Auto Industry News: EV Royalty, Carlisle Import Performance Nationals, Overland Expo West, a WICKED ’01 Tacoma TRD Build, & NASCAR All-Star Weekend
Alright, who didn’t catch at least a glimpse of the Prince Harry-Meghan Markle wedding? A snazzy affair, we say, and EV royalty indeed. The Carlisle Import Performance Nationals is more our pace and this year’s event didn’t disappoint. Neither did the Overland Expo West.
EV Royalty: Decadence with a Conscience
In the 1770s, thousands of men died of hypothermia, a musket ball to the chest, a bayonet to the throat, and starvation to free our nation from tyrannical British rule. On Saturday, millions of American families came together to get waffled before lunch and watch the Royal Family grow larger still. Things change. But if you happened to follow all the royal wedding events (cough, cough), you might have seen Prince Harry escort Meghan Markle to their reception in an electric Jaguar, which was actually pretty cool. The E-Type Zero is a 170-mile range vehicle that can go zero to sixty in 5.5 seconds. This makes it already much quicker than its first iteration in 1968. And if you think you might want this for your own big day, think again. The new E-Type runs around $450K. So, even as times change and technology advances, the rich are still stupidly rich—EV royalty. Long live the queen.
Carlisle Import Performance Nationals
And while we’re taking the news around the globe, we’d be remiss not to check in on the Carlisle Import and Performance Nationals. This past weekend some of the world’s niftiest rides arrived in droves to PA to strut their stuff. For the cool price of $15, visitors could hear a special guest panel discussion from Jaguar experts. (Michael Quinn, Jaguar’s founder’s grandson was in attendance.) Discussions and presentations also featured the likes of Aston Martin, Toyota, and Nissan. One of the most fascinating displays celebrated 80 Years of the Volkswagen Beetle. Carlisle also had much more active events like drift limbo, a burnout contest, and a rolling exhaust contest among MANY others. What the hell was I doing this weekend?
Overland Expo West
It’s show season, everyone, so we’re going all in. You might remember a couple of weeks ago when we teased the unveiling of the Armada Mountain Patrol at the Overland Expo in Flagstaff Arizona. Well, you can be certain it was the bell of the ball. And in addition to that concept were hundreds of other rock crawling, mud-slinging, and terrain traversing newcomers and veterans. At Turhill County Park, several overlanders came out full force repping the Toyota Tacoma. Some were vanilla (but still very capable) machines, and some had what the community considers the customary trinkets like roof racks and bumpers. THEN the big dogs came out to get play with rooftop tents, tires that could run down an elephant, and various other accessories that make our off-road hearts tick. Check out some of the other participants here!
Extreme Tacoma TRD Build
Here’s a build fit for Flagstaff and beyond. This 2001 Toyota Tacoma TRD has it all. It can go anywhere with an ARB snorkel intake kit, Grabber AT2 tires, and an Emu complete suspension kit. And it most certainly passes the eye test, flexing its dual bumper mounted lights, Baja rack basket, and rock sliders. But what really separates this build from others is the absurd amount of storage. Gear, tools, even people… you name it and this rig will store it. Installed are an elaborate drawer system, a refrigerator, and a rooftop tent. So, while taking this Tacoma out into the wilderness is not necessarily roughing it, the owner and builder sleeps well knowing it will take on any challenge.
Around the Circuit
This past weekend was NASCAR’s all-star break in Charlotte. And if you’ve had your finger on the thumping pulse of this season so far, you’re pretty familiar with what is now the fully blown renaissance of Kevin Harvick. In addition to his dominant start to the 2018 season, one in which he has already captured five victories, Harvick added another notch to his belt Saturday. The veteran left the rest of the field in the dust to claim the win and the $1 million prize.
Indy 500 qualifying was this weekend. And with the historic race less than a week away, race fans watched as drivers locked in their positions. Ed Carpenter walked away with the pole position and Simon Pagenaud, by a very slim margin (less than 1mph average speed, in fact) took second. Danica Patrick, who will run her last ever Indy 500 next week, pulled a vintage performance. After a solid Fast Nine performance, she grabbed the 7th position.
