstown Motors project, and this represents an important step in the development of an all-electric truck fleet in our community,” he said. Steve Burns, the chief executive officer of the startup, has added that he’s “committed to the people of Lordstown.”
Endurance is the name of the e-truck in the photo gallery, a full-sizer with a futuristic exterior design that’s expected to start production in late-2020. Developed exclusively for fleets, the Endurance will be manufactured by “experienced workers who helped produce millions of vehicles in this very plant.”

Fully equipped, the 6.2-million-square-foot production plant used to be the home of the Chevrolet Cruze. General Motors pulled the plug on the Cruze over dwindling sales and the increasing demand for crossovers and SUVs, and to date, more than 16 million vehicles have been produced in Lordstown, Ohio.

The problem, however, is that LMC is the offshoot of another EV startup. Steve Burns used to be the chief exec of Workhorse, a company that has sold e-vans and it’s currently competing for the contract to supply the United States Postal services with another type of e-van suited to this line of work. Workhorse had plenty of financial trouble in the past and more recently, selling its drone business and receiving a $35 million loan from a hedge fund to stay afloat.

On paper, an EV manufacturing hub sounds like a great idea if implemented properly. But given these circumstances, it’ll be hard for Lordstown Motors Corp. to find the hundreds of millions of dollars to put the Endurance into production and to find buyers for it. President Donald Trump tweeted about Workhorse and the Lordstown facility in May, but nevertheless, nobody knows what the future holds.