Don’t look now but it sounds like the new McLaren MP4-12C is going to have a Sipider offspring pretty soon.
This bit of news was reported by Autocar after finding out that McLaren’s new MP4-12X assembly plant includes a huge space specifically reserved to cater to a ‘Webasto RHT Sub Assembly’.
Now, if you got confused with the name, we’ll be more than happy to give you a hint. The ‘RHT’ on the name stands for ‘retractable hard-top’, which, in plain English would mean a convertible.
For their part, McLaren has neither confirmed nor denied the rumor, only saying that Webasto is but “one of several potential suppliers.”
We’ve always considered McLaren to be a little more closed to giving away company secrets that easily but we’re thinking that this is one occasion where they cat got out of the bag far sooner than they expected and no matter what kind of spin they put in it, it won’t change the growing sentiment that the MP4-12C is about to go topless pretty soon.
2010 is poised to become a big year for Aston Martin as it tries to regain some ground it lost after stumbling through the global financial crisis. The British automakers are scheduled to release three cars for the next calendar year with one of them being the highly-anticipated One-77.
Unveiled at the Monterey Car Week a few months ago, the One-77
supercar, which carries over 740 horsepower on a 7.3-liter V12 engine, will be sold for around $2 million where only 77 (hence, the name) will be produced. Production of the One-77 will begin at the tail-end of the year so you can expect sales to commence sometime in 2010.
In addition to the One-77, Aston Martin will also roll out its all-new flagship four-door sedan, the Rapide. While not as expensive as the One-77 – the Rapide sells for $230,000 – the new sedan is expected to hit American soil sometime in the spring of 2010.
Without question, the most surprising of three new Aston releases is the Toyota IQ-inspired Cygnet. It’s surprising not only because out of the three, it’s the only that doesn’t at least carry a six-digit price tag, but also because it kind of veers away from Aston Martin’s reputation for releasing exclusive sports cars.
Nevertheless, the Cygnet is going to be sold exclusively in Europe at a rather pedestrian price of only $32,000, a far cry from the selling price of the Rapide and the One-77.
It’s been an enormously successful car for the better part of its run over the past few years, but as it turns out, Nissan may finally be ready to park the Nissan R35 in the garage and be replaced by the R36.
According to the boys over at Pistonheads, Nissan vice president of global product planning, Andy Palmer flew in to check up on the brand’s GT-R program at the Nurburgring. While he was there, Palmer reemphasized Nissan’s continued commitment in the development of the GT-R program, so much so that he also hinted on a model (the R36) replacing the R35 in the coming years, expected to be 2013.
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Less than two months after General Motors launched a partnership with eBay to sell their vehicles in California, the automakers have decided against renewing the contract with eBay that was supposed to be set up for extension after September.
While the program generated mixed results across the board, GM eventually decided to scrap it after officially launching its ‘may the best car win’ nationwide marketing and advertising campaign . GM spokesman John McDonald made it clear to Automotive News that while the eBay program was an exciting initiative in the beginning; it eventually had to be scrapped to give way to GM’s turn to a new direction.
The GM-eBay program didn’t fare very well as far as online purchases were concerned. But, according to McDonald, the program did generate a ton of attention from prospective buyers, most of which used the eBay program as a stepping stone to eventually buying a car from their local dealerships.
For the meantime, GM is now solely focused on their new ‘may the best car win’ campaign, as well as their new 60-day money back guarantee promotion.
These days, the push towards electric car production has not been limited to just big time auto manufacturers; even the small-scale brands have taken their turns in creating their own electric vehicles, proving that the electric car could very well be the future of the industry.
Take Tesla, for instance. While it doesn’t have the same resources as other car brands out there, the California-based electric carmaker has nevertheless made quite an impression in the industry as a foremost proponent of the electric car revolution. Though a relative newbie in the industry with a still questionable financial structure, Tesla has been able to produce some of the more popular electric cars out in the market today; so much so that it even secure a loan from the Department of Energy to help finance the building of a new plant to develop the Model S.
At least, that’s what the original plan was. As it turns out, the company is also using the funding it secured under the Advanced Technology Vehicle Manufacturing program to develop a whole new fleet of electric cars, including a minivan, a CUV, and a utility van.
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Do you see anything wrong with these photos? It’s a beautiful Nissan GT-R with one notable problem: it has no tires.
The Nissan sports car was the victim of a robbery in Long Island as the petty crooks took out all four tires from their spokes in the middle of the night. The hapless owner, who we can only assume was dozing off when the crime happened, had no way of knowing that his gorgeous ride would end up tireless when the sun came up.
We don’t condone – nor will we ever – any form of robbery but we can bet that the thiefs who stole the GT-R’s wheels had amateurs written all over them.
That’s because you can always tell the difference between a smooth criminal from a riff-raff just looking for kicks on a weekend night. The former knows what he’s trying to steal and sets about it in a discrete and timely way. The latter just takes anything he can and prays that it’s worth something out on the market.
As in the case of this one, we’re guessing that those douches had no idea what a Nissan GT-R is, so they just decided to swipe the tires, thinking that they’re worth more than the whole car itself.
To those who did this, we believe in karma, boys; sooner or later, it’s going to run you down.
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Japan has been known as one of the world’s strongest manufacturers, thanks to brands like Toyota, Honda, and Nissan calling the Land of the Rising Sun as home. And while a lot of us the world over have been treated to a wide variety of high-quality vehicles from these brands, as far as manufacturers are concerned, Japan is more than just these three brands, for better or for worse.
One other Japanese-based car company that we’ve all had the privilege to come across is Mitsuoka. For those who don’t know, Mitsuoka produces some of the most aesthetically gawky cars you can ever find. Why they do so, we have no clue, but we assume it has something to do with the Japanese way of being aggressive and bombastic with their ideas.
In any case, Mitsuoka’s forte is to create retro-looking cars that are, in some way shape or form, stylistically copied from cars coming from the Western world. And while small in stature compared to the Toyotas and Hondas of the world, Mitsuoka is now primed to expand their operations out of Japan with their first stop being China.
The car brand is crossing over to China with the company’s new Orochi luxury brand heading the plight. From what we’ve gathered, Mitsuoka is planning to use the 2010 Beijing Motor Show – where it will formally introduce the Orochi to the Chinese market - as its stepping stone towards its planned Chinese invasion. > More
It seems that everything Rolls Royce does these days, Bentley has an answer. Rolls Royce introduces the new Ghost and Bentley comes out with the Mulsanne. Now, the rivalry between the two super duper luxury brands figures to get even hotter after Bentley confirmed that the Mulsanne will spawn its own coupe and cabrio models.
According to Bentley, the new coupe and cabrio versions of the Mulsanne will replace the outdated Brookland coupe and Azure convertible – two cars that have long exceeded their respective life spans.
It’s a solid move for Bentley, not just because of its rivalry with Rolls but the worldwide acclaim the Mulsanne generated gives Bentley a chance to milk it to their advantage. And, naturally, what better way to do it than to release a lower-end coupe and a dashing and sexy cabrio. The two cars are expected to carry with them the same technologically-advanced chassis of the Mulsanne and more importantly, bring Bentley closer and closer to super duper luxury car supremacy.
Wouldn’t it be great if Audi came out with an RS2 inspired avant for 2012. It would not only make for a great concept but it would be an even better road car; and if there is any automaker that can pull off a factory tuned 400+ HP wagon, it’s the four ringed German automaker. After a recent chat with a few Audi of America representatives it looks like a mid sized RS sports car is definitely in the works. As far as the extra spacious interior is concerned, Audi could go the way of their Bavarian brethren at BMW with a few GT inspired fastbacks. However we hope that 100 year old German automaker continues doing what they do best, insanely powerful five door wagons that wear RennSport badges. This is a trend that was started in 1994 with the Passat sized turbocharged five cylinder estate and continued with the original Euro only RS4 that was only available with soccer mom styling.
In no attempt to toot my own horn, the first time I found myself behind the wheel of a press car I was going to my at the time girlfriend’s house in an Imola Yellow Audi RS4 cabriolet and encountered an equally brilliant Lamborghini Gallardo along the way. So excuse the following if it sounds a little biased, but I can attest to the magic that Audi’s RS engineers can do; but if you have ever driven an RS model then you know about that special button that tightens the steering, increases the horse power and sharpens the RS4’s handling; turning and extraordinary carbon fiber clad touring car into a racecar detuned to be street legal, the RS models are so good that they can make a 350 HP A4 seem a bit tame.
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There are things in life that, no matter how hard we try, just don’t mix. Hamburgers and wine. Conan O’Brien and slasher movies. Super cars and Third World countries. The last one is worth noting because one of the world’s fastest vehicles – the Ultimate Aero – is somehow making its way to India. Yes, that India.
The Aero’s manufacturer, Shelby Super Car (SSC) will be releasing the car in Mumbai sometime in the coming months, making it the third market after the US and Russia where the Aero will be exclusively sold. The car is expected to go on sale for over Rs 6 crore, which in US dollars would amount to around $1.2 million, thereby making it the most expensive car ever to be sold in the country.
Now forgive us for being sceptical about this but can you imagine the Ultimate Aero, with its maximum speed of 413 kmh, blasting through the tight and bustling streets of India?
Neither can we.
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