La Dolce Veloce

The Car Connection reports that Mazda has confirmed it is working on a new coupe, positioned between the RX-8 and the MX-5 (Miata). We don’t know much more than that at this point, though it’s fairly certain that the car won’t use the RX-8’s rotary engine.

The concept will be shown at the Detroit auto show in January.

A 41 year old man died near Milan recently when he lost control of his Ferrari Enzo. Due to the incredible amount of damage the car received, I think it’s safe to say that he was traveling at a high rate of speed. Be safe out there, people! Just because your car CAN go fast, doesn’t mean it’s safe to do so…especially on city roads. You can read more about it, and see pictures (don’t worry, they’re not graphic), here and here.

Italiaspeed has a couple of nice galleries of Alfa Romeo Brera photos, looks like the ones recently released to the press I think. Go check it out here and here. Read more about this beautiful coupe at Italiaspeed.

Mallett is at SEMA showing off a V8 conversion for the Pontiac Solstice! They’re limiting production to 100 of these 400hp cars, and I have no doubt those will sell out quickly. It’s a very clean installation, and is a great choice for those wishing for more naturally aspirated horsepower out of the their Solstice (we all know a turbo or supercharger will be released soon, but there’s no replacement for displacement!). More info here.

Check this out…not bad for an econobox FWD car! Honda’s American division obviously had some fun with this one: 50mm wider track, 25mm lower, brembo brakes, 19″ wheels, carbon fiber everywhere, and a center-exit exhaust. No word on production, but there’s a chance some parts shown here will become available through dealers. More photos at Autoblog.

You saw it here back in May, but the Factory Five GTM made an appearance at SEMA, and there are more pictures for you to drool over (courtesy of autoblog). While technically a kit car, the level of sophistication in this model is impressive, it’s really more like a low volume production sports car. The GTM is powered by a GM motor mated to a Porsche 911 transaxle. The base price for the kit is $20k, though of course that doesn’t include engine, etc. More info at Factory Five Racing’s website.
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