CarsDampers and tuning

Filed under: Chicago Auto Show, Concept Cars, New York Auto Show, Trucks/Pickups, GMC

click above to view more speculative renderings of GMC’s unibody pickup

Bob Lutz may have been confused when he told GoAuto that GM would be unveiling a GMC unibody pickup concept based on the rear-wheel-drive Zeta platform at this year’s New York Auto Show in late April. Sources close to Jalopnik claim that the vehicle will actually debut nearly a month and a half earlier at the 2008 Chicago Auto Show, press days for which begin on February 5th. The source also claims that the GMC unibody pickup will be entirely unibody, and not have a chassis grafted onto the back like the Holden Crewman, the vehicle to which this concept pickup has been most closely compared.

All that’s fine and good, but ever since Lutz mentioned the car-based pickup, we’ve had a tough time imagining what it will look like. Lutz said it would have four doors, be low to the ground and feature very masculine GMC styling cues. The only other totally car-based pickup with which we’re familiar is the Honda Ridgeline. Now we can’t get the image of a lowered Ridgeline wearing GMC badges out of our head.

Fortunately, GM Inside News forum member MonaroSS has come to our rescue with these photochops of what the GMC’s unibody pickup could look like. The images are based off of the Holden Sportwagon, but the roof has been raised, the rear end swapped out for a bed, bulging fenders added and the front profile has a definite GMC shape. We much prefer conjuring an image of this vehicle in our heads than the aforementioned mutant Ridgeline, at least until we meet the pickup in person at the Chicago Auto Show.

Check out more renderings of the GMC concept by MonaroSS in the gallery below.

[Source: GM Inside News, Jalopnik]

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AutoBild is reporting (in German) that in calendar week 13 of 2009, Audi has a new model in the werks dubbed the A5 Sportback. Little is known about this possible new offering, but Autobild is going against the prevailing wisdom that the Sportback will be a wagon-like offering, saying it will compete in the emerging swoopy sedan category currently populated by the Mercedes CLS, pending Porsche Panamera and recently revealed Volkswagen Passat CC. While we’re on the subject of the Passat CC, if this speculation is accurate, we’re thinking this is V-Dub doing it’s platform prostitution best with that new curvy roof line. We’ll keep our ear to the ground for more details. [Autobild [translated] via Germancarblog]

Filed under: Green, Mercedes Benz

The terms “performance” and “diesel” used to be mutually exclusive, but times, they are a-changin’. Audi’s dominance of LeMans with its R10 TDI and the recent unveiling of the R8 V12 TDI concept might be giving Mercedes a reason to turn towards oilburners for some of its high-po offerings. AMG has made a name for itself by providing, among other things, torque-rich engines that sometimes have to be electronically limited due to their tire (and differential) decimating potential. AutoExpress supposedly has it on good authority that plans are in the works to offer diesel models with an AMG badge, but both Mercedes and AE failed to provide any details about what vehicles or engines would be used. It might be a forgone conclusion that new CAFE standards in the U.S. are causing automakers to rethink their performance offerings, but in the meantime, we’re going to throw this in the rumormill and see what comes out the other end.

[Source: AutoExpress]

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Brenda Priddy’s man about the D-town
happened upon yet another caravan of anti-spy photographer clad
2010 Ford
Mustang test units, and this time he managed to sidle up
alongside for an interior shot of the next-gen pony car. Full spy
report from the Brenda’s quick-to-snap shooter after the jump, and
a blown-up picture of the interior can be found there as well.

Interior and More….

There have been a caravan of Mustangs out and about lately, and
our man-about-Detroit had orders to get interior shots. But it
wasn’t as easy as it may seem:

All the cars were being driven.
The sun was in an awful spot.
And the interior is covered nearly as good as the exterior!

But these are the first interior shots of the 2009 Mustang - and
enthusiasts will likely be magnifying every detail.
In addition - our shooter caught some revealing glances at both the
headlamps and taillights.

Photos Credit: Brian Williams for Brenda Priddy & Company

Filed under: Coupes, Economy, Sedans/Saloons, Government/Legal, Ford

click above for more pics of the 2008 Ford Focus SES Coupe

Fuel economy and CO2 emissions are on a lot of our minds right now, and many of us are re-examining our vehicle needs in an effort to save coin at the pump. The push to downsize has influenced the entire state of Ohio, which plans to switch its government fleet from 90-percent midsize sedans to one fortified with up to 50-percent of Ford Foci. Not only will the Focus save the state at the pump, but Ford’s little economy car also costs less to buy. The Cleveland Plain Dealer, which calls the Focus “less stylish”, pens the fleet cost of the Focus at about $12,000, while a Chevrolet Impala will run the state $16,000 or more. The switch to a Focus fleet will save the state $242,000 this year alone, and the dollar figures go up as more economy cars hit the fleet.

Of course some of the employees that have to drive the homely, yet practical, Focus are complaining about a lack of head and leg room. Unsympathetic DAS spokesman Ron Sylvester basically told complainers to shed some girth and deal with it. Who knows, maybe the state will use some of the savings to hook up its peeps with SYNC, which could give workers hands-free phone capabilities so they can complain about their car to friends while keeping both hands on the wheel. We’re not so sure the rank and file will dislike the Focus though. We kinda liked it.

[Source: Cleveland Plain Dealer via The Truth About Cars]

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We’re continually fascinated with the level of innovation and practicality the Japanese are able to stuff into 660cc, 66bhp kei cars. Suzuki’s new Palette may not be the most exciting kei car to ever debut, but it scores points on practicality with dual automatic sliding doors and a completely flat load floor. More importantly, it comes in pink, which may just be the most righteous color to paint a kei car there is. Personally, I’m holding out for a pink Nissan Pao and a wardrobe full of ’70s safari-style lounge suits.

Filed under: Chicago Auto Show, Spy Photos, Coupes, Sports/GTs, Chrysler, Dodge

click to enlarge

While the exterior of the production 2008 Dodge Challenger is a secret no more, the interior has managed to stay hidden from view. That changed today when a link to this pair of interior spy shots was found on the challengertalk.com forums. While no designs seen in spy shots are final until the production car is officially revealed, this appears to be where Dodge is at with the Challenger’s interior at the moment. To be honest, we’re really underwhelmed. Not that we expected a bunch of retro queues inside the Challenger, and not that the car’s exterior is all that flashy either, but this center console looks like a parts bin special with a side of fries. We dig the shifter handle, though, and we’ll reserve judgment on the gauge pod that’s trimmed in shiny metal until we get a better view. Who knows, maybe some will appreciate the plain Jane interior and insist it values function over form. Overall, however, we hope that Chrysler has something a little more special planned for the Challenger’s instrument panel before production starts.

[Source: challengertalk.com]

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Yup, more evidence that the Muscle Car Wars are
on! After we showed you that single shot of the new 2010 Ford
Mustang interior and after we ran the
two covers Car & Driver saw slip out way too early, we
happened upon the above shot of the interior for the
2009 Dodge Challenger R/T on a few of the forums all about the
new muscle car from the Ram-headed brand. So what do we see?
(It first showed up on
ChallengerTalk.) Well — we see a lot of standard
instrument panels, radio units and HVAC controls. But check out
that silver plastic around the instrument cluster. Most
importantly, check out that leather-and-chrome wrapped shifter. Now
that we like. Click the jump to see a larger shot and
remember, we’ll be bringing you coverage of the official reveal
live in just two weeks at the Chicago Auto Show.
[ChallengerTalk]

Though the Fisker Karma Hybrid has a significant backer in VC firm Kleiner-Perkings, much of the Karma prototype we saw was still held together with epoxy. In fact, we weren’t even allowed to open the doors ourselves. A specially trained assistant was there to make sure we didn’t break the car. All this goes to say that the bar graphs designed to show consumption (left) and range (right) may not make it in and, hopefully, will receive something better looking than the gelled inserts seen here.