Newswheel staff :: 31 October 2006 :: Filed under SUV, Peugeot 4007, Europe & UK
Feeling tired and listless? Simply can’t be bothered to engineer your own mid-sized SUV? Then come on down to Mistsubishi Motors, we’ll do the job for you…This, allegedly, is the process that has brought us the new Peugeot 4007. It’s little more than a Mitsubishi Outlander with a nose job…
Newswheel staff :: 31 October 2006 :: Filed under Hatchback, Fiat Bravo, Europe & UK
A class-leading crowd pleaser Fiat’s soon-to-be-defunct Stilo hatchback most definitely was not. What chance therefore for the new Bravo, unveiled this week and due out early next year, of laying waste to the competition in the fiercely competitive mid-sized Euro hatchback sector? If history serves, the most likely answers all begin with ‘z’ and end ‘ip’, ‘iltch’ and ‘ero’. And yet we can’t help hoping Fiat might finally have a winner with this latest Bravo…
Newswheel staff :: 27 October 2006 :: Filed under Coupe, Lancia, Europe & UK
Woe is Newswheel. UK rag Autocar reports that Lancia has scrapped plans to knock up a series production version of the impeccably pretty Fulvietta concept. First shown back in 2003, the Fulvietta concept was inspired by the 1960s Lancia Fulvia coupé and based on Fiat Barchetta oily bits. Unsurprisingly, the Barchetta’s ancient underpinnings have been deemed unlikely to meet modern safety requirements. And the crumbling Fiat empire does not have an alternative platfrom available…
Newswheel staff :: 27 October 2006 :: Filed under Hatchback, Volkswagen, Volkswagen Golf, Europe & UK
Nineteen hundred and seventy-seven. The year the first fibre-optic cable was used for telephone communications, the Centenary Test twixt Aus and England was held at Melbourne Cricket Ground and France performed its final execution by guillotine… Oh, and the year the VW Golf GTI was first offered in Blighty. With the GTI’s 30th anniversary arriving shortly, what better excuse to wheel out a special edition Golf to cash in on all that nostalgic brand equity. Enter the Golf GTI Edition 30, complete with a 227bhp power upgrade, big rims and all that jazz…
Newswheel staff :: 26 October 2006 :: Filed under Coupe, Audi, Audi A5, Audi Nuvolari, Europe & UK, US
When it comes to fearlessly transforming outrageous concept cars into production reality, Audi is the undisputed world heavyweight champ. For proof, look no further than the original TT coupé of 1998 or the recently revealed and painfully sublime R8 mid-engined super car. It’s surprising, therefore, to discover that the upcoming A5 coupé is very definitely not a dead ringer for the Nuvolari concept of 2003. In fact, the development mule caught testing at the Nurburgring by tree-dwelling spy photographer Hans G. Lehmann betrays an utterly conventional, if admittedly elegant coupé shell…
Newswheel staff :: 24 October 2006 :: Filed under Cabriolet, Coupe, BMW, BMW 3 Series, Europe & UK, US,
Previous contender for 2006’s worst kept secret award and a first for BMW, give it up for the 3 Series Convertible, the German outfit’s debut folding hard-top cabriolet. The three-piece folding contraption hurtles up or down in just 22 seconds but comes at a price in terms of cost and kerb weight…
Newswheel staff :: 20 October 2006 :: Filed under Four wheel drive, Roadster, Audi, Audi TT, Europe & UK, US
Remember the rave reception the updated TT coupe was buried beneath earlier this year? Well, batten down the hatches and prep yourself for a veritable flood of hyperbole. The topless TT has landed…
Newswheel staff :: 18 October 2006 :: Filed under TVR, Europe & UK
It’s not quite curtains for TVR. But it is the end of the Blackpool-based sports car maker as we know it. TVR has announced plans to cease production of cars in the UK with the loss of 250 jobs from its Blackpool facility. The company said all production will be outsourced, with chassis and body production going to unnamed European third parties and engine production remaining in the UK…
Newswheel staff :: 16 October 2006 :: Filed under Lotus, Proton, Europe & UK, US
Fact: Proton was founded 23 years ago by Mahathir Mohamad, Prime Minister of the car maker’s motherland, Malaysia, for 22 long years from 1981 to 2003. So, when Dr. Mahatir says Proton, owner of Lotus since 1996, is near collapse, well, it’s worth paying attention…
Neville Contractor :: 13 October 2006 :: Filed under Coupe, Front engine sportscar, Aston Martin, Aston Martin V8 Vantage, Europe & UK
In the multi-billion dollar motor industry game of Fordopoly (grab a box set before the Christmas rush…), Aston Martin is little more than a powerless pawn. But that hasn’t prevented the British sports GT specialist from pressing on with a couple of competition-inspired Vantage coupé creations, including a lightweight, road-legal track tool and rally-ready racer…
Newswheel staff :: 12 October 2006 :: Filed under Coupe, Front engine sportscar, Nissan, Nissan 350Z, Europe & UK
First demoed at the Goodwood Festival of Speed this summer, Nissan’s supercharged 350Z GT-S concept has been given the green light for a limited production run. Just like the standard Z, this 375bhp mean machine is a conspicuous bargain. It’s expected to go on sale for £36,000…
Newswheel staff :: 11 October 2006 :: Filed under Porsche, Europe & UK, US
US rag Motor Trend has drawn together the various strands of thought on Porsche’s product plans to come up with a comprehensive list of what we can expect between now and 2010. Highlights include a reborn 928 coupe based on Panamera oily bits, a lightweight Cayman RS and a replacement for the Carrera GT…
Newswheel staff :: 11 October 2006 :: Filed under Four wheel drive, Front engine sportscar, Mid / rear engine sportscar, Ferrari, Europe & UK, US
Rumours of all-wheel drive Fezzas have been floated frequently since the early 90s. The latest riff on the 4WD Ferrari involves a new system capable of entirely disengaging drive to the front wheels when required, thereby sidestepping the torque-sapping downside of a conventional arrangement.
Newswheel staff :: 05 October 2006 :: Filed under Europe & UK, Trade shows, US
In which Newswheel crosses paths with un grand fromage, spares a thought for the Focus cab, lifts the lid on industrial espionage, gives Jag a grilling and, well, some other stuff…
Newswheel staff :: 05 October 2006 :: Filed under Mid / rear engine sportscar, Audi, Audi R8, Europe & UK, Trade shows, US
Just can’t get enough of Audi’s natty new R8 mid-engine sportster? Well, allow us to further fill your boots. Along with a pair of fully built R8s, Audi also had a cut-away car with the full beauty of the aluminium space frame construction on display. Meanwhile, a few more details of Audi’s new flagship ubercar are creeping in. For starters, UK pricing will hit the £76,000 mark, pegging the R8 at a few grand more than Porsche’s 911 Carrera 4 (yours for around £72k). What’s more, a V10 model using the Gallardo’s 500bhp lump is expected to appear in 2008…
Newswheel staff :: 04 October 2006 :: Filed under Mini MPV / People carrier, SUV, Great Wall, Landwind, Europe & UK, Trade shows, US
Thought that chintzy Chinese companies with faintly comical brand names were the preserve of £25 DVD players with piracy-friendly DivX support? Well, think again. At the Paris show, the Chinese are out in force and some of their products look pretty damn plausible…
Newswheel staff :: 04 October 2006 :: Filed under Saloon, Rolls Royce, Europe & UK, US
Rolls of Royce fame recently announced plans for a smaller, more affordable model. It’s all relative, of course. The long-rumoured Rolls for comparative proles will be pitched into the €2-300,000 (£135,000 - £200,000) space and will be launched within four years. No official technical details have been released by Rolls. But who needs official announcements? Wild-eyed speculation is much more fun…
Newswheel staff :: 04 October 2006 :: Filed under Saloon, Ford, Ford Mondeo, Europe & UK
First the concept. Then the spy shots of the final production car. And now the first professionally produced images. Ford’s next Mondeo is officially a known quantity. Of course, following last week’s (very possible staged) exposé, these latest snaps, produced during filming for the next Bond movie and not official Ford fare, provide no surprises. But they do confirm the look of the five-door hatch variant of the next Mondeo…
Newswheel staff :: 04 October 2006 :: Filed under Hatchback, Honda, Honda Civic, Renault, Volkswagen, Volvo, Europe & UK, Trade shows
Crusty old form factors like C-segment saloons may be dying a slow, undignified death at the hands of MPV and crossover upstarts. But the hatchback is alive and kicking in 2006. VW, Honda, Renault and Volvo are all keeping the hot hatch real at the Paris show…
Newswheel staff :: 03 October 2006 :: Filed under Mid / rear engine sportscar, Caparo, Caparo T1, Europe & UK
“Fantastic achievement…proud moment…special team…strong message…” No, not excerpts from the latest party political conference. But bullish noises from supercar upstart Caparo following the first shakedown test of a T1 prototype. Caparo recently completed the first of two development prototypes of the ultra-lightweight carbon-fibre sportscar. The second is due to be built by Christmas and the first customer car scheduled to roll off the production line in March next year. Pretty ambitious, then…
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