Autoblog

Click the image above for more hi-res pics of the Ferrari Concept 2008

We realize that not everyone will agree with us on this one -- passions seem to run highest over the cars that the fewest number of people will drive -- but if the Ferrari California looked like this concept, we'd put down a deposit right now. Once someone else gave us the money to do so.

Sure, from the A-pillar forward is pure Maserati, and there's no way a front intake like that could or should make it onto a Ferrari. Still, it's a good looking front end, and we don't mind design elements going up as well as down. Besides, a couple of keystrokes can get a proper Ferrari nose in place.

But from the A-pillar to the rear... those are the kind of aggressive, subtle lines we like in our Ferraris. Which is not to say we don't like the California -- we just like this a little better... A coupe, please. That color.


[Source: Sefsdesign]

Well look at that, the quarter panel vent from the new Focus can look good! No need to complain yet that this is but another Ford we'll never see, as it may not happen on any continent. Auto Bild has gone to press with shots of a new Mercury Capri concept that is rumored to be the work of an extremely skilled PhotoChopper. We're also unsure if the details they cite about the car being a sub-3,000 pound 2+2 with 140-250 horsepower and a production date of 2012 are fanciful or rooted in truth, but none of that matters. This thing is off the hook to our puppy-dog enthusiastic eyes. Mercury has nothing badass in its lineup, and while it'd be weird to be proffering this car with KISS makeup next to an entire lineup of handsomized Fords, we think it might be a way for Ford to reel in some new blood to the brand. Just don't call it Cougar. Cougars drive Mercurys - though probably while smoking Capris. Call it whatever, just put it on sale.

[Source: carspyshots.net]

Click above to view high-res gallery of renderings

A few months ago, we wrote about an amateur designer who penned today's vision of a Bugatti Royale. It was all good at the front, and then things got a bit, well, funky at the rear. Now another car designing buff with a pen suite of software has created his idea of a 4-seat Bugatti GT: the decidedly gorgeous Streamliner 12-2.

Maltese designer Reuben Zammit designed the Streamliner as a 2+2 with "ample luggage space." Though we're sure if Bugatti ever created such a car it would be decidedly more expensive than the Ferrari 612, cues from Maranello's uber-GT can be seen in the Streamliner. But the nothing-but-curves approach gives it a Bugatti retro flair all its own. The car would use a twin-turbocharged version of the W12 engine and be powered by the rear wheels only. That would give the Streamliner rather un-Bugatti-like handling, which we think is even more reason to buy one. Check out additional renderings of the Streamliner 12-2 in the hi-res gallery below and let the designer know if you like his work in the comments.


[Source: Reuben Zammit via Carscoop]

Click above for a high-res gallery of the Morgan LifeCar

For a company that still makes cars out of wood, Morgan knows not only how to hang in there, but to come up with some really neat stuff. The LifeCar divides a line that reaches well into the past and well into the future. Its lines are retro modern -- or is that modern retro? -- with all the traditional early-20th-century coupe cues done in aluminum. The hydrogen powerplant is theoretically good for a 200-mile range and "sporting" British performance. Check out the press release for the full details, and be sure to look at the gallery of hi-res images below.

Click the image above for more hi-res images of the Pininfarina Sintesi Concept

After a reveal that's been measured out by coffee spoons, the whole cuppa joe called the Pininfarina Sintesi has been caught on film in full. The car won't really take you to the moon -- but it does have 700-HP, "little hydrogen reactors" placed throughout, and it doesn't need no stinkin' stop lights... and that's got to be almost as cool as going to the moon, right? Check out the gallery of hi-res photos of the Sintesi concept below.

Click above for more pics of the Magna Mila Alpin concept

Three years ago, Magna Steyr debut what it called the Mila concept car -- Magna Innovation Lightweight Auto. Conceived as a pure driver's car, it was an environmentally-conscious single-seater that ran on natural gas up to 120 mph. Last year around this team, Magna followed up the Mila CNG with the Mila Future, a further evolution of the concept that bore two seats, completely covered wheels and an impossibly complicated folding hard top. For the next evolution of the MILA, Magna apparently thought that no one was serving the mountain climbing concept car market and stepped up to the challenge. The Mila Alpin is a chunky little off-road number that can climb 45-degree angles, runs on CNG, has 3+1 seating and what looks to be a seriously small turning radius. We hope the Magna stand in Geneva has a model Matterhorn so we can try it out. For now, you can check out images of the Mila Alpin concept below.

[Source: World Car Fans]

click above image to view high-res version

Back in October, Nissan released an exterior sketch of the Forum Concept, which will debut in January at the 2008 Detroit Auto Show. The Forum Concept is basically a combination wagon, minivan, hatchback and CUV. To be more precise, it's a "family hauler" or "people mover". Following up on the exterior sketch, Nissan released a new sketch today of the concept's interior. It's a typical concept interior, about halfway between total pie-in-the-sky feasibility and possible production. Nissan tells us in its press release that the inner sanctum of the Forum will include a Bose Media System that's operated with a proximity sensor-based controller, which we take to mean that you can wave your hand in front of the stereo and Neil Diamond will begin playing on queue. There are also 2nd- and 3rd-row cameras so moms and pops can keep a digital eye on their yungins, as well as individual seat-mounted speakers for each row. We're not sure whether or not the Forum itself portends a future Nissan product, or possibly a replacement or redesign for the Quest minivan, though it sure could use it.

[Source: Nissan]

The 2007 Tokyo Motor Show ended last week, but today we're cleaning out our closet of yet-to-be published posts from this biggest of biannual Japanese auto shows.

click above image for more live shots of the Suzuki Kizashi 2 concept

Following the debut of the first Kizashi concept in Frankfurt, the folks at Suzuki's design studios have butched up the concept even more. Check out the Ben Hur/James Bond tire-chewing alloys. Though there may be plans afoot for the Kizashi to see production, those wheels are not included among them.

The 2007 Tokyo Motor Show ended last week, but today we're cleaning out our closet of yet-to-be published posts from this biggest of biannual Japanese auto shows.

click above image to view more live pics of the Suzuki X-Head

Remember the Suzuki Samurai, the lightweight 4x4 much maligned for being just as likely to topple over as any other Jeep of its day? Well, it's alive and well and being sold throughout the world as the Jimny. The X-Head just might be its future and we can only hope that Suzuki's notoriously tight bean counters do not savage the functional yet oh so cool interior too badly. Who knows, they may even bring it Stateside. Yeah, right.

Check out our original post on the Suzuki X-Head here and view live pics from last week's Tokyo Motor Show in the gallery below.

UPDATE: It turns out there were actually some running and driving versions of this car, link in text below.

The fact that AMC never produced this car is probably part of the reason why they were able to hang on as the last independent automaker until the twilight of the 1980s. Looking at it now, though, makes us wish they'd gone after the mid-engined supercar segment with their iconoclastic flair. Sure, that'd mean an interior done up in noxious orange tartan, but look at that design! Richard Teague and crew managed to create a very muscular form evocative of what may have happened had a Toronado mated with Signor Miura. There were several development cars created, but no production version. What has recently surfaced is one of the "pushcars" used at events to show off the exterior styling. Pushcars were basically fiberglass bodies splashed from molds of the clay bucks. Underneath the exterior was a wooden framework and rudimentary axles front and rear.

Other pushcars from the same program have surfaced, one was even stuck atop a pole at a used car dealership before being rescued and restored (as a pushcar, that is.) The AMX/3, however, remained sealed away in Bruce Wayne's underground lair, it would seem, until earlier this year. The seller, second owner of the AMX/3, had intended on mounting the body to a Pantera chassis, but decided to sell it instead. New owner Tom Dulaney intends to restore the pushcar back to its original setup, but not before taking molds from the body to possibly create replica pieces. So, in the end, we may actually be able to own the sexiest AMC that never was, even if it is underpinned by a Fiero. Actually, there's no word on what would serve as a chassis, so let your imaginations run. We know what will be circling our heads as we fall asleep tonight.

[Source: Hemmings]