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.
Press release after the jump.
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The German automaker has already began working on the next generation BMW 3-Series model that is set to be released sometime in 2012. Aside from the regular body styles, the big news is that the next 3-Series will also be available as a GT. This more spacious vehicle will be slated into the lineup below the 5 Series GT and just above the upcoming 1-Series GT.
The exterior of the entry level GT will be inspired by both the BMW X6 as well as the all new 7-Series. The front end will receive a wider grill while the rear will feature a larger version of the classic L shaped taillights. Both the coupe and convertible will feature designs unique from the traditional sedan and station wagon, thanks to some reshaped lighting and some sculpted body work. The new GT will be less of a niche vehicle than the BMW 5-Series GT and will offer a sporty alternative to the BMW X3 CUV.
The luxury automaker will also incorporate the very latest in Efficient Dynamic Technology; for the fuel conscious there will be an active hybrid model powered by a range extending 3 cylinder engine combined with an electric motor as well as a set of low rolling resistance tires. Even the wheels will be aerodynamically designed so that they do not create excessive drag. Like the hybrid 2010 Toyota Prius, BMW will incorporate a solar panel on the roof to power interior accessories causing less of a drain on the battery. It looks like if you enjoyed the current 3-Series, you will love the next generation model because BMW is now offering something for everyone.
Hurst is preparing the Pontiac H.O. version of the G8 and a G6 convertible. The edition will be limited to only 52 units, each being hand-build.
These numbered cars will feature Hurst’s iconic white/gold and black/gold colors along with forged alloy Hurst wheels, an exclusive Hurst shifter, supercharged engine, suspension mods and a specially trimmed interior.
Hurst will also commemorate Doc’s famous Pace Cars and build ten HURST/Pontiac G6 convertibles to be used as parade and special event cars.
Press release after the jump.
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Rolls Royce has launched an online configurator for their future Ghost model. So, before its official debut at the Frankfurt Motor Show you can start having fun designing your future dream car online.
Check out the link below to see for yourself.
It seems that until July 9, Jaguar decided to tease the living daylights out of us with details about their next generation XJ. This time it is is all about driving dynamics. The engine lineup for the new car consists of the new 5.0 Liter V8 as the main gasoline burning engine available, with the 503 HP supercharged version toping the lineup with the XJR. There will also be a 3.0 Liter twin-turbo diesel V6 making 237 HP while returning as much as 40 MPG, but that engine has not been confirmed for the North America market just yet. Check out the video to see what we are talking about.
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Thank you SAAB for making the word wagon an acceptable term in automotive vernacular, we don’t have to be ashamed about calling the new SAAB 9-5 a cool looking wagon, there is no need to use the term crossover here. These are the first images to hit the web of the next generation of their four door sensation that the Swedish automaker is planning on bringing to the Frankfurt Motor Show.
Thanks to the super car manufacturer Koenigseg, the future SAAB 9-5 should start to appear in showrooms as early as the end of this year, but certainly by 2010. The renderings seen here make the Frankfurt show car look very similar to a four door Audi A5, with that sportback notch at the back of the sedan. The wagon has a roofline that looks very similar to a Nissan GT-R.
The Swedish automaker will offer the new 9-5 with a choice of four and six cylinder power plants that are E85 BioPower capable as well as an alternatively fueled four cylinder diesel. The future 9-5 will be built upon the same Epsilon 2 as its European GM cousin, the Opel Insignia, except the Saab will use the long wheelbase frame.
Jaguar will unveil the new generation XJ luxury sedan on July 9. But before we’ll see the final product, the company keeps teasing us with one more video, this time talking about the sedan’s aluminum body shell.
GM announced it will build a new luxury stretch sedan called the Cadillac XTS. The new sedan, next to the upcoming Buick Regal, a redesigned Chevrolet Impala and current Chevrolet Camaro are the big hope for the company.
The new Cadillac XTS will be the largest four-door sedan Cadillac’s line-up. It will come to replace the DTS and will compete with models from BMW, Audi and Lexus. The car will go into production in December 2011.
Next to the Impala and Regal, the new Cadillac XTS will be built on GM’s global Epsilon platform. This means GM will built three different models for three different brands - Chevrolet, Buick and Cadillac - based on the same basic vehicle underpinnings - that can be translated into smaller costs.
"It gives GM the flexibility to juggle the production mix to meet the market," said one source familiar with the company’s plans. "That is something that GM has not had the full-scale opportunity to do. In the past, they’ve built assembly lines dedicated to one vehicle, they run the piss out of it, and they throw money at to make the public buy it whether you want to or not. That’s passé. That’s the bad old days we hope will never come again."
Back at the beginning of June, Top Speed announced that the German tuner Lorinser is planning on debuting their modified LV8 at the Tuner Grand Prix. The aftermarket manufacturer from Winnenden has just revealed even more details about the car that they defined as a C-Class from another universe.
The LV8 sports a complete aero package and has been fitted with a set of the company’s light-weight alloys wrapped in Continental rubber. So far, the German tuner has not disclosed any information about the performance improvements equipped on the LV8, but they did say that it will compete in the C3 class, a category reserved for limousines and production cars. This baby Benz will certainly need every bit of force from its 550 HP 6.2 Liter V8 that allows the car to go from 0 to 60 MPH in just 4.3 seconds, the 465 lb-ft of torque should be sufficient to break the back end loose and put up clouds of smoke to impress both the fans and judges if Lorinser wants to keep their heads up.
Although the LV8 will not be a purpose built race car shod with slicks, it will be a 100% street legal road car, offering all the relief of a TUV approval. The supped up C Class will make its official debut on June 26th when the gates at the Hockenheimring open for the 2009 SPORT AUTO Tuner GP/Drift Challenge.
Press release after the jump.
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The next generation Audi A8 was supposed to be launched this September at the Frankfurt Motor Show in Germany, but unfortunately the unveiling was delayed along with the highly anticipated all electric R8 super car. The German automakers have decided to forego their home show and even hold off on making an appearance with the luxury limousine at the Los Angeles International Auto Show. What we have learned is that the all new A8 is headed for a debut in the sunshine state, could it be the South Florida International Auto Show? Back in Frankfurt we will see a few of the automaker’s new products, the Audi R8 Spider and the A5 Sportback.
The executives at Audi are hesitant to unveil the new A8 in Frankfurt or in L.A. because they do not want the launch of their flagship limousine to be overshadowed by other automobile’s international debuts. It also doesn’t hurt that the current A8 is still selling quite well, and if it isn’t broke there is no need to fix it. The four ringed automaker also has a few more models planned for future production, like the A7 Sportback that is set to be unveiled in 2010, the compact A1 will also make an appearance in 2010, followed shortly by the slightly larger A2 and the Q3 compact crossover.
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