Top Nice Cars: 2012

Chrysler Review is a Concept Study for a Plush GT Coupe

Lawrence Tech student Colin Bonathan is a name some of our regular readers might remember.

The young designer was responsible for the exterior styling of the Ford Motor Company-endorsed 2025 Lincoln Continental concept displayed as a quarter-scale model at this year's edition of the Detroit Motor Show.

We recently revisited his portfolio and discovered a new design project that he has been working on. This time, Bonathan dreamed up a styling proposal for a Chrysler-branded luxury GT coupe named Review.

We don’t know if what we see in these computer generated images is the final design or if Bonathan is still contemplating on the details, but the styling is impressive in an elegant way.

College Girl Creates "Walk of Shame" Shuttle Service for Students in Need

From time to time, you're bound to have your low days especially if you're a young and active college student.

We're talking about the so-called "Walk of Shame", which is a term used to describe the morning after a crazy night out when you end up next to someone you may or may not remember and have to walk back to your own apartment or dorm in whatever condition you may be in – and usually, it ain't good…

A young entrepreneur from Michigan found a way to make some money - or at least a name for herself, from the "walkers".

We just received word that the teaser picture released by French carmaker Peugeot earlier today is indeed the 208 GTi Concept as we suspected and it will make its world premiere at the 82nd Geneva International Auto Salon in the beginning of March.

The 208 GTi Concept will be powered by the 1.6-litre turbocharged four-cylinder engine Peugeot shares with BMW’s fast Minis. The study will be very close to the production model that will follow in less than a year's time.

There's a lot to see from many automakers at this year's Geneva Auto Show, including a raft of new models from the BMW brand, which will introduce the new 6-Series Grand Coupe, the facelifted X6 and X6M, the new M6 Coupe, X5 M50d, X6 M50d M550d xDrive sedan and Touring along with several new engines for the 1-Series, 3-Series and X3.

That's quite a handful but we're not done yet. The Bavarian firm will also showcase the latest 3-Series sedan, the i3 hatchback and i8 sports coupe concepts (all of which we've already seen before) and in a world premiere, the new BMW M Performance accessory program, which brings us to this post.

How do you make the world's fastest motorcycle, the iconic Suzuki Hayabusa, even faster – at least in theory? We assume the more technically inclined will each have a different answer to that question, but for Tony Pandolfo from Orlando, Florida, there's nothing better than a…jet-sourced turbine engine.

To be more precise, the 54-year old engineer fitted the Hayabusa with an AlliedSignal jet fuel starter (JFS) sourced from an early-model F-14 jet fighter! The JFS runs on K2 Kerosene or Jet A fuel and comes complete with an afterburner.

The only official figure released by Pandolfo on his website is the jet starter's peak torque of 300 lb-ft – remember, we're talking about a motorcycle and not a pickup truck…

In an interview with the Daily Mail, Pandoflo told the newspaper that he actually turned the jet unit's power down.

While Volvo may be trying to keep the new V40 under covers until the 2012 Geneva Motor Show's grand opening in early March, the online pundits have a different opinion.

Following yesterday's revealing shots, new scans from the Swedish edition of Auto Motor und Sport were leaked onto the web providing an even better view of the 2013 Volvo V40 five-door hatchback.

China may be one of the largest car manufacturers in the world, but its local brands haven't really managed to infiltrate any major markets.

And while Europe and North America continue to be out of their reach (for the time being, at least) for a great number of reasons ranging from their vehicles' sub-par quality and safety credentials to the fact that some brands blatantly copy Western automakers' models, certain countries in Latin America are seeing a surge in Chinese car sales.

"Little by little, I heard favorable comments. It took a long time to decide, but I'm risking it," Lima taxi driver Mario Segura, told the Detroit News. Segura had just dropped $12,000 on a brand-new Fullwin XR sedan, half the cost of a comparable Fiat or Renault.

Another example from Peru is Luis Lina, a doctor by profession, who decided against buying a second-hand Japanese model after he was convinced by relatives to visit a JAC dealership. We'll remind you that JAC is the maker of the Ford F-150 pickup truck clone.

It's only natural that you park an expensive exotic supercar in an enclosed parking space instead of leaving it on the road. Nevertheless, the assurance of safety may come at a cost, as the driver of a Ferrari F430 found out in an underground parking (assumingly) in Poland.

The man had a very difficult time positioning the Ferrari on the ramp leading towards the exit, and all this because of the car's extremely low ride height.

He and some other people, who all appear to be participating in some sort of rally (judging by the decals on the car and their badges), tried all sorts of ways including driving the F430 in reverse, but to no avail. Finally, one of the men lifted the Ferrari's front wing and the car was able to make the ride to the top unscathed.

Next up on Project Kahn's list is the Audi Q7 with a 233bhp 3.0-liter V6 diesel engine. The British tuner visually transforms the premium SUV with a new exterior styling and an extensive makeover of the interior.

On the outside, Kahn exterior's package includes a ground effects kit with a front apron featuring gunmetal grey detailing, wheel arch extensions, front fender vents side skirts, a roof spoiler, and a rear apron that also houses the diffuser and the new exhaust tailpipes.

Porsche is taking its time to iron out all the kinks on the upcoming 911 Turbo models of its brand-new 991 series, the Carrera and Carrera S versions of which have already been announced.

This time, our crafty spy photographers caught up with the new 911 Turbo Cabriolet during cold weather tests near the Arctic Circle. Like the Carrera/S models, the Turbo Cabriolet features a retractable soft top made out of composite materials supported by a new magnesium frame to keep the weight down.

Dumps trucks ain't our cup of tea but there's always an exception to the rule, and this is it: a Kenworth T800 with a turbo setup that's good for more than 1,000 horses at the tires!

According to the folks over at Bangshift, who uploaded the following video on their YouTube channel, the Kenworth dump truck runs the quarter mile in 14.1 seconds.

Agreed; that's not something to brag about at a local supercar meet, but keep in mind that we're talking about a dump truck here… Just to get an idea of how fast that is for a vehicle of this type and weight, a few months back, British magazine Autoexpress clocked the BMW 1 Series M Coupe running the 1/4 mile in 13.9 seconds.

Over the past three decades, Peugeot has made a name for itself in the hot hatch market with cars like the 205 GTI/Rallye/Turbo, the 106 Rallye/GTi and the 206 RC/GTi.

Naturally, the recent presentation of the 208 supermini meant that the French carmaker is getting ready to revive the RC / GTi moniker. This may happen sooner than we think as Peugeot just published a teaser photo of a double tip exhaust on its Facebook page with the caption "Is the myth coming back?"

BMW's new 2.0-liter four-cylinder gasoline engine with a twin-scroll turbocharger continues to trickle down the range. Following its introduction in the Z4 sDrive28i, 528i and the all-new 328i, the force-fed four-pot is now replacing the 240-horsepower 3.0-liter straight-six in the X3 xDrive28i.

The German automaker announced U.S. pricing today for the four-cylinder X3 xDrive28i, which arrives in showrooms this April as a 2013 model with the same MSRP of $37,995, including $895 destination and handling, as the outgoing six-cylinder 2012 xDrive28i.

Volkswagen has just released a new spot that employs the use of a Fast and Furious-style Honda CR-X de Sol from the mid-1990s to promote its revised 2012 Tiguan SUV and more specifically, its safety credentials. Obviously, the goal here is to draw the attention of a younger crowd.

You can watch it in the video that follows after the jump.

For owners of the new generation of the BMW 6-Series Convertible codenamed F12 looking to improve the looks and the performance of their drop-top model, Lumma Design has released the first details on its CLR 600 GT package that will debut in a couple of weeks' time at the Geneva Auto Salon.

The German tuning firm's offerings include a rather discreet exterior styling kit comprising a front apron with additional LED daytime running lights (wonder how long these will last…), rocker panels, blacked out kidney grilles, and a rear apron with a diffuser.

The Renault-Nissan Alliance is deepening its ties with Daimler and the Mercedes-Benz brand.

The two groups, which have already moved ahead with a multitude of joint projects such as the upcoming Renault-based Mercedes Citan van, the production of Mercedes engines at Nissan's Tennessee plant, and the development of a common platform for the Smart and Renault Twingo, added another task to their list.

One of the first things most publications did after the presentation of the latest crop of pony cars from Detroit's Big Three were to compare them with their 1960 and 1970s predecessors.

So, what's new about Insideline's latest test between a 1968 Chevrolet Camaro and its modern-day namesake? Well, the difference here is that both models featured in the video have been heavily modified.

Another day, another round of photos of the new Ford B-MAX. This time, the Blue Oval enlisted the help of one of its European designers, Erika Tsubaki, to demonstrate the advantages of the hidden pillars and sliding doors when it comes to accessing the small MPV's interior at its UK unveiling in London today.

Ford managed to do away with the central pillars by reinforcing the rear-hinged doors, which are made of special ultra-high-strength steels providing up to five times the strength of conventional mild steel.

Following on from the launch of the Lancia Ypsilon Black&Red last November, the special edition version of the Italian supermini has now put on its Chrysler logos to go on sale in the UK.

Both on the outside and inside, the new edition of the Chrysler Ypsilon subcompact hatchback sports a two-tone black and red color theme.

As it turns out, Porsche won't be keeping the name Cajun for the production version of its upcoming junior SUV as the Stuttgart-based automaker announced today that it will be named "Macan". Porsche says that the name is derived from the Indonesian word for tiger.

“The Macan combines all sports car characteristics with the benefits of a SUV and is a genuine Porsche”, said Bernhard Maier, Member of the Executive Board Sales and Marketing of Porsche. “The name of a new Porsche has to fit with the brand, sound good in very many languages and dialects and evoke positive associations.”

If you hop over the break and take a close look at the 90 pictures of the European-specification 2012 Chevrolet Camaro Coupe and Convertible, you'll probably notice a few things that are different from the North American models - and no, we're not talking about the welcome presence of attractive women in some shots.

First and foremost, the Euro Camaro gets a redesigned pair of LED tail lamps. It's not only the addition of LED units that make them look different but also their shape, which kind of reminds us of sunglasses.

Those of you with flawless memory will remember seeing the revised tail lamps in our Nürburgring spy shots of the Camaro back in 2010.

Other differences include the diffuser-mounted reflectors at the back; the noticeably larger mirrors that look like someone pasted Dumbo's ears on the Camaro's doors (apparently, so you can detect those miniature ForTwos creeping up on you on the highway) and the more modern fonts on the instrument panel gauges that are placed outwards.

We were right to assume that the Chrysler Group's "The Dark Side of Ram" commercial previewed the new top-of-the line Laramie Limited Edition truck, which premiered in Chicago earlier this month.

We don't have anything else to add about Ram's darker colored and more luxurious pickup truck, but if the beautiful brunette in the original teaser captured your attention, you may want to take a glance at the rest of the swimsuit models featured in the clip by watching the videos that follow after the break.

Almost a year after its presentation in concept form at the Concorso D’Eleganza at Villa D’Este , the production version of Aston Martin's new V12 Zagato made its world premiere today at the 2012 Kuwait Concours d’ Elegance before it heads over to the Geneva Salon in March for its European debut .

The new Aston Martin is essentially a re-skinned version of the V12 Vantage designed by Italian coachbuilder Zagato in celebration of the golden anniversary of the 1962 DB4GT Zagato.

The BMW X3's smaller brother, the X1, is getting ready for its first facelift after having been in the market for a little over two years. However, don't expect to see it in showrooms before 2013.

The fully camouflaged prototype suggests that the styling changes will be concentrated up front with the X1 likely to gain new headlamps along with tweaked kidney grilles and a re-sculptured bumper.

Each year, J.D. Power and Associates release their findings on the overall dependability of three-year old vehicles sold in the States. The 2012 Dependability Study polled some 31,000 owners of 2009 model-year vehicles measuring problems they experienced in the past 12 months.

To understand the numbers you see listed below, the "overall dependability" is determined by the level of problems experienced per 100 vehicles (PP100), with a lower score translating to higher quality.

In this year's study, J.D. Powers found that overall vehicle dependability improved substantially as the industry average was 132 problems per 100 vehicles, representing a 13 percent improvement from last year (151 PP100), while it's also the lowest problem rate since the survey began in 1990.

For an exotic model that has been widely lauded for its looks, the new Lamborghini Aventador LP700-4 is sure receiving a lot of attention from the tuning industry. Some of the recent proposals that come to mind are from Prindiville Design and Oakley Design.

Now, ASMA Design is joining in with its own plan to tune Lamborghini's flagship model. You may remember ASMA from its over-the-top projects such as the Phantasma CL Chrome and the unforgettable (…) CLS Shark series.

In a move that reminds us a lot of what Fiat-Chrysler CEO, Sergio Marchionne told the Italian government not too long ago, both Renault and PSA Peugeot-Citroen executives told French parliamentary officials in separate appearances before the Senate that they can't make a profit from building cars in France.

According to a report from Autonews Europe, the Renault Group was represented by chief operating officer Carlos Tavares, while PSA Peugeot-Citroen sent Denis Martin, executive vice president for industrial operations. Both automakers confirmed the comments.

Tavares told the French commissions that one of Renault's most popular models, the Clio, costs €1,300 (US$1,700) more to produce at the firm's Flins plant in France than in the company's factory in Bursa, Turkey.

Bad weather knows no national boundaries and the same type of mishaps occur on all four corners of the world, be that in Utah, USA, or Vladivostok, Russia. This video allegedly comes to us from Turkey (we couldn't verify it) and includes almost five minutes of all sorts of cars losing control on an ice covered road.

Slide over the break to watch the clip for yourself.

For a company that hadn’t revealed a brand new car in 12 years until it launched the Evora in 2008, revealing five new models in the same auto show like Lotus did in Paris in 2010, was a ballsy move.

The Proton-owned company said at the time that the concepts previewed its all-new range that is under development. The new Elise, Esprit, Elan and Eterne saloon, as well as a city car, were impressive indeed.

However, the company has been bleeding cash ever since it was acquired by the Malaysian carmaker in 1996. With Proton facing a few problems of its own, such as seeing its share in the local market reduced by almost 50 percent, selling Lotus was a logical option.

The last time we had a good look at the 2013 Audi A3 hatchback, it was from the January Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas where the German automaker displayed the compact model's interior.

In some of those aforementioned shots, the new A3's exterior was displayed on the LCD screen located above the center air vents.

Now, an Eastern European website has posted this picture claiming that it's the first official photo of the new three-door A3, which is scheduled to make its world premiere at the Geneva Motor Show in early March.

Volvo has been teasing the new V40 hatchback for quite some time now as the Swedish company is building up anticipation for the five-door model's world premiere at next month's 2012 Geneva Auto Show.

Today, however, French car magazine L'Automobile published two undisguised images of what it claims to be the new V40. The first cropped picture shows the front end of the compact model while the second grainy image gives us an unobstructed view of its rear end and profile.

Our spies have captured a prototype of the upcoming Audi Q5 facelift during some cold weather testing in northern Europe.

There's not much to say about this specific test car's appearance as it is a prototype for trying out the updated Q5's mechanical hardware (more on that in a bit).

However, we believe that the actual facelifted model will encompass the same styling changes seen on recent Audis such as the refreshed A4 and A5, and which include more stylish and narrower headlamps and the company's new hexagonal front grille.

What’s the point of owning a Bugatti Veyron? Surely not to take the kid to school although that would make him or her very, very popular... Perhaps it's for gaining bragging rights over your supercar-owning friends. Maybe because you are a collector or you simply want and can afford to buy one.

Well, in our books, having the fastest production car in the world is all about finding an empty road, pushing the right pedal to the metal and enjoy the feeling of having more than 1,000HP at your disposal.

On February 6, a video showing a Veyron in multiple 215-225 mph (345-360 km/h) runs was uploaded on YouTube. It soon became viral, attracting 1.2 million viewers.

Staying put well inside the boundaries of road is never a good idea, even more so if the weather conditions are very poor – i.e. rain, snow and ice.

However, to the defense of the hitchhikers seen in this video, the man driving the dashboard camera-equipped vehicle was not only going too fast for the conditions of the road, but he also didn't even bother to slow down once he saw them signaling for a ride.

This proved to be a bad move, as you can for yourself in the video that follows.

We've known for some months now that Ferrari was preparing a mild update for its entry-level California model and today, the Italian automaker made it official releasing the first photos and specs ahead of the hardtop roadster's world premiere at next month's Geneva Auto Show.

While there aren't any noticeable styling changes other than the silver front grille, under the skin, it's a different story.

Hyundai is contemplating the development of performance variants of its new i30 hatchback (called Elantra GT in the States) and the i40 sedan.

At least that’s what Hyundai Europe Chief Operating Officer Allan Rushforth said during the launch of the all-new i30 when asked if there are any plans for hotter versions.

“A Hyundai GTi? That’s not just a C-segment question, but a D-segment one as well”, he replied, referring to the i30 and i40 respectively, according to Autocar magazine. “We have talked about such cars and are considering versions not only with more performance, but dynamic improvements to ride and handling, too”, he elaborated.

Automakers just love teasing us before major international motor shows such as the upcoming 82nd Geneva Salon. Today, we received an email from Lotus with a cryptic message about the company's plans to "blow the roof off" of something at the Swiss show.

Aside from the very summery picture strip you see above, Lotus' message also said: "MAXIMUM Exposure...Lotus’ philosophy has always been ‘less is more’. Now, with a display of true fighting spirit, we’ll take this one step further in Geneva."

When it comes to sales, there's nothing like a good start to get the positive mojo going, especially when you're faced with a crisis in a large market such as Europe.

For the Volkswagen brand (we're talking about VW alone not the VW Group), 2012 started on slightly a positive note as the company reported worldwide passenger car sales of 419,200 units in January, which represents a 0.1 percent increase over the same month last year.

At first we had the M brand for BMW's thoroughbred sports cars, then came the M Sport Packages, which add styling and suspension upgrades to the firm's mainstream vehicles.

More recently, the Bavarians launched the M Performance sub-brand that offers exclusive engine variants, enhanced handling and bespoke styling treats at a lower cost than the pure M models. You see the pattern, right?

So the next step for BMW is the introduction of the M Performance Parts, that will launch in spring 2012.

The all-new Kia Cee'd will make its world premiere at the 82nd Geneva International Auto Salon in March but the South Korean automaker wants us to get a better view of its VW Golf rival with the release of another set of photos, which include the very first pictures of its interior.

The car's overall appearance is in line with Kia's latest crop of models and especially the Optima sedan. This is even more evident inside with Kia promising a more premium look and feel, higher perceived quality and enhanced driving position ergonomics.

The dashboard layout features a driver-orientated fascia with the main switchgear positioned towards the driver.

Kia has not yet announced precise dimensions but it said that the new Cee'd is longer, wider and lower than its predecessor, while retaining the same wheelbase.

The new generation of Lexus' GS sedan is gradually making its way to most markets around the world. Today, the Japanese automaker released pricing for the UK market where the GS is available for order now with first customer deliveries to take place in mid-June.

The range starts from £32,995 for the GS 250 while the full hybrid GS 450h starts from £44,995. The GS 250 is powered by a 2.5-liter V6 petrol engine delivering 206bhp while the GS 450h combines a 3.5-liter Atkinson-cycle V6 petrol engine with the Lexus Hybrid Drive for a total system output of 338bhp.

We don't know what's more astounding; the fact that for the past seven years, someone had the patience and the know-how to dig his basement using only radio controlled scale models, or that his feat went by unnoticed by the viewing masses for such a long time.

Whatever the case, we were surely amazed by Joe, who prefers to be known by his first name only, and his devotion to his favorite hobby.

After we published the story last week, Joe, who is from Saskatchewan, Canada, came into contact with Carscoop to give us an insight on his incredible hobby and how it became to be.

Here's hoping that after reading his story that follows below, some readers will rethink their assumptions about Joe and his work.

Remember a video of an SP Engineering-tuned Nissan GT-R 750 being chased on a twisty road by a Ferrari 458 Italia that we showed you last November?

Well, the same person that uploaded the aforementioned clip has released a fresh video with the 750-horsepower Godzilla playing around with an Evoms Porsche 997 Turbo with 610HP on a straight line.

See how it plays out in the video that follows after the jump.

Three weeks ago, the receivers that handle Saab’s assets after the company was officially declared bankrupt confirmed that there are many parties interested in acquiring the Swedish carmaker, or whatever is left of it.

Up until now, no offer has materialized and with each passing day, the chances of the Trolhattan-based company becoming history are increasing. Therefore, Saab’s 900 dealers around the globe are looking for alternatives.