Category Archives: business

July192009
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automotive, business, cars, iedei

Audi book: “A History of Progress”

bentley_gah2_cv_large

I picked up this book yesterday at the VW/Audi Waterfest event, directly from the booth that Bentley Publishers had.  around 300 pages, with ALOT of vintage photographs detailing the history of Audi.  Really great stuff, and alot of text outlining the history of Audi as a company; dating back to the original and early cars under separate brands.

The photos are all in monotone blue-white tint, however it adds a sense of unity between all the photos i find.  This is the 2nd edition, published in 2003 updated through the year 2000.  Definitely worth checking out if you’re an Audiphile like I am.  $39 available directly from Bentley

http://www.bentleypublishers.com/isbn/9780837610368/index.html

more page excerpts:

bentley.gah2.audi.tree

bentley.gah2.excerpt.2.2004.mar.22.sd

bentley.gah2.excerpt.3.2004.mar.22.sd

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July192009
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automotive, business, cars, iedei

MK6 GTI and New Scirocco in the flesh in the US

Went to Waterfest, a big VW & Audi event held out in Englishtown, NJ—where to my surprise, i finally found a glimpse of the new Scirocco in the flesh! It’s a great design, very clean and low slung.  Of course I would have preferred to see it without all the Forge stickers; but i’m not complaining.  I wish VW would bring this over….


VW_Scirocco

They also had the new MK6 GTI at the show, which also looked great—a big improvement on the slightly weird MK5 GTI.  This, however, is surely coming to the US for around the same price as the last one.  Looks great, i’m sure it’ll drive great.

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July142009
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automotive, business, cars, iedei

NEW Bugatti on the way?

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Rumour, according to Jalopnik this morning was that there was some sort of ‘secret’ Bugatti 100 year anniversary event, by invitation only—where photos of a special car which is gonna be released to coincide with the 100 year anniversary, were leaked (see above photo!).  Supposedly, this car is going to be debut’d at the Frankfurt Auto Show in the autumn.

Rumours are saying it’s a sedan—they’re probably right, but here’s hoping that it is a grand touring coupe.  That would be FLY.

something like this, maybe?

bugatti_type_12_2_streamliner_1

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July62009
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automotive, business, cars, iedei

inside the Pagani factory…

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Speedhunters were recently granted exclusive, in depth access to the magical world of Pagani. Pagani are undoubtedly one of only a few companies who can build a supercar that has some uniqueness, imagination, and outright charm (are you listening Ferrari?).  HORACIO PAGANI was the founder of Pagani and had been after the supercar dream for a long time—to finally have it realised in the form of the legendary Pagani Zonda.

Check out all the photos and the full article, very well written in 3 parts, on:

http://speedhunters.com/archive/2009/06/23/car-builder-gt-gt-pagani-factory-tour-pt-1.aspx

http://speedhunters.com/archive/2009/06/24/car-builder-gt-gt-pagani-factory-tour-pt-2.aspx

http://speedhunters.com/archive/2009/06/25/car-builder-gt-gt-pagani-visit-pt3-the-power-of-vision.aspx


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July52009
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automotive, business, cars, iedei

foto of the day.

Audi 100 Coupe!

(click twice to enlarge to hi-res)

Audi_100_Coupe_1.JPG

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July32009
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automotive, business, cars, iedei

Let’s all laugh at Nissan!

…..and this hilarious new Nissan 370z GT4 edition.

No level of Porsche worship can justify this sort of weird, cheap looking imitation!  Come on, Nissan—we know you’re cheesy, but this cheesy?

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June292009
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automotive, business, cars, iedei

a $60,000+ Hyundai coming to the US?

Firstly, whatever drugs and illusionary potions the Hyundai personnel are taking must be working tremendously.  I think the press led you on to believe that your Genesis sedan and coupe were worthwhile options in the luxury sedan and coupe segments.  Sure….be happy and think you made a solid product.  The coupe is nothing more than a cut-rate Infiniti G37 (which isn’t a good thing!) and the sedan is a virtual rear end of a BMW E60 5-series and a Lexus LS (which is also not a good thing).

I thought (and still think) it’s pretty funny that Hyundai are selling a $40,000+ car in the Genesis sedan; i certainly wouldn’t buy one even if a kimchi covered gun was pointed to my head.  But hilariously enough, they’ve decided to launch a $60,000 sedan known as the Equus.  It will surely handle worse than 5-series, not have the majesty of an MB E-Class or S-Class, not be as modern of stylish as an Audi A6, and will be less reliable and more boring than an Lexus LS.  So do we want one?

NO THANKS, Hyundai!  Oh the horror….the horror.

2010-hyundai-equus-front-side.jpg

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June232009
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automotive, business, cars, iedei

…and the most unreliable brand is: MINI!

I used to love the MINI, thought it was a great car for a great price.  As time has moved on—i’ve become more and more weary of them; maybe because there are so many of them on the road and maybe because they’ve started to simply look dated and boring now.  Once in a while, i encounter a tricked up version on the street which looks pretty sweet.  But the run-of-the-mill Mini Cooper really is a slow and boring car.

What makes all of this worse? The MINI brand is clearly the most unreliable brand sold in the US at the moment, according to JD Power’s annuall assessment of brand reliability.

So all the hype….BMW backing….and the Mini’s reliability SUCKS.  Nice one, Mini……Another reason never to buy one…

JDPower_Ranking.jpg

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June112009
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automotive, business, cars

SAAB will be cool again! KoenigSAAB is born!

 

koenigsegg_saab

Well i gotta say i was very happy when i learned today that Swedish supercar maker Koeniggsegg appears to be the buyer of the troubled GM-owned SAAB brand.

saab_99_front_1970

I had been pretty harsh on Saab a few weeks ago in my post about their direction, but it’s really nice to see them escaping the diseased hands of GM.

This is gonna be a fascinating combination.  So will SAAB go back to being a smaller niche company?  Or will K-Segg try and turn them into a higher volume, money-making swedish trickster?  My suspicions tell me that they’re gonna keep SAAB very specific, very swedish, and bring some of the soul back that’s been lost.  Whether they go retro or they go futurist—-i’m pretty sure that Koeniggsegg is really gonna put some good time and effort into resurrecting one of the cooler brands of cars around today.  It’s also REALLY nice to see Saab going back to Sweden….and not being sold to some rubbish Chinese carmaker….

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June102009
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automotive, business, cars, iedei

Fiat-Chrysler: DONE! Chrysler name = dead?

2009-06-09-Chrysler.jpg

Finally!

So what’s gonna happen now?  Is the Chrysler nameplate going away?  Businessweek is suggesting there is a “high likelihood” that it will be Jeep, Dodge, and Fiat left in the end of the battle.  At first, i was a bit surprised—but the more i think about it, the nameplate “Chrysler” doesn’t really offer much in terms of a solid product line.  If anything, Dodge has always been the one carrying the brand.  Plymouth used to be a big name in the 70s, but slowly faded away into the automotive graveyard.

So lots of questions! Will Alfa Romeo come back with Fiat?  Will all the Chrysler products be called Fiats?  Will there be Fiats sold as Dodges? Or will Fiats simply be sold as Fiats, Jeeps as Jeeps, and Dodges as Dodges?  Is Fiat bringing the Tata Nano to the USA?

So many questions….but I do agree that Fiat will do a much better job than Daimler did with Chrysler.  Let’s see what happens as the details unfold….

Businessweek: http://www.businessweek.com/bwdaily/dnflash/content/jun2009/db20090610_699415.htm?chan=top+news_top+news+index+-+temp_news+%2B+analysis

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October62008
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automotive, business, cars, iedei

Why Jeremy Clarkson makes me laugh…

 

Jeremy Clarkson is by far one of the more entertaining and interesting reads around. Aside from his bizarre, over the Top Gear performances, he spends plenty of time writing articles about cars in various publications. Here is a bit of glory from The Times Online about the, erm, glorious Chrysler Sebring

Many people imagine when they rent a convertible in America that they’ll be thumping down Highway 1 under a blazing sky in a throbbing Corvette or an evocative Mustang. Yum yum, they think. Freedom. Sunshine. A V8 bass line. Engineer boots, leather jackets and tight blue jeans. The American dream. Sadly, however, most tourists end up with a Chrysler Sebring convertible, which is almost certainly the worst car in the entire world.

Fantastic. I always feel this way when i end up with a rubbish rental car at the local Hertz dealer when my car is in service, OR when i’m traveling. Yeah, i know some people i know don’t really like Mr. Clarkson—–but i find him most entertaining.

Click here for the full article: http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/driving/jeremy_clarkson/article4873574.ece

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