Design Study

Who better to critique the styling of the polarising BMW XM than the designer of the original BMW X5, Frank Stephenson. Now Frank has featured some truly unique cars on his channel, but with the XM, he really took his time and waited for the dust to settle to finally give his opinion.

Italian cars are best known for their beautiful styling and, sadly, being unreliable. However, with regards to both statements, this isn’t always the case, and despite some of the oldest European car brands being Italian, they have had their bad moments. YouTube channel, Number27 is giving us five examples of Italian cars that could make any Italian curse his/her roots.

Rimac is now a major shareholder in Bugatti, with 55 percent being owned by Rimac Automobili and 45 percent owned by Porsche. With this, new opportunities are being presented for both companies. Rimac will benefit from Bugatti’s expertise in building hypercars, while future Bugatti products will make good use of Rimac’s high-performance electric drivetrains. We already know that a V-8 hybrid version based on the Chiron is being planned, but what if Bugatti, under Rimac, come up with a new model, and what if it’s front-engined?

Porsche, like many automotive companies, is working towards a carbon-neutral future. And while electrification is not the only environmentally-friendly solution Porsche is working on, it’s still a big part of their future. The Porsche Panamera’s EV counterpart, Porsche Taycan, proves that and the Porsche 911 is also heading the electrification route, from next year. But what would a Taycan-inspired, EV equivalent to the 911 look like? Design studio 2NCS gives us an idea with this Porsche Taycan Coupe.

TOGG is a Turkish EV startup, who are making their American debut at CES 2022, with a sleek new concept car; ’Transition Concept Smart Device.’ Yes, you heard that right, DEVICE! As the brand perceives itself as a technology company rather than a traditional automaker, one couldn’t ask for a better venue than the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas.

We can all agree that 911 is the definitive Porsche model. It’s the car you think about when you hear Porsche. But in times where everyone is heading towards electrification, one has to ask, what the future of the Porsche 911 is. A rendering done by Sandor Boldog gives us a good idea of what might be the future EV equivalent of the Porsche 911.

While the 2024 Chevrolet Silverado EV was by far the showstopper at GM’s CES virtual Press conference this year, the auto giant’s luxury arm Cadillac had something just as spectacular to showcase.

It’s no secret that video games are becoming increasingly realistic and the latest PlayStation 5 addition – the Matrix Awakens – is a perfect example. Recently, the first gameplay video of the new open-world game was uploaded on YouTube, which showcases the immense level of detail. Let’s just say that, if you thought GTA V offers a detailed world, prepare to be blown away.

EV-olution is at its peak and we now have an electric offering in every genre one can think of. However, there was one untapped niche – the 6x6 vehicles – that only had vehicles with big, burly engines. However, it’s set to change, thanks to the Thundertruck. The Thundertruck is an electric off-roader with some impressive specs, but what makes it even better is how getting a range extender for it turns it into a 6x6 truck. Crazy, isn’t it?

The creation you see here comes courtesy of Yasid Design, and goes by the name Porsche Concept Zero Two. It isn’t officially endorsed by either Chevy nor Porsche, but is more of an independent design study that blends together cues of a “classic” 911 and the C3 Chevy Corvette. There are a total of three renderings, and while it does have a cool, cyberpunk-ish feel too it, is it too much to blend a Porsche 911 and C3 Corvette into one oddly strange package?

Man’s imagination knows no bounds and when it comes to cars, we often see some truly epic creations. Luckily, the internet makes it possible for us to see these creations, and this interesting mix of Porsche Maserati and Nissan is the latest we have stumbled upon.

Performance luxury sedans are the perfect middle ground for those seeking comfort, practicality and performance in a single package. And while we have gotten plenty of great examples like the BMW M5, Mercedes AMG GT63, Porsche Panamera, and others, there are those that came to us as concepts, but never delivered in the real world. Here are the most prominent culprits.

Ever since its official launch everyone agreed that the new generation Ford Ranger is quite a departure from the old Ranger. While its design is not a huge improvement over what we were used with, the new Ranger is fresh and its Maverick inspired look fits it very well.

But what if the new Ranger design will inspire a few other trucks?

Toyota 1JZ vs 2JZ - Which Engine is Better?Games, set up in the dystopian future give room for some incredible designs. More often than not, they serve as inspiration to digital designers to create some truly epic stuff, based on existing models. This is exactly the case with this rendering of a Toyota A70 Supra, done by Dom Höst, also known as altered_intent, and vaguely resembles its former self.

Toyota recently announced an $18-billion investment towards electrification that showed the automaker’s commitment to the future. This even includes Lexus, which will be completely electrified by the end of this decade. A myriad of Toyota and Lexus concepts were also revealed – 16 to be precise – but there was one that caught our attention the most. This was the ‘Lexus Electrified Sport’, an electric supercar that could carry forward the legacy of the iconic LFA.

Because of the oil crisis and stringent emissions regulations, the mid to late-1970s did not spawn many great American cars. The once-powerful American V-8 engines were choked out of their power and became shadows of their former selves. And while American cars from that era are not particularly desired, nor a preferred platform for any form of restoration, this Jaguar XJ-C by Polish tuner Carlex Design is a vision of what can be considered an epic British muscle car/resto-mod from the mid-1970s.

Lamborghini started to explore the idea of entering new segments of the car market back in 2008 when it unveiled the Estoque concept car. It was not only the first front-engine vehicle to be introduced by Lamborghini since the LM002, but it was also a four-door coupe.

Customers weren’t really into the idea of Lamborghini making a sedan, and because of the initial negative feedback, the Estoque never made it to production. Lamborghini did however enter new segments of the market with the launch of the Urus which turned out to be a huge success, so would things be different this time around?

Performance versions of the Ford Mustang have always been sought-after, by collectors. We have models like the original Shelby GT350 R, Shelby GT500, or BOSS 302, but for many, the top of the cherry, the big daddy, is considered to be the BOSS 429. But for all its performance credentials, the BOSS 429 had weight-distribution issues, which is why, in 1969, Ford decided to experiment with a mid-engine version of the BOSS 429, dubbed the LID Mustang.

Regardless of the generation, the Chevrolet Corvette is often the go-to platform for epic conversions. Whether you want to recreate a classic design, like the Zagato IsoRivolta GTZ, on top of a modern chassis or create something entirely new, like the Ares Design S1, it seems the Corvette is able to take it. With this in mind, Dean “Dino” Arnold has been doing Corvette conversions for decades and has created some truly epic stuff. Moreover, he’s far from done, as he is working on three, high-performance builds, based on the C7 Corvette.

Having a plethora of pixel artists that showcase their visions of future cars is tremendous. This is especially true for classic cars that need to have a modern-day successor. The 1970-1977 Alfa Romeo Montreal is one of those cars and recently, the YouTube channel, NewCarDesign has given us a rendering of what a new model could look like.

Ferrari’s first SUV, which the company refers to as an FUV, is coming along nicely. We recently shared spy footage of the car and we saw its production body for the first time, even if it’s still heavily camouflaged. We now present new footage of the four-door Ferrari, which was spotted testing in its hometown, Maranello.