Weekend Quickies - Sunday, October 31, 2010 (Orange Cars for Halloween)

1996 College Design Project - This is pretty interesting. According to the seller, it was a design study or prototype built by the University Of Savannah (Georgia) design department.

The body is fiberglass and it sits on a Volkswagen chassis. The engine and transmission are also from VW.

The seller says that it's titled as a 1996 VW. Here in Massachusetts (and I assume many other states) getting it through state inspection would be a problem as I don't see seat / shoulder belts and a few other safety items (i.e. windshield wipers) required on 1996 cars. Plan on doing some work or consider this an off-road vehicle.

Located in Grand Rapids, Michigan, click here to see the eBay listing.

1966 Ginetta G12 - Ginetta was / is one of those great little British independent car manufacturers. During their long, often confusing history, they produced neat little road cars such as the G15 and G21 along with more exotic cars like as this one.

The G12 was introduced in the mid-1960s and was a mid-engined competition car.

Here's where things get confusing. Ginetta was founded in 1958 by brothers Bob, Ivor, Trevers and Douglas Walklett. They retired in 1989 and sold the company. It soon failed and the rights to Ginetta were acquired by another company in 2005. However, in 1991 a company called Design and Research Engineering was founded by 2 of the Walkett Brothers and they started building the G12 again. These cars are known as the DARE Ginetta G12. Essentially, there are 2 companies making Ginettas right now. At one point there were 3! (That's a really abridged version of the story. Wiki has a pretty accurate, more detailed account of Ginetta. Find it here.)

This car is most likely a DARE G12 (but I'm not 100% sure). It is, according to the seller, in perfect condition. The asking price is $99,000.00

Located in Los Angeles, CA, click here to see the eBay listing.

A big thanks to longrooffan for sending me the link to this car!

1973 BMW 2002tii - Wow. This is an absolutely stunning 2002tii with one huge drawback... It's right hand drive.

This car was imported from the UK. It has a Webasto vinyl sunroof. The entire car has been restored and it looks great. (The black Recaro seats with orange stitching are a really nice touch.)

If you can deal with RHD, have a lot of money (because I'm pretty certain this car is not going to sell cheap) and have the desire to own a BMW 2002tii, this is the car for you.

Located in San Mateo, CA, click here to see the eBay listing.

Weekend Quickies - Saturday, October 30, 2010

1998 Fuqi FQ2022S - What have we got here? I have no idea. A quick internet search turns up very little, other than this SUV, or one similar to it, was for sale in Illinois a few months ago.

It's a Chinese made SUV that looks similar to an old Toyota Land Cruiser.

There is no mention of how this vehicle is titled, so it may be impossible to register in most states.

Located in Webster, MA, click here to see the eBay listing.

1967 Oldsmobile Delta 88 Convertible - This car is from a time when style meant something to American car makers. You may not have liked the style, but you could see that some effort went into it.

This is a two owner car. It has the Oldsmobile "Rocket 455" V8 in it, comes with the original build sheet and appears to be in very nice condition. The seller includes a ton of good clear pictures in his listing (and, inexplicably, some pictures of a Corvette.)

Located in Boise, ID, click here to see the eBay listing.

1981 Mitsubishi Jeep Diesel - In 1953 Mitsubishi acquired the rights to build Jeeps in Japan. They built them right up until 1998.

These are pretty interesting vehicles. They have the old Willys Jeep body style, Dana axles and a tough, reliable Mitsubishi diesel engine.

Mitsubishi never sent these Jeeps to the US (I'm certain that their deal with Willys / Jeep didn't allow them to do that), but quite a few have made their way here.

This one appears to be in very good condition. (If you buy it, take off the soft top and never put it on again. It looks ridiculous.)

Located in Jackson, MI, click here to see the eBay listing.

1989 Merkur Scorpio - Wow. This might be the rarest car I have ever written about... An "Italian made" Merkur Scorpio.

OK, of course it's not "Italian made", but the seller seems to think it is. (The Ghia badge probably threw him off.)

By the time this Scorpio was built (in Germany), most of the initial problems with the car had been cured. The reputation of the early cars and its orphan status have kept the prices ridiculously low. It's a bargain European sedan.

This Scorpio appears to be in nice shape, although I'd be a little leery about buying a car from someone who knows so little about it.

Located in Lynn, MA, click here to see the Craigslist ad.

Lancia Thema 8.32

The concept has been around forever and it's something that US automakers used to do very well: Take an ordinary sedan, find a big V8 in your inventory, drop it in, and turn the ordinary sedan into something interesting, sometimes extraordinary.

The big difference between Fiat / Lancia and GM, Ford and Chrysler is that when Fiat / Lancia looks into their inventory for a V8, they find ones made by Ferrari.

The Lancia Thema was one of four cars to share the "Type Four" chassis along with the Alfa Romeo 164, Fiat Croma and Saab 9000. Visually it was disappointing. From the outside, it almost looked like a car that could have come from Korea. Overall, in my opinion, the standard Thema was marginally better than the Croma, but not half as good as the 9000 and completely outclassed by the 164. It was a decent car that you'd be happy, but not thrilled, to own. All that changed, however, when Lancia introduced the Thema 8.32. This is an extraordinary sedan...

The 8.32 has a version of Ferrari's 4 valve V8, similar to the one found in the 308 QV. (8.32 stands for 8 cylinders, 32 valves.) The 8.32's version of this engine produced between 202 and 212 HP (depending on emissions equipment) and got the car to 60 MPH in the high 6 to low 7 second range. All of that power was put to the ground via the front wheels.

The 8.32 interior got a full luxury treatment, but the body looks like any other Thema (except for the retractable rear spoiler), making this car an ultimate sleeper.

The 8.32 was not a big seller. Roughly 4000 of these cars were built between 1986 and 1992. It was expensive and, ironically, slower to 60 than the far less expensive Thema Turbo. (The Turbo did not have the top speed of the 8.32 nor, of course, its Ferrari soundtrack.)

This Thema 8.32 is listed as a 1980 model (wink, wink). It is in overall good condition, needing just some minor work. The seller states "I have 2 Ferraris and they take up all of attention so I will need to pass this rare Lancia to another enthusiast like myself". He is also either very confident or very crazy, as he's offering this car on eBay with no reserve.

These cars now sell for relatively little money in Europe. They were close to $70,000.00 when new, but decent ones can now be found for $12K - 15K (Don't even think about a project car!), with spectacular ones going for just around $20K. It will be interesting to see what this car - being extremely rare in North America - goes for.

Located in North York, Ontario, Canada, click here to see the eBay listing.

A big thanks to JaCG reader, Blair, for sending me the link to this car.

1966 Rambler Classic Rebel

Whether you liked their cars or not, you have to admire AMC.

Perpetually under-funded, AMC couldn't compete with the "Big 3" when it came to introducing new models. Instead they would create new versions of existing cars.

AMC's models can get confusing. In 1954 independent car makers Nash and Hudson merged and formed the American Motors Corporation. The Rambler was originally a Nash model. After the merger, Ramblers were sold under the Nash and Hudson name. In 1958 the Nash and Hudson names were dropped and Rambler became a brand in its own right. By the late 1960s the Rambler name was dropped and all cars were sold under the AMC banner.

For awhile there were 2 distinct Ramblers; the small Rambler American and, like this one, the larger Rambler Classic. The Rambler Classic was AMC's bread and butter car. It was a small step above basic transportation and it sold quite well.

In 1966 AMC decided to create a sporty Rambler Classic and created this, the Rambler Rebel. Like all American car companies, AMC offered a huge number of options for the basic car. In the case of the rambler Rebel you could get a V8, floor mounted 4 speed, a tach, etc. Also available was "tartan" (plaid) upholstery with two matching pillows. This was a one-year-only body style. 7,512 were built.

This is a basic Rebel. It has a 6 cylinder engine and an automatic transmission. It looks like it started life with the tartan interior, but the seats have been reupholstered. The door panels are still plaid and you can see the pillows on the back seat.

This car has been nicely restored. It is not my "type" of car, but it's great to see a relativity rare oddball like this in this condition.

Located in Lake Mary, FL, click here to see the Craigslist ad.

Chevy Volt Ad Premiers on World Series Tonight

"We're wanderers. Wayfarers. Even nomads. So doesn't it just make sense that we build an electric car that goes far... really far."

Chevrolet is getting ready for the Volt to hit the American road as we near the final months of 2010. This is the first consumer video promoting the production car.

Overall, I personally like it. It's not groundbreaking and maybe it should be, but I think Chevy is trying to normalize electric vehicles and make the concept more friendly, not just for Greens, but for everyone.

There are no MPG claims just some very small type about "25-50 miles of electric driving in moderate conditions." Also, the information about the car being electric isn't shared until the very end of the ad.

Chevy is also introducing a new tag line for the brand: "Chevy Runs Deep". Not sure where this is going but it's a bit confusing at the end of the Volt ad, since the ad is talking about the car running more miles than any other electric car. How that is "deep", or what "deep" even means from a brand positioning statement, is still lost on me. Will be interesting to see how Chevy, which I thought was called Chevrolet, evolves "deep" in coming marketing uses.

/Snowmobile: F1

Final Sketch for SKETCH CONTEST Carrmagazine — sponsored by KISKA. 

http://carrmagazine.com/sketch_contest/roundx

1997 Mercedes-Benz C36 AMG

This is one of the true automotive bargains out there.

The Mercedes Benz C36 AMG was the first AMG car sold officially through Mercedes Benz dealerships.

These cars are amazingly quick sedans. 60 MPH comes in 6.4 seconds and it has an electronically limited top speed of 155 MPH.

AMG also upgraded the suspension and gave it different tires and wheels. To distinguish it from a standard C280, AMG gave it some "special" body molding.

The interior is, for the most part, straight from the C Class with just an AMG steering wheel denoting that this car is something special.

Like all Mercedes Benz cars, the C36 AMG is durable, but when things do fail replacement parts are extremely expensive. I suspect that parts exclusive to AMG are even more expensive.

This C36 is a very clean, high mileage (162,000) example. It appears to have been well taken care of and, according to the seller, was recently serviced.

The C36 AMG is at the bottom of its depreciation curve. Prices are ridiculously low. This car, which is on the higher end of the price scale, is being offered for $6995.00

Located in Seattle, WA, click here to see the Craigslist ad. (The seller is a dealer who has some other nice cars on the lot. You can find their website here.)

1981 BMW 323i - Well Used and Well Taken Care Of

This is a grey market 323i that has been all over the country and very well taken care of.

Grey market versions of the E21 were very popular "back in the day". The 320i (the only version of the E21 officially offered in the US) was a big seller for BMW. It looked good and handled very well. However, it was not incredibly fast. The 2.0 liter (later 1.8 liter) 4 cylinder engine we got here in the US put out just over 100 HP.

The European 323i's 2.3 liter 6 cylinder engine put out 143 HP. Combine that with the lighter Euro bumpers and better brakes and it's easy to see why many people chose to purchase a grey market E21.

The seller has logged a ton of miles in this car. He's spent a lot of time keeping it in great condition. The list of work he's done to this car is very, very impressive. Given its age and scarcity, many people would only use this as a weekend / show car. You have to respect this guy for putting the kind of miles he did on this car. (And for the amount of work he did to it.)

The grey market was tainted by a few - headline grabbing - unscrupulous dealers who did slipshod work. That, combined with the complete lack of factory support for grey market cars, have kept prices of older grey market cars low. This car is being offered at just $4900.00, which is a bargain in my eyes.

Located in Rockville, MD, click here to see the Craigslist ad.

Automobile News 2010

Your daily guides for latest automobile around India. Whether it's Yamaha or Suzuki or Honda, You'll always find it here on Indian Road Reviews…Automobile News, Indian vehicles, international cars, bikes, motorcycles, trucks, lorries, suv's, kawasaki, racing bikes, road racing, race bikes, motogp, racing.

Automobile Lotus a Vicenza.jpg

Production Hyundai Genesis Coupe to get turbo as option

According to John Krafick, Hyundai’s vice president of product development in America, the Hyundai Genesis Coupe will be available with turbo power when it debuts in the spring of 2009. The turbocharged engine will be the first offered by Hyundai in the U.S.

The turbo option will be available in the 4-cylinder engine that Hyundai is building with its joint venture between Mitsubishi and Chrysler. The Hyundai Genesis Coupe will also be available in a 3.8 liter V6 engine that is estimated to produce more than 300 horsepower. Estimated 0-60 time is said to be less than 6 seconds.

Krafcik said that the turbo option won’t be limited to the Genesis Coupe. “We like the idea of turbo, so we’ll do others,” Krafcik told Automotive News. “I think the timing is good because no one else has a four-cylinder, rear-drive platform with a turbocharger.”

Regarding hybrid and diesels Krafcik said Hyundai has no current plans to offer either. “We’ll get more horsepower and better gas mileage through smaller displacement and direction injection,” he said. “People talk about diesels all of the time, but it’s extremely expensive.”

Hyundai has said that Genesis Coupe and the next-generation Tiburon will be two different models.

“When it hits the market in early 2009, we aim to deliver a driving experience that challenges cars like Infiniti G37, at prices more like Mitsubishi Eclipse,” said Krafcik.

Hyundai Concept Genesis Coupe Gallery:

Automotive News