Episode 103 - Faraday Face - Throwin' Wrenches Automotive Podcast

Welcome to the automotive podcast that wasn’t invited to the opening of the Tesla restaurant.

On this episode of Throwin’ Wrenches…

What makes your supercar super?
Have you picked out your Faraday Face?
Rivian is bringing more jobs to Central Illinois.

All of that and more on this episode of Throwin’ Wrenches.

Thanks for listening. To join in on the fun of the show, just email us at info@throwinwrenches.com or post a review on itunes to be heard worldwide!

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Sponsor:

Fort’s Toyota of Pekin

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Projects:

Eric:

Needed more RUSTBUSTERS.com parts for the chainsaw truck.
Aiden lost AC in the 1997 Celica
SCCA in Mossville.
Camping trip to Utah
ROAR

Daryl:

Solara starter
Smoke machine fun
Got a new shop vac.
Incredible 80’s Car Museum in Dwight

NEWS:

Report: Nissan Closing Two More Production Plants By 2027

The two plants produce vehicles for the U.S., but Nissan gave no indication on the future of those products.

Justin BannerWriterMotorTrend StaffPhotographerManufacturerPhotographerJul 21, 2025

With Nissan in dire straits, the Japanese brand has been reaching for every avenue to save itself through the “Re:Nissan” initiative. Recently, word came down on July 15 that its Oppama plant in Kanagawa, Japan, would shut down and production there would move to Kyushu (in Fukuoka, Japan) by early 2027. Now, a new report suggests is that two of Nissan’s Mexico plants will shutter in the same timeframe with no word on where the vehicles built there will be assembled in the future.

Faraday Future’s New FX Super One Luxury Van Has a Funky F.A.C.E.

AI-enhanced interactive LED grille aside, can this jumbo luxury people mover make a dent in a market where full-size SUVs rule?

Mike Floyd July 17, 2025 Motortrend

We’re at Faraday Future’s Southern California headquarters getting our first look at its upcoming new vehicle, when we walk around to the front of the car. The LED grille is flashing and pulsing through images and video like a Times Square billboard. That’s the point: The F.A.C.E. of the FX Super One is designed to draw attention. It got ours.

F.A.C.E. stands for Front AI Communication Ecosystem, and like everything else in this era, it has an artificial-intelligence component to it, because of course it does. Imagine you have your Super One parked outside at a sporting event, and you program your F.A.C.E. to promote a product you have. People could potentially interact with said product placement and get answers. Or you can just goof off and have it show photos of you in a Speedo, or your dog or cat in a cute outfit. Oh, the possibilities. (To be clear, it has to be parked to show anything interactive.)

It’s a neat party trick, but chances are most of the folks who end up buying a Super One—which Faraday is rolling out as part of the company’s new Faraday X subbrand strategy (think Lexus versus Toyota)—when it goes on sale sometime early in 2026 as the vanguard model of a planned product blitz over the next 24 months won’t opt for the fancy digital mug.

What will they get as a whole? A huge, luxurious minivan (Faraday prefers MPV, or multi-purpose vehicle) with a passel of unique options, a suite of AI-enhanced software and technologies that help power it and its systems, and two all-wheel-drive powertrains from which to choose, one all electric and one Faraday calls an AI Hybrid Extended Range (AIHER). Right now, it’s sort of an answer to a question that not a lot of Americans in the market for big people movers are asking. But Faraday hopes it will find a niche.

Local:

AutoCanada Inc. has firmed up agreements to sell 13 of its 17 new-vehicle franchises in the United States

as it prepares to exit the American market and refocus on Canada. The deals with several unnamed buyers are worth Cdn $82.7 million (US $60.3 million), including real estate, the company said July 16. They include Chevrolet of Palatine, Crystal Lake Chrysler-Dodge-Jeep-Ram, Hyundai of Palatine, North City Honda, as well as two multi-franchise locations: Autohaus of Peoria, consisting of Audi, Mercedes-Benz, Porsche, and Volkswagen stores; and Bloomington Automall with Audi, Lincoln, Mercedes-Benz, Subaru and Volkswagen locations.

Source: Automotive News Canada

New Rivian supplier ‘Adient’ set to bring dozens of jobs to Town of Normal

By Imani McClay NEWS 25

Published: Jul. 21, 2025 at 3:50 PM CDT|Updated: Jul. 21, 2025 at 5:28 PM CDT

NORMAL (25News Now) – Dozens of full-time jobs are headed to McLean County as a new supplier for Rivian gets ready to plant their roots in Normal.

Gov. JB Pritzker, alongside the Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity and Adient, the new supplier, made the announcement Monday.

Adient, a global leader in automotive seating, will establish a facility in Normal to assemble front and back seat components for the EV company. The supplier plans to make a capital investment of more than $8 million, creating about 75 new full-time jobs.

Nik Duffle, the Town of Normal’s director of economic development, said this will have a huge economic impact.

“Being a job provider and a capital investor in the community will just continue to provide support and stability for the local economy,” said Duffle.

Adient will repurpose an existing 85,000 square foot warehouse south of College Avenue, adjacent to Rivian’s plant.

As part of the State’s incentive package, Adient received a reimagining energy and vehicles Illinois’s tax credit for their investment and job creation.