worldwide automotive, auto classifieds, worldwide cars, automotive news online, auto cars

Chicago Auto Show

If you've been holding off on a brand new Ford Edge because the styling just wasn't sporty enough, have we got good news for you. Tonight at a press event in Dearborn, Ford took the wraps from it's latest trim level of the well received crossover, the 2009 Ford Edge Sport. Featuring some nice design details like perforated alcantera seating surfaces, an 8 piece body kit, smoked headlights, dual exhaust tips, stiffened up performance suspension, and... oh okay, big stinky wheels. The Edge Sport gets polished 20" wheels standard and 22 incher's optional, both wrapped in fat Pirelli Scorpion Zeros. And just because you were already thinking it, no, there are no additional ponies riding under that hood. Expect to see the sportier looking Edge at dealers by fall. Keep it parked here for our live Chicago Auto Show coverage as we bring you all the reveals that are fit to print, er, publish.

CHICAGO, Feb. 5, 2008 - Ford is providing still more sizzle for America's best-selling mid-size crossover, introducing a new factory-customized model - the 2009 Edge Sport.
"The new Ford Edge Sport is designed to instantly appeal to crossover customers who want a sportier custom look and feel," said John Felice, general manager, Ford Division. "This specialty design reflects the growing popularity of personalization and more customers' interest in industry shows like the annual Hot Import Nights around the country and the Specialty Equipment Market Association Show in Las Vegas."

The Sport model - which joins the SE, SEL and Limited models in the range - makes the Ford Edge the first vehicle in its segment to offer a customized model. Its modern, athletic design, flexible package and unique features like VistaRoof™ and SYNC helped sell 130,125 Edge units in 2007, making it the nation's top-selling crossover. The new Edge Sport model will further distinguish it from competitors.

Filed under: Concept Cars, LA Auto Show, Sports/GTs, Etc., Volkswagen

 the VW GX3

Most of you probably remember the Volkswagen GX3, the German automaker's sensational three-wheeled sports concept that stunned LA Auto Show attendees in January of 2006. After a roller-coaster ride of will-they-or-won't-they speculation, including spy shots of a mule undergoing testing, VW canned the project because in today's litigious society, the risks to the company were deemed too great.

Enter Defiant Motors, an entity that has apparently been set up to gauge public interest in seeing a production version of the GX3 come to fruition. In the email we received from Aaron Mady, the owner of the DefiantMotors.com domain, he states that if there is enough interest, the ultimate goal would be to partner with Volkswagen to market a production GX3 as a Defiant-badged vehicle "so that they will not be liable for consumer education that the GX3 is a motorcycle." We have no idea what kind of resources Mady and/or Defiant Motors has at its disposal, so the viability of making step 2 happen is completely speculative.

We're not legal experts, so we'll have to defer to others more versed in matters such as this to determine whether such a situation would or could work. If you do have experience in this arena, we'd like to hear from you in the comments. And Defiant would like to hear from you if you're interested in parking a GX3 in your garage. It may be pie-in-the-sky, but it sure is an interesting idea, and it's just another great example of the kind of grassroots effort you can mount via the Internet. To Mady's and Defiant Motors' credit: they're trying.

Alfa Romeo 8C Competizione - Filed under: Sports/GTs, Videos, Alfa Romeo

When Alfa Romeo showed off the magnificent 8C Competizione coupe earlier this week, the gathered media got to look at it, photograph it, touch it and drool at the site of it. What we didn't get to do was drive it. Alfa did, however, provide some video footage of the 8C on the road attacking the sort of twisty mountain roads that would make a daily commute actually enjoyable. Alas we can but dream, and watch the video after the jump.

[Source: Alfa Romeo]

Filed under: Frankfurt Auto Show, Sports/GTs, SUVs, Euro, Porsche

Click image for high-res gallery

Well, you knew this had to be coming. The revised Porsche Cayenne has been on sale for a while now, and Porsche supertuner TechArt has readied the next-generation Magnum for an official debut at the Frankfurt show in September. The edgier look of the new Cayenne has given way to a Magnum that's just as aggressive as the outgoing one, but is better-looking in a very angry sort of way. This Magnum looks like it wants to punch you right in the kisser and take your lunch money. Possibly your dignity, as well. The muscled-up bodywork is further accented by swanky Techart wheels and formidable quad exhaust outlets.

Inside the cabin, enough leather is stretched over the seating and trim surfaces to make PETA members suffer immediate nervous breakdowns. We also like the snazzy brown carbon fiber trim used in lieu of wood in the photo car. Techart is working on a suite of engine mods for the Cayenne Turbo's mill that will pump it up to 620 horsepower, and their suspension modification allows for a lower-than-standard ride height for normal driving. (The adjustable suspension's peak off-road height is still maintained.) Price? None given, and if you need to ask, you're probably out of your league anyway. The verdict? Badass -- very much so.

[Source: Techart]

Continue reading New Porsche Cayenne begets new TechArt Magnum

Introducing the BMW Concept CS, Germany's leading manufacturer of premium automobiles is presenting the vision of a unique four-door car which combines the exclusivity of a genuine luxury Gran Turismo with the fascinating thrill of a high-performance sports car.

Character:
• Concept study of a four-door Gran Turismo for the luxury segment.
• Modern, sophisticated surface design bearing testimony to a supreme standard of craftsmanship and experience in moulding convex-concave surfaces.
• The very essence of brand values so typical of BMW in a new segment ensuring a perfect combination of superior dynamics and stylish exclusivity.
• Modern interpretation of the premium concept ensured by extreme precision in every design detail, choice of the most refined materials, and perfect craftsmanship.
• Previously unseen combination of vehicle dimensions and weight ensured by consistent implementation of lightweight strategies.
• European-style aesthetics, clear emphasis on the car’s stretched look, low-slung roof-line, low centre of gravity, extremely long wheelbase (see “Exterior and Interior Dimensions”).
• Innovative interior design with layered surfaces, clearly defined joints serving a functional purpose.
• Clearly defined, sporting seat position for four occupants.

Exterior design:
• Sporting, sleek and low-slung all-round look as an expression of a four-door Gran Turismo.
• Highly expressive, dynamic front-end design with the striking BMW kidney grille as the central highlight.
• Prominently positioned BMW kidney grille to ensure a good supply of cooling air to the engine.
• Re-interpretation of BMW’s classic contour line at the side, door handlers fitted flush in position as a consistent testimony to the car’s attractive sculpture.
• Powerfully flared wheel arches, 21-inch light-alloy wheels, body width increasing towards the rear and thus emphasising the sporting, wide track of the car.
• Flowing roof area with aerodynamically optimised contours.
• Innovative headlights with LED reverse projection technology and extremely slender rear lights behind clear glass. Night design with homogeneous light bodies.

Interior design:
• Uncompromising, highly aesthetic interior design with layered surfaces (layer design concept) and clearly defined functional joints.
• Driver-oriented cockpit with clear ergonomic structuring of functions relevant to the driver and oriented towards superior comfort in the controls and displays.
• Layer design concept also applied to the design of the double circular dials to provide clearly structured information on several visual levels.
• Focus on the joints and seams around the body panels serving to consciously use air venting and ambient interior illumination options.
• Supreme exclusivity and perfect craftsmanship in the finish of the interior highlighted by contrasting colours and surfaces in different kinds of leather.
• Introduction of particularly sophisticated, powerful-looking ceramics as the material for the controls and instruments.
• Innovative sports seats with a fold-up collar element.

This unique combination never seen before offers the perspective to enjoy sheer driving pleasure in a dimension quite unprecedented in the world of motoring. Indeed, the BMW Concept CS is a new definition of design culture. Concentrating on powerful, expressive design, materials of the highest quality, and quality of finish in perfection, this unique new model offers a completely new understanding of premium quality. And within its interior, the BMW Concept CS combines stylish luxury with the most uncompromising ambience full of class and value.

Through its design alone, the BMW Concept CS underlines the supreme skill and competence of the BMW brand in developing the most sporting and dynamic cars offering ample space for more than two occupants. The most spectacular rendition of this heritage at BMW is the BMW M5, which established a brand-new segment in the world of motoring more than two decades ago and is acknowledged to this day as the benchmark in high-performance saloon motoring.

Now the know-how BMW has acquired over the years and decades comes together with the worldwide fame of the company as a manufacturer of premium automobiles, the BMW Concept CS thus offering the best of both worlds.

BMW is using the skills and competence established over such a long time to combine the most fascinating highlights of sporting performance and sophisticated luxury in an unprecedented new concept. Hence, the BMW Concept CS impressively proves how the successful strategy of the sporting four-door may be carried over consistently into the luxury performance segment.

Unparalleled and typical of BMW: the BMW Concept CS.

The unique flair pampering both the driver and his passengers within the BMW Concept CS is an equally clear expression of both a new culture in body design. Both outside and inside, the BMW Concept CS therefore conveys the same message, telling the world that the experience of driving a saloon now comes in an entirely new rendition. So in presenting this new Concept Car, BMW is not only entering a brand-new segment of the market never occupied before, but is also setting the milestone with a brand-new type of car: The four-door luxury Gran Turismo enters a new dimension of motoring in new style and with new features.

A new experience of dynamics and the ambience around us, exemplary quality in design and finish, extreme precision in the dimensions of the car, and concentrated luxury within the interior – these are the features that characterise the BMW Concept CS. And at the same time all this bears clear testimony to the superior know-how and competence of BMW’s engineers and designers in creating such truly emotional automobiles. The sum total of such qualities in the BMW Concept CS can be created only on a sound foundation of firmly defined values: innovative power, sporting performance, aesthetic design, an open frame of mind, and full awareness of quality. Precisely these are the values BMW has been applying consistently for decades in the development of particularly outstanding saloons and fascinating, truly dynamic sports cars. And now these values are concentrated even more than before in an unprecedented manner in the BMW Concept CS.