Toyota iQ-based Aston Martin Cygnet concept Even supercar and luxury GT makers are finally starting to think green. Bentley is trying out E85 and possibly working on a hybrid. Same goes for Ferrari . Lamborghini is even adopting solar power, at least for its factory. The latest premium brand to step to the plate is Aston Martin. Sure, the fine folk from Gaydon have already used E85 in some of their racecars, and Prince Charles is even driving a wine-powered Aston , but we just got news that the firm is taking a big step down in order to lower their carbon footprint. Aston Martin has announced the world’s first super luxury supermini. Having blown their development budget on the V12 Vantage RS , Rapide and One-77 hypercar, they turned to an unlikely partner for some help: Toyota. Aston Martin has taken the Toyota iQ 3+1 commuter and given it a tailored suit from Savile Row. The result is the new Aston Martin Cygnet you see above. In case you’re wondering, “cygnet” is a baby swan. Although technically just a concept, word has it that the vehicle will be put into limited production and sold exclusively to existing Aston Martin owners, at least initially. There’s a full press release after the jump , but the Cygnet should sell for around £20,000 when it goes on sale late next year. The car will retain the iQ’s unique 3+1 seating but will be tailored to the individual customer’s needs when it is assembled in Gaydon. We only have the one photo for now, but from what we can see it doesn’t look half bad with that distinctive Aston Martin grille, hood cutouts, side vents, and of course, the winged badge. Follow the jump for the presser. [Source: Toyota via Autocar ] Continue reading REPORT: Toyota iQ to underpin smartly dressed Aston Martin Cygnet Filed under: Etc. , Aston Martin , Toyota REPORT: Toyota iQ to underpin smartly dressed Aston Martin Cygnet originally appeared on AutoblogGreen on Mon, 29 Jun 2009 09:32:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink  |  Email this  |  Comments

Filed under: Time Warp , Misc. Auto Shows 2009 Greenwich Concours d’Elegance, Day 1 - Click above for a high-res gallery The web is all about immediacy, and by that token, you should have seen these Greenwich Concours d’Elegance photos right after the event happened. Your humble correspondent, however, was juggling the Concours with his own family vacation preparations, and couldn’t deliver in a timely fashion. However, like Dick Nixon , I’m now tanned, rested and ready, so follow the jump for several themed photo galleries and the annual rundown on what you missed if you weren’t able to make the stop in Greenwich, All photos Copyright (C)2008 Alex Núñez / Weblogs, Inc. Continue reading 2009 Greenwich Concours d’Elegance 2009 Greenwich Concours d’Elegance originally appeared on Autoblog on Sat, 20 Jun 2009 20:10:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink  |  Email this  |  Comments

General Motors found a buyer for its long-struggling Saab business: Koenigsegg Group AB, a consortium led by Koenigsegg Automobile AB, a Swedish producer of super-exclusive sports cars. The performance carmaker won the bidding, with the deal expected to close in the third quarter. GM, Koenigsegg, and the European Investment Bank will provide funding for new models. Is Saab worth saving? Saab has a couple of decent models, but the Swedish brand has a narrow niche of buyers both in Europe and the U.S. That has been the company’s problem. Saab has fiercely-loyal buyers in the U.S., especially among the college-professor crowd in the Northeast. But GM never found enough of them and Saab was a perennial money loser. Just look at these ugly sales numbers: Saab sales dropped 52% globally in the first quarter. In the U.S., Saab sales were down 55% through May, to 4,600 cars. No one can make a business out of that. Koenigsegg will have to get Saab some new models pretty fast. Saab only has the 9-3 and 9-5. GM hasn’t exactly poured investment capital into the brand. The company says there are some new models in the works. But it’s hard to imagine the lineup getting much bigger anytime soon. What’s more is that Koenigsegg wants to pull 9-5 production into Saab’s plant in Trollhaetten, Sweden. There’s a pitfall there, too. GM struggled with exchange rates exporting out of Sweden. Between the currency problems and the lower prices Saab gets for its premium cars, it’s hard to imagine the company making money, unless the buyer makes big changes. So why would Koenigsegg want it? Maybe some Swedish car guys want to preserve the hometown marque. While I can appreciate the sentiment, this strikes me as a deal that’s similar to when the Phoenix Consortium, a group of British investors, took MG Rover off of BMW’s hands in 2000 and tried to revive it. Rover was the last English car name that wasn’t owned by Americans, Germans, or Malaysians. But Rover was too far gone and by 2005 it was insolvent. It will be up to Christian von Koenigsegg, founder of the company, to avoid the same fate. Saab will have one thing going for it: Koenigsegg will probably care more about investing in the name than GM ever did. That, at least, is a start.

One of the many questions arising from the General Motors bankruptcy is whether or not the company will keep the same name once it emerges from Chapter 11. While some people have already taken to calling it Government Motors, it seems somehow unlikely that new CEO Fritz Henderson will officially adopt that name. Still, the AP reported last week is at least being considered by the company. In a bit of thinking-out-loud contemplation, the Detroit Free Press has taken a look at the possibility that GM will indeed change its name. In them middle of the article is this paragraph: Now, [a name change] also could be a sign to consumers that this really is a new, different enterprise. But GM’s immediate challenge will be selling vehicles such as the Chevy Volt that were clearly conceived and designed by the current company, warts and all . When GM is talking about itself these days, the most common new “name” is, well, “the New GM.” The Free Press believes that GM should remain GM - why complicate matters. But what if the name does change and, since we’re imagining things here, the Volt is used as the symbol of this new brand. A new type of car for a new type of company. Good idea? View Poll [Source: Detroit Free Press ] Photo by mandj98 . Licensed under Creative Commons license 2.0 . Filed under: GM , Green Daily Would it matter if the Chevy Volt is made by an entity other than “GM”? [w/POLL] originally appeared on AutoblogGreen on Mon, 15 Jun 2009 18:52:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Read  |  Permalink  |  Email this  |  Comments

Bentley CEO Franz-Josef Paefgen has repeatedly said in the past that the British luxury marque will introduce lower CO 2 -emitting powertrains over the next several years, starting with the flex-fuel W12 in the Continental Supersports this fall. As part of the Volkswagen Group, Bentley is likely to follow some of the same powertrain paths as the rest of the group (i.e., diesel). However, it’s likely that hybrids will be part of the picture as well. Speaking of pictures, some new spy photos have turned up of a Continental GT running somewhere in southern Europe. The new shots may indicate that Bentley is already working on a hybrid Continental. Lots of unusual gear is visible through the back window and the photographer claims the car was running very quietly, a signal that may point to a hybrid running in EV mode. If the Bentley is a hybrid, it’s probably using the same system developed by VW, Audi and Porsche that will be appearing in the Touareg, Q5, Cayenne and Panamera in the next couple of years. Thanks to Andrus for the tip! [Source: FastestCar.com ] Filed under: Hybrid , Bentley Spy Shots: Is Bentley testing a hybrid Continental GT? originally appeared on AutoblogGreen on Sun, 07 Jun 2009 11:01:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink  |  Email this  |  Comments

Subaru Stella EV - Click above for gallery Mitsubishi made history this past week by being the first major automaker to begin series production of an electric car , the i MiEV. Subaru didn’t want its rival to get all the media love, and it immediately announced that it, too, had begun making the Stella EV . While the production numbers for the Stella are not as high as for the i MiEV - Subaru will only make 170 - it’s safe to say that the electric car race has now been joined. Deliveries for the Stella EV will start in Japan next month. The Stella EV uses a 47 kWh lithium-ion battery pack that can charge in five hours from a 220-volt plug (or from 110V). A quick-charge system can fill the battery 80 percent in just 15 minutes. The car can go about 55 miles on a charge and has a top speed of 62 mph. Not great for the highway, but just about perfect for city use. Interested? The Stella will cost more than the i MiEV, ¥4,700,000 ($47,600 U.S.) to ¥4,380,000 ($45,500). Buyers of both cars can get up to ¥1.38 million back from the Japanese government. Gallery: Subaru Stella EV [Source: Green Car Advisor ] Filed under: EV/Plug-in , Subaru , Japan On your mark… Subaru starts up Stella EV production originally appeared on AutoblogGreen on Sat, 06 Jun 2009 19:18:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Read  |  Permalink  |  Email this  |  Comments

Tesla Roadster recalled for faulty steering mounts, blames lotus. [ Fresnobee ]

Fat ‘70s Elvis haunts Nice Price or Crack Pipe this week and today we’ve got his ‘74 Fleetwood Brougham to slick back your hair and empty your wallet. What really got Elvis Presley’s hips a swiveling (we mean other than Tiparillos and barbituates) was his hunka hunka burnin’ love afair with his cars. Two days ago, we had a Stutz Blackhawk, a car that the King liked so much, he bought a new one every year until he answered God’s throne call. Yesterday, we had an Olds Cutlass that 71% of you took to like Elvis on velvet. Undoubtedly, Presley got busy with some groupies in the back seat of a Cutlass at some point in their parallel careers- top selling artist, top selling car- coincidence? I think not. And now today, we have a car that isn’t like Elvis‘ car , it was Elvis‘ car! In fact, this triple white 1974 Cadillac Fleetwood Brougham was claimed to be one of the King’s favorite rides in which to cruise South Memphis while munching on fried peanut butter & banana sandwiches, and popping bennies. This particular car is no stranger to eBay, having had a less-than SRO show there back in January 2000 at $1.2 million a ticket, an encore performance in February of that year at a Vegas Impersonator-worthy $750,000, and then a reunion tour that March for a scalper-friendly $500,000. Now it’s back, for one-month only , at the King-sized price of $599,000. That extra $99,000 apparently buys you such memorabilia as bills of sale, registration in Elvis’ name, pictures of Presley and his family, and perhaps most morbidly, a half-smoked cuban in the ashtray. Thank god they cleaned up the goofballs and yellow jackets from the glovebox, and the Coney Island White Fish from under the seats before making the car available for public viewings. So what would you do with this rock legend behemoth? It’s optioned out with every piece of kit and technology 1970s Cadillac had available, and with only 17,000 Elvis-driven miles, you probably shouldn’t be planning on a rock n’ roll roadtrip. Perhaps that cigar holds a clue? It may contain a trace of the Memphis resident’s genetic mojo. Or maybe there is still some hair, or perhaps a gnawed and spat fingernail trapped in the carpet? From that careless cast-off you could build yourself your own clone Elvis. It’d be better than any impersonator, catapulting you into a career of Colonel Tom proportions, and making you millions. Of course, inevitably, the Elvis clone would use his sloe-eye’d good looks and hip-swiveling prowess for evil, instead of good, and you’d have to get rid of him. You’d take him to the top of a tall building and, when he’s not looking, push him off. He’d curse you a blue streak the entire way down, and later you’d get arrested for making an obscene clone fall. So do you think six hundred thousand for this Caddy of the King is number one with a bullet? Or does that price make you think the seller’s got himself more crack pipe than Elvis had white jumpsuits? You decide! Nice Price or Crack Pipe: Elvis’ 1974 Cadillac Fleetwood Brougham for $599,000. ( online poll ) eBay or go here if the ad gets lonely tonight. Hat tip to PHIL Help me out with NPOCP. Click here to send a me a tip.

GM plans to file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy on Monday, then sell most of its assets to a new company. The bankruptcy should last 60-90 days and be financed with $50 billion of Treasury money. [ Bloomberg ]

The Detroit Red Wings will be facing off against Pittsburgh for the Stanley Cup . We think we know who these guys are pulling for. DETROIT - MAY 17: A Detroit Red Wings themed car drives down the street outside the arena prior to Game One of the Western Conference Championship Round of the 2009 Stanley Cup Playoffs against the Chicago Blackhawks on May 17, 2009 at Joe Louis Arena in Detroit, Michigan. (Photo by Claus Andersen/Getty Images)