Remember when Fiat bought into Chrysler, and there was all that speculation about which models, if an, Fiat would be bringing over to America. More than a few people, me included, were hoping that Fiat would bring in their new 500. A great competitor to BMW’s MINI, for one thing, and it also looked to be a stout performer, given its diminutive proportions.
Turns out Fiat IS bringing the 500 to these shores, and not just any 500, but the sporty 500 Abarth version.
The 2009 Toyota Venza is quite an interesting vehicle. According to Toyota’s comparison website, the Venza’s main competitors are the Nissan Altima and Honda Accord, but the Venza is obviously no mid-size sedan. It looks more like a small crossover SUV, or maybe a wagon, but smaller than both. It’s the length of a Toyota Camry, the width of the Highlander, and in between the two for every other dimension. Despite never figuring out what the Venza really is, I found one important thing about it: it’s incredibly useful.
Sitting between the Toyota Camry and Highlander in size certainly has its upsides. Most people don’t need as much room as an SUV gives them, but need more versatility than a sedan, and that’s where the Venza comes in, essentially creating its own class of vehicle in between a car and SUV. Continue Reading…
German body shop custom builder and highly recognized nameplate Karmann has been having a rough time of it lately. Really rough, as a matter of fact. Last I was reading, it looked like Karmann was going down for good. Now comes word that VW, long time working partner/client of some of Karmann’s best known work – the Karmann Ghia for one, and Karmann also was responsible for various VW cabriolets throughout the years, for another – might just by the struggling firm outright.
Sad news today out of England that Graham Nearn, the man most responsible for keeping the Lotus 7 flame burning bright has passed away. Nearn, who was 76, started out as a “dealer” for the immortal 7 back when they first hit the market in the late 1950s, and later, went on to save the brand, and continue producing them under the Caterham name.
On the last season of Top Gear, F1 Champ Michael Schumacher took the top of the list on the Top Gear lap times, completing the track with his personal Ferrari FXX in 1 minute, 10.7 seconds - nearly seven seconds faster than the next fastest car (Gumpert Apollo,) which is an incredible feat. British supercar maker Ultima was less than impressed, however, and bet their track-tuned (and street legal) GTR720 could beat the track-only FXX around the track.
Ultima claims that Top Gear producers have refused to allow them to test the Ultima GTR on the track, however, and had to take it upon themselves to rent some track time from McLaren to do their tests… Continue Reading…
OK all you Civic fan boys with large checkbooks and connections to the home market, get your browsers ready, because there’s going to be a whole lot of JDM parts for you to order up. At this year’s Tokyo Motor Show, Honda rolled out a JDM only version of the Civic officially called Civic Type R Euro. But right off the top, let me just say that I’ve always been a little bit puzzled by Honda’s making JDM specific and Euro-market specific and North American market specific versions of these cars (or any other ride that’s sold in all three markets).
