Pod Rods: Hyundai is Iron Man; MINIS take the U.S.; and more car stuff

Comics and super-heroes inspire another Hyundai; a local collector's Lancia's in action in more videos; and a MOPAR muscle car hits the quarter-mile.

This is just some of this weekend's edition of Pod Rods, along with a look at a bunch of car lovers' gatherings and cruise-ins:

-- Hyundai continues its tie-in with some fun movie franchises with this week's unveiling of the special edition Iron Man-inspired Kona SUV on the opening day of San Diego Comic-Con 2018. Taking center stage at the Marvel booth, the Kona features both design elements that closely resemble the dynamic Iron Man suit. And here's the big news - the Kona Iron Man Edition will be available to customers via a limited global production run, production scheduled to begin December, the first units available early 2019. For more details, visit KonaIronManEdition.com.

“Hyundai’s ongoing collaboration with Marvel is a great way for us to become a part of what people are interested in and engage with a highly passionate fan base,” said Hyundai marketing VP Minsoo Kim. “Our relationship is more than just product placement as we aim to create custom experiences that resonate with the Marvel audience. The Kona Iron Man Edition is a perfect example of blending our two worlds together into one special vehicle that we hope will excite fans of both brands all around the globe.”

On the outside, the Kona has a unique front-lighting signature, including a custom daytime running light form that closely resembles the facemask and eye shape of the Iron Man suit. Other Tony Stark-like flourishes include an Iron Man mask motif on the roof, a unique V-shaped hood garnish, front bonnet Iron Man mask badging, Stark Industries lower fascia and rear door decals, Iron Man-engraved headlamp internal surfaces, custom 18-inch alloy wheels with Iron Man mask center caps, an Iron Man engraving for the D-pillars, and a dark chrome front grille. The exterior color is an exclusive Iron Man red with matte gray. Inside, Tony Stark’s signature adorns the instrument panel alongside a unique Iron Man shift lever knob, a special head-up display and center stack featuring Iron Man visual graphics, and a custom seat design. For a video tour, go to youtube.com/watch?v=xnIA-HOTJhs.

-- The next two episodes of Jacksonville car collector John Campion's "The Road Ahead" video series on YouTube further his in-depth history of his significant classic Lancia race car collection, which includes his huge stable of Martini Racing cars.

Campion has what he calls the largest U.S. collection of sleek red, blue and black-striped race cars from Martini, including World Rally Championship, sports car and prototype racers. They comprised a big part of this year's Amelia Island Concours d'Elegance's Martini class, and included his 1981 Lancia Beta Monte Carlo Turbo, 1982 Lancia LC1, 1983 Lancia 037, 1985 Lancia Delta S4, 1988 Lancia Delta Integrale and a 1981 Fiat 242 van once used as a race team truck.

The Chapter 3 film, "Racing at the Heritage Exhibition," showcases his on-track exhibition of three of his Martini Racing collection at Daytona International Speedway during the Rolex 24, at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y01CpJgiB70.

Chapter 4 is "Exhibiting the LC2" at the concours, at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z48wRRD8jvg&feature=youtu.be. It also has some sweeping scenes from the concours, as well as the Hagerty Youth Judging team checking out the LC2, which won the youth judging class's first place. One of his other videos, “The Road Ahead: Resurrecting a Legend,” focuses on Campion's 1982 Lancia LC2's restoration and can be seen at https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=e-figt9YYeE.

Campion is co-founder, chairman and chief executive officer of APR Energy and its mobile turbine power systems. He brought three of the Lancia race cars to the Rolex 24 at Daytona Jan. 27 and ran them in a high-speed vintage display, where some of the documentary's footage was shot. And all of Campion's videos and other information can be found on his Twitter page at https://twitter.com/johnjcampion/

-- There's a new Dodge Charger Hellcat in town, but it isn't street legal. It's the Mopar-powered National Hot Rod Association (NHRA) Funny Car version, making its competition debut this weekend at the Dodge Mile-High NHRA Nationals Powered by Mopar at Bandimere Speedway near Denver.

“Our job at Mopar is to put the best race car underneath our drivers and keep them winning. We know this new body, developed in collaboration with the Dodge//SRT brand and Don Schumacher Racing, will do just that,” said Pietro Gorlier, Head of Parts and Service (Mopar), FCA. “The changes made to this new Funny Car body will improve on-track performance and help us carry on the Mopar brand’s long tradition of success at the dragstrip.”

Schumacher Racing driver Matt Hagan will be the first to harness the new 10,000-plus-horsepower beast. The funny car shares visual cues and characteristics from the supercharged, 707-horsepower production Dodge Charger SRT Hellcat. The splitter substantially mimics the look and shape of the production vehicle’s splitter while generating greater downforce to help plant the Funny Car to the track. The bodyside scallops have been redesigned to more closely identify with the production Hellcat while also enhancing on-track function and performance. A production Charger SRT Hellcat was used as a template to create the unique vehicle graphics. Front end graphics recreate the distinctive Hellcat grille and badging, and decal markers also call out the air extractors and hood scoop of the production model.

-- Automobili Pininfarina released some teaser images of its planned new PF0 luxury electric hypercar in New York this week, with legendary Italian designer Luca Borgogno saying the company has had "an unprecedented heritage" of delivering cars that are both beautiful and technically innovative.

"Creating this combination in the first Pininfarina-branded road car is a dream come true," he said. “The design of PF0 will espouse purity, beauty and innovation.”

Pininfarina's goal is a car that can hit 60 mph in less than two seconds, break 250 mph and provide a potential range of more than 300 miles. The reveal was done at last weekend’s Formula E street race.

Automobili Pininfarina also announced plans to bring on board ex-Formula 1 racing driver Nick Heidfeld to help develop the PF0 vehicle's dynamics, prior to its release for sale in late 2020.

-- Toyota is sailing away for the next six years on an exotic hybrid yacht called Energy Observer, the first autonomous hydrogen vessel that emits no greenhouse gases or particle exhaust, it said. The electrically propelled vessel operates via a mix of renewable energies and a system that produces hydrogen from seawater. Its six-year odyssey will test on-board technology in extreme conditions, led by Victorien Erussard and Jérôme Delafosse and sponsored by Toyota.

"The vessel is a vehicle to deliver positive and inspiring information," Toyota said. "In addition, it demonstrates and shares solutions for extracting energy harmlessly from nature. Energy Observer showcases technologies that will support tomorrow's energy networks to make them efficient and applicable on a large scale."

The radically futuristic catamaran's upper-deck is covered in solar panels, while a set of wind turbines also channel power into the ship's batteries. Now in the Mediterranean, the ship sails to Northern Europe in 2019 and hopes to reach Tokyo in time for 2020's Olympic Games.

-- Aston Martin is showing off its Volante Vision Concept, a luxury concept aircraft with vertical take-off and landing capabilities. Produced in partnership with Cranfield University, Cranfield Aerospace Solutions and Rolls-Royce, the concept aims to "bring luxury personal transportation to the sky," Aston said. The concept has room for three adults and is a near-future study that previews a flying autonomous hybrid-electric vehicle for urban and inter-city air travel. Aston Martin said the Volante Vision Concept take full advantage of the latest advances in aerospace, electrification and autonomous technologies, coupled with Aston Martin’s signature design.

 “With the population in urban areas continuing to grow, congestion in towns and cities will become increasingly demanding," Aston Martin President/CEO Andy Palmer said. "... Air travel will be a crucial part in the future of transportation, the Volante Vision Concept is the ultimate luxury mobility solution."

-- British luxury car maker Bentley celebrated its centenary July 10, and produced a stunning little film that compresses that history into computer-generated carved silver images seen at youtube.com/watch?time_continue=2&v=S8WLWNVCUSg. W.O. Bentley founded Bentley Motors in order to “build a fast car, a good car, the best in its class.” These days, its range of sedans, coupes and its new Bentayga SUV continues to be made at the Bentley factory in Crewe, in northwest England. To mark the Centenary, Bentley's Mulliner team created a car as a tribute to its founder, called the Mulsanne W.O. Edition by Mulliner. Bentley has a wide range of Centenary activities planned between now and the end of 2019. And a few weeks ago, Jacksonville officials joined Bentley to announce Brickell Motors opens its 25,000-square-foot Bentley of Jacksonville dealership by early 2019 on Bonneval Road on the Southside.

-- MINI TAKES THE STATES 2018, the British car company's road rally for MINI owners, kicked off Saturday from two locations on opposite sides of the country. The two rally routes, each with more than 800 participants, started in Orlando and Portland, will meet in the middle at Keystone Resort in Colorado this weekend for a celebration of everything MINI. The bi-annual trek will cover more than 5,000 miles in total, traveling across America on state and county roads, stopping in 15 cities along the way. The rally raises funds for charity partner Feeding America.

-- The first North American designation of McLaren’s most extreme road car ever built, the McLaren Senna, has been delivered to  Michael Fux in New York City. An entrepreneur, philanthropist and car collector, Fux’s Senna features an extensive list of bespoke content specified through McLaren Special Operations like its full visual carbon fiber body tinted a custom emerald green color known as “Fux Green.” Blue and red wheel centre lock nuts and ball polished wheels complete the exterior, while the body color is carried through to the interior, with “Fux Green” Tinted Carbon in Gloss Finish, complimented by a bright white leather fascia, seats, door uppers, and steering wheel, with green contrast stitching on the seats and steering wheel. Bearing the name of legendary Formula 1 driver, Ayrton Senna, the newest family member to the Ultimate Series was developed to be the most responsive and engaging road-legal McLaren ever with a 4-liter twin-turbocharged V-8 that produces 789 hp and hits 60mph in 2.7 seconds and 124 mph in 6.8.

It's a mid-summer heat wave, but there's still car events happening:

CAR SHOWS

Fourth annual Summer Showcase Car Show and Bass Sound Competition: 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Saturday at the Jacksonville Equestrian Center, 13611 Normandy Blvd. Information: nadbl.org/index.php/events-calendar/4th-annual-summer-showcase-2x.

A Star in the East No. 943 Car and Bike Show: 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday outside Regency Square Mall, 9501 Arlington Expressway. Free to public, $20 for show motorcycles and $25 for show cars.

L.A.M.A.'s for Tatiana Benefit Car and Motorcycle Wash: 11 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. Saturday at Adamec Harley-Davidson, 8909 Baymeadows Road. Hosted by the Latin American Motorcycle Association Jacksonville, it's a benefit for Tatiana and includes a cookout and 1 p.m. salsa lessons.

Florida International Rally and Motorsport Park Track Attacks: Most Saturdays at the on-road and off-road racing and testing facility, located at 7266 Airport Road in Starke. The track days allow car owners to test their setup and improve driving skills. The cost is $214 per driver in advance, or $250 the day of the event. Guests and crew pay $10 each to enter. Online registration ends at 11 p.m. the day prior to each event. For more information on all events at The FIRM, go to gorally.com.

CRUISE-INS

Mandarin cruise-ins: 7 to 9 a.m. at Village Bread Cafe at the Crown Point Plaza, located at 10111 San Jose Blvd. The other is from 6 to 9 a.m. in the parking lot outside Panera Bread at 11111 San Jose Blvd.

Callahan Cruisers: 5 to 8 p.m. Saturday at Sonic Drive In, 7045 Normandy Blvd.

Amelia Cruizers: 5 to 8 p.m. this and every third Saturday at the McDonald’s located at 463761 Florida 200/A1A in Yulee.

Sunshine State Chevelles’ third Saturday cruise-in: 4 to 7 p.m., Saturday at PDQ restaurant, located at 194 Florida 13 in Saint Johns.

New cruise-in coming: 4 to 8 p.m. every first Saturday night at All Souls Anglican Church at 4042 Hartley Road in Mandarin.

Send information on automotive and motorcycle events to dan.scanlan@jacksonville.com or Dan Scanlan, Florida Times-Union, 1 Riverside Ave., Jacksonville FL 32202