May 05

Supra Confirmed. MR2 a possibility

In 2007, Toyota showed a concept called the FT-HS (seen above) which it expected to put into production. Thanks to the GFC, the car never made it onto the road. Toyota never forgot the car or the direction they planned to go with it though, and it’s spirit lives on within the company. Some say it was the catalyst for the GT86.

Now, the FT-HS will live on, albiet in altered form, as the upcoming Supra successor.

Since the Supra, Celica and MR-2 were culled, Toyota have been without a sports car line. With Lexus’ LFA as a halo car and the GT86 as an everyman’s affordable sports coupe, the company has gone someway towards correcting that.

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May 04

Arrinera Supercar : LS9 Powered. Lee Noble on Board.

Polish company, Arrinera, is releasing it’s supercar to the public. At 116,000 Euros, it’s around half the price of a Ferrari 458 Italia.

What do you get for the money?

The first, and most obvious thing you get is Lamborghini-esque looks. The Arrinera looks like a mash-up between a Gallardo and a Murcielago.

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May 04

Join the 11 second club from the factory with the ZL1 Camaro

That’s right, GM has managed to rocket the ZL1 through the quartermile in 11.93@116 with the auto trans Camaro. The manual trans managed a slightly slower 11.96@117mph. That’s impressive considering you have a factory warranty behind you. Well provided your dealer doesn’t know you are actually at the drag strip.

Anyway, here’s a video of the feat from GM and hit the jump for the full press release.

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May 03

Police Chase Increases Sales of BMWs

A televised police chase that occured in Brisbane, Queensland, Australia has been credited with a significant increase in sales of the brand in that country.

On April 9th, 2012, a break-in occured at the garage of the Calebro family and the keys to both their white BMW X5 and also their black Z4 were taken.

The first Mr Calebro knew of his cars being stolen was seeing them being chased on the televison, with this news footage here :

The general public were apparently impressed with the speed, maneuverability and strength of the cars, with many new buyers to the brand in the last couple of weeks siting the chase as the reason for their purchasing decision.

They were also impressed with the treatment that BMW dealer, Westside BMW, provided the Calebros with while the insurance company got their act together on claims for the incident.

May 03

Holden-based Nascar for USA?

The next model Holden Commodore may underpin a new Chevrolet sports model for 2013, both on road and at the track.

General Motors representatives haven’t actually confirmed the presence of a new Chevrolet SS Performance model next year, but they’re not denying it very strongly either. Nascar race registration for the 2013 racing year of a new model racer along with GM telemetry computers, and in-car Satnav systems that mention the new “SS Performance” program are pretty strong indications.

As was the mention of the car, along with 13 other new models on Chevrolet’s OnStar website, before they realised their mistake and plugged the leak.

There’s plenty of clues that suggest the upcoming VF Commodore will be the car that forms the basis for the new vehicle.

The VF, like the VE before it, is a good match for American muscle car fans, with a large body, V8 engine, and rear-wheel drive.

The VE has already seen service in the USA badged as the Pontiac G8, and the Holden Caprice from the same platform has been tweaked to try and win a piece of the USA’s police car business. Because of these factors, the Commodore is already certified and ready for left-hand-drive sales in America.

Holden’s former president, Mark Reuss, is now the head of GM operations in the USA and he is a huge fan and supporter of Australia’s Commodore.

The “SS Performance” is expected to take over as GM’s Nascar flagship. A position which is currently held by the Impala. Jim Campbell from Chevrolet Performance Vehicles and Motorsports says “Team Chevy will be racing a vehicle based on a new nameplate to the brand’s lineup. We are keeping the wraps on the new car for now and will continue to prepare for next season by testing camouflaged vehicles”

Make of that what you will.

In the USA at the moment, the Caprice is heavily supported as a police vehicle by the officers that drive them, but convincing their bosses on the merits of purchase has been an uphill battle.

The VE Commodore on the other hand won plenty of U.S friends in the short amount of time the G8 was on the road before Pontiac closed their doors.

Time will tell whether the car truly is Holden-based, but what is certain is that the “SS Performance” road car and the Nascar are tied together. Which means we may well see Commodore bodyshells racing in more than just the V8 Supercar series soon.

Michael Adams for Infinite-Garage
Article Originally Produced for World Car Reviews

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