Autos

A Black Falcon Mercedes SLS AMG GT3 has won an outright victory at the 2013 24 Hours of Nürburgring.

Mitsubishi has unveiled the 2014 Attrage, ahead of its launch in Thailand in July. It's essentially a production version of the G4 concept.

The Volkswagen Polo has been on the market for approximately four years, so the company is preparing a minor facelift for the popular hatchback.

Right now, Saab is for all intents and purposes, dead. The new owner might be trying to revitalize it, but nothing concrete has been brought to table so far. Yet, for a car maker that doesn’t really make any cars, Saab has a strong presence in the media these days. Saab Emblem One of the reason for the attention is the incarceration of three, yet undisclosed, former Saab executives. The Sweedish prosecutor Olof Sahlgren says that these three individuals are “suspected of aggravated attempts to avoid tax controls”. Back in 2010 and 2011, they meddled with the company’s accounts to further their own goals. This offence brings up to four years of jail time in Sweden. Back then Saab was already sinking, and maybe the three decided to jump ship while looting as much as they could. By my books, four years is getting off easy. In the meantime, the smoking ruins of Saab might be rebuilt and re-purposed as an electric vehicle manufacturer by its new owner, NEVS (National Electric Vehicle Sweden), but no final word is out yet. The post Former Saab executives going to jail appeared first on Automotor Blog // Auto & Moto daily news.

Rolls-Royce is a brand that, for whatever reason, I’ve never spent much time thinking about. Any Rolls I see on the road usually falls into one of two camps; it’ll be a Phantom, full of somebody obnoxious who has made a lot of money and is exuberantly immodest in displaying it; or it’ll be a Silver Shadow, repainted in white from its original hue to enable it to be hired out cheaply as a wedding car.Granted, there may be the odd few that sit somewhere in the middle, but those seem a rare sight. However; R.A-S.H for today covers the 1982 Silver Spirit; and it’s a brochure that has opened my eyes, just a tiny bit.“No Rolls-Royce motor car stems from a single blinding flash of inspiration. It emerges- over a number of years-by a process of evolutionSo it is with the Silver Spirit“Rolls-Royce is one of the few brands who can get away with the term “motor-car” in their publicity material; British Leyland used to try and I think Cadillac might have too, to embarrassing effect. It’s also refreshing to see a brochure begin its sermon with words of truth.Rolls-Royce rarely did anything revolutionary since the end of the ’60s when the unibody Silver Shadow was launched, a platform which lasted well into the ‘nineties and is found under the Spirit, too.“From a line of distinguished predecessors it inherits much that is tried and good and true”The engine was carried over from the Shadow, as was much of the suspension which, once again, featured an automatic ride-height control which would later become a fully fledged Girling adaptive system for those times when one really was in a hurry“…a strikingly individual car- very obviously of today, yet timeless because its beauty of line springs from engineering truth rather than stylist pencil.” More truth. Gaze at the side view of the car from West to East and you notice an economy of line that is almost stingy. There are no flourishes (apart from the cheeky Hofmeister-style kink in the rear door) and there is nothing in the least showy about it, which seems strange when you think about what it is. It does, however, look strong, thanks to the front wheels projecting so far forwards, and the weight of that C-Pillar. See Range-Rover for another example of those proportions.“The moment you slip into the contoured driving seat of a Silver Spirit you are perfectly at home, completely in control.”At first glance time stood still in the Rolls-Royce driving compartment. The dinner-plate sized gauges could have come from any point in motoring history, the black bakelite steering wheel; not leather wrapped, could have been borrowed from Kenworth. Yet, visually, the datedness subsides into something that is resolutely fit-for-purpose. Those chrome rotary switches look like they could stay on switching duty for ever.Then you look more closely and you realise that all the technology you could want is there, too. There were joysticks for the seats and more joysticks for the mirrors. The dashboard was home to a colony of warning lamps which were ranked by a colour code depending on seriousness. That vintage-looking speedometer was actually electronic, and you could rely on it to within “nine yards in every mile”.The only slightly jarring thing in this spectators humble opinion is the strip of pale green vacuum-fluorescent digits embedded into the dashboard to inform of outside temperature, time and elapsed time. It seems one step from having a Terratrip rally computer installed, which you wouldn’t do in a Rolls-Royce, would you? Actually, I would, and I pledge to fit one when I get my first Roller.“When you move away, response from the 6.75 litre, V-8 engine, with its hydraulically controlled automatic transmission, is swift and positive.”Yes, this transmission was the  GM THM 400 3-speed, as seen in Cadillacs. And Ferrari 412s. Also familiar to all you interstate-travellin

Shortly after introducing the Competition Package for the 2014 BMW M5 and M6, the Bavarian company released official pricing information for this optional feature. Priced from $7,300 for the F10 M5, the new pack provides a power boost from 560hp to 575hp for the stock 4.4-liter V8 powerplant. Besides the power hike, the German company [...]The post BMW releases official pricing for the new Competition Package appeared first on BMWCoop | BMW Blog, BMW News, BMW Reviews.

Mitsubishi unveiled a new sedan model designed for the European, U.S. and Asian markets. The new Attrage is very similar to the Mirage hatchback but comes with improved dimensions and more luggage space. The new model measures 4,095mm and is also inspired by the G4 concept, a prototype seen for the first time at the Bangkok Motor Show. 2014 Mitsubishi Attrage Power will be provided by a 1.2-liter MIVEC engine capable to return a fuel economy of 4,5 liters/100km (51,7mpg US) when linked to a five-speed manual transmission. An optional CVT unit will be also offered by the Japanese carmaker. Styling tweaks of the new Attrage include revised optical blocks, a new front grille, wheels and side mirrors. The new Mitsubishi Attrage will go on sale in Thailand starting this July. Production will be also held in Thailand, the European markets following to see the debut of the model in 2014. The post Mitsubishi debuts the new Attrage sedan appeared first on Automotor Blog // Auto & Moto daily news.

Michael Annett has been medically cleared to return for Saturday's Nationwide Series race at Charlotte Motor Speedway after being sidelined for eight races.

While American consumers dozed fitfully in their suburban homes at the close of the 1960s, the country was quietly being invaded by foreign cars. Dealers for brands like Datsun, Opel (which was really part of General Motors), Toyota and Volkswagen were popping up in cities from coast to coast, and that was a threat that American Motors took seriously. To stem the foreign car tide, AMC debuted its subcompact Gremlin in April of 1970. As this consumer-focused, film-strip-turned-video from 1970 shows, there was good reason for concern. In 1969 alone, subcompact imports from Datsun (incorrectly spelled “Datson,” a name unused since 1931), Opel, Toyota, and Volkswagen totaled some 847,779 units. Volkswagen, with sales of 566,369 Beetles, posed the largest threat, so this semi-whimsical Gremlin sales pitch focuses its attention squarely on the Volkswagen Beetle and its fanatical “Bug Boosters.” Conceding fuel economy to the VW (which delivered 26 MPG to the Gremlin’s 23 MPG), the ad uses the AMC’s 800-pound heavier curb weight as a selling point, claiming that it delivers better stability in headwinds and crosswinds. The Gremlin’s larger engine (the 199-cu.in. inline six used in the AMC Hornet, from which the Gremlin was derived) is another plus, giving the AMC the ability to keep up with traffic, even when driving uphill. The Gremlin’s larger cargo capacity (up to 22-cu.ft. in two-passenger models) was a further plus, as was the car’s easier access to cargo loading and unloading via the rear glass hatch. Those still not convinced were prompted to consider the Volkswagen’s styling, as the announcer says, “That Bug just ain’t going to turn into a butterfly.” The Gremlin’s superior looks (a truly subjective point) are emphasized, as is the availability of amenities like trim packages, a roof rack, pleated seats and an enhanced dashboard, features that Volkswagen simply didn’t offer from the factory. The Gremlin would occupy the slot as AMC’s subcompact model through the 1978 model year, ultimately offering engines that ranged from an Audi-sourced 2.0-liter inline four-cylinder to a 401-cu.in. V-8 (in limited-production Randall 401-XR form). Unlike rival subcompacts from domestic automakers, the AMC went the entirety of its production run without major scandal, selling a total of some 671,475 units in the U.S. and Canada. While that pales in comparison to the Volkswagen Beetle (as well as the Ford Pinto and Chevrolet Vega), it was a solid performance for American Motors.

Thanks to the partnership between McLaren and Honda for Formula 1 and the success of McLaren’s road car division, there are rumors that the next McLaren road car set to be slotted below the 12C to fight the Porsche 911 will be powered by a Honda-developed engine. This speculation isn’t that far off the mark, [...]