Auto & Car Blog

Filed under: Sports/GTs, Paris Motor Show, Supercars, Citroen, Toys

Citroen has let slip another drip in the GT by Citroen reveal, and this time it’s a video showing off the dramatic shapes of “The Drive of Your Life.” Dig those mirrors, and the glasshouse swept back in monumental fashion. Whatever is pushing the car’s massive rims apparently needs a lot of air, with two raked scoops behind the canopy and two more on the sides ahead of the rear wheels. And the rear end of the car looks like — dare we say it — a tail… It’s Mach 5 if the car comes together like we expect, or platypus if it doesn’t. The Paris Motor Show reveal is in but a few days, and you can mark us down as officially excited. Check out the video after the jump and more teaser pics in the gallery below. Thanks for the tip, Nick!

[Source: Gran Turismo]

Continue reading VIDEO and new PICS: Citroen GT in stereoscopic darkness

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Filed under: Etc., Paris Motor Show, Citroen, Toys

The cloak on the GT by Citroen has been pulled back again to reveal a little more sheetmetal. Call us crazy, but we have the feeling this car is going to put the “Whoa, that’s wild…” back into concept cars. This little corner shows off two vastly different personalities: look at the center structure and it could be any pleasant Frenchmobile — a 2CV even; scan out to the sides, and it’s got the kind of vicious appendages of a predator. Then there’s that diffuser hanging out there like an arctic steppe, mirrors that are 18 inches long, and a tapered rear end that can’t possibly stay planted without some aero aid on scaffolding. For all we know, the car could be hiding nine or ten other personalities, as well. We can’t wait to see it.

[Source: ZerCustoms]

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Filed under: Concept Cars, Sports/GTs, Paris Motor Show, Supercars, Citroen, Toys

The Citroen GT striptease continues with a more revealing image of what looks like a rip-snorting concept car. Huge tires, a ginormous front splitter meant to keep something seriously fast bolted to the ground at speed, enough front air intakes to break records, and that thing out back, which we thought were mirrors yesterday, must be a terrific wing. As they say in French, oh la la, c’est cool. Meant to appear in Gran Turismo Prologue, it will also be at next month’s Paris Motor Show, and so will we, so stay tuned. In the mean time, you can check out both high-res images in the gallery below.

[Source: ZerCustoms]

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Filed under: Coupes, Sports/GTs, Etc., Euro, Bentley

A 550-horsepower Bentley? A winter vacation in Finland? Sounds like the perfect combination, and the boys at Bentley have got it hooked up with the Bentley Ice Driving Experience.

Plenty of upscale marques offer advanced driving courses to show you how to get the most out of your shiny new toy, but Bentley’s program blows snow right in their faces. Professional instructors put participants behind the wheel of an all-wheel-drive Continental GT coupe and “take you and the car to the limit and safely back again” on frozen lakes. They’ll also throw in some snowmobiling in the snow-blanketed Finnish countryside. After an experience like that, we’d bet black ice and unplowed highways will seem like child’s play Check out the details at BentleyMotors.com

[Source: 4DriversOnly via German Car Blog]

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BOLD MOVES: THE FUTURE OF FORD A new documentary series. Be part of the transformation as it happens in real-time

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Filed under: Coupes, Sports/GTs, Geneva Motor Show, Maserati

Click on the image above for high-resolution

It’s been a regular Maserati love-in over here these past few days. First we got a teaser sketch of the coupe designed by Pininfarina. Then the Trident marque gave us three images of the stunning new GranTurismo in advance of its Geneva debut. Then we brought you the MC12 XX by Edo Competition. And now Maserati has hit us with the press release for the GranTurismo and an additional profile shot. It must be Christmas time for fans of the house that Alfieri built.

The press release confirms certain details about the stylish new coupe and reveals others. The 4.2-liter V8, derived from the Ferrari-designed engine in the Quattroporte, gets a power spike of 9 horsepower up to 405. It’s driving through a fully automatic gearbox - presumably the new ZF unit recently placed in the Quattroporte - but we’d speculate the paddle-shifted sequential will find its way in their eventually despite the anticipated availability of paddle shifters on the torque-converting auto-box. Weight is distributed, as reported, in an ideal 49/51 rear bias. The styling was penned by Pininfarina’s American wonderboy Jason Castriota, the same guy responsible for the design of the Ferrari 599 GTB Fiorano and the custom Enzo-based P4/5 one-off.

The GranTurismo’s launch at this year’s Geneva show marks the (approximate) 60th anniversary of the launch of Maserati’s first road car, the original Gran Turismo, which was also designed by Pinin Farina (in an era when words were separated by spaces).

Follow the jump for the press release, or click on the gallery below, where we’ve added the new profile shot seen above.

[Source: Maserati]

Continue reading GranTurismo: Maserati releases details

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BOLD MOVES: THE FUTURE OF FORD A new documentary series. Be part of the transformation as it happens in real-time

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Filed under: Sports/GTs, Maserati

The Maserati festival just won’t stop here at Autoblog as the news keeps on rolling in about the Trident marque. After dropping the new GranTurismo on us, industry analysts are speculating on what the next steps could be for Maserati.

Earlier reports were based on the identification of two test mules caught in different forms. That led to speculation that Maserati was working on two separate two-door models: a 2+2 GT (the GranTurismo just unveiled), a Spyder variant (based on the GranTurismo) with a cloth roof, and a separate four-seat cabrio with a retractable hard-top.

[Source: Motor Authority]

Continue reading What’s next for Maserati?

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BOLD MOVES: THE FUTURE OF FORD A new documentary series. Be part of the transformation as it happens in real-time

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Filed under: Coupes

Production of the Artega GT is set to begin later this month and even though the budget Cayman competitor is limited to 500 units per year at the automaker’s current plant, Artega has plans to expand beginning with new variants of the GT.

Within the next two years, Artega will offer a lightweight, four-cylinder version likely to be powered by one of Volkswagen Auto Group’s turbocharged 2.0-liter engines, while a soft-top is slated to go on sale sometime in 2010. The current production center can’t handle the increased capacity of two additional models, but an Artega exec says that the company owns enough land to build an extension next to the main plant.

Speaking with CAR, Karlheinz Kalbfell said, “Mid-term U.S. sales are a must. But since we need to prepare ourselves well for this important move, late 2010 looks like the earliest possible date.” That’s about the same time the convertible should be available, and according to Kalbfell, since “roadsters have traditionally always done well in the U.S.”, it would be the perfect time to launch the brand in the States. Needless to say, we’re looking forward to getting behind the wheel.

[Source: CAR]

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Filed under: Aftermarket, SEMA, Tuners, Coupes, Bentley

What does SEMA mean to you? For most of us, it’s a place for the country’s top tuners to show their wares to a power-hungry public. But the dark side of SEMA never ceases to rear its ugly head, and further proof will be available at the Toyo booth where the Tetsu GTR Bentley Continental GT will be displayed.

The unholy brainchild of Japanese tuner ASI features a custom carbon fiber wide-body kit that makes ASMA’s unfortunate creations look demure in comparison. The two-tone paint scheme… uhhh… compliments the massive haunches, deep side skirts and GT-style wing, while 22-inch blingalicious rollers prove that chrome is still in high demand… unfortunately.

According to Modified Luxury and Exotics, only 29 Tetsu GTRs will be produced, each putting out over 800 hp. We’ll be on hand to provide live shots of the other five vehicles featured at the Toyo stand, assuming our camera lens doesn’t crack when we zoom in on the GTR’s gaudy fascia.

[Source: Modified Luxury and Exotics]

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Filed under: Spy Photos, Coupes, Sports/GTs, Maserati

First there was the Maserati Gran Turismo. Then came the Gran Turismo S. Then came spy shots of a Gran Turismo Spyder. And now we have spy shots of a low-down, one-seater, roll-cage and plexiglass-window equipped Gran Turismo Trophy edition sporting three huge holes in its hood. The Trophy version is said to have 413 hp, which is down from the 440 hp of the S — but it would also be a lot lighter. Claimed to have a new ECU and exhaust, the car gets from zero to 62 mph in just four seconds. As best we can tell from the translation, this naked Gran Turismo Trophy edition is meant to compete with the Porsche GT3, or to compete in a U.S. racing series. While we find those possibilities a little odd, they must have built it to compete with something, and no matter what that something is, we say bring it… Follow the link for more spy shots of the race-ready Maser.

[Source: Autofun via Auto Blog Italy (no relation)]

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