While speaking to ATFULLCHAT at the recent Pageant of Power event at Cholmondeley, Noble Automotive MD Peter Boutwood officially released the very first, and possibly the only picture ever, of a Noble M600 Convertible.
After the M600 coupe’s launch a couple of years back, we always felt that something was missing from Noble’s range with a convertible being at the very top of our wish list. However, it’s worth noting at this point that the following image is simply being pinned as “a factory styling exercise” with Boutwood claiming “there are definitely no plans at present to produce it.”
Nevertheless, it’s still an interesting prospect being showcased by Noble and despite their claims that it’s only a styling exercise, we have a slight inkling that if pre-existing Noble customers and possible new customers like the idea, and Noble Automotive can find the funds to produce such a car, the company will prepare an M600 Convertible in the coming years.
With that being said, the following picture only seems to be a rendering of a convertible variant rather than an actual photograph taken of a one-off M600 convertible. As a result, we’ll take Boutwood’s statement to heart, but we’ll still dream of a convertible M600 being produced some day, even if that means an out-of-house tuner has to perform the conversion.
Do you think Noble should consider turning this “styling exercise” into a production ready car? Hit us up in the comments section below!
Ferrari CEO, Luca di Montezemolo, has and always will be one of the most well-known CEO’s in the automotive market due to the remarkable work he has done for the Italian firm in the past 20 years. As a result of this and numerous other factors, the European Business Press Foundation (EBP) recently named Montezemolo the “European Manager of the Year.”
The EBP is an association of some of Europe’s largest and most influential financial publications and has direct affiliations with the Wall Street Journal Europe, Les Echos, Handelsblatt, and Milano Finanza, just to name a few.
With the award being in existence since 1991, it’s gained quite a following and receiving the illustrious award is definitely nothing to sneeze about. In order to take out the selection, the major editors of each publication associated with the European Business Press Foundation cast their respective votes and before long, Montezemolo came out on top.
The major factor which helped determine Montezemolo’s selection for the award was his aforementioned role as Chairman of Ferrari for the past 20 years, but his goal of improving the living standards of his workers was also praised during the ceremony. Maybe his intent on running for President of Italy isn’t as ridiculous as it originally sounded.
Earlier this month, the man who is given the majority of the credit for Audi’s recent sales success in the U.S., Johan De Nysschen, stepped down as the president of Audi of America to take a gig with Infiniti, via Nissan. Audi needed to find someone with the right vision and an understanding of the direction that De Nysschen was taking Audi, as it moved closer to its U.S. sales goal of 200,000 units per year.
Fortunately, Audi didn’t have to look past its own office to find the man for the job. Audi has just announced that it has promoted Scott Keogh, the chief marketing officer, to Audi of America’s president. Keogh has always had quite the knack for marketing and advertising, so Volkswagen AG is hoping that this translates into pushing the brand toward its sales goals.
We have a sneaking suspicion that while De Nysschen will be missed, Audi will keep on rolling like nothing ever changed with Keogh at the helm. The next big step for the German automotive group is finding a replacement for Keogh’s now-vacant chief marketing officer position.
We offer our congratulations to Mr. Keogh on both the promotion and his likely significant pay increase. Hopefully he can keep the wheels in motion at Audi, as its latest models, like the SQ5 TDI, S1, and RS6 Avant are impressive and we want to see lots more of it.
We’ll keep you updated as Audi moves forward with its restructuring following its loss of De Nysschen to rival Infiniti.
We hate to say we told you so… Wait who are we kidding? We love to say we told you that our article about oft-troubled Lindsay Lohan crashing her rented Porsche would not be the last thing we’d hear about the accident. According to TMZ, Lohan was forbidden to drive any car at the time she was in the accident.
You see, Ms. Lohan has a bit of a, um, drinking problem and with that problem tends to come her urge to get behind the wheel of a motorized vehicle. To help prevent that and preserve the filming of her ongoing Lifetime series “Liz & Dick,” the company insuring the film added a stipulation that Lindsay Lohan was forbidden to drive any car, let alone a Porsche 911, while the show was in production.
Oops, we guess she missed that memo. We also assume that the production company missed that memo too, as directly behind Lohan’s borrowed Porsche during the accident was an SUV used by the production crew… Double oops.
Fortunately for the production company, the insurance company did not cancel the plan, but it did require the company to inform Lohan that she is not permitted to drive for any reason whatsoever.
What a life to live. You have multiple millions of dollars in the bank and you have insurance companies and production companies taking your keys away like a 16-year-old that just got caught staying out after curfew.
Okay, we can once again resume ignoring everything involving Lindsay Lohan, unless it involves her and a car.
One only has to look at the various one-off Pagani Zonda’s to know that when enough cash is on the table, consumers can almost bend car manufacturers to produce custom components and cars at their will. Of course, that doesn’t seem to be the case for Lamborghini.
A Chinese customer is reported to have approached Lamborghini to have an LP670-4 SV wing attached to his Gallardo LP560-4 but interestingly, Lamborghini refused to make the install despite decent money being on the table.
On one hand this does surprise us as installing the SV wing on a Gallardo shouldn’t be all that strenuous but on the other hand, Lamborghini clearly doesn’t like the recycle components from model to model even if it is on a customer’s request.
As a result, the man involved asked DMC Germany and it seems that he got a better deal from DMC than he could have ever hoped for from Lamborghini itself. Rather than just fitting the SV wing to the Gallardo and cutting the legs to fit the car, which Lamborghini probably would have done, DMC Germany managed to completely re-engineer the unit to suit the overall proportions of the Gallardo, as well as not hindering the car’s aerodynamics.
Rather than just spending all this time developing a one-off unit, DMC Germany has decided to put the rear wing on sale for special requests although no pricing details have been released just yet.
The Porsche Cayman has long been a favorite for driving enthusiasts wanting a true driver’s car, with no frills and with the extra rigidity which comes from having a fixed roof unlike its Boxster brethren.
However, with competing cars nipping at the tail of the Cayman, including the Subaru BRZ and Scion FRS despite their obvious power disadvantages, the Cayman is in dire need of a significant update.
If the latest news from Autonews turns out to be correct, then the 2013 Porsche Cayman (which will be almost identical to the recently updated Boxster) will debut at the upcoming 2012 Los Angeles Auto Show in November.
In addition to this information being released, the 2013 Cayman is also expected to hit global markets by the spring of next year, with a price tag most likely just below the 2013 Boxster.
No vast visual changes will be prominent on the updated Cayman, as it’ll look almost identical to the new Boxster which as we know, features a host of slight changes including the re-designed headlights and taillights.
Powering the base 2013 Porsche Cayman will be a punchy 2.7-liter flat-six engine delivering 265HP while the more expensive and more desirable S variant, will feature a 3.4-liter engine pumping out an impressive 315HP.
When Lexus first announced that it planned on selling 20 LFA units monthly (500 total) with each one costing at minimum $375,000, we thought the Japanese brand had lost its mind. However, if reports are to be believed, just 10 units of the LFA are waiting for to be picked up at dealerships across Lexus’ worldwide network of dealerships.
Lexus has yet to confirm or deny these figures, nor has it mentioned whether all 50 LFA Nurburgring Editions have sold. Nevertheless, we very impressed by Lexus’ sales figures of the LFA as it tells us two clear things about the company and the brand.
First of all, it proves just how successful the marketing and sales team at Lexus has been in order to ship out almost all of the LFAs ever produced. It also indicates that the LFA is a true performance car which owners believe is worth the $375,000 - even if on paper, it certainly doesn’t appear to be twice as good as many of its competitors.
As a refresher, the LFA features an incredibly-advanced 4.8-liter V10 engine pumping out 560 HP at a screaming 9,000rpm while an impressive torque figure of 354lb-ft wraps up the performance capabilities of the engine. As a result, the LFA can launch to 60 mph in just 3.7 seconds and continue onto a top speed of 202 mph. However, if reports are to be believed, the upcoming LFA II could be twice as fast and twice as expensive.
With McLaren Automotive’s massive expansion well under way, the British firm recently entered its 21st global market with the announcement that the brand will be entering the Nordics in the coming months with a new Stockholm dealership and showroom planned to be completed by the end of 2012.
After recently entering the Middle Eastern region, this latest move is yet another brave move by McLaren as it obviously believes that the Nordics should be a productive area for MP4-12C sales, as well as the additional McLaren models planned for the coming years.
Exclusive car specialists, Autoropa will begin selling MP4-12C’s this month prior to the completion of the Stockholm dealership. Autoropa has an illustrious history of dealing with high end exotic sports cars, with it actually being one of the very few authorised service workshops to perform maintenance on the McLaren F1.
“I am very pleased to confirm Autoropa as our Nordic retailer and a key partner in our plans to launch McLaren Automotive and the 12C around the world,” stated Antony Sheriff, McLaren Automotive’s Managine Director.
“With a rich motor racing heritage, and many sports car enthusiasts, the region will be an influential guide as to our success in Europe. In order to be part of the McLaren family, it is vital that our retail partners understand our business, our prospective customers and the technological innovations at the heart of the 12C. Autoropa was the obvious candidate in this regard and will make the perfect introduction in Sweden and throughout the Nordic region for McLaren Automotive,” he concluded.
Additionally, Fillip Larsson the Managing Director of Autoropa stated, “It is a huge honor to be part of the McLaren Automotive project. There is clearly a lot of excitement and great anticipation from customers for the brand to arrive in the Nordics. As a service partner for the legendary McLaren F1 supercar, I’ve witnessed first-hand the extraordinary level of service which McLaren offers customers. I’m very excited to now be involved in retailing and servicing the breathtaking 12C and the future models from McLaren.’’
We love contests and giveaways, especially when they involve giving away bad-ass cars. This latest contest we ran into is sponsored by General Motors and it is a two-part grand prize. The first part is a trip for two to the 2013 Le Mans, which includes round-trip airfare, five days and four nights in a hotel, tickets to the all Le Mans events, and even an $800 travel allowance, so you have a little spending cash.
The trip to Le Mans is pretty sweet, but what comes next takes the proverbial “cake.” GM is also packaging up a 2013 Corvette427 Convertible with the 60th anniversary package with this trip. No, it’s not just a fancy-pants rental, this $90,000 collector’s item is all yours to own and do with as you please.
Registration for the drawing lasts through June 20th, so get on it. There are several ways to enter. The first way is through the contest website, which you can find here. The other ways are via Team Chevy’s Facebook page, here, or via Twitter by following @TeamChevy and Tweeting “#racetowincorvette.” If you happen to use Twitter, make sure to uncheck “Tweet Privacy” in your account settings until after the week of June 21st to receive your victory Tweet – ugh, Tweeting.
Also, if you happen to win, you are stuck paying the dealership fees – prep fee, license, tag, and taxes. There are about 8,000 other rules and stipulations that we will allow Chevy to bore you with by clicking here.
Pretty cool promo, so enter and hope for the best.
Back in February, we brought you the intriguing pictures of a four-door Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG which was roughly sketched and somehow leaked onto the internet. Just a little under six months later, confirmation has finally come from AMG in regards to the four-door SLS AMG.
While being interviewed by Autovisie, CEO of AMG Ola Källenius confirmed that a four-door SLS isn’t currently being planned and never will reach production or concept form as the pictures were simply of an old concept, first discussed during the initial development of Mercedes’ halo-sports car.
In the interview, Källenius roughly stated "These four SLS is absolutely not. That was an old concept, an idea that anyone ever came during the development period of the SLS. Striking how such a story suddenly a life of its own." Excuse the poor English, as that’s just a brief translation of what was said in Dutch.
The most interesting thing about this denial is how late it came after the patented drawings originally surfaced. We’re sure the Mercedes team saw the drawings when they were first leaked onto the net, yet for some strange people they decided to just let the rumors run their course until memories of the four-door SLS slowly faded out of our minds.
Either way, we’re still not convinced that Mercedes isn’t in fact developing a new four-door sedan even if it’s not based off the new SLS AMG GT. We’ll just have to wait around and see if it ever comes to fruition.
