Volvo Britto & XC90 LegoShowing that Swedes do have a light side, Volvo unveiled two "concept" cars that will obviously never see production. The Volvo Britto is a V50 that received a major makeover from world-renowned artist Romero Britto. The brightly painted station wagon gives additional meaning to term "pop art."
For those who didn't know, Lego is as Swedish as lutefisk and aquavit. Thus the recently announced sponsorship agreement between Legoland(r) California and Volvo was a natural deal. And the resulting tribute, the XC90 Lego, a natural result. The bright-blue bricked SUV will take up residence at the Carlsbad, Calif.-based theme park. Don't you wish you had as many Lego pieces when you were a kid.
Notes From EuropeDamn Tasty MachineOn the back of its latest entry in the German touring car racing series DTM (Deutschen Tourenwagen Masters), Mercedes has decided to unleash a limited run of only 100 autobahn blasters onto the unsuspecting public. Marketed through the company's AMG division, the CLK-DTM will push out a mighty 580 bhp using the race-tuned version of the 5.5-liter V8 from the SL55 AMG. Weight has been taken out of the setup by the application of carbon fiber in the door panels and race-style bucket seats, meaning that the overall package weighs in at 1,640kg, some 75kg lighter than the CLK 55 AMG. Unlike BMW, which chose to strip its M3 CSL of all luxuries, the CLK-DTM is blessed with air conditioning.
The short run is being built by HWA, Mercedes' DTM race department.
Thirty-somethingFor most of us, turning 30 is something of a trauma, involving life's first retrospective and the realization that, perhaps, not everything has gone according to plan. For the VW Golf, it means it now has the right to carry a German "H" plate. An "H" at the end of the license plate doesn't only signify that your vehicle is now officially an "oldtimer" (that's the word the Germans use, folks), it also qualifies you to cheaper insurance and lower vehicle tax.
However, for those of us with vivid recollections of the very first Golfs to hit the streets, it's simply another reminder of the years racing by.
U.S. fans have another 4 years to wait to celebrate the Golf's 30th anniversary stateside, as it didn't make it over the pond (as the rather stupidly named Rabbit) until 1978, by which time 2 million units were already in circulation.
No More Free PhoneEarlier this year, Germany added its name to the list of European countries where it is illegal to use a hand-held cellphone while driving. Failure to comply will cost you EUR40 and one point on your driving license. But the places that driving phone jugglers really need to watch out are Greece and Holland, where an illicit hand-held call could cost you a spot-fine of EUR147 and EUR136, respectively. For those travelling to the Olympic Games in Athens, I would try learning "but officer, I am but a humble tourist unaware of the rules" in Greek. Or, better still, "I am a member of the IOC currently checking up on the construction backlog and infrastructure problems, and I must inform you that cellphone reception in this area is below standard."
X3 PlusDemand for BMW's new X3 is so high that the company has had to increase output at Austrian subcontractor Magna Steyr from 300 to 400 per day.
Bugs-a-PlenttiFor those of you who haven't already spotted it, the Bugatti Veyron is rapidly becoming a colossus of a white elephant within the VW Group's top brands.
"I have never seen a car that had so much technology in so little space. You'd have to go to NASA to find something else like it," is how new boss Thomas Bscher sums it up.
The question must surely be-is it all worth it. Delay after delay has seen market launch put back repeatedly-it's now scheduled for fall 2005. And VW has poured so much money into it that there's no way it can make anything approaching a profit on planned volumes of 50 per year.
Bscher reckons that Bugatti was given too much design and technical freedom in the early stages of the project, resulting in a great deal of backpedaling and rework. However, the Wolfsburg giant has a rep to protect, it has poured so much dosh into the French brand that it has no choice but to bring the product to market, and to make sure that it's 110% right. While Ferrari owners might forgive the Italian brand the quality quirks and idiosyncrasies of the Enzo, VW has set its standards for the Veyron around typical German perfectionism. The Lamborghini Murcilago and Bentley GT Coupe have proven that this is a worthy target, but is the Veyron a perfectionist step too far?
In order to claw back the undisclosed sums thrown at the Veyron, Bugatti is already planning a smaller, higher volume model that will share a large proportion of its technology and components with other group brands, such as Bentley, Lambo and Audi. According to Bscher, the new model will appear in 2008 and, with volumes of around 2,000 per year, will bring the business into profit by 2009.
Panda AlessiNo, it's not a new fragrance, nor a gift from the Chinese government to an Italian zoo; the Panda Alessi concept is the result of the latest automotive lifestyle partnership to hit the show stands.
If your kitchen boasts those now familiar design icons from the Milan design house, prepare yourself for a matching driveway. However, don't expect to see any of those little cut-out men motifs or Alessi faces.
Fiat has given lifestyle design brand Alessi the chance to reinterpret the little Panda, launched last year to much acclaim. The exterior of the car is relatively unaffected, with just a few new styling and color details on the front grille, door moldings and wheel arches. The only noticeable Alessi signature is in the form of a red bobble on the end of the radio antenna. As you might expect, a good deal more influence has been exercised inside, with a rework of the fascia and gearshift, as well as astigmatism-inducing neon-green upholstery.
Right now the design is merely a prototype. However, Fiat has indicated that the partnership may well develop further.
Personally, I'm looking forward to the Peugeot 307 Chanel.
Coventry Transport MuseumAny car nut planning a British tour this summer should go here"You can't just put horse dung on the floor," said Barry Littlewood, the chief executive of the Coventry Transport Museum, as we inspect the blacksmith's shop. "But there are off-the-peg solutions that help you create the right effect." Littlewood is clearly proud of his "special aromas," and as we swing right into a 19th-century pub, the smell of horse is replaced by the sickly scent of cigarette ash.
"It's important to use all the senses to create an accurate picture of the time," he continued. "The days are gone when a transport museum looked like a big garage. Visitors today want to feel like they're participating in history, and we wanted to get away from the idea that car museums are just for guys. The cars provide a backdrop for a social history of the time."
As chief executive, Littlewood has overseen a 7.5M ($13.4M) redevelopment scheme that has created the UK's biggest transport museum. Its remit is simple-all the models must be connected in some way with Coventry. This sounds horribly restrictive until you remember that, until the 1970s, this industrial city in the heart of England was known as the workshop of the world.