You may not have guessed it on your own – we probably wouldn’t have, either – but Australia ranks as the fifth largest market worldwide for . And yet all the exciting show cars are almost invariably unveiled at auto shows in the United States or Europe. You couldn’t blame the Aussies for feeling neglected, so Mercedes arrived this year at the Australian International Motor Show with two special AMGs.
The first is called Concept 358, and it’s essentially a tweaked sedan featuring the AMG Performance Plus package (which boosts the 6.3-liter V8’s output up to 480hp), 19-inch alloys, special leather interior and a unique Pearl Orange paint job.
The unique unveiled Down Under also features a special paint scheme: in this case a unique Night Black matte-finish with red accents. They’re not ground-breaking concepts, but interesting takes on some of Affalterbach’s best. Details are in the press release after the jump.
Ralph Nader challenges Toyota’s R&D spending claim – Click above to watch commercial
Ralph Nader isn’t finished. The man whose fame has long outlasted the first car he took to task is now gnawing at over claims the company makes in its print advertising: “That’s why we’re spending a million dollars an hour on research and development.” In a letter Nader wrote to the U.S. sales chief Toyota, Jim Lentz, he states that an $8.7 billion investment in R&D is “astonishing,” and he’d like to know precisely how that amount is spent.
The larger issue, however, might be Nader coming so late to the game. After all, Toyota released a commercial in June in which the narrator says, “At Toyota, we care about your safety. That’s why we’re investing one million dollars every hour to improve our technology and your safety.” Everyone, , wanted to know how Toyota could be spending a million an hour on safety.
A Toyota rep responded to the NYT by saying “The $1,000,000 an hour claim represents all Toyota R&D spending globally, much of that allocated to new quality and safety technologies.” True, that doesn’t exactly answer Nader’s question since he moves the discussion from spending on safety to spending on R&D, but the claim relies on how Toyota defines R&D. Even though Nader says the term “has a specific meaning,” it’s amorphous enough that we’re sure Toyota can defend it… if that’s even necessary. Lentz says he’ll respond to Nader directly.
Nikolai Smolenski’s tenure as owner of TVR, the formerly revered maker of hairy-chested British sports cars, is nothing if not quizzical. He bought the company from late founder Peter Wheeler when it was in trouble, didn’t do much with it, declared it bankrupt to clear its debts, then bought the company out of bankruptcy. Since then there’s been little news save for a legal battle with and a couple of hints about to power the firm’s next car.
The V8 issue has finally been decided: the Corvette’s 638-horsepower LS9. The car it will go in is to be called the MD-1. A new question that has arisen, however, based on Smolenski’s comment that he wants to “draw a line under the Wheeler era once and for all.” Will the car be at all British? The MD-1 is being developed by a UK firm, but Smolenski says production could go to the Continent or South Africa just as easily.
Would a German-built, American-engined TVR still be a TVR like the Griffith and Chimera (or the Tasmin shown above)? Smolenski thinks TVR fans wouldn’t think so, but he doesn’t much care. He says, “What’s important is to remain faithful to your brand values” no matter where you are. The MD-1 is expected to arrive in 2012, with just 250 made annually.
White Lake F1 Ring slot car track – Click above to watch video
Ah, enthusiasts. Damn the torpedoes, time and money; when the dedicated maven decides to make something of his own, he doesn’t just do it a little. Hence, when James-Michael Gregory Harlan of Pontiac, Michigan wanted a slot car track as long as his name, he made it himself and called it the White Lake Formula 1 Ring.
An exhibit designer by trade, Harlan brought his massive skills to the endeavor by creating a track he believes “comprised many of the challenges one might encounter on a modern F1 circuit.” Hermann Tilke should take notes. The track itself is CNC routed on the AC2car system that lets two cars run on the same slot – giving racers a chance to pass each other using the lane changers.
Built in a 20-square-foot space, the ring is 1/32-scale, the lap is 145 feet long, and it features 19 turns and 2.5 feet of elevation change. Surrounding it is a hand-built and painted environment that includes pit lanes, a helipad and crane, bleachers and viewing towers, and lights for night racing. It comes as no surprise that he’s been working on it for years. You can see the fruits of his labor in the video and the gallery of high-res photos below. Once you’re done with those, be sure to check out even more pics on .
V-Vehicles started making noises back in 2006 about building an environmentally friendly car that ran on compressed natural gas, and doing it here in the U.S. The company is backed by oilman billionaire T. Boone Pickens and the VC firm Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers, the latter of which also backs Fisker. Its head designer is Tom Matano of Mazda Miata and RX-7 fame. In May of this year, Pickens was still talking about the car being on the way, even though all anyone’s ever seen of it is a few teased angles, like the headlight above.
It looks like things are finally getting serious, though. V-Vehicles had planned to build its car in a former General Motors plant in Louisiana, but that fell through. Now the company’s been rechristened Next Autoworks and the top spot has been taken by Kathleen Ligocki, whose resume includes top positions at Ford, Tower Automotive and Mexico’s GS Salinas. It’ll probably be a while before Next is in a position to announce anything, but with an experienced auto and turnaround veteran in the lead, they’ve got a much better chance of hanging around at all.
Thinking of buying a 2011 ? If so, you’ll soon have the ability to watch it come together before your eyes; Saab is installing cameras in its Trollhättan factory. Customers will receive text messages with photos of their cars as they reach certain points in the assembly line. Eventually, Saab plans to add a real-timevideo feed of the cars being built. This sounds way more interesting than most reality television shows.
In addition to the cameras going in, Saab will soon offer customers the opportunity to take delivery of their cars right from the factory. The automaker says it is moving back towards building cars with a more personal touch, by manufacturing cars to order rather than churning out a steady stream of vehicles.
Ferrari 458 Italia – Click above to vote in our design poll
How does one grade automakers on their design skills? Our friends at Car and Drivergave it a shot using the not-so-scientific “eyeball test,” with grades getting bumped up or down based on the use of proven design talent.
C/D graded 20 automakers in all, giving out four As, 11 Bs, two Cs, a D and two grades of incomplete. got a top score thanks to the intensely hot-looking 458 Italia. / also came up big for hits like the new , while more mainstream and each managed an A thanks to their leaps in design quality.
and were each given an incomplete thanks to some very recent changes at the top of their respective design management teams. / came up short, receiving the only D of the group, prompting author Phil Patton to ask if there were recalls for dullness. Ouch. for all the design grades, and for a poll on the best designs for a mainline manufacturer.
Ferrari 458 Italia – Click above to vote in our design poll
How does one grade automakers on their design skills? Our friends at Car and Drivergave it a shot using the not-so-scientific “eyeball test,” with grades getting bumped up or down based on the use of proven design talent.
C/D graded 20 automakers in all, giving out four As, 11 Bs, two Cs, a D and two grades of incomplete. got a top score thanks to the intensely hot-looking 458 Italia. / also came up big for hits like the new , while more mainstream and each managed an A thanks to their leaps in design quality.
and were each given an incomplete thanks to some very recent changes at the top of their respective design management teams. / came up short, receiving the only D of the group, prompting author Phil Patton to ask if there were recalls for dullness. Ouch. for all the design grades, and for a poll on the best designs for a main line manufacturer.
Claymation ad for the 2011 Land Rover Freeland 2/LR2 – Click above to watch video
is getting ready to roll out a new ad campaign in support of the . You might expect Land Rover to go the traditional route of glamorous clean shots of the car mixed with a flurry of scenes highlighting its off-road capability. That’s not the case here, as it has decided to go in another direction… a rather squishy one at that.
Land Rover is harnessing the advertising power of claymation to promote the new . The “star” of the commercial, besides the little luxury utility vehicle, is a character by the name of Clay Mason. The Mason character discusses his past claymation acting history, his tough work schedule on this shoot and what it was like to drive the 2011 LR2. It’s actually a little on the creepy side…
The spot took five weeks to shoot and then another four weeks were required for editing and production. There’s an astonishing two-tons of modeling clay on display, and the team built a fully operational scale LR2 model for the shoot. It will air in the United Kingdom starting January 2011. The clip, along with a making-of video, is available for your viewing pleasure .
Hero car K.I.T.T. from Knight Rider is for sale – Click above for high-res image gallery
For sale – Celebrity car. One lightly used crime-stopper of a coupe, has go-fast looks with a fuel-efficient powertrain. If you want attention, this is the car for you. Valued between $25,000 and $35,000.
Looking to add some celebrity “muscle” to your garage? Profiles In History is hosting a Hollywood memorabilia auction and lot #122 is one of two hero cars from the modern version of Knight Rider. Surely you recall the series… our very own Alex Nunez sat through every single episode to provide you with details of what was going on.
In the updated show, which first aired in 2008, K.I.T.T. is a that wears Shelby GT500KR parts. The car in this auction has all those parts, inside and out, except it falls short one kind of important aspect: there’s no supercharged V8 underhood… or any V8 at all for that matter. And it’s not even the . Inside the engine bay sits the old 4.0-liter unit and it’s paired with a five-speed automatic transmission. That’s right… this K.I.T.T. is all show and no go.
Sadly, the most interesting thing about this car is that it also includes the wooosh-wooosh signature Knight Rider sweeping red light up front. Even that would get old quickly. Buying this car does have its benefits though, as the auction proceeds are being put towards a children’s charity. The auction is a one-day affair scheduled for November 6th, 2010 at The Globe Theater in Universal Studios. David Hasselhoff sold separately.
2010 Dodge Ram HD – Click above for high-res image gallery
Owners of and pickups are being asked to head to their nearest dealership. The trucks are part of a recall focusing on a label printed with incorrect information. For some vehicles, the tire-pressure label lists incorrect weight or seating capacity information. If the inaccurate information on the labels is followed, it could lead to safety issues as a result of improperly loaded trucks.
New labels will be installed free of charge at your nearest dealership. The recall is scheduled to begin this month (October 2010). For more information, take a look at the press release posted .
Gallery:
Photos copyright (C)2009 Chris Shunk / AOL
[Source: ]
Honda VFR Adventure Concept – Click above to enlarge
is planning to debut an arsenal of eight bikes in Milan, and we may have our first inclination of what to expect from at least one of the machines. Behold the VFR Adventure Concept – a 1200cc behemoth designed to cater to those who like the style of dual-sport tourer but loathe the notion of actually heading off of the beaten path. Think more along the lines of the Ducati Multistrada than the KTM 990 Adventure.
As of right now, details are remarkably scarce about what to expect from the machine, though some seem to think that the bike will likely show up as a 2012 production model.
So what does the VFR Adventure bring to the table over the current VFR? From what we can see, it looks like riders can expect a slightly taller stance with more ground clearance and a skimpier fairing, but not much else. Honda has been pretty tricky about letting this one out of the bag, keeping news of the concept to its European press site. Does that mean that American buyers won’t be able to get their gloves on this one? Hard telling.
has just released its annual sustainability report – a tome that delves into everything from the company’s air-conditioning habits and the environmental impact of its individual models to the health of its employees. Needless to say, there are plenty of revelations stacked into the report, but one of the most surprising is that Toyota employees are now less likely to smoke and be obese than they were four years ago. According to Automotive News, only 36 percent of the company’s workers are likely to smoke occasionally compared to 42 percent in 2006. Likewise, the number of overweight employees fell from 28.5 percent to 24.7 percent this year.
In addition, the company revealed that its using recycled snow to cool its Hakkaido facility during the summer, helping to drop the factory’s ambient temperature by 14 degrees. Apparently the workers aren’t sweating out that weight…
Toyota also revealed that while the produces fewer emissions once it’s on the road, the manufacturing process for the hybrid yields greater than average nonmethane hydrocarbons and particulate matter compared to the rest of the company’s fleet. Head over to AN for a full recap of the report.
The is set to have a little extra (and very well deserved, we may add) time in the spot light. The slinky machine has been chosen to headline Australia’s first international concours d’elegance at the end of this month, where it will be joined by classic and exotic vehicles from around the world. Holden first debuted the Efijy back in 2005, and the car immediately garnered praise from hot rod fans and designers alike thanks to its ’50s-inspired lines and otherworldly powertrain. You see, under that retro skin sits a thoroughly modern driveline, including a chassis borrowed from a .
This thing isn’t just a looker, either. Under that lead-sled coupe hood sits a fire-breathing, supercharged, 6.0-liter LS2 V8. Should you decide to open up both taps, there’s a full 645 horsepower and 560 pound-feet of torque at your beck and call.
The Australian International Concourse d’Elegance kicks off on October 22 and runs until the 24th. to see the full press release.
Conan O’Brien does his own stunts – Click above to watch video
Conan O’Brien is getting ready to launch his new late-night talk show. “Conan” premieres November 8th at 11pm on TBS. He wants to show everyone just how bad-ass this new television show will be. Ditching , O’Brien jumps behind the wheel of a ‘69 Dodge Dart that is pointed straight at a cliff. He ups the stunt-ante by packing the car with C4 explosives, fireworks from New Hampshire (which technically are not illegal if you fire them off in the Granite state) and un-popped popcorn kernels.
Having the Dart loaded with stuff that explodes and ceremoniously removing his stunt man from the equation, Conan nails the accelerator towards the cliff then Thelma and Louises it over the edge. The result is a loud, explosion-filled wreck that O’Brien walks away from while putting out his flaming hair and leather jacket. It’s epic.
Are you still here? Seriously already, check it out .
Supercharged Corvette Z06 by Romeo Ferraris – Click above for high-res image gallery
Think of the words Romeo and Ferraris and you’re bound to think of Italian cars, right? Maybe so, but the two together form the name of an Italian tuning house. And while many of their subjects have been Italian themselves, Romeo Ferraris has been scoping out foreign territory as well.
The latest is the Z06. And why shouldn’t it be? The ‘Vette has a long history of customization at Italian hands. But those have mostly been cosmetic coachbuilding jobs. This is another story altogether.
RF has taken the Z06 and fitted a supercharger to the 7.0-liter LS7 V8. The result? 667 horsepower and 607 lb-ft of twist. The centrifugal compressor, aluminum intercooler, high-flow injectors and custom exhaust help it get to 62 mph in 3.3 seconds and up to 211 mph – assuming you can get all that power down – while 380mm/6-pot brakes up front and 345/4-pot brakes out back help it come back to a stop.
A series of exterior and interior cosmetic modifications have also been carried out, including what appears to be a bare carbon fiber reskin, putting Romeo Ferraris’ Z06 toe to toe with Chevy’s own factory in more ways than one.
2011 Chrysler 200 – Click above for high-res image gallery
Rumor has it that Fiat is looking to push the Chrysler 200 into a handful of markets around the globe. According to Automotive News, the Italian automaker has its sight set on reworking the car into Lancia and introducing it in mainland Europe. At the same time, the standard Chrysler 200 may debut in the UK and Ireland. Interestingly enough, Fiat isn’t mulling the move because it thinks that the 200 can go head to head with the rest of the small car. Instead, the company is hoping to bolster its fleet sales in various European markets.
That’s not to say that the deal is set in stone at this point. The Chrysler 200 has a major chink in its armor when it comes to doing battle in Europe – it doesn’t come with a diesel option. With only two gasoline engine options, Fiat would have to source its own oil-burning powerplant to make the ploy work. Throw in the fact that the car is set to be replaced in three years and the likelihood of seeing the 200 in Europe is slimmer yet. Still, the company says that it’s currently looking at the numbers to see if there’s a solid business case for the move.
2011Nissan Leaf – Click above for high-res image gallery
is running around the country to promote its all-electric . The Drive Electric tour has already had two stops in California – the AltCar Expo in Santa Monica and the Orange County Auto Show in Anaheim – and a third one is planned for this coming weekend. SoCal residents, this is your opportunity to get behind the wheel of a 2011 Nissan Leaf and see what it’s like to drive a full-size electric vehicle.
The San Diego stop of the Drive Electric tour is located at the NTC Promenade. The event kicks off today and will be open from 9:00 AM until 6:00 PM. The EVs will be in San Diego through Sunday, October 17th.
Interested in attending this weekend’s EV fun? Head over to and register. If you don’t live in Southern California but want to the chance to drive a Leaf, take to see if the Drive Electric tour is coming to a town near you.
1967 Jaguar Pirana concept by Bertone – Click above for image gallery
There once was a time when the press shaped the news, not just reported on it. When newspapers still had budgets that stretched as far as their print runs… budgets big enough to commission their own show cars. GQ recently reached into that history when it , but long before that, England’s Daily Telegraph had a stab at it on its own.
Called the Pirana prototype, it was a vision of what a cost-no-object car might look like. It was designed by Bertone – hence the similarity in shape to such contemporary exotics as the Espada and Alfa Romeo Montreal – and packed a 4.2-liter six.
Originally conceived for and unveiled at the Earl’s Court Motor Show in London back in 1967, the Pirana concept has since been resprayed from its original silver to a very Jag-like forest green. It’s got 16,000 miles on the odometer, but the best part is that it could be yours. For a price of course: the current owner in Palm Springs has put it up for grabs on eBay Motors with a starting price of $150,000. If only there were a newspaper baron alive today to give it a good home.
Follow the link to the auction page, check out the images in the gallery below or the video (pertinent footage begins around the 2:03 mark) .
Fuel economy is a funny thing. In Europe, better efficiency has always boiled down to two simple concepts: diesel fuel and turbos. But like the 35-year-old who won’t drink tequila because of a bad experience in college, American buyers’ stomachs start turning whenever manufacturers talk about oil-burners – clean or otherwise. That’s a problem for carmakers like . You see, the company can build an arsenal of clean diesel vehicles that have no problem turning out excellent fuel-economy numbers without the weight, complexity or burden of lugging around a partially electric drivetrain, but that doesn’t mean Americans will buy them. Nope. On this side of the pond, fuel efficiency translates into just one word: hybrid.
And that’s exactly why Volkswagen has taken to electrifying its beefy , the very first production hybrid in the company’s history. Volkswagen has made no secret of the fact that it plans to be the world’s number one automaker, and that part of its plan for global domination involves broadening its appeal in the still-juicy American market. If you were wondering exactly what that meant for the company’s lineup on our side of the world, wonder no more. We’re living in the future, and it’s a place stocked with a blazingly-quick, fully capable and quasi-efficient SUV from Germany with love.
