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]

Mazda's 6 is having a tough time finding love in its home market where it goes by the Atenza moniker. 7Tune is reporting that Mazda's going to flip the script and introduce three new variants of the Atenza; a coupe, a convertible, and a high performance version called the Mazdaspeed Atenza for JDM consumption. Mazda looked to the holy-grail BMW 3 series for inspiration, though that car is rear-wheel-drive, and hopes to achieve the same build quality with its Atenza line.

The vehicles in 7Tunes renderings are more conservatively styled than the current 3-Series, though that's hardly a bad thing. We think the renderings are easy on the eyes, with clear RX-8 influences, though all suffer from a basket-handle spoiler tacked on to the trunklid. It's tough to imagine the Mazdaspeed Atenza amounting to anything other than a tasty snack for the monstrous M3, though we're sure the Mazda will comport itself sportily. If any of this conjecture rings true, it's tough to go wrong benchmarking the icon of the segment.

[Source: 7tune]

Our sources indicate this rendering from OmniAuto.it is very close to what Audi's upcoming Q5 will look like. Although this looks like a photograph on an Italian web site, it is really a rendering that looks nearly identical to the Q5 spy shots we showed you in February. When it debuts later this month at the Beijing Motor Show, expect the engine to be a longitudinal (north-south) mount, to allow a variety of powerplants including V8 and TDI derivatives. Thanks for the tip, Andrea!

[Source: OmniAuto]

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]

If you'd suspected that Mercedes' F700 show car was a preview of cues we'd soon see on production cars, there's a Schulte Design rendering to bolster your theory. The current S-Class debuted in 2005, so we won't see its replacement for a couple of years, but there's already lots of development underway. The new sheetmetal will be a full redesign, not a freshening, and the rendering depicts a car that takes inspiration from the F700, but tones the cues down a bit. The shape of the front end is very similar, with the headlights and grille echoing what Mercedes showed us in Frankfurt. Along the flanks, the arcing line at the base of the windows has been toned down. Of course, while it's a good rendering, it's still an unofficial composite image, so we should just wait and see.

Solid word on powertrains has come down from on high, though. Mercedes is looking at a hybrid version of the S-Class to compete with the Lexus LS600hL. Our current S-Class will get a mild hybrid for 2009, and there's a Bluetec Hybrid under development packing 224 horsepower/560Nm and returning 44mpg. The engines we know and love in the current S-Class will largely carry over, though we'd expect that attention to efficiency and the hybrid powertrains will be more important because of the new CAFE standards.

[Source: eGMCarTech, Rendering: Schulte Design]

Would you like some car with those wheels? This latest rendering of the anticipated Mazda RX-9 sports car comes from an enthusiast in Japan and was posted on the Ford fan forum FoMoCoNews.com.

Although the artist swears that it's close to the mark, the actual design, like the rendering featured on Winding Road, is expected to more faithfully portray the styling language previewed on the radical Furai concept. This illustration, meanwhile, appears to be more of an evolution of the current RX-8, but with enormous rims that would have to be somewhere in the neighborhood of 25 inches (which is farther than this thing would make it on public roads with those ground effects).

[Source: FoMoCoNews.com]

With the Alfa Junior hatch gearing up for production, the 8C Competizione being delivered to customers and the 159, Brera and Spider gorgeous-ing up roads around the world, the next item on Alfa Romeo's plate is the 169, its upcoming flagship sedan.

Although the 169, spy shots of which we brought you back in February '07, could be based on a modified Maserati platform or potentially on one borrowed from Jaguar, it's slated to return to rear-wheel-drive either way, which puts it in a better position to take on Europe's very best sports sedans.

The image above, of course, is just a rendering, but draws on existing and anticipated brand styling cues. We hope the actual production version will be more sexy and, well, more Italian than this illustration, and we also hope it'll make it across the pond with its stablemates.

[Source: The Hollywood Extra]

The mysterious images of a 2012 Mazda RX-9 that we brought you a few days ago appear to be illustrations cooked up by Winding Road magazine's in-house sketch artist Glenn Poblete, who literally drew on Mazda's current design language from the Kabura concept and other recent Mazda showstoppers to come up with a good guesstimate.

As for the heart of the beast, Winding Road figures on a front-engine/rear-drive layout with a limited-slip diff mated to either a rotary engine, in the grandest Mazda tradition, or ditching the Renesis for a more conventional V6 or V8. If Mazda decides to stick with the Wankel engine, it would have to improve on its gas and oil consumption, and it could benefit from a pair of variable turbochargers like in the latest Porsche 911 Turbo. Displacement on an updated Renesis, if chosen, could increase to 1.8-liters (if you consider the current version to displace 1.3-liters) or 3.5 (if you hold the current one at 2.6).

Like our compatriots, we hope Mazda sticks with a purely two-seat set-up instead of trying to squeeze tiny seats in the back, but the RX-9 could gain a suicide rear door to ease access if rear chairs are added. If that were the case, the RX-9 would effectively replace the quasi-four-door RX-8, which is anticipated for a facelift soon.

[Source: Winding Road]

McLaren is one of the most successful race teams in Formula One, but unlike rival Ferrari, it doesn't make many road cars. Its current supercar, the Mercedes SLR McLaren, was a relative disappointment, particularly when judged against the impossibly high yardstick of its predecessor, the McLaren F1, which remains one of the quickest, fastest and all-around best-performing supercars of all time. So when the Woking, England-based firm announced the development of the P11, potential customers began calling the factory, which has already taken dozens of orders long before the car has even been unveiled.

British magazine CAR claims to have the inside line on the supercar, having spoken with some of the engineers working on the project – McLaren is said to be in the process of hiring more –and have put together an educated guess on the car's spec sheet. While the F1 diced it with the likes of the Ferrari F40 and Porsche 959, and the SLR took on the Enzo and Carrera GT, the car tentatively code-named P11 is expected to go down-market (that being a relative term, of course) to target the likes of the 430 Scuderia and 911 GT2. Power is anticipated to come from sibling-company AMG's 6.3-liter V8, putting some 500 horsepower down through the rear wheels for a sub-4-second run to sixty and a top speed over 200 mph. Expect carbon-ceramic brakes to figure into an aluminum and carbon-fiber package sized in between Audi's TT and R8.

CAR claims its renderings are fairly close to the mark for the supercar that will launch in 2010 and be produced in annual runs of less than 5,000. Don't expect the car to be dipped in chrome like its grand prix stable-mates, though.

Thanks for the tip, Alex!

[Source: CAR Online]

"We've just introduced a special edition of the RX-8" was the response from a Mazda rep when asked when we might get a new RX-7. Not the answer to the question, but we understand that it's all hush-hush when it comes to whatever might be in store on the 2-door, rear wheel drive, not-an-MX-5 tip. A new RX-7 (FE?) will debut within the next three years according to Autocar, and it will be the first production car to carry the design themes presented in Mazda's latest series of concept cars (Nagare, Ryuga, Hakaze, Taiki). The RX-8 will be freed up to evolve into more of a GT if the 7 comes to be. Autocar has had its digital image wizards whip up what they think the car might look like. We hope not, as it looks like what might happen if a Corvette stopped short in front of a Testarossa. In other words, it looks like 1988.

Joining the new "flow"-ing exterior lines will be a thoroughly revised rotary engine. Bumped out to 3.2 liters, the new Wankel will have direct fuel injection and sport forced induction via turbocharging. Reshaped combustion chambers are said to improve thermal efficiency, burn more completely, produce more low end torque, and return better fuel economy (woo-hoo!). We're surprised they didn't switch it's fuel to Unicorn sneezes, as the rest of the improvements seem like a fairy tale outcome for the wimpy, thirsty Wankel we know and love.

[Source: Autocar]