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Around the tracks: An epic SUV hill-climb battle in Russia

Plus, free parking for Melburnians, Volvo's XC100 rendered and a very relatable New Yorker cartoon.


When we’re not creating it ourselves, the CarAdvice team spends a lot of time finding and consuming motoring content from all over the world.

Here’s a handful of the photos, articles, videos or social media posts that most caught our eye last week. Some of them are brand new, others have been online for a while.

Enjoy them – just not too much, okay?


1. An epic SUV hill-climb battle in Russia

How many cars does it take to conquer a steep, icy, muddy hill? A fair few, it seems.

Feast your eyes on the latest insane stunt to come out of a Russia: a competition to see which modern SUV could tackle a hill-climb most effectively.

In a new YouTube video, a bunch of enthusiasts set out to see whether a range of cars – including a new Mercedes-Benz G500, a Subaru Forester and a Land Rover Range Rover – can outperform a Toyota LandCruiser Prado 150 on the toughest of terrains.

SUVs from Great Wall, Niva, and Jeep also feature and their efforts to scale the same intimidating hill make for an entertaining hour's worth of footage.

You can watch it below:


2. Free parking in Melbourne's CBD

For our Victorian readers, consider this a small reprieve after a challenging year – the City of Melbourne council is offering free on-street parking throughout the CBD for the holiday period.

Until Sunday 3 January 2021, Melburnians can enjoy 32 days of free parking while they do their Christmas shopping and dine out at restaurants.

Typically, it costs between $4 and $7 an hour to park on Melbourne's city streets.

To access the free parking, drivers need to print and display a free parking voucher on their dashboard, which can be accessed here.

Drivers still need to observe green sign time limits, disabled parking restrictions, clearways, no standing zones and residential permit restrictions.


3. This very apt New Yorker cartoon about car ads

If you've been brought to tears by a particularly moving car ad amid the emotional tumult of 2020, this one's for you...

If you're wondering which ad it's referencing, try any of the ones included in this astute 'COVID-19 ads are all the same' round-up:


4. This Volvo intern's render of what a potential XC100 could look like

Transport designer Kevin Goldwasser is currently doing an internship with Volvo and one of his projects was to render what an upper-large SUV from the brand could look like.

Given we've reported on rumours Volvo is planning a larger XC100 SUV to sit above the existing XC90, it's possible these unofficial designs from Goldwasser could point to the look and feel of the new arrival.

Offering six or seven seats, the XC100 is reportedly expected to be an XC90, Range Rover and Rolls Royce Cullinan “all in one”.

What do you think of this design? Could you see it ever making it to concept form or even production status?


5. From the Stevo files: Scale Customs KL on Instagram

I can't get enough of this guy's work. Lately he's been spruiking his custom wheels made to the same 1:64 scale as Hot Wheels cars and fashioned after iconic JDM wheel brands, but historically he's done some incredible modifications to the cars themselves.

And, really, the fact it happens at that 1:64 scale is almost the more mind-blowing part.

He doesn't go into a lot of detail about his process, although the images in his Instagram feed often shows that he starts out with a clay or polymer of some sort – for any body customising or widening – and then molds it in metal to then be bonded to whichever Hot Wheels car he started with.

Check out the below examples, and be sure to click through to his page here.

Mike Stevens

Susannah Guthrie

Susannah Guthrie has been a journalist for over a decade, covering everything from world news to fashion, entertainment, health and now cars. Having previously worked across titles like The New Daily, Elle, Harper's Bazaar, People Magazine and Cosmopolitan, Susannah now relishes testing family cars with the help of her husband and two-year-old son.

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