Blog on 2040Parts

A look at Jaguar future products

Jaguar will launch the all-new F-Type roadster next year as a halo car for the English brand. The F-Type takes styling cues from Jaguar's iconic E-Type from the 1960s and is expected to compete with cars such as the Porsche 911, said Andy Goss, CEO of Jaguar Land Rover North America. "We have to make sure the F-Type has an emotional pull similar to the Porsche 911," Goss said.

Muscle cars rumble during Hot August Nights

The ground was shaking, but it wasn't from an earthquake. More than 6,000 classic cars, all pre-1972, descended upon Reno, Nev., for the 26th edition of Hot August Nights. This year's event was Aug.

Turbo version of Buick Verano priced at $29,990

The Buick Verano Turbo sedan will sticker at $29,990, including the $885 shipping charge, when it hits dealerships this fall. The Verano Turbo will use the same four-cylinder as the Buick Regal GS sedan but makes a shade less power at 250 hp and 260 lb-ft of torque. Additionally, it will get an EPA-estimated 20 mpg on the street and 31 mpg on the highway.

Alfa Romeo 4C convertible likely for 2015

Conventional wisdom holds that if you want to take on Porsche's 911, you need a convertible variant. And although Alfa Romeo's often marched to the beat of a wonderfully idiosyncratic drummer, it sounds as if it's hewing to general sporting-car rules of thumb with the 4C. According to a report in Britain's Autocar, sources have confirmed that a 4C convertible will follow the launch of the coupe by about a year.

Second Fisker Karma fire under investigation

Investigators hired by Fisker Automotive are looking into a Fisker Karma plug-in hybrid sedan that caught fire on Aug. 11 in a suburb outside San Jose, Calif. This is the second instance of a fire involving a Karma in the last three months.

Gilmore Car Museum surprises

What a difference a year has made at the Gilmore Car Museum. We have not been there since the new Genevieve & Donald S. Gilmore Automotive Heritage Center was completed last winter.

Chevrolet Trax revealed ahead of Paris Motor Show debut

The Chevrolet Trax – the Chevrolet take on the Vauxhall Mokka – has been revealed ahead of a debut at the Paris Motor Show in September. We reported a few months ago that we could expect the Chevrolet Trax at the Paris Motor Show, but ahead of that reveal Chevrolet has sent us some photos of the Trax and a few details. Effectively the Chevrolet take on the Opel and Vauxhall Mokka (and, for that matter, the Buick Encore), the Trax gets a a Chevy makeover for the front and back and the required rebadging.

Mazda3 & Mazda5 Venture Edition launched

Mazda has launched the Mazda3 Venture and the Mazda5 Venture Edition in the UK, with sporty styling and extra equipment. So far this year we’ve had the Mazda6 Venture Edition and the Mazda MX-5 Venture Edition to push buyers in to Mazda Showrooms, and now we get two more – the Mazda3 Venture Edition and the Mazda5 Venture Edition to add to the temptations. Both versions of the Venture Edition are based on Mazda’s TS2 specification with a bit of added sportiness thrown in for more showroom appeal, with a spoiler at the back, side skirts, a sports grill, privacy glass and Fogs.

Rolls Royce in the London 2012 closing ceremony

Three special Rolls Royce Phantom DHCs featured in last night’s Olympic closing ceremony – without the Rolls Royce logos. It’s been a good Olympic Games for BMW. They scored a big PR coup with the remote-controlled MINIs that gathered Javelins and discus in the field events, and they’ve managed to get Rolls Royce front and centre for the closing ceremony last night.

2013 Range Rover snapped barely disguised UPDATED

Just ahead of a debut at the Paris Motor Show, the 2013 Range Rover is running round the UK barely disguised. Update: The New Range Rover has now been officially revealed. Update: Looks like the 2013 Range Rover may be debuting at the Moscow Motor Show on 27th August, a month before Paris (see comments below).

Citroen DS3 Airflow Cabriolet heading for Paris

The Citroen DS3 Cabriolet - expected to be the Citroen DS3 AirFlow – will debut at the Paris Motor Show next month. The Citroen DS3 is still – three years on from its launch at the Frankfurt Motor Show in 2009 – one of our favourite cars. It looks good, goes well and has a Gallic charm that’s almost unrivalled.

Audi RS5, Ducati & Pikes Peak

Audi are running an RS5 at the Pikes Peak Hillclimb event in Colorado and taking the opportunity to showcase Ducati with a competition. The Pikes Peak International Hillclimb is a 12 mile hillclimb event held in the Pikes Peak Mountain Range in Colorado, with 156 turns and a climb to 4,720 feet. A test of any car (or motorbike).

Production of Peugeot iOn and Citroen C-Zero EVs halted

Production of the Peugeot iOn and Citroen C-Zero – both the Mitsubishi i-MiEV under the skin – has been halted by Mitsubishi. The Peugeot iOn EV arrived at the Frankfurt Motor Show three years ago and the Citroen C-Zero EV arrived a few months later, heralding PSA’s arrival in the EV market with a car based on the Mitsubishi i-MiEV. But the prices were frankly horrible at £33,155, more than four times what you’d have to pay for a Citroen C1 or a Peugeot 107 with the 1.0 litre petrol engine.

Are new car sales figures a fantasy?

A recent report from Germany claimed up to 30 per cent of new car sales were a fiction. Could the same be true in the UK? Despite the recession – and the lack of finance deals for a huge number of potential customers – new car sales in the UK seem to be rising inexorably.

Autoweek in review: The new BMW M3 draws controversy, Spyker takes GM to court, and the 2013 Honda Accord takes a bow

The upcoming 2014 BMW M3 is ruffling feathers with enthusiasts. The new car will initially be available as only a sedan with an automatic transmission, which has led Bimmer fans to message boards and comment sections to express their disappointment. Can BMW win them over?

A look at Mercedes-Benz future products

Are Americans ready to pay hefty prices for small, front-wheel-drive cars with features usually reserved for large German luxury cars? Mercedes-Benz is about to find out. Starting in the fall of next year, Mercedes will bring three, possibly four new compacts based on a new fwd platform to the United States.

Mitsubishi to recall i-MiEV to fix airbag sensor

Mitsubishi will recall 261 of the company's 2012 i-MiEV electric vehicle for a potential faulty airbag sensor. According to Mitsubishi, the front airbags could deploy late or not at all during a crash, due to a software compatibility issue. Mitsubishi will notify owners to replace the sensors if their vehicles are affected.

Jean Bugatti's final project realized 73 years after his death

Legendary designer Jean Buggati's final unfinished project has finally been realized by the Mullin Automotive Museum, 73 years after his death. The Southern Californian Museum is devoted to the preservation of French art and automobiles from the Art Deco era, and has announced that the 1939 Bugatti Type 64 Coupe Chassis #64002 project is nearing completion. The museum – alongside Stewart Reed Design of Pasadena and Automobile Metal Shaping Company of Michigan – has added the swooping coupé body to the original chassis based on sketches left unfinished by Bugatti at the time of his death in 1939.

Fiat 500 Colour Therapy added to UK 500 range

Fiat has added the 500 Colour Therapy – a retro-look Fiat 500 – to the model range in the UK. The Fiat 500 belongs to the same school of marketing as the MINI, so a new trim range to cash in on its ‘Homage to an Icon’ status seems an obvious route to garner a few more sales for the very likeable 500. Which is why the UK is getting the Fiat 500 Colour Therapy, a new model range that sits in the 500 line-up between the Pop and Lounge trim levels and comes in five retro-inspired colours - New Age Cream, Countrypolitan Yellow, Pasodoble Red, Volare Blue, and Tech House Grey.

Suzuki S-Cross Crossover Concept at Paris

Suzuki are teasing a new C-Segment Crossover ahead of the Paris Motor Show – the Suzuki S-Cross. We may still all be focussed more on the Olympics than the car world, but the Paris Motor Show is looming next month and the teases and announcement are starting to roll. This morning we had confirmation that the Jaguar F-Type will get its debut at Paris and now we have news of the Suzuki S-Cross Concept, a C-Segment Crossover come SUV which may be a replacement for the Suzuki SX4.

Jaguar F-Type Paris Motor Show debut: Official

We already knew that the new Jaguar F-Type would get its production debut at the 2012 Paris Motor Show, but now it’s official. Jaguar has mastered the ‘launch’ of a new car in the digital age, with endless teaser photos and videos, trickles of information, official ‘Spy’ photos and tempting new little revelations at appropriate intervals. And that process has been exactly the path the arrival of the new Jaguar F-Type has followed, from the F-Type Coupe as the C-X16 Concept through to the camouflaged F-Type Roadsters we’ve seen on film, on video and in the flesh.

McLaren fires a shot across the bow of the Ferrari F70

McLaren MD Antony Sheriff has declared V12 engines a thing of the past. Just as the new McLaren F1 and Ferrari F70 are about to be revealed. Seemingly out of the blue, McLaren’s Managing Director, Antony Sherfiff, has declared V12 engines the stuff of automotive history.

Suzuki S-Cross concept car (2012) teased ahead of Paris show

Suzuki today showed us the first glimpse of its new S-Cross concept car ahead of its debut at the 2012 Paris motor show. It's a compact crossover in the C-segment, aka a replacement for the Suzuki SX4 in its twilight years. This pair of teaser images show little of the S-Cross, but we can see a stubby five-door crossover in the mould of the Nissan Juke.

Banks and Dallenbach ready for Pikes Peak with 1,400 hp

Not content to rest on his laurels after developing new diesel engines for military applications, Gale Banks and his company Banks Power will run a 1,400-hp, 1,301 lb-ft methanol-fueled vehicle up the now completely paved course at the Pikes Peak Hill Climb, which is scheduled to take place Aug. 8-12. Banks teamed up with Paul Dallenbach and Leonard Arnold of Dallenbach Racing for the occasion.

Camouflaged Lincoln test mule spotted ahead of Woodward Dream Cruise

The best thing about Detroit—besides our stellar sports teams and sparkling reputation—is that the car industry lives here. In addition to the Detroit Three, nearly every maker has a presence in the Motor City. That means, among other things, test mules.

A look at BMW future products

BMW and Toyota have agreed to work on a sports car, fuel cells, electric-vehicle components and lightweight materials. The agreement underlined BMW's determination to make its new i electric-vehicle subbrand a success. It has built a special showroom for i vehicles in London and will do the same at its company-owned New York City dealership.

Porsche preps a Panamera wagon concept for Paris motor show

Porsche will preview plans for a Panamera-based wagon concept in September at the Paris motor show. It is set to provide telling clues for the direction of a production version that could arrive in several years. This would lend an additional element for increasing Porsche's sales as part of parent company Volkswagen's ambitious growth strategy.

Jaguar Land Rover say profits up again, but warns on Eurozone

Jaguar Land Rover profites rose by 7 per cent in the quarter to June end, but JLR warns that Europe’s financial woes will impact growth. Rising profits at Jaguar Land Rover are like Team GB Gold Medals – we’re starting to expect more every day. And JLR are still delivering.

Volvo Compare: A very useful car data comparison tool

Volvo has launched ‘Volvo Compare’, a very useful car data comparison tool, with data supplied by motoring experts CAP. Why didn’t we think of it? Volvo has launched a very good car data comparison tool – Volvo Compare – on their website allowing motorists to compare any Volvo model against any three other cars and get an instant display of features and prices of all four cars.

Toyota Yaris Hybrid joins the Europocar fleet

The Toyota Yaris Hybrid – Europe’s answer to the Prius C – joins Europcar Car Hire as the perfect choice for visiting London. Perhaps Europcar should have got the Toyota Yaris Hybrid on to their fleet a little earlier considering the number of visitors in London at the moment? But in future, visitors to London wanting a hire car will be able to opt for the Yaris Hybrid and save themselves London Congestion Charging.