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Filed under: Frankfurt Auto Show, GM, Opel

GM plans 'suicide-style' rear doors for future models

The Opel Flextreme Concept

For those unfamiliar with the suicide-style rear door, it's basically a car door with the hinges located closer to the rear of the car, usually on the C-pillar. The design isn't new, but it recently had a renaissance with cars like the Mazda RX-8 and Rolls-Royce Phantom adopting the unique style.

The rear opening doors will soon be featured on some General Motors products, as revealed by its Vice Chairman Bob Lutz on his blog. GM recently previewed its design, dubbed FlexDoor, on its new Opel Flextreme at the Frankfurt Motor Show this week. Engineers were able to do-away with the center B-pillar, which means opening both doors on a single side of the car leaves one giant opening the size of two doors. This was important because designers learned from focus groups that people, especially those who use child-seats, wanted easier access to the rear compartment.

The Flextreme itself is only a concept and Lutz was coy about when we might see them on a production car, so we suggest you don't hold your breath.

[GM Fastlane Blog via The GM Source]

Filed under: Frankfurt Auto Show, Tuners, Convertibles, Volkswagen

"What's black and white and red all over?" Why, it's the Polo GTI Cabrio from Karmann of course. Actually that punchline is more often "a sunburned zebra," but this fits too. The one-off white Polo wears black rims and trim, accented with a red top and highlights at both ends. Probably most famous for a much older VW special edition, Karmann is actually "a full-service-vehicle-supplier." They have managed to come up with a very nice sporty runabout this time, as well. We're not really sure whether or not it will reach production, and it's probably safe to say it wouldn't look exactly like this one if it did. There's a press release after the jump highlighting some of the technical details of this little wonderbot and a gallery of live shots to check out, as well.

Continue reading Frankfurt 2007: Polo GTI Cabrio - the sunburned zebra punchline on wheels

Filed under: Concept Cars, Frankfurt Auto Show, Convertibles, Nissan

In addition to the interesting Mixim Concept, Nissan will display another concept at the 2007 Frankfurt Motor Show next month called the Micra Colour + Concept. More of a show car than an outright concept, the Colour + Concept is meant to highlight the minor upgrades the 5-year-old Micra is receiving for the new model year. It features a two-tone paint job with Liquid Metal gold paint covering the top of the car and three-coat pearlescent white on the sides. Nissan says the gold paint looks liquid to the touch, but that doesn't translate very well in the computer rendering we were provided. The concept's interior takes the basic layout of the Micra and adds high contrast with white leather covering the seats and top of the dash, and black plastic everywhere else.

As for the production Micra, Nissan is merely adding some new bits like chrome accents, darkened headlamp surrounds and blacked out B-pillars to make the car more "sophisticated" in its old age. Bluetooth compatibility for cell phones has also been added, a feature we're certainly not used to on a vehicle this size.

We'll investigate whether the Micra Colour + Concept's gold paint really looks wet to the touch when we arrive in Frankfurt next month.

[Source: Nissan]

Continue reading Frankfurt Preview: Nissan's Micra Colour + Concept

Filed under: Concept Cars, Frankfurt Auto Show, Hatchbacks, Nissan
UPDATE: Official press release added after jump.

Our cohorts over at Autoblog Spanish surprised us this morning with news that Nissan will be bringing this concept, called the Mixim, to Frankfurt next month. We haven't seen anything official from Nissan yet about the Mixim, but from what our brothers tell us in their native tongue, it is a "vehicle of the future" type concept, meaning there's no shot for production. It appears to be either an all-electric vehicle, or some type of hybrid The Mixim is a full-on all-electric vehicle powered by a compact lithium-ion battery pack that drives two electric "Super Motors", each responsible for their own axle so that the car is technically all-wheel drive.

Clearly a hatchback, the Mixim features front-flipping gullwing doors and a 1+2 seating arrangement. The concept is a little over 12 feet long, almost six feet wide and a bit over four and a half feet tall. It also weighs a mere 2,094 lbs., no doubt to maximize either driving range or fuel efficiency. Finally, the Mixim's also an infotainment powerhouse, with all manner of hardware to keep the driver's attention off the road, including full internet access.

We'll bring you more details, including corrections for whatever got lost in translation above, as soon as we find some official info from Nissan. Meanwhile, check out the pics in our gallery below.

[Source: Autoblog Spanish, Motor Authority]

Continue reading Frankfurt Preview: Nissan bringing the Mixim Concept