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McLaren, Koenigsegg, Toyota, Ford, Dodge and Corvette Lego kits announced for 2021

Lego has announced a slew of car-themed sets for 2021. The six kits comprise nine vehicles and fall under the brick pusher's Speed Champion line of official OEM-licensed kits. News of their arrival comes from German toy retailer JB Spielwaren's pre-order listings, which show three single-car sets and three dual-car sets of matched marques. Starting with the McLaren Elva roadster, the kit consists of 263 pieces and is finished in blue. It seems to have a difficult time capturing the curves of the real-life Elva, but there's only so much you can do with a bunch of plastic blocks. Lego has made several other McLaren kits before, including the Senna, 720S, and a more advanced Senna GTR for the Technics line. Next up is the Koenigsegg Jesko, made up of 280 pieces and finished in white. Though the real-life Jesko is still curvy, this kit does a better job of replicating its aggressive maw, vents and cantilevered rear wing. Rounding out the single-car sets is the 299-piece Toyota GR Supra in yellow. This marks the first time Toyota has lent their license to Lego. Again, it struggles a bit to represent the curvy Supra, relying on printed details like logos and headlights to identify. On the other hand, the Chevrolet two-car does a stupendous job with the 1968 Corvette. The C3 is instantly recognizable as such. The C8-R race car it's paired with suffers from the same issues as some of the previous cars, though. The set contains 512 pieces, and funnily enough the C8 driver has short hair while the C3 driver sports a period-correct wavy mane. The next set is a 627-piece Mopar-themed pair, including a purple (Plum Crazy?) 1970 Dodge Challenger T/A and an SRT top fuel dragster. The race car is spot on, but the Challenger was probably tough to make given the width restrictions. It looks a couple of pegs too narrow compared to the wide proportions of the real deal. Last but not least, the Ford set contains a Bronco R and Ford GT Heritage Edition. Consisting of 660 pieces, the set does an excellent job of representing both cars. The GT looks faithful in its Gulf livery, and the Bronco R looks more like a real Bronco than the actual Bronco R race truck. All in all, it's always fun to see more Lego sets with real cars, and we're glad to see more manufacturers added to the roster. The single-car sets are recommended for ages 7 and up, while the double-car sets have an 8 years and up rating. Price in U.S.

Chevy, GMC have electric pickups coming. Is Cadillac next?

GMC already has an uber-expensive electric pickup in the Hummer EV. By now you've no doubt seen the 2024 Chevrolet Silverado EV. It's a pickup. It's electric. It looks a little bit like an Avalanche. Hmm. You know what else was a pickup that looked a little bit like an Avalanche? Why, the Cadillac Escalade EXT, of course.  Cadillac Escalade EV-T yes or no?https://t.co/R1AXThRzIG@therealautoblog @Cadillac — Byron "Don't do anything Byron says. Ever" Hurd (@Byron_AB) January 7, 2022 So, hypothetically, if Cadillac were to build an Escalade EXT with an upmarket interior, Super Cruise, a minimum of 300 miles of range, 10,000 pounds of towing capacity, a locking frunk and 5-passenger seating, plus all of the nifty doodads and gadgets we've already seen on the Silverado ... would it sell?  OK, this isn't entirely hypothetical. In fact, I received a survey from Cadillac this morning asking just that. It's an interesting question. And it's one we're putting to you, the readers. So, what say you? Cadillac Escalade EV-T? Yes or no? Related video:

GM pauses 3.0-liter turbodiesel production due to a supplier shortage

General Motors confirmed it has temporarily stopped taking orders for trucks and SUVs equipped with the 3.0-liter Duramax turbodiesel six-cylinder engine. It blamed the last-minute pause on a supplier-related shortage. Website TFL Truck first reported the news, and a representative from General Motors quickly confirmed it. The spokesperson explained the issue is due to a "temporary part shortage" and added that production will resume "as soon as possible," meaning the Duramax engine (which is called LM2 internally) is not going away permanently. Additional details are not available, so we don't know if the issue is related to the ongoing chip shortage. Rather than delay deliveries and create a backlog, General Motors is reportedly asking its dealers to encourage buyers who want a turbodiesel engine to instead select either the 5.3-liter V8 or the 6.2-liter V8, depending on the model selected. Both are gasoline-powered units. There's no word yet on when Duramax production will resume. The shortage affects several models, including Chevrolet's Tahoe, Suburban, and Silverado 1500 and GMC's variants of these trucks. Cadillac's Escalade is temporarily diesel-less as well. Heavy Duty variants of the Silverado and the Sierra are not affected because they're powered by a different Duramax engine with eight cylinders. Motorists seeking a full-size SUV powered by an efficient turbodiesel engine are temporarily out of options because the Tahoe/Yukon and the Suburban/Yukon XL had the segment to themselves. The Duramax was surprisingly popular, too: in May 2021, GM Authority reported that the turbodiesel straight-six represented 8% of Suburban sales and 6% of Tahoe sales. Installed in a rear-wheel-drive Tahoe, the engine returns 21 mpg in the city, 28 mpg on the highway, and 24 mpg in a combined cycle, figures that make the body-on-frame behemoth more efficient than the unibody, front-wheel-drive Chevrolet Blazer that's 20 inches shorter and approximately 1,700 pounds lighter. Related video: 2021 Chevrolet Tahoe 3.0L Duramax engine