Nelson Ireson, Senior Editor
Articles
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At the Geneva Auto Show in March, Ferrari debuted its One-to-One personalization program on the 612 Scaglietti, offering a unique and completely individualized customization service for its cars.... -
Chrysler offers Avenger with turbodiesel and dual clutch, but not in U.S.American automotive enthusiasts have long been used to being left out of the loop on some of the best models European and Japanese carmakers have to offer - the pre-R35 Nissan Skyline GT-R range, any number of hot hatches, wagons and sedans and pretty much anything fun with a diesel engine in it...
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Porsche and Volkswagen infighting could harm both companiesThe saga that has become the Porsche takeover of the Volkswagen Group faces two new key issues in the coming year, both relating to Audi. Already several high-tension situations have arisen, and bad blood between VW chairman Ferdinand Piëch and Porsche CEO and VW board member Wendelin Wiedeking...
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Brudeli announces production Leanster three-wheelerGenres like motorcycle, car and all-terrain vehicle are becoming increasingly blurred as more manufacturers make forays into three-wheeled territory. Like a more athletic version of the Can-Am Spyder, Norway's Brudeli Leanster 654L has finally entered production. Based around the KTM 690 Supermoto...
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Toyota cuts price on replacement Prius batteriesThose most critical of the hybrid and electric vehicle segment often highlight the huge expense of battery replacement as a primary reason to avoid the electron-peddling powertrains. Thanks to Toyota's latest round of price drops, however, there's less to crow about on the expense front, with the...
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BMW's M Division Development Chief Reveals Near-Term PlansThe high-performance arm of BMW has provided quite a lot of fodder for speculation recently, with the M1 Homage concept, an expected 1-series tii vehicle, and its somewhat bizarre focus on SUVs and crossovers. To help clear the air - if only somewhat - BMW's M Division development head Albert...
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United States residents will have to wait until 2010 for the Ford Kuga crossover to make its appearance, but Europeans have already had the car for most of the current year. Now Ford has decided to... -
Zauber ZR-1 track car to star in 'affordable' one-make seriesThe German race car builders at Zauber have unveiled an all-new track-day car designed from the ground up for low cost, high-performance racing. The car will also feature as the vehicle for a one-make series for drivers over 40 years of age, called Top40. Not to be confused with the music world's...
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MIT aerodynamics breakthrough could improve efficiency, speedA century-old problem in the physics of aerodynamics, known to scientists as fluid dynamics, has been solved by MIT scientists, both on paper and in the lab. The breakthrough makes it possible to calculate when the otherwise smooth flow of air over a complex surface will cease and separate, hugely...
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First impressions: 2010 Chevy VoltThe 2010 Chevy Volt was just unveiled ten days ago at GM's 100th Anniversary celebrations in Detroit, but it's already beginning to tour the country. Its first stop after Detroit was GM's 2009 Collection event at the Texas Motor Speedway in Dallas, Texas, to which MotorAuthority was invited. While...
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Hyundai reveals Santa Fe Blue HybridToyota, Honda and nearly every other major manufacturer has beaten Hyundai to market with a hybrid powertrain solution, but the South Korean company is making up for lost time as the Paris Motor Show draws near. The latest development is the Santa Fe petrol-electric hybrid SUV concept, which will...
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Ferrari 250 GTO sells for $28.7M at auctionA British man, wishing to remain anonymous, has purchased what is now the most expensive car in the world—one of the few Ferrari [NYSE:RACE] 250 GTOs built to secure homologation for the FIA's GT category. Only 39 of the cars were ever built, and their rarity and desirability has long been...
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Almost six months ago, Hartge revealed its original take on the 1-series. At that time, it was entirely an appearance and suspension upgrade package, leaving the engine untouched. Now, having spent... -
First images of Fiat 500 Abarth SS revealedAs microcars go, the reborn Fiat 500 has enjoyed stellar success. Already having spawned a number of high-performance and special editions, the car's hot sales have driven yet another special model - the Abarth SS, or as the Italians would say it, 'esseesse'. Long awaited and finally revealed, the...
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Pininfarina plans concept electric car for ParisAt last year's Geneva Motor Show, Pininfarina revealed its Sintesi fuel-cell vehicle, a skillful and attractive concept that showed the legendary coachbuilder was still at the cutting edge of design. This time around, the company is planning to try its hand at an electric vehicle, marrying...
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Tata: No Jaguar or Land Rover vehicles will be built in IndiaDoubts surrounding the passage of the historically British marques Jaguar and Land Rover into Indian ownership have consistently dogged the deal since its first rumored inception. Now that Tata is well underway in its new position as owner of the brands, it is assuring customers that there are no...
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U.S. average fuel economy climbs to 20.8mpgShifting from SUVs and pickup trucks toward smaller cars may already be having an effect on the overall average fuel economy in the U.S. Figures released today by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) reveal that the actual increase in fuel economy may be even higher than the 0.2mpg bump...
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Small cars still too small for U.S.?The floor dropped out of the market for SUVs and pickups this year, and Americans were supposedly replacing them with small cars. But what's small in America isn't what's small in the rest of the world, and truly small cars appear to continue to get short shrift. The latest evidence of this fact is...
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Most carmakers are focusing their efforts solely on reducing the tailpipe emissions of their vehicle lineups through conventional methods such as more efficient engines, advanced catalysts and... -
GM working on family of Volt-like carsGeneral Motors' 100th anniversary celebrations were capped with what the company thinks is the crowning achievement of its first century in business, and the guiding light for the start of the second. But that's not stopping them from moving right past it to the next new thing - a family of...
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Jaguar XF-R and XKR coming to DetroitThe XF-R has been revealed. Click here for all the details. Talk of new models at Jaguar has been rampant since the Tata buyout from Ford earlier this year, and to some degree even before. Now the new-model talk is getting serious, however, with two new high-performance halo models due to hit the...
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Tesla building new assembly line and HQ in San Jose, CAAn all-new $250 million facility located in the heart of Silicon Valley will host Tesla's assembly-line, R&D and headquarters as it ramps up for production of its all-electric Model S luxury sedan. The site will occupy 89 acres in San Jose, California and when fully operational, will employ about...
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Mercedes reveals lithium-ion powered S400 BlueHYBRIDThe long-awaited Mercedes S400 hybrid has finally been officially unveiled, and the results are somewhat surprising. While the S400 BlueHYBRID is still billed as the first series-production car to market with a purpose-built lithium-ion battery, it's not as impressive a hybrid system as may have...
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Daimler and BMW engineers want common EV standardsDesigning and building to a multitude of standards for each one-off or proprietary set of electric vehicle (EV) specifications is an expensive and laborious process. That's why Daimler and BMW engineers have joined together in a call for industry-wide standards for future development. The industry...
Nelson Ireson