ATS to bow today!

Today Is The Day! After years of waiting we will finally see the ATS in its sedan form! You can definately expect a video on the heavily anticipated 3 series fighter as soon as it debuts and I have recovered from passing out.

Chrysler 200 Super S

At the 2011 Detroit Auto Show Chrysler showed off a Mopar tuned version of the new 200 sedan dubbed Super S. the car featured a new grille, a lowered ride height, and a vented hood among other things. Following the launch of the Standard “S” line Chrysler plans to launch the Super S in Detroit this year, but thankfully this one appears to have left the vents at the Studio. The revised 200 Super S includes new ground effect, Satin chrome trim on the fog lamp housings, Tail light bar, and grille surround, the actual grille is black chrome mesh, like that of its larger stablemate, the 300. Mopar also added Black Chrome badging, new wheels, diffusers, and an integrated spoiler. To make Chrysler’s entry level car a little hotter Mopar threw a few things in under the hood, including a cold air intake, a revised suspension, and a new exhaust system. Perhaps this will help silence a few of the 200’s Critics, I personally think the 200 is a good looking car. This may help sales along a bit, I can’t wait to see this package on the convertible variant, that way it doesn’t have the Sedan’s awkward greenhouse, even though this kit definitely makes it look better proportioned in my opinion.

Happy New Year!

Hope you all had a safe and happy New Years! To Celebrate the coming of 2012 Here is last years most controvercial vehicle

Mini's Not So Small Lineup

BMW’s iconic Small Car brand has been expanding rather rapidly as of late, by adding a 2 seat coupe and Roadster, the Clubman Wagon, the Countryman Crossover and the upcoming Paceman. Mini is showing no signs of stopping; they created quite a stir earlier this year at the Geneva Auto Show when they pulled back the curtains on the Rocketman, a quirky yet lovable concept that embodies everything a Mini is supposed to be. The Rocketman is about a foot shorter than the standard Mini hatch, so its dimensions are closer to that of the original mini, but it also combines the modern elements of the brand. Public response on the Rocketman was so positive that BMW green lighted the car almost immediately, this is where the problem lies, the R56 MINI Platform is engineered for small or compact vehicles, and the Rocketman is a an A-Segment car. For some reason probably cost cutting the extensive use of carbon fiber has been foregone for the production version, replaced by Steel. Rumor has it that original prototypes of the car, riding on a chopped version or R56 ran into weight problems, due to the Rocketman’s size, this left BMW with a car that had no platform. Instead of going back to the drawing board and developing a new platform which would have cost them a pretty penny, BMW has reportedly looked to Toyota to supply a platform. It may be possible that the Rocketman will be underpinned by the same platform that carries Toyota’s Aygo, and its Citroen and Peugeot cousins. Unfortunately this potential platform change could mean the end product could have a higher msrp, because more R&D would be put into keeping the Rocketman’s shapely form. But the Rocketman isn’t the only MINI in the news lately, as reports indicate a cargo variant of the Clubman, a successor to the last cargo MINI, which left the market in 1982. The transformation will be very simple; the rear glass will be replaced with metal, like almost all other cargo-ready vehicles. Rumor has it the MINI Cargo will also feature some exterior details to set it apart from its standard variant. The car is rumored to bow along with the production Rocketman at Geneva.

SAAB: Don't Count Me Out Just Yet

About a week ago a story surfaced that SAAB had thrown in the towel and the PheoniX platform had been sold to youngman, this is not true and the entire company may have been given the opportunity to do as the platform’s namesake did and rise from the dead. SAAB is Showing that it won’t go down without a fight, the latest development in a two year saga that the terminally ill Swedish brand has endured, has the now officially bankrupt carmaker in talks with The Turkish government, and Mahindra, an Indian automaker, who has been attempting to make a presence in the US for some time now, in a last ditch attempt to ward off SAAB’s looming liquidation. These new prospects could be more fruitful than the Youngman & Pan Dai ones because SAAB’s former parent GM may feel safer if their intellectual property is not in China, so there is a possibility they will approve these potential takeover packages. Originally there were 27 potential buyers for SAAB, I wonder why none of them have stepped in ?

Alpha Based RWD Buick Coupe?

A while Back GM held a sort of open house for the North Hollywood Design Center, Journalists were invited in to watch the Unveiling of the Cadillac ULC concept, and were allowed to wander the building to get a glimpse of its development, the Studio contained many mock ups, mostly from Cadillac, but other brands were represented as well. Most of these mockups were supposedly dead, although the Cadillac Ciel, is almost Identical to several of them, so perhaps some of the Bucks are just slightly different from future vehicles or concepts. At any rate I believe allot of information can be gleaned from the photos. Ever since the pictures were published I have been pouring over them, trying to pick up on details that were missed, and I believe I may have. This is purely speculation, but Bob Lutz has said that Pontiac was to get a Sporty RWD car based on a Cadillac platform, probably Alpha. At the Design center there were shelves of mockups, the center two shelves are rumored to be solely Alpha based Bucks, possibly studies for the ATS and next Gen CTS, All but two of them are Cadillacs. Nestled among the Caddies were two others a Buick & a Pontiac, allot of blogs focused on the Pontiac, probably because the brand had recently shut its doors, the pictures of what could have been were like salt on the wounds. The Buick when largely unnoticed, until the other night when I was looking at it again, I noticed something funny about the wheels, and after looking closely I determined they bore a Pontiac arrowhead. This certainly threw me for a loop, but then I started thinking, what If designers borrowed a frame for a Pontiac Mock Up and built a Buick around it? It’s among the range of possibilities, and due to the cars placement on the shelves this could be the first glimpse of Buick’s Alpha car. I know a logo is hardly enough to base much on, but for the RWD fans out there here is a glimmer of hope for you. Design wise the car is quite nice, though hopefully any production versions that could come from this will receive some attention to the front end. Many cues seem to come from the Riviera Coupe Concept, and the Lower front fascia inductions are really different looking, and are repeated in the indentations on the lover doorskin. Again it’s not much to go on, but we can hope right?

Lotus The Next SAAB?

Proton, the Company that purchased Lotus in 1996 is being pushed by investors to unload the 59 year old British Sports car brand. Proton is a manufacturer of standard bread and butter production cars in Malaysia, who is controlled by the government, who is looking at selling the entire company. As of right now Proton is determined to hold on to Lotus, but if the parent company is sold there is no telling whether or not  its new owner will decide to keep the little niche brand. In 2010 at the Paris Auto show Lotus unveiled six new future models and it became clear that they were seriously taking aim at brands like Porsche or Aston Martin, The new cars include the 2013 Espirit, the 2013 Elan, the 2014 Elite, the 2014 Evora, the 2015 Elise and the 2015 Eterne along with an upcoming citycar dubbed Ethos, which a production date has not been announced for. Lotus is not just launching new cars, but their own in house 4.8L V8 engine which will debut with the 2013 Espirit. All of these products and their gorgeous design language could be dead if Proton is sold in the near future. History has not exactly been kind to Lotus; the brand has been passed from company to company, since GM unloaded it in 1993 it has had three owners. Looking at this situation I keep thinking that lotus has allot in common with SAAB, does this spell out the end for Lotus? No. But the similarities are eerie. It would be awful to see a brand with such promise go defunct or change to a new owner with a different direction in mind for the brand. I had a math teacher who owned an Elise, and I know she would be devastated if anything happened to Lotus. I personally am most excited for the Eterne, Panamera killer, and I will definitely miss it if it doesn’t see production.