Old car forum posts (merged)

[MrMystic]

Just ordered one

 

[Kevin Ascher]

hehe nice headlights^^ they show me where to overtake

 

[Christophe Berton]

BMW baby

It's official – BMW is working on a top-secret new eco-friendly model which could mark the rebirth of the famous Isetta badge.

Auto Express first broke news of the plans to revive the name on a green city runabout back in Issue 989, and now company chairman Norbert Reit­hofer has revealed further details of the programme.

The initiative, known internally as Project i, includes development of an all-new urban runabout that will com­plement the existing BMW, MINI and Rolls-Royce ranges. Accord­ing to Reithofer, the i stands for innovation, rather than Isetta – although bringing back the brand behind the original microcar would make perfect sense for the German firm’s fourth potential model line-up.
Engineers working on the project are currently evaluating which technologies the Smart ForTwo rival will use, with advanced electric systems and fuel-efficient petrol and diesel powerplants under consideration. “We will look at all these things before we decide whether this might be a sub-brand for BMW or MINI, or whether it is a standalone marque,” said Reithofer.


The firm already has a hybrid version of its new X6 cross­over SUV in the pipeline, while its Efficient Dynamics technologies are available on MINI and BMW road cars. They include a stop-start system to cut CO2 emissions and improve fuel economy, and a clever set-up that harnesses energy generated under braking to recharge the battery. Aerodynamic tweaks to items such as the wheels and wing mirrors also help to minimise drag.


The original Isetta bubble car was a hit in the Fifties and measured only 2.4 metres long. However, while that was a three-wheeler, its modern day successor will get four wheels and a reverse gear – the original version famously did without one. There is no fixed timeframe for the new model, but a design study of the eco machine is expected by 2010.

(autoexpress)

 

[Christophe Berton]

Ford Fiesta RS

Calling all fast Ford fans – get ready for the ultimate Fiesta. Following our sensational pictures of the ST in Issue 994, Auto Express can now give you the best look yet at an even hotter version – the RS.

Taking Fiesta performance to new heights, the exciting model will be a stripped-out, lightweight pocket rocket. It’s effectively a hardcore version of the ST, promising few creature comforts but amazing handling and even more driver appeal.

The newcomer is set to rival forthcoming high-performance superminis such as MINI’s John Cooper Works, along with existing extreme hot hatches including Vaux­hall’s Corsa VXR. But the Fiesta RS will actually be closest in spirit to the Renaultsport Clio 197 Cup – another car that takes a minimalistic route.

As you can see from our exclusive images, the aggressive bodykit adds bulging wheel­arches, lowered side sills and a rear spoiler to the Fiesta’s already sporty lines.

News that a hot Fiesta is on the way will be music to the ears of buyers who had been looking forward to the previous-generation Fiesta RS, previewed at the 2004 Geneva Motor Show as a concept (pictured below right).

That project was canned when Ford bosses couldn’t make it economically viable across Europe. RS sales are always biggest in the UK, whereas take-up in France, Germany and Spain is much smaller. These days, conditions are, if anything, even tougher with high steel prices and a strong Euro making it very difficult to make money on a small car – particularly if it’s a flagship performance hatchback.

However, thanks to Ford’s increased profitability in Europe, hot models are back on the agenda. The Focus RS has already been given the green light for production (see Issue 992) and the Fiesta version is the next step.
Available in limited numbers, the hot Fiesta will have a special-edition feel with a stripped-out cabin featuring racing-style seats, lightweight materials throughout and lots of RS detailing. To keep the weight down, kit will be basic – and that’s great news for performance.

It’s likely to use a slightly uprated version of the ST’s potential 1.6-litre turbocharged engine – inspired by the hi-tech range of small cap-acity direct-injection EcoBoost turbo units revealed by Ford at the Detroit Motor Show earlier this year. With that on board, the RS would develop about 200bhp and sprint from 0-60mph in only six seconds, on its way to a 140mph top speed. With its light weight, CO2 emissions and economy should be kept down.

It’s unlikely, however, that the Fiesta will follow the forthcoming Focus RS’s lead by having a clever front differential. But it could use Ford’s six-speed twin-clutch semi-auto gearbox with steering wheel-mounted paddle­shifters, giving the RS the feel of a Junior World Rally Car. Add wider tracks, stiffened springs, uprated dampers and thicker anti-roll bars plus fat, sticky tyres, and the RS promises to handle brilliantly.

While the new Fiesta will reach dealerships in October and the ST is due in 2009, the RS isn’t likely to arrive until 2010, with a potential price tag of around £17,000.

 

[Christophe Berton]

Jaguar and Land Rover sold

The deal is finally done – Ford has sold Jaguar and Land Rover to Indian giant Tata for an estimated £1 billion.

Following lengthy negotiations that date back to June last year, India’s biggest car manufacturer has secured two of the most famous names in British motoring history. Between them, the two firms employ around 16,000 people at plants in the West Midlands and Merseyside.

Despite having factories in India, company bosses at Tata have assured workers at the UK plants that there are no plans to relocate them. In fact, it is understood that the new owners will stick to an existing five-year investment plan that Ford has already started. Also included will be a £300 million injection of funds into company pension schemes by the blue oval before it hands over control.

Despite exciting new models such as the XF, returning Jaguar to profitability will be Tata’s biggest challenge. The Coventry-based firm was purchased by Ford in 1989 and has failed to return a profit since. Land Rover, on the other hand, has been one of the blue oval’s more successful brands since it snapped it up for £2.73 billion in 2000.

 

[Christophe Berton]

review

No luxury car range is complete with-out a super-saloon these days – so Lexus has come up with this. The IS F is the Japanese manufacturer’s answer to the BMW M3 and Mercedes C63 AMG. It lacks the heritage of its Euro­pean rivals, but can it match the old guard on UK roads?

Judged on looks alone, this version of the IS is a rather sober piece of kit. Lowered suspension and 19-inch alloys give a ground-hugging stance, yet the new front bumper, side sills and large bonnet bulge are surprisingly discreet.

Our model’s black paintwork also reduced the impact of the standard anthracite wheels, and on our drive no other road users paid the sporty Lexus any attention. The only details which spoil its Q-car credentials are the two pairs of stacked oval tailpipes that protrude from the back bumper.
It’s a similar story inside, because the cabin is pretty much unchanged from the standard IS 250. You do get loads of kit, including sat-nav, sports seats and a 14-speaker stereo, but the new silver trim on the centre console is somewhat underwhelming.

A quick look under the IS F’s bonnet should be enough to restore faith in the brand, because crammed into the engine bay is an incredible 5.0-litre V8. It develops a mouth-watering 417bhp and powers the sal­oon from 0-62mph in 4.8 seconds.

However, the car’s pure pace tells only half the story, because the high-revving unit is smooth, with a linear power delivery and pin-sharp respon­ses. It’s muted in normal driving, but once you pass 3,600rpm, a valve in the exhaust manifold opens and the volume instantly rises, creating a fantastic V8 soundtrack.

Enthusiasts won’t be as happy with the standard eight-speed paddleshift-operated automatic gearbox, though – this is the only transmission option avail­able. Changing ratios takes a fraction of a second, and in full manual mode the torque converter is locked in all but first gear, which provides the feel and speed of a clutchless manual – it even blips the throttle on downchanges. However, the auto transmission can’t match a conventional box for driver involvement.

With 505Nm of torque, the IS F is no slouch in a straight line – it has a top speed of 168mph. Yet any self-respecting performance saloon also needs to handle brilliantly. The Lexus’s stiffened suspension is fine at lower speeds, but once you increase the pace, it doesn’t provide the fluency of an M3 or Audi RS4. There is plenty of grip and feedback through the revised steering rack, although the newcomer simply doesn’t gel like its rivals and rides very harshly.

While it’s still fun to drive, most of that enjoyment comes from its mighty V8. And in this class, the IS F’s limited handling involvement won’t appeal to everyone – especially when you’re paying £51,000 for the privilege.
RIVAL: BMW M3 saloon

The latest M3 also uses V8 power, but the German four-door is cheaper than the Lexus, at £49,415. It’s also a much more capable all-rounder, and is available in coupé and convertible bodystyles, too.

(autoexpress)

 

[Christophe Berton]

Mighty Merc SL Black Series spied

Check out the fastest, most powerful, most exclusive road car Mercedes has ever built – the SL65 AMG Black Series.

While official pictures are not yet available, early indications and these amazing spy shots make it obvious that this is one very special supercar.

Powered by a tuned evolution of the 6.0-litre turbocharged V12 available in the SL600, the SL65 AMG Black Series produces around 660bhp and 1000Nm of torque. Top Speed is expected to be 200mph - a first for any AMG product - while the 0-60mph sprint is likely to take less than 4.0-seconds.

To make the most of this performance, AMG engineers have completely reinvented the SL's chassis, suspension and bodywork to ensure the car offers handling to match it's awesome pace.

Fully adjustable suspension, ceramic brakes and a lightweight, race inspired interior are just some of the tantalising features tipped to complete the package - as is bespoke carbon fibre bodywork.

As a result the SL65 looks astonishing lapping the famous Nurburgring circuit in Germany. The car is at least eight inches wider than standard, and gets flared wheel arches to cover huge, magnesium alloy wheels. To help cool the engine, there are huge vents cut into the bonnet and front wings, as well as an ultra wide front grille.

Perhaps the most radical change, however, is that the car is no longer even a coupé cabriolet. To ensure the chassis is ultra stiff, engineers have added a substantial roll cage, which is now cloaked in a one piece carbon fibre roof. This new roof not only saves weight, but also improves the aerodynamics too, as the lid has been reprofiled and stretches further over the rear of the car than before.

To add to the aerodynamic package, the SL also gets a moveable rear wing plus huge venturi tunnels underneath the car which promise to aid stability at speed.

Mercedes has yet to announce the cost of the car, yet as the newcomer is likely to exceed the performance of the £300,000 SLR, its also likely to exceed its price.

(autoespress)

 

[Christophe Berton]

The World's Oldest Land Rover Meets The Newest

Hue 166 Meets Supercharged Range Rover V8 - Not Fade Away


Climbing aboard the Land Rover affectionately known as Huey, after being cosseted inside a luxurious, supercharged Range Rover V8, is nothing short of a culture shock. With no power assistance for anything, no soundproofing, no leather upholstery, no creature comforts whatsoever, this is motoring from a bygone era-and it's not easy.

There are some rudimentary instruments in the center of what barely passes for a dashboard, a couple of levers protruding from the bare metal floor, a measly leatherette seat squab between my butt and the fuel tank. It's slow off the mark, as one might expect from a 50-hp car built in 1948. It's noisy too. I can hear transmission whine and practically every valve, every piston, every lever doing its stuff. Changing gear elicits a thunk as metal meets metal and the next ratio is brought into play.

It's hardly ideal transport for that all-important first date and few would want this four-wheel-drive for the school run either, but Huey positively oozes charisma. History is squeezing its way through every one of its enormous panel gaps. HUE 166 is the world's oldest Land Rover and I'm driving it in the place of, if not its birth, then at least its conception 60 years ago: Red Wharf Bay on the north Wales island of Anglesey.

It was here in the summer of 1947 that Maurice Wilks (then technical chief of Rover) first came up with the idea of a worldconquering vehicle to kick-start exports for the ailing Rover car company. After World War II, steel was hard to come by and Rover needed it to build cars. However, the government demanded guarantees of overseas sales to boost the country's battered economy before supplies would be forthcoming.

A stopgap model, one that appealed to foreign markets, was required to fill the company coffers and Wilks was the man with a plan. He and his brother Spencer (Rover's managing director) owned a farm on Anglesey where their families would take vacations. To get about the land, they used a war-surplus Willys Jeep bought from a neighbor back home in Warwickshire (Shakespeare country), but they soon found weaknesses in its design. The Wilks boys reasoned they could do better.

While some work was going on at the farmhouse, the family stayed at a tiny hamlet on Anglesey called Wern-y-Wylan, where a single-lane track takes visitors down to the vast sands of Red Wharf Bay. Maurice and Spencer walked out toward the ocean, talking about the idea and sketching a basic design for a new vehicle in the damp sand. It would offer the benefits of a tractor with on-road usability. It would be a Rover for the land. A Land Rover.

They bought another Jeep and fitted it with a Rover engine and gearbox. It worked. Then they commissioned a prototype known as the 'Centre Steer' due to its central steering column. This was far too complex, so the idea was shelved and the car dismantled. The legendary drawing in the sand was the design used for the Centre Steer, but subtle changes were brought in for the next prototype-the one seen here.

Much debate rages about Huey's provenance. Some claim it's the first 'production' car built after an initial batch of 48 prototypes, but Land Rover's technical communications manager, Roger Crathorne, is adamant. "Huey is the first of the prototypes, no doubt," he says. "The chassis number is LR1 and the comprehensive records we hold tell the whole story. HUE 166 first rolled out of the factory on March 11, 1948." Roger joined Land Rover as an engineer in 1963 and has never left, so if anyone should know...
Production commenced in June 1948, with Rover still viewing the model (costing 450 pounds Sterling) as nothing but a short-term fix. Eighty-five-year-old Bert Gosling was there right at the beginning and remembers the early days with great fondness: "The only tools we had were those on the shop floor; hammers, saws, simple folding presses. The designs were all sketched on scraps of paper-they didn't even have measurements on them and we were told to make what we could, but without press tools. We made them up as we went along and none of those first cars were identical."

Ironically, given that the Land Rover was born from a desire to secure supplies of steel, the car was (and still is) mostly made from aluminum, a metal in bountiful supply thanks to its use in aircraft manufacture during the war. The Land Rover's bulkhead was made from steel for strength, as was its chassis, but the rest was aluminum alloy-no doubt the reason for so many old Land Rovers surviving to this day.

Within a month of building the vehicles for paying customers, it was obvious Rover had a major hit on its hands. Production was ramped up from 100 vehicles a week to 500. Since then, almost two million of these 'stopgap' models have been built and sold, with an estimated 65 percent of all examples still in use.

The reason for its success, reckons Crathorne, is obvious: "A Land Rover, unlike any other vehicle, gives its occupants a sense of adventure. You really do feel as though you could go anywhere. It's a classless vehicle too... equally at home in the urban jungle or in the wilds of Borneo. Land Rovers give their occupants an enormous sense of well-being."

Another reason for Land Rover's success is that while the brand has diversified with a range of vehicles that spans from the humble Defender and Freelander to the ubiquitous Discovery and the mighty, SUV-inventing Range Rover, none have ever been compromised when it comes to off-road ability-something that cannot be said for their rivals.

And here with Huey, on this sodden, hallowed ground, we have a brand-new supercharged Range Rover V8. Loaded to the gunnels with every refinement and luxury imaginable, it's like a Bentley you can drive through fields and rivers, over mountains, anywhere. It shows how far Land Rover has been able to evolve that original idea. When I write that the Range Rover invented the SUV, I wasn't exaggerating: it was the first vehicle to combine comfort with proper off-road ability and it still reigns supreme 38 years after the first one emerged.

Land Rover vehicles have been used to rescue mountaineers, carry casualties from battlefields, put out fires, transport royalty and take the kids to school-you name it and a Land Rover has probably done it. But this Anglesey beach is where it all began, with a drawing in the sand six decades ago.

Ten Things You (Probably) Didn't Know About Range Rovers

1. The first few prototypes were tested all over the world without disguise, but were given the name 'Velar' to hide their identities from nosey onlookers. It means to keep a secret in Spanish.

2. In 1970, a Range Rover was exhibited at the Louvre in Paris as 'an outstanding piece of modern sculpture.'

3. The luxurious Vogue models were so named after the famous fashion magazine used a Range Rover as a prop in a high-profile photo shoot in 1983.

4. UK traffic police used to drive Range Rovers, but often ended up in serious accidents during high-speed pursuits, due to the car's high center of gravity. When cornering hard, they'd simply flip over. Adjustable air suspension has since made them much safer.

5. The twin tailgates were badly designed, with the top half being made from glass and steel, the bottom section from aluminum. When they touched, a chemical reaction kicked off and both sections would rust rather rapidly.

6. One of Pope John Paul II's Popemobiles was a modified Range Rover. It was said to be both bomb- and bulletproof and weighed an almost unbelievable 24 tons.

7. The first generation of Range Rover came to be known as the 'Classic.' Production carried on even after the second generation was launched, but ended two years later in 1996 after 317,615 had been built.

8. By January 2004, 100,000 Range Rovers had been sold in North America.

9. A number of early Range Rovers were converted into emergency vehicles with drive to six wheels. They still serve as fire tenders at many airports around the world.

10. Almost one million Land Rovers and Range Rovers were powered by a V8 engine that was first destined for Buick in the 1950s. Land Rover bought the rights to it from GM and built this legendary engine between 1970 and 2001.

(europeancar)

 

[MrMystic]

Looks good

 

[Andre Berm]

GTO abo en TOPGEAR en SUPERCAR los.

 

[Jarrod Crossley]

Maxpower, TopGear, RiceRacer,KitKar and last but no means least MudBugz.

A few of these are Internet only magazines...

 

[Yves Maex]

Double decker Smart

 

[Christophe Berton]

lol

:auto:
:auto:

 

[MrMystic]

HAHA Wonderful They even tested that!! LOL

 

[Bram Hengeveld]

Awesome stuff that is
:automobile:
:automobile:

Lol Christophe :jumping:

 

[Mark Jarvis]

hahahahahahaha thats brilliant

 

[Yves Maex]

whaha great found Christophe

 

[Yves Maex]

BMW Advertisement in Russia

Billboard of 6000m²
Cars are on scale, but still weight about 200kg
car lights working at night.

Source: Autoblog.nl

 

[Yves Maex]

New Panthera?

As far as i read-ed De Tomaso is going to be sell-ed and reanimated :brancard:
It might be on the base of the gallardo, here are some renders

:jumping::jumping::jumping::jumping::jumping:

 

[Christophe Berton]

wow:jumping::jumping:

i want a wall like that in my room:homer: