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Toyota Europe has decided to enhance the appeal of the recently revealed production version of the FT-86 sports coupe, which has been renamed as the GT 86.
Welcome To Auto Cars
Lorenzo Ramaciotti to lead design team that will establish a common design language for the two brandWhat is the common denominator between Fiat Group and Chrysler LLC? So far it was only Sergio Marchionne, the architect of Fiat's takeover ofChrysler and who also serves as the CEO of both companies.
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Range_e Concept wins the 2011 British Automotive Innovation of the Year Land Rover's Range_e, a plug-in hybrid diesel-electric powertrain concept, has been crowned as the Automotive Innovation for 2011 by the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders in the UK (SMMT).
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Toyota today announced that it will use the upcoming Tokyo Auto Show to give us the Fun-Vii concept, a development that can be described in one word: interactivity.The exterior of the car can be used as a display space, so the driver can change the color and the message(s) shown on the vehicle.
Sunday, June 26, 2011
2008 AC Schnitzer BMW X6 Falcon
2008 AC Schnitzer BMW X6 Falcon
2008 AC Schnitzer BMW X6 Falcon
2008 AC Schnitzer BMW X6 Falcon
2008 AC Schnitzer BMW X6 Falcon
2005 ABT Audi AS4
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2005 ABT VW PassatGENEVA 2010: ABARTH 500C BLOWS ITS TOP
For every car, there’s a prospective customer. And for a car like the Fiat 500C, a cutesy retro mini with a pseudo-cabrio sliding canvas roof, we hardly need to point out who that target demographic is. But as if to highlight what a difference the little things can make, the Abarthversion is another beast entirely.
By “little things”, here we mean stuff like a 140-horsepower, 1.4-liter turbocharged four-cylinder engine, a five-speed sequential paddle-shift transmission and a badass two-tone paint job. All that may not sound like much, but when applied to a little thing like the 500C, it represents thedifference between the stock Fiat’s potential customer and the car nut who takes her out for an evening on the town.
If the collaborative minds at Fiat and Chrysler deem us worthy, we’d enthusiastically count ourselves among the Abarth 500C’s potential customers. But for now we’ll just have to enjoy admiring it on the show floor here in Geneva where it’s just been unveiled, and we have the photos to prove it along with more details in the press release after the jump.
Paris Preview: Abarth launches EsseEsse versions of 500C and Punto Evo
Following the introduction of Abarth-tuned versions of both the Fiat 500C and Punto Evo at the Geneva Motor Show, the Scorpion brand is preparing to roll into Paris with even hotter versions of both.
Carrying the EsseEsse moniker, both models get a substantial boost in output and a variety of upgrades to match. In the case of the 500C – the semi-convertible version of the popular retro hatch – we’re looking at 160 horsepower (up from 138 in the “base” Abarth 500C) for a 7.6-second sprint to 62 mph. The Abarth Punto Evo EsseEsse, by comparison, is tuned to 180 horsepower, resulting in a run of 7.5 seconds.
Carrying the EsseEsse moniker, both models get a substantial boost in output and a variety of upgrades to match. In the case of the 500C – the semi-convertible version of the popular retro hatch – we’re looking at 160 horsepower (up from 138 in the “base” Abarth 500C) for a 7.6-second sprint to 62 mph. The Abarth Punto Evo EsseEsse, by comparison, is tuned to 180 horsepower, resulting in a run of 7.5 seconds.
Both feature an array of upgrades to the suspension, brakes, rolling stock and more, plus Blue&Me connectivity and Record Monza exhaust (for the 500C) and Sabelt racing buckets (for the Punto). Full details can be found in the press release after the jump, but we’ll have more for you from Versailles at the end of the month.
Abarth to go it alone on mid-engine roadster?
Reports of Abarth getting its own sports car have been surfacing pretty much since Fiatrelaunched the brand. They seem to have intensified recently, with reports alternately suggesting that the Scorpion marque could partner with either Lotus or KTM on the development of a mid-engine roadster. The latest scuttlebutt, however, indicates that Abarth could go it alone on the new model.
The issue with KTM is reportedly that its carbon-fiber X-Bow, upon which the Abarth roadster could be based, is too expensive for the low price point Fiat seeks. The hesitance to work withLotus, however, may be more personal. Lotus CEO Danny Bahar defected there from Ferrari, and took a number of personnel from both Maranello and Maserati with him.
As a result, Abarth could build a Lotus Elise rival from the ground up, powered by the latest-generation MultiAir engine mated to the company’s new dual-clutch gearbox. Such a move would, however, seem at odds with Sergio Marchionne’s push to integrate products and platforms across Fiat and Chrysler brands. But if a mid-engine Dodge roadster came out of it as well, you wouldn’t find us complaining.
