Dubuc Motors Set To Unveil Stunning Tomahawk Electric Car [Auto Styling News]

Dubuc Motors is about to start taking orders for the Tomahawk: a devastatingly gorgeous $125,000 electric sports car that has a range of 370 miles and goes from zip  to 60 in a whopping 3 seconds. "Take my money."

The company says the spacious 2+2 seater will be built in North America (hopefully in the USA, otherwise they'll get a call from Trump) and will

It's the culmination of 12 years of difficult R&D for the two owners, who say they're "ordinary guys" who wanted to find an alternative to the Big car companies. Mission Accomplished, looking at the curvy beauty that is the Tomahawk.

You can reserve one of these monsters for $5,000 on their website. They'll come in six colors: green, black, two tone, red, yellow, and orange. The company plans to begin production this year.

Self-funded for the past 10 years, Dubuc Motors is now seeking investors who want a stake in their company. With the capital raised through an equity crowdfunding campaign, the Dubuc team hopes to produce the final version of the Tomahawk model and unveil it at the Los Angeles Auto Show in 2017. With investor help, they plan to increase the workforce of engineers, fabricators and designers to 60.

The Tomahawk features twin electric motors - in the front and rear - sleek scissor doors, a panoramic roof, a built-in WiFi hotspot, hands-free voice commands, and a live 360 degree camera. The car is made of aluminum with a carbon fiber interior. The ride height can be raised or lowered using an adjustable air suspension.

The exterior almost speaks for itself. A gorgeous cab-forward design is very American, and signals strength and vigor, like a cat ready to pounce. The aforementioned 0-60 in 3 seconds figure shows it's not all just posturing.  The Tomahawk is the first model of many to be commercialized from a universal chassis, which also allows for the production of other electric vehicles targeting niche markets within the industry.

The "blacked out" rear panel is amazingly handsome, with tail lamps pushed as far as possible to the edges, making the car seem very wide indeed.

Why #Bentley Passed On Building A Real Winner [Auto Styling News]

The latest and most stunning design concept from Bentley is the EXP 10 Speed 6 Concept, revealed way back in 2015's Geneva motor show. The question must be asked: why hasn't it been built? (There's actually an answer. Read on.)

The Speed Six name recalls the gorgeous sporting Bentley of the late 1920s. And its design also evokes earlier eras.

As one would expect, it's a top of the line luxury sports car. The two-seater may indeed give a strong indication that the company is thinking about a lighter, sportier Bentley to sit alongside the Continental GT grand tourer family. "A bold vision for a brand with a bold future" said CEO Wolfgang Dürheimer, as the car was revealed.

The massive grille, the teardrop headlamps, the wide hood, aggressive rear haunches, heightened by the large tires, are all heart-pounding, pupil dilating features that guarantee the ride will be life-changing. Clearly, this is lightning in a bottle. And anything other than "conventional" or boring, two words easily, and traditionally, given to British luxury cars.

So, where is it? What could delay such a sure thing? Fear. And timidity. And convention.

Instead of pursuing this monster, the company went for a safer track - an SUV. A vehicle no one wanted, no one asked for, but seemed safer. And at easily north of $230,000 a pop, that's a hefty premium for what some might call "just another SUV." While it certainly will have its fans, it honestly looks like just another family mobile, like so many others, and like every other brand has succumbed to over the past decade.

The good news is that the all-new 2016 Continental has incorporated SOME of the looks and flair of the 6, especially those amazing rear shoulders.

But frankly, Bentley should have taken the risk with the 6 - a risk that would have paid off in far more prestige for the brand, and one that could have helped it attract more fans for doing more than "playing it safe."

#Volvo 40 Series Concepts Show Radical New Direction [Auto Styling News]

Volvo has unveiled two new concept cars that move the brand in an audacious new direction and mark the official launch of its global small car strategy. The Swedish company is currently implementing an ambitious revitalization plan that it hopes will re-position the brand to compete with its global premium competitors within the next four years.

The new 40 series concepts demonstrate for the first time how Volvo plans to expand into the large and lucrative global market for premium small cars with a range of vehicles that have a bold exterior design.

If you haven't heard of the V40, you are, like me, an American. Sadly, this awesome 5-door hatch, which has been produced for Europeans since 2012, hasn't made it across the pond. Which is too bad, because even the current version looks very nice, and probably would have been great sellers here in the "luxury entry" category.

But the new 40s, dubbed 40.1 and 40.2, which are due to hit roads around the world in 2017, are gorgeous.

Volvo 40.1 concept, rear side view

The 40.1, shown at right, is the SUV-like model, with a distinctive, and quite attractive, rear panel treatment that cuts across the rear doors and offers a micro-side panel window that is unique - though the blind spot it creates is enormous. The "L-shaped" Volvo tail lamps are similar to current models and adds great visual interest, though also highlighting the huge rear panel. Overall, the rear reminds one of the Porsche Cayanne, if you squint.

The indenture on the lower doors adds visual interest, and it is necessary, since without it, the side view would be almost Hyundai-like (and circa 2005, not today's racy models.) The front lamps on this and the 40.2 are stunning, with a sideways "T" bringing a style that has been evolving into something beautiful on recent Volvos.

Volvo 40.2 concept, rear three-quarter view

The 40.2 concept is something else altogether; far more car-like and conventional, but hardly anyone would use that "C" word to describe it.

There's a definite early-80s "Audi Quattro" feeling to the 40.2, and maybe that's not by accident. This is especially visible in the rear quarter, with a more subtle uptick creating a smaller rear panel than the 40.1, but enough to show that it is meant to represent a family resemblance. The headlamps and front grille also strongly resembles its 40.1 brother.

The side view is very butch, and despite being a small-ish car, the wheelbase looks enormous. The small windows and low roof are extremely handsome, and the "cut" in the lower doors are far more pronounced than in the 40.2, and flare off radically into the rear wheels (seen clearly in the three-quarter view, at left)

The rear is almost Mustang-like - and that's meant as a deep compliment. The two-pronged tail lamps (if there is enough showing from the rear for them to be effective in traffic) point to the Volvo lettering that could say  "Mustang." The large panorama roof is also an amazing feature.

Volvo says both new concept cars will be the first to be built around its new Compact Modular Architecture, which has been specially created for smaller cars and which has liberated the company’s designers and engineers to explore bold and daring new directions.

This global small car range will include a pure battery electric vehicle as well as Twin Engine plug-in hybrid powertrain variants.

Of course, perhaps we shouldn't get our hopes up just yet about ANY version of these cars hitting our shores. But they would be foolish not to bring them. Pricing has not been released but the 40.1 car and 40.2 mini-Ute would be great entry-level cars for the brand if they're in the lower $20k range.

New #Jaguar F-PACE Keeps Pace With Costlier Rivals [Auto Styling News]

Jaguar enters the Mini-Luxury SUV category with the F-PACE in June, and it's pretty stunning.  The F-PACE, visually inspired by the Jaguar F-TYPE, is billed by the British automaker as a performance SUV with the DNA of a sports car. And it sure looks the part.

The proportions of the F-PACE support a low drag coefficient of 0.37. Completing its assertive stance, the ‘teardrop’ shape is emphasized by a very pleasing roofline. Optional LED headlamps feature Jaguar J-Blade LED daytime running lights that look appropriately aggressive.

Its grille is also borrowed from the F-TYPE, which is either hit or miss, depending on whether you think it steals from Volvo too much. (And I tend to think it does.)

Buyers will get an extensive choice of lightweight, aerodynamically efficient alloy wheels, as large as 22” in diameter.

The vehicle will be offered in base, "Premium" and "Prestige" lines, running from about $41,000 to $49,000, competitive with BMW X4 (which it more than resembles) as well as the Porsche Cayenne and the new Maserati Levante.

The F-PACE, like the new XE (which tends to borrow the look of a Lexus and other luxury brands he way that earlier KIAs stole from automakers, including Jaguar) had better be gold for the brand, because with under 15,000 units sold annually, they need a winner - and fast!

The good news? With great looks and reasonable pricing, the F-PACE seems on pace to be a winner for Jaguar.

4th-Gen #Lincoln Navigator Concept Goes Big, Sprouts X-Wings [Auto Styling News]

This March, Lincoln Motor Company released its fourth iteration of the Navigator - a vehicle it launched in 1997 that gave rise to all other SUVs.

That seems very long ago, and Lincoln is now playing catch-up to many others in the class, notably Cadillac's Escalade.

But just ahead of the North American Auto Show last month, it released it's fourth generation concept, hoping that "going big" (literally) would have an impact. Visually: it's "mission accomplished."

Featuring massive, gull-wing doors, gargantuan 20+ inch pinwheel-style wheels, and a grand-staircase step ladder entrance to both front and back seats simultaneously, the Navigator looks more like a small house - or a subway car, or a yacht - than a vehicle meant for the road.

But that's all part of the calculation. One can see a CEO as well as a rapper entering and exiting this thing with style and panache, with paparazzi all the while snapping away.

Is all of this practical? Of course not. It's extremely easy to discount the enormous gull-wing doors and the three-step entrance as the stuff of car show concept fantasy-land. The doors, which expose both front and back occupants to the elements - not to mention the aforementioned paparazzi - every time they're opened for exit or entrance, are flawed as as a design element.

That said, in the era of the Tesla X, which successfully integrated them into a PRODUCTION vehicle (and solved the problem of scuffing up the neighboring car each time they're opened) one cannot discount the idea that they'll see actual daylight. One designer, in fact, noted that the doors alone could cause Chinese millionaires (a target audience for this vehicle) to throw heaps of cash at Lincoln. So there's that. In fact, the entire "over-the-topness" of the design may be attributable to the Chinese market, which goes wild for such extravagant-looking beasts.

Other than these striking design elements, one sees a Range Rover pedigree in the long, sleek horizontal design language of the side panels - unsurprising given the past connection between the companies until Rover's sale to Tata in 2008.

I'd note the more than passing resemblance also to the Ford Flex in its side architecture - that is, if anyone knew what I was talking about, since the Flex is a non-advertised red-headed stepchild over at Ford, apparently.

The front grille and lamps deserve notice here, as well, since they're vastly improved and far more elegant than in previous generations. The grille features a massive, but gently rounded, trapezoid with mesh and a lighted ornament in its center that is elegant, impressive and would be unmistakable for any other vehicle on the road. The headlamps are huge - befitting the entire concept, and don't offend, though one could say they somewhat resemble styles one could see on any other model. Hyundai comes to mind. Still, they are deserving of respect, straddling this grille and pointing to non-functioning air intakes that contribute mightily to the horizontal-ness of the design.

Despite this blog's obsession with exterior styling, one must take a moment to note that the rear door panel (which sadly resembles too much a Toyota) opens up  to a built-in closet of sorts, where the driver can put his suits, shoes and brief case in a rather elaborate set-up.

All rear seats feature wide-screen TVs and the blond wood and leather are amazingly attractive and are clearly a step up from any other American SUV - or they will be, if they make it past the bean-counters.

All-in-all, this is a grand and notable concept that deserves some respect for "going big."

Staving off the fears of bankruptcy and oblivion that haunted it just a few years back, A Detroit News article notes that Ford has committed funds to the Ford Kentucky truck plant that will build the next Navigator, has signed a four-year contract there with unions.

Not that recessions can't change everything, but the Navigator and other Lincoln models are clearly stepping up their game and are making an effort to keep Lincoln Motor Company in business for the short-term, anyway. They're betting the farm on the Chinese buying enough of these land yachts to keep the Lincoln brand afloat. And they just might.

More photos, from the Lincoln Motors site: http://www.lincoln.com/navigator-concept/