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We once spent 30 hours living like Tom Hanks in The Terminal at Frankfurt International when we would've rather been tooling around the city in a Lancia Fulvia with Katarina Witt, Goethe or Felix Frankfurter. According to the boys at the road with minimal straightaways, Lancia may be debuting a new, production Fulvia at Frankfurt later this year. Is Fiat on a tear? They just might be. – Davey G. Johnson More »
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Autoblog noted it. PickupTruck.com noted it. So we're not gonna note that the Sterling Bullet didn't debut at Geneva today, but rather at the National Truck Equipment Association Work Truck Show in Indy. A division of Freightliner (itself, of course, part of the German-American Hybrid) with a history that dates back a century, the resurrected Sterling brand's new Bullet shares many parts with the Dodge Ram 4500/5500 that bowed at Chicago. The key difference between the Dodges and the Sterling, besides cosmetics, is the standard Power Take Off package on the Bullet, which allows all manner of worksite doodads to be run by the stonking Cummins diesel. Sterling also touts its commercial-truck-specialist dealer network as a plus. Will it fly? – Davey G. Johnson More »
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Cue the Fred Willard "Wha' happen'?" sample. Have Chrysler's problems engendered some sort of mass psychosis within the company's walls? Seems so, since they've decided to build the Imperial, which given the company's situation, seems like a case of throwing dumb after dumb, with an extra-large side of dumb garnished with more dumb. And a 44-oz cup of dumb to wash it down. On the other hand, the CAW ladies and gents at DCX's Brampton, ON plant, where the car would be built alongside the Charger, Magnum, Challenger and 300, rejected concessions that would allow the Imp to be constructed there. However, Chrysler's apparently still got the ungainly beast scheduled for '09. We're frightened. What's become of you, Ma Mopar? – Davey G. Johnson More »
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Ah, the wascally wags of AvtoVAZ. Hewing to some Marxist hangover dictate to give the people what they want, they've brought back an updated, all-new version of the dubiously-classic, yet highly symbolic Lada 2107. Now that you've done that, VAZzers, how 'bout a new Niva? Please? Pretty-as-you-please, please? – Davey G. Johnson More »
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Those zany Germans over at Autobild couldn't wait to test the new Smart ForTwo, so they decided to craft their own Bruce-infused microcar. In two living dimensions!. The cardboard/foamcore/whatever new-model Smarty took on parking challenges, slalom challenges and child-impressing challenges, although at no time did it take on a Sapporo-derived Dodge Challenger. [Thanks to Phunkshon for the tip.] – Davey G. Johnson More »
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Don' you know Daihatsu's loco? Oh man, this thing is amazing. We don't know if it's quite as crazy-stupendous as the Boon X4, but anything called an "Esse Custom" that vaguely resembles a Lilliput-built modern-day Le Car pretty much requires our vote. Daihatsu may very well be the coolest division of Toyota. In any event, they're at least tied with Hino. You can have your Lexuses and Scions. We'll be perfectly pleased with a Boon and his attendant Esse with a dekotora Ranger FT Dakar truck to cary them around on. – Davey G. Johnson More »
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Jill Lajdziak, who onstage at the LA Auto Show came off the very epitome of a graduate of Uncle Chuck's Graduate Course in Public Speaking of Des Moines, IA, LLC, has confirmed that the Opel/Vauxhall Astra will indeed be joining the ranks of the Saturn lineup come 2008. Lajdziak claims, "The Astra is a great fit for Saturn, with its European style and driving dynamics," a statement we'd be hard-pressed to dispute. It also seems as if the Astra won't be rebranded as an Ion, unlike the rest of the Opelurns (see Opel Astra gallery below). More »
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We swung back by the Audi booth wearing our investigative earmuffs and wrassled up a product planner from the Artists Formerly Known as DKW, Horch, Wanderer, and by the name the Auto Union is still known, Audi. The question? Just what is the gearbox in the new R8? The answer? It's a modified version of the Gallardo's eGear DSG SMG transmission, the news of which put a pucker on Paukert's face the likes of which we haven't seen since Wert switched lemon juice for Spinelli's morning pampelmousse beverage. However, according to Audi, the evolved eGear will be smoother, which led us to ask, "Will it be more precise?" More »
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While on the Bullrun, we met a man named Peter Kolb, a man whose obsession with German precision knew no boundaries and brooked no imprecise nonsense. Peter's vehicle of choice? A white GT3RS with red trim. But now, there's a new GT3RS, available in orange or green. Undoubtedly, each individual horsepower is precisely tuned for laserlike corner carving, and altogether, the 3.6L flat six contains four hundred fifteen precision-lubed equines. Peter is undoubtedly giggling like a schulm dchen. [Gallery] More »
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Dacia unveiled a new vehicle of some sort at the Paris Auto Show a short time ago. It is blue. That is all. More »
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The Smarty McSmartersons over in Smartsville have just introduced the replacement for their O.G. Modern Isetta, smartly coming up with a chic, cute, smart cartoon, wherein the smart little Smart smartly travels through an urban landscape rife with pitfalls that would stymie larger vehicles. Inverse, much DCX? Doktor Dieter Zetsche showed up and talked about the CL63 AMG. All we could think is, "Dear Doctor Z. Is it true that my 6.3-litre engine isn't really 6.3 litres?" More pics after the jump. More »
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While we've got two of Los Jalopniks out on the floor, we need a third to hold down our hard-fought spot in the Third World media center which has us reliving our time in Indochina. Luckily, we've got a TV screen behind us to cover unveilings we couldn't get to. And ashtrays. Ashtrays are important. As for the Cee'd? Drops in December. USB and iPod on some models. It was unveiled by sexy, sexy dancers who ripped their way out of some manner of inflated parachute. 7-year/50,000-mile warranty, from what we could hear over the din, which is apparently the best in Europe. We'll correct it if we hear different. France is strange. More pics of the reveal after the jump. More »
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Exalted Mother of the Sultan of Brunei! The new Gallardo stuff is coming fastly and furiously, and the kids over at Supercars.net have some more info/speculation. Apparently, this sucker's fitted with a couple of turbos, boosting output to 600hp, blasting it handily past the F430, while keepiing it respectfully below its LP640 big brother. What's not known is if the car's an R8 test mule or a preview of the baby bull's most insane-o incarnation to date. [UPDATE: An Autoblog writer who's been to that dealership adds perspective: "I think this is a dealer specific model that is N/A and has a few tweaks to go along with the new bodywork. This same dealership where this one was parked offered a limited run of MOMO special edition models last year, iirc."] More »
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According to the Germans who blog about cars, Austrian bike firm KTM has solidified some details on their joint venture with Audi. Scheduled to go public in the spring of '07 (Geneva, perhaps?) the vehicle will be built in Mattighofen or Graz, and Dallara (who, of course, build the R10 chassis) is apparently one of the contractors involved. Sales will be aimed for 1,000 per year, which makes the vehicle super-nichey, and if KTM and Dallara are involved, probably superleggera as well. More »
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Gro e Schloss und Schnitzel! The kids over at Carster randomly captured what seems to be an entirely nekkid example of Audi's new R8 supercar in Santa Monica yesterday afternoon. It's definitely a bit different than the LeMans concept that the car is purportedly the production successor to. Plus, given the included story of how the shoot went down, we love the thought of two Germans in polo shirts yelling "Nein! Keine fotos! KEINE FOTOS! Raus, dummkopf Ami mit Kamera! Raus!" But, y'know, said Ami busted out with the surreptitious shots anyway. More »
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Canada's not minding in the least being lumped in with the US of A today — they're just happy they're getting a piece of this titanium-trimmed beauty — because it's only going to be available in North America. The titanium edition gets its name from the "titanium metallic trim" exclusive to the model. It's available in four exterior colors, "Pure Red", "iceland Silver Metallic", "Marine Blue Metallic" and — "Black." That's right — no fanciness on that one — just plain black. Like the Cayenne S, this edition gets the 340 hp, 4.5-liter V-8 with the six-speed tiptronic. And the best part is unlike most "special editions" you'll be getting all this — at a price 10% lower than a similarly equipped Cayenne S. Not a bad bargain if you ask us. The full press release and more pictures are available after the jump. More »
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My mysterious absence yesterday can now be explained. Every year a group of journos from the Midwest get together at Road America in the wilds of Wisconsin to test the latest offerings from the automakers. This year there were more cars than ever and the weather was more than kind. Early in the morning it looked like the damp track would see more rain but luckily the automotive gods smiled on us and we had perfect driving conditions all day. More »
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To solidify the worst kept secret in Detroit, GM is going to build the Camaro. If the Deathwatch doesn't come that is. And let's hope it doesn't so we can all drive one of these things through the streets of "The D" like a GM photog did recently. Plus, what company releases a second set of press photos months after a concept debuted if they don't intend to build it? More »
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Mercedes-Benz USA is offering 750 Signature Edition R-Class models for sale to help out Saks Fifth Avenue's Key to the Cure women's cancer research fundraising initiative. Now there's a much better brand-positioning strategy than using Tony Hawk as a spokesman. Skaters don't buy R-Classes; Saks-shopping women do (or most likely will when the crossover-wagon-suburban-luxo-car/van-utility vehicle drops in September). Which reminds us, we've gotta get to Saks, as we're running low on Prada lip balm. Seriously, that stuff does wonders. More »
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The new Renault Clio, aka "Son of LeCar," just got the boy-racer treatment as a teaser of what's to come from Renaultsport, the French automaker's performance division. We like the treatment, and although an underbody diffuser, supposedly "derived directly from Formula 1 racing cars," seems like a wee bit of overkill on a hatchback powered by a naturally-aspirated four, it does add a manly element to an otherwise cute little econobox. More »
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