Year: 2011

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Porsche Video

Porsche 356: Made by hand

Porsche 356:Made by hand

Here’s a wonderful YouTube discovery, an official documentary showcasing the production of the Porsche 356. Which, in the opinion of AUSmotive, is one of the most beautiful pieces of automotive designs ever produced.

According to the YouTube caption the doco was filmed at Zuffenhausen in the early 1960s. The Super 90 engine is discussed and putting all those things together suggests these are 356Bs that are being built.

The film has been split into five parts and runs for around 40 minutes. However it is well worth the investment in time to watch all the clips. If you do you will be rewarded with some fascinating footage of old skool production techniques.

Porsche employed a stringent quality control regime and seeing how laborious that was is a real eye opener. In today’s era of highly automated production manual checking like that would not be cost effective. The three-man transmission installation technique shown in Part 4 is also, thankfully, a technique now consigned to the history books.

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Motorsports

More ways to keep up to date with Dakar 2011

Carlos Sainz, Dakar 2011

If you want to keep up to date with Dakar 2011 here’s two methods you might consider. Firstly, the official Dakar Rally YouTube channel is posting daily highlights; clips from Stages 1 and 2 can be viewed right here after the break.

Those who prefer to sit on their couch can tune in to the SBS TV highlights show broadcast at 5:30 every afternoon (thanks to Tim for the tip). If that timing is not suitable for you, then fear not, you can watch the extended highlights at your leisure online via the SBS Dakar website.

Volkswagen also has a free Dakar 2011 App available on the Australian iTunes Store. There is an official Dakar 2011 App available, too, but only via the French iTunes Store and, of course, not it’s in English anyway.

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Porsche

Another 991 Porsche 911 rendering

991 Porsche 911 rendering

French website L’Automobile brings us some new renderings of the upcoming 991 Porsche 911. The front view is pretty much the same as we saw last August. This time, though, you get a look at the backside of the new 991.

Most other details for the next-gen 911 remain as reported last year. So, we can expect the wheelbase to be increased by 75mm or so, allowing for improved engine mounting and rear seat room. A weight loss of some 50kg is anticipated, along with a better aero package and the use of efficient technologies such as stop-start and brake regeneration. The interior layout will draw heavily from the Panamera, as well.

The latest speculation suggests the 991 will debut later this year at the Frankfurt IAA in September.

[Source: L’Automobile | translated]

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Mercedes-Benz Video

V8 powered Mercedes B55 lights ’em up

If you want to see and hear what happens when you stick a 388hp V8 into a shopping trolley then here’s the video for you. The Mercedes-Benz B55 one-off creation is one mum’s car you could take to the Summernats and actually gain some genuine street cred!

So, the B55 can do tricks in a straight line, but can it go around corners with any degree of competence? Maybe with rents for testing days at the Nürburgring heading for a 500% increase Mercedes might not be so keen to find out!

[via Autoblog]

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BMW MINI Motorsports Volkswagen

Dakar 2011 underway – follow it live

MINI Countryman Dakar promo

Dakar 2011 is underway and after Stage 1 it looks like business as usual with defending champion Carlos Sainz and his Volkswagen Race Touareg 3 in the lead, holding a 90 second advantage over the X-Raid BMW X5 of Stéphane Peterhansel.

Of course, X-Raid are the guys responsible for the MINI Countryman which is making its Dakar debut. So far things don’t appear to be going as smooth as their promo piece, with the big little MINI almost one hour behind Sainz.

You can watch the X-Raid MINI promo via Facebook. But, more importantly, you can keep up to date with Dakar 2011 via live timing on the official website and also with regular updates on twitter.

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Bugatti

Bugatti planning A8 derived saloon

Bugatti Galibier Concept

Reports from Germany suggest Bugatti will end its sportscar production in favour of a return to luxury saloons. It is understood the next Bugatti creation will be based on the Audi A8 and should come to life in 2014.

At last year’s Geneva Motor Show Bugatti presented the Galibier Concept (pictured above). The Galibier is the most recent four-door saloon from the famous marque and no doubt gives us an idea as to what Bugatti has in mind.

While the all-conquering Veyron has a projected production run of just 300, it is expected the company’s next foray will result in much higher numbers.

[Source: Spiegel Online | translated]

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Ferrari Ford Pagani Porsche Top Gear Volvo

Top Gear – Series 16 preview

Volvo C30 Polestar

Season 16 of Top Gear is scheduled to premiere on BBC2 on Sunday 23 January. The Top Gear website has just published a preview of what we can expect to see in the upcoming series [click here to watch].

While the Pagani Zonda R, Ferrari 599 GTO and Ariel Atom 500 V8 will be great to see in action. It is a Volvo that AUSmotive is most looking forward to. It’s not just any old Volvo, either, but the 400hp all-wheel drive C30 Polestar Concept. That’s it above; looks fantastic, don’t you think.

The equally wicked Ford Focus RS500 also gets a thrashing around the Top Gear test track, and seeing that benchmarked against the C30 Polestar will be very interesting.

Also previewed in the teaser clip is a retro shootout featuring the awesome Ferrari F40 and Porsche 959, which should warm the hearts of Generation Xers who would have grown up with posters of these cars on their bedroom walls.

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Alfa Romeo Aston Martin Mercedes-Benz MINI Rolls-Royce Volkswagen Volvo

E-Class surprise leader in “shaggin’ wagon” poll

Mercedes-Benz E-Class Estate

A recent UK report has revealed that 54% of British motorists admit to having sex in a car. And it seems the older you are the more likely you are to find paradise by the dashboard light. Almost 40% of over 55s interviewed claimed sex in a car was fantastic, compared to just 13% of those aged between 18 and 24.

The raunchy research was carried out by the appropriately named Autoquake.com, an online retailer, and CEO Dermot Halpin says, “We’re surprised that so many of drivers have used their cars as mobile bedrooms, and impressed that the older generation are leading the way.”

A top 10 list of sexy cars was compiled as part of the study. The wide open spaces of the Mercedes E-Class Estate proved a worthy, if surprising, leader in the poll. Shaggin’ wagons have gone a bit upmarket since the 70s it seems. The full list is available after the break.

We’re sure readers won’t be surprised to learn no Toyota made the top 10. Which begs the question, just what is that feeling they keep going on about; loneliness, perhaps?

If you’ve enjoyed a few extra “services” between scheduled intervals, leave us a comment and tell us all about it!

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Mercedes-Benz

Mercedes-Benz trainees create B55 bombshell

Mercedes-Benz B55

Following news that Mercedes-Benz is preparing a cooking A-Class AMG model to compete with the BMW 1M and Audi RS3 comes this official release of a one-off V8 powered B-Class.

The “B55” offers 388hp of power and 530Nm of torque from its 5.5 litre bent-eight. Beginning its life as a rather modest front-wheel drive B 200 CDI, the rear-wheel drive B55 beast was created by trainees at the Mercedes-Benz Rastatt plant. The idea first came about after training foreman Andreas Würz said the words, “Actually it should be possible to fit a V8 into the engine compartment.”

With a classic Q-car brief Würz and 12 trainees set about building a genuine bahn-stormer able to be used as a daily driver. Understated looks, a smart interior and 7-speed auto transmission should help there.

Building this Frankenstein creation wasn’t all smooth sailing, though. Using a rear-axle from a W120 E-Class was sure to present some problems, of course.

Würz explains, “The V8 power unit fitted amazingly well, and we were even able to use the original engine mounts. There were serious problems with the steering, but here too, harmony was restored with a number of modifications.

“The exhaust system was a clever combination of various replacement part items, and took the form of a twin-pipe system emerging at the centre of the rear end. This is where the one-off, christened the B 55 gets its typical, burbling sound – once the ignition key has been turned, all heads in the vicinity are guaranteed to swivel simultaneously in the direction of the B-Class.”

Further raiding of the AMG parts bin for brakes and 18″ wheels completed the job.

[Thanks to Derek for the tip]

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Motor Shows Porsche

Porsche to start 2011 with world debut at Detroit

Porsche 918 Coupe rendering

Porsche has confirmed it will be bringing “an important show debut” to the NAIAS in Detroit later this month. What we don’t know for sure is what that model will be. Current speculation says it will be a 918 Coupé; a model sitting above the 911, but below the 918 Spyder, which debuted at Geneva last year.

AutoBild has published a couple of renderings showing what the 918 Coupé might look like. Obviously there is a strong link to the stunning Spyder on which it is based. Reports say the Coupé version could be powered by a twin-turbo V8 with 600hp+ on tap. Nice!

The 918 Coupé should be just the thing to get Porsche into a ringside battle with the Ferrari 458 Italia and imminent McLaren MP4-12C. Just a shame we probably won’t see a production version of the new Porsche until 2014.

We should have all the answers on Porsche’s new model once the NAIAS news breaks in a bit over a week from now. More after the break.

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