Back in January, Chrysler announced that the new-generation SRT Viper would not be offered in Europe. However, this doesn’t mean the European customers won’t be able to drive one! The problem is that they will need to opt for an unofficially imported Viper.
U.S. car specialist, GeigerCars, announced recently it will import the new Viper and will put it on sale at a price of €139,900 (around $180,500).
Yes, you read it right: that’s almost double an American customer has to pay for a standard Viper, which is priced at $97,395. We are not sure how many units GeigerCars will import, but there will certainly be plenty of Viper-hungry Europeans standing in line to pick one up.
After all, who would turn down the opportunity to be one of the few people in your region to own one of the best sports cars launched in the past year?
Click past the jump to read more about the SRT Viper.
Stick a fork in `em, because Fisker’s about as cooked as it can get. As much as it saddens us, we have to admit that the once promising brand is set to be sold or head into bankruptcy. So far, Fisker has two interested parties, per a report from Reuters, that are looking to buy it out.
The most aggressive team is headed up by Bob Lutz’s VL Automotive and China’s Wanxiang Group, as they reportedly put in a bid of $20 million for the spiraling company. $20 million may sound like a big number for a nearly bankrupt company, but it is a far cry from the $2.2 billion valuation given to Fisker in the spring of 2012.
Of course, no one involved in the process is confirming the report of this super-low bid, but folks close to the situation are claiming that it is true and that Fisker is considering the offer.
There is one other team that is interested in purchasing the company outright, but there aren’t any reports of them bidding. However, there are reports that a third investment group is interested in buying out DOE’s $171 million interest in the company, which came as a result of the loan Fisker received in its infancy that was later frozen.
This is all we have for now, but we’ll keep an eye out for more reports as time goes on.
Click past the jump to read more about VL Automotive’s interest in Fisker
If you’ve been visiting these pages for the past couple of years, you might remember Holger Schubert. If you have a hard time recalling the man, he was the one who decided to build a state-of-the-art garage in his Los Angeles home for his beloved Ferrari 512 BBi.
That was back in 2010. Recently, the boys over at Petrolicious were able to pay a visit to Schubert’s remarkable garage and see for themselves exactly what makes this supposedly simple room such a technological wonder.
We’re not going to spoil a whole lot of the details because the video above does a remarkable job of showing you the garage in all its glory. But to give you an idea, the whole setup comes with a ten-foot-long, fifteen-foot-high bridge that has a hydraulic ramp on one end installed where the 512 BBi can go in and about its business.
And if you’re thinking this was a project everyone can partake in, Schubert actually spent $1.5 million to build the entire thing.
Click past the jump to read about the Ferrari 512 BBi
The 2014 CTS Sedan has definitely grown on a lot of people. Actually, it’s become quite popular in the years that it’s been around, so much so that Cadillac has decided to send the first performance version of the new CTS, dubbed the CTS VSport, to the auction block.
The car will be donated by General Motors to the Society of Automotive Engineering (SAE) Foundation where it will then be auctioned off at a Barrett-Jackson auction later this year.
The proceeds of the auction, which we expect to be quite significant for a CTS VSport, will then head to the foundation’s outreach programs.
GM and Cadillac decided to donate the car after its own senior VP for product development, Mary Barra, was bestowed with the prestigious Industry Leadership Award, becoming the first woman in the SAE’s history to be given such an honor.
Click past the jump to read about the Cadillac CTS VSport
Until Porsche finally decides to officially add the 918 Spyder to its lineup, we continue to look back and remember what a great car the Carrera GT was. Unveiled back in 2004, the supercar was limited to only 1,270 units and the guys over at Carlex Design had the chance to update unit No. 1,035.
If you have followed the automotive industry in the past few years, you know that Carlex Design is a tuner known for upgrading the interiors and this is exactly what it has done for the Carrera GT.
For the Carrera GT, Carlex paid close attention to the smallest details when restyling the supercar’s interior. It includes yellow-contrast-stitched black Carbon Optic leather combined with Alcantara. The yellow stitching also helps tie the inside to the outside, as it perfectly matches the yellow brake calipers.
The tuner also offers lots of luxury extras and add-ons, like the Alcantara floor mats in rhombus stitching; rearview mirror in Alcantara; and trunk lining decorated with a nice stitching.
Click past the jump to read more about the standard Porsche Carrera GT.
The British market received yet another special edition; this time it comes from the Italian automaker, Alfa Romeo, and it is called the Giulietta Collezione Limited Edition. The easiest way to distinguish it from the rest of the lineup is by its exclusive contrasting roof offered as a standard feature. The roof is painted matte Magnesio Grey on models donning a black body, whereas Alfa Red and Ghiaccio White models receive a black roof.
Along with the roof, Alfa Romeo offers special 17-inch titanium-finish alloy wheels, titanium-effect wing mirrors, darkened headlight surrounds and chrome door handles. For the interior, the Collezione Limited Edition adds black and red competizione cloth upholstery, and titanium-finish inserts on the doors, central console and dashboard.
The new Giulietta Collezione Edition can be ordered in four different engine configurations: 1.4 TB with 120 horsepower, 1.4 TB MultiAir with 170 horsepower, 1.6 JTDM-2 with 105 horsepower or 2.0 JTDM-2 with 140 horsepower.
On the British market, the model is priced at £18,265 (roughly $27,500 at the current exchange rates).
Click past the jump to read more about the standard Alfa Romeo Giulietta.
Downloadable content is one of the few ways that video game manufacturers have found a way to keep their hands in your pockets long after buying the game and car games are among the biggest offenders. Now GRID2, which is set to hit shelves on May 28th, has a way to dig into your pocket before you even buy the game by way of the IndyCar Pack.
To further turn you onto the pack, Codemasters has revealed a new teaser video of the IndyCar Pack (above). Fortunately, you can get the pack for free if you preorder the game from Best Buy before its launch on May 28th, but after that, we’re sure it’ll cost you at least a few extra bucks.
From the information on GRID2’s Facebook page, we can see that this new pack will include access to the Dallara IndyCar, the IndyCar Pace car, a pair of new routes around Indianapolis Motor Speedway Oval Circuit and an “exclusive online event.” Also revealed is exclusive livery for online racing, a Camaro SS and the Corvette Z06 Centennial Edition.
Not too bad for a free pack, but we’re not too sure if it is worth actually forking out any dough to pick it up. In fact, the deals included with a GameStop or Amazon preorder – McLaren Racing Pack and GTR Racing Pack or Head Start Pack, respectively – seem like better deals too. That is, unless you really want to find out two other ways to make it around the Indy Motor Speedway…
Ferrari had a big problem with its 400 series when it debuted in 1959. Sure, the car packed a racing V-12 and all the gravitas a Ferrari badge can bring, but its brutal style made the front-engine 2+2 GT car a tough sell in one of Ferrari’s fastest-growing markets: the United States.
An emergency refresh was undertaken. Gone was the 400’s square grille and quad headlamp setup, replaced by Ferrari’s delicious oval slatted grille and single round headlamps under glass at each corner. Suddenly, the 400 Superamerica SWB Coupé Aerodinamico was as gorgeous as its two-seat siblings.
This very car, one of 36 built, is owned by famed driving instructor Skip Barber and is set for auction this weekend on May 25th by RM Auctions in Lake Cuomo, Italy. The pre-sale estimate is between $2.4 and $3 million, but the bidding could well reach $5 million before the dust settles.
Beneath the Superamerica Aerodinamico’s sumptuous bodywork lies the vanguard of Ferrari tech at the time, much like the Ferrari 456GT and current FF. Part of the “America” series of cars that included the 330 GT and 365 GTC, the plan in Modena was to leverage the flexibility offered by their small-scale Pininfarina bodywork team to create unique shells that would sell cars in crucial markets, like New York and Los Angeles, as well as Firenzi and Roma.
Click past the jump for the full review and photo gallery of this timeless classic, the 400 Superamerica Coupe SWB Aerodinamico.
Last month, the 2014 Audi A8 was caught testing for the first time on the public roads in Germany. Today, the car changed landscapes and went for high-altitude testing in the Alps.
Just like in the previous testing session, Audi chose to heavily camouflage this A8 prototype; but even so, we expect to see the same updates that we have seen in all of the recently launched Audi models.
These updates will include: new headlight units; new grille; and small changes to the bumper. On the rear, the revisions include: new taillights and a revised bumper. The interior will also receive some small updates, plus an updated infotainment system.
Under the hood, Audi will focus on reducing fuel consumption and lowering CO2 emissions.
We expect the revised Audi A8 to be unveiled in September at the 2013 Frankfurt Motor Show.
Click past the jump to read more about the Audi A8.
Now that Volkswagen unveiled both the standard and GTI version of the seventh-generation Golf, the next model we expect is, of course, the R version. We’ve brought you plenty of spy photos of the 2014 Golf R, but this time we present to you a video showing the upcoming Golf R taking a beating on Nürburgring.
The upcoming Golf R will be powered by a revised version of the 2.0-liter turbocharged four-cylinder engine mated to a DSG or a six-speed transmission. The revised engine will deliver 256 horsepower in the U.S. version and 270 horsepower in the European model.
As for aesthetics, the next-gen Golf R will receive the same R treatment as the current model, but it will get the some of the design improvements seen on the other seventh-gen Golf variants, including: revised headlights and taillights; a new grille and front bumper; and a revised backside.
Stay tuned for more information and spy shots on the new Golf R as we slowly approach its debut.
