The 2011 Dodge Charger’s unofficial debut came in the form of a police cruiser which mixed things up at the Michigan State Police trials this year. And though they’ve showed off a few teasers of the new full-sized Dodge, the updated Charger’s official debut won’t come until the annual Las Vegas tuner-fest known as the SEMA show. Which begs the question: when will Dodge start marketing this car to consumers that are neither law enforcement officers nor criminals? We kid… sort of. Meanwhile, this rendering gives you some idea of what Dodge’s less-classy customers might do to their own 2011 Charger. Still interested?
It’s been some time since since we had a “Trade War Watch” on mounting trade tensions in the auto industry, and thank goodness for that. In this economic climate of cuts, currency swings and bankruptcies, what we need are things which will make the situation worse, right? In May I reported about how the EU put a 20.6 percent tariff on aluminium wheels from China. The EU did this in response to complaints from domestic manufacturers. Naturally, this left a sour taste in China’s mouth. Well, over 5 months later, you’d think that the EU would have calmed down and this nasty business would be swept under the carpet, right? Erm, not quite….
I drive a MKV GTI and despite it being a car that always brings a smile to my face when its working…well, just having to make that last qualification doesn’t bode well for me.
Combine that with a warranty on the verge of expiration and I’m fairly sure I should run away now.
The only thing I’ve done to it is popped on a boost gauge, and purchased an ECU flash (which can be locked back into stock), because I wanted to be reminded that I drive a turbocharged car from time to time. Before I start snapping photos and trying to sell should I replace it back to stock? I may have possibly broken the poor original vent assembly into tiny little pieces in my clumsy attempt to remove it, but the surrounding bits still look good. So – is the minor hassle of replacing it back to stock going to net me a profit, or am I over thinking a boost gauge?
With commentary on today’s Acura TL review struggling to move past the sedan’s jarring styling, this seems like a good time to discuss alternatives to the TL… or, at least the alternatives to that jangly beak. Remember, even if you like your TL enough to get past the “distinctive” looks, the rest of us still have to look at it. Here, for your consideration, are a number of ways to improve the looks of the TL, starting with Acura’s official cure, the “Full Nose Mask.” (Read More…)
Now that we can basically predict the styling of future Buicks by putting waterfall grilles on current Opels, and the brand’s biggest market is China, it’s safe to say that Buick is no longer a particularly American brand anymore. It should come as no real surprise then, that it took a German to build the Ultimate Buick. That “B” on the grille stands for Bitter, an old-school German tuning house that has been to Opel what Alpina is to BMW. But because Erich Bitter has spent his life improving mass-market cars rather than Bavarian bahnsturmers, he brings a unique approach to the Opel Insignia, also known as the Buick Regal. In fact, you could almost call it more Buick than Buick.
Via dinosaursandrobots.com come pictures of what may be the most predictable conversion ever… and it looks like this particular Kia owner went the full Amanti with it.
To be perfectly honest, we weren’t familiar with the work of Weinsberg, Germany-based Xenatec group before hearing that the custom bodywork shop would be building a Maybach Coupe. Thanks to a tip from Auto Motor und Sport, we headed over to Xenatec’s website, and found that the firm offers a wide variety of custom bodywork ranging from the absurd to the sublime. Some of Xenatec’s customs, like the stretched Audi R8 shown above, show just how pointlessly nuts things can get when money is not a factor. Others, like the four-door BMW 6-Series and the Mercedes CLS Wagon actually represent pre-emptive swipes at forthcomingniche models. A four-door Porsche 911 even gives sufficiently well-heeled buyers the option of buying a “real” Porsche four-door as an alternative to the front-engine Panamera. You know the industry is passing through strange days when OEMs and tuning houses start meeting in the middle…
Long-wheelbase Benzes have a long and proud history, having been owned by such icons of cool as John Lennon and Hugh Hefner, as well as infamous villains like Pol Pot, “Baby Doc” Duvalier and Jeremy Clarkson. And, as Auto Motor und Sport informs us, the decline of other glandular vehicles like the Suburban has not prevented a new round of six-door Benz models. In fact, something about this picture indicates that vehicular size inflation is not completely a thing of the past… can you spot it?
Alfa-Romeo is turning 100 this year, and to celebrate, all the famous Italian design houses are showing their own conceptual expressions of Alfa-ness. And strangely, from Pininfarina’s buttoned-up (and bizarrely-named) 2uettottanta, to Bertone’s over-the-top Pandion, the entries thus far have felt a little… lackluster. Have Alfa’s recent problems killed the mystique? As it turns out, Pinin and Bertone were just getting us warmed up for Zagato’s stab at an Alfa tribute, this stunning TZ3 Corsa. Loosely based on 8C running gear, the TZ3 Corsa is not only an Alfa tribute, it’s also a racing special commissioned by German collector Martin Knapp, and homologated to FIA GT2 spec. Which means it doesn’t just look good. You know, TTAC’s birthday is coming up too…
What was once merely a tastelessly expensive and unnecessary car has been transformed by tuners into a full-fledged affront to nature at the 2010 Bodensee Tuning World show [via Autobild].
We still own the Ralliart name, and we still intend to brand our cars with it. The biggest change for us is that we won’t have to pay royalties to use the name anymore,
Mitsubishi North America spokesman Maurice Durand explains to Automotive News [sub] why the death of Mitsu-owned racing firm Ralliart is actually kind of a good thing. After all, how many Americans really watch rallying often enough to know or care whether Mitsubishi’s erstwhile rallying partner has anything to do with the cars that bear its name? The fact that the Lancer Ralliart has a two-liter turbocharged engine and AWD is what consumers will notice; using a brand name that leaves no doubt as to the inspiration for the trim level does everything it needs to from a marketing perspective. Whether a team named Ralliart actually races similar vehicles is, in the modern marketing context, almost completely irrelevant. After all, Subaru isn’t even competing in the World Rally Championship at all anymore… the old “win on Sunday, sell on Monday” adage couldn’t be more dead.
The first videos of the Honda CR-Z lapping Suzuka have surfaced, and they’re about as exciting as C-Span after a handful of Valium. And this is apparently a tuned version. Between this and the recent pre-launch equivocation by the CR-Z’s chief engineer, our expectations for Honda’s Insight Coupe couldn’t get much lower [via Autoblog].
The Shreveport Times reports that GM will restart production of the HUMMER H3 and H3T starting April 12, for a batch build of 849 units. An unidentified “fleet buyer” apparently needs a grip of the baby-HUMMERs, despite the fact that the brand is being wound down after a deal to sell it to Sichuan Tengzhong fell through. Production at Shreveport had been shut down until the deal went through, and unless one of the two rumored post-Tengzhong offers materializes (and we’re not holding our breath), this could be the last production run for the brand. In other “rumors of HUMMER’s survival have been greatly exaggerated” news, the German tuner shop CFC is just now announcing an all-chrome HUMMER model [via bornrich.com]. What is this, 2004?
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