La Dolce Veloce

The moderately good looking Ultima GTR recently set a new record for accelerating to 100mph and immediately braking back to 0. The GTR accomplished this feat in under ten seconds (9.8, to be exact)!! Zero to sixty was accomplish in an astounding 2.7 seconds; power came from a 685hp Chevy V8. Read more at Edmunds.

According to this story, the Supreme Court of Connecticut has ruled that a rental car company cannot fine their customers for speeding. The company was using a GPS system to monitor the vehicle’s speed and location, charging $150 if the vehicle exceeded 79mph for two minutes. While the court did not rule that this use of technology was illegal, they stated that the fine was excessive and was not justified by the amount of extra wear and tear the vehicle was subjected to, as the rental company claimed. This is a minor victory though; expect to see more GPS-based law enforcement in the coming years.

From Brazilian car company Lobini comes the H1, a Lotus Elise-like open top sports car. Powered by the 1.8 liter turbocharged four cylinder VW motor, it’ll scoot to 60mph in six seconds. Somewhat slow compared to the Elise (comparable hp, but 4.9 seconds to 60). For the price though (~$25k) it’s a good bargain. Unlike the Elise, you can even store the hardtop on on the car when you remove it!
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The P8 supercar, a joint project with McLaren, is back on track. This V8 powered (a 6.3 liter, 500hp engine from AMG) supercar will likely cost around $200k, so start saving now. More info can be found at AutoWeek

Fans of the Smart Car rejoice! Zap is continuing its plan to import the Smart ForTwo into the US. They’ll now have the advantage of not having to compete with Mercedes for Smart car sales. Zap has accumulated around $200 million in orders for the Smart Car, but there’s no official word on when they’ll start selling.

The ‘young and hip’ buying demographic is one that many automakers pursue with new brand names and fun images. BMW has Mini; GM has Saturn; Dailmer-Chrysler has Smart. Well, the official word now is that they’ve canceled all plans to bring the Smart brand to the US, and the US team that had been working on the project is being dismantled so the future is truly bleak. AutoWeek has the full story. Yes, the Smart ForTwo is tiny, but Smart’s US launch was to be led with the larger FourMore model the company offers (which kinda sucks compared to the ForTwo, but that’s a different issue).

BMW was recently caught testing an M version of its Z4 raodster at the Nurburgring. The car will have around 350hp, provided from either a V8 or inline 6. Like other M series BMWs, the Z4M has subtle changes to the body (front and rear mainly) to differentiate it from its more ordinary siblings. More info can be found at The Car Connection.