The title of the weirdest premiere from the 2021 Guangzhou Auto Show probably goes to the Supercar Pickup Concept from Great Wall Motors. While it is based on the King Kong Cannon production vehicle, the ultra-wide bodykit and the slammed-down suspension make it look like it came out of a video game or some bizarre Fast and Furious film knockoff.
Starting with the base model, the Great
Wall King Kong Cannon is the Chinese brand’s latest pickup designed as a rival
to popular models like the Toyota Hilux and the Ford Ranger. Behind the
emphatic name hides a standard dual-cab design with toned-up fenders, a large
chrome grille, and LED headlights reminiscent of the Tank 500 SUV.
To make the King Kong Cannon a little bit
more interesting for Chinese customers, Great Wall Motors presented a series of
concept cars with different types of modifications. The most attention-grabbing
of them all is the Supercar Pickup which supposedly takes the truck to another
level in terms of style and performance – even if Great Wall shared nothing
about the latter.
True to the low-rider philosophy, the
Supercar Pickup sits a few inches from the ground, with wider tracks,
road-focused continental tires, and lots of negative camber on the front axle
making it look ready for the racetrack. The only parts that are still
recognizable are the standard doors and side windows. Wide fenders with
integrated gills, aerodynamic side sills, and a spoiler structure on the rear
bed have been added to boost King Kong’s visual appeal alongside black wheels
with yellow rings.
The aggressive front bumper will make you
forget anything you know about approach angles since a complex array of
intakes, splitters, and fins make Audi’s latest RS 3 Sportback look like an
entry-level hatchback. Even the headlights are different with intakes below
them and chrome-finished claws for a badass look. Similarly, the rear end is
dominated by a sporty bumper extension, dark-tinted taillights, quadruple
exhaust pipes, and a diffuser. Unfortunately, Great Wall Motors didn’t publish
any details on what’s under the Supercar Pickup’s bulged bonnet. And for all we
know, it could be hiding one of the
standard model’s uninspiring turbocharged 2.0-liter gasoline and diesel engines
or nothing at all.
Finally, we should also mention the rest
of the King Kong Cannon-based concepts including a more plausible rescue
mission vehicle for natural disasters, and another one focused on agriculture
with a drone and some kind of machinery on the rear bed. Mind you, the
production pick-up has only 500 kg of payload which is half of
what you get from the likes of the Ford Ranger, Mitsubishi L200, VW Amarok,
Toyota Hilux, Isuzu D-Max, etc.
