Kia unveils Humvee-like military vehicle concept in the Middle East

After appearing on dozens of front-end designs for over a decade, Kia's signature Tiger Nose grille is preparing to enlist in the army. The South Korean company introduced a close-to-production concept called Light Tactical Cargo Truck (LTCT) that previews the next off-roader it will manufacture for the global military vehicle market.

Kia unveiled the LTCT at the 2021 International Defense Exhibition and Conference (IDEX) held in Abu Dhabi. The design study inevitably looks a lot like the AM General Humvee and the Toyota BXD10, but the grille makes it instantly recognizable as a Kia. It wears the company's old logo, though, not the new emblem unveiled in 2021.?

Four passengers can ride in the LTCT's cabin, which is air-conditioned, while the rear-mounted box can carry 10 fully-armed soldiers and up to 6,600 pounds of cargo. Photos of the interior haven't been released.

Although the LTCT's bare chassis was displayed during the convention, Kia chose not to publish full technical specifications yet. We know power comes from a 225-horsepower turbodiesel engine that spins the four wheels via an eight-speed automatic transmission, a two-speed transfer case, and portal axles. The 6,400-pound behemoth has a top speed of 80 mph, about 16 inches of ground clearance, and it can drive through up to 30 inches of water. It was designed to operate between -25 and 109 degrees Fahrenheit.

Kia pointed out it has built light tactical vehicles for the South Korean army since 2016. It expects that offering a model that's more stylish and more usable will increase demand, though it didn't reveal when LTCT production is scheduled to start. It added that the platform is modular enough to spawn short- and long-wheelbase variants, armored and unarmored versions, plus a wide number of body styles including mobile workshops, multi-purpose vehicles, and communication hubs. Interestingly, it also said it's actively developing vehicles for clients with eclectic tastes, which seemingly opens the door to the different civilian versions the firm alluded to in late 2020.

At the other end of the Tiger Nose spectrum, Kia introduced an upmarket sedan named K8 in its home country of South Korea earlier in 2021. It wears the largest rendition of the styling cue we've seen to date.

Gordon Murray unveils the 725-horsepower track-built T.50s Niki Lauda

Formula One legend Niki Lauda would have been 72 years old if he were alive today. Though he died in 2019, we think he would have heartily approved of the new Gordon Murray T.50s, which will also be called the Niki Lauda as an homage.

That's because Lauda drove the Brabham BT46B "fan car,"? the Formula One car that inspired the T.50's technological centerpiece, to its only victory. The downforce-generating fan helped Lauda win the 1978 Swedish Grand Prix to the dismay of rival teams. Murray also designed that car, and wanted to pay tribute to his friend and three-time F1 champ.

Like the Brabham, the T.50s is not street legal. It's billed as a track version of the GMA T.50, the supercar Murray designed as a pure driver's antidote to the status barges that modern supercars have become. The Lauda leans harder into Murray's philosophy of lightness. Over 200 pounds have been stripped from the road-going T.50, thanks to one less passenger seat in the 1+2 layout, a stripped-out interior, and thinner glass. Total weight, 1,878 pounds.

However, reduced mass isn't the only performance enhancement. The Cosworth-built 3.9-liter V12 now makes 725 horsepower, or 66 more ponies than the standard model. Part of that gain comes from a central roof-mounted intake drawing air into the engine, as well as the removal of any sound restriction hardware from the exhaust.

For the track model, one of the street T.50's dearest features, an old-school manual transmission, has been replaced with a six-speed paddle-shift Xtrac. According to GMA, the gear ratios are more closely spaced on the race car, so a stick shift didn't make sense; the driver would lose precious milliseconds switching gears and taking hands off the wheel.

The Lauda adds several aerodynamic aids that visually differentiate it from the T.50, starting with a wide lower air dam. A trio of NACA ducts funnel fresh air into the cabin and toward the front brakes. A long dorsal fin like the ones found on Le Mans prototypes extends from the cabin roof to the rear, where a GT-style rear wing spans the tail. According to GMA, it generates as much as 3,300 pounds of downforce at 175 mph.

Inside, the central instrument pod has been replaced with a digital screen, and the standard steering wheel with a yoke-type handle. Taking the space on the right, where the manual shifter and console would have been, is a board of toggle switches.

There will only be 25 Niki Laudas produced. Each will feature a plaque celebrating a victory by one of Murray's many F1 car designs, starting with the 1974 South African Grand Prix at Kyalami Circuit. Production begins January 2022, and despite a $4.3 million price tag, GMA says 15 cars are already spoken for.

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Mitsubishi Finally Unveils its 2022 Outlander

For the first time in many moons, the Mitsubishi Outlander SUV is getting a big makeover. The model has just been unveiled on the new Amazon Live platform - a novel way to launch a new product while our normal way of doing things in the trade remains anything but normal, thanks of course to the coronavirus.

Not that we were deprived of information regarding the next-gen Outlander. Bits and pieces have been filtering out since last summer, plus the obligatory spy images have given us a fairly good idea of what the model now looks like.

We also knew that this renewal was made possible in part thanks to the alliance between Renault, Nissan and the Mitsubishi group. The result is that the new Outlander coming to dealers soon has a bit of a Nissan taste to it, more specifically a Rogue taste, seeing as how the two SUVs share a structure, mechanics and several other elements.

Here are the relevant points then. We keep it short because in exactly six weeks I'll have the opportunity to get behind the wheel of the vehicle. At that time, it will be easier and more appropriate to delve more deeply into the next Outlander.