Carscoops: April 2011

California Set to Slash Lawmakers' Vehicle Costs in Half, No More Freebies

In an attempt to help reduce California's $26.6 billion deficit, the state's Citizens Compensation Commission has decided that members of the Senate and Assembly who drive state-sponsored vehicles will have their annual vehicle costs cut from $7,453 to $3,600. That boils down to $300 per month for expenses (gas, insurance, etc.), and oh, they'll have to drive their own cars as of December…

California lawmakers average an income of $131,000 per year before retirement benefits, and reducing vehicle costs is one minor cut that's being made for the betterment of the whole. Some people thought the measure was a bit too broad, not taking into account lawmakers' locations.

One by one, automakers are revealing their plans for the upcoming 2011 New York International Auto Show. This time we have news from Nissan and its luxury division Infiniti. Starting with Nissan, the Japanese firm will debut a “new compact sedan” and a “new, zero emission motorsports concept”. While we have don’t have any information yet on the concept study, from what we know, the compact sedan will be the next generation of the Versa that was teased in an official sketch back in late 2010.

The Swedish government offered Saab conditional backing for a deal to free up cash for the company (see previous story here), whose production lines have been stopped for two weeks as Saab didn't pay suppliers. "We have decided to allow the Debt Office to conclude an agreement with Saab," said enterprise minister Maud Olofsson during a news conference on Friday.

The government has approved a proposal from the Debt Office to allow Saab to sell real estate, including the production plant, to Russian financier Vladimir Antonov and then lease it back from him. The minister said this deal would bring €30 million to Saab in the first phase, although the real estate was worth much more than that.

The ‘circle of death’ is neither new nor shocking, but it’s one thing to see a professional stuntman who follows the necessary safety precautions doing it and another a group of gifted but nevertheless amateur daredevils going at it in a shoddy well made out of wooden planks with the crowd only inches away….

In 1986, the Porsche 959 was the world’s fastest street legal product car. Some 337 of these road-going monsters were built but not one of them was a factory-finished convertible. Regardless of what you may have heard or seen on forums, such a vehicle was never sanctioned by Porsche. There was a one-off “Speedster” built by Auto-Becker for the 1989 Frankfurt Motor Show but that’s about it.

So is this done and dusted? Of course not; this is the internet we’re talking about. 959 Speedsters are sighted by Porsche enthusiasts as much as Elvis Presley or the Loch Ness monster. If you believe what you’ve read, these things are everywhere. And I do mean everywhere, even in New Zealand.

So our seller throws in the usual platitudes we’ve come to expect from this sort of posting like, “This is one very rare and special car,” and that it was “professionally built”.

Saab just can't seem to catch a break. After moving from the General's formerly overcrowded pocket into the hands of Spyker, the once-quirky brand is now doing all it can to bring production back online after failing to pay suppliers.

The gist is this: Saab received 400 million Euros (~$580 million) from the European Investment Bank so it could keep on ticking. Sweden guaranteed the loan, meaning whatever Spyker's resolution calls for must get the go-ahead from the Man.

At this week’s 50th Furniture Fair in Milan, Italy, Fiat previewed the “Fiat 500 Design Collection”, an initiative by the firm’s marketing boss Lapo Elkann and furniture maker Meritalia. The collection is a tribute to the original Fiat 500 and includes a sofa, a table and a console, all inspired by the 1970's Fiat 500. Each of the three pieces sports a plate that says: “Lapo and Meritalia pay tribute to the Fiat 500”. Read more »

SpeedART’s Porsche Cayenne Titan EVO-XL 600 goes on Sale

If you’re been unimpressed by the second generation of the Porsche Cayenne so far, no need to worry as Stuttgart's SUV has gathered heaps of aftermarket attention in Europe. Following an announcement earlier this year, longtime Porsche tuning house SpeedART has launched a performance package for the latest Cayenne, dubbed the EVO-XL 600.

As part of the VW Group’s strategy to expand its brands into new markets, the German automaker will bring Seat to the Shanghai Auto Show (April 21-28, 2011) offering Chinese buyers their first taste of the Spanish firm’s cars before sales begin with the Leon and Ibiza models in 2012. Read more »

Diesel-only Renault Laguna Coupe Monaco GP Launched in France

Revealed for the first time at the Geneva Motor Show along with the similarly trimmed Megane, the second iteration of the Renault Laguna Coupe Monaco GP special edition is now available for order in France. Renault took the decision to build a second run of the Monaco GP to satisfy customer demand after all 400 units of the previous version were quickly sold out.

This week’s 2011 Top Marques car show in Monaco (April 14-17) welcomed the world premiere of the Soleil Anadi, a Coachbuilt Corvette that is the brainchild of Ugur Sahin, a Turkish designer based in the Netherlands. For the creation of the Anadi, Sahin formed a new company called Soleil Motors and joined forces with Ercole and Paolo Spada from Spada Concepts and Will Castro from Unique Autosport for the design of the vehicle.

The transformation of the Corvette to the Anadi takes place in Italy, with the company having opened its first showroom in Milan. Like the car it is based on, the Anadi comes equipped with a detachable roof but features new sheetmetal with a profile that brings to mind the Ferrari 599 and a bespoke rear end. The interior has also been fully customized but the show car seen in these photos, courtesy of our friends from Autoblog.nl, had tinted windows. The company said it will release pictures of the cabin at a later date.

Volvo released a teaser video of its upcoming Concept Universe, without giving out any additional information other than that it's a new design study that will be launched shortly. This means it could debut at one of this month's international auto shows, either in New York (April 22 – May 1) or Shanghai (April 21 – 28). Taking into account the fact that Volvo is owned by China’s Geely, the Shanghai show could be the more probable venue of the two for the new Volvo. Read more »

Next Generation 2013 Dodge Viper Undergoing Testing in the Snow

Although roughly a year away from launch, Chrysler has published the very first official photo of a development mule of the next generation Dodge Viper undergoing testing in the snow. The prototype mule is based on the now obsolete 2010 Viper that was discontinued in the summer of 2010.

Not surprisingly, the Auburn Hills-based automaker released very few details on its upcoming high-performance sports car as the only piece of information we get is that “SRT engineers expanded the development scope for the next generation Dodge Viper to include stability control tuning for the first time.”

More and more carmakers are quietly abandoning their gentleman’s agreement of limiting top speed of their production models to 250 km/h (155 mph), despite the fact that the only place in Europe to legally drive that fast is on certain sections of the German autobahn. The latest company to do so is Opel which has released a new version of its high-performance Insignia OPC called ‘Unlimited’ without an electronically-restricted top speed.

“We are responding to frequently expressed customer wishes,” says Alain Visser, Vice President Sales, Marketing and Aftersales at Adam Opel AG. “Insignia OPC buyers are generally experienced and responsible drivers who want to enjoy the full technical possibilities of their car.”

British sports car-maker Aston Martin announced its first foray into India’s booming luxury market on Friday with the opening of its first dealership in the country located in the city of Mumbai. India’s car market posted sales of 1.87 million units in 2010 recording an impressive 25 percent increase over the previous year. More importantly for brands like Aston Martin, the premium car sector grew by a staggering 70 percent last year.

Come on, admit it, tire-smoking burnouts are a blast to watch. Even more so when the vehicle in question is a Japanese kei car stuffed with a GM-sourced LS1 V8. Enter the world of the Curupt, a wildly modified Suzuki Might Boy that comes to us from the land of Down Under.

Largely unknown to most of the world, the Suzuki Mighty Boy is a toy-sized pickup truck-style model from the glorious 1980s that was sold in Japan as well as Australia and Cyprus between 1985 and 1988. Despite its promising name, the fact that it was based on the Giugiaro-designed Suzuki Curve kei car meant the Mighty Boy was anything but ‘mighty’ as power came from a puny 0.5-liter three-cylinder engine delivering around 28 ponies.

According to CNN’s Fortune and simple, cold-hearted business logic, now is the prime time for American manufacturers to take advantage of recent catastrophic events and pounce on their home market's consumers. A lack of Japanese parts (or entire vehicles), in conjunction with a strong yen and ever-improving American small cars, has given Ford, GM, and Chrysler a potential sales pick-me-up as we stroll into the summer months.

Two of the three factors which will help American manufacturers' sales stem directly from the tsunami in Japan a month ago: factory shutdowns have limited parts/vehicle availability, while the yen gained value as the Japanese are expected to repurchase some currency for disaster mitigation.

No, Coca-Cola has not turned Chevy’s upcoming Sonic subcompact into a mobile marketing tool for carbonated soft drinks. What you see pictured here is a Z-Spec accessorized 2012 Sonic and it will debut at the New York International Auto Show to officially launch Chevy’s new line of aftermarket bits that will be available before the end of the year. Chevrolet gave us our first look at its new accessory lineup with the Z-Spec concept versions of the Cruze, Spark and Volt at the 2010 SEMA show.

For the new Sonic, which replaces the Aveo in the States, the Z-Spec range will initially focus on cosmetic improvements.

Available bits will include a full bodykit comprising of front and rear aprons, rocker panel extensions and a silver exhaust tip, contrasting mirror caps and roof spoiler, contrasting upper and lower grille surrounds and a body graphics package like the one you see here.

The Dodge Viper SRT10 American Club Racer (ACR) broke the production car lap record at Miller Motorsports Park, dipping below the 2-minute mark for the first time ever at the 3.048-mile Outer Course configuration. Dodge driver Kuno Wittmer stopped the clock at 1:59.995, beating the previous record held by Jan Magnussen in a Corvette ZR1 by almost four seconds (2:03.86).

In a move that shows Kia has no intention of letting the momentum it has gained with the launch of seven new products in the past two years fade away, the South Korean automaker confirmed today the world premiere of two new models at the rapidly approaching New York Auto Show (April 22 – May 1).

The first global debut concerns the four-door sedan version of the 2012 Kia Rio, which was unwrapped in hatchback form at the Geneva Salon in March. The 2012 Rio sedan will be joined by the North American debut of the Rio5 hatchback.

The concept of turning SUVs into pavement-pounding, drag-racing, supercar-shredding monster rods never ceases to amaze me, and by that I mean my jaw is on the floor and I'm completely boggled. I love me some automobiles (and vehicular transportation in general), but there's something about a nigh-three ton box on wheels and oodles of GO that seems...weird.

However, if monster rods - or high performance in general - are your cup of Starbucks soy latte, then Hennessey has got you covered (as if you didn't know that already, what with their cray-cray 1,000+ horsepower Vipers from way back when). Below, for your viewing pleasure, is video of a 2011 Cadillac Escalade drag racing a 2011 R35 GT-R and beating it.

In 2006, Al Gore’s An Inconvenient Truth brought global warming to the forefront of the world’s consciousness. Regardless of what end of the spectrum you stand on this issue, you have to admit that it’s real, it’s bad and if we don’t do anything it’s only going to get worse. To me and many others, it’s that simple.

So naturally we’re targeting the obvious culprits: Big Mining, Big Agriculture and Big Automotive. We’re also encouraging the average man and woman to use less and be environmentally responsible. So what about the world’s biggest and most prestigious automotive racing category: Formula 1? What are they doing to stem the tide of global warming?

For 30 years now, German-based tuning house Gemballa has been taking the latest Porsche models and transforming them into custom machines with wild outputs. Despite the recent loss of the firm’s founder, Uwe Gemballa, the company continues to roll new creations. At this week’s 2011 Top Marques Monaco Show (April 14-17), Gemballa is showing off two newcomers, the Porsche Cayenne II based Tornado and the Panamera sedan-based Mistrale.

Both the Tornado and the Mistrale feature a heavily customized body with unique front and rear ends, and an array of bespoke aero parts. According to the German tuning house, the new components not only change the appearance of the two Porsche models, but also help reduce weight.

Skoda is a brand with a long tradition in motorsports and this has inspired Czech designer Pavel Hruby to draw a study of a modern Skoda world rally car. Hruby took inspiration from the Skoda Vision D Concept shown by the Czech brand at this year's Geneva Motor Show.

The VW Group’s subsidiary was not involved in any way in this project, with the sketch having been commissioned by Czech Magazine AutoDesign&Styling. The Skoda Vision WRC project shows Hruby's ideas of what a new rally model from the Czech automaker could look like. Based on the new design language launched by the Vision D concept, the rally car features the new corporate grille, underlined by a massive air intake in the lower part of the bumper.

BMW recently acquired Frank Weber, formerly head of Opel/Vauxhall's product planning division and lead engineer on Chevrolet's Volt. Automotive News Europe reports that he will become head of BMW's vehicle architecture and integration division.

Weber will be in control of EfficientDynamics (the green stuff), driver safety/assistance tech, and "full vehicle concepts and architecture", as well as bringing a whole bunch of electrical wizardry and know-how to BMW's nascent electric future.

Ford has issued a massive recall action for its top-selling U.S. model, the F-150 pickup truck, of which around 1.2 million units are involved. The move comes after Ford agreed in February to recall more than 150,000 F-150 vehicles built between 2004 and 2006 for possible airbag faults. Read more »

Fiat Announces U.S.-Spec Version of 500 Cabrio

After releasing the three-door hatchback variant of the 500 in the U.S., Fiat announced today a new addition to the range of its 1950s style model, the 500C, where ‘C’ stands for Cabrio. However, most will quickly notice that the 500C isn’t really a full-fledged convertible model as the Italian company opted to revive the rollback canvas roof from the original Cinquecento (500). Read more »

ISIS AM01 is a Subaru STI-Powered Coachbuilt Sports Car [with Videos]

This odd-looking creation is the AM01 and it’s the work of a Dutch company named Isis Cars that is led by Anton van Nunen and Max Alting Siberg. In an even stranger twist, the AM01 is based on another coachbuilt sports car from the Netherlands called the Saker.

Underneath the composite body shell lies a 2.0-liter turbocharged boxer engine sourced from a Subaru Impreza WRX STI. The four-cylinder unit churns out 275HP and a peak torque of 350 Nm (258 lb-ft), with power being transferred to the rear wheels through a five-speed manual gearbox.

Only two days ago, Fiat SpA announced that it had obtained an additional 5 percent of Chrysler increasing its stake to 30 percent. Now it seems that the Italian group's plans are to raise Chrysler ownership to 46 percent by June of this year, according to an Automotive News report. The news site quotes two unnamed insiders with direct knowledge of the matter who talked about Fiat CEO Sergio Marchionne's plans.

We’ve been hearing about Spada Codatronca’s new Monza speedster for quite some time now, and today, the track-focused sports car was finally revealed at the Top Marques Monaco show. Our friends from Autoblog.nl were on hand in Monaco to shoot some photos of the Corvette-based model that will be built in limited numbers. Read more »

Peugeot Unveils China-Designed SXC Crossover Study

Peugeot has a very good reason to unveil the SXC concept at the Shanghai Motor Show, as the crossover model has been designed and developed by the Peugeot Style Studios of China Tech Center. In addition, the SXC name stands for “Shanghai Cross Concept”, with Peugeot claiming that the crossover study was build to suit the tastes of Chinese buyers.

At 4,870mm long, 1,610mm tall and 2,035mm wide, the sleek crossover is a large vehicle. To put it in perspective, the BMW X6 measures 4,877mm long. The SXC features several styling cues seen in recent Peugeot concept cars, such as the SR1, HR1 and the EX1. The French firm said the study combines elements from both SUVs and saloon models.

Thanks to an official photograph that leaked onto the internet last night, we now have our first glimpse at the exterior of all-new 2013 Chevrolet Malibu. The new mid-size sedan from GM appears to sport a robust look with a sculpted face featuring the classic split Chevrolet grille. Read more »

Ugur Sahin’s Sexy Corvette: Limited Run Soleil Anadi Sports Car Coming to Monaco

Dutch industrial designers Ugur Sahin Design have taken the wraps off the romantically named Soleil Anandi, a gorgeous-looking coupe / concept based on the group’s Z03 Concept of 2007. This latest effort takes the taut lines of the Z03 Concept and refines them in a spectacular – and apparently production-ready – fashion.

With its forward raked and blacked out rump, sculptured flanks and shark-like nose, the Anandi incorporates Corvette styling cues both past and present. Think of it as a modern day interpretation of the Stingray of the 1960s. And what a better place to present it than in Monaco which has a reputation for offering the most exclusive and exotic goods and services to the uber-rich.

If you didn’t manage to purchase one of limited edition Ford Focus RS500 before production ran out, you may want to take a look at Anderson Germany’s Ford Focus RS “Black Racing Edition”. The tuner-prepped Focus RS features a matte black paint scheme similar to the one featured on the RS500 adding contrasting red elements like the RS badges, the edges of the rims and the Ford logo.

Thanks to the worldwide web of ours, we now have some video of the one and only (so far) recall-inducing 2011 Chevrolet Cruze. For the full story, check out our previous post here. The nitty-gritty is that a guy, his wife, one of their mothers, and their 19-month-old son were in the car when the steering wheel decided it wasn't really needed anymore and took a hike...at 65 miles per hour.

It seems that the 426HP Chevrolet Camaro SS wasn't powerful enough for German aftermarket specialist Geiger Cars that decided to spice up Chevy’s pony car. The result is the Camaro Super Sport HP 564, an upgraded version of the standard car that attracts attention foremost for its flamboyant black and green paint scheme.

The car sports an aero kit comprising of a front spoiler lip, side skirts and a redesigned rear bumper that features a large air diffuser. The huge 22-inch black alloy wheels as well as the black central stripe and the black racing numbers on the doors contrast with the green paint job. On top of the rear fenders, the Geiger Camaro sports a “Supercharged” logo, which hints at how the engineers managed to increase the output of the 6.2-liter V8 engine.

If you’re done looking over the official gallery of the new Audi Q3 compact SUV, we have some good news as the Ingolstadt-based automaker has released the first video of the smallest Q series model yet. The new promotional clip shows the Q3 testing on an oval circuit while also offering us a quick walkaround of the exterior and interior. Read more »

Big Brother Is Watching (You Drive) Part Deux: Rule Britannia!

In the past we’ve reported on American insurers that are offering lower premiums to young drivers in return for some of their privacy. The idea is that a camera or electronic “black box” is installed in a provisional licensee’s vehicle, which monitors driving behavior on the road. It’s Big Brother behind the wheel and a lot of parents – and a few reluctant teens – are more than willing to make the trade.

Now a UK based insurer called Marmalade will offer a similar package across the pond. The idea is a simple one: Marmalade will lease cars fitted with a data recorder (a.k.a. “black box”) to newly qualified drivers. Information on every journey is recorded and beamed back to the insurance company’s website analysis. This includes how fast the car accelerates, how quickly it corners and how harshly it brakes.

The following accident took place on a Scottish motorway near Aberdeen and was captured by a “black box” GPS/video system mounted on a semi-trailer truck. From what we can tell, the Vauxhall Corsa entered the highway on the wrong side and drove towards oncoming traffic like a kamikaze, taking a truck driver completely by surprise.

Toyota has been teasing us with its upcoming compact rear-wheel drive sports car since the original FT-86 concept at the 2009 Tokyo Motor Show, which was followed up by the FT-86 G Sports study a year later at the same show, and more recently, by the almost production-ready FT-86 II concept in Geneva. Now it’s time to get our first glimpse of the North American version of the FT-86 that will be marketed under the Scion brand.

Even though the Japanese firm’s North American subsidiary only makes word of a new Scion Concept to be revealed at the New York International Auto Show on April 20, 2011, without giving any further details, the car shadowed in the teaser video below leaves few doubts that the model in question is the FT-86.