We have seen many automotive pranks in our time, but the following one definitely tops the list for ingenuity, skill, and creativity. It is unlikely to be topped in the near future, just because it is so impressive.
Volkswagen is unquestionably one of the world’s biggest companies with it owning a fairly large selection of other brands including Bugatti, Bentley, Seat, and even Lamborghini, so it obviously takes some creativity to get an upper hand over the competition. Fiat definitely did just that the other day, when they took the opportunity to take advantage of one of the numerous Google Street View vans driving across the globe, and capture something completely unique.
Both Volkswagen and Fiat have headquarters in Sweden and when workers at the Fiat HQ noticed the Google Street View car driving past, they rushed over to their competitor’s major branch in a brand new Fiat 500, 45 minutes away to capture the perfectly executed images you see in the gallery below.
The bright red Fiat 500 can be seen following the Street View car from a distance just seconds away from Volkswagen headquarters before speeding up Volkswagen’s driveway, pulling up in directly below the Volkswagen sign just in time for the images to be captured and then uploaded to Google Street View for the world to see.
And all of this happened in just a matter a seconds without VW having any idea about the stunt, meaning the German marque will have to accept having one of its competitors cars parked outside its showroom for at least a year.
Don’t however, expect VW to take this lightly. We suspect they’re already planning an ingenious way to get back at Fiat.
It goes without saying that in its very short life, the Bentley EXP 9 F has already faced its fair share of criticism, largely revolving around its controversial styling. However, Bentley is not going to let the haters get in the way of its ambitious plans for the new SUV and if a report by CAR turns out to be correct, the British marque may enter next year’s Dakar Rally to help drum up support for the SUV and preview its off-road capabilities.
Rather than developing a handful of custom racers from scratch, Bentley is said to be considering purchasing VW Touareg’s from the various private teams which race the cars in the Dakar Rally and converting them into off-road machines which will resemble the concept version of the EXP 9 F, even if they only share minimal components.
Despite a company spokeswoman quickly confirming that no decisions have been made in regards to this possible entry into the world’s most grueling rally event, we won’t let that stop us from reporting on what could be an extraordinary racer if Bentley borrows enough components from the VW Touareg racers. VW’s entry actually won the event in its category in 2009, 2010, and 2011, before the factory team pulled out to instead focus on its upcoming World Rally Championship entry next WRC season.
If Bentley does decide to do what is being reported, they would strip the interior bare and simply fit it with a couple of bucket seats, while also installing the necessary fuel and water storage for the long and hot stages of the Dakar. Next, they would likely ditch the large 6.0-liter W12 engine which the top of the range EXP 9 F SUV is expected to feature and replace it with a lighter, more efficient and less powerful engine similar to 296HP units fitted to the Touareg’s.
The Ferrari Enzo’s successor has been in the pipeworks for upwards of five years now and with its launch creeping closer and closer every day, additional details are being released frequently. The latest information to be released is in regards to sales of the car codenamed the ‘F70’ and just which markets Ferrari plans to targets with its latest halo car.
The U.S. has always been one of, if not the largest sales market for Ferrari. Ever since the brand’s inception in 1929, Americans have enveloped the Italian marque and as a result of this long history between duo, Ferrari aims to target the U.S. significantly. It also hopes it will be the car’s largest market when it goes on sale next year.
A company insider who was speaking to Bloomberg released the information as well as a few other juicy details including the new car’s rumored price of $850,000 in the U.S., which will put it right in the same realm as the incredible Porsche 918 Spyder. Even though the U.S. is said to be the F70’s largest market when deliveries begin in mid or late 2013, less than 100 units are expected to make their way here if the 399 units of the Enzo which were produced are a guide as to how many of its successor will be produced.
Ferrari expects the F70 to completely reshape the automotive industry as it should pave the way for other supercars to follow and if the rumors are to be believed, it’ll feature an incredible V12 engine pumping out 800HP by itself or 920HP when combined with the advanced KERS system.
Automotive manufacturers are continually trying to make their cars appealing to the masses and one popular way of doing this is by offering programs which allow customers to individualize their cars to not only make them more valuable, but to also make them perfectly suited to whatever paces the owners plan to put them through.
High end cars can be optioned with different kinds of leathers, carpets, and even stereo systems, but we’ve yet to see custom instrument panels being offered, until now. As part of the BMW 5-series’ fairly large update released recently, the German brand is offering an option where all 5-series cars can be optioned out with a 10.25-inch LCD coming standard with Black Panel technology to make it as real as possible, by adding super-deep and crisp blacks.
The action however, kicks off as the driver can choose out of four different displays, where the information on the instrument panel changes as does the color, such as those backing the speedometer and tachometer.
The familiar BMW set-up comes standard, while the three remaining options are dubbed Comfort, Eco Pro, and Sport and each have their own customized functions with the Eco Pro set up displaying how efficiently the car is being driven, similar to other instrument panels fitted to hybrid and electric cars.
In a similar vein, while in Sport mode, the speed and gear selected in the car are featured prominently to help minimize the time the driver’s eyes are looking down, by displaying them through large numeric figures.
No details have been released about how much this optional extra will set prospecting buyers back, but $1000 - $2000 wouldn’t be out of the question.
One could argue that Wolfgang Durheimer has the best job in the world as he runs two of the most prestigious and recognizable car companies in the world; Bentley and Bugatti. As we’re sure you know, both of these companies fall under the Volkswagen brand, but if Automotive News Europe is to be believed, changes are afoot within the mega-company.
Prior to being in charge of Bugatti and Bentley, Durheimer was Porsche’s development chief, and ANE believes that in a re-shuffle of Audi’s management board to reduce the age of its seven-board members, Durheimer will leave his current positions and take up the role as Audi’s development chief. He is said to be superseding Michael Dick, aged 60, in the role.
A selection of other positions throughout the Audi brand are expected to be replaced also, such as the brand’s sales chief and purchasing managers to again reduce the average age of the firm’s management board.
We’re not sure as to why Audi and Volkswagen are so keen to have young board members, as employees should be solely chosen on their abilities rather than their ages, but it’s likely Audi believes some of its current board members are losing their grasp on the ever-changing automotive industry, and perhaps believes bringing some youth to the team will help.
In saying that however, the new members aren’t exactly youthful as Durheimer is 53 and will be replacing a man just 7 years his senior, while Luca de Meo is 44 and expected to replace Audi’s sales chief, 60-year-old Peter Schwartzenbauer. As a result of this switch-up, the position as CEO of Bentley and Bugatti will be up for grabs but it’s unclear who’ll be promoted to that position in the near future.
The tiny brand promised that its unnamed supercar would debut at the event and also promised some performance statistics simply out of this world. First and foremost, it predicted it could extract 2,801HP and 2,580lb-ft of torque from an eight-rotor engine which could launch the car from 0-62 mph in less than 1 second and onto a top speed of over 280 mph.
Prior to RSC releasing details about its halo-car, it also announced that it was developing a 1,184 horsepower car dubbed the Predator GT and unsurprisingly, no further news has been released about that car either. It too promised to lay down some extremely impressive performance times, but nothing in comparison to what RSC supposedly had up its sleeve.
Just a few months ago, if you headed over to RSC’s official website, it took you straight to all of their proposed supercar plans and broke down detailed information about each one of them. Now however, the brand’s website is simply blacked-out with some contact information and without a single hyperlink in sight.
Now we don’t know about you, but this has all the tell-tale signs of a car company too ambitious for its own good, which has eventually gone bust. We were always doubtful if RSC could really walk-the-walk rather than just talk-the-talk, but it seems likely we’ll never see its near-3000 horsepower hypercar, which is a shame.
After Porsche recently released its sale and revenue figures for the first quarter of 2012, Ferrari has also joined in by proudly releasing its figures with all the crucial numbers going up also, suggesting that economies across the globe are beginning to make their way out of the Global Financial Crisis of late 2008 and 2009.
In just the first three months of this year, Ferrari managed to deliver 1,733 new vehicles to its ever-expanding dealership network, and sales in the United Kingdom led the pack achieving a 31% rise of sales this time last year. In a similar vein, sales in the U.S. were up by 16%, Germany up by 12% and unsurprisingly sales in the Middle East also grew by 23%.
What’s more exciting is the fact that all new cars ordered from Ferrari this year have all been completely custom, with buyers now offered the chance to personalize their machines to a whole new level with the Tailor Made programme. It’s important to note at this stage also, that the recently launched F12 Berlinetta played no role in this sale spikes as deliveries of it won’t begin until the second half of the year.
In line with this impressive sale figures, Ferrari managed to rake in 42.1 million Euros of profit, a dramatic increase of 17.2% from last year prompting Ferrari’s chairman, Luca di Montezemolo to state, "After an extraordinary 2011, starting the year with all the economic indicators on the rise is very satisfying indeed. We have a complete new model range brimming with technological innovations, and which deliver significant reductions in fuel consumption and emissions, down by 30 per cent on average." He continued: "At the end of the year, we’ll also be unveiling the new Enzo, a limited series model and our first ever hybrid car."
Now have a look at that last sentence very closely. We already knew Ferrari was planning to unveil the new Enzo late this year, with new hybrid technology also being previewed, but as for the new ‘limited series model’, we simply have no idea what that could be.
De Tomaso is unquestionably one of the most recognizable brands in the world, not only because of its provocative name but also because the Pantera supercar truly put the company on the international map.
The Pantera stayed in production for almost two decades, before being pushed aside in 1990 as the company was facing crippling money issues, eventually leading to the company’s liquidation in 2004. The Rossignolo family maintained the vast majority of De Tomaso’s shares and helped revive the brand for the 2011 Geneva Motor Show with the surprising debut of the Deauville sedan.
That car was met with a relatively negative reception and the financial problems plaguing the company continued, but Chinese investment firm Hotyork did announce its ambitious plans to buy the majority of De Tomaso’s shares for 70 million Euros. That money, however, never materialized and as a result, the company and its dozens of workers are now being left in limbo.
Not only is this sad for those vintage car enthusiasts, but also for modern-car lovers as a successor to the Pantera (rendered above) was rumored to be released early this year and would have likely maintained its aggressive and retro-styling.
As a quick refresher, the original De Tomaso Pantera featured a 5.8-liter V8 engine, mid-mounted and provided by Ford producing approximately 330HP. What the original car lacked in performance however, it made up for in the styling department taking clear cues from its Italian brethren, the Lamborghini Countach.
If the crisis at De Tomaso continues, it’s likely it’ll never see the light of day again, but they’ll always be investors out there willing to purchase it, just like the various firms trying to acquire Saab (the majority of which have failed).
In the past few years, we’ve become so accustomed to Top Gear airing two seasons annually that when we heard a report that Top Gear wouldn’t return until next year, we were almost blown our off our chairs, quite literally.
The last couple of seasons have begun with a Christmas special while the remaining episodes of that season air in the weeks after the calendar ticks over for another year, before the ever-hilarious British show returns for our viewing pleasure in the later-half of the year. However, if Jeremy Clarkson is to be believed, and on this issue he definitely is as he hosts the show, Top Gear won’t return this year, meaning we’ll just have to settle for watching old re-runs.
Clarkson broke the news while talking to South African radio show Ballz Visual Radio stating, "There’s no Top Gear on this year." So the rest is pretty self-explanatory, right? Well, not exactly as it’s unclear just why Top Gear won’t be adding a nineteenth season this year, but we suspect a few factors could be at play.
First and foremost the Olympic Games in London kick off on the 27th of July, right around the time a new season of Top Gear would premiere and the show’s producers obviously cannot compete with the viewing audience which will be glued to their TV’s watching the Olympics. Another possible reason for the delay is rising production costs needed for producing the show and perhaps the BBC is saving up cash to deliver one balls-out, full-on, epic season of Top Gear annually.
Check out the video of the telephone interview below and tell us, why do you think Top Gear won’t appear until 2013?
On the back of an extremely ambitious plan for the future, Porsche recently recorded revenue and sales for the first quarter of 2012 on the back of the extremely successful 991 911 sales which were dramatically up on its predecessor, the 997.
For starters, Porsche increased worldwide sales by 29% up to 30,231 vehicles over the same period as last year, thus boosting revenue by 32.4% to just over 3 billion euro. Additionally, and arguably most importantly, the German company took on an additional 725 employees across the globe in the first quarter of the year with 16,032 employees now working for the company on the 31st of March.
Lutz Meschke, the Chief Financial Officer for Porsche said, “We are extremely satisfied with the first quarter 2012 results. We will keep this momentum going – exactly in line with our growth strategy. We can fund both the significant increase in investment and the development expenditure for expanding our model range out of our strong cash flow. And both of those things with a return on sales of 17.5 per cent, which is significantly in excess of our strategic target value of a minimum of 15 per cent.”
Although the Porsche 911 cannot be solely blamed for this influx of sales, it did play a major role with sales of the 911 alone increasing by 37.6 per cent over its predecessor, so it’s clear that the controversial electric-power steering isn’t putting prospecting buyers off. What’s more, Porsche also confirmed that it would be adding a further nine models or variants to its line-up this year with the majority expected to be derivatives of the 911.
The CEO of Porsche, Matthias Muller concluded by saying “Behind these extremely gratifying figures is a clearly defined line: we focus systematically on solid, sustainable and high-quality growth. The youngest and most efficient model range of all time gives us an outstanding platform on which to sustain this course throughout 2012.”
