Autoblog

UPDATE 2


The 2006 British Motor Show is going on in London's Excel Center on the banks of the River Thames, so we decided to assemble a meta gallery of shots from the show in case you don't happen to be in the neighborhood. Shots of interest include more angles of the Arash AF10, the woolen Ferrari of Lauren Porter, the Caparo T1 and the 1005-bhp Barabus TKR shown above.

Let us know in the comments if we're missing any good galleries of the 2006 British Motor Show out on the web.

WorldCarFans - not many but includes nice write up by Nick Hall, second collection promised soon
World Car Fans 2 - second gallery with Nick Hall commentary, contains 270-mph Barabus TKR supercar
PistonHeads 1 - not very many, but there's a second one below
PistonHeads 2 - again, not many but decent selection of supercars and oddities
Supercars.net - the largest collection, four pages of the best shots
PopularScience - 11-shot slideshow, many green machines

UPDATE 1 - added PopularScience
UPDATE 2 - added WorldCarFans 2

An unlikely visitor made the trip from Japan to London for the British Motor Show. Joining the rest of Mitsubishi's lineup at ExCeL is one of Mitsubishi's "i" kei cars. Mitsubishi UK is in the final stages of a feasability study as to whether or not there's a market for the "i" in Britain.

The automaker is conducting surveys nationwaide to gauge demand, and if you're in London, you can make your voice heard at the Mitsu stand as well. In Japan, the "i" is equipped with a 600cc MIVEC DOHC 3-cylinder engine that's good for 64 horsepower. It's mated to either a 2WD or AWD drivetrain. Current speculation is that if the "i" is exported to the UK, it'll use that powerplant and be a 2WD-only vehicle.

Given that small city cars are very practical and popular in Europe, and that the "i" is a uniquely stylish little car, there's probably a good chance that our British friends will be seeing them on local roadways in due time.

(Press release after the jump)

[Source: Mitsubishi]

UPDATE 1


Barabus Sports Car Ltd. (not to be confused with Brabus, the Mercedes-Benz tuner) has been working on a 1005-bhp supercar for the past ten years. Now that's dedication. It's being unveiled at the British Motor Show in London this week, but we were getting impatient waiting for pics. A quick email to Barabus resulted in these pictures of the hyper exotic sports car that's powered by a 6.0L V8 with twin turbochargers and dual intercoolers. We were told by the company its website should be ready by tomorrow, at which time there should be a lot more information on this potential Veyron killer.

(More pics can be found after the jump, for additional live shots visit PaulTan.org)

[Source: Barabus]

UPDATE 1: added live shot of rear view

The Honda Racing F1 car is made up of 3,200 individual parts, and if you go the the British International Motor Show this week or next, you'll be able to see every single one. Literally.

That's because Dutch artist Paul Veroude has seemingly worked magic with his exhibit called "View Suspended," in which each and every part of the car is suspended from above, creating a living exploded technical diagram. As awed as we are by the photographs of the display, we can only imagine how impressive it looks in person. Everything down to the smallest little screw is hanging in suspended animation.

Manufacturers always strive to have interesting displays at autoshows, whether they be safety demonstrations, cutaways, or other imaginative ploys to generate visitor interest. With "View Suspended," it's a safe bet that Honda will be capturing the attention and imagination of every single person who walks by it. It's just that cool.

Click on any photo to enlarge it. It's the best way to get a sense of the painstaking effort and incredible attention to detail that went into this piece.

(Additional photos, info after the jump)

[Source: Honda]

We brought you initial pics and details last week, and today, SEAT made it all official in London where factory Touring Car drivers James Thompson (WTCC) and Jason Plato (BTCC) pulled the checkered cover off the all-new Leon Cupra.

To refresh your memories, the Cupra is the latest tasty morsel from the Spanish automaker. The stylish hatch has VW's 2.0T FSI four-banger lurking underhood, tuned to produce 240 horsepower. So equipped, it makes the run from 0-62 in 6.4 seconds, topping out at an impressive 153 mph. Somehow through all this the Cupra (if you resist the urge to drop the hammer all the time) can average over 30mpg in fuel consumption along the way.

Distinguishable by its curvy body, tough aero kit, and 18" wheels, the Cupra also creates an inviting driving environment for it's pilot and passengers, with sport seats, contrast stitching, and a slick variation on the already-excellent VW-sourced dash and instrument cluster.

We wish we could get it here!

(Additional info and photos after the jump)

[Source: SEAT]

After months of spy shots and rumor, including leaked photos of the car yesterday, BMW has finally released "official" pictures of its much-anticipated M6 ultra-performance convertible, which debuts at the British Motor Show in July. Featuring 2006's International Engine of the Year - BMW's 5-liter V10 - the big M convertible hustles from 0-100 km/h in just 4.8 seconds.

Mechanically identical to the M6 Coupe, the M6 Convertible includes as standard the seven-speed Sequential M Gearbox (SMG) with BMW's Drivelogic control software, which features no less than 11 different drivetrain management programs. Also included is the Variable M Differential Lock and BMW's Dynamic Stability Control with M Dynamic Mode. Still more driver options are provided in the Electronic Damper Control system, with three user-selectable suspension settings from sport to comfort.

Exterior styling is the same as the M6 Coupe (with the exception of the roof, of course), including aggressive front and rear fascia and the M-trademark quad tailpipes. The M-version is actually slightly longer than the 6-Series convertible, by virtue of the rear fascia with its built-in diffuser.

BMW has made sure that the convertible owner pays very little performance penalty for the privilege of open-air motoring - the company says that the M6 Convertible laps the Nurburgring's Nordschleife "almost as fast" as the M6 Coupe.

UPDATE - all of BMW's official pics after the jump...

[Source: BMW]