source: http://www.lanciaflavia.it/
Category Archives: design
R8 facelift spotted!
IEDEI’s friends at Fourtitude have spotted a possible first view of the ‘facelifted’ Audi R8, which should launch in 2012 sometime. More interestingly, they have also discussed that R8s have been testing with 2.5L 5 Cylinder Turbo engines (!!!!!). Bring it Audi!!!
ugly of the day. SLK 55 AMG.
what in the world are MB thinking? This has to be one of THE ugliest profile pictures of a ‘sports car’ i’ve ever seen. Being someone who has always had a soft spot for the previous generations of the SLK AMG, i’m definitely not holding the new one to those regards…ouch.
VW Up!
I am a huge fan of small euro hatchbacks. They are fun to drive, practical, and get the job done! Since the original Beetle and Golf, VW have struggled to come up with a cheap, useable, attractive car that can be used by the masses. I have to say that my experiences with the euro VW Polo were impressive, and i think the Polo is a great car—–but still not ‘common’ enough to make a global impact. I am gonna hope that the new Up! gets the job done. Why? It is a 3-cylinder rear-engined 4-seat hatchback. Back to the glory days of VW, innit? It doesn’t look ‘charming’ like the original Beetle, but times have changed—-i stand corrected—-it is not rear-engined any more! However this Up! does come with a nice, clean, minimalist design. It remains to be seen if this car makes it over here. At a starting price of 8500 Euros, the Up! will surely make an impact IMO.
This is how you make a cool subcompact, Fiat—-not an overpriced, overstyled piece of crap! I just wish VW would have stuck to the rear-engined format.
source: Autocar
foto of the day. Osca.
i love all these old Oscas, this is the Osca MT4 Vignale Berlinetta
Bugatti Type 252.
photo by Laurent Duchene (note: this is probably a replica, as the original car doesn’t have wire wheels)
This has to be my new favourite historical Bugatti. Produced only as a prototype between 1957 and 1962, it was the ‘last’ Bugatti proposed by the original Bugatti company before it was sold and shut down for many years. Apparently the car was proposed several times looking for investors to put it into proper production, however it never happened; apparently one ONE actual car exists, however the internet is flooded with photos of replicas. The actual car is kept in French car museum.
I wish they would have made this car….it reminds me in many ways of the Porsche 550 in its size and purity of form. Obviously it would have been more expensive than a 550 if it were produced, but it would have been lovely to see more of these around. Not much information found online about the car—so much of its story has been kept low key.
more pics, gathered over time and some from mycarblog.org
(these are pics of the ORIGINAL car, belonging to the french museum in Mulhouse)
Kia (K9) RWD concept.
Peter Schreyer heads up the Kia design team at the moment, and he is of course the person who led Audi out of the dark days and into the light with designs such as the 8N MK1 Audi TT, B5 A4, C5 A6, and many other great designs. This is Schreyer’s latest design for Kia.
This is Kia’s foray into the wide world of luxury sedans, and supposedly going to be named the “K9” which, I have to say is a completely juvenile choice in name—reminds me of a clumsy police unit on an old TV show. But the design? It looks fantastic. Sure there are cues of the ‘coupe-sedan’ trend that’s going on, and Schreyer has always added Audi bits into his Kia designs (in this case, a healthy bit of A7 swooping)—but this looks fresh and edgy, almost making me think that if Lamborghini introduced a sub-$100k sedan—it would probably look like this. I hope they build it.
Oh, and Jaguar need to pull their heads out of their asses and hire a guy like Schreyer to design stuff like this for them…i could definitely see this car with a Jaguar badge more than a Kia badge.
and look at the side-view mirrors…they are video cameras! SWEET!
source: Road & Track
foto of the day. A310.
to follow up the video of the day, a classic pic of an Alpine A310, giving you an idea of its overenthusiastic wheel arches and over the top body kit—-but i still love it so! this one is from 1978, if my notes are correct.
foto of the day. A3.
my 2012 Audi A3 quattro...parked in Brooklyn. It’s so cool to own a 2012 car in 2011!
With each passing day, I love the A3 even more…..what a wonderful car it is in every way!
Porsche 911 (991) official pics.
I don’t like the rear end—-what is going on with the rear end? the rest looks very 997-ish, just a bit longer and taller in the rear. Not sure what the source of these photos are, as I haven’t seen them anywhere else….but thanks to Jyoteen for sharing them!
IEDEI’s 5 best looking cars on sale today.
Yes these are all expensive. Yes they are all on sale now in the US market. Yes, most of them are german. Yes, you could have probably predicted these a mile away if you know anything about me. Yes, I think they’re all badass and I want them all!
Here is my current list (in no order, really).
Aston Martin AMV8/V8 Vantage: I still think it’s the best looking sports car around, perfectly proportioned, small in size, and just beautiful from any angle. Just classic.
Audi A7: I used to think the Maserati Quattroporte was the best looking sedan in the world, until i saw an Audi A7 parked NEXT to a Quattroporte in California—-and the A7 trumped it in pretty much every way. Amazing and just drop dead gorgeous.
Porsche 911 (997): After the bulbous 993 and the weird 996, Porsche really hit their stride with the 997. Of course a brand new 991 is coming next year, which should show the 911 growing in size and stature—however i’m pretty sure the 997 will be valued for years to come, as most Porsches are after they stop production.
Audi R8: I have seen an R8 side by side with the Gallardo, and hand-over-heart-put-my-Audi-fanboy-tendencies-aside, it is a much cooler looking design than the Lambo ever was. The R8 has a much taller greenhouse, and somewhat of an awkward stance, but somehow it works very well with its bulgy curves, look-at-me sideblade, and big grinning mouth. The car looks much more sinister, grounded, and menacing in real life than it does in any photograph
AND where the shit hits the fan…
Porsche Panamera: I love the Panamera. It is a stunning design which has grown on me consistently with every passing month. I started off wondering how they could f*ck up the car so bad, and then suddenly found myself looking at it thinking “do i actually like it?” to now feeling that it is simply the most aggressive and creative interpretation of what a Porsche ‘sedan’ should be. Yes it is awkward, yes it is not nearly as chiseled and pretty as an A7, yes it is a bit over the top, yes it is weird—but it’s so uncool that it is savagely cool!
the best thing to ever come out of Ferrari…
Yeah I don’t give a crap about Ferrari—it’s a vulgar company who have built the most overrated, cheesy, and overhyped cars of my lifetime. They’re like the ‘jocks’ of the automotive world…ready to strangle automotive journalists with their sweaty, annoying jockstraps.
BUT TODAY I read a statement by Luca Di Montezemelo (CEO of Ferrari) which made my heart turn all fuzzy and warm—although the statement involves Ferrari’s future plans, what warmed my heart is their resistance to join the overwhelming surge of electric cars. My favourite marques Audi and Porsche have also recently joined into the electric car frenzy with their own projects; which has caused me a certain amount of interest to see what they’ve come up with, but a certain amount of disappointment at them selling out to the frenzy.
What did Mr. Di Montezemelo say?
“You will never see a Ferrari electric because I don’t believe in electric cars, because I don’t think they represent an important step forward for pollution or C02 or the environment.”
Very cool. I’m glad someone had the balls to say it. Too bad his next line was “But we are working very, very hard on a Hybrid Ferrari”…..oh well, i didn’t expect them to completely stray off the beaten path.
source: Left Lane News
brochure of the day. Bonneville.
the original brochure for the Triumph Bonneville from 1959. Badass.
link with waaaay too much information for a motorcycle novice such as myself! ha!
http://1959triumphbonneville.blogspot.com/2011/04/my-quest-to-prove-or-disprove-existence.html
foto of the day. Cougar.
I grew up in Detroit, and was surrounded by muscle cars growing up—-but my favourite ones were the ones i did not see that often; hence my liking of the 1967 Mercury Cougar, the understated brother to the Ford Mustang. If i had to pick a muscle car for my dream garage, this would be the one!
Oldtimer GP.
my mate Christian Keller posted these great photos from the Oldtimer GP at the Nurburgring, and you can find many other great photos HERE at his Flickr link:
art of the day. stratos zero.
my friend Xander Walker really does some great artwork, as previously seen on this blog—-so here is his most recent art print with the legendary Bertone Stratos Zero Concept. Each print is $60 and ltd. edition of 50 prints.
foto of the day. F800.
the beautiful Mercedes-Benz F800 Concept introduced in 2010, I have it on good accounts that this car will make it to production in late 2012 as a 2013. It will slot in under the C-class Mercedes and be going up against the A3 Sedan and the next generation (painfully ugly) 1-Series.
too tall, Tony….
the ‘new’ Fiat 500 is one ugly car……super tall, oddly out of proportion, and decorated like a child’s toy. I only like the fact that it has a ‘Fiat’ badge on it; otherwise it sucks. I parked next to one earlier today, and was appalled by the comparison of size.
foto of the day. 300SL
Mercedes-Benz 300SL winning at Le Mans in 1952…
foto of the day. Type 64.
arguably the first Porsche developed as the VW “Aerocoupe” by Dr. Porsche shown here in 1939.
foto of the day. Islero.
I’ve always loved the Miura and the Espada, but the 3rd classic Lamborghini which i’ve always loved is the Islero. Arguably rarer than the other 2 (only 225 Isleros were made), completely underappreciated, and in my opinion easily one of the coolest cars made in the 60s. why? because it may be the most understated Lamborghini ever made—-with classic coupe lines designed by (unknown at the time) Mario Marazzi, handsome & unique profile, one-of-a-kind taillights, and much improved driving dynamics to 350 and 400gt. The Islero never really caught on as it was overshadowed by the Espada at the time, however I think it’s a damn shame—-as this is truly the gentleman’s Lamborghini. Supposedly Ferrucio was more involved with this car’s development than any other Lamborghini which came out under his name…
IEDEI 
