Blog on 2040Parts

Want a 28% return on investment? Buy a Classic Ferrari.

The Wall Street Journal declares a classic Ferrari as a sound investment with returns in the last year averaging 28% on important models. It seems, especially if you’re a petrolhead, you can have your cake and eat it by investing in classic cars, and particularly in classic Ferraris, and not just see your investment on a balance sheet but in your garage too. The Wall Street Journal has been looking at ‘Treasure ASsets’ like fine wines, works of art and classic cars.

Alfa Romeo 4C finally on sale in 2013?

It seems the Alfa Romeo 4C may finally arrive in production guise at the 2013 Geneva Motor Show, and on sale soon after. First seen at the Geneva Motor Show in 2011 – when we expected it to go on sale in 2012 – the 4C has been rolled out by Alfa Romeo a few times since – even complete with ‘teasers’ when all that had changed was the colour – to keep up interest in a car that holds much promise but didn’t seem to be heading anywhere. But now, according to Autocar, Alfa Romeo has confirmed that a production version of the Alfa 4C will arrive at the 2013 Geneva Motor Show before going on sale – at least in Europe – later in the year.

Toyota Ha:Mo – Future City Transport?

Toyota is trialling their vision of future city transport in Toyota City with Ha:Mo using COMS single seat electric cars. With our cities getting ever more congested and pollution a big concern (the NOX and particulates), car makers and local governments are seeking ways to make getting around in a city kinder to the air. London has the ‘Boris Bikes’, but Toyota City – home of Toyota’s biggest factory – is trialling one of Toyota’s visions of future individual transport for our cities – Ha:Mo.

Fiat Bravo Xtreme at Sao Paulo Motor Show

Fiat has shown an extreme version of the Bravo – the Fiat Bravo Xtreme – at the Sao Paulo Motor Show in Brazil. With the exception of the 500, Fiat’s cars in Europe are not exactly on a roll. Nothing new is really happening on the new model front with Sergio Marchionne hunkered down to try and weather the sales slump, but things are a bit brighter for Fiat in South America.

India Grand Prix (2012) RESULT

Red Bull on the front row, McLaren on the second and Ferrari on the third. Can Vettel take another lights to flag win in the 2012 Indian F1 race? It was a nice simple starting grid for the 2012 Indian Grand Prix: Sebastian Vettel on pole with team mate Mark Webber alongside; Lewis Hamilton in third with Jenson Button alongside and Fernando Alonso in fifth with Felipe Massa alongside.

Lotus Evora 414E Range Extender EV moves forward

The Lotus Evora 414E – a Lotus Engineering range extender hybrid project – is still moving ahead with dynamic and durability testing now underway. On the surface the Evora 414E looked like every other Evora, but under the skin sat the first version of a Lotus range-extender platform with a pair of electric motors and a small, 3-cylinder range-extender engine promising impressive performance and economy. Despite the reveal of the 414E at Geneva in 2010, there’s not been a huge amount of news on Lotus pushing forward with the project, or at least not until we got the Infiniti Emerg-E Concept at Geneva this year that turned out to be underpinned by the Evora 414E platform.

New SEAT Leon goes in to production

The new SEAT Leon (2013) – revealed at the Paris Motor Show – has started production in Spain ahead of first deliveries in March 2013. SEAT has invested heavily in the Martorell plant in recent years – a shining light of success in a sea of Spanish manufacturing despair – with a £650 million investment in new facilities and R&D making Martorell a modern and efficient facility for the new Leon as well as the Ibiza, Altea and Exeo (and the Audi Q3). Not only has the investment in Martorell secured the jobs of 1600 Spanish workers (and four times as many in the supply chain), it promise more jobs too if the Leon turns out to be as appealing as it looks.

Ford aims at VW with new 2013 Focus ST video

We don’t do much complaining here at Autoweek—unless you’re clogging up the left lane—and overall we know we’re very lucky to be in our position. But we’re not quite as lucky as Ford factory drivers Ken Block and Vaughn Gittin Jr., who get an entire abandoned neighborhood to play around in with the new Focus ST. Block grabs the Focus and Gittin Jr.

New Range Rover (2013): The Reviews (+video)

Media reviews for the 2013 Range Rover have been going on in Morocco this week, so we have a round-up and video. Sadly, Cars UK didn’t get an invite, but that’s not going to stop us doing our own ‘review’ of what the lucky ones who did attend thought of the Range Rover. And we’ve also got hold of Land Rover’s B-Roll footage from the tests – designed to be chopped up and voiced-over for individual video reviews of the new Range Rover – so we’ve put that at the bottom for you to flick through.

Indian Grand Prix: Vettel on pole in Red Bull front row

Sebastian Vettel has taken pole position for Red Bull for the Indian F1 Grand Prix tomorrow. Team mate Mark Webber is in second place. Red Bull may have had an up and down season this year, but it looks like they’re coming good as the F1 season reaches a climax.

2013 Shopautoweek.com New Car & Truck Buyers Guide takes the stress out of shopping

Buying a new car should be an exciting experience, and today's dealer lots are packed full of quality vehicles offering a wider range of features than ever before. Don't let all the options overwhelm you. Count on the downloadable PDF 2013 New Car & Truck Buyers Guide from shopautoweek.com to help take the stress out of new vehicle shopping.

Lingenfelter Retrokit turns today's Camaro into classic RS

Ken Lingenfelter knows retro. When the fifth-generation Chevy Camaro came out in 2009, Lingenfelter Performance Engineering quickly designed and built a retro Trans-Am kit to transform the Camaro into a modern-day TA. Now, he's taking the WABAC machine even further to create Retrokits that make the new ponycar look like a 1969 Camaro RS.

Rumormill: Aston Martin Cygnet could get V12

A few years ago, if you would have asked us about 500-hp city cars, we would have said, “Awesome, but never going to happen.” We were proven wrong with last year's Nissan Juke-R and we may be proven wrong again with a V12-powered Aston Martin Cygnet. That's right, Autocar reports that Aston is studying the feasibility of taking the Toyota iQ-based Cygnet and shoehorning the V12 from its Vantage and DB9 models. Aston says it could fit the V12 in the tiny car's engine bay without major modifications.

2013 BMW M3 offered in Frozen Red, White and Blue

Hot on the heels of the BMW 6-series Frozen Silver Edition coupe, the company says it will build a Frozen Edition of the M3 in three all-American colors: red, white and blue. Last year the company produced Frozen black and Frozen silver versions of the hopped-up 3-series. Standard equipment includes: --BMW Individual Frozen red, white, or blue exterior paint --Competition package including: --Matte black 19” light alloy wheels --Electronic damper control --Lowered suspension (-10 mm) --Sport mapping for EDC and DSC --Premium package --Black Extended Novillo leather with contrast stitching in exterior color on seats, headrests, door inserts, armrests, middle console and door pulls.

Concept Car of the Week: Citroën C-Airdream

In the 1990s and early 2000s one of the most charismatic, brave and forward-thinking car makers, Citroën, had been reduced to the maker of budget, mainstream Euro boxes such as the Saxo and Xsara. The company hinted at its intentions to break free from its mundane existence as the maker of line-of-least-resistance rental cars with its Lignage concept in 1999 that harked back to its past large sedans, especially the CX. But it was at the 2002 Paris motor show that Citroën put a stake in the ground with its fabulously avantgarde Citroën C-Airdream concept.

Hyundai ix35 Hydrogen FCEV helps kick off EcoIslands Global Summit

The Hyundai ix35 Hydrogen Fuel Cell has helped kick off the EcoIslands Summit on the Isle of Wight promoting renewable energy for Islands. Maybe, now more and more car makers and suppliers are starting to lose interest in BEVs (Battery Electric Vehicles), we can look properly to future prospects for an energy source for powering the world’s cars? And none, short of cold fusion becoming a reality, offers more promise than Hydrogen, the most plentiful element in the universe.

McLaren 12C Spider sells out in 2 hours at Neiman Marcus

The Christmas car for 2012 from US retailer Neimann Marcus – the new McLaren 12C Spider – sold out in just two hours. And it didn’t take long for the 12C Spider to sell out when it went on sale this week, with all 12 cars snapped up in just two hours – all $4.25 million dollars worth. Neiman Marcus were offering their 12C Spiders at a premium of $85k over McLaren’s US list price for the 12C Spider of $269k, but they were throwing in flights to the UK to have dinner with McLaren’s Ron Dennis and a set of custom luggage.

Electric Cars not fit for the market say Car Industry bosses

Motor Industry bosses have said this week that the Electric car market is carnage and that EVs are not fit for primetime sales. We’ve made no secret of our views on electric cars: they’re simply not fit for the market. And now it seems motor industry bosses are finally standing up and saying much the same.

Will the new Ford Mondeo (2014) end up a re-badged U.S. Ford Fusion?

With the 2013 Ford Mondeo now becoming the 2014 Mondeo with the closure of Ford’s Genk factory, will Europe now get a re-badged US Ford Fusion? The Genk Plant makes the Ford Mondeo and the Galaxy and S-Max (which are built on the Mondeo platform) and, at its peak, was building over 300,000 Mondeos and over 100,000 MPVs. But by last year the Mondeo production had dropped below 100,000 mark and MPV production had dropped to 80,000.

Callum: JLR needs design studios in China and US

Jaguar and Land Rover are to open design studios in China and the United States as the two British brands look to better understand local tastes, according to Ian Callum, Jaguar Design Director in an interview with Automotive News Europe. The United States is currently the carmaker's second-biggest market after the UK, closely followed by China in third. To further tap into these markets is key for the long-term success of JLR and so it is following its competitors in opening up foreign design studios.

Dave Hilton, Camilo Pardo and Laurent Nivalle collaborate on new exhibition

David Hilton, Camilo Pardo and Laurent Nivalle have collaborated on an exhibition that brings together the worlds of automotive design, art and photography. 'ART FAIR meets Cars and Glamour: Sexy from the rear-view' opens at the Galerie am Brüsseler Platz in Cologne Germany on Saturday 27 October for a month. Check out the exhibition Facebook page for more details.

Driven: Volkswagen Golf Mk7

Walking up to the seventh-generation VW Golf, redesigned flip key in hand, you're in no doubt that this is a) new or – perhaps more importantly – b) a Golf. It's the "200 meter test" lead exterior designer, Andreas Mindt tells us and, while we're suspicious of the idea of self-conscious ‘iconic design', you have to concede he's right. In fact the Mk7 Golf's pared-back graphics and a return to a true two-box proportion create a more accurate vision of what we imagine when we think ‘Volkswagen Golf' than either of its two most recent predecessors.

Ford Transit production to end in Southampton

Ford is to close its Transit production facility in Southampton, ending more than 100 years of vehicle manufacture in the UK. Most UK car and van buyers still think of Ford as ‘British’, but even though Ford has been building cars in the UK for over 100 years, they haven’t built a single car in the UK for a decade. And now even white van man’s vehicle of choice - the Ford Transit – is being shipped off to Turkey.

Hyundai goes K-Pop and releases an album

Hyundai has teamed up with Korean pop stars to create an album of music inspired by the new i40, New Generation i30 and Veloster. We’ve loved the way Hyundai has moved its products on from  Halford’s special to mainstream credible in quick sticks, and their PR teams have been on the ball too with good initiatives and a willingness to make things happen. But we’re not too sure how effective a new album of music by Korea’s K-Pop stars – inspired, we’re told, by the new i40, New Generation i30 and Veloster – is as a marketing tool.

Bloodhound 1000mph World Speed Record attempt goes carbon neutral. Piffle.

Richard Noble’s Bloodhound Land Speed Record attempt will now be carbon neutral thanks to sponsorship by Carbon Neutral Investments (CNI). People like Richard Noble – leader of the Bloodhound Project aiming to break the 1000mph land speed record – are made of the same stuff as Spitfire pilots and Biggles, with a gung-ho approach to the inherent dangers and an inability to contemplate failure; British Bulldog Spirit at its best. So it seems almost sad that a proper Boy’s Own adventure like the Bloodhound SSC – a 133,000bhp rocket and jet powered racing car – should bow to trendy PC sensibilities by announcing it’s a ‘Carbon Neutral’ project.

New Kia Cee’d & Procee’d GT Turbo Geneva 2013 debut

Kia will launch the Cee’d & Pro_cee’d GT at the 2013 Geneva Motor Show with a 200bhp Turbo engine and cosmetic tweaks. We’ve already revealed that Hyundai are planning a turbo version of the i30 3-door (perhaps the Hyundai i30 R?) and Kia are following suit to with go-faster versions of the new Cee’d, new Pro_cee’d and, it appears, even the new Cee’d Sportswagon. The plan is to kick of with the launch of the Cee’d GT and Pro_cee’d GT at the 2013 Geneva Motor Show, with every possibility Kia will also launch a Cee’d Sportswagon GT later in 2013.

GM and PSA announce four joint vehicle programs

PSA Peugeot/Citroën and General Motors have confirmed they will develop four future vehicle projects as part of their ‘Global Strategic Alliance' as both parties grapple with dwindling sales and spiraling costs in the European market. The first is a joint program for a compact-class MPV for Opel/Vauxhall and a compact-class Crossover Utility Vehicle for the Peugeot brand. The second project has been confirmed as a joint MPV program for the small car segment for Opel/Vauxhall and the Citroën brand.

Ford to shut up shop in Belgium in 2014

Ford has revealed plans to stop producing cars at its production facility in Genk, Belgium in 2014. Production will move to Spain and Germany. Finally, the inevitable is happening – Ford is moving to reduce its manufacturing capacity in Europe.

Your new Volvo will drive itself by 2014

Volvo is ready to offer an autonomous driving system in their cars by 2014 that will drive the car for you in traffic jams. Every petrolhead on the planet will throw their hands up in horror at the news that Volvo are to introduce a semi-autonomous driving system in to their cars in 2014. But they shouldn’t.

Jaguar Land Rover Virtual Showroom

Jaguar Land Rover has developed a Virtual Showroom allowing customers to engage and interact with almost life-size cars. If you were at the debut of the 2013 Range Rover and new Jaguar F-Type in Paris last month you may well have seen Jaguar Land Rover’s new Virtual Showroom on display,  and it looks like JLR have big plans for their new high-tech way of exploring new cars. JLR’s Virtual Experience allows customers to interact with an almost life-size digital wall image of their chosen car, not just looking but interacting too.