Drive Your Dream Blog

Continuing its strategy of thwarting spy photographers and providing its own pictures of future vehicles, General Motors offers a good look at the preproduction Chevrolet Camaro convertible.

Pilot vehicles are currently undergoing testing—unclad and therefore unhindered—as the automaker preps them for full production later next year.

As promised by the designer when GM first showed the convertible concept, the car sports a simple cloth top with a glass rear window and small quarter windows.

Like the Camaro coupe, the interior has been made less space age and more practical. And the side mirrors have grown, as expected.

The revised muscle cars ride on a version of GM’s Global Rear Drive platform or Zeta, developed by subsidiary Holden in Australia. It will be offered with V-6 and V-8 power, and features a four-link independent rear end which should give the Camaro a handling edge over the live-axle Ford Mustang.

Most car companies are burning the midnight oil to figure out the next great innovation that will help save the world from exorbitant gas prices (oh, and turn a tidy profit in the process). By now, you’ve heard of all the buzz words: hybrid, diesel hybrid, fuel cell, etc.

Basically, the BMW GINA is revolutionary because it does not have rigid body panels made of metal or plastic. Instead, the BMW GINA body is made of fabric stretched over a frame of metal and carbon fiber wires. The skeleton of the car has hydraulic controls that allow it to change shape.

What are the benefits of this design?

• Fuel efficiency. Subtract the typical weight of plastic or metal body panels and the car is much lighter without compromising safety.
• Personalization. Imagine instantly changing the color or shape of your car by simply changing the fabric “skin” or manipulating the hydraulics. Imagine a dash that displayed only the controls you needed as you needed them?
• Excitement. Regardless of whether the concept ever becomes a production car, BMW has shown that they think broadly about what’s possible. A glimpse into their design studios is exciting, no matter how you feel about this particular concept.

“BMW has always been a leader in engineering innovation,” claims Ron Sturgeon, the owner of a firm that offers luxury car rentals in Dallas-Fort Worth.”

“I admire their ability to think in ways that challenge the basic assumptions about car making. Doing it differently is the first step toward doing it better and part of what keeps BMW at the pinnacle of the luxury car world,” insists Mr. Sturgeon, the owner of a Dallas exotic car sharing club.

Special thanks to John Neff at Autoblog for the tip about this new BMW concept car. John posted an excellent story on the concept yesterday that includes a link to a BMW Gina video. The video is the best way to get an appreciation of how innovative BMW new concept car really is.

I don’t expect to see anything like it come to production for a long time. However, I like they way they think at BMW design. The concept car now resides at the BMW museum in Munich. What do you think of GINA?

Written by G.D. Gregory. If you are interested in having me write stories for you or seeing my portfolio, please contact me at ggpsu@yahoo.com.

In the world of exotic car enthusiasts, the release of a new Ferrari is a major event. That’s why the Ferrari F149 is making such big news on the web – that and Ferrari’s brilliant marketing campaign.

Rather than simply release the car with the usual fanfare, Ferrari has chosen to tease sports car aficionados by slowly revealing the new model in a series of sound clips, still photos, and video clips.

The official F149 website, which launched last Friday, currently features the sound of the car’s engine. On Tuesday, more will be revealed. Rumor has it that Ferrari will be releasing pictures of the new F149.

“It’s a really great marketing campaign,” says Ron Sturgeon, owner of a Dallas exotic car rental company. “Slowly releasing information about the car really builds excitement among the Ferrari faithful. I can’t wait to see it.” It will be interesting to see how close the artists conception above is to the car as it is released.

The car, which was originally called “Dino,” has had a few names over the course of its development. For some time, the name was “Piccolina,” which means “little one.” The official name of the vehicle will likely appear sometime soon on the F149 website.

No matter what it’s called, the Ferrari F149 will be an impressive car. It is expected to feature a folding hardtop, the first from the Italian carmaker, and a direct-injection 4.3 liter V8 engine, also a first. The car will have a front-engine/rear-drive configuration, and is likely to use Ferrari’s six-speed automated manual transmission. Thanks to Chris Poole for a great article on the F149.

“I think the hardtop is going to be a great feature,” says Sturgeon, who also owns a business that specializes in fantasy car driving tours. “I will be interested to see how a V8 Ferrari compares to the F430 F1 that is one of our most popular Ferrari rentals in Dallas.”

The Ferrari F149 is reportedly being developed as competition for the Aston Martin DB9 and Bentley Continental GT, although it is likely to be offered at a price point well below these other exotic cars.

Sturgeon hasn’t said whether his Dallas sports car rental firm plans to acquire a Ferrari F149, but he insists, “The new F149 is exactly the kind of exotic car our customers love to drive.”

The Ferrari F149 will be revealed at the Paris Auto Salon in October, and US auto enthusiasts can expect to see the 2010 model on the streets of Dallas, TX by late 2009.

Kate Miller-Wilson is a freelance writer in the Twin Cities. Visit her website for information about her freelance writing services.

It’s been 30 years since BMW released the M1 sports car, and to mark the occasion, BMW Group Design revealed its new concept car at the Concorso d’Eleganza Villa d’Este 2008 concept show in Lake Como, Italy. The new concept car is called the M1 Homage, and it earns its name. Check out a set of nice hi res photos of the new M1 from Alex Nunez at Autoblog.

Michael Rose at Great Cars has an excellent recap of the classics and concepts that made this year’s Concorso d’Eleganza a fantastic show.

“The original BMW M1 was an amazing car,” says Ron Sturgeon, owner of an exotic car rental company in Dallas. “There were less than 500 built, which makes it a pretty hot collector’s item.”

Because of the original M1’s scarcity, it isn’t often seen cruising around town or in the garage of your local elite car club. This rare car was the result of a joint venture between BMW and Lamborghini during the late 1970s. Turbocharged racing versions of the car toyed with the 850 horsepower mark.

Some of the ways that the BMW M1 Homage pays tribute to its much-loved ancestor is by featuring an orange and black paint scheme, hood air vents, twin rear logos, and rear louvers. The exterior dimensions of the M1 Homage also perfectly match those of the original M1; however, the new concept car has a longer wheel base.

Other exterior features that might be familiar to fans of the original M1 include the profile of the front grill and headlights that are only visible when they’re on. Unfortunately, the M1 Homage is a concept car, and BMW has not made any firm commitment to produce the vehicle.

Dr. Klaus Draeger, BMW Group board member, explained the idea behind the M1 Homage in Canadian Driver, an auto blog: “Drawing inspiration from your own past and thereby reinventing yourself – that is exactly what the BMW M1 Homage demonstrates in impressive style.”

Even if you can’t drive the original M1 or an M1 Homage, you can still drive a BMW. Besides the obvious, though for many of us, unattainable, option of owning an exotic, classic, or luxury car, there are some other great ways to drive your dream vehicle.

One way to make your automotive dreams happen is to join an exotic car club or participate in a dream tour, where you can drive your dream car and four other exotic, classic, or luxury vehicles in a single day. And there’s always the very popular option of exotic car rental.

“We do have a 2007 BMW M6 Convertible,” says Sturgeon, who also owns a Dallas exotic car club. “The BMW M6 delivers all the power and performance that you’d expect from BMW’s M series.”

The BMW M6 rental has 500 horsepower and manages 0-60 in 4.6 seconds. Now that convertible weather has arrived in Dallas, the BMW M5 should be a popular rental car.

Kate Miller-Wilson is a freelance writer living in the Twin Cities. Visit her website or email her for information about her freelance writing services.

Dynamically, the Aston Martin DB7 is as good as it needs to be, and at $125,000 ($135,000 for the convertible), it needs to be plenty good. But the obligation of a car like this is to provide its owner that which isn’t measured by stopwatch or skidpad.

Aston Martin DB7 was the first Aston Martin developed under Ford Motor Company, and the DB7 qualifies as the highest-volume Aston Martin ever.

 

Introduced in Europe in 1995 and in America in 1996, the Aston Martin DB7 was the first Aston Martin developed under Ford Motor Company, which took control of Aston in 1987. Ford also owns Jaguar, and the DB7 shares with the new Jaguar XK8 a Jaguar XJS central floorpan; its engine block is also of Jaguar origin. Ford money helped develop, test, and certify both cars, but the DB7 was designed by Aston to be an Aston — to carry on its defining DB series, in fact.

Thus it has a refined dohc inline-six enhanced by an Eaton supercharger. Acceleration is best described as rapid; the DB7 is too heavy to be quick. It feels sportiest with the Getrag five-speed, though virtually all U.S. cars get a General Motors four-speed automatic. Ride is composed on every surface, braking is strong and, despite uninvolved steering, the car is balanced, sticky, and predictable in turns. This is a sporting machine that makes few demands on its driver, but it is not the DB7’s performance that will compel a purchase. Neither will the 2+2 cabin, which relies on Connolly hides and gleaming walnut to divert attention from generic switchgear.

The Aston Martin DB7 has a central floorplan and engine block of Jaguar origin, which is a popular sports car also owned by Ford Motor Company.

 

A stronger lure is the voluptuous body. The mix of steel and composite panels is unique to the Aston Martin DB7, despite a visual similarity to the XK8. Styled by Aston’s Ian Callum, formerly of Ford’s Ghia studio, the shape is contemporary but respects the magnificent DB4, DB5, and DB6, especially in the charismatic grille opening.

Combine that look with exclusivity — production of just 650 per year, a scant 200 for America — and the DB7’s nature is revealed. The new sports car from Aston Martin represents discriminating taste, a certain breeding. It is not Italian, and it certainly is not German. In a realm where price is irrelevant, a car must make its owners feel special. The DB7 does.

Given the uncertain fate of Aston Martin remaining a part of Ford’s Premiere Automotive Group, it’s understandable that the high-end British make has decided to keep its presence at the Geneva show decidedly low-key. As a result, the Vanquish S Ultimate Edition wasn’t on the Palexpo’s show floor, but instead, will be rolled out to customers who request one of the 40 models that will be handbuilt at the firm’s Newport Pagnell works. Priced over $360,000, the Vanquish S Ultimate features no real changes to the mechanical package, but features a new exterior color, Ultimate Black, and a semi-aniline leather interior with coarse stitching and black chrome accents. Each car is fitted with personalized sill plaques denoting the limited-edition number. Aston also announced that owners of existing Vanquish models can now order a factory retrofit 6-speed manual if they wish to convert their automatic paddle-shift models to a conventional gearbox. The price for the conversion is approximately $26,000.

http://www.roadandtrack.com/article.asp?section_id=15&article_id=4844

The Bentley Continental GT coupe has been a runaway success, but that hasn’t stopped the engineers in Crewe from working on the next phase of the project, the 2007 Continental GT convertible. In the product plan right from the start, our latest spy photos show that the convertible Continental GT is well on its way to showrooms. Disregard the Mercedes grille and Maserati taillights, as the rear-quarter panels are a dead giveaway that this is indeed a Continental GT-based drop top.

It’s expected to keep all the same specs as the coupe, meaning a 552-horsepower W12 under the hood and standard all-wheel drive. The convertible soft top will most likely add a few hundred pounds of additional weight, but as we have seen in the case of the Continental Flying Spur a little extra weight doesn’t hold the big 12-cylinder back much. Expect an official announcement of this Continental GT convertible from Bentley by the end of the year.

I heard Dfw Elite has one of these on order. I can’t wait to rent that one….

This sleek auto comes with a minor facelift and some new options. New to the front bumper spoiler area is an additional horizontal trim bar giving the front end a wider appearance. The headlights now use clear glass and use transparent glass panels to cover the turn lights.

This new model sports a new cockpit look design with more elegant door panels and easier to reach window buttons. New for the first time, is a HUD, or heads-up-display to enhance that “cockpit” feel. The 530i will have an aggressive 3.5L 272HP power plant accelerating you from 0 to 60 in about 6 seconds; while the 525i will have a 3.0L generating 218HP and the 523i will have a 2.5L. Transmission options are a 6-speed manual or 6-speed automatic for the 530i.

Not yet available in the US, I’d be willing to say when it does finally hit our shores you can probably bet you’ll see one at DFWEliteAutoRental.com very shortly after. Sporty yet elegant, this is sure to be a very nice ride for the night on the town!

For those who simply couldn’t wait until the release of the Cadillac Sixteen when Cadillac released the car as a concept in 2003, I have some rather disappointing news: GM recently decided to shut down any ideas or further production of the luxury Sixteen that was greatly anticipated. I remember seeing the Sixteen at the 2003 auto show at the world-renowed State Fair of Texas and thinking to myself that this car would surely bring the Cadillac name into the intense spotlight of high-end luxury car makers. These hopes are all but gone now.

GM claims that although the Sixteen was incredibly luxurious (deemed the Cadillac of all Cadillacs), they couldn’t risk putting the car up against Bentleys, Rolls Royces and Maybachs because of such low sales numbers in the high-end market. Cadillac did, however, promote the new 2008 CTS for some reencouragement after the news regarding the Sixteen. They boasted all new styles of the CTS to make a family of sedans, coupes and wagons similar to the BMW 3-series, hoping to attract buyers from all different regions and markets.

Cadillac Sixteen

New and VERY LIMITED Mercedes Benz SLR McLaren 722 edition. Get’em while they’re hot, for they are in a very limited supply, 150 to be exact.

A little bit of history here; back in 1955 Stirling Moss and Denis Jenkinson won the Mille Miglia in a MB SLR that they, in a sense, created the trademark for MB: 722. Why the odd number? This was the team’s starting time in the race, 7:22AM, thus the huge red number painted on their car. So now the car maker has given this same number to a limited edition of the old SLR, the McLarren built SLR.

If you don’t own one, you can be one of the few, the proud, and the “about $1 million less in my bank account” group. Actual cost is about $480,000, plus figure getting here to the US and paying the luxury vehicle tax and so on, will tally up to right around that $1 million mark.

They will be painted Crystal Antimony Grey and come with unique 19″ alloy wheels that are painted black. Drive train  is an impressive 5.5L supercharged V8 which is hand=built in the AMG engine shop in Affalterbach, generating 650HP and boasting a 0-60 speed at 3.7 seconds! Top speed is reported to get up to about 210Mph.

Interior, bucket-type seats are upholstered in leather/Alcantara which are made to provide outstanding lateral support. Combine this with Lamborghini-style doors and a sleek aerodynamic body and you have one helluva ride!