New “Final Year” 2026 Lexus LS Heritage Edition Unveiled
Almost forty years ago, Toyota introduced a new luxury marque to the automotive world, bearing the name of Lexus, and it completely shook the luxury car arena to its core. The car that was responsible for doing that was the LS, a full-size luxury sedan that offered impeccable engineering and sumptuous luxury at an undercutting price. An instant hit, the Lexus LS sedan made way for an entire lineup of Lexus models that would not only be popular luxury cars but write chapters of automotive history of their own, like the RX crossover, the LFA supercar, the IS sports sedan, the GX off-road-ready SUV, and many more.
Being the car that took the first steps in blazing the trail of Lexus’s legacy, the LS is an incredibly special and important model for the brand, and also a celebrated flagship that has continued to personify automotive luxury excellence over the years. However, for the 2026 model year in the United States market, the Lexus LS is being offered in a single spec: the new 2026 Lexus LS 500 AWD Heritage Edition, which is limited to only 250 units in the US, and is described by Lexus as “a final year tribute to the car that launched the brand.”
Is Lexus bidding farewell to the car that started it all?
That sounds like a farewell, and if it is, the Lexus LS is going out with a bang, with the 2026 Lexus LS 500 AWD Heritage Edition paying tribute to the LS’s important role in bringing the vision of Lexus to life. It’s finished with a Ninety Noir exterior, a color that is being introduced to the Lexus palette for the first time for the model, with a Rioja Red interior that is being used in the LS for the first time in the Heritage Edition.
In accordance with a special edition of a luxury sedan flagship, standard features include a panoramic glass roof, Laser Special Black premium wood trim, heated rear seats, a power lift-up buckle, and a Mark Levinson sound system with 23 speakers. With plush features, stunning design, and a loving tribute to the car responsible for starting everything for Lexus, the 2026 Lexus LS 500 AWD Heritage Edition, if it is a farewell for the LS, is a proper one.
First Drive: Six-figure Ford Mustang GTD Boasts Peak Pony Muscle
by Basem Wasef
in Ford News, Mustang, Reviews
If you think spending Lambo money on a Mustang is madness, Jim Farley would like to have a word with you. The Blue Oval CEO’s fondness for the O.G. pony car makes the 7-and-sometimes-8-figure-per-year exec seem more like Joe Six Pack than a captain of industry.
But his ‘Stang fanboying comes from the heart: he restored a 1964 ½ basket case at 15, acquired a ’65 Shelby GT350 years later, and has tracked all manner of Mustangs in between. Farley’s championing of the platform is well documented and was perhaps most clearly expressed when he shielded the Mustang from extinction during Ford’s 2018 shift to building only trucks, crossovers, and SUVs.
The big boss also embiggened the Mustang by throwing the model into a slew of race series, most critically GT3, where the humble American pony car competes against nameplates like Aston Martin, Ferrari, Lamborghini, and McLaren. When contextualized against those ultra-fancy competitors, a heavily spoilered, flared, vented, and $325,000 Mustang GTD starts to make a tiny bit more sense.
“Mustang is the flagship race car of the Ford Motor Company, and pretty much any given weekend we’re racing one somewhere,” GTD chief program engineer Greg Goodall told duPont Registry at the vehicle’s media launch in Thermal, CA. “We’re competing against the exotic European carmakers. Why wouldn’t we compete with them on the road?”
The first goal when building the baddest ass Mustang in all the land was establishing a killer Nürburgring time. “You can’t just tell people we’re like Porsche,” insists Goodall, “you have to measure it in some way.” Hence, the sub-7-minute time target.
Things didn’t initially go as planned, as only three officially timed laps transpired in 2024 due to the weather at the 12.9-mile circuit. While an August run achieved 6:57.685, the team felt there was room for improvement, which inspired chassis, suspension, and aero tweaks, along with revisions to ABS and traction control tuning.
In May of 2025, Dirk Müller found 5.6 seconds, elevating the 815-horsepower muscle car’s 6:52.072 time just behind the Porsche 911 GT3 RS (6:49.328), Mercedes-AMG GT Black Series (6:48.047), and the Mercedes-AMG One (6:29:090). Even though GTDs are already in the hands of paying customers, Ford Performance says they’re still chasing a quicker lap time around the Eifel Mountain course.
Like that other performance-focused strain linked to international competition, the Ford GT, the GTD was executed through a deep collaboration with Multimatic. The transmogrification starts with a run-of-the-mill Mustang’s body-in-white that gets plucked from Ford’s Flat Rock, Michigan, plant to Multimatic HQs in Ontario.
The Mustang’s body-in-white is shipped without front fenders or a hood, which Multimatic replaces with a massively flared and vented pair of fenders and a carbon fiber hood with removable top grilles for track use. Deep surgery begins by plasma cutting and removing the second row, the rear floor, and the outer shell.
Much of that negative space gets filled with the Tremec 8-speed dual-clutch transaxle, which helps deliver near-perfect 50/50 weight distribution. Up front is an evolution of the Predator supercharged 5.2-liter V8 found in the GT500 and Raptor R, tuned to 815 horsepower and 664 lb-ft of torque. This application uses dry sump lubrication and drives power through a carbon fiber propshaft – all proper racecar stuff.
While the business may be in the front, the GTD’s party is definitely in the back. Due to the transaxle’s disruption of a space that was never intended to house it, Multimatic developed an inboard suspension system that leverages a similar setup to the late, great Ford GT’s. Using dual adaptive spool valve dampers, the suspension adjusts semi-actively within each drive mode. Also like the GT, a track mode (which requires the vehicle to be stopped and in Park to activate) drops the body dramatically in under 2.0 seconds, yielding a super low ride height and satisfyingly aggro wheel stance.
Incidentally, carbon fiber reinforcements mend the broken jigsaw puzzle of the GTD’s discombobulated rear end, lending it stiffer torsional rigidity than stock. They also crammed in heat exchangers to cool the transaxle, a massive active wing with DRS that mounts to the rear pillars, and the aforementioned pushrod suspension, which is visible inside the cabin through a Lexan window. Pro tip: Tilting the rearview mirror down while driving enables a clear view of the mesmerizing suspension kinematics. Don’t try this at home.
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For all the visual theatre of the GTD’s flared, swollen, stanced, and steroidal body, the cabin is surprisingly – and disappointingly – normal. The usual Mustang bits abound, from the touchscreen display to the same HVAC implementation (which blows remarkably cold in 100+ degree weather, by the way) to the faux carbon fiber texture around part of the center console. Minor tweaks include the steering wheel’s adaptive cruise buttons, which have been repurposed to control the multi-stage traction control settings in Track mode.
Two days at the Thermal Club provide plenty of time to acclimate to the Alan Wilson-designed circuit in its maximum length, 5.1-mile IndyCar configuration, starting in Dark Horse Mustangs. Despite the annoyingly similar interiors, going from a $75,000, 500-horsepower Dark Horse to a $325,000, 815-horsepower GTD is like, well, going from a horse to a supercar.
The GTD’s supercharged V8 comes to life with a raw snarl, its titanium Akrapovič exhaust betraying its track-focused intentions. Surprisingly, though, it seems the supercharger whine has been quieted at speed. Despite this, there are a number of ways the GTD exceeds the GT3 race car. Though heavier, it also produces more power and boasts active aerodynamics and suspension. According to Goodall, the GT3 could outpace a GTD on smaller, more technical courses, though the GTD would likely get ahead on longer tracks.
You’d never know the GTD weighs 4,386 lbs from the cradle of the specially developed Recaro driver’s seat; once accelerating, the V8’s tug is magnificent, the steering feel excellent, and the chassis and suspension remarkably agile. Overcook it into a corner, and a brake stab and steering adjustment tucks the ‘Stang back into form quickly.
This beast never feels like its mass is getting away from you, especially at higher speeds, since downforce escalates from 941 lbs at 125 mph all the way up to 1,951 lbs at 180 mph. Also commendable are the six-piston carbon ceramic Brembos, which produce powerful, easily modulated fade-free stops. Oh, and you can have any tire you want on the GTD… as long as it’s ultra-sticky Michelin Cup 2 Rs. As much as the GTD’s Hertz Rent-a-Car interior sends the wrong signals about its capabilities, its mercilessly aggressive bodywork and broad-shouldered stance sing to its true self.
And lest you suspect that well-heeled muscle car buyers will balk at the price, the order book is already full for the first two years of production. Fierce, controlled, and bombastic about performance, the GTD is the All-American M2 Browning .50 Cal to the GT3 RS’s Teutonic surgical scalpel. And if you’re wondering why Ford and Multimatic didn’t go even wilder with a full carbon fiber chassis, the answer is simple: it would no longer be a Mustang.
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Images: Ford
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2025 Morgan Plus Four Review: A Timeless Reminder of Olde-School Driving Fun
The last time British coachbuilder Morgan sold the historic Plus Four model here in the United States, in 2005, the chassis was literally made of plywood – or so the urban legend goes. In point of fact, Morgan always used a steel chassis from the Plus Four’s debut in 1950 all the way until the latest generation debuted in 2020.
But that rumor likely grew out of the fact that the Plus Four still uses ash wood for the body frame, even now in 2025, as Morgan begins to ship the latest generation to the United States complete with a BMW powertrain, Bluetooth connectivity, and a stretched design that fits more people more comfortably – all riding on a new aluminum chassis structure beneath the skin. Super.
Unfortunately, in a baffling decision, Morgan decided against importing a manual transmission-equipped Plus Four to the United States. A stick shift is available in Europe, but this meant that I recently borrowed a press loaner, not just eager to learn about the new aluminum chassis, but also to experience how such purposefully vintage style matches – or clashes – with the inability to row my own gears.
The Plus Four Returns To America
Morgan sources the engine and transmission as a unit from BMW, in this case, a turbocharged 2.0-liter inline-four good for 255 horsepower and 295 pound-feet of torque, married to an eight-speed torque converter automatic. Calling the little mill a commuter car engine makes some semblance of sense, given the relatively low 6,500-rpm redline. But remember, this tiny roadster weighs just 2,293 pounds, thanks to the aluminum chassis and ash wood body frame.
With plenty of low-end torque on tap to scoot that minimal mass around, Morgan claims the Plus Four can manage a 4.8-second sprint to 100 kmh (62 mph) when equipped with the automatic. But don’t worry about feeling cramped into such a tiny car, which, despite actually measuring slightly less in overall length than the preceding generation, uses an 82 mm longer wheelbase. Technically, the Plus Four counts as a replica car, but it’s also 40 mm wider and 31 mm taller than before, so I fit just fine at six-foot-one despite the two seats being close enough together for the occasional elbow bump with a passenger.
Just don’t ask about climbing in and out, which simply cannot be done without a bit of awkwardness. There’s no real armrest on the doors, either, and the pedal box barely fit my size 10 shoes – imagining a clutch pedal squeezed in, I began to appreciate the automatic transmission a little more. The steering wheel adjusts up and down, without telescoping in and out, but I found the seats ride low enough to create plenty of headroom with the convertible top in place. Matching the exterior, the optional Comfort Plus seats hew more toward a classic cruiser mentality rather than a hardcore sports car.
And yet, the lightweight chassis makes driving the Plus Four anywhere near the limit a ton of fun. Modern supercars with the power-to-weight ratios of racecars (or better) are one thing, but a lightweight and low-slung sports car with just the right amount of power can nonetheless feel exponentially faster. Not just because sitting so close to the ground creates a forced perspective, but because cornering and braking require so much less grip to hold and haul down legitimate pace. All while the BMW inline-four churns out a mirthful soundtrack, turbo spooling up and exhaust overrun burble from the exhaust pipes that seemed to stick out immediately behind my skull.
The auto transmission even works fairly well, even if it’s not as snappy as a dual-clutch and prefers stately driving more than hard charging. But skipping the manual here in the United States absolutely misses the mark. Sure, take rates for stick shifts in the U.S. pale in comparison to Europe – but this car’s target customer base is a self-selecting sample that clearly wants something out of the ordinary, rather than a commuter EV or a more modern sports car.
Modernized, Yet Timelessly Classic
The first time I pulled away in the Plus Four, I marveled at how battened down the chassis feels. Cracks in the road and speed bumps created no suspension clunks or wobbles, quite an impressive feat for a car so small that it’s built using wood. Plus, with so little weight over the rear, the Plus Four happily chirped the tires loose between shifts up to third gear once I popped the horrific BMW shifter to the left for Sport mode.
That futuristic, angular design looks entirely out of place here – even more so than in an Ineos Grenadier. Selecting Sport+ then requires pushing a much more pleasing metal button ahead and to the left on the walnut center console, and I regularly held down the mirrored ESC button to fully turn off traction control intervention. This brought up a small warning on the mildly configurable digital gauge screen, another concession to modernity that seems slightly out of place in something otherwise analog.
This particular Morgan arrived in America equipped with the Dynamic Handling Pack, a $2,410 option that adds adjustable shock dampers, a rear sway bar, and marginally stiffer rear springs. In its factory setting, the suspension tuning perfectly bridges the gap between firm and compliant – simultaneously comfortable enough for daily life but also stiff enough to handle hard cornering in canyons. With a bit more mass from the engine out front, the rear sway bar in particular contributes to a happy propensity toward easily controlled slides, which give way to oversteer in a satisfying and communicative transition while whipping through consecutive curves.
The Plus Four serves as yet another reminder that having slightly more power than tire traction makes driving a ton of fun. Sure, modern sports cars and supercars can go right ahead and chase lap times with those enormous tires on enormous wheels, Morgan seems to say. Instead, the Plus Four sticks with a scant set of 205-millimeter Avons mounted on 15-inchers that reminded me of Campagnolo wheels on Maseratis from the late-1970s and early-80s.
As surprisingly well as it drives, the Plus Four nails the classic style even better. Ice Green metallic paint absolutely glistens, highlighting every swooping curve from every angle. I’d still take a little spare tire on the rear decklid, though, and the profile definitely looks best with the top laid back and the side panels removed – from both a design standpoint and the driver’s perspective. I removed the side panels almost immediately, using a little tool on the key ring to loosen metal knobs on the exterior of the doors. A carrying case then protects the glass and leather from damage, though the whole package doesn’t quite fit behind the seats nicely.
Morgan clearly invested a ton of time and effort into developing the new bonded aluminum chassis, as confirmed by the impressive ride quality. But a close eye on build quality is also clearly reveals some smaller details that went overlooked, in addition to where to store the door panels: one glued-on leather panel already detaching from a door, a hilarious lumbar support system actuated by flimsy hand pumps zip-tied in front of the lower seat cushion, nice metal dials for the climate control and volume that were unfortunately designed in such a way that the decals becomes meaningless once spun around in any direction.
Worst of all, the sun visors mount to the top of the windshield surround with a long Allen bolt and spacer, but no rubber washers or dampers of any kind. So, any smallest reverberation from the road or wind caused horrific rattling directly in front of my face on every single drive. On my own car, I would remove and replace this tiny yet unignorable annoyance, but that’s not exactly the kind of thing I want to be doing with my brand-new six-figure toy.
Morgan Plus Four: Conclusions
I gave back the Morgan, sad to see it go. Over the course of the loan, I increasingly grew comfortable daily driving around big pickup trucks and SUVs with tires that rode about as high as my shoulders. There’s simply nothing else new quite like the Plus Four on American roads, as lightweight sports cars increasingly go extinct. And the style truly elevates the Morgan into a class of one: this little British roadster turned more heads than any car I’ve ever driven bar none, including Ferraris, Lamborghinis, Bugattis, and more!
Imagining a Plus Four in the driveway next to a G-Wagen (or a Grenadier, for that matter) sure seems like a perfect two-car solution for daily life and weekend fun. Such a unique, bespoke character makes the base price of $84,995 seem fairly reasonable, though my tester ramped up to $103,970 as optioned. Most importantly, all the attention the Plus Four received from pedestrians and other drivers brought a smile to everybody’s face, not just mine, as I ripped around town, despite lamenting the lack of a manual transmission, which would simply take the cake.
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Images: Michael Van Runkle
