Concept Cars

New York International Auto Show – It’s Electric!

April 6, 2018 by ponycargirl Leave a Comment

With a major emphasis on electric vehicles, a slightly pared-down New York International Auto Show opened its doors to media on the Wednesday and Thursday before the Easter / Passover weekend. True to trend, some of the major launches happened off-site in the days leading up to the official media days, while some skipped any sort of event at all. The North Hall was closed and many of the major automaker booths were conspicuously smaller than previous years, there were still some notable launches.

Toyota kicked the media frenzy off with the new 2019 RAV4, but the real star was the hot little Corolla hatch. First off – manual transmission. I don’t think I really have to type anything else after that, but for word count purposes, it’s 2.0 L Four-Cylinder, Six-Speed iMT Manual Transmission. Also featured is Amazon Alexa integration for creepy laughing when down shifting.

Volkswagen showed up with a pick-up truck. A LIT pick-up truck. The short-bed Atlas Tanoak has a 276-horsepower V6 FSI® gasoline engine, eight-speed automatic transmission, and all-wheel drive. The both the grille and the bumper of the mid-size five-seater have strips of LED lighting.

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Subaru birthed the 2019 Forester surrounded by previous generations. The fifth generation SUV will be available in five trim levels, including the new Sport. The new 2.5-liter SUBARU BOXER four-cylinder engine boasts 182 hp and 176 lb-ft of torque, and the interior has more leg and head room thanks to increased wheelbase.

Croatia has many cool things like Bokar Fortress (King’s Landing in Game of Thrones), but you’d be forgiven it’s not the first place you’d think of when it comes to cars. Well, then, there;s the Rimac Automobili. The C_TWO hypercar is damn pretty. Also, electric. Everything you would want in a car you can never afford – slick design, butterfly doors, all the carbon fiber, an electric motor powering each wheel, radar, on-board cameras, and a top speed of 412 km/h (258 mph).

Undoubtedly the standout of all of the launches, the Genesis Essentia concept is simply stunning. Standing there staring like everyone was after the launch, you can see the designer’s hand in every single line on the body.

Rather appropriate considering the holiday, Fisker has been resurrected as Karma with a presence on the show floor.

In quirky-but-cool, Super 8 – yes, the motel chain – has a customized Jeep called the ROADM8. It has a built-in coffee maker. This is all that I needed to know. SOLD.

OH AND ROUSH HAD A MUSTANG.

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After the media frenzy, a parade of EV’s drove down 11^th Avenue in front of the Javits Center preceding the official public opening. Panasonic Jaguar Racing driver Nelson Piquet led the EV procession, doing donuts in the championship Formula e.

Actor/comedian Tracy Morgan followed the Formula e car and the Jaguar I-PACE in the World Endurance Championship LMP1 title-winning Porsche 919 Hybrid that won 24 Hours of Le Mans three times.

The SEMA 2015 Run-Down

November 20, 2015 by ponycargirl Leave a Comment

SEMA 2015 has come, and after exhaustively walking around and around and around the Las Vegas Convention Center while not having even seen a quarter of it, it has gone. Dealers, builders, salespeople, OEMs, racing teams, equipment manufacturers, grease monkeys, designers, inventors – and of course, the media – converge in the brightly lit oasis of vice in the middle of the desert the first week of November. If there was a theme this year, it was most definitely trucks. Between the smoke from Vaughn Gittin Jr. drifting around Ford Out Front and the equally voluminous plumes emitted from the lungs of posing vapers, it was all about the trucks. Even the DUBB section of outside lot was conspicuously devoid of quantities of low riders, donks, and the blinged-out tuners its known for, instead full of lifted and accessorized pickups.

Chevrolet kicked off the reveals Monday night with a slew of beefy Camaros including the Gen Six COPO Camaro introduced by NHRA Camaro Funny Car driver Courtney Force. The piece de resistance was the Silverado 3500HD Kid Rock Concept, with none other than Kid Rock himself on hand to talk about how he collaborated with Chevy on the over-the-top 4WD dually.

Toyota was all about Back to the Future, but also had the still-dirty RAV4 rally car on the floor driven by Ryan Millen.

Acura was a surprise on the show floor this year, with their sensational reveal of a fully-restored 1993 Legend – the beloved car of rapper Ludacris.

Friday’s drive-out was led by legendary Chip Foose driving the 1965 Chevrolet Impala Impostor. Impostor, because it’s a meticulous build of an Impala-like body on a C6 Corvette. Cars cruised out to a lot across Paradise Road for the SEMA Ignited afterparty.

In its sophomore year, Friday Night’s SEMA Ignited was much more pulled-together this year. Gone was the tedious center-stage viewing of the awkward take-and-re-take of Builder’s War hosts, replaced by a better organized car show, a greater number of food truck vendors, and a larger track that kept a busier shedule. With Jerod DeAnda of Formula D and Red Bull Global Rallycross MC-ing, SEMA had a stable of Formula Drift drivers – Odi Bakchis, Ryan Tuerck, Michael Essa, Robbie Nishida, Dean Kearney, Daigo Sato, and Vaughn Gittin Jr. to name a few – out every hour for drifting demos.

On the half hour, ride-alongs were available in some of the tuned Mustangs from Ford Out Front, making SEMA Ignited a great bookend to the car girl or guy’s dream week to the massive trade show in Vegas.

2016 Ford Mustang SVT / GT350 caught testing at the Nürburgring

July 31, 2014 by Gary Grant Leave a Comment

There are some Mustang faithful that have worried that the globalization of Ford’s next generation pony car will be diluted from their vision of what a Mustang should be. Independent suspension has some concerned (while others applaud) as does talk of turbo charged four cylinder engines. We all know by now that the new GT will be properly powered by a V8 and most people seem pretty excited about the new look, but what else is coming down the pipe?

Well, for starters, it sounds like the GT350 moniker is going to make a return, with performance bumped by a dose of SVT goodies. The folks at TouriClips have caught a pair of what appear to the the 2016 Shelby GT350R model on track at the Nurburgring.

If you had any worries that the next generation might not be quite enough, this video should quell them. The flat plane crank Coyote V8, said to produce somewhere north of 500 horsepower sounds delicious.

Still hope for the Nissan IDX concept

July 30, 2014 by Gary Grant Leave a Comment

Call me jaded, but it has been a very long time since I have seen a concept car that had me literally begging the manufacturer to build it. At last Fall’s Tokyo Auto Show, I actually begged Nissan’s global VP of design to build the car. I put my Platinum Visa on the table and told him to take a deposit. I want Nissan to build the iDX NISMO that badly.

The fact that they brought BRE Datsun leader, designer and photographer extraordinaire to the party just sweetened the pot.

The problem is that we haven’t heard much about the iDX since those buggers at R&T actually drove one of the concepts earlier this year.

Peter Brock and iDX designer Peter Beasley

There was a story floating around a couple of weeks ago that the project has been shelved, but Matt Campbell at Car Advice spent some time with Nissan VP of product development, Keno Kato, who shot that story down. Sort of.

“That’s a funny story around iDX. Andy [Palmer] said it’s under way, and Pierre Liong, head of product planning in Nissan North America said it’s not so feasible. But Pierre Liong is under me, and Andy is my boss.” Kato told Campbell.

In fact, Kato’s message echos what I was told when he said: “It is under preparation and development. [The project is] 50/50 until some milestone to decide ‘go!’”, however he suggested that by ‘go’ he meant that the car would be further assessed in terms of the profits required, the investment needed and securing the manufacturing sight.”

So, it sounds like there is still hope. If Kato’s thoughts on pricing become reality, then I will happily plunk down my Visa again!

Volkswagen Reveals Passat Performance Concept

January 15, 2013 by Tom Williams Leave a Comment

Yes. it is January, and that means the 2013 North American International Auto Show is underway in Detroit. Of particular interest to this VW devotee was the Passat Performance Concept. The Garage has sampled the latest Passat, and is our pick for best mid-size sedan available in North America. And there is no denying the success of the new Passat ,which has shattered prior sales records in the US . Why? Well, VW wanted to appeal to a wider audience here, so we get the ‘American’ Passat, as opposed past generations of Passats, which was the European idea of what a mid-size car should be. Sure, the auto media heaped praise on past Passats, but the car met with limited appeal here in the States.

Volkswagen’s ambitious, and so far successful attempt to dramatically increase sales here has, inevitably, left many of the brand’s fiercely loyal buyers out in the cold. We have not been forgotten. As much as the new Jetta disappointed me, the Jetta GLI gave some assurance VW hadn’t completely lost the script.

Which leaves us with the Passat Performance Concept. Those of you thinking this signals a return to the halcyon days of W-8 Passats, think again. No, this sporty Passat sports a drivetrain much more in tune with today’s market, namely a 1.8L turbocharged, direct injected four cylinder rated at 250hp paired to a six-speed automatic. Other upgrades include dual exhaust, 19″ alloys, bi-xenon headlights, LED taillights, and carbon mirror caps. Inside, the concept features carbon accents and a two color leather interior. Finally, a lowered sport suspension and revised steering promise an improved driving experience.

Yes, the Passat Performance Concept is, of course, just that-a concept. Surely, VW is using the auto show to get a feel of how the car buying public would receive a more buttoned-down Passat. Also, it is a nod to the VW faithful. In my opinion, building this car is a no brainer. The modifications are slight, and VW already offers the same engine in foreign markets, so why not? Not to mention plenty of the Passat’s direct competition already offer turbocharged four cylinder engines (Kia Optima, Hyundai Sonata, Ford Fusion). Stay tuned to see in concept becomes reality.

Monterey Car Week 2012

August 31, 2012 by Maxim Stensel 1 Comment

Can-Am and Le Mans legends take to the track at Laguna Seca.

Every August, the small seaside town of Monterey, California, briefly becomes the center of the automotive world. With the historic races, now officially known as the “Rolex Monterey Motorsports Reunion”, at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca, the legendary Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance, and a multitude of auctions selling collector cars of all kinds, there’s something for everyone. It feels like every corner you turn on the Monterey peninsula reveals another “once in a lifetime” sighting of a car you never expected to see outside a museum.

Charles Wegner’s 1959 Ferrari 250LWB.

The Rolex Reunion has a featured marque every year, and this time it was the Shelby Cobra. 2012 marked the 50th anniversary of Caroll Shelby’s iconic car, and in the aftermath of his sad passing, this year’s events in Monterey became a celebration of the great racer and builder’s life, as well as of his cars. At Laguna Seca, 45 original competition Cobras took to the track in their own dedicated class, including one of the six original Daytona Coupes, several others appeared in other classes, and hundreds of Cobras were on show in the pits, paddock, and camping areas. Quite a few significant Cobras were on show across town at Pebble Beach, as well.

The Cobra class pace lap passes through Turn 6.

Just a few of the many historic Cobras on display.

Classes at Laguna Seca represented almost every period of auto racing before the current generation. From the dawn of motorsports in the early 1900s, to the peak of performance at Le Mans and in IMSA in the 1980s and 1990s, and with everything from Mille Miglia-style GTs to historic NASCAR stock cars, just about every form and era of road racing was on track.

1950s and ’60s sports cars and GTs dive into Laguna Seca’s infamous “Corkscrew.”

The Ford GT40 probably needs no introduction! This 1966 example is from the Collier Collection at The Revs Institute.

James Alter’s 1952 Jaguar XK120.

1991 Mazda RX7 GTO IMSA car. One of the most modern machines of the weekend.

This BMW E9 3.0 CSL was driven by BMW North America’s chairman, Ludwig Willisch.

Above and below: Dick Deluna in his 1917 Hall-Scott “The Four”.

Above: Rob Fisher’s 1957 AC ACECA.

Ranson Webster’s 1976 Porsche 956.

Above: This Porsche 935 was recently “rescued” from the Indianapolis Motor Speedway museum and restored by renowned collector Bruce Canepa.

On Sunday, the Pebble Beach country club, a few minutes away from Laguna Seca, hosted their famous Concours d’Elegance. This is one of the most prominent events in the classic car concours world, and the event was filled with owners, fans, manufacturers, and celebrities. In addition to the Pebble Beach show proper, several manufacturers of high-end cars showed off their newest concepts, and some had stands displaying their current models.

Above: A beautiful Ferrari 250GT LWB Scaglietti Berlinetta. This car belongs to David Cottingham, in England.

Cars of the Maharajas were featured at Pebble Beach, and 1910 Brooke 25/30HP “Swan Car” was a crowd favorite…

…especially since it was accompanied by this companion car! Both can be found in the Louwman Museum, in The Netherlands.

Dodge’s new Viper GT-S.

Lamborghini’s “Sesto Elemento” prototype. This carbon fiber trackday monster weighs less than 2300lb, and will make around 600HP in production form. Too bad it won’t be street-legal!

Infiniti was the title sponsor of Pebble Beach this year, and their EMERG-E electric supercar concept attracted quite a bit of attention. Infiniti hasn’t confirmed production, but there are two fully-functional “mules” being tested, and it would certainly make an impressive rival to Lexus’s LF-A and LF-LC.

Auctions are also a major part of the Monterey scene. Gooding, RM, and Mecum are just some of the events held during the week. Gooding’s auctions, held at Pebble Beach on Saturday and Sunday, set a new record for total sales at an event auction.

This 1957 Ferrari 250 GT LWB California Spider Prototype crossed the block for $6,000,000, at the lower end of the estimate.

Range Rover Evoque Convertible Makes NY Appearance

April 8, 2012 by Tom Williams 2 Comments

With Land Rover a no-show at this years North American International Auto Show in Detroit, I was certain to hit the Land Rover stand at the New York Auto Show. When I arrived, I was not expecting this at all-a Range Rover Evoque convertible. Possibly one of the most ridiculed and despised automobiles in recent memory, the Nissan Murano CrossCabriolet seemed like the answer to a question no one ever asked-to take a four door crossover and make a convertible out of it. With that in mind, I was positively stunned to see Land Rover show a concept car with the same formula.

Land Rover has stated the Evoque concept is not currently slated for production, but the company is gauging public reaction to see if there is demand for a rag top Range Rover Evoque. Seeing the car in person, I can attest the Evoque convertible is by far a prettier proposition than the bloated Murano due to its smaller size and excellent proportions. It’s also worth mentioning the Range Rover Evoque was named World Design Car of the Year at the New York Auto Show. The Garage will be sure to see if Land Rover decided to breathe life into an Evoque convertible, so stay tuned.

VW Presents Alltrack Concept for New York Auto Show

April 2, 2012 by Tom Williams Leave a Comment

The Garage will be covering the 2012 New York Auto Show this week, and the sneak previews of what we can expect to see continue to pour in. The latest is a concept from Volkswagen named the Alltrack. In case you hadn’t guessed, the Alltrack is essentially a jacked up Passat wagon, but there is more to it than that. The current Passat, a car tailored to American tastes and built in Tennessee is a fine car, but I lamented the loss of the Passat wagon.

So, you may ask, what’s the deal with the Alltrack? Volkswagen’s take is the Alltrack bridges the gap between passenger car and SUV. Hardly a new concept, as Subaru invented the notion of a raised passenger car capable of light 0ff-roading with the Outback. Audi later added panache and a heap of power with its awesome Allroad, which is no longer available in North America. Now that the current Subaru Outback has essentially become a crossover, there is a hole for VW to fill with the Alltrack.

The Alltrack concept is powered with VW’s proven 2.0L TDI diesel engine, paired to a six-speed DSG transmission. VW’s 4Motion all-wheel drive is included with special off-road programming. At a push of a button the Alltrack is capable of making numerous adjustments for confident off-road travel at speeds up to 18mph. A raised ride height and the addition of a steel-plated solid underbody guard gives credence the Alltrack is a legit candidate for going off-pavement. Beefy fender flares, matte chrome window surrounds, mirror housings and grille trim offset with silver anodized roof rails all add up to one classy wagon.

Volkswagen has no immediate plans to sell the Alltrack in North America, but hear this. The Alltrack is coming to the 2012 New York Auto Show because VW wants to see how the public reacts to the concept. And this is where you, the reader comes in. If you attend the show, dig the Alltrack, tell them! If you cannot make it, call your dealer. Contact VW directly. Let them know Volkswagen should import the Alltrack-they want to hear from you!

Chevy shows Korean Miray concept in The D

January 16, 2012 by Gary Grant Leave a Comment

For any gearhead worth his or her salt, concept cars are pretty much the most exciting part of going to any auto show. It doesn’t even matter if they have been shown before, all that matters is that we get to dream about what could be.

The good folks at Chevrolet know this, which is why they brought the Miray concept to Detroit. While it shared little or anything in common with anything else in the Chevy booth, the concept, which was originally shown in Seoul last year, drew onlookers even during the media preview. The drop dead sexy machine has design cues very loosely based on Chevy heritage while motivation is of the gas/electric hybrid variety.

Behold to glitter of the Miray after the break, along with a video from the folks at Sick Rides.
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Lexus stuns the crowd with LF-LC concept at Detroit

January 13, 2012 by Gary Grant Leave a Comment

Every single surface of this machine has the most sensual curves. Without sounding too soppy, the LF-LC is absolutely gorgeous. Do I care that it is a hybrid? Nope, not one bit!

Check out our gallery and the Lexus presser after the break.
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