Here’s something I didn’t expect to see on a stand at this years Geneva Motor Show, not one but TWO Honda F1 cars, and even cooler, one of them is from 1967!

Bitchin’!

The folks at AutoBlog had the shots and info.

Personally, I remember it being a big deal when John Surtees of all people decided to go race for the Honda team back then. It would be like Fernando Alonso going to Toyota this year. Sure, back then, Honda was pumping a lot of money into its F1 efforts, and they were really innovative in a lot of ways, but for a racer with the talent and accomplishments of Big John to go over, that was a risky move and could just end up making everyone look bad.

But first time out with the new car, at Monza no less, Surtees won!

I remember people being really impressed by that, but sadly, it wasn’t indicative of things to come. Honda was up and down for the next bunch of seasons, but never was a real threat to the big boys (Lotus, Tyrell, Ferrari and Brabham). It would take until the 1980s and a whole lot of effort for Honda to become, first, a threat, and ultimately THE standard for race engines.

Honda dominated the late 80s and into the early 90s, then left, then sort of came back, then REALLY came back, building it’s own chassis and dumping in hundreds of millions of dollars into its F1 efforts. Sadly, the have come to naught … but they seems to be getting more and more serious, hiring no less of a talent than Ross Brawn to run the team this year.

Time will tell …

More pictures after the jump.

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Well alrighty then … Lamborghini, those fine folk from Sant’Agata Bolognese that can’t get over a grudge (who’d a thunk it, Italians that can’t let go) have taken the wraps off the latest Gallardo, named or designated or something LP560-4.

Yeah, looks a lot like a Lamborghini, doesn’t it. Smaller & lighter than it’s bigger brother, it still packs a wallop with a (purportedly) 560 HP engine, which should move it down the road with ease. Having all wheel drive will make it a less hairy experience from Lambos past.

It also tips the scales at a light for Lambo measurement of 3102 pounds. Sadly, that’s the dry weight, so at the curb, ready to go, with your couch-shaped butt ensconced in it’s “Luxurious individuality” & “Workmanship of the highest quality” seats, that figure would probably be around 3500? Anyway, a lot.

The full press release with specs and another shot after the jump

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The Geneva auto show is always an interesting event. For some reason, it always seemed to have a lot of British involvement; like they were trying to show the boys on the continent what the Brits could do, maybe it has something to do with Swiss neutrality, I don’t know.

At any rate, Roll Royce has decided to show a coupe variant of their Phantom at this years show in Geneva.

That, in and of itself, should have something to do with Bentley, and their Continental GT, Roll’s response to that upper end market segment etc., etc., etc., but it seems to be more than that.

All the specs, such as they are, are quite impressive. No doubt the power is listed as “adequate” or “more than adequate”. And it’s got enough creature comforts to make the Sultan of Brunei blush. Since it’s a coupe, however, there’s the implicit notion that “you’re driving this one yourself, guv’nor.

After all, how does m’Lord & m’Lady extricate themselves from the rear seats in a two door?

Perish the thought … best not to think about it and all that … obviously this is a vehicle intended for a self driven tour of points Continental, and a Gentleman would find the need to do that on occasion, one would have to admit.

And one would have to admit this would probably be a blast to do it in.

Now if they could just do something about that front end treatment.

Honestly, I never thought I’d be writing about Kia for AutomoBlog, but their latest attempt at being sporty deserves a little bit of attention. The awkwardly named Ex_Cee’d concept comes from Peter Schreyer, who used to be the designer for VW and Audi.

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Why does Geneva get all the coolest cars? Check out the Spyker C12 Zagato that was recently unveiled at this years Geneva Auto Show. It will be produced in very limited numbers (only 24 will be made,) and it will set you back $648,000. Small price to pay for such exclusivity.

While not exactly beautiful, it certainly has a cool factor. The C12 Zagato carries a 6.0L W12 engine sourced from Volkswagen, and puts out 500 horsepower pushing the light 3,086 lb car from 0-60 in a mere 3.8 seconds. A supercharger can be added to give the rocket 650 horsepower. You’ll be able to pick yours up in March 2008.

Gallery after the jump… Continue Reading…

Wow. Sketches of Pagani’s newest car have surfaced. It’s called the Zonda R, and will be debuted at the Geneva Auto Show. The car will likely cost over $1.5 million, and there’s no word on how many will be made. It was made at the request of a current lucky bastard owner of 3 Zondas.

The new Zonda will be powered by a 750 horsepower V12 derived from the Mercedes CLK GTR, and have 523 ft-lbs of torque. For reference, the ridiculously fast Zonda F makes 594 horsepower. The release of this new car is surely a competitive response to Ferrari’s FXX and the Maserati MC-12, as this will be a track-only car. As you can see, the Zonda R is lighter, longer, lower, and likely wider than the current Zonda F, and only shares 10% of it’s parts. It also has some very nice aerodynamic improvements that plants the car firmly to the ground.

Gallery after the jump: Continue Reading…