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Citroen Lacoste Concept To Debut At Paris Show

Posted on 20. Sep, 2010 by AllPurpose.

Two of the biggest French names in their respective fields have teamed up for a new take on the motor vehicle in advance of the upcoming Paris Auto Salon, and the product is what you see before you.

A collaboration between French automaker Citroën and French sportswear label Lacoste, the show car eschews such frivolities as doors and a roof in favor of a more open-air approach in keeping with Lacoste’s design ethos. In designing the concept, Citroën says they adopted “a simplified, no-nonsense approach to motoring – without forgetting refinement – and transports passengers to a lighter, fresher world.”

The compact vehicle is (in concept at least) powered by a small 3-cylinder engine, which they reckon would be plenty to propel the vehicle at a brisk pace without unnecessarily polluting the air it so embraces.

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Michael Stoschek’s Wild Child:The New Lancia Stratos

Posted on 25. Aug, 2010 by AllPurpose.

The Lancia Stratos is a racing legend and auto icon, winning the World Rally Championship from 1974 to 1976 and still making auto enthusiasts go all reverential when it comes up in conversation. Four years ago a wealthy German businessman named Michael Stoschek decided he wanted a new one, so he called Pininfarina and had them design it. Presumably, he then wrote a check with more zeroes than a Japanese WWII aircraft carrier. That is why today we have that malevolent ebony wedge he is standing next to, the new Lancia Stratos.

The design was begun by Jason Castriota, designer of the Ferrari 599, then turned over to Luca Borgogno when Castriota left Pininfarina for Stile Bertone. The carbon fiber bodywork sits on the shortened chassis of a Ferrari F430. But having lost all that weight in the conversion from aluminum to carbon fiber yet still using the F430’s 483 horsepower engine, the Stratos should be monumentally fast.

There are 24 other wealthy folks out there who might get to find out whether that’s the case. Although Stoschek paid for the car’s development, Fiat is considering a limited run of 25 as a way to showcase the Lancia brand especially before it returns to America. Those who wish to be among that 25, assuming it happens, should know how to properly arrange these words: is, object, cost, no.

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Aston Martin DBS Carbon Black By Jeff Koons

Posted on 24. Aug, 2010 by AllPurpose.

Earlier this summer my colleague Noah Joseph reported on the BMW M3 GT2 painted by famed artist Jeff Koons as part of BMW’s renowned Art Car program. Now it seems Koons has adapted the design to the new limited edition Aston Martin Carbon Black DBS. Based on the top-of-the-line GT that serves as James Bond’s ride of choice, the Carbon Black edition features a unique black paint process designed to deflect the light at different angles, plus lightweight carbon-Kevlar seats upholstered in black leather with silver stitching, piano black trim, special wheels and more. We’re not sure why Koons’ design would be applied over the special black finish, but there you have it. Koons’ colorful pattern is meant to evoke “power, motion and bursting energy.” The Aston was spotted in the Netherlands and is slated to participate in The Challenge 2010 race at the end of this month.

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Monterey 2010 Pebble Beach Tour d’Elegance

Posted on 16. Aug, 2010 by AllPurpose.

While the skies were gloomy and even a bit weepy this year, at least we didn’t have fog like last year. The Pebble Beach Tour d’Elegance is one of our favorite events in Monterey every year, and it’s nice to actually see the cars. The Tour, if you’re not familiar, is an event that includes a large portion of the entrants in Sunday’s Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance, but as its name implies, the cars are moving. The best part is that it’s free to anyone with a lawn chair.

The cars leave the Pebble Beach grounds around 8:30AM and snake through 17-Mile drive, loop through Monterey and then head down Highway 1 to Big Sur before turning around and coming back up into Carmel for lunch. Mercedes-Benz was the sponsor this year so there were plenty of SLS, SLK, S Class, GL, ML… LMNOP models on hand to serve escort duty for the “real” media, VIPs and racers like Sir Stirling Moss, who led the whole parade in an old Gullwing. Nice cars for sure, but the Tour is also our first glimpse at what’s going to be vying for Best of Show on the 18th fairway at Pebble on Sunday.

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Worl’s Most Expensive Car Goes on Display

Posted on 04. Aug, 2010 by AllPurpose.

Back in May we reported on the ultra rare 1936 Bugatti Type 57SC Atlantic that set a new record as the world’s most expensive car when it changed hands in a private transaction valued at close to $40 million. Now the incredibly valuable vehicle is going on display at California’s Mullin Automotive Museum, an institution that celebrates the Art Deco and Streamline eras, adding fuel to insider speculation that the museum’s founder, financier, philanthropist and Bugatti boffin Peter Mullin, was the purchaser. The car, which has seldom been seen publicly, will go on display August 3rd. “I am honored to have the opportunity to display the Bugatti Atlantic at our Art Deco museum,” Mullin says. “The Art Deco Movement was driven by people who were fascinated by invention and innovation – by the exotic nature of new technology and materials, by art and design, by speed and by the machine – no automobile captures this spirit more than the Bugatti Atlantic. In the historic pantheon of automobiles the Atlantic is without peer.”

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Walley Supercar Concept For The Superyacht Set

Posted on 03. Aug, 2010 by AllPurpose.

Monaco-based boatbuilder Wally, known for its avant-garde yacht designs, is responsible for some of the most eye-catching craft plying the waters. As we reported last year they also make some of the world’s coolest high-performance skis. Now Matthew Hockham, an automotive design graduate of the UK’s Coventry University, has come up with a Wally supercar concept inspired by both of the company’s passions. Hockham’s brief was to take Wally’s distinctive design language and apply it to a suitably high-end and high-tech automotive concept. “The aim is to bring the essence of Wally onto the land and offer an exclusive user experience,” he tells Car Body Design. Hockham’s design uses Wally’s trademark futuristic form language with sharp edges, black glass surfaces and hi-tech gray tones. The side profile was inspired by the lines of the stunning 118 WallyPower yacht. The interior makes extensive use of carbon fiber and teak, two materials used widely by Wally, and the elongated chassis is especially designed to transport a pair of Wally carbon fiber skis.

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Porsche Parade In Atlanta

Posted on 24. Mar, 2010 by AllPurpose.

This past Sunday, Porsche Cars of North America and the Porsche Club of America organized a parade of over 100 Porsches to drive from the Georgia Governor’s Mansion to the Atlanta High Museum of Art. Starting this week the museum is holding the Allure of the Automobile Exhibition, which as my colleague Jeremy Korzeniewski reported will feature Porsche’s historic one-off Type 64 coupe which for the first time has left its home at the Porsche Museum in Stuttgart for a three month loan to the museum. The Type 64 was designed by Ferdinand Porsche in 1938 and was to be used for the Berlin to Rome endurance race, but because of World War II, that never happened. The designof the car served as influenced for future models including the Type 356 and 911. In this video the CEO of Porsche Cars North America, Detlev von Platen, discusses the importance of the Type 64 for the Porsche brand and its significance for traveling to Atlanta. It also includes footage of the first 2010 Porsche GT3 RS to arrive in the United States.

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