Category Archives: News

News

Rezvani Teases the Next-Gen Tank, Because Apparently the Current One Isn’t Intimidating Enough

Rezvani has never been shy about its brand identity. This is, after all, a company that took one look at a Jeep Wrangler and thought, Nice, but what if it looked like it escaped from a classified military program and cost six figures? The Rezvani Tank has spent the better part of a decade catering to buyers who want exclusivity, excess, and optional armor plating—all wrapped around familiar Jeep bones. Now, a new generation is on the way, and Rezvani is promising more of everything.

The next-generation Tank has been teased ahead of a full reveal scheduled for January 2026. True to form, Rezvani isn’t giving away much, but the shadowy preview images confirm that subtlety is still not part of the mission brief. The overall silhouette remains unmistakably Tank, but the bodywork looks to have gone on a stricter diet of angles and aggression.

Up front, the new model appears to adopt redesigned LED headlights flanking a beefier grille that looks ready to inhale smaller crossovers. A massive hood bulge suggests there’s something worth bragging about underneath, while the reshaped fenders are more sculpted than before, emphasizing the Tank’s already cartoonish width. A flat windshield keeps things unapologetically upright, and the roof-mounted LED light bar reinforces the idea that this thing is happiest when the sun has gone down—or when you want it to look like it is.

Around back, high-set taillights peek out from above the oversized rear shoulders, a design trick that makes the Tank look even wider and more planted. It’s not elegant, but elegance has never been the point. The Tank’s visual language continues to scream don’t ask questions, and the new generation seems determined to shout it louder.

Rezvani hasn’t released technical details yet, but history gives us a pretty good idea of what to expect. The Tank has always relied on Wrangler-derived ladder-frame underpinnings, and there’s little reason to believe that formula will change. The real curiosity lies under the hood. Official powertrain options remain unconfirmed, but Rezvani is already hinting at serious output. Translation: expect at least one supercharged Hemi V8, and don’t be surprised if the number attached to it starts with a one and has three more digits following. Yes, four figures. Because of course.

Reservations for the new Tank are already open, with a refundable $500 deposit securing an early production slot. Final pricing hasn’t been announced, but if previous Tanks are any indication, this will be one of the most expensive ways to start with a Wrangler-shaped foundation. Between bespoke bodywork, extreme powertrain options, and a menu of tactical-themed extras, the Tank has always lived in a financial neighborhood where rationality doesn’t apply.

For context, the original Rezvani Tank debuted in 2017, followed by a second generation in 2019. The current model offers a wide range of powertrains, including V6, plug-in hybrid, and multiple V8 options—up to and including Hellcat and Demon-derived setups. Buyers can also spec optional armor plating, night vision systems, upgraded suspension components, and lavish interior packages that clash delightfully with the vehicle’s militaristic exterior.

The Tank is just one piece of Rezvani’s growing catalog of excess. The lineup also includes the Beast roadster, the Porsche 911–based RR1, the Jeep Gladiator–derived Hercules pickup, the Lamborghini Urus–based Knight, and the Cadillac Escalade–based Arsenal. The common thread is simple: take something familiar, turn the volume knob past eleven, and charge accordingly.

Will the next-generation Tank be objectively sensible? Absolutely not. But for buyers who want supercar power, apocalypse-ready aesthetics, and the ability to say their SUV might have optional armor, the new Rezvani Tank looks ready to continue doing exactly what it’s always done—stand out, scare pedestrians, and make subtlety someone else’s problem.

Source: Rezvani

News

Vince Zampella, Gaming Visionary, Killed in Ferrari 296 GTS Crash on Angeles Crest Highway

In a harrowing end that has sent shockwaves through both the gaming and automotive communities, Vince Zampella — the co-creator of the Call of Duty franchise and head of Respawn Entertainment — was killed this past weekend in a single-vehicle crash involving a Ferrari 296 GTS on Southern California’s notorious Angeles Crest Highway.

The scenic two-lane ribbon of asphalt that winds through the San Gabriel Mountains has long been a proving ground for drivers seeking an intoxicating blend of forested beauty and high-speed thrills. Yet its combination of blind corners, sudden elevation changes, and unforgiving barriers also makes it one of the region’s most dangerous stretches — especially when a high-performance supercar is involved.

According to authorities and eyewitness accounts, the cherry-red 2026 Ferrari 296 GTS was headed southbound shortly after noon on Sunday when it emerged from a tunnel and, for reasons still under investigation, drifted off the pavement and smashed into a concrete wall. The impact — violent and instantaneous — caused the hybrid-powered 819-hp V-6 machine to erupt into flames. Zampella, 55, was pronounced dead at the scene; his passenger later succumbed to injuries sustained in the crash.

Video footage circulated online captures the moments just before impact: the Ferrari hustling out of the tunnel at what appears to be high speed, tyres squealing as the driver confronts the rapidly tightening left-hander — a corner locals warn reveals its true radius too late. On a road like Angeles Crest, throttle confidence can quickly give way to brutal reality.

The 296 GTS, for all its technological wizardry and intoxicating performance, delivers its potent power exclusively to the rear wheels — a setup that rewards precision but punishes errors without mercy. It is a machine designed for measured prowess on the track, not an invitation to blur the line between exhilaration and catastrophe on public roads.

Zampella was mourned as a titan of the video game industry, credited with shaping some of the most successful franchises of the past three decades. Yet on this unforgiving stretch of pavement, the rules that govern code and creativity provide no shield. His death is a stark reminder that even the most accomplished figures are vulnerable when the combination of speed, geometry, and consequence comes into unforgiving focus.

As investigations continue, questions will inevitably swirl about speed, decision-making, and the enduring allure of the open road. But for now, the tragic end of Vince Zampella’s life on the asphalt serves as an urgent proverb: no matter the horsepower on tap or the skill behind the wheel, roads like Angeles Crest demand respect — and they will take it without hesitation when it is not given.

Source: NBC News

News

The Next Big Weight-Saving Breakthrough Might Be the Car Seat

When automakers talk about weight reduction, the conversation usually drifts toward aluminum body panels, carbon-fiber roofs, or forged wheels the size of café tables. Rarely does anyone bring up the seat—the very thing you’re sitting on while reading spec sheets and lap times. And yet, car seats are some of the most deceptively heavy components in a modern vehicle.

Seats are easy to take for granted until you try to remove one. Then reality sets in. They’re awkward, overbuilt, electrically alive, and heavier than you expect—because they have to be. A modern seat must survive crashes, integrate airbags, house motors, heating, ventilation, sensors, and still feel comfortable after a six-hour road trip. Comfort, safety, packaging, and cost all collide here, and weight usually loses.

But that’s starting to change.

According to Thyssenkrupp, a major supplier of advanced lightweight steels, the steel structure of a single front seat can weigh around 12.5 kilograms. Add front and rear seating together and you’re looking at roughly 50 kilograms devoted entirely to places for humans to sit. That’s a lot of mass doing very little dynamic work. Even with lightweight steels and aluminum already in use, there’s still fat to trim—about 15 percent, according to Thyssenkrupp’s own estimates.

And that’s before you pile on the foam, headrests, recliners, lumbar adjusters, height mechanisms, and optional creature comforts. Heated, cooled, massaging seats may feel luxurious, but they’re basically gym equipment for your car.

Automakers have been probing alternatives for years. Toyota has explored 3D-printed seat structures. Porsche debuted a 3D-printed bodyform full-bucket seat in 2021, aimed at customers who want tailor-made support with race-car intent. Audi, via a collaboration with students from Braunschweig University of Art, went even more radical back in 2017 with Concept Breathe—a skeletal, biodegradable plastic structure supporting 38 active cushions. Think futuristic lawn chair, but with sensors.

BMW, however, may have just changed the conversation entirely.

Its M Visionary Materials seat doesn’t just rethink what a seat is made of—it throws out the idea of a conventional seat structure altogether. Developed with Luxembourg-based specialist Gradel Light Weight, the seat uses robotic filament winding, a process more commonly associated with aerospace and advanced composites. Instead of stamped steel frames and welded joints, a robot winds resin-infused filaments around strategically placed bobbins, building the structure layer by layer.

The result is a seat frame that Gradel claims is just as strong as conventional designs, yet up to 60 percent lighter. BMW calls the manufacturing method the “catalyst” of the project, and that’s not marketing fluff. The technology enables a massive reduction in parts count, which saves weight, simplifies production, and opens the door to materials that would be impossible in traditional seat architectures.

It also looks fantastic. Exposed, structural, and unapologetically futuristic, the seat makes most production designs look like upholstered furniture from a dentist’s waiting room.

BMW pairs the structure with recycled and plant-based raw materials, including bio-based leather alternatives, reinforcing the idea that sustainability and performance don’t have to be enemies. Saving weight still matters—especially as electric vehicles get heavier—but now it can come with a smaller environmental footprint, too.

Seats may never be the headline act in performance brochures, but they’re quietly becoming one of the most interesting battlegrounds in automotive engineering. And if BMW’s filament-wound experiment is any indication, the next big leap in vehicle efficiency might not come from what you see on the outside—but from what’s holding you up inside.

Source: Autocar; Photo: BMW