A Jeep with an SRT badge. A Hemi V8 under the hood. And, for the first time ever on a Wrangler, independent front suspension. On the opening day of the SEMA Show in Las Vegas, Stellantis rolled out a two-door pickup that breaks three Jeep rules at once.
Your first stop for car news: the quick version here, plus a button on every story that takes you straight to the original report.
New Metal
The Scrambler is back, and it’s angry.
SEMA Show 2026
SRT puts its badge on a Jeep for the first time
SRT has spent two decades putting its name on loud Dodges and Chryslers. It has never put it on a Jeep, until now. The SRT Jeep Wrangler Scrambler concept is the first Jeep ever to wear the badge, and it made its debut at SEMA this week. It’s a showcase for future hardware, not a truck you can order yet.
The idea is a throwback. The original CJ-8 Scrambler of the 1980s was a stretched CJ with a small open bed, a sort of half-Jeep, half-pickup. This new one revives that shape, but it is not a shortened Gladiator. SRT built it from the Wrangler SUV, then gave it a usable bed and longer doors than a normal two-door Wrangler.
The hardware is the real story. Up front sits an independent front suspension, developed with off-road racer Casey Currie. Every Wrangler before it has used a solid front axle, a design fans defend for rock crawling. Out back is a rear axle inspired by desert trophy trucks. In plain terms: this thing is built to fly over sand at speed, not crawl over boulders.
Power comes from a 6.4-liter Hemi V8, the big engine Jeep fans have begged to keep since the Wrangler 392 arrived. Add Punk’n orange paint, bronze beadlock wheels and a structural roll cage, and it looks like a race truck that took a wrong turn onto the Strip.
Why it matters to you: concepts like this are how Jeep tests what buyers will pay for. If an independent front end works on a Wrangler, it could eventually mean a Jeep that rides far better on the highway and at speed on gravel, without giving up the go-anywhere image. Think of it as Jeep’s answer to the Ford Bronco Raptor, which already proved there’s money in desert speed.
For Kenyan off-roaders, the takeaway is less about this one truck and more about the direction. A Wrangler that handles washboard murram roads at speed, instead of shaking your fillings loose, is the kind of change that would matter on the routes to Naivasha and beyond.
Quick take: (opinion) An independent-front Wrangler with a Hemi is the most exciting Jeep idea in years. Build it, and the Bronco Raptor finally has a real rival.
6.4L
Hemi V8 in the SRT Scrambler
$31,950
2027 Mazda3 with a manual
224 mph
Speed of the BYD U9 Xtreme crash
228,367
Toyota Siennas recalled in the US
New Models & EVs
Stick shifts, speed and a goodbye.
2027 Mazda3
The Mazda3 keeps its manual, barely
Good news for anyone who still likes three pedals: the 2027 Mazda3 keeps a six-speed manual in the US. The bad news is that only one version gets it, the 2.5 S Premium Plus hatchback, front-wheel drive only, at $31,950 before a $1,315 destination fee.
It uses the 186-hp, 2.5-liter four-cylinder that runs happily on regular fuel, and it comes loaded with a 10.25-inch screen, a heated wheel and a head-up display. The range starts at $24,750 for a 2.5 S sedan, and the 2.5 Turbo Premium Plus hatch tops out at $38,190.
BYD U9 Xtreme
BYD’s $3 million hypercar crashes at 224 mph, driver walks away
A BYD U9 Xtreme was destroyed during high-speed testing at an undisclosed track in China. Test driver Jiang Wen, a 23-year veteran of the company, walked away without serious injury after the car lost rear grip at about 224 mph and hit the guardrails on both sides.
The rear axle tore off, but the carbon fiber safety cell held and the battery was not punctured, so there was no fire. The car, rated at 2,977 hp, was preparing for a 311-mph attempt in Abu Dhabi, which Autoevolution says will likely be cancelled. Only 30 are planned.
Polestar 2
The first Polestar 2 bows out after 200,000 cars
Production of the original Polestar 2 has ended after just over 200,000 were built in China over six years. A second-generation model, a sibling to the Volvo EX50, is confirmed for 2027.
US buyers lose out: the car already left America after the 2026 model year because of new rules on foreign-linked vehicle software, and Polestar is now focusing on Europe, which makes up 80 percent of its sales.
Industry & Culture
A recall, and a relic.
Toyota Sienna Recall
228,367 Sienna hybrids recalled over seats that can unlatch
Toyota is recalling 228,367 Sienna hybrid minivans from model years 2022 to 2026 in the US. In some frontal crashes, the seatbelt pretensioner firing can shake the second-row outboard seat recliner enough for the seat back to unlatch.
Most vans get a software update for the airbag control unit; about 200 with the Mobility as a Service package get new seat backs. Owners will be notified by mail by December 21. If you imported a US-built Sienna to Kenya or elsewhere in East Africa, check the VIN with a Toyota dealer.
Car Auctions
$6M
Senna’s last-season Williams heads to auction
Williams once promised Ayrton Senna a car if the team won the 1994 constructors’ title. It did, but Senna had died at Imola, so chassis FW16B-01 went to his family, who kept it for 30 years.
Now the unrestored car, which Senna drove only in testing and warm-up at Interlagos and Jerez, covering 523 miles, goes under the hammer at RM Sotheby’s in New York later this month, with hopes of up to $6 million. His personal seat is included.
Your turn
Solid axle or independent?
Would you trade the Wrangler’s famous solid front axle for an independent setup that rides better at speed, or is that the end of what makes a Jeep a Jeep? Tell us in the comments.
Tomorrow is The Big Question: one story, a deep dive, and who wins and loses.
Sources
- SRT Jeep Wrangler Scrambler concept at SEMA (autoevolution)
- 2027 Mazda3 pricing and manual (autoevolution)
- BYD U9 Xtreme crash (autoevolution)
- First-gen Polestar 2 production ends (autoevolution)
- Toyota Sienna hybrid recall (autoevolution)
- Senna’s Williams FW16 at auction (autoevolution)
Photo credits: Jeep Wrangler Rubicon and Williams FW16 photos via Wikimedia Commons, used under their free licences.
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