In today’s world of digital technology, it seems that - now more than ever – there’s an increasing number of young designers that are slowly getting into digital car design.
With the advent of computer softwares that specialize on virtual design, young students like Niels van Roij have been given the opportunity to showcase their works beyond their own classrooms. As part of his final project at the Design Academy Eindhoven in the Netherlands, Roij squeezed juices to come up wth a design proposal for a new TVR sports car.
Calling his creation the ‘TVR Artemis’ - if you know your mythology, Artemis is the goddess of hunt, childbirth, virginity and fertility - Roij created a sports car that comes with a clean and sleek design. Unlike other car designs that we’ve seen in the past that have the propensity to go over-the-top, Roij’s design doesn’t lend itself to exaggerated styling gimmicks and instead sticks to a clean and classy look that maintains the standard design of what a TVR sports car looks like.
We don’t know if TVR is willing to pick up Roij’s design for the Artemis, but if the struggling British sports car maker is looking to bring in fresh ideas to their fold, then taking Roij’s styling into consideration might not be that bad of an idea.
It may look like an earth-dwelling submarine to most, but the Spectre Speedliner was created for one reason and one reason only: to break the land speed record for a gasoline powered, wheel-driven, streamliner.
Thanks in large part to months and months of testing, as well as a monstrous Cadillac V8 engine that comes with a pair of intercooled 88mm turbochargers, customized forged rods, a solid roller cam, ported, heads, and a slew of oversized valves. The result of this mammoth concoction is an engine that can produce up to 2000 horsepower. That’s right. 2000.
So, armed with a powerful engine, the Spectre Speedliner set out for the Bonneville Salt Flats with the intention of becoming the fastest gas-powered, wheel-driven streamliner in the world. After a few runs, the Speedliner finally achieved its goal, clocking in at a speed of 330.7 mph become the new standard-bearer among wheel-driven gas-powered streamliners.
One of the principals behind the project, Amir Rosenbaum, was understandably ecstatic about the team’s crowning achievement. “We’re very proud and extremely grateful for the hard work and dedication all our crew members logged over the past few months to make this happen.” From our end, we’d like to congratulations the boys over at Spectre for claiming a new record. Here’s to hoping that it stands the test of time.
A gathering of Mercedes 300 SLs recently occurred at Sedona, California and it had a special guest attendee: the new Mercedes SLS AMG Gullwing.
We also heard that among the classic 300SLs that showed up for the gathering included an ultra-rare 1955 300 SL Alloy coupe. All in all, over 30 of the Gullwing’s ancestors showed up for the occasion.
With people from all walks of life gushing over the SLS AMG Gullwing, it would take a really beautiful car to take any attention away from Mercedes’ new supercar. But on this day, just like a young pup showing respect to its elders, the SLS AMG didn’t try to steal the spotlight and settled for just blending in.
Besides, with over 30 cars that are considered as classics these days, it’s kind of hard to steal their thunder.
It’s hard to argue Ferrari’s stature as one of the most iconic car brands in automotive history, especially when you consider that the company today is a multi-billion dollar corporation and has also produced some of the most beautiful cars in the world.
But while we’ve come to know Ferrari for its place in the industry today, not a lot of us know where it came from, especially the man who founded the company: Enzo Ferrari. To say the least, Enzo Ferrari had one edict in life, and that was to build the fastest racing cars in the world. And while he did end up accomplishing his dream, it did come with a lot of pratfalls.
To understand the man behind the Prancing Horse, CNBC will feature Enzo Ferrari in its show ‘Biography’, which is scheduled to air on Thursday, October 15 at 12:00 am EST and Sunday, October 17 at 7:00 pm EST.
It’s a must-watch for any Ferrari fan looking to take a dive into the mind of the man who started it all.
There’s nothing like cruising America’s highways on a top-down muscle car galloping at speeds that drives the wind straight to your face. For the longest time, Joseph Cram and his father Ralph Cram have dreamt of taking a road trip across the US in a Ford Mustang.
With a fully-restored ‘68 Mustang sitting in their garage, the Crams were well on their way to living out their dream and it seemed like it was just a matter of time before father and son embarked on their journey of a lifetime. Unfortunately, the high cost of maintaining such a vehicle reared its ugly head on the two and to escape the financial bind the family found itself in, the two were forced to part ways with their beloved stallion.
16 years later, the Joseph and Ralph Cram have yet to embark on their journey and with resigned exasperation, were ready to hang up their dream; that is until an unexpected turn of fortune steered them back to fulfilling the elusive joyride.
When Ford released its “The 10 Unleashed” program, which encouraged consumers to submit their ultimate Mustang dream in 250 words or less, the Crams seized the opportunity and described their dream Mustang joyride across the US. Lo and behold, the Crams’ story was one of those chosen by Ford and, as a result, the two were given the chance to finally fulfill their long-overdue road trip. As a reward for their entry, Joseph and Ralph Cram were given the keys to a Mustang so they could get the chance to drive from Houston to Detroit and participate in the Woodward Dream Cruise – one of the largest automotive gatherings in the world.
Check out the video after the jump to see father and son galloping into the sunset 16 years too late. Then again, better late than never, right?
Last week, National Geographic premiered “Ultimate Factories”, a show that chronicles the creation of some of our favorite supercars. In the first episode that was aired on October 4, the boys from Discovery Channel were given an exclusive access to Lamborghini’s production facility in SantAgata Bolognese, Italy.
This week, Nat Geo moves across the country to Unterhallerau, Germany to get an inside look behind the production of the Rolls Royce Phantom. We’re not trying to give anything away, but this show is a must-see not just for Rolls Royce fans but for car enthusiasts of all shapes and sizes.
Combining state-of-the-art technology with old-world craftsmanship, these Phantoms are created in such a way where no detail is spared. The Phantom is so meticulously built that it takes an average of 450 hours and the skills of hundreds of dedicated craftspeople, artisans, designers, engineers, mechanics, painters, sewing machinists and others to hand-build each one.
Ok, we’ve probably given you more than you’ve wants so we’ll stop at it and just tell you to watch the show.
For the third straight year, Neiman Marcus will feature a limited edition 2010 Jaguar XJL Supercharged Neiman Marcus Edition on their upcoming Christmas Book. From what we’ve heard, the department store chain has about 50 of these limited ed cars for sale to those who may want to spend their entire Christmas bonus – perhaps even more than that – on a 5.0-liter V8 Jaguar XJ.
The limited-stock XJL comes with, among other things, a special plate with “Neiman Marcus 1 of 50” etched on it. In addition to that, the car has been painted with a Celestial Black color to match those 20-inch double-10 spoke wheels.
To make things more interesting, anybody who purchases on of these limited edition Jaguar XJs will become one of a handful of owners who’d have the new 2010 XJ in their garage because Jaguar will only release the standard version sometime next year. So if you can’t wait for those to be released, you might want to give Neiman Marcus a call at 1-866-524-6963. The store will only accept orders starting at 12 pm EST on October 16.
When you’re as established a car brand as MINI is, you can afford to make up your own figment-of-the-imagination holidays.
That being said, MINI has officially kicked off the third annual Motor-Tober celebration. The month-long holiday celebrates, among other things, horsepower, go-kart handling, great car buys, and of course, celebrating because…well, we can.
Comedic marketing nothwisthanding, MINI goes all-out for the Motor-Tober (get it? Motor-[Oc]Tober) celebration by unfurling a series of funny and amusing ads, as well as promoting the joy that is driving a MINI.
According to Jim McDowell, Vice President of MINI USA, “MINI wants to celebrate the ramp-up to the winter holiday season, which is usually a stressful time, and make it a time to thoroughly enjoy motoring.”
“Nothing says exhilaration like getting behind the wheel of a MINI, and our Motor-Tober celebration encourages customers to do just that,” he adds.
As part of the celebration, MINI will offer its prospective buyers a 1.9% financing – valid until November 2 - that runs up to 60 months if said buyer was to purchase a 2009 MINI. Moreover, the brand will also drop their lease rates to $259 per month for a select number of 2009 MINIs.
We all like holidays, legitimate or otherwise. So if MINI wants to give Oktoberfest a run for its money with Motor-Tober, then we’re all for it. As they say, you can never have enough things to celebrate about. Let the good times roll!
The car tunings for Porsche never seems to end. This time, it’s the Porsche 997 GT3, courtesy of Sharkwerks and Evolution Motorsports.
In addition to the apple green exterior, the US-based car tuners upgraded the 997 GT3’s engine by adding 0.3 liters, from a 3.6-liter engine in the traditional 997 GT3 to 3.9-liter to their own version. As a result, the tuners were able to spike the 997 GT3’s horsepower from 415 hp to 502 hp.
Likewise, the two tuners developed their own parts for the car, with Sharkwerks working on the piston upgrades and Evolution Motorsports banging up an upgraded cylinder kit for the 997 GT3.
A video of the work done by the Sharkwerks and Evolution Motorsports is available so you can see first-hand how the whole process of tuning the 997 GT3 came about.
A few weeks after it was unveiled at the Frankfurt Motor Show, the Audi e-Tron Concept has finally received the ‘go’ signal for production.
The announcement was made by Johan de Nysschen in an interview done with Autonews. Among other things, the Audi of America president said that the overwhelmingly positive response to the concept car at the IAA has resulted in the brand to release an electric version of the car, which is expected to make roll out in the US sometime in 2011 or 2012.
Powered by four electric motors on each axle, the e-Tron Concept can travel a distance of 154 miles by only using the packed lithium-ion battery inside the car. As far as performance goes, the car is capable of producing 313 horsepower and around 4,500 Nm of torque.
This one caught us by surprise, not because the car was given the green light, but because it happened sooner than we expected. Nevertheless, you can’t keep a good idea down, and judging from the response the e-Tron Concept received in Frankfurt a few weeks ago, we can safely say that Audi may have hit a goldmine with this one.
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