According to , ingenuity can be defined as “skill or cleverness in devising or combining” or “cleverness or aptness of design or contrivance.” We’d say that’s an apt description of a Frenchman named Emile who reportedly found himself stranded in the deserts of Northwest Africa after breaking a frame rail and a suspension swingarm underneath his Citroën 2CV.
What to do? Why, disassemble the broken hulk and build yourself a motorcycle from its pile of parts, of course! As the story goes, Emile was able to use the inventive machine to escape the desert, though not before convincing the local authorities that he wasn’t an insurgent and paying a fine for importing a non-conforming vehicle…
Since Emile was the only soul in the area, nobody has been able to confirm the veracity of the events that led to the little French runabout’s conversion into a makeshift motorcycle. That said, judging by the images you can see (apparently from the March 2003 issue of 2CV Magazine), this Citroën-bred two-wheeler does indeed exist, and it was definitely fashioned from parts scavenged from an old 2CV.
Emile, wherever you are, we take our hats off to your real-life MacGuyver skills, sir.
There’s about to be a whole lot more traffic news for select buyers. SiriuxXM radio is already offered free for three months to folks who buy a new Audi, but now, if you select MMI Navigation Plus or MMI Navigation Plus with MMI Touch, you’ll get four years of SiriusXM Traffic, free, even if you don’t pick up the subscription to the rest of SiriusXM’s offerings.
The offer is available on all Audi models so long as you tick the correct options box. With head units supposedly , though, perhaps you’ll want to wait to get the most of your radio, instead of having all those dead SiriusXM options staring back at you. to read the press release.
Zhejiang Youngman LotusAutomobile has been jettisoned from the dwindling pool of bidders for after for the whole kaboodle. Exact reasons weren’t given for Youngman leaving the table, but according to a report in Autoweek.nl, “Chinese bureaucracy” was partially to blame and there apparently wasn’t complete confidence in the Chinese company’s finances.
Reports say the bidding is meant to close in the next week, but we still don’t know who all the bidders are – India’s Mahindra & Mahindra, China’s Geely/ and at least one as-yet-unknown entity are after the whole company or select assets. Swedish media was hinting at another bidder with electric car knowledge, not from China, to take control of Saab. And if that same Autoweek.nl story is correct, Spyker’s Victor Muller didn’t leave the premises empty-handed, as “Spyker would be the licensing agent of the and continue to be paid for its use.”
There’s the right way to tackle the infamous Corkscrew at Laguna Seca and then there’s the way that puts your into the catch fence and on its roof. Ryan Ockey recently gave the latter option a shot during the Ferrari Challenge at Mazda Raceway with predictable results. All of the safety equipment both in the car and at the track worked as intended, however, and the driver walked away with little more than a bruised ego. There are no solid reports as to what caused the flying , but rumor has it there may have been a brake failure.
Unfortunately, the 458 Italia had to be pulled from the gravel trap by a tow truck, which meant a long, painful slog downhill on the Italian exotic’s roof. Check out and the rescue to see what we mean. Jump forward to two minutes in on the second clip to see things go downhill for Ockey.
The six basic building blocks of life are sulfur, phosphorus, oxygen, nitrogen, carbon and hydrogen. Arrange those in any number of ways and you can get either a single-celled paramecium or Angelina Jolie. The brand works much the same way. Take the same group of engines, interior bits and exterior design elements, combine them in various ways and you get everything from a three-door hatchback to a five-door crossover.
It all started with the three-door , but Mini kept reconfiguring its basic elements to create a full range of automobiles that now includes the Convertible, , , a , and this little guy: the , available for our test purposes with the aggressive John Cooper Works package. All members of the Mini clan, however, share the same DNA and do little to hide their lineage.
Truth be told, just the idea of the Mini Coupe has few fans around the Autoblog offices. What point is there to a Mini that’s smaller, heavier and more expensive than the standard hatchback? It seems to some that the Coupe exists just because it’s an easy and obvious way to configure those basic Mini building blocks. But just because one can build something doesn’t always mean one should. There’s got to be a reason.
Does the Mini Coupe have a reason for being? Or is its existence owed simply to the fact that it could be made, so it was?
That’s right a parking spot for $1 million! Well, that’s not quite fair. It’s a one-space, 12×23 foot parking garage with 15-foot ceilings that would allow the space to be “duplexed” to allow storage of two cars. The garage comes with its own deed and the owner will still pay monthly maintenance fees.
But wait, there’s more! While the price tag is a cool million, eligible buyers first must purchase a condo in the building of at least 8,000 sq. feet. The penthouse would qualify with 8,000 square feet of living space and a 3,000-square foot terrace. You’ll need at least $38.8 million for that one. But the water used in its showers will at least be fortified with vitamin C and aloe.
calculates that for the same amount of money you’ll pay for just the garage, you could incur a $115 parking ticket every day for almost 24 years.
Good news, Le Mans fans. Audi has released its “” documentary as a free download on iTunes. As with the first film, this sequel is narrated by none other than Jason Statham and details the Audi battle for its tenth win at the 2011 24 Hours of Le Mans. As you may recall, the race was a nail-biter for the race team. After seeing its sister entries removed from competition, the #2 R18 TDI went on to take the checkered flag by fighting off three rival Peugeot entries.
But the story was about more than the drivers and the cars. Team engineer Leena Gade officially became the first female in history to lead a Le Mans team to an overall victory.
Audi also made another documentary about the U.S. Ski Team called “Truth in Motion,” and all three films are available for free on iTunes. Check out the below for more information.
If you thought it seemed a little odd that Poland – a country without much of a history of producing exportable cars – would suddenly come out with a high-performance supercar, well… we’re afraid you may be right. Because the latest reports out of the Eastern European country suggest that the Arrinera project is nothing more than a reclothed replicar.
Arrinera, as you may recall, is a project to build a supercar in Poland. Specifications recently hit the interwebs, indicating a $160,000 list price and a 6.2-liter V8 with 650 horsepower driving the rear wheels through a Graziano gearbox for a 3.2-second sprint to 62 and a 211 mph top end.
Now reports coming out of Poland – citing a certain Jacek Balkan who seems to be the Slavic version of Jeremy Clarkson – are calling the whole project into question. According to the word on the Warsaw boulevard, the people at Arrinera took a Lamborghini replica made by another Polish outfit called Bojar Tuning and gave it a new skin. Interior components were reportedly borrowed from the Opel Corsa and late-90s , all in an effort to raise funds on the stock market.
The question we’re left with is, if the project started as a replica but now has its own design and identity, should its humbler beginnings matter? If the specs are right and legendary chassis tuner Lee Noble is involved, the Arrinera could still emerge as a winner. Of course, we’d have to drive it in order to tell for sure, but we’ve got some openings in our calendar coming up…
California is on its way to taking a ride with the autonomous car. By a vote of 37-0, the State Senate approved Senate Bill 1298 (you can read it ) that begins to establish how guidelines on and oversight of self-driving vehicles will be handled.
The bill charges the Department of the California Highway Patrol and the Department of Motor Vehicles with providing recommendations to the legislature on “the safe operation of autonomous vehicles on California’s public roads” with and without a licensed driver present. However, the driverless provision can’t come into effect until the draws up federal guidelines on autonomous cars without drivers.
The bill is being championed by Senator and MIT graduate Alex Padilla, who envisions “a future that includes self-driving cars” because, “Autonomous vehicles have the potential to and injuries.” California is the second state after Nevada to make genuine progress on the road to autonomous vehicles, and four other states are considering legislation. The CA bill goes to the State Assembly next and is expected to pass.
has finally wrapped up work on its crowd-sourced project . The company put the sports car on a dyno for final tuning and wound up with somewhere around 504 horsepower. That’s not too shabby given the jump in gusto was gleaned from a few bolt-on parts.
Nissan then set about fitting the steering wheel and shift nob as chosen by the teaming internet masses. A set of custom Recaro seats also replaced factory buckets. With the interior squared away, the company turned its eye toward ironing out the exterior.
A set of lightweight forged Volk wheels took the place of the factory rollers, and a new matte grey vinyl wrap took care of the standard yellow paint. Nissan debuted its creation at Z Dayz last weekend. for a look at the video for yourself.
What’s a fresh face worth? A lot when you’re talking about NASCAR. Because the styling is about all that links a stock car to the production vehicle it’s made to mirror. And for , the latest is the new .
The Blue Oval automaker the race car “based” on the new Fusion back in January. But at the Roush Fenway Fan Day in Concord, North Carolina, this coming Thursday, fans will get their first chance to see the new stock car in full race livery.
The paint scheme in question bears the red and white colors of Motorcraft, Ford’s spare parts division, as it will be raced by the Wood Brothers team in this year’s Sprint Cup. But if you can’t wait that long and aren’t going to be near Concord this week, you can check out the full-size clay mock-up put together by the Ford Design Center in Dearborn in the pair of high-resolution images below.
may have once been a form of motorsport in which only domestic automakers competed. And that’s largely still the case, with one notable exception: . The Japanese automaker faced some difficulty breaking into the Good Ol’ Boys racing series, but though some purists may still malign it, Toyota is in NASCAR to stay. And this is its latest car.
“Based”, in design anyway, on the latest , the new stock car from Toyota Racing Development is set to compete in the Sprint Cup next season, alongside the new (among other competitors from and ). The result of “an aggressive redesign”, the new racer was developed with input from the company’s Calty Design studio to look more like the road-going Camry than ever before.
Yes, it does bear a resemblance to its road-going cousin, especially in the fascia. That said, it’s still a composite body over a tube frame powered by a V8 engine driving the rear wheels. In other words, this is a Camry in name only.
Of course it doesn’t hurt Toyota’s case that the Camry is built in America with more American components than most “domestic” vehicles, and now the stock car looks more stock, too. Keep reading for the full press release.
Anyone considering a German-built car might want to buy it now. It could be a long summer.
Europe’s largest industrial union, IG Metall, is taking a tough stance against some job rules German carmakers want to enforce, potentially creating the possibility of a strike, according to .
“Talks are resuming, but so far five rounds of negotiations have produced little movement and a round of warning strikes earlier this month at several companies, including , and Daimler, suggest that the powerful union is gearing up for a confrontation,” the Bureau reported earlier this week.
The union wants a 6.5-percent pay raise for its workers and a limit in how many temporary workers the carmakers can use. Around the world, carmakers use temporary workers as way to increase production without increasing union membership and save money.
The union was offered a 3-percent pay raise, but that offer was rejected. Currently, German auto workers are some of the highest paid in the automotive world. And while parts of Europe remain in economic turmoil, Germany has shown signs of slow growth, which might be one reason some government officials are backing IG Metall.
All of this doesn’t bode well for General Motors’ German-based Opel. GM was hoping to get some concessions from the unions representing its workers as part of its restructuring. But if other carmakers are paying more for its workers, it’s unlikely the troubled Opel would be able to squeeze much of its people.
These are spy shots of the facelifted that we expect to see later this year. You’ll need to look very closely at the front to see where the lifting and tucking has been done: new LED headlights inside a slightly reworked grille. Around back are round tailpipes like those on the .
This is a that will hold us until the 2015 Audi R8 arrives – the one with the , and on offer. That last fact is tragic enough because we still love sports cars with sticks, but descends into the catastrophic since the six-speed manual available now is outstanding. We’re sure the next-gen coupe will be awesome, but we’ll enjoy this one while we have it. Check it out in the high-res gallery of spy shots above.
We’ve noticed that 2013 has been updated with dollar values for each of its four models, however, we’re not so sure the pricing is that black-and-white. has also updated the disclaimer at the bottom of the page, to read, “Prices and features are for survey purposes only and are subject to change and features may become unavailable at the time of vehicle introduction.” In other words, don’t get too fixated on the numbers, as they’re not locked down yet. And by playing with the configurator, you’re likely serving as a FoMoCo lab rat – after all, this is the company that never met a focus group it didn’t like.
It’s worth noting that Ford has not issued an official press release on pricing yet. But for now, it seems like the base Fusion S will start at $22,495, though we’re not sure whether that includes destination or not. Stepping up to the SE at $24,490 will upgrade the steel wheels to alloys, add heated, lighted mirrors with turn signal indicators, and get you body color rocker panels. Inside, the SE has a power driver’s seat and a better stereo, and backseat passengers get an armrest and their own HVAC ducts. The SE also allows you to order other stuff, including navigation and start/stop, or opt for a different engine than the base-spec 2.5-liter four-cylinder with automatic transmission.
The 1.6-liter EcoBoost four-cylinder is available with a manual or automatic on the SE for $25,290, while the start/stop-equipped version (automatic only) is $25,585. The 2.0-liter EcoBoost with automatic is $26,745 when ordered in SE trim. Ford lists a number of different packages and options, but they seem to be offered on a sliding scale, such that the packages are more expensive on the lower-priced models. For instance, the Luxury Package with leather and heated seats, among other equipment, is $1,505 on the 1.6-liter EcoBoost but only $1,050 on the 2.0-liter EcoBoost.
On the SE Hybrid, which starts at $27,995 and is equipped with a non-EcoBoost 2.0-liter four-cylinder and a CVT, the same Luxury Package is listed at $2,000. Apparently if you’re saving all that money on gas, you can afford to pay double the guy with the most powerful engine.
At the top of the Fusion price list, of course, rests the Titanium, which offers a lot of the optional stuff standard for $30,995. It’s also the only way to get all-wheel drive, which will set you back $32,995. Note that the Titanium is exclusively powered by the 2.0-liter EcoBoost and is not available with a manual, so you won’t be configuring your Fusion as a dual-use weekend rally car.
But then again, Ford will likely change this all tomorrow.
The day has finally arrived. cars have returned to the Forza Motorsport series on XBox 360 with the of the Porsche Expansion Pack for Forza Motorsport 4. Pony up 1600 Microsoft Points ($19.99 in real world money) and you’ll get 30 new cars, 20 new events, 10 new achievements and a Porsche-only Rivals Mode. Developer Turn 10 says that seven of the cars ( for a full list) are all-new to the Forza series, which brings the game’s fourth installment – including all of the vehicles released via downloadable content – to a grand total of 625 cars.
We know what you’re thinking. Twenty bones is a lot to drop on a single chunk of downloadable content when you’ve already paid $60 for the game itself and another $30 for the Season Pass, the latter of which has already filled your virtual garage with dozens and dozens of extra cars to drive. That’s all true, and no one would blame you for passing on this Porsche DLC, especially considering that Porsches were included with the price of the game in Forza 1, 2 and 3.
Consider this: 959, 962, 911 Sport Classic, GT2 RS … Those are just four of the thirty cars from Stuttgart that you’ll be passing up the opportunity to drive (digitally) if you say no to the Porsche Expansion Pack. So now that you’re armed with all of the info, you can make the decision that’s right for you while we go download our decision.
to check out the official gameplay trailer that shows all 30 vehicles in action, as well as the full list of all 30 vehicles included in the Porsche Expansion Pack.
We’ve seen weirder camouflage. But despite the fact that this next-generation prototype looks like it drove through a garbage bag warehouse, we now have a very clear glimpse at some of the new car’s details – namely, the shapely new front fascia.
Merc’s new flagship takes many of its new design cues from the that debuted back in 2007, specifically the larger, more upright grille and the redesigned headlamps that now incorporate LED running lights (just like what we’ve seen on the new and models). The big sedan’s overall shape doesn’t change too much from the car that’s currently on sale, though things seem to be a little swoopier for this new generation.
Under the hood, we can expect Mercedes’ latest engines to be on tap, including the 4.6-liter twin-turbocharged V8 as well as some V6 options. Naturally, an AMG model will follow suit, likely using the new 5.5-liter twin-turbo V8 in the .
Look for the redesigned S-Class to officially bow later this year.
The good old boys at Motor Trend got their hands on not only a , but a Ford Police Interceptor and a Dodge Charger Police Pursuit, as well. Like any good, upstanding group of hooligans, the crew set to playing cops and robbers in the shadow of Detroit’s vacant factories. With the big 662-horsepower, supercharged V8 Mustang left with no long spans of asphalt to stretch its legs, the two pursuit vehicles have a clear advantage. Watching the three go at each other is a decent way to blow five minutes of your work day.
Of course, this reminds me of a pearl of wisdom served up by my grandfather on the subject of evading the long arm of the law. He always said, “You can out run one, you might even out run two, but you’ll never outrun that radio.” Amen.
is in the process of , beginning with the that just went into production at the automaker’s Smyrna, Tennessee facility. Next up is the all-new , which made its debut in earlier this year, and now Kicking Tires reports that the smaller crossover will be the next vehicle to get a much-needed freshening.
Unlike the current model, the next-generation Rogue will be built in the United States, specifically in – you guessed it – Tennessee. That aside, we don’t know much else about the next Rogue, though Nissan’s from the (pictured) certainly gives us a good glimpse as to what’s possible, at least in terms of design.
The Hi-Cross, a seven-seat crossover, featured a new turbocharged four-cylinder engine coupled to a hybrid powertrain and a continuously variable transmission. It’s hard to say if this sort of powertrain will find its way into the new Rogue, though. Rumors had circulated for quite some time about the new Altima using a four-cylinder turbo setup, but the production car makes due with refreshed versions of the existing four- and six-cylinder engines.
According to , the is officially the fastest ever made. The sedan’s lead development engineer, Bill Rietow, and powertrain drive quality engineer, John Townsend, did their part to support the assertion when they ran the Regal GS in the . The event isn’t about all-out speed, but about a driver finishing the course in a pre-set time. It has speed-limited and wide-open sections, and during one flat-out phase the Regal GS hit 162 miles per hour.
The same pair took last year in the 120-mph class, so this year they jumped to the top-tier 135-mph class. They finished second, four-tenths shy of their 40-minute target time over the 90-mile course. to see the engineers talking about the course and the car, and for a press release on the achievement.
