Autos

This Marsien supercar was conceptualized by Marc Philipp Gemballa, the 27-year-old son of late German tuner Uwe Gemballa, responsible for visually stunning and record-breaking road cars. The Marc Philipp Gemballa GmbH venture, however, isn’t associated with the Gemballa brand. The Marsien is the first offering from Marc Philipp who has launched his own start-up following his father’s footsteps. The name “Marsien” is French for “Martian”, as the vehicle looked like it was roaming the surface of the Red Planet when testing on the red sands in the Al Faya desert of the UAE. The modified Porsche 992 Turbo S is a blend between modern-day hypercar performance, off-road capabilities, and daily practicality, resulting in the ultimate driving experience with the ...

German carmaker, Volkswagen has announced that they are expecting half of its car sales to be from battery-electric vehicles by 2030. By 2040, the company hopes to go 100 percent electric as a part of its wider goal of becoming fully carbon neutral by 2050. The automaker has said that it is working on specific software that will help the company better transition its vehicles to electric models. In a statement, VW’s CEO Herbert Diess said, “By 2030, the world of mobility will have changed quote a lot, considerably, I would say more than ever before. Cars are getting close to autonomy, many cars will drive round autonomously. We will have a high share of EVs. Mobility as a service will increase.” The plan is to continue to expand its current EV range with “leading...

July 1-4 was dedicated to celebrating the efforts of Italian motor racing globally at Motor Valley Fest, held in the UNESCO World Heritage Site Modena, Italy — regarded as the birthplace of the world’s most famous automotive brands including Ferrari, Maserati, Lamborghini, Dallara, Pagani and Ducati. The event displayed the best of the best in Italian engineering for a jam-packed four days of automotive-focused events in partnership with the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Italian Trade Agency and the Emilia-Romagna Region to promote the country’s top businesses. Having already caught up with Horacio Pagani as he prepped to showcase new offerings from his eponymous supercar brand as well as Dallara hosting an e-sports competition with virtual renditions of iconic circuits ...

Lewis Hamilton has a strong claim to being the greatest Formula 1 driver of all time. In the 14 years since his debut season, he has won the World Drivers’ Championship a joint-record-breaking seven times, while also taking the record for most wins, most pole positions, and most podium finishes. Hamilton holds another record as well: he is the first and only Black racing driver in Formula 1. After all but conquering the track, Hamilton has now taken on a different challenge. In June 2020, he partnered with the Royal Academy of Engineering to launch The Hamilton Commission, which is described as an “opportunity to simultaneously address the underrepresentation of Black people in UK motorsport as well as the STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) sector.” “I’ve been in this ...

DRIVERS is a series highlighting influential individuals in the HYPEBEAST sphere and their passion towards all things automotive. The approach is simple: what is car culture to you, and why do you have a passion for it? Each contributor is given a chance to shine light on their personal vehicle or vehicles, and asked to remark on how they are driving culture forward, both metaphorically and literally. Actor and comedian Kevin Hart is a busy guy to say the least; when he’s not on tour for stand up, acting in both comedies and dramas, or receiving real life llamas for his birthday, he somehow still has time to host a brand new, car-centric show on the Motortrend channel of originals. Kevin Hart’s Muscle Car Crew is just that – a series that focuses on Hart’s passion for all...

BMW has just announced two limited edition SUVs in the form of the Black Vermilion Edition X5 and X6. Both versions are based on their respective X5 xDrive40i and X6 xDrive40i models and receive a paint job that Darth Vader himself would be proud of – Frozen Black Metallic. This color scheme is contrasted by a striking set of 22” Orbit Grey alloy wheels, a red-highlighted kidney bar grille, and red brake calipers. The aggressive body styling is also afforded by numerous upgrades borrowed from the M Sport line. The elegance also makes its way to the interior with red-stitched merino leather upholstery, an M Alcantara anthracite roof liner, Black Vermilion Edition badging, and a crystal glass application known as Crafted Clarity. The X5 and X6 will be limited to 350 examples (50 if you...

For those who think a standard Bentley is a bit too common, fear not, as the luxury British marque has its Mulliner division built just for you. Today, Bentley Mulliner celebrates its 1,000th commission, producing a one-of-a-kind Bentayga for an esteemed European customer. Mulliner started seven years ago as a way to deliver Bentley customers the ultimate level of passenger luxury, and it did so by developing 15 versions of the Flying Spur Serenity. After 1,000 builds, Bentley Mulliner really knows what it’s doing, and has applied this level of expertise and precision into creating this one-off Bentayga. Aside from the custom aubergine purple shade, you’ll notice blacked-out elements reworking the grille, rims, roof rails, headlight surrounds, side rakes, and more, as well as a...

T-Mobile has ventured into driverless cars in a partnership with Las Vegas-based startup Halo. The new car service currently consists of a fleet of five autonomous cars that are powered on 5G, the same network that provides connectivity to most cell phones today. The service works similarly to other ride-hailing companies by connecting users to a car through an app. A Halo car, however, is actually driven to its user by a remote operator. From there, the user can get behind the wheel and drive the car as normal for their trip, after which the remote operator will take over the car and head on its way to the next customer — no parking needed. “Driverless cars! Fueling this kind of startup innovation is part of why we’ve built the biggest, fastest and most reliable 5G network in the country,...

ABT Sportsline and Volkswagen‘s relationship is as old as time, with the two coming together on a number of VW’s performance-based vehicles such as the inaugural Golf GTI. Now, their relationship expands with the ABT Sportline take on the VW Golf R MkVIII. The Mk8 is without fail the most advanced and powerful Golf R there has ever been, pumping out 315 BHP in stock form from its two-liter four-cylinder engine. Now, at the hands of ABT Sportsline, the turbocharged four-pot serves up a whopping 384 HP and 470 Nm of torque, which is sure to take that already impressive 0-60 MPH time of 4.7 seconds into the low fours. Volkswagen’s R platform cars are often so quick because of their advanced 4Motion torque vectoring system and all-wheel-drive nature, meaning the wheels get th...

Croatia’s electric supercar maker Rimac Automobili announced a merger with French carmaker Bugatti Automobiles on Monday. According to Associated Press, the deal is estimated to be worth millions of euros. The newly-combined company will be called Bugatti Rimac LLC, and Rimac Group will be the majority shareholder with a 55 percent stake. Mate Rimac, the namesake company’s founder and Bugatti Rimac LLC’s new CEO, will retain his original shareholding in the new Rimac Group at 37 percent, with Porsche at 27 percent, Hyundai Motor Group at 12 percent and other investors at 27 percent. As part of the deal, Bugatti and Rimac will continue to operate as separate brands and retain their own production facilities and distribution channels. “Bugatti Rimac represents the com...

Lamborghini is finally ending production for its ultra-iconic Aventador, but not before the Italian supercar maker celebrates the momentous occasion with one last limited-edition model. Dubbed the LP 780-4 Ultimae, the final Aventador model will also be the automaker’s last non-electric V12 vehicle, carrying the massive 6.5-liter naturally aspirated engine that churns out a whopping 770 horsepower at 8,500 rpm and 531 pound-feet of torque when it hits 6,750 rpm. The immense power is brought to all four wheels thanks to a seven-speed Independent Shift Rod automatic transmission controlled via two shift paddles by the steering wheel and gives the limited-edition Aventador a 0-60 mph time of just 2.8 seconds as well as a top speed of 220 mph. It also weighs 55 pounds lighter than the S ...

In the 1980s, pop culture and media had an idea of what the future would look like — and now we’re here in 2021, it’s not quite what we all thought it’d be. But hold that thought, because Netherlands-based company PAL-V (Personal Air Land Vehicle) has officially unveiled what’s dubbed as the world’s first flying car. Named Liberty, PAL-V’s design was first shown at Goodwood Festival of Speed 2021 on July 8 to thousands of car and automotive enthusiasts. While a heavy presence of electric cars and hypercars were on display, it was the outlandish concepts or machines such as Liberty that really stole the show. By combining Dutch sensibilities with the beauty and eye of Italian design, PAL-V has created something that’s of our wildest imaginatio...