La Dolce Veloce

Here’s a computer enhanced (uh, computer generated?) image of what the VW Scirocco is expected to look like when it is unveiled in 2008. Let the drooling begin… (source: autobild)

Is this the next Lamborghini? I sure hope not, though Autobild.de seems to think Lamborghini’s rumored four seater coupe will look something like this. When I was a young kid, I like playing with cars, but they weren’t much more than toys to me. At the state fair one year, I saw a poster of a Lamborghini Countach and bought it. For the next ten years, I was completely obsessed by the Countach, my walls covered with Countach posters, my shelves full of plastic Countach models that I assembled and painted myself. While my tastes eventually broadened, the moral of the story is that I feel a company like Lamborghini needs their product to have an effect like that, the product needs to harken back to the early days of the company where it was ground breaking, stunning design. The models they produce these days are nicely designed, but they lack the impact they once had (‘Countach’ is roughly translated as ‘holy cow’, and the car was supposedly named that based on the public’s reaction when the car was unveiled).

Auto Bild has posted images of what is supposedly the next BMW 7 series (or else is a very convincing Photoshop job). The controversial styling has been toned down a ton to a much more beautiful level.

The next generation Infiniti G35 will make its debut at the New York auto show next April, appearing as a 2007 model shortly thereafter. The changes are expected to be minor.

BMW has always done a good job of providing performance cars to people who also want a practical family car; the latest is a station wagon version of an M5 recently spied testing in Europe, packing a V-10 and pushing this family hauler to 60mph in under five seconds.

Pistonheads reports that Renault is working on a new rear wheel drive performance coupe, possibly based on the Nissan 350Z chassis. Expect it on the roads in Europe in a couple years; its chances of making it to the US are slim to none.

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.