yes a few months ago i picked up a bright Valencia Orange BMW 1M. 740 cars brought to the US market. Mine is #374.
I will be doing a full review and photo-post about the car at a later time.
All i can say for right now is: It is the most fun car I have ever driven….the best car i have ever driven—and i’m still shocked that i own it and drive the pants off of it every single day. Worthy of all the hype and more! Live the dream, my rock and roll people!
There are very few automobiles which capture my attention, new or old, these days. My interest in automobiles has faded aside from a few select cars which i’m always chasing. i am, however, BLOWN AWAY by this car. the fact that it is a production car that looks like a concept. The fact that is totally a current car embedded with current technologies capturing the spirit of ‘new’ and ‘fresh’ without copying anything else before it. The fact that it’s the first hybrid sports car that is somewhat attainable (still expensive though…at $135k USA price). But most of all I love this car because it pushes and opens an envelope into the current times. No retro here. No celebration of the past. The BMW i8 is a celebration of the future.
If i had the money…i’d order this and drive it every day!!
Forget 0-60 times (4.4 seconds here), forget curb weight (3200+ pounds here), forget cost for a second, forget the badge, forget the insane aero design features— this car is a pioneer and a real innovation in this realm. It’s rare in these generic modern times of automotive engineering that we see a true beginning, but i have a feeling the i8 is the first of many coming in this realm.
(I don’t count cars like the Porsche 918, because of price and uber-exclusivity)
Live photos from Frankfurt (courtesy of greenCarReports)
promo photos from BMW in Black:
Videos:
The jury is out. I really still don’t know what i think of this new 2015 Audi S3 Sedan which debut’d last week in NYC. Let me just tell you that I actually have a deposit down to be one of the first US buyers for an S3 Sedan (a deposit i put down last year when the S3 Sportback was first introduced) —-however i am fairly disappointed in the S3 Sedan itself. The design is nowhere near as interesting as the Concept or as I was hoping. It is a beautifully spec’d package with 300hp, 0-60 in 4.7s, quattro, and some beautifully trimmed interior and exterior bits—but somehow i feel like Audi has entered a ‘comfort zone’…in which designing a car has become too easy for them.
Don’t get me wrong. It is a good looking car. I’m certain it’s a fantastic car, as most Audis are. I just wish it was a Sportback….OR that it was a bit more unique. OR I wish that it didn’t look like ‘Audi-by-the-numbers’.
Promo Video:
NYC debut photos from: MT
This is THE sexiest and most exciting Wagon (Avant in Audi language) on sale right now….and having been forbidden for as long as it existed, could this be the first time that Audi is thinking of importing an RS Avant to US shores? Look at those fenders. Wicked. Fruitfully spotted by our friends at Quattroworld at a recent GTG.
There is now a FB page devoted to getting people to join; to convince Audi of America there is a market for this car. I, for one, am severely interested! I am currently on the order list for a 2014 Audi S3, however if I was told this would be arriving I would have to re-evaluate things! The Facebook petition worked for the TT-RS, did not work for the RS3, but let’s hope it works for this.
Dear AoA: Take the steps we all want you to take. I can’t tell you how disappointed I was when the 8P RS3 did not come to the US market, and it would be a shame if the B8 RS4 Avant doesn’t come here either. These are the cars we want and will pay money for!
Join the FB page HERE
HA! “you just got beat by a wagon” sticker at the top of the back window!
WOW…this is absolutely stunning! In Papaya Orange, the 2013 Audi RS4 (B8) spotted at Audi headquarters in Germany.
Photos courtesy of Fourtitude
I can’t help but find myself daydreaming about the fantastic Alpine A310 after watching the excellent Wheeler Dealers episode with the car earlier today. Here’s a 1977 car in all its wedge glory!
src: californiaClassix
i love these. i almost never see these. i drive about 3 hours a day— and today i saw a Peugeot 505.
The Citroen DS4 Racing is scheduled to be shown at the Geneva Auto Show. There isn’t a week that goes by where I am NOT envious of my european friends and how they have such fantastic ‘hot’ hatchbacks to choose from and buy!!! Americans simply do not understand hatchbacks; which is why we have 5 on the market here or something like that. What choices do we have in the US for ‘hot hatches’? VW GTI, Audi A3, Ford Focus, Mini Cooper, and some weird 3-door Hyundai Velociraptor Roster Foster Pentacoster….
For the love of god, SOMEBODY buy PSA (Peugeot/Citroen/etc) and bring us these french hot hatches! Ford maybe? Buy PSA! Nissan, stop diddling around with the miserable current lineup you have in the US and bring us some Renault Meganes and Clios! VW, hurry up and buy Alfa Romeo so you can bring us theirs as well as the Audi A1, S3, RS3! Suzuki, bring us the Swift!
oh and the Citroen DS4 looks pretty damn wicked from where i’m seeing it. 1.6 liter 256hp mini-rocket (256hp out of 1.6L? wow).
src: Top Gear
Another week—-another car to discover and appreciate! I’ve always had a huge soft spot for Triumphs, ever since growing up next to a neighbour who kept a very nice racing green TR6. The Michelotti-designed Triumph GT6 had a design which was inspired by Le Mans class winning Triumph Spitfires of 1965. The production Spitfire had been a successful road car, and this was its’ coupe variant. In the glory days of British Leyland, of course (ahem)—-the GT6 was produced in three different generations, culminating finally in the MK3.
I’d never actually paid attention enough to distinguish the GT6 in the past from its Spitfire roadster counterpart—-but now that I take a good look at it; it really does have some classic design to it. Somewhere in there, i see a poor man’s Aston or E-type….and a rich man’s MGB GT. Nonetheless, i’ve added it to my short list of lustworthy british motors to roll after.
MK3
MK1
psychedelic 1970 US promo:
a much more intellectual UK promo:
Last but not least….this glorious photo of the original racing Spitfires (which inspired the design of the GT6) at the 1965 Le Mans next to an Alpine M63! Just superb.
srcs: littletriumphs, carblueprints, motorretro, necronomviia, vtr
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!
Quattroworld has a great feature about Don Istook and his long-time Audi racing history–including Ur quattros, S4s, and TTs–culminating recently in his delivery of the 1st North American TT-RS. Fellow Audiphiles will surely appreciate the stories about his previous race cars that he built from the ground up, as well as some of his perspectives about these cars and experiences.
“Now, what I didn’t mention was that we got the truckload of parts on Friday…and we had to race Saturday morning! Well, Rome wasn’t built in a day…but I WAS racing at Road Atlanta in the early 80’s when Jo helped out Tom Brennan, after Tom had written off one of the Porsche factory D Production 924’s. Jo secured a brand new 924 D Production tub for Tom…had it shipped to the track…and that car WAS literally built in one day…made the DP race and finished 2nd!! So, with that in mind…we got all the “stuff” put on the car and just made the grid for the start of the race.”
LINK: quattroworld
(photo from WSJ of proposed location of track)
(thanks to Stampchez [qw] for the tip!)
Being a NYC resident, i’m hugely excited by this article. We have heard this all before, as a couple of years ago there was some buzz about F1 coming to Liberty State Park in New Jersey—-but this time, there seems to be some positivity regarding the possibilities.
DO IT BERNIE, you sad old geeza!
link: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424053111903341404576484073501204538.html8
Sometimes i just stand in my garage…..wait i’m lying—-i go to the garage A LOT these days just to hang out and catch a nice view! I can’t help it.
My friend and photographer Sal Coppola from Brooklyn took this photo at a family get together, where a relative of his brought his beautiful Alfa GTV. The blue TT is Sal’s car.
2012 Audi RS3. all types of wonderful.
and i think they just ruined the front end a little bit. That being said, i’ll have to see one on the road to cast my final judgements—-because as i recall when the original A5 was introduced—pictures never really do the car justice. For me, the front end looks less aggressive now, and a bit too busy…
The big news here though, is that the S5 will now get the 3.0 Supercharged V6 that is currently in the S4—-a lighter, more fuel economical engine with plenty of useability as compared to the old lump that was the 4.2L V8 previously.
original:
NEW:
article from Porsche Purist
“A Porsche owner near Louisville Kentucky took every possible precaution to make sure their Porsche would be high and dry even if there house wasn’t. With rising flood waters rapidly approaching their home and no where to go genius struck. What better idea than to tether a float to your home, driver your Porsche on and inflate it to ride out the high water. From the looks of the picture below, the water is at least four or five feet up the garage door. Kudos to the owner of this Porsche!”
The engine of the year for us in the USA is most definitely the new 2.5L 5 cylinder turbo that is being introduced in the TT-RS this autumn. The TT-RS is probably the most exciting sports car being released on US shores in 2011 after the truly remarkable BMW 1M. I had a conversation with Audi Of America’s product manager today about the imminent launch of the car. The details are still in their final stages, but the first cars will be delivered in the early Autumn it seems. Exciting stuff—especially as I have a few friends ordering one. For anyone here interested—ordering guides are now available from Audi dealers across the US—pricing, however, is not finalized yet. The car will be arriving, however, with the upgraded 360hp “RS Plus” configuration. It’s gonna be an epic daily driver…
So here’s a car which shares the glorious engine….but a car which will never make it to US shores in this form—-that being said, the 2013 Audi A3 which is slated for US shores may end up with an RS3 version with the same glorious engine—so all is not lost!
“designed by computer modeling”!!!!! Fiat responded to the VW Golf/Rabbit with this monstrosity…
The Brava, on the other hand…looked alright, but had the integrity of a pair of flip flops. I love how the whole ad is filmed in a suburban neighbourhood somewhere in middle US soil! how tactical…..
IEDEI prefers small coupes over everything else in the automotive world—-and part of the reason I get so obsessed with the idea of small rounded coupes is because they have so much character. This one is no exception! the Abarth Simca 2000.
Capable of handing the Porsche 904 it’s own ass as well! Impressive. 202 hp in such a tidy little package.
Most people associate Abarth with Fiat, but a very successful liaison was also formed with Simca. The French company was partly owned by Fiat, and when they wanted to appeal to a younger market with a more sporting image, they turned to the Italian giant for help.
Fiat in turn went to Abarth, who received sponsorship from the larger company. A deal was struck whereby Simca shipped floor pans of their 1000 Sabour to Abarth, who then cut 4″ out of the chassis and built handsome lightweight aluminum bodies around them.
The engine was an all-Abarth 1300cc four-cylinder twin-cam unit which produced up to 140 bhp and was mounted in the rear, while suspension was nearly stock Simca 1000, incorporating a transverse front leaf spring with telescopic dampers and upper wishbones and rear semi-trailing arms a la Porsche.
With this car, Abarth won the World Championship for Makes in 1962. The racing version of the Abarth Simca was developed throughout the 1960s, and the winning design was found to be more than a match for its competitors. In two-liter, 202 bhp specification, the Simca Abarth was easily able to beat the Porsche 904 on the track and won the European Mountain Climb Challenge outright.
http://www.sportscardigest.com/car-profile-abarth-simca-2000/#ixzz1IgpH7KNo
these photos were taken by a gentleman named Dan Hirschfield on a “Kodak Instamatic”. cool.
rest of the pics: http://www.realautosport.com/OldPics/Hirschfeld/
I loved the latest Alfa Giulietta when i was in Italy last week—it is beautiful and probably the best looking hatchback i’ve seen in recent memory….far better in person than any photo can do it justice. Found this pic scattered across the web; obviously a low likelihood for ‘the truth’ since Autoxpress, the fine purveyors of automotive lying are behind it—–however it is an interesting rendering, and I think it looks quite nice. As I mentioned in my post-Italy post….i think the Alfa 159 is a thing of utter beauty, so it is difficult to follow it up, but I think if the Giulia looked anything like this, it might be possible.
IEDEI 
