La Dolce Veloce

Well, it’s quite a name for a car (the MINI Cooper S with John Cooper Works GP Kit), but then, it’s quite a car, and a car this small deserves a name that big! This MINI gets a power boost (to 218hp), and a minor weight reduction of 88 pounds (A/C delete option, no rear seats, less sound deadening). A limited slip differential is standard, as is stability control, larger brakes, special 18″ wheels, and bodywork modifications that include a pretty large rear wing. Read more about it over at the Mini blog Motoring File.

Looking a bit like a mini Dodge Viper, GM has unveiled this Club Racer concept based on the Solstice convertible. The Club Racer features add-ons targeted toward, you guessed it, amateur racers and those who just enjoy the occasional track day at their local racetrack. Upgrades include a hard top (umm, can the trunk still be opened with that design???), large rear wing, modified front and rear facias, new rocker panels (with cooling ducts for the rear brakes), venting on top of the hood to help extract hot air, and 18″ alloy wheels (though those look like stock Solstice wheels to me, not anything different). See the rest of this post for more pictures.
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For a while now, there had been a well known secret that Lotus’ parent company Proton was planning to build the next generation Lotus Esprit in Malaysia. Well, plans have changed, and Autocar confirms that Lotus is moving personal and tooling back to the UK and fully intend to build the Esprit and Europa there. See the rest of this post for the full story.
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The Car Connection published this sketch of the soon to be released Ferrari 600 Imola, based on some recent spy photographs they got their hands on (follow the above link). This model will replace the 575 Maranello, and is expected to arrive in 2006.

Italiaspeed has a nice gallery of images of the Fenomenon Stratos Roadster concept (link). Production of this concept is still uncertain, but odds are it’ll appear as a low volume, high priced car in a year or two.

Found over at NSX Prime is the translated version of a magazine article recently published in Japan, containing an interview with Mr. Uhera, the project leader for the current NSX, the S2000, and the next generation NSX. It contains some very interesting information, though skeptical minds should view this as an unsubstantiated source, it could be made up for all we know. Click on the link above for the original webpage, or see the rest of this post to see it copied there.
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Hans Lehmann caught some pictures of a lightly disguised Ferrari undergoing testing in Maranello. The F139 (the code name for the replacement for the 575M Maranello) in based on the 612 Scaglietti’s platform, and is due to be released in 2006. Click here to see the pictures (though they’re not all that exciting IMHO).