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Scout has quietly introduced the Traveler Spirit of ’26.

Pays homage to the Spirit of ’76 package from 50 years ago.

Production is set to begin in 2027 and work at plant continues.

It feels like Scout’s return was announced a semiquincentennial ago, so it’s fitting that the brand is celebrating America’s 250 th anniversary with a new Traveler Spirit of ’26.

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Introduced with little fanfare, the model celebrates the red, white, and blue while also delving into the history books. In 1976, the Winter Olympics were being held in Innsbruck, Austria and the U.S. Ski Team needed a rugged fleet of vehicles to transport people and their gear.

More: Scout’s Latest Concept Rethinks What Actually Belongs On The Back Of An SUV

International Harvester stepped forward and provided ten Scout Travelers and seven Scout II Traveltops. Since they were for the U.S. Ski Team and 1976 was America’s bicentennial, they were outfitted with a white exterior as well as blue and red stripes.

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The company also added U.S. Ski Team decals, ski racks, and winches on a handful of them. Other highlights included a V8 engine, an automatic transmission, and four wheel drive.

The vehicles were a hit and Scout decided to offer a retail version known as the Spirit of ’76. While these eschewed the ski-related details, they retained the iconic livery. The package also included a Wedgwood Blue interior, a blue roll bar, and Rallye wheels wrapped in larger tires. Some versions even offered a denim blue soft top.

Now, 50 years later, Scout is trying to recreate that magic with the Traveler Spirit of ’26. While it’s flown under the radar for the past few days, we randomly discovered the model on a slow news day.

That doesn’t bode well for Scout as the excitement has seemingly evaporated, but the model features a red, white, and blue livery with a graphic layout inspired by old Rallye packages. While it doesn’t quite have the same charm as the original, the new version does incorporate a Harvester graphic.

Since Scout doesn’t have any vehicles to sell, they decided to release a bunch of retro-inspired merch alongside the colorful concept. This includes $36 t-shirts, coolers, and a $99 jacket.

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Speaking of production, Scout’s latest plant update is from June and the facility seems to be coming together nicely. Industrial air conditioners were recently installed at the body shop and were going in on the assembly building. Access roads were also in the process of being built and work was continuing on supplier buildings.

The company has been angered by continuous questions about when production will begin and if there have been delays, but their website states “initial production [is] targeted for 2027, [but is] subject to change.

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When it seems like the entire world, or at least everyone in the gaming community, is united in defiance against the proliferation of AI in games, it's jarring to see game companies increasingly embrace the tech as a way to streamline efficiency and, in a lot of cases, displace human jobs. A recent survey could shed some light on that dichotomy.

In a recent survey of 3,800 Steam players conducted by The GameDiscoverCo newsletter , an alarming number of respondents expressed that they were mostly fine with AI being used in video games. The results found that, of surveyed respondents, a whopping 23.4% "have absolutely no problem with it," which I find shocking, while 19.6% said they were simply "fine with it."

The greatest share of responders said they're "neutral" on AI in games at 25.6%, while 23.3% said they're "not super keen on it," and a tiny 8.1% said they wouldn't consider playing a game with AI in it under any circumstance.

Thankfully, Valve mandates that all developers on Steam disclaim whether AI was used on their games and to what degree, so players across the spectrum of acceptance of AI have the tools to be informed before making a purchase. And that's where developers and publishers looking to push AI should heed warning, as a separate survey proves that while tolerance for AI in games is still surprisingly high, people are paying attention.

That other survey found that 44.4% of respondents, "check in detail" to see whether a Steam game was made using the help of AI, while 44.7% said they'll "glance at it but not pay much attention. 10.9% said they "won't try to read it" at all. That means nearly 90% of polled Steam users will typically check a game's AI disclaimer before buying the game, which suggests to me that most PC gamers aren't ready to just roll over and let gen-AI slop slip its way into games without check.

It's worth noting that the surveys' respondents aren't reflective of the overall Steam player base, and are, in The GameDiscoverCo's words, "more committed than normal." Still, the results are useful in gauging how a particular brand of Steam user feels about AI in game development at the current moment, a topic which will continue to evolve alongside AI and the overall industry's approach to the tech.

Here are the best PC games to play right now.

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The all-electric BMW M4 could debut as soon as 2028 with up to 1,000 hp.

As with the next M3, the M4 will also be sold with a twin-turbo inline-six.

These renderings are based on BMW’s recent M Concept Neue Klasse.

The M3 is not the only member of the family lining up for a battery-powered variant. BMW is reportedly developing a sleek, two-door, electric version of the M4 as well, possibly badged the iM4, and it might look something like this.

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At this year’s Le Mans 24 Hours, BMW pulled the covers off the dramatic M Concept Neue Klasse, a preview of the coming electric M3. Everything suggests the concept will map closely onto the eventual production car, which means the two-door iM4 should carry many of the same design cues.

Read: BMW’s Electric M3 Concept Stands Next To The E30 And Hopes You Approve

As these renderings from Nikita Chuyko for Kolesa show, the concept’s design works quite well when morphed into a coupe. The front end has remained largely unchanged, sporting a carbon-fiber splitter, small, square DRLs, and aggressive headlights neatly integrated into the slim kidney grilles.

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Illustrations Nikita Chuyko / Kolesa

Whereas the M Concept Neue Klasse has odd door handles similar to the Ford Mustang Mach-E, these renderings show it with more traditional handles that sit flush with the bodywork.

The rear is also mostly the same as the four-door concept, sporting the same sleek LED taillights and square fog lights positioned on the bumper. Aerodynamics was a key focus of the show car, and the production model may have a similarly large diffuser with prominent venturi tunnels running up from the floor, sucking the rear tires into the pavement.

What About Power

The BMW M Concept Neue Klasse previews the new electric M3.

BMW isn’t expected to unveil the production-spec electric M3, rumored to wear the iM3 badge, until next year, which means the electric M4 , currently codenamed ZA2, probably won’t surface before 2028. Like its sedan sibling, the coupe will run four electric motors, with output expected to land somewhere between 700 hp and 1,000 hp.

Fortunately for ICE fans, it’s not all doom and gloom. Just like the next-gen M3, which will also be sold with the familiar 3.0-liter twin-turbocharged inline-six, the next-gen M4 will be available with the same engine. It’s not yet known how similar the ICE models will look compared to the combustion ones.

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Illustrations Nikita Chuyko / Kolesa