First the Korean automaker was assuring to take over your payments in the event that you couldn’t pay your bills until the end of the year. Then they were paying you to buy one of their cars until the end of the year. Well if you are worried about the upcoming summer gas hike, Hyundai has got you covered once again. With a program called gas lock, the automaker is allowing customers to buy in to a program allowing them to purchase gasoline for only $1.49, quite reassuring with prices expected to exceed $3.00 in the near future.
Our question is why are all the incentive programs being offered until the end of the year? It would have been nice if you told us about these things back in January. At least with gas Gas Lock, Hyundai promises you up to a year’s worth of liquid. It looks like the deals will only be getting better as the seasons come and go, heck they will probably be giving away Genesis Coupe’s after Christmas, if so, we’ll be in line.
While $1.49 sounds good, mid-grade and high test will come at a premium, $1.64 and $1.79 respectively. However those prices aren’t bad either, even though the Lambda V6 has been tuned to run just fine on 87 octane.
The American automaker Dodge has announced that its models might be sold wearing Alfa Romeo badges in Europe. Fiat and Chrysler CEO Sergio Marchionne said that all Dodge models might be sold as Alfa Romeos in Europe, and all Alfa Romeo models as Dodges in the U.S. The cross breeding of cutures would certainly make for an interesting lineup. It makes sense after all, if an automaker is going to invest the amount of money it takes to produce a vehicle, why limit yourself to just one market.
According to Marchionne: "Dodge is the American muscle car, while Alfa Romeo is the European muscle car. How we dovetail these two brands is very important. The level of competition between these two brands is tremendous because they are both going after the same customer." The man from across the Atlantic had some pretty bold words to say, but it would be nice to have Vipers allowed in the Targa Florio.
There is a new hybrid super car coming from Japan that is set to debut sometime next year. If all goes well Tong Jian will be remembered amongst the greats such as Enzo Ferrari and Ferdinand Porsche; except for one thing Tong Jian is a Chinese figure skater. Perhaps the designers wanted to inspire the Tong Jian S11 to be as agile as the other speed machines that it resembles.
The car was designed by students from the Tongya University, and used a number of elements from super cars that are already on the market. The nose is a mix of Lamborghini scoops and Audi inspired headlights. The super car also features a pair of carbon fiber side scoops from an R8. Out back there are Ferrari inspired taillights and a powerfully round rear end that gives the S11 a GT-R like stance when viewed from behind. The Ferrari elements are carried over into the interior as well.
What should make electric automakers like Tesla take notice, is that the car will be powered to a combination of electric motors and internal combustion that will send power to all the four wheels. Could this be the next green super car?<
Touring car driver turned Fifth Gear host has a chance to compare two lightweight convertibles that you wouldn’t normally put in the same category. He admits to liking the Mini Cooper S Convertible but he says that the Mazda MX-5 is much more fun. So which is quicker around their test circuit the Japanese roadster or the BMW owned Brits?
The exotic Italian dream machine maker, Lamborghini, has just released a new image gallery of the Gallardo LP 560-4 Spyder that was unveiled last year at the Los Angeles International Auto Show. The Gallardo Spyder will be powered by the same 5.2 Liter V10 engine that sits in the middle of the coupe’s chassis. The power plant delivers 560 HP and over 380 lb-ft. of torque to all four wheels. This raging bull can go from 0 to 60 MPH in under 4 seconds and won’t stop until it hits a super car like top speed of 201 MPH.
BMW had their Art Cars and Mini has specialty celebrity designed automobiles, but Bentley decided to take things a step further and recruit contemporary artist Romero Britto to create the centerpiece for their “Come to my world” exhibition in Germany. The English automaker provided Mr. Britto with a Continental GT as a canvas, prepared with a Bentley Blue base coat for the South Florida artist to get to work.
The car is covered in colorful, comic-like figures featuring a large multi colored flower on the hood, winged heart on the driver’s door, ladybug inspired door mirrors and a few orange and purple stars. The negative space is covered with Britto’s recognizable signature, similar to the mathematical symbol for pi; it is consists of a “T” followed by a squiggly line that sometimes goes down like a backwards “J” and other times is just a continuation of the character before it. The entire feeling of this piece of 200 MPH artwork is that it is as playful as the GT is fun to drive.
The world’s oldest retailer of the lightweight English sports cars, Bell & Colvill Lotus are offering some very reasonable special edition of the automaker’s Elise model. The new Elise Black & White Editions are available in both the R or SC spec and offer quite a bit of kit for the money. The more sinister Lotus Sport Black version and comes with a trio of Phantom Black stripes running the length of the car, while the Aspen White version wears the same stripes in Ice White. One would think that the combination of choice would be white with black stripes or black with white stripes, but the black on black and white on white treatment sets these Elises further apart from the Lotus crowd.
The interior features a microfiber trimmed dash and similar treatment on the sport bucket seats and door skins. The value package also adds a set of black forged wheels wrapped in ultra sticky rubber while out back there is an all new diffuser. Other additions are traction control, air conditioning and a compulsory option for the Lotus Sport base paint. The retailer sells this package for about a $3,000 premium over a standard Elise R or SC, but I all the options were added individually, the sum would be closer to $8,200. Whether you choose Black or White, these dealer direct special edition Elises are a tremendous savings over buying the options one by one. Bell & Colvil are now taking orders.
It is lamentable that European Nissan enthusiasts don’t have the opportunity to try out the Nismo 370Z. However, they are receiving a special edition that looks pretty good! The new Nissan 370Z Yellow will be available in limited numbers starting in September with prices ranging from a manually shifted £31,650 to £33,050 for an automatic.
The 370Z Yellow is painted in the sun inspired color and wears a set of 19 inch RAYS forged alloy wheels, but what really sets this Z car off are the 1970s Porsche RS inspired side stripes that spell out exactly what is driving down the road. Both items set off the gleaming yellow body to perfection.
The interior is another story all together, consisting of black leather and suede, the inside of the Yellow 370Z is both comfortable and grippy. Electronics consist of an integrated satellite navigation system and a BOSE audio with eight speakers and a built in six disc CD changer. Touches like illuminated entry plates and special mats greets the driver as he or she enters and sits back in the heated racing buckets. This 370Z includes the speed limiter and all the other features from the 370Z GT Pack on which the special Yellow model is based.
Ever dream of having your own highly modified Ferrari from the experts at Novitec Rosso. Unfortunately they aren’t having a sale, but the Ferrari super tuners have launched an online configurator for the Ferrari 599 and Ferrari 430 models. The program really shows off the difference between the original design from Maranello and what Novitec has done. If you want to see for yourself, check out the link below. Although you can’t bring it home with you, it would still make a nice decoration fro your workspace.