Ariel's much acclaimed bare-essentials sports car, the Atom, turned 10 this year. In order to celebrate the special occasion, the British maker has joined forces with Mugen's European branch to develop a special edition model, which will be launched onto the market in January 2011 in a strictly limited run of 10 cars.
The new lightweight model will feature distinct livery in order set it apart and every unit will come with a plate signed by Mugen and Ariel technicians, certifying their work. According to Ariel, the Atom Mugen will be as track focused as ever, using Honda’s K20Z naturally aspirated Type R engine to its full potential.
The Mugen-prepared powerplant develops an impressive 270 hp out of a 2.0-liter displacement, which should be more than enough for performance-hungry customers.
“The Type R Honda is the best 2.0-liter normally aspirated engine available. We have put our experience and know how to release even more power from the engine and we’re delighted to see our engine in the Ariel Atom”, Vice President of Mugen Euro, Mr. Hiroki Toyoda said.
Every special edition model will be hand built, with one Ariel employee making the car, while his Mugen counterpart assembles the engine.
The Atom Mugen will be presented at next month's 2011 Autosport Show in Birmingham, UK. More information, including specs and photos, will follow shortly after.
How do you replace a motoring icon? In the years leading up to 1968, U.S. automaker Chevrolet was dealing with this very problem with their venerable Corvette. The first and second generation Corvettes, designed by Harley Earl and Larry Shinoda respectively, were stylish and innovative creations that drew countless fans from the automotive community.
The answer lies, in part, with the Aerovette: a mostly forgotten concept that made just two auto show appearances before being relegated to the GM Heritage Museum.
In the late ‘60s, GM engineer Zora Arkus Duntov and his team were toying with the XP-882, a mid-engined design and engineering exercise built on Oldsmobile Tornado underpinnings. Though fascinating from a design and engineering standpoint, Chevy General Manager John DeLorean saw no future for the XP-882 and canceled the project in 1969. It was simply too expensive and too impractical for the impending 1970s America.
When Ford announced it would be selling the Italian designed / American engined De Tomaso Pantera at its Lincoln / Mercury dealerships in 1970, DeLorean hit the roof. He immediately ordered Duntov and GM designer Charles Jordan to dust off the XP-882 and ready it for the New York Auto Show.
Renamed the Aerovette, the XP-882 was a revolution. After being re-engined for the 1973 Paris Auto Salon, the Aerovette now featured four transversely mounted Wankel rotaries, a full five years before they would be popularized in the United States by Mazda’s RX-7. Beneath that sleek glass fibre skin was a steel and aluminium birdcage that was both lightweight and strong.
Innovative features abound such as the bi-fold gullwing doors, V-shaped front windscreen and deformable plastic bumpers. Pop up headlamps, a fully independent coil spring suspension and four wheel disc brakes were also incorporated into the design.
Inside, a digital instrument panel displayed speed and engine rpm, while a switchable screen could show fuel, water temperature, oil pressure or voltage. A second digital display in the centre console could display the date, time and radio station as well as the elapsed time in minute or seconds for time trials.
Though the Aerovette / XP-882 never progressed beyond the concept stage, its design was highly influential in the third generation (C3) Corvette. Many of its ingenious design features would find their way into production cars; though in some cases this process took as long as then years(!).
So there you have it. The Aerovette: a car that was ten years ahead of its time but doomed by the ‘70s oil crisis. Gone, but hopefully, never forgotten.
There’s nothing wrong with using your assets, so we don’t blame Mercedes-Benz for trying to build some hype around the upcoming 2012 SLK by inviting Formula 1 pilot Nico Rosberg to take the hardtop roadster for a spin. However, the entire happening feels much too scripted, from the way the camera ducks just when the front fascia is almost revealed to what Rosberg says. Luckily, we already know what the German roadster looks like, so we won’t shed unnecessary tears. The highlight of the video is clearly the demonstration of how the Magic Sky Control panoramic roof works. Hit the jump to watch the clip.
It appears that Aston Martin won't be the only British sports car maker to have a controversial small city car in its range. Lotus chief executive Dany Bahar told Car magazine that the Concept City Car, which was previewed at the recent Paris Motor Show alongside five sports car studies, has been approved for production. The comapny's CEO said the car will be manufactured in cooperation with Lotus parent company Proton and an undisclosed third party.
"Our city car has been confirmed and will be launched in October 2013," Mr. Bahar told the British magazine. "We are doing this together with Proton and another OEM [original equipment manufacturer, or car maker]. We will build three versions: one for the Asian market, one for Europe and a sportier one."
The Lotus flavored Concept City Car is based on one of the three Giugiaro-penned Proton EMAS design studies, which were first shown in Geneva earlier this year.
Built on a platform that was designed in-house by Italdesign Giugiaro, the EV concept model features a 45 kW (75kW peak power) electric motor that can be recharged by a 1.2 liter 3-cylinder engine. The hybrid plug-in drive system was developed entirely by Lotus. Unlike the front-wheel drive iQ-Cygnet, British supermini gets a rear-wheel drive setup.
With a total vehicle weight of less than 1400 kg [3,086 lbs] and 240 Nm [177 lb-ft] of torque instantly available, the City Car concept is said to complete the 0 - 50 km/h sprint in 4.5 seconds and the 0 - 100 km/h [62 mph] in 9 seconds, when operating as an EV under battery power. The top speed is pegged at 170 km/h, [105mph] with a charge sustaining top speed of 120 km/h [63 mph].
The pure electric drive range is 50 km or 31 miles, but can be extended to a total of 500 km or 311 miles when the petrol engine kicks. Lotus claims that the drivetrain returns CO2 emissions of 60 g/km.
Mr. Bahar did not say if the production model will keep the concept's extended-range hybrid drivetrain or if Lotus will offer the car with a traditional petrol engine as well.
Layout: 3-door, 4-seater, rear-wheel drive Drivetrain Series hybrid drivetrain Range extender engine 35 kW, 1.2-litre, 3-cylinder engine Engine fuel Flex-fuel (methanol, ethanol and petrol) Battery Capacity 14.8 kWh Power/Torque 162 kW peak (54 kW continuous)/240 Nm, 0-50 km/h 4.5 seconds, 0-100 km/h 9.0 seconds Top speed 170km/h Range 500 km EV range 60km CO2 emissions 60g/km on the ECE-R101 cycle Weight Less than 1400 kg Transmission Single-speed transmission
Now that Pontiac is officially gone, one way of keeping the heritage alive is to salvage whatever parts you can find. We don’t know if that’s what the owner of this 1979 Chevrolet Malibu thought, but, nevertheless, he did swap the original engine with a modern 5.7-liter LS1 V8, sourced from a wrecked GTO, while keeping the styling of the car pretty much stock.
Engine aside, the old-school Malibu has been fitted with a 9-inch Ford locking differential, a Tremec T-56 six-speed manual, various Corvette drive accessories and Edelbrock rear shock absorbers.
The seller claims it's in good condition without any rust, and that it is accompanied by the original engine and transmission, purchase order and receipts for every new part installed.
As far as we can tell from the photographs, the interior is also in good shape, fitted with hard-to-find factory original bucket seats and floor console (according to the owner).
The mileage is listed at 47,656, but it could be what the new engine has clocked up and not the car. In any case, the Malibu seems to have aged well and the bevy of new parts installed should put any reliability-related worries to rest. It should be pretty fast, too.
*The car was listed for sale on eBay for $11,000, but the reserve was not met.
As well as releasing pricing for its all-new 2012 NV Commercial Van, Nissan also announced a partnership agreement with Original Wraps to provide future owners of the van with personalized graphics. The Japanese maker said the application will be available through the Nissan Commercial Vehicle website in January 2011. The graphics are printed on automotive grade 3M Scotchprint On-Demand vinyl and are laminated for protection and fade resistance. They can also be removed without causing any damage to the van's paint job.
“We’re pleased to offer high quality, customized vehicle personalization with hundreds of different graphic designs created specially for the new Nissan NV,” said Joe Castelli, vice president, Nissan Commercial Vehicles and Fleet, NNA. “It’s part of our innovative approach to thinking about how our customers use their vans – including as a vehicle for advertising their company and services.”
The company’s first entry into the commercial vehicle market in the United States comes with a body-on-frame construction and choice of standard roof or high roof configurations. The range includes the NV1500 with standard 4.0-liter V6 engine, the NV2500 HD with a choice of 4.0-liter V6 or 5.6-liter V8 and the NV3500 HD with standard 5.6-liter V8. All engines are linked to a 5-speed automatic transmission.
Nissan offers the NV is in two grades, S and SV with prices starting from $24,590. Full information on pricing is listed below.
Pricing
Model/Roof/Engine
NV 1500 Standard Roof S V6 $24,590 USD NV 1500 Standard Roof SV V6 $26,190 USD NV 2500 Standard Roof S V6 $25,590 USD NV 2500 Standard Roof SV V6 $27,190 USD NV 2500 Standard Roof S V8 $26,490 USD NV 2500 Standard Roof SV V8 $28,090 USD NV 3500 Standard Roof S V8 $28,190 USD NV 3500 Standard Roof SV V8 $29,790 USD
Model/Roof/Engine NV 2500 High Roof S V6 $27,990 USD NV 2500 High Roof SV V6 $29,590 USD NV 2500 High Roof S V8 $28,890 USD NV 2500 High Roof SV V8 $30,490 USD NV 3500 High Roof S V8 $30,590 USD NV 3500 High Roof SV V8 $32,190 USD
Twelve years after the last six McLaren F1 GTR “Longtails” hit the tarmac at Le Mans, the British supercar maker and CRS Racing have begun work on an MP4-12C-based GT3 racecar. According to the plan that was revealed today, the MP4-12C GT3 will be available in limited numbers starting from 2012.
The McLaren F1 GTR was a very successful racecar, taking the checkered flag at the 24 Hours of Le Mans on its debut, so the bar has been set pretty high for the new car. Nevertheless, featuring an advanced one-piece carbon fiber chassis and finely tuned aerodynamic body, the MP4-12C should provide an excellent starting point for the development of the race version.
“The 12C’s architecture and design was always aimed at high-performance and ease of maintenance - two key criteria for potential customers. Combine that with the vast amount of racing experience in our automotive team, and CRS Racing’s specialist development experience, and the 12C GT3 should be an exciting proposition for the top teams planning to race in GT3 from 2012”, said Martin Whitmarsh, Vodafone McLaren Mercedes Team Principal.
As part of the development process, McLaren and CRS Racing will enter 12C GT3 prototypes in select European GT races next year. Further details about the racing program are also going to be announced in 2011. Potential clients can register their interest at "www.mclarengt.com."
