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Ayrton Senna was the Formula 1' s God. What a great champion! What a talented man! Nowadays we hear speeches about leadership. A lot of speeches! But Ayrton was the real lider. He died in 1994, in Italy. The people wanted and still want at least a follower, somebody that can continue to inspire the others.
Lewis Hamilton had the extraordinary honour to receive two trophies, including the one for International Racing Driver of the Year. The organizers of the ceremony had invited Viviane Lalli Senna, Ayrton Senna's sister, as guest of honor. The big moment came when from her hands, Lewis received the trophies. All these wonderful things happened at Britain’s most important motorsport awards presentation in London.
I thought I should write about this subject because it’s more than a prize in this situation. We’re facing a succession here. It's a symbol. Lewis Hamilton is taking on his shoulders a huge weight. The weight to be the man that has an ethical duty starting that moment. The duty to continue to bring hope to the people.
Is it too early to make comparisons between Hamilton and Senna? Yes, it is. But it isn't too early to look forward and find huge characters.
The X Prize Foundation is a non profit organisation that fosters innovative, high-profile competitions for the benefit of humanity. And they also give away substantial prizes. For example, the Progressive Automotive X Prize is worth $10 million and it’s a race to find an affordable, marketable automobile that gets at least 100 miles per gallon.
One of the competitors for this prize is Doug Pelmear, an engineer from Napoleon, Ohio, who modified the engine of a 1987 Ford Mustang, so the car now does 110 mpg. Yeah, we know, that’s really impressive and if Doug wins the prize, he sure deserves it. He tweaked the Mustang’s engine and made it nearly five times more efficient than a regular one. He said: “”We redesigned a lot of different things on the engine block. It’s still a rod-and-piston engine; it just has a lot more electronics on it.”
And if you think this car is some clean hybrid that hardly moves on the street, you must know that Doug’s Mustang has 400 horsepower, goes well over 100 mph and can go from 0 to 60 mph in three seconds (we’re not really sure about this last part). The engine operates at 38 percent efficiency (8 to 10 on the regular cars) and Doug says he could increase even that number, by using regular gas instead of a mix of gas and 85 percent ethanol.
Though we wouldn’t say the same, Doug said that the $10 million prize was not the reason he joined the X Prize. “I’m an optimist, and I think people need to know there is hope out there. That’s why I decided to enter the X Prize race. I could have sold this [technology] off, but then people might not have seen it. This will bring back the automotive industry when they can sell trucks and SUVs and the models that are almost dead at this time”.
Our favourite TV show, Top Gear, is back with the 11th season. The second episode, which was aired last Sunday, as Jeremy, Richard and James say, they “accidently made a show all about cars; for the whole show, not one of them falls over, or catches fire, or anything”.
In the first part, we find out that BBC wrote them a letter in which, with the gas prices rising, they demanded for the guys to give some advice on fuel economy and saving money. Unfortunately, the letter was opened by Jeremy who decided that the best way to do that is gathering five supercars (Ferrari 599 GTB Fiorano, Aston Martin DBS, Lamborghini Murcielago, Audi R8 and Mercedes McLaren SLR) and race them. Yeah, we’re not kidding. However, each car had only a gallon of petrol in its tank. To see the race, click here.
Next, they try something else. Jeremy tries to prove a point, that, to save fuel, it doesn’t matter what you drive, but how you drive it. So they take a Toyota Prius and a BMW M3. Yeah, we know, that’s an awkward comparison. Check out the race between these two here.
In the last part of the show, we’ve got Jeremy taking the new Mercedes Benz CLK Black Series on a night drive and on the superb roads of Wales and I have to say, I also like taking my car at night and just drive, so this part I liked most and here’s the video:
Designed by Romanian industrial design graduates Andrei Avarvarii (exterior design) and Adrian Vasiliu (interior design) the BMW Z0 project is a sports car for the next decade.
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Overfinch is an expert company in customising Range Rovers. Established in 1975, Overfinch was an UK division of the German vehicle manufacturer Schuler. A decade later, the founder of Schuler formed Overfinch. Today is a prestigious brand and they are spanning nine continents. They say “If Land Rover had ever built them like this, every other 4×4 manufacturer in the world would have sat down and cried.”
These Rage Rover specialists had announced a pair of new models of the Sport version and a £144.000 “Country Pursuits” vehicle. With a TDV6 HSE SuperSport and a 10-pice styling kit, unrated wheels and tyres (22-inch option), vents, mirros and assorter trim, what can you ask for more ? Well, for an extra £4000 Overfinch offers a bespoke nappa leather interior. Of course, in some places you get the Overfinch logos and also tread plates, an ECU upgrade, tailgate lettering and bonnet, and a sports instrument pack with red needles.
However, the most interesting car from Overfinch is the Country Pursuits Concept. According to Overfinch this cars is “the most sophisticated and impressive Range Rover in our 33-year history”. Inside you can find a hand-made olive ash veneered centre console, drinks tray, a fridge and a removable gun box. Another stylish thing is the crystal glass drinking set.
The diesel SuperSports model costs £66,495 and the supercharged version £69,995. If you think about the Country Pursuits, then you will find a scary price of £123,495 for the diesel version and £143,950 for the supercharged variant (including VAT).
As you probably known, Renault plans on reviving the legendary Alpine sports car and that’s really great. And, of course, everyone is curious how this car will look like. After two Brazilian designers came up with this idea, now we’ve got another one.
If the first design was somehow realistic, this one, created by Russian artist Arseny Kostromin during an internship at Renault, is far more futuristic. And, if you ask us, we see a little to much Audi R8 influence but the concept still looks awesome. Of course, we know that the more futuristic a concept is, the less chances we have to see it one day on the streets. But that’s not a problem, cause we don’t mind dreaming from time to time.
GM Asia-Pacific announced that, in celebration of GM’s 100th Anniversary, a special edition of the Corvette will be available in Japan. With only 30 units (15 black and 15 white) available, the Corvette S-Limited features two-tone leather interior, rear lip spoiler, perforated inner exhaust tips and mesh wire screen for front bumper grilles and rear bumper. The price for the Corvette S-Limited is ¥7,980,000 (around $75,000) and, probably to make sure everyone knows where the car is coming from, the car will go on sale on the 4th of July.
Remeber the Ferrari 360 Modena limo? After we wrote the article, last year, we’ve been receiving a lot of emails from our readers asking us whether they can buy or rent the car.
Over here at Auto Unleashed we don’t sell cars, but great news for some of you, the Ferrari is now for sale. The car is listed on eBay and you can get it immediately for $250,000. No bids were made so far, but for those interested, the car is quite a bargain, considering that it cost Dan Cawley £200,000 only to build the car (without considering the money paid for the Modena). However, you must know that the car has some legal problems, Ferrari pressing charges against Dan for infringing their trademark.
Just as you were enjoying the new SLR spy shots, here I am to burst your bubble. The two companies will part ways in 2009. A Mercedes official said that they will not renew the agreement when it expires.
AMG will be making the new performance coupe from 2010, renaming it SLC. Just to confuse you a little bit more about all the Mercedes acronyms I guess.
Seems that Mercedes wants to focus on its core values again. After ditching Chrysler, they’re trying to get back to basics and be less distracted. They probably feel that their aura of engineering excellence is a bit dented after the reliability problems of the las few years.
The SLR had a moderate success, mainly due to a proce tag of around 452,000 Euros. They sold 1,577 of them, but they were plagued with technical problems.
We can only salute Mercedes returning to its old ways. Remains to be seen what the results will be.
Everybody knows that the Bugatti Veyron is a brilliant car and very sought-after, the producer setting a limit of only 300 cars that will be produced, this number including the Pur Sang, Sang Noir and FBG by Hermes versions. Such a limited number has made the specialists wonder about the plans of future models conceived by the France-based manufacturer, these questions are beginning to be answered because reports are emerging that a successor to the Veyron will be coming most probably in 2011 or 2012.
Details about this model are scarce, the performance specs even non-existent. All that is known, from the words of Franz-Josef Paefgen, CEO of Bugatti, is that the car will be a true successor to all the Bugatti models so far, an evolution of the Veyron, and that it will continue the rich history of the manufacturer. He also stated that the direction followed when they conceived the Veyron will be maintained, in layman’s terms, if it works, don’t change it.
One of the key aspects Bugatti need to figure out with the future model, is the new and more strict emission and pollution regulation. The ideea of smaller, more fuel efficient engines is really killing the whole super-car market. Also, another fact stated by Paefgen, is that they will consider taking this new model onto the car racing scene, probably to prestigious events like the LeMans, which would fit the image of a high class super-car of this model.
Dacia, Renault’s economical brand, unveiled the refreshed Logan, dubbed the New Logan, which sports some interior and exterior changes as well as some minor mechanical upgrades. The Logan has proven quite a success and the only thing keeping it back in some european markets was it’s rather ugly design. The facelift set out to make it look a little better and for the most part it succeeded though no miracles were expected.
There is a new front facia more in line with the also new Sandero, and redesigned taillights and bonnet. The interior gets the Sandero dash as well as some of it’s trimmings. It also gets a new Bosh 8.1 ABS as well as a slightly longer wheelbase. No changes on the engine side but a 105hp dCI engine is rumored. All of the prices will remain the same though that was somewhat expected.
A full list of changes below: - front fascia - front and rear bumper - tailgate and lamps - dashboard from the Sandero - upholstery in 4 versions - drivers seat height adjust - steering wheel also from the Sandero - side mirrors - ABS Bosch 8.1 with EBD and EBA - wheelbase increased by 7 mm - 3 new colors
Ron Harbour, a partner with the Oliver Wyman Group and author of a widely respected annual report on auto factory productivity believes that Honda are better positioned than anybody in terms of the products.
The No.2 Japanese automaker had 1 percent sales increase in June. It isn't a great increase? I agree with that. But, just remember the fact that in the same time its major competitors reported double-digit sales declines. The Honda's top managers said that they aren't geniuses. All their secret consist in, guess what, "consistency" . The Honda's factories are very flexible and can quickly make more of the vehicles that are in demand.
The Civic and Accord are the industry’s top sellers. Sounds good in my opinion. I think in this way because John Mendel, the vice president of the company declared that they can reprogram the factories to make it build more Civics. And that’s their main competitive advantage. That's the condition which enables the company to operate in a more efficient or higher-quality manner than its competitors. And that's the victory's sign. It's all about strategy here. Strategy brings the money!
"He who has a thing to sell and goes and whispers in a well is not so apt to get the dollars as he who climbs a tree and hollers." - Author unknown
Before Mercedes and McLaren split up, they’ve decided to make a last release with a 75 units, small series, of the SLR Speedster. Today, some spy-shots and short video of the SLR hit the Internet, and it’s rumoured that they’ve been “leaked” by the manufacturer, as a teaser.
While most of the manufacturer’s limited editions cars are presented with more gadgets than standard, or special luxury equipment, Mercedes and McLaren’s special edition has taken away some of the SLR’s equipment such as roof, side windows or air conditioning unit. Yes, the SLR Speedster is roofless and has a small wind deflector in front of the driver, pretty similar to Formula1 cars. The same treatment for the passenger.
With the weight loss speculated at about 200 Kg, the “rocket” will top out at 350km/h (13km/h more than the 722 version). Than, the Speedster will, quite literally, rip your head off. We were wondering, if instead of the “Air Scarf” system on the SLK and SL, the roofless SLR will be provided with racing helmets as standard equipment. It should, since the price of this model is estimated at 450.000 Euros.
The official unveiling is said to take place at the end of this month, and Lewis Hamilton will be attending the event. Check out more pictures and video after the jump.
Photos of the upcoming 2009 BMW 7 series popped up all over the net so we can assume that an official press release is imminent and is due perhaps over the weekend. The Bangle design of the current generation 7 series was almost controversial with opinions going only in the hate it or love it categories. I for one loved the quirkiness of the design so I’m sad to see the the next generation will be a lot more tame and unassuming, though this wasn’t entirely unexpected especially after the 2006 facelift.
BMW’s have never been ugly but they never stood out to much either, perhaps in true German manufacturer tradition. That all changed with the current generation Bangle designed BMW’s first the 7 series then the 5 and 3 which you couldn’t help but notice.
It seems that BMW is done experimenting as the new 7 series is much more mainstream. That is not to say it’s not good looking. The general line is simple and elegant, the headlamps are much more like what we are used to in any other car though the taillamps are a bit odd. The whole thing has a sort of american feel much in the way of the Mercedes C-class.
The interior is what you would expect form the top of the line of a German luxury car with leather and wood as far as the eye can see. There is also a redesigned iDrive one that will hopefully give it’s owners less headaches as the first iDrive introduced in the current generation was notoriously frustrating. We’ll probably get the official word in a few days and hopefully more photos but from what we already have we can see that, while it won’t win any design awards, the new 7 series will feel right at home parked in front of your estate or office building.
