While two Camaro mules were caught at LAX earlier in the week, another was recently captured on the other side of the world. Still sporting the camouflage look that Bob Lutz vowed to banish, the car was spotted on an open trailer somewhere in Australia. The photographer managed to capture an important detail that many fans have been mulling over since the launch of the Camaro concept. That essential feature is the appearance of the fuel door. The concept perched the door on top of the driver's side rear fender. Apparently that will not be true of the production vehicle. The spy shot indicates that the Camaro will intake fuel through the passenger side rear fender. However, since folks in Australia drive on the right side of the vehicle that makes it the driver's side in their world. We hear their toilets swirl in the other direction, too. Due to cost saving measures, we don't expect the fuel door location to change for U.S. production. Also of note are the rear taillights, which we can see in these images are red on the inside and amber on the outside. Minor details, for sure, that will no doubt be eagerly devoured by Camaro faithful waiting for this car's return.
The taillights also appear to be colored specifically for the Australian market. Australian Design Rule 6 calls for all amber direction indicators. That explains the change from all red taillights. It is a detail that will probably be spared from the U.S. market. However, if any stateside owners clamor to be different they might be able to score some ADM amber lenses off eBay.
click above to view more images of the 1980 Ferrari Pinin show car
Ferrari won't be building a four-door model now – that's what the Maserati Quattroporte, developed under Ferrari's tutelage, is for. But there was a time when Enzo himself considered the prospect. What spurred his interest was what you see above: the Ferrari Pinin show car, unveiled by Pininfarina on its 50th anniversary at the 1980 Turin auto show.
In the end, the rumored discussions between Enzo Ferrari and Sergio Pininfarina didn't yield a small production run of four-door Pinins, and only this one prototype was ever built. It's been sitting in the private collection of noted Ferrari collector and racer Jacques Swaters, who is putting it up for sale at the upcoming second annual "Leggenda e Passione" event run by Canadian auctioneers RM Auctions. The Ferrari and Maserati auction is scheduled to take place on May 18 at the Fiorano race track in Maranello.
Only a one-off as unique as the Pinin could manage to relegate this pair to "also ran" status: not one, but two Ferrari 250 California Spyders will also be up for auction, each estimated to fetch in the neighborhood of $5 million (give or take a mil). S/N 0923GT, a red 1958 long-wheelbase version (like the one Ferris Bueller crashed), was once owned by Hollywood actor James Coburn, and s/n 2377GT is a black 1961 short-wheelbase model. Only 100 examples of the 250 California Spyder were made, making them one of the most sought-after Ferraris out there.
Any way you look at it, Maybach has not been the success DaimlerChrysler had hoped for when it revived the old super-luxury badge a few years back. Industry sources – and by industry sources, we mean our magic 8-ball and cabinet of stuffed-animal advisors – all seem to agree that the uber-Mercedes brand is going to need some new models to supplement the 57 and 62 limousines if Maybach is going to live to see another sunrise. The question remains, however, what those new models might constitute.
Earlier reports suggested the possible addition of convertible versions of both Maybach sedans, drawing on the concept previewed by the Mercedes Ocean Drive to revive the "parade car" segment. Another suggestion was the production of a Maybach sport-ute, based on the full-size Mercedes-Benz GL-Class SUV, but luxed-up and blinged out to the max to make for a super-premium truck destined for the Aspen slopes, Arabian dunes and Hollywood hills.
Newer reports suggest that the next Maybach model could take the form of an ultra-premium four-door coupe to take after its corporate cousin the Mercedes CLS, only positioned significantly higher in anticipation of the arrival of the Aston Martin Rapide and Porsche Panamera. This uber-CLS would slot in the range below the current Maybach 57, but above the Mercedes CLS and S-Class.
Click above to jump to the Ocean Drive image gallery
When Mercedes-Benz showed us the Ocean Drive concept in Detroit, it was very clear that the enormous four-door convertible show car fell squarely into the "design study" category and not into "production preview". At the same time, like so many other show cars, DCX was carefully watching how the public received the idea. The feedback they apparently observed was so positive they've decided to build it. Sort of.
In a recent interview in Auto Motor und Sport, a senior DaimlerChrysler exec hinted that the company was carefully considering adding a convertible version of the CL luxury coupe, itself a two-door model based on the S-Class luxury sedan. The Ocean Drive concept was more closely based on the S-Class directly, uniquely retaining its four-door setup but chopping the roof. The production version, if built, will have a more conventional two-door setup instead of four, and is expected to be called the CLC, a name which, as we reported back in December, was registered for use by Mercedes.
Although others (including their own Chrysler Sebring) have pulled off proper four-seat hard-top convertibles, the sheer size of the CLC will likely dictate that it will, like the Ocean Drive, have a fabric roof. That should sit fine with customers, as the CLC's most direct competition will come from the Bentley Continental GTC, whose roof is also canvas. Engines, meanwhile, are expected to carry over from the CL-Class coupe in V8, V12 and torqualicious AMG versions, and reports suggest the possible addition of a diesel model and possibly even 4Matic all-wheel-drive. Bentley has been officially put on notice.
With Porsche's four-door coupe nearing production and Aston Martin readying the Rapide, it's easy to forget the one that started it all has been on the market since 2004. The shape of the Mercedes-Benz CLS-Class is still one of most striking on the market, but DCX evidently reckons that by the time the fourth year roles around, it'll be time for a few cosmetic changes.
This disguised test mule was caught undergoing cold weather testing somewhere in Europe. We can see the from the photo that the updated CLS will get a new grille mimicking that of its big-coupe counterpart, the CL, plus a new set of taillights and a new rear bumper around back. It'd also be safe to assume some changes will be made to the interior, and some new rims should round out the package. The arguably least attractive element of the design, the strangely-shaped headlights, will evidently carry over unchanged, though.
The revised CLS-Class should be hitting the market sometime in 2008, ready to hold its own against the onslaught of future competitors in the four-door coupe niche market. Click the Read link to check out additional uncropped spy shots of the next MB CLS.
Those zaney Dutchmen over at Spyker have a couple of tricks up their sleeves for us at next month's Geneva show. The quirky exotic carmaker currently offers only one model, the Audi-powered C8 sportscar, but after acquiring their own F1 team with Ferrari-supplied engines, they're ready to triple their range by introducing two new model lines.
The first new Spyker model expected to be unveiled at Geneva is the production version of the – ahem – interesting D12 Peking-to-Paris exotic sport-utility vehicle (pictured), the finalized version of the concept car they showed in Geneva last year.
The bigger news is the four-door coupe Spyker is working on to compete with the upcoming Porsche Panamera and (if the new owners, whoever they may be, decide to build it) the Aston Martin Rapide. Reports are speculating that, with the sportscar called C and the sport-ute D, the four-door model would be labeled E (though we suspect Mercedes might have something to say about that). Rumor has it that famed Italian designer Zagato was commissioned for the design.
Click the image above for a full-sized gallery. Mercedes-Benz put on an Icecapades-style show here at Detroit, simultaneously celebrating the 100-year anniversary of the all-wheel-drive Mercedes and of the Detroit auto show, where M-B had shown their first four-driver a century ago. Accompanied by a dogsled team, hockey players and figure skaters, the press conference-on-ice showcased Mercedes' full range of 48 all-wheel-drive 4MATIC models globally, while simultaneously focusing on the introduction of the BLUETEC clean diesel technology. Lastly, fitting in to neither part of the split 4MATIC/BLUETEC double theme, the red carpet was rolled out for the Ocean Drive concept.
Make the jump for the rest of the story and the press release.
For our comprehensive listing of everything from Detroit, click here.
click on image above to view 68 high-resolution images of the Tundra CrewMax
Constantly pushing to increase its stake in the US market, Toyota debuted in Detroit today the Tundra CrewMax, a spy shot of which we brought you a month ago. The CrewMax is a full four-door version of the company's new, all-American full-size pick-up, The regular and double-cab of the Tundra made their debuts at the Chicago show last February, and will reportedly be in showrooms this February, with the new CrewMax following in March.
More on the Tundra after the jump, as well as Toyota's full press release with more specs and detailed info. You can also view our high-resolution gallery full of 68 (!) pics, some live and some official glamour shots.
The four-door coupe is a trend that only seems to be growing. Mercedes, of course, was the first (and remains the only) company to get one on the market with the CLS. Volkswagen and Audi are working on their own. Porsche's upcoming Panamera will take a similar approach. Aston Martin showed us its Rapide concept. Even Bugatti is rumored to be considering an exclusive four-door coupe as a follow-up to the Veyron. Now BMW is next in line.
BMW is said to have abandoned the idea of rear-hinged "suicide" doors in the back (like they put on the Rolls Royce Phantom) in favor of conventional doors. Previous reports speculated that, based on test mules seen running around the Nurburgring, BMW's new model would take more of a crossover/SUV shape, melding an M6 with an X5, though more recent reports suggest it will be more sedan/coupe-like.
Insiders predict the BMW four-door coupe will hit the market as a 2009 model.
While two Camaro mules were caught at LAX earlier in the week, another was recently captured on the other side of the world. Still sporting the camouflage look that Bob Lutz vowed to banish, the car was spotted on an open trailer somewhere in Australia. The photographer managed to capture an important detail that many fans have been mulling over since the launch of the Camaro concept. That essential feature is the appearance of the fuel door. The concept perched the door on top of the driver's side rear fender. Apparently that will not be true of the production vehicle. The spy shot indicates that the Camaro will intake fuel through the passenger side rear fender. However, since folks in Australia drive on the right side of the vehicle that makes it the driver's side in their world. We hear their toilets swirl in the other direction, too. Due to cost saving measures, we don't expect the fuel door location to change for U.S. production. Also of note are the rear taillights, which we can see in these images are red on the inside and amber on the outside. Minor details, for sure, that will no doubt be eagerly devoured by Camaro faithful waiting for this car's return.
2010 Nissan Cube breaks cover in Japan
Officially Official: 2010 Ford Mustang!
2010 Ford Mustang revealed early on Ford's own website!
2009 Nissan 370Z rolls out early in So. Cal
VIDEO: 2009 Nissan 370Z revealed early in So. Cal.
In the Autoblog Garage: 2009 HUMMER H3T Alpha
In the Autoblog Garage: 2009 Mercedes Benz C63 AMG
In the Autoblog Garage: 2009 Hyundai Genesis
