After all of this year’s soap opera stories in Formula One, it appears there will be a unified championship series next year after all. According to The Times UK, controversial F1 boss Max Mosley has been “forced into a humiliating climbdown as president of the FIA,” and his reign is over effective today.
Apparently, with the Formula One Teams Association’s (FOTA) plan to build its own breakaway series and take most of its highest-profile (and highest-dollar) draws away with it, the FIA realized that something had to be done. Eight teams, including Ferrari, McLaren, BMW Sauber, and Brawn GP had pulled out of the series over concerns relating to a new £40m budget cap (around $66m USD).
With Mosley’s departure effective immediately, F1 teams and the sanctioning body have agreed to cost cuts with the goal of getting spending outlays back down to the that of the early Nineties within two years.
Mosley has agreed to end his 16 year term at the FIA and not seek re-election to another office.
After days of speculation and rumor, General Motors made it official this morning, Saab will soon be back in Swedish hands. In many respects, this is the most fitting result for quirky brand. Koenigsegg is an oddball itself, building insanely fast supercars in a Scandinavian country where you can’t legally drive over about 60 mph.
The deal will be partly financed through a $600 million loan from the European Investment Bank that is co-signed by the Swedish government. Just as GM will continue to provide Penske-owned Saturn with cars for a time, it will supply platforms and powertrains to Saab. The length of time that Saab will continue to use GM hardware hasn’t been disclosed, but it will likely be for at least the next 5-6 years – if not longer. The new 9-5 which will be built in Trollhättan, Sweden is launching later this year followed by the 9-4X crossover. Both of these will probably complete their lifecycle on current platforms. The same is likely true for the 9-1 which may launch in 2010 or 2011. The big question mark will be the next generation 9-3, which had been expected to move to GM’s Delta II platform.
The Koenigsegg-Saab deal should close by the end of September, and you can check out the official verbiage after the jump.
Unfortunately BMW has confirmed the news that is has cancelled further development and production of the BMW Z4 M.
The German car manufacturer said the economic downturn and a lack of customer interest in the model ruled out going forward with an M version of the Z4.
Strangely enough, the company is going forward with the X5 M and the X6 M and a whole host of new products that are large, expensive and not very economical on fuel costs.
Therefore, the lack of customer interest in the model - rather than the crisis- is perhaps the main reason for killing the M-powered roadster. Although it remains hard to believe, there is one consolation prize: the Z4 will get an M Sport package, just like the 135i.
Rumour has it that September will be an important month for the future of Bugatti.
This year is an important one for Bugatti. Not only does 2009 represent the centenary of the legendary marque but in September Bugatti’s management will reveal the future plans of the company, which will include the announcement of a brand new model. Why September? Because that is the month in which the company was founded back in 1909 by Ettore Bugatti.
To kick-off the celebrations, Bugatti will be releasing its new special edition Bleu Centenaire Veyron, which was revealed for the first time at last week’s Geneva Motor Show. While the Bleu Centenaire was not the much anticipated super-Veyron that was on everybody’s lips, Bugatti CEO Franz-Josef Paefgen has revealed to AutoTelegraaf that there are several projects in the works. Paefgen also ruled out the possibility of a cheaper model than the Veyron, explaining that Bugatti’s next car will be every bit as extreme and just as exclusive.
The 1937 Bugatti Type 57S Atalante that was recently discovered forgotten in a garage in the UK has sold for about $4.4 million.
Hailed as one of the last great garage discoveries, the Bugatti was found locked in the garage of a reclusive Newcastle doctor after his death, along with an Aston Martin and a Jaguar E-Type. The Type 57S Atalante went under the hammer at the Paris Bonhams Retromobile auction on February 7, and the final selling price was 3,417,500 euros.
One of just seventeen examples, the car was originally owned by Earl Howe, the first president of the British Racing Drivers Club. Registered DKY 5, the Bugatti was a familiar sight in the local sports-car scene, and passed through a few owners until Dr. Harold Carr ended up purchasing it in 1955. It was in his garage that the car sat after it was mothballed in the early 1960s until it was unearthed in 2007.
The Type 57S was a sportier incarnation of the Type 57, with a high-performance engine and a shortened, low-slung frame and de Ram shock absorbers. Type 57S racers won the A.C.F., la Marne and Comminges Grand Prix races in 1936 and at Le Mans in 1937.
The identity of the Type 57S’ new owner has not been disclosed.
Porsche will be introducing a new sports exhaust for use on the 911 Carrera and the Targa 4 models. The new system will be available as an option on new vehicle purchases beginning in February.
The new exhaust is stainless-steel, with a unique quad-pipe outlet at the back. Exhaust flaps on the back are fully adjustable, the sport exhaust lets the 911 customer tweak everything, including the car’s sound. Working by push button, the throaty sounding exhaust can be manipulated by the driver at any time. Located within the center console, the button is conveniently placed for the driver. - Read the Press Release after the break -
German police are investigating the cause of an accident which left a car suspended nearly 25 feet off the ground, halfway through the roof of a church. The accident took place in Limbach-Oberfrohna, just outside of Chemnitz, Germany. Police believe the 23-year-old driver was racing through the center of town when he lost control of his Skoda Octavia, careened off an embankment, and shot seven meters into air to end in the church.
The driver of the Skoda Octavia was extracted from the vehicle, and transported to the hospital with serious injuries. Damage to the vehicle has been estimated at €10,000. Meanwhile, the town’s church was badly damaged from the accident, but the cost of the damage has yet to be assessed. Investigators have requested the assistance of physicists in the accident reconstruction.
One police officer told reporters at the scene, “the driver took off due to unexplained circumstances, flew some 30 meters through the air and ended up seven meters up in the church roof.”
Investigators believe the car’s speed led to the driver missing a turn. Just how the vehicle went airborne is still a bit of a mystery. “I’ve never seen anything like it,” continued Officer Knut Wagner.
Police and medical workers will carry out testing on a blood sample taken from the driver to determine if alcohol or drugs played a role in the incident.
Top Gear’s Jeremy Clarkson used his column in The Sun newspaper to mock the recent rumors surrounding the Stig’s identity as Ben Collins.
Clarkson insists the rumors are an attempt to spoil everyone’s fun and then goes on to say that the recent reports that the Stig is Ben Collins are wrong and that there is no single Stig. He then jokes about the internet speculation by saying “There are four (Stigs). The main one is Damon Hill. It’s Tiff Needell.”
The drama that surrounds the Stig’s identity has ended up with members of the Top Gear crew being followed by paparazzi which led to naming of Collins who works for the show. Clarkson did admit that for still photographs there are several people who have donned the white suit and helmet in order to portray the Stig but only one is allowed to drive on the track. This leads us to Clarkson’s last jab at the Daily Telegraph were he goes on say that the Stig’s real identity is that of BBC royal reporter Nicholas Witchell.
Audi is going big in the US with an exclusive sponsorship of the inauguration of the next President of the United States. There are a couple reasons why the German car manufacturer has decided to do this. Firstly, Audi had its best sales year to date in 2008, delivering over one million units worldwide in 2008. Second, it is Audi’s 100th Anniversary of automobile production. And third, which is perhaps the most important reason, apparently the marketing folks at Audi saw quite a bit of synergy between Obama’s call for change and their own focus on progress. After all, their tagline is Vorsprung Durch Technik, or advancement/progress through technology.
Audi is making possible limited advertising on ABC, CBS, and NBC evening newscasts during Obama’s inauguration next Tuesday. They’re also doing an 8-page (!) “Progress is Beautiful” newspaper insert in the USA Today, The Wall Street Journal, The Washington Post, Los Angeles Times, The Miami Herald, Chicago Tribune, San Francisco Chronicle, and The Boston Globe. They’re doing Web promotions such as bringing the inauguration speech live online as the exclusive sponsor of streaming broadcasts on ABCNews.com, CBSNews.com, Msnbc.com, and WashingtonPost.com. Finally, they will be buying full-day sponsorships of Slate.com and sole sponsorship of TheAtlantic.com on January 20th. All told, their web efforts should bring inaugural coverage to over 30 million individuals in real time.
- click picture for the 2009 Boxster and Cayman high-res gallery -
The prices have been announced for the new Porsche Boxster and Cayman models in the US. The baseline Boxster starts at $46,600 and the Boxster S goes for $56,700. You’ll be able to get a Cayman and Cayman S for $50,300 and $60,200, respectively. These prices are about 1.8 percent higher than those of the outgoing 2008 models.
The Boxster and Cayman feature new engines, with a 2.9-litre flat-six that produces 255 bhp for the Boxster and 10 bhp less in the Cayman. Both the Boxster S and Cayman S share a 3.4-litre unit that delivers 310 bhp and 320 bhp respectively. Both engines are more powerful yet more fuel efficient than their predecessors.
In addition, the new models also include XM radio, Bluetooth connectivity, an iPod interface and Porsche Communication Management (PCM) with a touch screen. Porsche’s new 7-speed double clutch transmission called PDK can be ordered with any of the four models.
