26Apr
The retro-ish Fiat 500 takes the trophy as Car of the Year (2008). The reason the jury chose the car because of nostalgia and charm. Besides being a practical urban car, it also had great public appeal.
“This cute car copies the aesthetics of the legendary 500 of half a century ago, but it is a modern vehicle in functionality and safety features, reasonably roomy for its size and shape, and with efficient engines that provide performance and economy.”
First runner up went to Mazda2 (finished with just 60 points shy) and Second runner up went to the Ford Mondeo.
Source
19Apr
If you’re an American with a European taste in cars, you’re in luck because Open’s the Insignia is coming soon! However, Europeans get a better deal: they get seven engine choices, from 115 hp to a whopping 260 hp V6. The car also has three direct-inject diesels with the largest at 160 hp.
The car will makes its presence known at the London motor show come July. The Insignia has contoured doors that resembles a blade, and a sloping A-pillar to give it a coupe-like silhouette. Here’s more info on the Insignia from the article:
The Insignia will come with front- and all-wheel-drive options, and the powerplant will be mated to a six-speed manual or a six-speed automatic transmission. The Insignia will use GM’s latest adaptive forward lighting system, which has nine unique beam settings. It also will have LED daytime running lights.
Source
18Apr
We just talked about Spyker a few weeks ago, where 2008 would be the best year for them after they secured a good loan from the bank. However, one chief officer from the said group won’t be joining them this year as he just recently resigned.
Here’s the news coming from Automotive News Europe:
Spyker Cars NV said chief business development officer and management board member Richard Borsboom will resign effective June 1.
Spyker declined to provide a reason for his resignation and did not say when or if a replacement will be named.
How ill this affect the Spyker C8 Aileron model production on the third quarter? Will it push through or will it be shelved? We’ll keep you up to date as soon as we can.
Source
08Apr
The East German car, Sachsenring Trabant or “Trabi” was famous for one thing: it was made from recycled cotton. Not the whole car mind you but just the exterior panels. The bad news was that the car was known to be noisy and smoked “..like an oilfield on fire.”
It was a happy accident. Wolfgang Barthel, the creator of the body panel was experimenting on different products to substitute for steel since the government couldn’t afford to purchase large quantities of the material. Russia provided him with a large supply of cotton that he can experiment on.
Luckily, he was able to produce something that was strong, lightweight, and rust-free: the Duroplast. He then applied this to the steel frame of the car and voila! The Trabi came into existence.
Source
