Autoblog

This isn't exactly what the recording industry had in mind when The Beatles went gold for the first time. But then, who would have predicted back then that the Iron Curtain would fall and that Eastern Europe would grow into one of the world's largest markets for tasteless luxury items.

This 1968 Volkswagen Beetle, unveiled at this year's Luxury Show in Bucharest, Romania, is covered in tiles made of glass and 18-karat gold. We'd say if you have to ask, you can't afford it, but it strikes us that the whole point of building or buying something this perversely ostentatious is to flaunt to the world just how much it's worth. In this case, the figure is actually just $88,000.

If you're thinking that eighty-eight grand will buy you a well-equipped Porsche 911, we're not far behind you. But then, whoever would even consider buying something this ridiculous probably has a couple of "ordinary" Porsches lying around the grounds already.

[Source: Luxurylaunches.com]

When the Romanian government put a 72-percent stake in Automobile Craiova SA on the block, it got one bidder: Ford. The Blue Oval first offered fifty-five million euros in July, then upped it to fifty-seven million euros, which equals $78 million dollars.

Before the government stepped in, Craiova was owned by Daewoo Motors' Romania, which was separate from the GM-owned Daewoo. The Romanian arm went bankrupt in 2006. The state bailout came to the tune of $61 million dollars, which paid for assets and debts. The last year of its operation under Daewoo, the plant put out 24,000 cars. Ford, after a planned $675 million investment in the plant, wants to up that production to 300,000 cars. Conjecture is that Ford will make the Festiva there.

The deal is expected to close on September 12, during the Frankfurt Auto Show. Yet more evidence that in spite of troubles at home, Ford is raging bullish on its overseas operations.

[Source: Reuters]

Getting around Capitol Hill in Washington, DC can be a tricky venture, but getting around the Parliament Palace in Bucharest, Romania, has gotten considerably easier. Not because the local politics are any less entangled, but because the Romanian legislature is being surrounded by a race track.

The Bucharest Ring, as it's being called, runs some three kilometers around the government building, and the plan is to include 70,000 grandstand seats around the circuit, designed by prolific track architect Herman Tilke.

Racing events are already being lined up for the new track, including the FIA GT Championship, FIA GT3 European Championship, British Formula 3 International Series and the domestic Logan Cup. The GP Masters series, which features over-the-hill legends reliving the glory days in open-wheels, was scheduled to race in Bucharest, but the fate of the entire series remains in jeopardy.

An FIA GT car should lap the track in 1 min 15.3 sec at an average speed of 148.6 km/h. Maybe the legislators will draw some inspiration and speed up the political process.

[Source: Bucharest Ring and GrandPrix.com]

You just don't meet many girls named Mercedes these days. The German handle has undoubtedly dwindled in popularity as the car brand became a household name, but that apparently hasn't fazed Dumitru Caldara. The Romanian man, evidently an enthusiast of Teutonic automobiles, took it a step further: he didn't name his newborn daughter Mercedes, he named her SLK. Seriously.

Had the baby been a boy, he reportedly would have been named BMW. You know, 'cause SLK would be a tad effeminate for a boy and he might have gotten teased in the schoolyard. There are so many jokes to make, we don't even know where to start, but we're sure our commenters will be glad to pick up the slack (and tell us about their cousins named Mercedes).

[Source: Daily Record]

Apparently, the saga that is the Romanian-built Cross Lander is not quite over yet. Our contact at the company's Atlanta outpost, Sean Rich, hipped us to the latest developments.

According to a press release issued Thursday, Cross Lander USA has announced its intentions to lodge a legal grievance against the country of Romania, pursuant to the "Bilateral Investment Treaty" between the U.S. and Romania. The would-be truckmaker alleges that it has been the subject of "a continuous barrage of attacks" by Romanian government officials both past and present, along with AVAS officials and "sensationalist reporters," among others. Cross Lander believes that a "web of corruption" led to the failure of the Romanian governent to abide by its obligations under a privatization agreement, "including the cancellation of a 47 million U.S. dollar budgetary debt."

In related news, Cross Lander announced that it is no longer Cross Lander.  Err... kinda. The company is officially changing its name to Global Vehicles U.S.A. Incorporated. However, as a regrettably infectious tune once said, "It's all the same, only the names will change"-- the company and its charter remain unaltered, and the "Cross Lander" moniker is being retained for future U.S. bound products. The embattled firm further states that it plans to move its home base to the Atlanta, Georgia area later this summer, and claims to still have 150 dealers signed up.

Click through to the link for the full press release.

[Source: Cross Lander USA via P.R. Newswire]