Team principal Tadashi Yamashina says he has been given two more years to deliver the goods for Toyota in formula one. The Japanese took the reigns of the struggling Cologne based team earlier this year, following a half decade of underperformance despite Toyota’s top annual budget. “(For Toyota) to become stronger it is more important to improve the level of organisation in general rather than to rely on the power of one person,” he said in Toyota’s latest Motorsports Annual Report.
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Hot on the heels of the new Mercedes SL facelift leak we have pictures and information on the facelift for the new CLS class. The pictures are for the AMG 63 model - itself only introduced in 2006 - however some of the basic changes will also appear on the non-AMG models.
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If you’re like Frank Mountain, the British property developer who famously purchased Michael Schumacher’s Formula 1 car, your love of F1 and a healthy bankroll are all you need to become the owner of your very own F1 car. In this case it’s not a Ferrari, but a Super Aguri Honda on offer at Racercar.com. The peculiar circumstances of this car’s provenance make it a rare and special buy for the lucky person with the resources to do so.
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As the number of people with deep pockets grows, Rolls-Royce struggles to keep up with the tremendous demand for their luxury vehicles such as the Phantom and the Phantom Drophead Coupe. This year they sold just under 1000 cars. In 2008 the company hopes to increase production by 10% after investing $19.8m and recruiting an additional 300-400 people at its manufacturing plant in Goodwood, West Sussex, which opened in 2002.
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Those who have followed the saga of the BMW and Mercedes cooperation talks know that the two makers have been cautious - to say the least - in working together, but at the same time the continuous nature of the talks show that both are interested in the idea. Germany’s two most prestigious car makers are already expected to announce by year’s end (http://www.motorauthority.com/news/industry/mercedes-and-bmw-deal-expected-by-year-end/) an agreement to share costs by cooperating on engine construction and development, but new rumours now have the two luxury-performance giants approaching each other for an even more intimate agreement.
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The first pics of Mercedes’ newest GLK leaked onto the web two weeks ago courtesy of spy-photo mistress Brenda Priddy’s team, who caught the SUV on the set of the upcoming Sex and the City movie. Now we have video footage of the same scenes captured in the photos, featuring the ever-sexy Kim Catrall approaching and driving off in the snow-white GLK, catching the new Merc from every angle in the process.
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Already famous for its LS prototype designed to compete for the 100mpg Automotive X-Prize competition, Loremo may be planning to unveil a new concept convertible at Geneva in 2008 according to the latest rumours. The previous LS concept was groundbreaking not just in its miserly fuel consumption (2-3L/100km) but its clamshell top/front opening system and affordable, lightweight construction. Check out the video below to see the LS’s unique entry method in action, as demonstrated by a cute girl in a skirt.
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Chevrolet’s ‘SS’ moniker stands for Super Sport, and once upon a time Chevrolet really meant it. Legendary SS cars include the first-ever SS car, the 1961 Impala SS, the bulging and muscular Camaro SS, the Chevelle SS and even the Monte Carlo SS. But it wasn’t long before Chevy lost its way, sticking the SS badge on everything from Malibus to Silverados and the nameplate lost its meaning. Now the company is looking to turn things around, and the first car with the new SS spirit is the HHR SS.
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Having succeeded with the large truck market, Toyota is now setting its sights on compact pickup trucks with its latest A-BAT concept vehicle. Officially making its debut at the 2008 NAIAS in Detroit, the A-BAT is designed to combine good fuel economy, advanced functionality, car-like handling, and unique styling in one small package.
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Beautiful looking cars make for great photos, but beautiful sounding cars make for great memories. The Lamborghini Murcielago R-GT is equipped with all the right parts to make some wonderful memories: based on the regular Murcielago, not the LP640, but 500kg lighter, the R-GT’s 6.0L V12 cranks out over 590hp and 710Nm of torque, and can deliver nearly 84,000 spine-shivering explosions of sound every minute.
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China’s burgeoning automotive industry has yet to make much of an impact in Europe or the U.S., aside from some of its makers infamously “borrowing” design details from their European counterparts. Likewise, not much has been heard of the once-famous and beloved English brand MG since MG Rover went out of business and was purchased by China’s Nanjing Auto in 2005 for $100 million. Now, SAIC
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The slide in the U.S. economy is hurting car makers all around the world. As the single biggest car market in the world, any slide in U.S. demand can be a serious problem for the suppliers. Reports are surfacing that Volvo may be one such supplier in trouble. The falling dollar and decreasing demand for Volvo’s products are clouding the manufacturer’s future.
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Corvettes hold a special place in the hearts of many car aficionados. They are purely American - big displacement power, snarling good looks - and one of the only American cars capable of hanging with the best Europe and Japan have to offer. But as much as the car’s raw performance - and great pricing - drives a car guy’s lust for the Corvette, the history and tradition of the ‘Vette brings it out even more. One of the most cherished Corvette traditions over the past 30 years has been its service as the pace car for the Indianapolis 500. This year, the tradition continues, but this time with two special edition pace cars.
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Hybrid-electric vehicles have been alternately portrayed as the saviours of modern transportation or the last gasp of the dying oil-based economy. Either way, Toyota has capitalized on their popularity with its world-beating Prius hybrid, and is aiming to increase the success of the hybrid further still by selling one million hybrid-electric vehicles per year by the first few years of the next decade.
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We’ve already reported on Toyota’s slow march towards global domination of car sales and it looks like 2008 may be the year that the company finally overtakes GM as the world’s top automaker. Toyota has said it plans to produce 9.95 million vehicles worldwide during 2008, up 5 percent from this year and significantly higher than the 9.3 million vehicles General Motors has given as its estimate for production this year.
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