Saturday, April 10, 2010

Announces the Death of SAAB


Just moment ago, General Motors announced that it will be closing down its money-losing SAAB unit after concluding that the sale of the Swedish brand to tiny Dutch supercar maker, Spyker Cars, could not be completed in the time frame that had been set.

Mercedes-Benz E-Class Sedan


If there's one thing we know about German tuners is that they sure love kitting out the domestic market premiums. ATT-TEC's latest object of tuning affection is the new Mercedes-Benz E-Class sedan, for which the company has created a new body kit. Priced at a hefty €6,452 or about US$9,250, the aero pack consists of a front grille, side skirts, new front and rear bumpers as well as a new set of exhaust tips and side air-vents.

Lincoln to Bring Custom MKS, MKT and MKZ to 2009 SEMA Show


In an attempt to show a sportier and more unconventional side of its Lincoln branded cars, parent company Ford will be displaying a trio of customized versions of its MKS flagship sedan, MKT crossover and MKZ saloon at next month's 2009 SEMA (Specialty Equipment Market Association) Show in Las Vegas. The three bespoke project cars were developed in cooperation with Raceskinz, Rick Bottom Designs and 3dCarbon respectively.

Nissan Announces 2010 Rogue SUV Krom Special Edition


It seems that Nissan believes that the factory-prepped Cube Krom revealed earlier this year was successful enough to justify the presentation of a similar special edition version of its Rogue crossover. Set to go on sale at Nissan's U.S. dealers in December 2009, the Rogue Krom features several cosmetic upgrades including a unique grille treatment and a new front bumper with a side air-inlets, 17-inch brilliant finish alloy wheels with P225/60R Continental Conti 4x4 Contact tires and a restyled rear bumper with integrated center-exit twin tail pipes.

All Bentley Continental models going flex-fuel in June



It may not be the most interesting news you read all week, but we now have a date at which all Bentley Continentals will be able to gulp down whiskey with the best of 'em: June.( Well, not exactly whiskey, but ethanol's pretty close.) Bentley had made the announcement (sans date) at the Geneva Motor Show when it showed off the Continental Supersports Convertible.

Report: No AWD for Subaru version of FT-86 "Toyobaru" (w/poll)

FT-86 Mule

Japan's Best Car (via 7Tune) apparently reports that development costs associated with Subaru's version of the Toyota FT-86 sport coupe have become so high that all-wheel drive is now being dropped from the equation. If true, this would deprive the widely-expected Scooby coupe of the feature the brand's entire marketing platform is built on, likely leaving us with a pair of clones whose only major difference will be styling. To that end, it's also reported that an effort is underway to more substantially differentiate the Subaru coupe's look from the Toyota FT-86 beyond grilles and badges.

2010 Dodge Challenger SRT8 Back in November, during Chrysler's seemingly endless business plan presentation, Ram trucks chief Fred Diaz told the capt

This is what we mean when we say that the future of alternative fuels isn't anywhere close to being decided. A team from the BBC program Bang Goes the Theory has rigged an older Volkswagen Scirocco to run on coffee pellets. It's a bit complex, with the coffee grounds needing to be heated to 1,292 degrees Fahrenheit, and the resulting concoction cooled, separated and filtered before it's run to the engine. Because coffee contains carbon, however, it works.

It's expensive, though. The trial run the Starbucks Scirocco will make from London to Manchester and back will cost more than 25 times what the same trip on gasoline would because the car goes just three miles on a kilo of coffee. The 209-mile trip is also take ten hours, due to the number of stops required to refill the fuel canister and regularly clean out the system.

So, on second thought, this is not what we mean when we talk about the future of alternative fuels. But it is really neat, and it's for the kids, and those sorts of things count for a lot in our book. Hat tip to Joviocoe!