Car and Driver is reporting that the often-reported Cadillac flagship is at a crossroads. There have been many rumors that the planned range-topper will wind up as a rear-wheel drive, high-end luxury sedan slotting above the production version of the (the concept version of which is shown above). Now C/D has apparently been hearing whispers that it may in fact show up as a mid-engined sports car.
While the thought of a luxurious, mid-engined sounds appealing, we’ll file this in the don’t-hold-your-breath category. Although, if the company is brassy enough to build the ultra low-volume , then perhaps anything is possible.
The Streets of Monacosuper-yacht – Click above for image gallery
Those who follow the super-yacht scene know that these giant floating mansions have grown to incorporate all manner of amenities: helipads, bowling alleys, swimming pools, garages… anything and everything you might expect in a land-locked residence, only set out to sea. But this… this is something else altogether.
Called The Streets of Monaco, this design is modeled after a section of Monte Carlo – in more ways that one. The headline feature is an on-board karting track modeled after the famous grand prix circuit. But that’s hardly the extent of it. As you can see, the design bridges the gap from naval architecture to actual architecture and on to city planning.
Instead of decks, it has buildings. Instead of a swim platform, a freakin’ beach. It’s also got submarines, helicopters, waterfalls, movie theater, spa and more, plus sleeping accommodations for 16 guests and the 70 crew it would require to keep this puppy going. All packed into 155 meters, length overall. (That’s not a typo. We don’t mean 155 feet. We mean 155 meters, equivalent to 508 feet.) That’s about half the size of a modern super-tanker, cruise ship or Nimitz-class aircraft carrier. For better or worse – seaworthy or not – the design stays on paper for the time being.
After some seat time with the Edge EcoBoost and a quick shake of our automotive journalist-issued Magic 8-Ball, we can confidently say Outlook Good for this Blue Oval-badged mid-size crossover.
We’re tempted to go ahead and call the 2012 Buick Verano a “baby Regal,” because the truth is, the two cars are much more alike than you might think.
We’ve got to agree with the decision makers at Ford. Absolutely no one on this side of the world would ever want a small diesel pickup truck with a towing capacity of over 6,600 lbs. We’re not bitter. Honest.
Rolls-Royce Apparition concept by Jeremy Westerlund – Click above for high-res image gallery
To say that we see a lot of student car designs here at Autoblog would be a gross understatement. We see hundreds of ‘em. Some are more interesting than others, but every once in a while, a design comes across our desks that takes our impression of what a car can look like and completely turns it on its head. This is one such example.
Dreamt up by one Jeremy Westerlund while studying at the Art Center school of design, the Apparition is a rolling trompe-l’œil that at once both reaches back into the automaker’s history and extends into the future.
The design is based around the old motor carriages that had a chauffeur sitting up front, exposed to the elements, with the passengers coddled inside. Like most contemporary Rolls models, the front is utterly dominated by the prominent grille and hood ornament. It features unique touches like real mahogany inserts in the wheels, and the imposing overall shape is long and low: the designer took his cues from sailing yachts, and even though the model is built to 1:4 scale, it’s still nearly six feet long. If such an extreme example of fantasy ever became reality, it would measure 279 inches overall – that’s over 23 feet, or about four feet longer than the . See if you can wrap your head around it in our extensive high-resolution image gallery below.
Hyundai Curb concept – Click above for high-res image gallery
has announced that it is bringing a new crossover concept – the Curb – to the 2011 Detroit Auto Show next week. We only have two teaser shots of the new CUV, and while the big wheels and overly swoopy lines are concept car-spec through and through, we won’t rule out the possibility of a sub- crossover coming down the pipeline in the next few years. The has been given the typical not-gonna-happen future-tech layout, but it is indeed eye-catching and definitely draws our interest.
The Curb concept will be rolled out on Monday, January 10, and we’ll be on hand to bring you the full suite of details and photos live from Cobo Hall. In the meantime, you can check out both teaser images in high-resolution glory in the gallery below.
The history of the Batmobile – Click above to see full image
In the world of superheroes, Batman is a bit of an anomaly. While the rest of the comic world’s crime fighters are imbued with special powers derived from radiation, mutation or celestial birth, Batman’s je ne sais quoi is sourced up from nothing more than being filthy rich and a little bit crazy. Maybe that’s why we like him. Of course, his penchant for amazing automobiles, motorcycles, boats and jets never exactly hurt our feelings either. We fancied ourselves at least quasi-familiar with the Caped Crusader’s history of transportation, but according to researchers at CarInsurance.org and the designers at BatmobileHistory.com, our knowledge was more than a little lacking.
For example, did you know Bruce Wayne’s secret identity spent some time behind the wheel of a gussied up ? Neither did we. How about an Opel Speedster, , several , and a CLK-GTR? Yep, we had not a clue. Call us crazy, but we still have a soft spot for the Batmobile dreamed up for the Tim Burton Batman by Anton Furst. Check out all of his cars in .
Audi A1 E-tron concept – Click above for high-res image gallery
All is apparently well in the house of . According to Automotive News, has come out and refuted reports that the German automaker is butting heads with its parent company. Rumors had cropped up that the two had been locking horns over the creation of the . Word had it that VW was riled that Audi wanted to craft a range-extended EV with a gasoline rotary engine instead of following the EV plans of the rest of the VW family. Reports had said that Audi wanted a vehicle that would be an alternative to the BMW Mega City car.
Volkswagen wants all of the brands under its watch to use similar platforms for their respective electric vehicle efforts, or at least that’s what The Financial Times Deutschland reported earlier this week. Automotive News, however has reported that Audi says there’s no conflict between the two companies. Volkswagen, meanwhile, was apparently unavailable for comment the story.
In two years’ time, will be marking the half-century milestone, and the impending anniversary has everyone asking how the Italian automaker will choose to celebrate its landmark anniversary.
If we look back at how the company marked previous anniversaries, we find examples like the 25th Anniversary Countach (pictured above), the Diablo SE30 and the 40th Anniversary Edition . In other words, while arch-rival celebrates anniversaries with purpose-built supercars like the F40 and F50, Lamborghini has typically done so with special editions of the cars they already produce.
Will the next example follow the same path? Or is the 50th birthday one too important to leave to a trim and tape package? Some are suggesting that the limited-production version of the Sesto Elemento concept will arrive in time for the festivities, but we’ll just have to sit tight to find out for sure.
Some automakers are in it for the racing. Others make cars to preserve some sort of legacy. But most are in the business, like any other company, to make money. And is certainly no exception. But while its road car division rakes in the dough hand over fist, the German automaker has made a science out of making its racing division profitable.
How is that, you ask? Because unlike some of its rivals, Porsche first and foremost provides factory-built racing machines to privateer customers. That’s how the dominates GT racing grids around the world with such variants as the recently unveiled . And if the latest reports from Germany are anything to go on, Porsche could be preparing a new racer at the rapidly approaching Detroit Auto Show.
Now we already knew that Porsche was planning something big for its return to the NAIAS after a four-year absence. And the signs seemed to point towards a new variant of the 918 Spyder concept we saw in Geneva last year. But the latest word from Auto Bild suggests that instead of a roadgoing production coupe version as some had suspected, Stuttgart will instead unveil a racing version of the new mid-engine flagship supercar in Cobo Hall.
The reports further suggest that the race-spec 918 will carry a more conventional V8 powertrain than the hybrid setup of the previous concept, and that the car will – like the rest of Porsche’s aforementioned customer racing paddock – be available to privateer teams to purchase and campaign on the world’s racing circuits. Sounds tempting – and profitable – and fortunately we won’t have long to wait before we find out one way or another.
Rinspeed BamBoo – Click above for high-res image gallery
There’s a lot of adjectives you could ascribe to Rinspeed’s wild creations. After all, each one is as different from the one that came before as it is from any other car on the road or the show stand. So if we had to pick one, it would be “unique.” And the latest is no exception.
Initially released about a month back, the BamBoo is an off-beat concept for an easy-going car-about-town designed for vacation homes and resort destinations. A grown-up golf cart is what the quirky Swiss designer itself calls the vehicle. But in case it wasn’t unique enough, Rinspeed has now taken measures to make it even more so.
Teaming up with pop artist James Rizzi, the BamBoo has been turned into the kind of rolling canvas we know as an Art Car. But despite the image above, as well as the usual formula that calls for an all-enveloping design, by the time the veil lifts at the Geneva Palexpo in March, Rizzi will have applied his – there’s that word again – unique talents only to the vehicle’s inflatable roof surface. There will also be a little bird on the B pillar that, like a mood ring, is supposed to convey the occupants’ disposition to the world passing them by. for the full press release.
We aren’t quite sure what Daimler is working on here, but these patent drawings of what appear to be a -based roadster were submitted for trademark approval on November 16, 2010. The folks at suggest that this could be a redux of the automaker’s cabriolet, sold in the early 2000s with very limited production (just 2,000 were made). Us? We aren’t so sure.
While the design of this recent patent submission looks like it could preview the next-generation design of the family, we doubt that any sort of roadster is in the works for the immediate future. Could this show up as a concept at one of the 2011 auto shows? We won’t rule it out, but for now, we won’t be holding our breath for any sort of Smart-branded roadster in the not-too-distant future.
Now that we’ve officially closed the books on the year 2010, it’s time to look ahead at all of the prospects that 2011 has to offer. Here at Autoblog, we’re looking forward to yet another year of obsessively covering the auto industry and bringing you exciting reviews, features, breaking news and unsurpassed auto show coverage (reminder: the is just over one week away).
2010 was quite a year, so be sure to reflect on it by taking a look at our lists of the and of the year. Additionally, we’ve put together lists of our , the and our from the past year.
From all of us at Autoblog, we wish you all a happy and healthy 2011. And hey, if you’ve got any automotive-related resolutions for 2011, be sure to let us know in !
BMW EfficientDynamics supercar in Abu Dhabi – click above to watch
During a recent trip to Abu Dhabi, forum member Captain Stradale caught a glimpse of the strutting its stuff for an on-track photo shoot. What makes us most curious, though, is the fact that this gray version of the VED is marginally different-looking than the white concept has paraded around the auto show circuit over the past year (along with the white with blue swirly camo prototype they’ve shown).
The Vision EfficientDynamics, which is rumored to come into production under the name , is expected to be powered by a 328-horsepower three-cylinder diesel-hybrid powertrain. The ultra-lightweight production car is tipped to run from 0-100 in just 4.8 seconds, and during normal driving, the new efficient supercar is estimated to achieve 62.5 miles per gallon.
When we’ll see the production version of the VED is still unclear, though sources have reported that , priced from around $200,000. We can’t verify if the gray car in these Teamspeed shots is anything closer to production, but seeing this thing out on the track makes us all the more eager to experience BMW’s efficient hotness for ourselves. In the meantime, check out the spy video and click on the link below to see more photos at Teamspeed. Thanks to everyone for the tips!
Xenatec Maybach Cruiserio coupe – Click above for image gallery
Want to get your hands on a coupe? You’ve got two options. First would be to commission concept car on the chassis of a Dodge Viper. That’ll set you back €550,000, or about $730k at today’s conversion rates. Your other choice is to have Xenatec convert a Maybach 57 S limo into a coupe for €675,000 ($894k).
We brought you initial of the project back in May, followed by in October. For a quick refresher, the German coachbuilder brought in Fredrik Burchhardt, designer of the original Exelero, to pen the modified shape for the coupe. The result keeps most of the saloon’s mechanicals in place – including the 600+ horsepower twin-turbo V12 – only with modified bodywork, cabin and (of course) two longer doors instead of four.
Seen until now only in sketches, the Xenatec Maybach coupe has been (awkwardly) dubbed the Cruiserio, and it has just made its debut at Daimler headquarters in Stuttgart. The project is now being underwritten by a €70 million ($93M) investment from AutoKingdom of Saudi Arabia. Over the course of three years, Xenatec and AutoKingdom ambitiously anticipate building 100 examples, and say they’ve already got enough orders to keep them busy for the next year or so. Can’t wait that long? The first example is out of Riyadh, with a price tag of just under a cool million.
BMW Vision EfficientDynamics Concept – Click above for high-res image gallery
We have heard that has has (i1, i2, i3, i4, i5, i6, i7, i8 and i9) to use for its fuel efficient MegaCity range of vehicles. is now saying that it has heard a rumor that the combination that will be applied to the upcoming (read: 2013 or 2014) version of the Vision EfficientDynamics Concept will be i8. This makes some sense, as a BMW i8 would conjure up images of the never-seen M8 supercar, but BMWBlog is unconvinced. After all, why bring back memories of gas-guzzling supercars when you’re trying to reinvent what one can be? Plus, since the vehicle is so far away, there’s probably no name set in stone yet anyway.
Whatever BMW decides on, it’ll be better than the name that the car was given when we first saw it at the . Vision EfficientDynamics is just way, way too long.
Autoblog’s Top 10 Concept Cars of 2010 – Click above to read the list
Just under 70 concept cars were rolled out by automakers from around the globe at this year’s major auto shows. These swoopy, futuristic showstoppers usually preview what’s to come in terms of new designs and technology, and in some cases, concept cars directly foreshadow full-on production models that aren’t too far down the pipeline.
We’ve scanned back through our full raft of concept car coverage over the past year to pick these examples, our ten best concept car and truck reveals from 2010, ranked in order as judged by our staff. See what we were most eager to point our cameras at , then sound off with your own favorites (or take us to task for ours) in Comments.
Chevrolet Cruze hatchback design drawings – Click above for high-res image gallery
Most cars never look quite as cool as their conceptual and pre-production versions, and it would appear that the hatchback will be no exception. Carscoop was able to get its hands on design drawings of the car used for trademark filings with the European patent office.
The good news is that the Cruze hatchback manages to stay fairly faithful to the . The predictable bad news is that the front fascia looks less aggressive and ditches the LED light strips for standard fog lamps. What’s more, the wheels will be smaller than the oversized auto show setup seen in Paris, and the rear taillamps will most likely be toned down a notch. The design and the show car are actually very similar looking. However, you can’t have the sweet without the sour, so the really bad news is that the Chevrolet Cruze hatchback has not been greenlit for U.S. roads.
The Sesto Elemento concept was envisioned as a design study, previewing the styling and technology we might expect to see on the next generation of supercars. But shortly after it was unveiled at the Paris Motor Show a few months back, began to emerge suggesting that the Italian automaker could put it into production, however .
Now an exotic car dealership in Germany is listing the car for sale. Although the reported original listing on the online marketplace is no longer there to be found, still has it up on its website with an approximately €2 million ($2.63M USD) list price – €1.9m before tax, €2.3m after.
Does Singen know something the rest of us don’t? The dealership has an impressive showroom packed with all manner of rare exotica. Or are they simply anticipating the same announcement as the rest of us?
