VW HAPPY 60TH BIRTHDAY TO THE WORLD'S MOST POPULAR VAN

The Volkswagen Transporter was first produced in March 1950, making this month its 60th anniversary. The popular van has subsequently sold over 10 million units worldwide and gone through five generations of evolution. The latest T5 facelift was launched in the fourth quarter of 2009 and comes in styles such as the people-carrying Caravelle as well as the campervan California.


That first model, the T1, featured a four-cylinder, air-cooled, 1.1-litre petrol engine typically fitted at the rear end. It made 18 kW (25 PS / 25 bhp) and could muster a top speed of 97 km/h (60 mph) when really pushed.


In comparison the latest T5 model is powered by a 2.0-litre common rail turbo diesel unit pushing out between 62 kW (83 bhp / 84 PS) and 132 kW (178 bhp / 180 PS), and can run up to 192 km/h (119 mph).



Over the years the Transporter became an icon for both business and leisure use. From rock bands to fleet managers, to families of seven, people bought it for its generous interior space and comfort.

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Press Release

HAPPY 60TH BIRTHDAY TO THE WORLD'S MOST POPULAR VAN

Production of the Volkswagen Transporter van officially started in March
1950 and during the 60 years since then it has become one of Volkswagen
Commercial Vehicles' best-selling models globally, the number one imported
van in the UK as well as one of the most iconic and popular vans in the
world.

With over 10 million produced, the Volkswagen Transporter has evolved
through five generations of functional and practical bodystyles, each
representing the ultimate multi-purpose vehicle of its time and loved by
business and private users alike for transporting goods or people for work
or leisure. This unique heritage is the focus of the current ‘Evolution of
Van' advertising campaign for the new Transporter which was launched in the
UK in January.

The first T1 ‘split-screen' model was powered by a four-cylinder,
air-cooled, 1.1-litre petrol engine mounted at the back of the vehicle. It
produced 25 PS of power and had a top speed of about 60 mph. By comparison,
the new Transporter enjoys the refinement of Volkswagen's latest 2.0-litre,
common rail, turbocharged diesel engine, available with power outputs
ranging from 84 PS to 180 PS and a top speed of up to 119 mph, plus the
latest stability control systems and braking technology that would have
sounded like something from a science fiction novel 60 years ago.

Although the design has evolved over the years, the first and the latest
Transporter share the same badge on the front and the same design principles
of a generous loadspace and an enviable reputation for quality and
durability.

Similarly, comparing the latest Volkswagen California with a T1 campervan
shows that both make efficient use of the space available to create a
vehicle equally suitable for daily trips to work or the shops, as for
weekend escapes or continental capers.

Over the years, Volkswagen Transporters have endured challenging round
the world trips by enthusiastic travellers, been used as the preferred
choice of travel for rock bands since the 1960s to the present day, and been
relied upon by many businesses needing a fleet of delivery or passenger
carrying vehicles.

The first Transporter was imported into the UK in 1955, and the latest
version of the van as well as today's people-carrying and campervan
versions, the Caravelle and California, arrived in the UK this January, 55
years later.

Porsche Celebrates 60 Years of Production in Stuttgart-Zuffenhausen

Porsche is celebrating the 60th anniversary of car production in Stuttgart-Zuffenhausen.

Zuffenhausen has been Porsche’s home address since 1938 and more than one million Porsche sports cars have been built in Stuttgart since 1950.


The first Stuttgart built Porsche 356 rolled off the assembly line in April 6th. In 1950 a total 369 cars were produced. In 1952 company opened there a second plant. In 1956 the 10,000th Porsche 356 left the plant. Porsche Plant 3 was opened in 1960, also housing the Sales and Customer Service Departments.


In 1964 Porsche KG(company name at the time) took over the Reutter Coachbuilding and Body Construction Company with its workforce of approximately 1,000 employees, that helped increase the production of the 911 model series.


To celebrate this milestone, the Porsche museum will host a special exhibit with a series of early production photographs and the first 356 Coupe built in Zuffenhausen. The event runs from March 20th to May 9th.
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Press Release

Special Exhibition in the Porsche Museum from 20 March to 9 May 2010

Sixty Years of Porsche Production in Stuttgart-Zuffenhausen

Stuttgart. The home of today's Dr. Ing. h.c. F. Porsche AG, Stuttgart,
has a very special sound in the world of motoring: Zuffenhausen. Indeed,
Zuffenhausen is far more than "just" a production plant rich in tradition
for Porsche AG, since it is here in Zuffenhausen that the heart of the
Company beats to this very day. Zuffenhausen has been Porsche's home address
for more than 70 years and more than one million Porsche sports cars have
been built here in Stuttgart since 1950.

The Porsche Design and Construction office moved from Kronenstrasse 24 in
downtown Stuttgart to the new group of buildings in the District of
Zuffenhausen way back in June 1938. Right from the beginning, important
chapters in the history of the automobile were then written in Porsche's
home plant: This is where the first series of the car destined to become the
Volkswagen Beetle was built in 1938, followed in 1939 by the Type 64 as the
great-grandfather of all Porsche sports cars to come in later years.
Originally planned for the Berlin-Rome long-distance race, this aerodynamic,
highly streamlined sports car became the trendsetter for all Porsche models
to follow.

After the first few units of the Porsche 356 had been built in the
Austrian town of Gmünd as of 1948, Porsche returned to Stuttgart as a
genuine "car city" in late 1949. With the Porsche Plant in Zuffenhausen
still being occupied at the time by the US military, Porsche first rented a
production hall on the premises of the nearby Reutter & Co. GmbH
Coachbuilding and Body Construction Plant, starting to prepare production in
early 1950.

With the first Type 356 being completed in Stuttgart on 6 April 1950,
overall production up to the end of the year amounted to 369 units. The
success of Porsche's sports cars is borne out clearly not only by the
Company's sales figures, but also by the further expansion of the production
facilities in Zuffenhausen. The buildings forming Porsche Plant 2 designed
by the well-known architect Rolf Gutbrod were completed in 1952 and in 1956
the 10,000th Porsche 356 left the plant, which was consistently enlarged and
upgraded over the years. Porsche Plant 3 followed in 1960, also housing the
Sales and Customer Service Departments.

Immediately after the introduction of the Porsche 911, Porsche KG, as the
Company was still called at the time, took over the Reutter Coachbuilding
and Body Construction Company in 1964 with its workforce of approximately
1,000 employees. Today the complete 911 model series as well as models of
the Boxster series and all Porsche engines are built in Zuffenhausen.

The Plant is split up into the Bodyshop, Paint shop, Vehicle Assembly,
Upholstery, Engine Assembly and Test Dynamometers. To ensure flexible
production in a confined area, Porsche has developed special solutions
including multi-floor production in the Bodyshop and Vehicle Assembly. A
further special feature is that Porsche's series models are built together
with the racing versions on one and the same assembly line. As yet a further
highlight a new, particularly ecological Paint shop will be opened in 2011.
Currently being built in the direct vicinity of Plants 1 and 5, the new
Paint shop will be situated on the former premises of Dürr AG purchased by
Porsche in spring 2008.

The new Porsche Museum was opened in January 2009 as an additional pledge
to Zuffenhausen. Here, virtually on the Company's home ground, some 80
historical cars and exhibits from the history of the Company are presented
in an exhibition area of 5,600 square metres or 60,200 square feet. As the
most spectacular building project commissioned by Porsche, the Porsche
Museum has not only gone down in the history of the Company, but also
enriches the entire Stuttgart Region as an outstanding highlight in culture
and architecture.

The Porsche Museum is honouring the 60th anniversary of Porsche in
Zuffenhausen with a special exhibition: The beginnings and the ongoing
development of production at Zuffenhausen are being presented by a series of
photos in this exhibition from 20 March to 9 May 2010. A further outstanding
highlight is the first Porsche 356 Coupé built in Zuffenhausen shown for the
first time in the Museum after an unusual restoration process.

The Porsche Museum is opened Tuesdays to Sundays from 9:00 to 18:00. For
further information, see the internet at www.porsche.com/museum.

Motor Trend Classic resurrected, goes quarterly

We were just talking with a friend about his Volkswagen Touareg V10 TDI. "How on earth did you afford that?" is the highly sanitized version of the question we posed to him. Answer: He bought used, and then explained to us that he would never buy a new car again, no matter what. A decision that's fine by us, but which buff book is our pal going to read if he's unwilling to ever walk into a new car dealership again?


Meet – or re-meet as the case may be – Motor Trend Classic. The fine folks at Motor Trend tried their hand at this classic car thing a few years back in 2005 but were forced to shutter the magazine in 2006. But that was then (and they were trying to sell 12 issues a year. Correction: Motor Trend Classic launched with two issues in 2005 and then went to six issues for 2006). Motor Trend Classic every three months is now.


The cost to entry is a good bit higher than your standard car mag (roughly three times). However, the new magazine is (thankfully) largely free of advertising and it features a unique format and higher quality paper. Hence the high price: $14.95 per issue.


Also of note, Motor Trend will be using this weekend's Amelia Island Concours d'Elegance to relaunch the Classic magazine. In fact, Amelia Island will feature a special "Motor Trend Class" devoted to cars found on the cover of Motor Trend, including the gorgeous streamlined Norman Timbs Special seen above that graced the cover of the October 1948 issue. Pretty nifty.

Press Release

Norman Timbs Special Headlines First-Ever Class For The Concours

JACKSONVILLE, FL; MARCH 1, 2010 --- The Amelia Island Concours d'Elegance Foundation, Inc. announced today that it will feature a class devoted to Motor Trend cover cars of the past during the 15th annual Amelia Island Concours d'Elegance, March 12-14, 2010. It is believed to be the first time a concours has featured cover cars as a judged class.
The Motor Trend class will include:

• 1948 Norman Timbs Special - October
• 1948 Davis Devin - August
• 1949 Kurtis Sports Car - Issue 1, Volume 1
• 1951 LeSabre - March
• 1953 Hudson Italia Prototype - December
• 1955 Ghia Streamline X "Gilda" - September
• 1955 Flajole Forerunner - September
• 1956 Firebird II Concept Car - April

Motor Trend will use the Amelia weekend to re-launch Motor Trend Classic, a publication devoted to the great cars and automotive designs of the past, according to Matt Stone, the publication's new editor.

Headlining the class will be the Norman Timbs Special. Constructed in the late 40s over a period of about three years, it was the cover car for the October 1949 issue of Motor Trend. General Motors will be displaying the LaSabre, created by their famed auto stylist Harley Earl, along with their futuristic Firebird II Concept vehicle, which took a number of styling queues from the jet designs of the '50s.

"The idea for this class came about when I was talking with Ken Gross about displaying a large shot of the MT cover that featured the Timbs Special, and he suggested doing an entire class of cover cars; I thought that was a great idea," says Amelia Founder and Co-Chairman Bill Warner. "Besides the Timbs car, people will love the Hudson Italia and the Ghia Streamline X Gilda. In future shows, I can see us doing a class for many of the automotive magazines out there from hot rods to muscle cars."

Tickets for the 15th annual Amelia Island Concours d'Elegance are $45 for adults purchased in advance and $50 the day of the show. Students ages 12-18 are $20, and children under 12 are admitted at no charge when accompanied by a paying adult. Event tickets can be ordered in advance at www.ameliaconcours.org or can be purchased at the door.

From Concept To Reality: Ford's 2005 Mustang Coupe and Convertible

Ford's Mustang, the quintessential pony car, is one of the oldest nameplates in the business. During its 45+ year run, the Mustang has provided a variety of power trains under its hood, from 4-cylinders to coachbuilt (and Lamborghini-sourced) V10s.

It has also provided people with near-endless variety. From the mainstream Shelbys and California Specials (both of which have returned for up-and-coming red-light racers), to lesser-known variants like the Twister and High Country Specials, the Mustang has always offered something for everyone.

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SHELBY GT500CR PROTOTYPE MAKES FIRST APPEARANCE IN VEGAS

Classic Recreations 1967 G.T.500CR makes first public appearance in Las Vegas the same weekend as the NASCAR Shelby American Race


Yukon, Okla. (Feb 25th, 2010) - Less than four months after custom coachbuilder Classic Recreations announced the Officially-Licensed 1967 Shelby G.T.500CR continuation car program at the 2009 SEMA Show in Las Vegas, the first prototype made its debut in the same city but with a very different setting.


Details of the reborn supercar have been a closely guarded secret, but on February 25th, 2010, the first GT500CR prototype was photographed near the Shelby American facility in Las Vegas, prior to an all-Shelby weekend where car owners and NASCAR fans gathered to celebrate the legendary mark during the NASCAR Shelby American GT350 stock car race.


The G.T.500CR is the first official 1967 Shelby Mustang continuation car ever built, and each hand-built vehicle features a 427 cubic inch (7.0L) engine, model specific bodywork, custom paint and hand-stitched upholstery.
Every has an official Shelby serial number, badges and will be included in the Shelby World Registry. The prototype that appeared in Las Vegas is the 545 horsepower Performance Model, featuring a fuel injected, naturally aspirated engine, modern coil-over suspension with rack-and-pinion steering and more.


About Classic Recreations

Classic Recreations founder Jason Engel, and his company's team of skilled technicians and craftsmen, have been modifying and custom fabricating high-performance vehicles for more than 10 years. Each built-to-order G.T.500CR takes approximately four months (nearly 2,500 man hours) of painstaking assembly. Find out more about how to get your own hand built vehicle at www.1967fastback.com.


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eBay Find of the Day: C/D Pinto Project Race Car

Time was, automotive magazines used to do stuff that was awesome. This IMSA Pinto is evidence of that. Car and Driver built this car in 1974 to illustrate that racing on a big scale for a modest budget was possible.The car grabbed the pole position in half the races it entered that season and won outright at its second race at Charlotte. Surely more powerful than the emissions- and oil-crisis choked street Pintos of the day, this race car is better suited to road courses than hugging the wall at Talladega, but it's likely loads of fun either way.


Although the car itself is built from a ’72 Pinto, the team chose to use the larger 2.3-liter I-4 introduced in 1974, and had its block modified by Doug Fraser Racing Engines. A number of other changes, including a Corvette radiator, full roll cage, tall 4.10:1 and 4.30:1 rear axle ratios, and brakes and a steering box cribbed from a ’74 Pinto, were all part of the recipe.


Overall, the experiment was a success -- the Pinto won its second race (at Charlotte), and managed to garner two pole positions in the four races it was entered in. Although it was relatively underpowered, the car’s forte was handling, and it could more than hold its own on tight road courses.


The car had been sold off by Car and Driver back in 1974, and was subsequently restored by Don Sherman, now of Automobile Magazine, but a C/D alum, in 2005. Sherman had his nostalgic fun with the car before selling it to Fox Motorsports. Fox has added some more beans to the Pinto's powerplant, and now has it up for sale on eBay Motors. You've got seven days to scrape some dough together and go vintage racing in the car that started Pat Bedard's respectable – if short – racing career.

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Largest Parade of Alfa Romeos

To celebrate Alfa Romeo's 100th birthday, one of the Italian firm's UK dealers, Allams Alfa Romeo in Espom Surrey, attempted to set a new Guinness World Record for the largest ever parade of the brands cars this past weekend. To break the record, a minimum of 200 cars were required to take part in the two-mile drive.

Alfa Romeo owners responded to the dealer's call and on Sunday 7th February, a total of 312 cars including an Alfa SZ Coupe and a Spider 2000 Veloce, arrived at the Epsom dealership shattering the previous record.



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Lancia Delta HF Integrale EVO Stretch Limousine

With the popularity of the Subaru WRX and Mitsubishi Evo, it'd be easy to dismiss the likes of the Lancia Delta HF Integrale as a relic of the past. But make no mistake about it: The roadgoing version of this Italian rally machine is as exotic and desirable as any supercar to come from the same country. All the more reason, then, to be appalled at this unfortunate conversion job.


It appears that some garage in Italy has taken an Integrale (possibly two, according to reports), chopped it up and stretched it into a limousine. If you're thinking that an all-wheel drive hot hatch is the worst possible candidate for limo-ification, we're with you. Whether the conversion job retains the all-wheel drive system remains a big question mark, however, with power coming from either the Integrale's eight-valve 2.0-liter turbo four or the Evo's 16-valve version.


If the two limos are based on original Delta HF Integrale cars or on standard Delta hatchbacks, and if they feature the Integrale's four-wheel drive system or not are questions that we don't have the answers to.


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From Concept to Reality: Honda S2000 Roadster [Video]

Japanese manufacturers, residents of the BLAND unit in the trauma ward that is the modern auto industry (for the most part), put out some huge and extremely popular sports cars in the 90's.

Toyota had the twin-turbo Supra; Mitsubishi had the 3000GT VR-4; Mazda had the twin-turbo RX-7 and Nissan had the twin-turbo 300ZX and Skyline GT-Rs. And Honda? Well, they tried to pick a fight with Ferrari with their naturally-aspirated V6-powered NSX, but as for the common man? That's where the SSM concept stepped in, foreshadowing the S2000 roadster.

1995 HONDA SSM CONCEPT


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Mercedes-Benz museum showcases 120 years of automotive history

The Mercedes-Benz Museum is the only museum in the world that can document in a single continuous timeline over 120 years of auto industry history from its very beginnings to the present day. On nine levels and covering a floor space of 16,500 square metres, the museum presents 160 vehicles and over 1,500 exhibits. As a place of innovation, it also demonstrates that history can point the way ahead.


The exhibition not only presents the fascinating history of the Mercedes-Benz brand, it also affords illuminating insights into the future. This dual function is also reflected in the architecture of the Mercedes-Benz Museum, designed by the UNStudio of Dutch architects van Berkel and Bos, Amsterdam.


The building's interior is inspired by the double helix structure of the DNA spiral that carries the human genome. This in turn illustrates the Mercedes-Benz brand's philosophy of originality – to continuously create radically new products to advance the cause of human mobility.


During a two-hour tour of the exhibition, visitors experience a unique journey through automotive history. Transported by lift to the uppermost level of the museum, the visitor arrives back in the year 1886, where two museum tours gradually spiral their way down through the extensive collection and back to the museum exit.


The first of the tours consists of seven Legend rooms which narrate the chronological history of the brand. The second tour groups the wealth of vehicles on display into five separate Collection rooms, which thematically document the breadth and diversity of the brand portfolio and collection.


The visitor can switch from one tour to the other at any time. Both tours finish at the banked curve entitled Silver Arrows – Races & Records. The exhibition is rounded off by the Fascination of Technology display, which offers a glimpse into day-to-day work at Mercedes-Benz and also presents topics concerning the future of the automobile.

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