Porsche Panamera will be officialy presented in Auto Shanghai 2009

When things change, intelligent companies also change. All big car presentations usually take place in Europe, Japan or the USA, but Porsche has decided to officially present its new four-door coupé, Panamera, at Auto Shanghai 2009, in China, which happens from April 20 to 28. A nice move, considering China will not take long to claim the title of biggest car market in the world, both for common and luxury vehicles such as Panamera.



The new four-door coupe will be 4.97 m long, 1.93 m wide, 1.42 m tall and will present a wheelbase of 2.92 m, more than enough room for the four people it can carry. In the boot compartment, 450 l will also hold well all the luggage from these four people. If it is not, back seats can be put down and increase the luggage compartment to up to 1,500 l. If not even this solves the problem, there is always Cayenne and its towing capacity to help.

Although Panamera can be a daily basis use car, it also has to preserve all sportiveness Porsche is well known for. Its base engine will be a 3.6-litre petrol V6 able to produce 300 bhp, with direct fuel injection. In the middle buyers will find the 4.8-litre V8 that produces 400 bhp, which will be used in Panamera S. These two versions will be rear wheel driven. As for the top version, Panamera Turbo, the V8 engine will be turbocharged to reach 500 bhp and traction will be promoted by PTM (Porsche Traction Management). In other words, it will an be all wheel drive option. All versions will be able to use Porsche's seven-speed dual-clutch manual automated gearbox, PDK.

In the future, Porsche also intends to offer a Panamera Hybrid, with a V6 engine mated to an electric engine. This hybrid powertrain will be able to deliver 350 bhp. The German automaker denies a diesel version for Panamera, but European markets may demand it, as they already have with Cayenne.





Source: Porsche

Bugatti Type 57S Atalante emerges after years in a garage

Only 17 Bugatti 57S Atalante have ever been produced. One of them, with the chassis number 57502, was finished in 5 May, 1937 and sold to Earl Howe, British Racing Driver's Club's first president, in 9 June 1937. How would you feel if discovered this car was in your family's garage? Well, this is what happened to Harrold Carr's heirs when Mr. Carr died. Check below how the car has been found.



Mr. Carr bought it in 1955 from Lord Ridley and drove it a few times, but decided to park the car in the 1960's and never drove it again. It is probably because of this the car has such a low mileage, with only 26,284 km on its odometer.

Now this fantastic piece of automotive history will be sold in Bonhams' Retromobile sale in Paris on 7 February 2009. The estimated minimum price for it is 3 million euros, but this is a very conservative idea of price, given the exclusiveness and the state in which the car currently is.













Source: Bonhams via AutoBlog

Ford will reveal the 2010 Mustang Shelby GT500 in Detroit

Besides the green cars, such as Fisker Karma, Detroit Auto Show will also have pure combustion power, presented in the skin of 2010 Mustang Shelby GT500. The new looks are not the only new stuff about the pony car. It also features a revised 5.4-litre V8 able to produce 540 bhp and 692 Nm of torque.



With the new engine output, the dual-clutch gearbox has also been revised. It now features a different disc engagement system that improves drivability. Fifth and sixth gears are also longer, what allows the engine to work in lower revs and saves fuel. According to Ford, the car is 1 km/l more fuel efficient on roads than the current vehicle.

All changes have taken the current Shelby GT500KR into consideration. Therefore, suspension is stiffer. Wheels are now 19-inch forged aluminum on the coupe and 18-inch forged aluminum in the convertible. Nice shoes for such a strong car.














Source: Ford

Huet Brothers fulfill their dream with HB Special

Two Dutch brothers, Tino and Paul Huet, have been raised among precious cars, such as Bugatti and vintage Alfa Romeo. When they grew up, Paul became a pilot and Tino, an art director, but they wanted to do more of their lives. That's why they have founded the Classic Drivers’ Club of Netherlands (www.classicdriversclub.nl), a place where all associates get the right to drive special classic cars, such as a Porsche 356 B, in rallies all over Europe and Africa. Since some of these vehicles are really rare, the Huet brothers came up with the idea of building a vehicle of their own, able to perform as a classic, but with modern time solutions. This is how they decided to build the HB Special, back in 2005. This was what I had in 2006, when I first spoke to them and wrote the article Experiência para poucos, something like "Experience for few people". The car was still a dream. Now, it has been completed and you can see it in carbon fibre and aluminum below. And what a gorgeous piece of engineering they have managed to achieve:



The HB Special uses a chassis and an engine from Triumph TR6. The first one was chosen because it allows the use of independent suspension in all four wheels, while the second came along because it was an efficient and light engine. Originally it was a 2.5-litre six-in-line engine that developed between 105 bhp and 150 bhp, but the Huet brothers have bored it up to 2.7 litre and it now develops 180 bhp.

Among other changes, its flywheel has been lightened to make the engine rev up with more disposition and two SU carburetors have been used, since they adjust to different pressure conditions, something important when we speak about a car made to run on mountain roads. It may not seem very much, but, considering the car's weight, it is more than enough. The HB Special had a weight goal of 750 kg. The final production vehicle weighs only 711 kg. Since the car has not been created to break speed records, but to corner in a special way down and up mountain roads, their goal has been achieved.

The body of HB Special is made of carbon fibre, what makes it weigh only 23 kg. Brakes are almost the same ones used by Triumph TR6, but they have been improved, with bigger drums in the back and four-piston calipers for the front discs.

HB Special will not be sold. It will be a special part of the events HB Brothers plan to promote in a short period of time, in 2009. There will be only 12 vehicles, since the Huet brothers have two trucks to transport the cars and each of them can carry six cars. The limited number of HB Special also has to do with the fact the events were planned to be very exclusive.

Anyone interested in taking part of them has to contact the company and choose a country in which to take the journey. Some may even choose to take part in all 12 events that are being planned. According to Huet Brothers' website, there are confirmed routes through Italy and Norway, but they will also be in Spain, France, England, Scotland, Sweden, Germany, Switzerland and Austria.

Clients have to meet at one of the chosen hotels. There they will receive a box with their names on it. It contains a classic racing overall, gloves, shoes, helmet and goggles. There are two clients for each car.

Since the idea is to have a vehicle that behaves as a classic, even being a modern one, fine-tuned by Gijsbert van Lennep, a famous racer in the Netherlands, there are no safety equipments such as ABS, airbags or any sort of electronical assistance. Not even bumpers. Seat belts are abdominal to keep you firmly against the leather bucket seats, but a front crash agains the aluminum panel would cause some serious damage, something that could also happen in an original classic car, by the way. This must be why the Huet brothers ask their clients to take really good care of the cars. If the car is well, its occupants will also be.













Source: Huet Brothers

Fisker will present the convertible version of Karma in Detroit

Detroit Auto Show was supposed to have only one big star among its presentations, the production version of Fisker Karma, but there will be at least one more big attraction. And it also comes from Fisker. It is the concept vehicle Fisker Karma S, presented below in this teaser picture.



What the picture teases is the presentation of a convertible version of Karma, already promised and quickly fullfilled. S stands for Sunset. And is there a better way to watch a sunset than inside a gorgeous car? Pay attention, in the picture, to the lack of a B column.

Karma S will also be a plug-in hybrid vehicle, although we prefer to name it an electric vehicle with extended range provided by a combustion engine. The powertrain comes from Q-Drive, a company that has developed it exclusively for Fisker. Besides the output, up to 408 bhp from its two electric engines, the car can also run 80 km only with the full charge of its batteries. When this charge starts to be depleted, a 260 bhp 2-litre turbo Ecotec engine starts to recharge the batteries back. Since the idea is to have minimal fuel use, it is still a mistery why Fisker decided to use such a powerful combustion engine for recharging, but we will surely get a reasonable explanation for that at the company's press conference, in January 12.

Source: Fisker