Category Archives: Restomod

Restomod

Toyota Restomods the Land Cruiser Prado

The Land Cruiser badge still means something inside Toyota, even now that the U.S. has moved on to the new 250 Series. But Toyota isn’t ready to let the old iron fade quietly into the classifieds. Instead, it’s giving the previous-generation 150 Series—sold stateside for years as the Lexus GX—a factory-backed glow-up that feels part restoration, part restomod, and part philosophical exercise.

Dubbed Newscape, the update targets the long-running Land Cruiser Prado built between 2009 and 2023. Though production has ended, Toyota is offering a comprehensive facelift that touches both the exterior and interior, effectively giving the old SUV a second act. In some configurations, it even looks tougher than it ever did when new.

The idea debuted as a concept at the 2025 Japan Mobility Show, but enthusiasm apparently convinced Toyota to put it into production. The Prado Newscape is set to make a return appearance at the 2026 Tokyo Auto Salon—this time with a price tag and an order sheet.

The project was developed by Toyota’s Conic Pro division in collaboration with an unlikely group of partners: The North Face, biotech firm Spiber, and Toyota’s own Corde by brand, which specializes in customizing used vehicles. The broader goal is sustainability—extending the life of older vehicles through factory-approved updates rather than pushing customers straight into new ones.

Buyers get two visual flavors. The Graphite Gray version leans into the overlanding aesthetic, with matte-black bumpers, bolt-on fender extensions, and Mango Orange accents highlighting the fog lights and rear tow hook. The Meld Grey alternative dials things back with body-colored bumpers, black trim, and Saffron Yellow detailing. Both versions come standard with a roof rack, rear ladder, mud flaps, and a fuel door stamped with The North Face logo—because collaborations demand visibility.

Seventeen-inch matte-black alloys and 265/65R17 all-terrain tires are standard across the board, giving the Prado a properly rugged stance. It’s not a mechanical overhaul, but it doesn’t pretend to be one.

Inside, the updates are subtler but more interesting. The seats are reupholstered in Brewed Protein fiber, an eco-focused material developed by Spiber, and wear The North Face branding. New Toyota floor mats round out the cabin changes, reinforcing the idea that this is a refresh, not a reinvention.

The Newscape kit goes on sale in Japan on March 7, 2026, but compatibility is limited. It’s only offered for TX-grade Prado 150 models built between September 2017 and April 2024, and only if they left the factory with black fabric seats. Gasoline and diesel engines are both supported.

Pricing starts at ¥3.96 million (about $25,300) for Graphite Gray and ¥3.85 million ($24,600) for Meld Grey, plus another ¥150,000 ($960) in miscellaneous costs. Add the roughly ¥4 million ($25,600) required to buy a used Prado in the first place, and you’re staring at a total near ¥8 million ($51,200).

That’s a tough sell when a brand-new Land Cruiser 250 starts at ¥5.2 million ($33,300) in Japan—and even the larger, more advanced Land Cruiser 300 undercuts the Newscape build on price.

Which raises an awkward question. If sustainability is the mission, does it make sense to spend more money refurbishing an older SUV than buying a new one outright? Toyota seems to think the answer is yes—at least for buyers who value preservation over progress, or who simply want to keep a familiar, well-proven Land Cruiser alive a little longer.

In that light, the Prado Newscape isn’t about logic. It’s about loyalty—and Toyota is betting that still counts for something.

Source: Toyota Conic Pro

Restomod

REIMAGINED ICON: ENCORS’S V8-POWERED LOTUS ESPRIT SERIES 1

Nearly 40 years after the original Lotus Esprit S1 vanished from showrooms—and long after Bond drove one into the ocean—the wedge is back. Sort of. A start-up called Encor, staffed by former Lotus engineers and designers, has built what is essentially a modern reboot of the original Esprit. And they’ve done it with the kind of obsessive engineering zeal that would make Colin Chapman grin.

Only 50 examples will be made, each priced from around £430,000, before you even source the donor car. Excessive? Yes. Logical? Not even remotely. But if you’ve ever been seduced by the razor-edged silhouette of an Esprit, this might be the purest expression of that fantasy yet.

A Classic Shape, Rebuilt From the Molecules Up

Despite the retro silhouette, this isn’t a restoration. It’s a complete reinvention, using the Series 4 V8 as a starting point because of its stronger backbone chassis. Encor strips off the original glassfibre shell and bolts on a bespoke carbon-fibre body, dimensionally identical to the 1976 S1 but far stiffer and roughly half the weight.

Chief designer Dan Durrant—yes, the same talent behind the Lotus Emira—says the mission was clear: respect the Giugiaro-penned original without being enslaved by it. That explains the subtle smoothing of lines, the LED-equipped pop-ups with a shallower rise angle, and the retrofuturistic DRLs—including eight tiny rear light signatures nodding to the V8 cylinders.

Gone is the black stripe that once separated the upper and lower shells of the original car. That detail wasn’t actually design flair—it hid a bonding flange. With modern materials, Encor simply didn’t need it. Cleaner surfacing follows naturally.

The V8 the S1 Never Got

The original Esprit S1 made do with a four-cylinder engine that, according to Encor, simply wouldn’t deliver the emotional punch modern drivers expect. So they turned to the Type 918 3.5-litre twin-turbo V8 from the S4.

Then they re-engineered that.

New pistons, injectors, turbos, and calibration bump output to 400 hp at 6200 rpm and 350 lb-ft at 5000 rpm. With a curb weight of just 1200 kg, the power-to-weight ratio lands at 333 hp per ton—on par with a 2018 Aston Martin Vantage.

The result?
0–62 mph in 4.0 seconds and a 175-mph top speed. That’s nearly twice as quick off the line as the 1970s original.

The V8 breathes through a modern electronic throttle and new ECU that improves precision and drivability without diluting the old-school feel.

A Transmission Resurrected

The period five-speed manual was a notorious weak point. Packaging constraints prevented swapping in anything bigger, so Encor did the next best thing—re-engineered the gearbox internals while keeping the original casing. Only a handful of components carry over. The unit also gains a limited-slip differential for strength and traction.

According to the team, solving the gearbox bottleneck allowed them to safely elevate engine output without fear of mechanical shrapnel.

Analogue Soul, Modern Bones

Encor wanted authenticity, not McLaren stiffness. So while the car boasts completely new suspension, anti-roll bars, and electronics, the ride philosophy remains faithful to the Esprit’s famously compliant, communicative nature.

They even kept the original hydraulic power steering—often praised as one of the best systems ever fitted to a road car.

One major concession to the 21st century is the electronic parking brake, chosen not for convenience but for packaging benefits that allowed larger rear brakes, improved bulkhead reinforcement, and reduced weight.

Beneath the skin is a modern safety structure, including an integrated carbon-fibre cage—something the original desperately lacked.

Inside the Retro Time Capsule

The cabin mixes nostalgia with the tech buyers expect in a £430k machine. A slim 10.1-inch central screen, digital driver’s display, and modern controls coexist with period-inspired cues: the wood-topped shifter, vintage-style mirror, and original indicator stalks. Nothing feels gimmicky; it’s more like a respectful remix.

And while Lotus has no official involvement, Encor’s team hopes the mother ship views the project as a spiritual companion rather than an unauthorized remix.

Purity Over Progress

Perhaps the most surprising admission: yes, they considered electrification. And no, it didn’t last long. The team determined that an EV would undermine the car’s purpose: a lightweight, mechanical, analogue driving experience that channels the spirit of the 1970s without the fragility.

“There’s no point turning it into a modern hyper-stiff thing,” says Encor’s engineers. “This car is about purity.”

An Icon Reborn for Those Who Remember

With only 50 cars to be built—plus the requirement to supply a rare Series 4 donor—this isn’t a mass-market revival. It’s a love letter. A reinterpretation of one of Britain’s most recognizable sports cars by the people who once built them.

It’s also a reminder that some shapes are too good to die, some driving experiences too precious to bury under screens and sound deadening. Encor hasn’t just revived the Esprit—they’ve given it the performance, structure, and engineering it always deserved.

A reimagined classic? Absolutely. But more importantly, a wedge-shaped time machine built for drivers who still believe a great sports car should talk back.

Source: Autocar

Restomod

Eagle E-Type Lightweight GTR: The Jaguar That Remembers What It Means to Be a Jaguar

Enzo Ferrari once called the Jaguar E-Type “the most beautiful car ever made.” He wasn’t wrong. Sixty-odd years later, the car still looks like it was sketched by a deity with a taste for long bonnets and dangerous curves. But while Jaguar itself seems to have traded its soul for silence — with a future full of EVs and corporate PowerPoints — one British outfit is determined to remind us what the big cat once was.

That outfit is Eagle, and for over four decades they’ve been fettling, perfecting, and flat-out worshipping the E-Type. Their latest creation, the Eagle E-Type Lightweight GTR, isn’t just another restomod. It’s a rolling love letter to speed, purity, and the kind of mechanical theatre modern cars have forgotten how to perform.

Featherweight Fury

The name tells you most of the story. “Lightweight” doesn’t just mean a few panels swapped for aluminium. Eagle’s engineers went full monk on the diet plan: aluminum, magnesium, titanium, and carbon fiber everywhere. The result? A kerb weight of just 930 kilograms — yes, about the same as a first-gen Mazda MX-5, but with an entirely different appetite for violence.

Beneath that long, impossibly beautiful bonnet lives a 4.7-litre straight-six, hand-built and gloriously mechanical. It sends 450 horsepower and 500 Nm of torque through a Getrag five-speed manual to the rear wheels. There are no flappy paddles, no digital trickery — just clutch, lever, and the guttural snarl of unfiltered combustion. 0–100 km/h arrives in four seconds flat, and if you keep your foot down, the GTR will howl all the way to 305 km/h.

Handling the Heritage

To keep all that feral energy in check, Eagle’s fitted Ohlins adjustable dampers, independent suspension, and AP Racing brakes that could probably stop a small planet. The result is a car that’s razor-sharp but never synthetic. It moves, it breathes, it talks to you through the wheel — not through a touchscreen or a mood light.

Inside, there’s a nod to civility. Alcantara-trimmed seats, air conditioning, a subtle audio system, and decent sound insulation make sure your spine doesn’t file for divorce after a few hundred miles. It’s the perfect balance between Le Mans weekend and Cotswolds getaway.

A Million Reasons to Smile (and Cry)

Now, the price. Eagle will happily build you one for just over a million euros. Which sounds obscene, until you remember that this isn’t a car so much as an act of resurrection. It’s what happens when passion, craftsmanship, and mechanical purity are valued over efficiency charts and app connectivity.

Meanwhile, at Jaguar HQ…

And here’s the sting. While Eagle handcrafts reminders of Jaguar’s golden age, the actual Jaguar brand seems adrift — steering toward an electric future that feels more spreadsheet than soul. The Lightweight GTR stands as both a tribute and a quiet protest. It whispers (loudly) what the world’s carmakers seem to have forgotten: that weight is the enemy, noise is good, and beauty should always come before battery percentage.

In the end, Eagle hasn’t just built the ultimate E-Type. They’ve built a time machine — one that doesn’t take you back, but shows you what the present could have been, had we never lost our nerve.

Source: Eagle