RPMGO Car Blog |
- SAAB Can’t Afford To Pay Its Employees
- Steve McQueen’s 1931 Brough Superior, Up For Auction
- Second Generation Perodua Myvi Revealed
- Rare And Beautiful 1937 Mercedes-Benz 540K, Up For Auction
- Aston Martin Slows Down Rapide Production
- 2012 Mercedes A-Class Spied
- Spy Shots – Mercedes BLS
- MINI Maps – a Google Maps Advergame
- Switzer Tunes The Porsche Panamera
- Porsche 911 GT3 By Magnat
| SAAB Can’t Afford To Pay Its Employees Posted: 24 Jun 2011 12:00 AM PDT  2011 SAAB 9-4X We keep hearing bad news from SAAB for a few weeks and the latest one concerns the company's inability to pay its employees. Swedish Automobile (formerly known as Spyker Cars), who is the owner of SAAB revealed this week that they don't have enough money to pay the workers. As you probably already know, the Swedish automaker is having discussions with various companies in order to grab the necessary funding to keep the company alive. Last week, on June 13th, SAAB said something about a 218 million pounds investment. This sum of money is expected to come from a Chinese manufacturing firm by the name of Youngman, who will be investing 121 million pounds, in exchange for a 29.9% stake in the company. The rest of the cash will come from Pang Da, yet another Chinese company, who will be investing 97 million pounds for a 24% stake in the Swedish automaker. We hope that SAAB will find a solution to these financial problems once and for all. Source: SAAB via WhatCar Post published on Rpmgo.com |
| Steve McQueen’s 1931 Brough Superior, Up For Auction Posted: 23 Jun 2011 11:30 PM PDT  1931 Brough Superior SS80 This exquisite 1931 Brough Superior motorcycle that at one point was owned by famous actor Steve McQueen as well as custom-car artist Von Dutch will be auctioned on August 20 at the Gooding & Company's Pebble Beach event, along with a Chassis 3, which is the oldest surviving Bentley in the world.  1921 Bentley 3 Litre The auction house says that the 1921 Bentley 3 Litre is the very first car that was manufactured by the British automaker and its estimate is available upon request. McQueen's motorcycle was made famous by T.E. Lawrence (aka Lawrence of Arabia) who was an officer during World War I. The actor shared the motorcycle with his buddy, Von Dutch. The 1931 Brough Superior SS80 is going to be sold with a letter of authenticity which was written by Chad McQueen, Steve's son. At the auction, the motorcycle is expected to fetch more than $200,000. Source: Inside Line Post published on Rpmgo.com |
| Second Generation Perodua Myvi Revealed Posted: 23 Jun 2011 11:00 PM PDT  Perodua Myvi Those who live outside of Malaysia probably haven't heard of Perodua. The Myvi is the bestselling car for five years in a row there and now it has reached its second generation. No dramatic changes have been made as the company decided to play it on the safe side, retaining the same profile as the 1st gen model.  Perodua Myvi The Perodua Myvi shares its platform with the Toyota Passo and the Daihatsu Boon. Dahiatsu, who is Toyota's affiliate, is also the technical partner of Perodua. They reduced the proportions of the car a little bit by improving the interior packaging here and there. The car is powered by the same engine as the first generation, a 4-cylinder 1.3-liter unit, which will be followed by a new more powerful 1.5-liter engine.  Perodua Myvi The Malaysian engineers improved the aerodynamics of the model and they also implemented electric power steering. About 85% of the components needed to build the car are made within Malaysia so the automaker was not affected at all by the terrible tsunami that hit Japan a few months ago, which is why they didn't delay the launch of the second generation.  Perodua Myvi Source: Perodua via Inside Line Post published on Rpmgo.com |
| Rare And Beautiful 1937 Mercedes-Benz 540K, Up For Auction Posted: 23 Jun 2011 10:30 PM PDT  1937 Mercedes-Benz 540K This August, RM Auctions will list an exquisite 1937 Mercedes-Benz 540K during an auction organized in Monterey, California. The organizers expect that this model will break the world record auction price for a Mercedes-Benz.  1937 Mercedes-Benz 540K Back in October 2007, a similar model from the same year, which belonged to F1's boss Bernie Ecclestone, managed to fetch a whopping $8,252,201. The German automaker made only 406 units of this 540K model, during 1936 and 1939. When it was new, the price tag for this beauty was approximately $12,000. RM Auction says that in the present there are only three examples left. If I were to guess, this Mercedes-Benz 540K from 1937 will fetch more than $10,000,000 when it will be auctioned. We'll keep you posted. Source: RM Auctions via Inside Line Post published on Rpmgo.com |
| Aston Martin Slows Down Rapide Production Posted: 23 Jun 2011 10:00 PM PDT  Aston Martin Rapide The British carmaker Aston Martin has decided to reduce the production rate of the Rapide in order to match the slow sales. From now on, they are going to make only 25 units every year which means that the annual output will be of approximately 1250 units, which is a little over 50% of the 2,000 units that they had in planned back in 2007/2008. Other sources are saying that AM will reduce output to only 10 cars per week. Last month, the company halted the production of the Rapide and right after the weekend of the Royal Wedding, an e-mail was sent to the suppliers in which Aston Martin said that they don't need any more components for the rest of the month. A couple of days ago, the automaker announced that they will be ending an 8-year production agreement with Magna Steyr from Austria in the middle of next year, which is 6 years earlier than planned. No word about the terms of the contract but if we were to believe the rumors, Aston Martin will have to pay about 10 million pounds in order to get out of this deal. Source: Autocar.co.uk Post published on Rpmgo.com |
| Posted: 23 Jun 2011 09:30 PM PDT  2012 Mercedes A-Class A couple of weeks ago at the Shanghai Auto Show we've seen the concept version of the A-Class and now, courtesy of Autocar.co.uk, we get to see the production version which will be out next year. Mercedes has put a great deal of effort into the new generation as it will have to face up some serious competition coming from the soon-to-be-released replacements for the Audi A3 and the BMW 1-Series.  2012 Mercedes A-Class As opposed to the 3-door concept seen in Shanghai, this prototype features rear doors. The production version will feature the narrow glasshouse of the concept, along with the sharply ranked front windscreen as well as the A-pillars, making it a lot more attractive than the previous generations. The current A-Class is a compact and spacious family car but this role will be handed over to the B-Class. The forthcoming A-Class will feature a lot of interior components that will be borrowed from the C-Class. The car will be based on an entirely new platform, dubbed MFA, featuring a strut front suspension and a multi-link rear axle.  2012 Mercedes A-Class The car will be powered by the company's current lineup of 4-cylinder engines, both gasoline and diesels, borrowed from the aforementioned C-Class, which will be modified for a transverse installation. Upon launch, the most powerful engine will probably be the 2.0-liter gasoline engine that produces 204 hp, the one we've seen in the concept. This unit will be linked to a dual-clutch transmission, replacing the current CVT gearbox that is used in the current A-Class and B-Class models. As far as diesels are concerned, Mercedes will opt for at least a 4-cylinder 2.2-liter engine while power will vary from 130 hp to 180 hp. In 2013 we will most likely see the AMG version of the new A-Class, featuring a 2.0-liter turbocharged engine that generates 320 hp. This model will come with a four-wheel drive configuration and will rival the Audi S3. Source: Autocar.co.uk Post published on Rpmgo.com |
| Posted: 23 Jun 2011 09:00 PM PDT  Mercedes BLS The guys over at AutoExpress have managed to take a few spy shots with the upcoming Mercedes BLS, considered to be the scaled down version of the sexy CLS. These pictures were taken in Germany and we get to see a 4-door sedan that has a few coupe design cues. The car is based on the same technology that Mercedes-Benz uses for the new A and B-Class and it will rival the Volkswagen Passat CC and the recently revealed Audi A3 sedan. Although we don't get to see a lot of things due to the heavily camouflage, we've learned from AutoExpress that the Germans will focus on the design of the car and as a result we should expect to see a sculpted bodywork., which should look alike its bigger brother, the CLS.  Mercedes BLS In addition, it will most likely feature a sloping rear roofline to add a little bit of sportiness, while the interior will be set up in order to accommodate four passengers and we should see individual chairs and a lot of room. The Mercedes BLS will be powered by the exact same 1.8-liter gasoline and 2.1-liter diesel engines that you can find in the C-Class, which will be adapted for a FWD configuration. It wouldn't be a total surprise if it will be available with the 2.0-liter, twin-turbo engine that produces 265 hp, the same one which will power the A-Class AMG. Source: AutoExpress.co.uk Post published on Rpmgo.com |
| MINI Maps – a Google Maps Advergame Posted: 23 Jun 2011 08:11 AM PDT
MINI is a surprising and "adventurer" brand and tries to keep this reputation every time it has the occasion. This time, MINI proved to be very creative, and did a really good job with the idea it had: MINI France has revealed MINI Maps, a social Google Maps mash-up advergame. The interesting thing is that the player uses a Facebook app to create a virtual MINI accordingly to his personal preferences and then challenge his own friends to time trials on the streets just by using Google Maps mash-up. The game actually lets the player to race his friends over satellite images in different locations. The game is totally customizable: it leaves the player to create his own tracks before getting Facebook friends into the race and, in addition, even to participate in random challenges from wherever he wants. We think that is great that MINI has thought to integrate social media in their game and that it encourages interaction between players! What do you think about MINI Maps? Does it worth playing? [Source: Digitalbuzzblog, Photo] Post published on Rpmgo.com |
| Switzer Tunes The Porsche Panamera Posted: 23 Jun 2011 08:00 AM PDT  Porsche Panamera P680 By Switzer Yet another tuning program has been revealed for the Porsche Panamera, this time coming from Switzer Performance who managed to increase the output of the engine to 680 hp, hence the P680 designation for the upgrade program. They took the model fitted with the V8, direct-injected, twin-turbo engine and increased the peak torque by a whopping 200 lb.-ft.  Porsche Panamera P680 By Switzer To obtain the extra oomph, they've installed brand new turbos that have custom billet compressor wheels that feature an advanced aero profile. They tuning company said that this configuration can work with the car's stock catalytic converters as well as the standard exhaust system. In addition, they've fitted the Panamera with a custom intercooler that has a new heat sink and an increased capacity, along with a Siemens ECU tuning.  Porsche Panamera P680 By Switzer This Porsche Panamera P680 is able to do the 0-62 mph sprint in 3.5 seconds while 60 to 130 mph is done in a mere 8 seconds. The top speed should be around the 215 mph (350 km/h) mark. If you want to get this tuning package, prepare to pay $22,000. Source: Switzer Performance via ZerCustoms Post published on Rpmgo.com |
| Posted: 23 Jun 2011 07:30 AM PDT  Porsche 911 GT3 By Magnat The German tuners over at Magnat have revealed a couple of days ago their upgrade program for the Porsche 911 GT3, which features visual and performance upgrades. They've fitted the car with a brand new exhaust system that has sports catalysts and they've remapped the ECU.  Porsche 911 GT3 By Magnat Thanks to these modifications, the engine of the 911 GT3 develops 462 hp and has a peak torque of 451 Nm, which should be enough for a top speed of 197 mph (317 km/h).  Porsche 911 GT3 By Magnat The car now rides on 19-inch OZ Ultraleggera HLT CT rims that are wrapped around in Yokohama Advan Sport. Inside the cabin, Magnat installed a powerful 2,100 watts sound system that comes with new speakers which sport anodized PP membranes, 1-inch textile tweeters and high-performance voice coils. In addition, it also features a Black Core 5 channel amplifier and a 10-inch subwoofer that has a down-fire casing. Source: Magnat via ZerCustoms Post published on Rpmgo.com |
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