La Dolce Veloce

Out of production since 1999, the Nissan Skyline is still a well respected, legendary automobile…and now it’s returning to showrooms near you. Nissan will unveil yet another concept car hinting at what they’ll be selling in 2007 (to see sketches, click here), and test mules have been spied lapping the Nurburgring (though they’re wearing Infiniti G35 coupe bodywork). Lotus has been helping with suspension development. Unlike the previous GT-Rs, this new one WILL be officially available for sale worldwide (including the US). The price is expected to be around $80,000USD.

Automobile Magazine reports that Lamborghini is working on a new Miura, to go head to head with the Ferrari Enzo. They’ll be using a version of the chassis Audi designed for its upcoming LeMans coupe, which is itself based on the Gallardo. The motor will be Lamborghini’s V12, probably coupled to an all wheel drive system. The image above is an artist’s rendering from Automobile Magazine (November 2005 issue).

The Phénomène concept car, inspired by the Lancia Stratos (previously reported here) has been given the green light for production! British engineering firm Prodrive will be responsible for turning the concept into reality. Production will most likely be very limited (around 50 per year), so the chances of it coming to the US are slim to none. (from AutoExpress)

I recall once in college mentioning to my roommates that I had learned that the name of my car, Scirocco, was a Turkish translation of a name of a hot desert wind common to the area. From then on, my car somehow became known as the Hot Desert Turkey. In spite of that dreadful moniker, I loved that Scirocco for its character and fun driving experience. Volkswagen revived its 2+2 coupe in the early 90′s under the Corrado name, but later discontinued that due to lackluster sales. Is the market ripe for another attempt? Volkswagen apparently thinks so, and is rumored to be working on a new Scirocco for release in 2008. If/when VW actually builds this, it’s still not a certainty that they would export it to the US, though the success of a few other hatchbacks show that there IS a market, it just has to be done right and priced economically.

The Solstice was just recently released, but a turbocharged version was already sighted testing at the Nürburgring. The Car Connection reports that the car will have around 240-250hp and very minor styling differences (rear spoiler lip, for example). In my opinion, the Solstice is the first serious competition the Mazda Miata has faced since being introduced in 1990.

PistonHeads has some spy shots of what looks like a replacement for the Ferrari 575 undergoing testing around Maranello. Follow that link for more pictures.

Someone caught this photo of the Mitsubishi Sports Concept being prepped at, I believe, the Frankfurt auto show. This car is rumored to be a thinly disguised representation of the all new Evo X, marking this as a very significant unveiling for auto enthusiasts everywhere! Click ‘more’ to see the rest of this post and the picture.
Continue Reading »