Ford looks to return to the NASCAR with the 2013 Fusion NASCAR Sprint Cup race car that was recently unveiled at Charlotte Motor Speedway, a motorsports complex located in Concord, North Carolina USA. The racy Fusion has been designed to retain as much detail from the production version as possible.


"We wanted Fusion to be the car that helped return ‘stock car' to NASCAR", commented Jamie Allison, director of Ford Racing. "I think fans, when they see the car, are just going to smile and cheer. It is going to re-engage them with the sport and make the sport better because there is just something natural about seeing race cars that look like cars in their driveways", he added. The race car retains most of the front fascia details of the road-going model, especially the large Aston Martin-inspired grille, headlights and front bumper.

» Click here to read more

During the recent Tokyo Auto Salon, Toyota showcased several of their models which were developed together with Gazoo Racing. Two of the vehicles were the GRMN Yaris and the GRMN iQ and both cars were forced induced. Many in the auto industry believed that Toyota is taking a giant leap into small-sized forced induced engines for their future cars.


In recent years, Toyota has focused much of its engineering development in hybrid vehicles while many of its competitors are instead focusing on downsized, direct injection turbo engines (for e.g. Hyundai). Turbo engines may not offer the excellent urban fuel economy that hybrids offer. What they do offer is performance that buyers typically want and also better highway mileage. Plus, they are much cheaper to build compared to those complex hybrids.

» Click here to read more

At the Frankfurt Motor Show last year, Volkswagen introduced to the world its Up model which is a part of Volkswagen Group New Small Family series of models. It was a three-door city car that is suitable for urban driving. A four-door version was rumoured to be released and it is evident now that those rumours were true as Volkswagen have officially released pictures of it.


With its boxy shape and compact profile, the Volkswagen Up will be popular among those who seek a small sized vehicle with a decent powered engine that can sit four passengers. The four-door Up is built on the same three-door Up platform but with two side doors added. Strangely, Volkswagen will market the car as a four door model instead of five.

» Click here to read more

Vehicle barn finds are getting common nowadays. Usually it would be an old ordinary car, nothing special and sometimes it could be an old vintage that can fetch thousands of dollars after getting it restored. But this barn find is somewhat special as the car found was a rare 1952 Ferrari 212 Inter Ghia Cabriolet.


A scale model of the car.

The Ferrari 212 Inter was built from late 1950 to 1953 and only 79 units were ever produced. The 212 Inter came at the time when Ferrari was moving towards production made cars. The 212 Inter models were built by 8 different coachbuilders and one of them was Italian automotive and coachbuilding design firm Carrozzeria Ghia. This particular one has a Ghia grille but judging from the body, it could be from another different builder and the hood is also different.

» Click here to read more

Bugatti is paying homage to its founder, Ettore Bugatti, by presenting a custom yellow/black themed Veyron 16.4 Grand Sport at the 2012 Qatar Motor Show (25-28 Jan 12). The “bumblebee” color combination is Ettore Bugatti’s favorite colors and demonstrates Bugatti’s tradition of creating unique cars with different color schemes and materials.


The one-off Grand Sport has a horizontal color split with a bright yellow body encased in black carbon. The wheels are black-tinted as well to blend in with the color theme. On the inside, the seats are finished in a yellow-colored leather with black stitching while the center console is trimmed in black carbon. The dashboard, steering wheel and gearshift are wrapped in black leather with yellow stitching.

» Click here to read more

The Le Mans 24 hours endurance race will be short of one of its regulars this year and maybe the year after that. Peugeot has announced that it will be pulling out of endurance racing due to lackluster sales in 2011. It has also stated that it will pour its resources on marketing the new Peugeot 208 supermini(above) and its 2012 hybrid models instead. Quite obvious actually.


With the pullout, this would mean that Audi will have no actual rival in the LMP1 category as Peugeot was its only actual rival. Peugeot won the 2009 Le Mans and the first Intercontinental Le Mans cup title in 2011 with its diesel powered Peugeot 908HDi FAP. A monopoly at this year's Le Mans?

» Click here to read more

After losing its status as the world’s top-selling carmaker to Toyota in 2008, General Motors (GM) has regained its sale throne. The Detroit-based automaker did it by selling 9.03 million cars and trucks worldwide, which is more than one million than its closed rival, Toyota. This represents a 7.6% increase in sales over 2010. Led by a record-setting 4.76 million sales year from Chevrolet, GM saw sales rise in all four of its reporting regions, which are North America, Europe, South America and International Operations which includes Asia.


GM commented that it has a market share of 11.9% presently. It was an incredible turnaround for GM, which filed for bankruptcy protection in 2009 and requires a bailout from the US government. Now, GM is making money again and recording top sales. However, GM CEO, Dan Akerson, said that the company isn't that concerned about posting large sales numbers and is focused more on making money so it can reinvest in products and generate returns for shareholders. But, he added that strong sales can bring strong finances.

» Click here to read more

The Tokyo Auto Salon is an annual auto show held in January at the Makuhari Messe, Chiba City for performance and custom dress-up parts and technology display. The 30th edition of the show was recently held from 13 Jan to 15 Jan 12. At the show, not only the vehicles were dressed up substantially, but so were the booth ladies. We would not expect anything less from the land of Cosplay.


Ladies and gentleman, here’s a feast for your eyes….

» Click here to read more

The new BMW 1-Series gains a fresh batch of engines. These new variants, presented in Europe, are the diesel-powered 125d and 116d EfficientDynamics Edition, and the petrol 125i.


Of more interest to the Singapore market would be the gasoline-powered 125i. It has a 2.0L petrol engine with TwinPower Turbo Technology. It produces 215 hp and 310 Nm of torque, enabling the 8-speed automatic version to sprint from 0 to 100km/h in 6.5 seconds, which is 0.1 seconds faster than its close rival, the Golf GTI E35. The 125i has a top speed of 245km/h. It is rather environmentally friendly and returns a fuel efficiency of 6.6 L/100km with CO2 emissions of 154 g/km.

» Click here to read more

When Volkswagen released the Passat CC back in 2008, the German automaker stated that the car was the “coupe” version of the Passat and also they mentioned that it will be marketed at a more premium level than the standard Volkswagen Passat. Many people see the idea of a four-door coupe as a copy of the Mercedes Benz CLS and also; many felt that who would want to buy a four-door coupe?


Apparently, the abovementioned thoughts were definitely wrong and Volkswagen is the one who’s having the last laugh. The Volkswagen Passat CC (now known as the CC) has sold over 320,000 units ever since it came out in 2008. Not bad for a model that has only been around for less than four years and now we get to see the 2013 model year Volkswagen CC.

» Click here to read more