Car Reviews: 08/29/10

Sunday, August 29, 2010

The winner of the 1907 Paris to Peking endurance race

The 1907 ITALA mod. 35/45 HP won the prize of a magnum of Mumm champagne. The race went without any assistance through country where there were no roads or road-maps. For the race, camels carrying fuel left Peking and set up at stations along the route to give fuel to the racers. The race followed a telegraph route so that the race was well covered in newspapers at the time. Each car had one journalist as a passenger, with the journalists sending stories from the telegraph stations regularly through the race.

The 9,300 mile race was kicked off by a challenge by a newspaper "What needs to be proved today is that as long as a man has a car, he can do anything and go anywhere. Is there anyone who will undertake to travel this summer from Peking to Paris by automobile?"

It was held during a time when cars were fairly new, and went through remote areas of Asia where people were not familiar with motor travel. The route between Peking and Lake Baikal had only previously been attempted on horseback. The race was won by Italian Prince Scipione Borghese of the Borghese family, accompanied by the journalist Luigi Barzini, Sr. He was confident and had even taken a detour from Moscow to St Petersburg for a dinner which was held for the team, and afterwards headed back to Moscow and rejoined the race. The event was not intended to be a race or competition, but quickly became one due to its pioneering nature and the technical superiority of the Italians' car driven by Count Scipione Borghese, winning by three weeks. These sporting successes helped sales dramatically, the company continued to grow. The company experimented with a range of novel engines such as variable stroke, sleeve valve, and "Avalve" rotary types

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peking_to_Paris and http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Itala

Italy's National Automobile Museum in Turin (or Torino I'm not sure, I can't read Italian)

the wood buck for an Alfa Romeo Guiletta Sprint

Fiat Turbina

the winner of the Paris to Peking race

If you are ever near Torino, it looks like a must see to me! http://www.museoauto.it/home/

Images from http://www.flickr.com/photos/tomislavmedak/

2012 Morgan Sports Cars EvaGT

Morgan was one of the first car companies to see the advantage of a bonded aluminium chassis to give rigidity but also to save weight. The 2012 Morgan Sport Car EvaGT uses a further developed version of the bonded aluminium chassis of the Morgan Aero SuperSports, a chassis that successfully competes in International GT3 Sports Car Racing. Compliant with European and US safety approvals.

2012 Morgan Sports Cars EvaGT

The Morgan Motor Company has been making new cars all along. Morgan used the unveiling of the EvaGT sports car to again commit to releasing a brand new model every two years, with new niche markets in mind. It says the EvaGT is a four-seater coupe with a bit of “automotive theatre” aimed at young sporting families, while it also has plans for “a fun weekend vehicle” and, most intriguingly, an “electric sports car”.

The Morgan Motor Company is the last survivor of these British sports car manufacturers. Morgan sports car has a history of successful collaborations with German suppliers BMW, Siemens and Bosch. But Morgan also works with a number of young engineering companies in the United Kingdom and with world class British university research departments.

2012 Morgan Sports Cars EvaGT

The Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance is one of the most prestigious automotive events of the year, and is drawing the attention of more and more high-end manufacturers. Count Morgan among them, as the company has just debuted the stunning Morgan EvaGT 2+2.

The Morgan Motor Company is in a good position to respond to this challenge because the company is small and flexible with a proven track record of fast development cycles. It currently manufactures one of the greenest sports cars in the world, the Morgan Four Four Sport. Morgan sports cars achieves this result with the use of the new Ford 1.6 Sigma engine coupled with a light chassis. Morgan currently has a young well qualified technical team working towards a potential 5 engineering PHD's, who will make full use of research departments at the University of Oxford, Cranfield and Birmingham City to tap into a technical knowledge network to make more efficient cars. This team is helping to develop a high torque electric motor twice as powerful as others of the same weight and size and a powerful lithium phosphate battery with a higher charge density to achieve the most efficient performance for weight so far.

The turbocharged, 3.0-liter inline-six from the BMW 335i sits under the sculpted hood and produces a healthy 306 horsepower and 295 pound-feet of torque. Power is transmitted to the rear wheels by either a six-speed automatic or six-speed manual. Morgan sports cars expects a scamper to 62 miles per hour to take 4.5 seconds and a top speed of 170 miles per hour. With its top speed at 170mph, Morgan sports cars Eva GT returns an impressive fuel economy of 40mpg UK, equals to 7.0lt/100km and 33.3mpg US, and has CO2 emissions of 200g/km.

The first public view of the 2012 Morgan sports cars EvaGT will be at the 60th Pebble Beach Concours d'Elegance, California, USA on the 15th August 2010. The Morgan Motor Company will be taking orders worldwide with a request for a deposit of £5000 from prospective clients for an allocated build slot. The first 100 cars of a limited run are planned to begin production mid 2012 and the "on-road" price will be competitive for a car of this class.

2012 Morgan Sports Cars EvaGT

2012 Morgan Sports Cars EvaGT

2012 Morgan Sports Cars EvaGT

Mercedes Arrow Is A Lightweight Two-Seater Vehicle Gives You The Feeling Of Sliding With A Bobsleigh

Mercedes Arrow has been designed to draw a comparison with other recreational vehicles such as motorcycles, jetskis or personalized aircraft. This stunning vehicle gives its passengers the ride of their life. The bobsleigh shaped body, the lightweight materials and the sporty look enable it to shoot through heavy traffic like an arrow from a bow. This experience can only be enjoyed by two passengers, their seats are placed one in front of another. One of the stunning features this futuristic car has, is that it combines TANDEM with MAGLEV technology to take sharp corners. This innovative feature allows the body of the car to tilt left and right when the car is taking corners, thus minimizing the wheels tilt angle. There is an almost non-existing chance for the vehicle to slide out of control. Due to the slim body, the wheels cover the same space of tarmac, just as a contemporary car, eliminating the risk of the car flipping over. The designer, Felipe Palermo, found inspiration in the old Silver Arrows, the SLR McLaren and the 1954 Gull-Wing.

Designer : Felipe Nogueria Palermo

The whole design and idea put this concept automotive in a near future, where people won’t be using cars anymore. A future where the whole transport itself will be based on rail systems. Felipe’s Arrow vehicle is designed for fun in the weekends, a recreational vehicle. The air intake placed in the rear of the car, over the last passenger, reminds us that the whole vehicle is based on Mercedes’ racing history and its super-cars. The airintake is also a starting point for the side bars, which strengthens the body and hold between them a small wind shield in front of the driver. Mercedes Arrow will be equipped with the next generation tire technology. They will have the ability to never wear out, the driver will be able to re-inject them with rubber and take the car for a spin, again. Felipe Palermo has applied everything he has learned at the IED, where he graduated in Car Design in 2007. He also has a post degree in Transportation Design and Industrial Design at FAAP, and is currently working at Mercedes-Benz Design Studio in Brazil.

Peugeot Modif

Automobile industry has seen various changes in past few years. Trend for compact hybrid cars is at its peak now a days. Several new designs are shaped every day and there is lot more to come.

Peugeot Modif is a fabulous design for a hybrid car that will be very successful in small towns and tight places. It has a two tone color scheme and the center of this is the large rubber tube-like center shaft that allows the car to squeeze up to 88 centimeters and also provides the front of the car with flexibility to swivel from side to side 18.5 degrees for better drive.

I liked the design as it is different from traditional designs, it features white tires and large black chrome wheels with each tire having six special pads holding sensors to intimate the driver for adjustment of car according to road conditions. Inside each massive wheel is a powerful hydrogen hybrid engine. 80% of the material used to make is renewable, the a rubber element in the front part houses the oil, water and CPU.

The cockpit of the car is covered by a large bubble top one-piece window that provides the passenger and the driver with an unobstructed view up to 360 degrees. Rare view cameras on both sides constantly provide with the status of the road behind on a screen embedded on the dashboard. It also features a high-discharge red led emergency light on the top for you to cherish a V.I.P. feeling. The exhaust pipe is positioned in the center that only emits water.