There have been rumors circling the interweb for some time regarding Nissan’s plans to bring back the much loved, much missed Silvia/240sx. There seems to be some some evidence to support these rumors too! Now, a website known as Rocket Punch Auto Blog claims to be in the know. Rocket Punch is saying that a new Silvia has gotten the green light by Nissan execs, and will make production by 2010 with a price point between ¥2,000,000 and 2,500,000 (Which roughly equates to $18,435 and 23,044 USD).

This is good news. A rear wheel drive, performance oriented yet low cost sports car is exactly what the market is missing. The word on the street as for the Silvia and 240sx is that it will be based on a shortened 350z platform, likely powered by a Renault engine.

Oh, it should be noted that the above images are just artist renderings, and not officially sourced by Nissan.

Sweet. Give us your thoughts.

[Source: Autoblog]

TechArt have passed operational development Porsche 911 Carrera 4 and Carrera 4S. The Tuning Studio has become famous for that is engaged in tuning of Porsche cars. The studio has developed special tuning programs which include not only external operational development of the car, but also internal For two models 911 Carrera.
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The award-winning Fiat 500, which has received countless honours this year, adds an extra important one this weekend ? its first birthday celebrations.

Although it only arrived in the UK in January this year, the popular supermini was first launched in Italy on 4 July 2007, and the Fiat Group is celebrating its anniversary with a series of bold, elaborate parties across the world, including the UK.

The date of this landmark occasion is especially significant as last year?s Italian launch of the car was exactly 50 years after the original introduction of Dante Giacosa?s classic post-war 500.

The UK party, hosted by TV presenter Alex Zane, is called the Fiat 500 PicNic and takes place at Alexandra Park, North London. It?s designed to be a traditional British summer outdoor gathering, but with a special 500 twist.

With invitations extended to more than 5,000 specially-invited Fiat 500 drivers and potential owners, this Saturday?s (5 July) PicNic initiative, which was conceived to share the passion and emotion of the huge Fiat 500 community, will feature live music, delicious Italian food and drink, outdoor games, big-screen sports coverage and special ?chill-out? zones for participants.

The London event is part of a series of global parties celebrating the hugely successful first year of Fiat?s iconic city car. Athens, Budapest, Copenhagen, London, Milan, Munich, Palermo, Paris, Rome, Rotterdam, Tokyo, Valencia, Hel, Liège, Zurich, and Cape Town are the chosen cities that, either in parks or on beaches, will welcome thousands of people brought together by the new car.

Music, art, and fun are the ingredients which will guarantee a successful event involving new Fiat 500 owners and those who are still waiting to get one (222,000 have been ordered so far).

This is a global initiative that we in Britain are delighted to be involved in,

says Andrew Humberstone, managing director, Fiat Group Automobiles UK.

It is everything that the new Fiat 500 stands for ? fun, excitement, freedom and the knack of bringing people together in a great atmosphere ? and I am sure the event will be a great success.

The London party will feature four special themed zones ? Energy, Entertainment, Chill and Children. The Energy Zone offers outdoor games, fun races and a volleyball competition, while in Entertainment there will be live music, jugglers, a giant screen and Fiat 500 interactive car configurators to try.

The Chill Zone is designed for relaxation with Tai Chi, head massages and hammocks all available, and the Children?s Zone will feature face painting, street theatre and games.

It’s actually made of cloth! Read more about it HERE.

Como ya dijimos en su día con motivo del lanzamiento de la nueva serie especial del Jeep Wrangel, la Rubicon Trail es la pista legendaria de los Estados Unidos, donde todo modelo que aspire a ser una referencia en los 4×4 para el mercado norteamericano deberá pasarla sobradamente para demostrar que no es cualquier todocamino todoterreno 4×4.

Y Toyota, como está dispuesta a demostrarle a los yankis que su Fj Cruiser es mucho mejor que los Hummers y Jeeps fabricados por estos, no podía dejar pasar la ocasión de preparar una intensa jornada por la Rubicon Trail en la que su 4×4 se merienda unas raciones de rocas, ríos y exageradas pendientes. Toda ella superada sin ninguna modificación mecánica ni en protecciones más que las que lleva de serie.

Atención en el vídeo al momento de atranque a la salida del río (min. 1:25), y es que esos neumáticos de serie no llegan a ser lo suficientemente eficaces en algunas situaciones extremas:

Este paseo por la Rubicon Trail se enmarca dentro de las rutas que realiza la marca por diferentes puntos de la geografía de los Estados Unidos dentro de su programa Trail Team; que ya cuenta con su serie especial del FJ Cruiser.

Fotos| Toyota

Vídeos| Youtube

En Culto 4×4 también puedes ver al Toyota FJ Cruiser en otras pruebas, o la serie especial dedicada al Toyota FJ 40, todo un clásico.

General Motors Corp is rushing to finish the production version of its Chevy Volt and plans to unveil a showroom-ready model of the heavily touted electric car in September, people familiar with the project say.

Battered by a deepening slump in sales and concerns about whether it can ride out the downturn, GM is counting on the Volt to break its costly association with gas-guzzling vehicles at a time when truck sales are tumbling and gas prices are near record levels.

GM is likely to complete the production version of the Volt by early August and plans to show it off in September, just when the embattled automaker celebrates the 100th anniversary of its founding, people familiar with the plans said.

A GM spokesman declined to comment on the timeline for its next announcements on the Volt, which will include naming a supplier for the vehicle’s lithium-ion battery pack, the single most expensive element of the vehicle and the component seen as critical to its success.

“Everyone is waiting for the next steps,” Rob Peterson, spokesman for GM’s electric vehicle program, told Reuters. GM designers and engineers are “getting very close” to a production-ready version of the Volt, he said.

GM showed off a concept version of the Volt in January 2007 but has retooled the look of the vehicle significantly since then, in part in order to improve its aerodynamics, representatives of the automaker have said.

GM has already shown a near-production version of the Volt to a Los Angeles-area focus group of consumers as it pushes toward production of the vehicle by late 2010 under a development plan the GM board approved in June.

By unveiling the final version of the Volt at a centennial observation in September, GM will be looking to shift the focus for investors and consumers from its current sales slump toward the more fuel-efficient vehicles it has in development.

The automaker, which saw its stock hit a 54-year low last week, is expected to use the circuit of major auto shows that begins with Paris in October to unveil a series of upcoming vehicles that will underscore its effort to move away from a reliance on light trucks.

VOLT: READY FOR ITS HOLLYWOOD CLOSE-UP

In a further bid to create buzz, the Volt is one of several GM cars set to make an appearance in the action movie “Transformers 2,” scheduled for release next summer, a person familiar with the matter said.

GM was heavily involved in the production of the first Michael Bay-directed “Transformers” film, released last summer, and provided a concept version of its 2009 Camaro for a central turn in the movie.

GM is designing the Volt to run for 40 miles (64 km) on a lithium-ion battery pack that can be recharged at a standard electric outlet. The Volt will also capture energy from braking, like a traditional hybrid, and feature an on-board engine that will be used to send power to the battery on longer trips.

GM is racing Toyota Motor Corp <7203.T> to bring the first plug-in car to the marketplace and has already featured the Volt in its advertising, part of a bid to improve the public image of the fuel efficiency of its car line-up.

Just as the Detroit-based automakers once rolled out limited-edition performance cars to create a buzz around their brands, the Volt has emerged as a kind of environmentally friendly “halo car” that GM hopes will have as much impact as the Prius hybrid has had for Toyota.

Two suppliers have been in the running to provide lithium-ion batteries for the Volt: A unit of Korea’s LG Chem <051910.KS> said last month that it was ready to supply batteries for the Volt, and German auto parts supplier Continental AG , adapting battery technology used by privately held A123 Systems, is also competing for the Volt battery contract.

The Volt marks one of the first attempts to adapt lithium-ion batteries, widely used in consumer electronics, for a car, although Toyota and others are pressing ahead with their own work on the same technology.

GM celebrates its centennial on Sept. 16, the anniversary of its founding by Billy Durant. It kicked off a series of events last year to mark the date, but those have been overshadowed by concerns about its performance and whether it has sufficient cash to ride out the downturn in U.S. sales.

GM’s U.S. sales are off 15 percent this year, and analysts expect the automaker to raise additional capital to shore up liquidity as it looks to turn around its U.S. operations.

After releasing a new type of sport bike named Honda CS1 (City Sport) about 2 monts ago, Honda plan to release a new type of automatic bike. The name of this newest automatic variant which sold in Indonesia is Honda Beat. It seems not so different compared to the former type, Vario. There still many characteristic features of Vario which sill implemented with this new type, such Side Stand Switch and Parking Brake Lock. In Thailand, this variant named with Icon.

Physically, the appearance is almost the same with Honda Icon. It also used 108 CC 4 stroke engine with CVT transmision. The available colours choice are Fusion Blue, Hip Hip Orange, Pop Pink, Hard Rock Black, Techno White, and Electro Red.

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