What Lies Ahead in Saab’s Future?

Saab is in trouble. With mounting debts and limited capital investment, the Swedish company is a prime candidate to go the way of the dinosaurs. The troubled automaker has not built a single vehicle since the 1st of April, and a much touted deal with China’s Hawtai Motor Group has fallen through. They did however sign a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with another Chinese company called Pang Da Automobile Trade Co. Ltd, earlier this week, but we will have to wait and see if the deal goes through.

In light of this, I’ve thought up four plausible (though unlikely) scenarios for Saab. These range from the hugely cynical all the way to the brazenly optimistic. After all, isn’t it better than Saab has some future rather than no future at all? Without further ado, here are your options:

Read more »

Most Beautiful Cars of All Time - 20 Top Auto Designers Vote

It's a question that has been asked more times than we can remember in the past, and one that will most certainly draw our attention again in the future: "What is the most beautiful car of all time?" Obviously every individual has his or hers own likes, but British Classic & Sports Car magazine went one step further by asking those whose opinion weighs in a bit more than your everyday Joe. The Brits polled twenty leading car designers of our time ranging from the awarded "Car Designer of the Century" Giorgetto Giugiaro responsible among other designs, of the Maserati Bora and VW Golf I, to current Jaguar director of design Ian Callum.

Each car designer nominated three vehicles which he believed are the most gorgeously styled cars of all times. And the which car was the winner, we hear you ask? Well, if you were expecting some sort of exotic Italian sportscar or a classic British roadster, then sorry, you judged wrong. The car that received the most votes was the iconic Citroen DS. Not surprisingly, Ferrari secured the most votes as a marque.

Along with casting their votes on the most beautiful cars of all time, the folks over at Classic & Sports Car magazine also asked the 20 designers what they thought about the Citroen DS as well as other cars of their own and of other colleagues.

Source: Classic & Sports Car

TOP 10

1.= Citroën DS

2= Jaguar XK120

2= Ferrari 275GTB

4= Cord 810/812

4= Ferrari 250GT Lusso

4= Ferrari 250GT Short-wheelbase

4= Jaguar E-type

4= Lamborghini Miura

4= Lotus Elan

4= Lotus Elite (1957)

What they said about the Citroën DS

Giorgetto Giugiaro: "The only example of a car really conceived 'outside the box'. It is just impossible to imitate."

Leonardo Fioravanti (former Pininfarina design chief and the man behind Ferrari's Daytona, Dino and 308GTB): "A real road car that, at its time and perhaps still now, has represented the 'dream' in its extreme progress."

Peter Stevens (British great responsible for the McLaren F1 and second-generation Lotus Esprit): "I have always considered the fact that this car was first drawn in 1955 to be extraordinary."

Marcello Gandini (Bertone stalwart responsible for Lancia Stratos and Lamborghini Countach among many others): "At the time I think it was complete folly, madness from a business and industrial point of view… but it was a really innovative car in 1955. A few people may have thought of all those beautiful ideas, but it was real bravery to implement all of them in one car."

On their own designs:

Peter Stevens (McLaren F1): "I always intended that the design should be timeless rather than 'of the minute', and that is something that I would use as a measure of other designs."

Ian Callum (Jaguar XF): "It is the biggest challenge I've faced, but I think we pulled it off. I don't think people appreciate how well proportioned it is, given that it's a five-seater."

Gordon Murray (McLaren F1): "Designed as a road car, but went on to win Le Mans, which in my opinion is more difficult than F1."

John Heffernan (Aston Martin Vantage): "When I borrowed one, it was much appreciated by 'bikers of the Hells Angels persuasion, which I liked."

Patrick Le Quément (Renault Twingo): "Some love it, some hated it. I wrote to the president of Renault and said: 'I think you have to vote for instinctive design rather than extinctive marketing.' He wrote back: 'I agree.'"

And on other peoples' cars:

Steve Crijns
of Lotus on the Ford GT40: "It's so sexy and has so much presence without really being aggressive."

Paul Bracq, former head of design for both Mercedes and BMW, on the Aston Martin DB9: "It's more beautiful than the current Ferraris. I don't understand modern Ferrari design: the new California looks like a big VW Karmann-Ghia."

Julian Thomson of Jaguar on the Lamborghini Gallardo: "I love the proportions… It's a tiny modern interpretation of a supercar: things like the Bugatti Veyron are totally irrelevant to me."

Martin Smith, executive design director of Ford of Europe on the Lamborghini Countach: "It was like a spaceship, something totally new combining smooth curves with geometric forms. I remember thinking 'I'll never be able to do something as good as that!'"

Ian Callum, Jaguar director of design, on the Ferrari 250GT Short-wheelbase: "A blend of beauty and aggression… I just drool over them, and I can draw them with my eyes closed."

Marcello Gandini on the Cord 810/812: "It was an impressive design for the 1930s, with solutions that could be seen in cars of 20 years later."

Tom Tjaarda, former head of Ghia's studios, on the Jaguar E-type: "A gorgeous car. It looks narrow, like a woman in high heels. It doesn't have the stance that cars have today."

The Designers: Adams Dennis, Axe Roy, Bracq Paul, Callum Ian, Carr Russell, Crijns Steve, Fioravanti Leonardo, Gandini Marcello, Giugiaro Giorgetto, Heffernan John, Karen Tom, Le Quément Patrick, Martin Paulo, Murray Gordon, Okuyama Ken, Smith Martin, Stevens Peter, Thomson Julian, Tjaarda Tom, Winterbottom Oliver

All the cars that received votes

Alfa Romeo Canguro

Aston Martin DB9

Audi A6

Bentley Continental GT

Bentley R-Type Continental

Bertone BAT 5

Bertone Marzal

BMW 328 Mille Miglia

Bugatti T41 Royale Coupé Napoleon

Bugatti T57SC Atlantic

Buick Riviera (1963-'65)

"Cadzilla"

Citroën ID/DS

Cord 810/812

Delage D8-120S

Ferrari 166 Barchetta

Ferrari 250GT Lusso

Ferrari 250GT swb

Ferrari 250GTO

Ferrari 275GTB

Ferrari 330 P3/4

Ferrari Dino 206S

Ferrari Dino 246GT

Ferrari P6

Ford GT40

Hispano-Suiza H6 (Tulip Wood)

Jaguar E-type

Jaguar XJ6 S1

Jaguar XK120

Jaguar XKSS

Lagonda Rapide

Lamborghini Countach

Lamborghini Gallardo

Lamborghini Miura

Lancia Stratos

Lincoln Continental (1961)

Lotus Elan +2

Lotus Elan S3

Lotus Elite (1957)

Maserati Boomerang

Maserati Khamsin

Mercedes-Benz 500K

Mercedes-Benz Gullwing 300SL

Mini

Pagaso Z102 'Thrill'

Phantom Corsair

Triumph TR4

Is it Worth it? 2009 Challenger SRT8 with Salvage Title but only 29 miles for Sale on eBay

A virtually brand-new 2009 Dodge Challenger SRT8 with a mere 29 miles on the odometer that's for sale on eBay captured our attention today. As you can see in the photos, the SRT8 suffered a blow on the driver's door while there's also damage on the passenger's side rear panel. The seller claims that it will cost $2,300 to $2,800 to get the car fixed, however, it does come with a salvage title and there's no factory warranty. The car's total price with all the options comes out to $42,640. As we speak, the highest bid on eBay is $24,500 but the auction will end on February 1st, so there's plenty of time for the price to go up. Think it's worth looking into and if so, how high would you be willing to go up to?








Via: Cardomain , Link: eBay

Why the Surprise? Hybrid Sales fall 9,9% in the U.S. in 2008

Just as gasoline-electric hybrids looked like they were ready to conquer America when gas prices rose up to nearly $4 a gallon in July, a steep decrease in fuel costs -aided by the collapse of the auto market in the second half of the year- resulted to a significant decrease in their sales. According to a report from Autonews, U.S. sales of hybrids fell 9,9% in 2008 to 315,761 units. Even Toyota, which controls about 75% of the hybrid market in the States, saw its sales drop 12.5 percent the past year.

General Motors on the other hand, saw its hybrid sales nearly triple from 5,175 units in 2007 to 14,439 units in 2008, but that was mainly due to the addition of several new models like the Chevrolet Malibu and Tahoe, Cadillac Escalade and GMC Yukon.

But as GM's Vice Chairman Bob Lutz rightfully pointed out at the Detroit Show last week, "at $1.50 a gallon, the American public is not willing to pay for fuel-saving technology." We couldn't agree more. If fuel prices continue to remain at these levels and unless automakers find a way to reduce the cost of these vehicles -eg. like Honda promises that it has done with the 2009 Insight, we seriously doubt that American consumers will embrace hybrids or any type of fuel-efficient vehicles for that matter.

And just to make it clear, it's not just Americans; do you think that European or Japanese consumers would choose a fuel-efficient car over one with better performance if gasoline prices were as cheap as they are in the States?

Source: Autonews

Unmasking Top Gear's Stig - Who Cares?

As you probably noticed, we've avoided posting any articles in concern of the latest craze to hit the net, which is discovering the true identity of Top Gear's "White Stig". Over the past few days, forums, blogs and even news sites have named several people as the magazine's mystery test car driver. Top Gear of course couldn't resist the temptation, and rightfully used the publicity to its benefit by making a mockery of all those claims. The folks over the British magazine even went as far as naming President Barack Obama as the Stig.

Our take? Some might say that it is very important that we uncover the man hiding behind the racing helmet. All we know is that we don't give a 'hump' who he is and that we find this whole publicity stunt extremely annoying...

Which Cars Should Fiat Bring to the U.S.?

With today's announcement on the planned alliance between Chrysler LLC and the Fiat Group (read all the details here), it's only logical that we begin speculating on the Italian cars that could -or should- make their way on this side of the Atlantic in the very near future. Ferrari and Maserati aside, the Fiat Group owns the Alfa Romeo, Abarth, Lancia and Fiat marques.

If you want our opinion, we'd vote for the Fiat 500 and its Abarth sibling; the group's latest MINI Cooper rival, the Alfa MiTo including the GTA version that will debut in Geneva; the Alfa 159 as an alternative to the BMW 3-Series and Audi A4; and maybe, the indecisively sporty, Alfa Brera and Spider. Refresh your memory on all the automobiles available by the Fiat Group's four mainstream brands after the jump, and tell us what you think.

ABARTH FIAT 500

-----------------------------------------------------------

ABARTH FIAT GRANDE PUNTO

-----------------------------------------------------------

ALFA ROMEO MITO

-----------------------------------------------------------

ALFA ROMEO 147

-----------------------------------------------------------

ALFA ROMEO 159

-----------------------------------------------------------

ALFA ROMEO GT COUPE

-----------------------------------------------------------

ALFA ROMEO BRERA

-----------------------------------------------------------

ALFA ROMEO SPIDER

-----------------------------------------------------------

FIAT PANDA / PANDA CROSS

-----------------------------------------------------------

FIAT GRANDE PUNTO

-----------------------------------------------------------

FIAT 500

-----------------------------------------------------------

FIAT LINEA

-----------------------------------------------------------

FIAT IDEA

-----------------------------------------------------------

FIAT BRAVO

-----------------------------------------------------------

FIAT MULTIPLA

-----------------------------------------------------------

FIAT ULYSSE

-----------------------------------------------------------

FIAT CROMA

-----------------------------------------------------------

FIAT SEDICI

-----------------------------------------------------------

FIAT FIORINO QUBO

-----------------------------------------------------------

FIAT DOBLO

-----------------------------------------------------------

LANCIA YPSILON

-----------------------------------------------------------

LANCIA MUSA

-----------------------------------------------------------

LANCIA DELTA

-----------------------------------------------------------

LANCIA PHEDRA

-----------------------------------------------------------

LANCIA THESIS

-----------------------------------------------------------