In a world where bolt-on fender flares, wide wheels, and an off-the-shelf tune make any car a "build," Darius Crawford's rebodied C4 Corvette built from nine different cars is truly unique.⁠ ⁠ While studying automotive design at the College for Creative Studies in Detroit, Crawford sketched out the designs for his dream car, which he hoped to one day build. Eventually, he had an idea of how to make his vision a reality using parts from nine cars, some PVC fence posts, garbage can lids, and garden pavers.⁠ ⁠ The design of the aptly named Amalgam drew inspiration from some of Crawford's favorite concept and production cars. The entirely-custom rear end takes inspiration from the Alfa Romeo BAT 9. The car's side profile was channeled from the Lancia Stratos, and its swooping B-pillar from the Datsun 280Z.⁠ ⁠ Building it wasn't easy, but Crawford said that his cyberpunk-styled Corvette really speaks to his agnostic view of not aligning his brand loyalty with any single automaker. From The Drive's Vault, read more about the build at the link in our bio.⁠ ⁠ #chevycorvette #corvette #c4corvette #c4 #builds #builtnotbought #customcars #carculture

The Jeep Gladiator isn’t exactly a poor seller, but it hasn't been the Wrangler-level runaway success that Jeep hoped for. In fact, a serious slide in sales this year means it‘s actually being outsold by the longtime punching bag of midsize pickup trucks: the Honda Ridgeline.⁠ ⁠ In its Q2 sales report, Stellantis announced that it had sold 27,326 Gladiators through June, a 29% drop—down by more than 11,000 trucks over the same period last year. By contrast, Honda's pickup leapt 38 percent from last year's first half, reaching 27,430 to pip Jeep by just 104 sales.⁠ ⁠ The Ridgeline has been dismissed by conventional truck owners because of its unibody construction and mechanical relation to the Odyssey minivan. But Honda's unique approach has earned the Ridgeline a loyal following, while the Gladiator compromises on the Wrangler's off-road capability with a longer wheelbase and rear overhang while retaining its less-refined road manners.⁠ ⁠ It's marginal, sure, but we all know how the saying goes—winning's winning, whether by an inch or a mile. Read more at the link in our bio.⁠ ⁠ #jeepwrangler #jeepgladiator #jeep #hondaridgeline #ridgeline #honda #newcars #automotivedaily

Today in things we can't believe the lawyers actually signed off on: Ford apparently has had the bright idea that you should be able to drive while standing up, and it's created some notes on how that could possibly work.⁠ ⁠ A Ford patent filing shows a driver of a Bronco standing up with their head out the top of the vehicle. Per the patent, the system intends to use sensors to detect when the driver has adopted a standing position. This will then enable a secondary set of driving controls that could be located on top of the windshield for use while upright. ⁠ It bears noting that a traditional solution to this problem does exist; it's called using a spotter. Read more at the link in our bio.⁠ ⁠ #ford #offroad #fordbronco #patent #carnews #automotivedaily #newcars

San Francisco has been a hotbed for robotaxis, and a group calling itself "Safe Street Rebel" is fed up with what they perceive to be driverless nuisances. Members have verbally protested against services like Cruise and Waymo, and with both companies pushing to expand their permitted operating ground, the group has gotten a bit creative by disabling the vehicles from driving using traffic cones.⁠ ⁠ "All you need is a cone and an empty AV," writes the group on Twitter. "Gently place the cone on the hood—you just created a unicorn and temporary traffic calming!"⁠ ⁠ Cruise and Waymo want to expand past their physical boundaries and venture into 24/7 operation, despite public blunders by both companies' vehicles. Read more at the link in our bio.⁠ ⁠ #cruise #waymo #robotaxi #autonomousdriving #selfdrivingcar #sanfrancisco #bayarea #technology #cartech

On July 7, 2017, Tesla Motors entered the automotive mass market by producing the first Tesla Model 3. CEO Elon Musk received the first example.⁠ ⁠ Musk promised a $35,000 electric sedan as far back as 2013, but it would take until 2019 for the automaker to deliver on that promise with the stripped-down Model 3 Standard Range. Today, the Tesla Model Y and Model 3 are the world's best-selling EVs.⁠ ⁠ #onthisday #todayinhistory #carculture #tesla #teslamodel3 #teslamotors #elonmusk

Once upon a time, Toyota led the mainstream push into energy-efficient cars with the hybrid Prius. Today, it’s seemingly more conservative, having pooh-poohed battery-electric vehicles for years in favor of hybrids and hydrogen—while governments subsidize fast-tracking EV adoption.⁠ ⁠ But in a world of limited supply, what's actually the most efficient use of scarce resources? Consider just how much battery your typical mass-market EV uses. Do we spread those materials across a bunch of hybrids, or cram them into a few EVs and leave the remainder with straight gas or diesel engines? ⁠ ⁠ We set out to answer this question by calculating how much comparable hybrids and EVs respectively reduced CO2 emissions compared to their ICE counterparts—divided by their battery capacities in kilowatt-hours. The numbers strongly suggest that hybridizing as many new cars as possible in the near-term is more effective, with hybrids graduating to PHEVs and full EVs as battery technology evolves and supplies hopefully go up. Go to the link in our bio to see the full breakdown.⁠ ⁠ #hybrid #electricvehicles #ev #electriccars #cartech #toyotaprius #tesla #carnews #automotivedaily #toyota

The U.S. will soon see a Toyota Land Cruiser on sale once again, most likely based on the Land Cruiser Prado. ⁠ ⁠ The Prado is a sibling to the Lexus GX, which we have already seen boasting a sharp, boxy design for its all-new 2024 model. It's a smaller, lighter SUV than the international-market 300 Series Land Cruiser that nonetheless still boasts solid off-road capability. Rumors are that the SUV will feature two distinct trim levels, with one equivalent to the Toyota Tacoma TRD Pro, and that it will share the truck's 2.4-liter hybrid turbocharged four.⁠ ⁠ The Lexus GX shape overlays very neatly over the shadowy Land Cruiser profile. Note the kick-up in the beltline at the rear, the notch at the bottom of the taillights, and the shape of the area under the front bumper. Previous reports have suggested Toyota will lean on throwback styling cues from the 40 Series and 70 Series models, and the teaser shots feature the new model posed opposite a 40 Series model.⁠ ⁠ Tap the link in our bio to read more of what we know about the new Land Cruiser.⁠ ⁠ #landcruiser #toyotalandcruiser #landcruiserprado #toyota #lexusgx #offroad #4x4 #newcars #lc300 #toyotalc

What’s cooler—the restomodded Porsche or the ultra-rare Citroen it’s hitching a ride on? Read more about the Nardone 928 at the link in our bio. 🎥: @nardone_automotive #citroensm #citroen #sm2a #plateautissier #tissier #flatbed #towtruck #porsche928 #restomod #928

Much like how police in the U.S. are handling street takeovers, authorities in France are cracking down strongly. French national police shared a video that quite proudly shows a liveried yellow E36 BMW 3 Series coupe and an E46 sedan being crushed by a junkyard crusher.⁠ ⁠ The two cars were filmed street drifting in the northern part of France, in a commune called Tourville-la-Rivière. According to @alann_abt, an alleged driver, the yellow car was seized from in front of his home while he was at work. Before he could react, the car was crushed with all of his belongings in it. Now, he’s crowdfunding a legal defense.⁠ ⁠ The crushings are an escalation from French police on an apparent crackdown on “stunt driving.” French police have reported a 1,400% increase in instances of stunt driving, with the rules only looking to get stricter. Read more at the link in our bio.⁠ ⁠ #bmw #drifting #france #carculture #streetracing #junkyard #carcrush #totaled #bimmer #e36 #e46

The first-generation Dodge Viper was an unforgiving, obscenely powerful roadster powered by an 8.0-liter V10. One of those V10s never made it into a Viper, and it's currently for sale on @bringatrailer with an incredible story behind it.⁠ ⁠ A dealer employee was allegedly attempting to order a tube of red touch-up paint for a customer's car. As it happens, he messed up a digit in the part number—and ordered a fully-dressed Viper engine.⁠ ⁠ Despite having passed through a few owners, it's never actually been installed in a car after all these years. If you want an original untouched Viper engine, this is probably gonna be one of the only opportunities to get one. Check it out at the link in our bio.⁠ ⁠ #dodge #dodgeviper #viper #v10 #sportscar #supercar #mopar #bringatrailer #cratemotor #engineswap

So far, attempts to reinvent the steering wheel have all been kind of a joke. Or, a yoke. Unless you design steering systems from the ground up to work with yokes, they're just inconvenient to use. But that won't stop Mercedes-Benz, which German media reports is planning to switch to yokes in its flagship luxury sedans, the S-Class and EQS.⁠ ⁠ Mercedes is said to favor the yoke for improving visibility of the road and instrument panel, plus saving interior space by possibly having the wheel retract into the dashboard. To make the yoke work without requiring awkward hand-over-hand steering, Mercedes will reportedly eliminate the S-Class's steering column, utilizing steer-by-wire instead. This would give the steering a quicker response at lower speeds.⁠ ⁠ The yoke will reportedly arrive on the next-gen S-Class in late 2027 according to Germany's Handelsblatt, which claims to have gotten confirmation "from company circles." Read more at the link in our bio.⁠ ⁠ #yoke #mercedesbenz #sclass #mercedes #newcars #carnews #germancars #autonomousdriving

There's nothing more American than a road trip, and there's no road-trip vehicle like an RV. As listed on @bringatrailer, the Mauck MSV 1120S is no humdrum box-sided Winnebago. It's a futuristic take on the usual RV format, at least as far as the 1990s were concerned.⁠ ⁠ This example is listed as a 2000 model. It is likely one of the last ever built, with Mauck producing about 100 examples between 1996 and 1999. But it's gonna need some work. The air conditioning doesn't work, several lights are missing, along with some of the headliner, and the microwave and AV systems don't work either.⁠ ⁠ Clean up the outside, fix the mechanicals, and rebuild the interior with a flashy cyberpunk aesthetic, and you could have the perfect tour bus for your up-and-coming synth-wave act. The auction ends Wednesday, July 5th at 5pm, so check it out at the link in our bio.⁠ ⁠ #mauckmsv #rv #roadtrip #bringatrailer #cyberpunk #mauck #cars #bus #90s