Misc. Auto Shows auto news

Exclusive: Hennessey Venom GT Spyder pops in at Cars & Coffee

Our own lensman Drew Phillips caught sight of this at Cars & Coffee in Irvine, California: the 2013 Hennessey Venom GT Spyder. This is the first time it's been seen on our shores. The targa version of the Venom GT packs the same 1,200 horsepower as the coupe - which also debuted at C&C, one year ago - but adds $150,000 to the price.That means you'll need $1.1 million for that wind-in-your-very-rich-hair feeling.

We still don't have exact specs on the car beyond a very limited build and its "enhanced driving sensations," but the high-res gallery of photos above should fill in enough blanks for now.

Official: Volkswagen interns roll into Worthersee with GTI Black Dynamic show car

Slammed Skodas, Seats, Audis and Polos are all well and nice, but at the end of the day, the annual gathering of Volkswagen performance enthusiasts at Lake Wörthersee in Austria is about the GTI. That much isn't lost on Volkswagen, so in addition to bringing the new GTI Cabrio along with all the aforementioned corporate cousins, the German automaker has rolled into the lakeside expo with the tricked-out concept car you see here.

Called the GTI Black Dynamic, the show car is the work of nine lucky (and apparently talented) student interns at Volkswagen. The team dropped the suspension 35 mm lower than stock, bumped the output up by 150 horsepower to a prodigious 360, upgraded the gearbox and brakes to cope with the extra power and fitted an 1,800-watt sound system.

Of course all that kit couldn't go unnoticed, so the Black Dynamic GTI was also treated to a deep black paint job with matte anthracite trim and red detailing. The team even went so far as to hand-craft the GTI letters on the lift-gate and gave the car a custom interior, too. You can read more about it in the pair of press releases below, or better yet see it from all the angles in the high-res image gallery above.

Continue reading Volkswagen interns roll into Worthersee with GTI Black Dynamic show car

Official: Seat bringing boatload of hot hatches to Lake Worthersee

GTI Treffen may have started out as a gathering for owners of Volkswagen pocket rockets, but by now it's blown into a full-on celebration of everything related to hot hatches and more. And though it remains a grassroots event by enthusiasts for enthusiasts, Volkswagen is wise not to ignore it. These days, it comes to the annual lakeside gathering in Austria with a handful of show cars in tow, and brings its sister-brands along for the ride, too.

Audi has already announced the Q3 Red Track concept destined for Wörthersee, and Skoda is coming with a pair of Citigo concepts - one made up as a DJ booth and the other as a rally car. Now their Spanish cousins at Seat have revealed the veritable motorcade of show cars it's bringing to the meet-up.

Seat will be showcasing the Ibiza Cupra Concept it unveiled in Beijing, but that's not all. It'll also display a customized Ibiza FR and Leon Cupra R, a Mii city car (that's the Spanish version of the Volkswagen Up!) imagined in sporty FR trim and, most enticing of all, a pair of racing models that are ready to hit the track.

The Ibiza SC Trophy packs a 180-horsepower turbo four with DSG, locking differential, upgraded brakes, modified oil sump and competition-spec suspension, available to aspiring racers for 31,500 euros (before taxes, or about $40K). The Leon Super Copa, meanwhile, is closely mirrored on the car that Seat ran in the World Touring Car Championship and packs a 300-horse 2.0-liter turbo four with all the trimmings, available for 63,000 euros (about $80K). Both can be fielded in spec-racing series across Europe and arrive at Wörthersee in grey with fluorescent orange accents.

Check out the full spread in the high-res image gallery above and the press release below.

Continue reading Seat bringing boatload of hot hatches to Lake Worthersee

Official: Volkswagen previews 220-hp Polo WRC Street special ahead of W"orthersee debut

The annual GTI festival at Lake Wörthersee in Austria has exploded over the years into a celebration of all things hot-hatch in the Volkswagen Group - including concept cars and new debuts from Audi, Seat and Skoda - but the event has always been about VWs at heart. And the brand central to the empire isn't about to sit it out.

At the heart of VW's motorcade for this year's pocket-rocket fest is the Polo WRC Street, a preview of a special edition modeled on the actual rally car which Volkswagen Motorsport will be fielding in the top-level rally series next year. The street version features a 220-horsepower 2.0-liter TSI four-cylinder - significantly more than the existing 180-hp Polo GTI and a whole lot of muscle for such a little car - with an aggressive aero package and of course the requisite decals. In other words, it is, for all intents and purposes, a Polo R with some stripes.

VW will also be showcasing the competition-spec Polo R-WRC. And Wörthersee being centered around the Golf GTI, is also bringing the GTI Cabriolet that debuted in concept form at the same location last year and in production form at the Geneva Motor Show just a couple of months ago, plus a pair of black and white GTI concepts. Keep reading for the full press release and scope out the trio of images previewing the Polo WRC Street for a closer look at what Wolfsburg is driving eastwards.

Continue reading Volkswagen previews 220-hp Polo WRC Street special ahead of W"orthersee debut

Auctions: Elegant classic Ferrari and Talbot-Lago to headline at Pebble Beach

RM Auctions only just finished pulling in record numbers at its event in Monaco, but it's already gearing up for the next event set to take place during Pebble Beach weekend in Monterey, California.

Headlining the Canadian specialist auctioneer's catalog for the August event are the rare 1955 Ferrari 410 Sport Berlinetta and the timelessly elegant 1938 Talbot-Lago Teardrop Coupe pictured together above.

Considered by some to be one of the world's most desirable Ferrari classic road car, this particular 410 Sport Berlinetta is the second of just four built and the only fixed-roof coupe. Chassis 0594 CM features bodywork by Scaglietti in ivory with blue leather. It will be making its first appearance both in North America and at auction, having only traded hands a few times between private European collectors until now.

The Talbot, meanwhile, is one of only five of its kind built (of four remaining) and the only such coupe built upon a four-seat chassis. The winner of several concours, this particular example of French art deco in motion is expected to fetch $2.5 to $3.2 million. Scroll down for the full press release and peruse the high-resolution images of the two cars together in Monaco for a sneak preview.

Continue reading Elegant classic Ferrari and Talbot-Lago to headline at Pebble Beach

Official: Volkswagen presents new Sharanbulance at RETTmobil emergency vehicles expo

What you see here is an ambulance. It's based on the Sharan, a van Volkswagen offers in certain overseas markets. We shall therefore call it the Sharanbulance.

The Sharanbulance was recently unveiled at the 2012 RETTmobil emergency vehicles show in Fulda, Germany, by Volkswagen Rettungsfahrzeuge, the company's rescue vehicles division.

The latest vehicle in the company's emergency lineup, the Sharanbulance (which VW incidentally refers to as the Sharan NEF) packs LED emergency lighting all around and loudspeaker/siren system that can still be operated once the vehicle's been shut off. It's held up by a heavy-duty suspension and motivated by a 2.0-liter TDI driving 170 horsepower to all four wheels through a six-speed DSG and 4Motion all-wheel-drive.

Head down to the Nürburgring for a lapping session without enough training and you just might get rescued from the tangled armco and medevac'd in a Sharanbulance, or in the Touareg, Touran or Passat Variant emergency vehicles also offered by Volkswagen Rettungsfahrzeuge.

Official: Savage Rivale GTR earns Top Marques in Monaco

If the idea of building a four-seat hard-top convertible supercar in Holland strikes you as off-the-wall, then its racing counterpart should blow your mind. We're talking about Savage Rivale, the markers of the Roadyacht GTS and the competition-spec GTR model it just unveiled at the Top Marques show in Monaco.

Packing upwards of 700 horsepower from a turbocharged 6.2-liter V8, the Savage Rivale GTR is said to be good for 2.8-second sprint to 62 miles per hour and a 360-km/h (234-mph) top speed. With those capabilities, the race-ready Savage is earmarked to tackle the Nürburgring Norschleife lap record for four-door automobiles, a distinction which (to the best of our understanding, anyway) currently belongs to a Subaru Impreza WRX STI driven by rally ace Tommi Mäkinen for Car and Driver in 2010 to a 7:55 lap time, edging out Pikes Peak legend Walter Röhrl in the Porsche Panamera Turbo at 7:56 the previous year.

Only 69 examples are slated for production. We're still waiting on final specifications to be released, but in the meantime you can check out the gallery of high-resolution images from its unveiling in Monte Carlo in the gallery above.

Official: Rimac Concept_One shows up in Monaco with $980k sticker price [w/video]

It takes a lot to stand apart at an exposition as jam-packed with glitzy treasure as the Frankfurt Motor Show and impress the hordes of automotive journalists there assembled, but we were suitably impressed when we laid eyes upon the Rimac Concept_One at the Messe this past September. The Croatian upstart put together a supercar of (figurative, if not literal) Bugatti proportions, but instead of building it around a fossil-guzzling conventional powerplant, Rimac designed its hypercar with the equivalent of 1,088-horsepower worth of electric motors.

With a 92kW battery powering the electric motors at each wheel, the Rimac is said to be capable of rocketing to 62 from a standstill in just 2.8 seconds while traveling as far as 372 miles on a single charge. The team of former Pininfarina designers penned an attractive shape to go with it, the Bulgarian leathercrafters extraordinaires at Vilner were brought in to craft the interior, HRE developed a unique set of monoblock alloys and Vredestein debuted its new Ultrac Vorti tires designed by Giugiaro all for the Concept_One.

Impressive specs, all, but what's most impressive is that the Concept_One is no mere concept - you can actually buy it, assuming you've got the scratch. Upon showcasing the electric supercar at Top Marques in Monaco, Rimac announced a limited run of 88 examples will be built, each fetching $980,000 - a price as princely as the regent who was on hand to check it out in Monte Carlo. Which only goes to prove that you can, indeed, have your cake and eat it too, but it'll cost you dearly.

Take a closer look at the fresh crop of high-resolution images added to the gallery above and check out the bonus video of the car moving under its own power by scrolling below.

Continue reading Rimac Concept_One shows up in Monaco with $980k sticker price [w/video]

Official: Fiat Professional reveals new Punto panel wagon

There's little doubt that commercial vehicles are almost as vital to an automaker's sales figures as passenger vehicles are, and to that end many have dedicated commercial vehicle operations. The Fiat group's is called Fiat Professional, and it's just rolled out its latest offering.

Called the Punto Van, it is, as you might have guessed, a Punto hatchback, stripped down and fitted with body panels where the windows usually go. Capable of carrying 35 cubic feet and 1,150 pounds of cargo, the Punto Van is powered by a 1.3-liter MultiJet II diesel in three states of tune (75, 85 or 95 horsepower), two trim levels and three colors.

Taking the place in its line-up where the previous versions of the Grande Punto and Punto Evo sat, Fiat Professional just took the wraps off the new Punto Van at the Commercial Vehicle Show in Birmingham, England, with order books opening later this month. Scroll down for the official press release.

Continue reading Fiat Professional reveals new Punto panel wagon

Report: Slovenian supercar builder aims to tackle Lamborghini Aventador

It's been almost a fortnight, which just might be a record, since we last visited a previously unheard-of supercar-maker. Next up to keep the high-po exotic ball in play is Tushek Supercars, hailing from Slovenia (that's here), with its quaintly archaically named Forego T700. The company just made an appearance at the Top Marques Monaco with its first car, the 444-horsepower Renovatio T500 (pictured in our gallery below) with a modular hardtop, but the T700 will push things much further.

Founder Aljosa Tushek told Autocar the T700's targets: less than 2,200 pounds, more than 700 horsepower, up to 3.3gs for cornering. That latter number sounds like a math error would not only double the Renovatio's number, it would triple the cornering force sustained by the Lamborghini Aventador around the Nardo test track.

The limited-to-30-units Renovatio is priced at £245,000 ($394,934 U.S.) with deliveries promised later this year. Due in 2013, you can expect the T700 to outdo the T500's price by at least double as well, and you can expect both of them to never be sold in the U.S.