At the end of the year, Ford was on track to produce and sell more than 640,000 copies of its F-Series pickups, continuing a sales history that dates back to when the postwar Ford F-1 first went on sale in 1948. The sales figures mean that the F-Series has now been North America’s best-selling light truck for an amazing 46 consecutive years, and the largest-selling vehicle of any kind for 41 straight years, as well. It’s kind of like Roger Penske’s record as a team owner at the Indianapolis 500, unassailable. Here’s another stat for you: Ford calculated that if you took every F-Series truck built in 2022, from the F-150 all the way to the F-550 chassis cab, and lined them from end to end, the line of new trucks would reach all the way from the home base in Dearborn, Michigan, to Los Angeles.

For the record, when you crunch the numbers, that all works out to a new F-Series truck being sold somewhere in North America on the average of one every 49 seconds. There’s another anniversary at work here, too, as 2023 will mark the 75th consecutive year of F-Series production. One of them is the new F-150 Lighting, the muscle truck that now holds down the title of top-selling electric pickup in the United States.

You can make a strong argument that the coming of the automobile put Daytona Beach, Florida, and environs firmly into the public’s consciousness, going right back to when Ransom Eli Olds and Alexander Winton had their first gentlemanly charge along the hard-packed sand in Ormond Beach more than 100 years ago. From NASCAR to Harley-Davidson, vehicles of all kinds have found a playground in Daytona Beach ever since then, a party that continues right up through today. One element of car enthusiasm that’s indigenous to Daytona is the crowd of Jeep enthusiasts who happily come to town and show off their thoroughly personalized Wranglers and Rubicons. Appropriately, Jeep will be unveiling two new beach-themed models, one of them exclusive to the event, when Jeep Beach 2023 takes place in Daytona Beach from April 20th through 23rd of next year.

The blue vehicle on the left is the Wrangler High Tide, which is making a return to the Jeep model lineup and is just going on sale now, identifiable by its 35-inch BFGoodrich T/A tires mounted on 17-inch, beadlock-capable wheels. Among its notables are a spare-relocation kit with hinge-gate reinforcement, fender extensions and a Sunrider Fliptop roof treatment. Even more exclusive is the other Jeep, the Wrangler Jeep Beach special edition just for the Daytona Beach event, built in a limited edition of 500 units with outside markings and Jeep Beach-embroidered leather seating. The Jeep Beach edition will be available to order in January with a list price of $54,040.

Following a hiatus, Hyundai is about to make its return to one of Canada’s largest automotive salons, the Montreal Auto Show, which takes place next month in the Francophone metropolis. Hyundai plans to commemorate its return to the auto show circuit in Canada by unveiling two new vehicles, both of them electrified. Specifically, Montrealers will get to examine the Hyundai SEVEN, the company’s intrepretation of a future non-ICE SUV, plus the all-new IONIQ 6, a highly aerodynamic sedan study based on the Prophecy EV concept and making its Canadian debut as a production vehicle..

First unveiled last year at the Los Angeles Auto Show, the SEVEN rides on Hyundai’s E-GMP electric platform and has a targeted driving range of 480 kilometers on a full charge, with a fast recharge from 10 percent battery capacity to 80 percent needing only 20 minutes. Among its interior attributes are a retractable control stick, lounge chairs and a built-in mini fridge.

Acura, the halo brand of Honda, is moving ahead with development work in anticipation of releasing the ZDX, its first all-electric vehicle wrapped in crossover bodywork. Created at the Acura Design Studio in Southern California, the ZDX is now clad in camouflage as it participates in real-world evaluations on California highways.

Sold in a two-model range, the ZDX and performance ZDX Type S evoke styling themes first unveiled when Acura displayed its Acura Precision EV Concept during Monterey Car Week back in August. The first emissions-free offerings from Acura, both versions of the ZDX will arrive in showrooms during 2023.

If you’re unfamiliar with Hennessey Performance, you’d be well advised to get acquainted. Based in Sealy, Texas, Hennessey specializes in hypercar development and special editions of existing vehicles, such as their new take on the Ford F-150 Raptor, which they’ve turned into a monster with four digits’ worth of output. The VelociRaptoR 1000, to use the truck’s full name, has had a fundamental transplant in which the standard twin-turbocharged V-6 is replaced by a version of Ford’s 5.2-liter Predator V-8, with more than 700 stock horsepower, and goes on from there.

Hennessey already reliably upgrades the Predator, the engine in the Shelby GT500, to some 1,200 horsepower at the wheels. With the Raptor redo, it fits a larger, 3.8-liter supercharger that it says will bring this truck in at an even 1,000 horsepower. High-flow induction, larger fuel injectors and upgraded fuel lines also contribute to an output rating that’s 40 percent better than stock. Exterior improvements include Hennessey custom wheels and a custom front light bar.

Being the home of Walt Disney World and other theme parks, central Florida can tell the world a thing or three about wildly tricked-out thrill rides. In that spirit, a private firm in Kissimmeee is transforming august British vehicles of the past into something new and considerably improved. ECD Automotive Design was founded in 2013 and specialized in very high-end builds of vintage Land Rovers and Jaguars from the British classic era, and recently opened a new, 100,000-square-foot production facility. It’s operated by two transplanted Brits who told the Orlando Sentinel that both come from outside the automotive world but have guessed that a market exists for reimagined British classic with modern power, either ICE or electric.

The photo provides a good summary of the type of vehicle that ECD produces. It has teams across the U.K. and Europe that seek out rebuildable examples of various Land Rover models, especially the Defender 90 and Defender 110, plus E-type Jaguars in need of a new purpose. One such Land Rover is the Custom D110, which starts out at $224,000 and offers a plethora of custom and convenience accessorization, plus power from your choice of a Cummins turbocharged diesel engine or the 6.2-liter Chevrolet LS3 small-block gasoline V-8, with ECD promoting a claimed 0-60 time of six seconds flat for the custom Landy. Electric power is also available, depending on model.

In the interest of full disclosure, I write for PRI Magazine, which is the title of the magazine produced by Performance Racing Industry, the hardcore race parts subsidiary of SEMA, the Special Equipment Manufacturers Association. SEMA represents the North American automotive aftermarket, which is a $50 billion industry today. Not bad for an industry that started out with entrepreneurs casting and grinding individual go-fast components in their one-car garages or cellars. This fascinating book by CarTech examines in broad detail how this business got started, with individual speed proprietors chasing their dreams.

This story takes you back literally to the days of the Ford Model T, when speed parts started dribbling out in ones and twos and by the end of World War II, led to the creation of the modern automotive aftermarket. In 192 softcover pages, the highly regarded journalist and hot rod historian Tony Thacker leads the reader on a decade-by-decade progression of the business, touching on the myriad of speed suppliers individually. The book is richly illustrated and beyond any question, belongs in the library of every enthusiast of racing history and American high performance. Many of the myriad photos depict speed parts now in the collections of the late Bill Smith’s fabulous Museum of American Speed in Lincoln, Nebraska. CarTech, incidentally, already publishes the perfect companion volume to this book, a history of America’s speed shops authored by JDOW cohort Bob McClurg.

In the Middle East, where petroleum is the eternal king, some unusual occurrences involving motor vehicles have been happening of late. Hyundai has begun marketing its XCIENT line of cargo trucks powered by hydrogen fuel cells, and has already put them to work in limited numbers from Germany and New Zealand to its home in South Korea as evaluations of the new powertrain continues. This week, Hyundai announced that three straight-frame XCIENT trucks have been delivered to Israel, which is emerging as one of the world’s most advanced societies when it comes to alternative-fuel adoption. This marks the first time the hydrogen-fueled trucks have been evaluated by a customer in the Middle East.

The first of the three trucks is a two-wheel-drive Hyundai XCIENT box truck that will be delivered to Israeli agency Colmobil, one of three firms conducting the evaluation, the others being Hyundai partners Bazan, the hydrogen producer; plus hydrogen refueling station operator Sonol. Hyundai is endeavoring to create a “hydrogen value chain” in Israel, essentially setting up an infrastructure for the trucks’ use and refueling, with Israel on record as intending to choke its greenhouse gas emissions down by 85 percent over current levels by 2050. The commercial testing will get underway in the first quarter of 2023.

Not everybody out there is ready to dive deep into the EV world and for those who aren’t, the hybrid, which combines electric and ICE propulsion, has been an attractive option. By every indication, the hybrid choice is going to be even easier when Toyota introduces the newest edition of the hybrid that started it all, the compact Prius, with deliveries of the 2023 model set to commence next month. Toyota envisions it as a “completely transformed model,” with a much sharper exterior profile, a fully redone interior with 12.3-inch touchscreen, and a full safety suite. But there’s more, because this car is all about alternative power.

The Prius is about to become a much more serious road car, thanks to Toyota engineers. A new-generation hybrid powertrain, based around a larger 2.0-liter ICE powerplant, will give the 2023 Prius up to 196 horsepower – an increase of 60 percent – with upgraded on-demand electronic AWD also available. Toyota is describing the car as the most fuel-efficient Prius ever produced, capable of delivering up to 57 MPG in combined tests for the front-drive LE trim grade. From the all-new Toyota Crown down to the hydrogen fuel cell-motivated Mirai, Toyota will now offer a fleet of 14 alternate-fuel models in various sizes.

Motorsport in the United States raises its future stars through a variety development pipelines, with stars such as Jeff Gordon, Ryan Newman and Tony Stewart proving the value of the USAC Silver Crown series as a place to gain seat time. The big open-wheel cars generally run 100-lap races over a variety of oval lengths on both dirt and pavement. Silver Crown drivers have to learn how to preserve their car, and their tires, for the crucial closing laps. One of the nation’s more prominent young drivers is Kaylee Bryson, 21, of Muskogee, Oklahoma, who will run for rookie of the year honors in the 2023 Silver Crown season, running the full tour for Sam Pierce Racing.

As the logos on her firesuit make clear, Bryson has already attracted the attention of significant sponsors, with most of her top-tier racing focused so far on the USAC National Midget series. The agency agreement she signed with Sam Pierce Racing will also allow her to run the team’s Chevrolet Camaro on road courses in the Trans-Am TA2 series, which uses stock car-themed equipment as another popular and effective training ground for aspiring motorsport stars. Bryson achieved some local notoriety when she pushed a winged 410 Sprint car on pavement to a fifth-place finish at Citrus County Speedway in Inverness, Florida, after starting 11th. In Silver Crown, she ran three races for Sam Pierce Racing in 2022, which included an amazing run at the Springfield Mile in Illinois, where she time-trialed for a front-row starting spot and finished fifth despite losing one cylinder to a snapped rocker arm. Back aboard a Midget, Bryson will also assault the famed Chili Bowl Nationals next month.