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Filed under: Spy Photos, Coupes, Sports/GTs, Chevrolet

click above for a total of six new Chevy Camaro spy shots

Spy photographers from KGP Photography have finally caught the Camaro in the automotive industry’s epicenter. In the past, the General has only tested Camaro mules wearing heavily modified Holden Commodore bodies in the U.S. These pics, however, show a pair of Camaro prototypes, one festooned with camouflage and one completely bare (the way Bob Lutz likes it) in Detroit City. We’re of course interested in the prototype that’s sans camo. Aside from a few details like the grille and headlights, you’re looking at the Camaro that will go into production next February. The other vehicle, meanwhile, was reportedly fresh off the boat from Australia, which is why it’s still wearing camo and features Aussie-spec red and amber taillights. Take a look at the many spy shots in our gallery below and wait patiently like the rest of us for the Camaro to finally reenter production. (more…)

Filed under: Etc., Government/Legal

Engineers and marketing specialists invariably inject reality into a designer’s original vision before it ever hits the streets. Despite these intrinsic modifications, one former design student claimed he created the original inspiration for the Mazda RX8, Audi TT, BMW Z3 and Volvo XC90. Guy Lloyd-Parker believed the vehicles were spawned from some of the 95 drawings that were stolen from him by college lecturers at The London College of Fashion in 1994. After Mr. Lloyd-Parker was unsuccessful in receiving compensation from the college, he went after the top designers at each of the above mentioned automobile manufacturers. He sent threatening letters to Tsutomu Matano (formerly of Mazda), Geza Loczi (Design Director of Volvo), and Henrik Fisker (formerly of BMW and currently associated with Aston Martin and his own bespoke company). The mailings, titled “The Truth,” demanded large sums of money in exchange for withholding “the whole truth” from the media. The letters also called the designers “liars, thieves and cheats.” Now it looks like the real truth has been revealed as Guy Lloyd-Parker has been found guilty of three accounts of blackmail. (more…)

Filed under: Sedans/Saloons, Volkswagen

When I was in high school, my older brother had a Wolfsburg Edition VW Jetta. It had a 1.8 turbo, a knobby little shifter and BBS rims. It was pretty cool and I wasn’t allowed to drive it. Several years have passed, and I’m still not allowed to drive my brother’s Jetta Wolfsburg, but Volkswagen is unveiling a new one.

Replacing last year’s 2.5-liter Wolfsburg model (shown), the new Wolfsburg Edition gets its 200 horsepower and 207 lb-ft of torque from Volkswagen’s 2-liter turbo four and throws 17-inch alloys, leatherette seats (just when we thought vinyl upholstery had gone the way of the dodo) and the requisite special badging into the mix. Volkswagen of America will make 12,500 Wolfsburgs in silver, black, red or gray, with six speeds in either clutched ($20,875) or dual-clutched ($21,950) transmissions for a whole new generation of jealous kid brothers and their grubby little hands.

Press release after the jump.

[Source: Volkswagen]

Continue reading VW announces new Wolfsburg Edition Jetta 2.0T

Filed under: Economy, Euro, India, Tata

Click to view the Tata Nano in our hi-res image gallery

Tata’s cut-price Nano budget car isn’t even on the market, and already the Indian automaker is planning its successor. In an interview with German magazine Focus, Tata’s Girish Wagh revealed that the second-generation Nano will be developed in four years from now and designed for an assault on the European market.

In order to market in Europe, the next Nano will need to comply with the stringent Euro 5 emissions and safety standards, and Tata will target three liters per 100km, down from the current Nano’s already tiny-sipping 5L/km. Before the next Nano is ready for the European market, Tata will focus on its domestic market for two-three years, after which it will look at expanding into Africa, Latin America and Southeast Asia. As we reported earlier, Tata plans to avail itself of Fiat’s dealer network in exchange for Jaguar-derived platforms for the upcoming Alfa Romeo 169 sedan.

[Source: Automotive News - Sub. Req.]

Filed under: Concept Cars, Gadgets, Geneva Motor Show, Safety, Tech, Driving

We always knew it would be the Italians who would figure out a way to do away with traffic lights and stop signs. The latest in the slow reveal of Pininfarina’s upcoming Sintesi concept highlights what the design firm calls Clancast. The system - which, as it strikes us, would need to be fitted to every vehicle on the road in order to work at all - communicates automatically with other cars on the road to coordinate traffic in a decentralized manner, thereby obviating the need for stop signs, traffic lights and all manner of roadside signalization that we all studied so hard to learn for our driving exams.

We presume Pininfarina will have more details when the concept is fully unveiled at the Geneva show, now just three weeks away. But until then, you can check out the Sintesi virtual magazine online to see what Pininfarina is on about.

[Source: Pininfarina]

Filed under: GM, Earnings/Financials

Bob Lutz understands how the automotive media operates, which is why on the same day that General Motors announced its largest loss ever, he pops up on the GM Fastlane Blog to talk about some good news: retail sales in January were up 11.2%.

The interesting thing is that this record $38.7 billion loss that the automotive media’s talking (too much) about is not at all attributable to GM’s performance at selling cars and trucks around the world in 2007. Nearly all of it is the result of an accounting adjustment, which we explained in detail last November. It represents past losses that GM was legally allowed to wait to report and finally did in Q3 2007. (more…)

Filed under: Videos

click above to view the newest Knight Rider commercial

The latest television commercial for the upcoming Knight Rider movie that airs this Sunday on NBC plays like an ad for Cars.com. KITT is parallel parked on a city street while a trigger happy nuevo Michael Knight gets busy with the key fob, experimenting with the GT500KR’s nano tech-based shape-shifting abilities. We learn that KITT’s shape shifting range is pretty limited. He can turn into any color late model Ford Mustang, and that’s it. So when the bad guys are searching for an overly winged Attack KITT, the most sophisticated car on the planet will hide by magically transforming into a 2007 Mustang V6 with the Pony Package. This is where we sigh out loud and bemoan how bad this movie and the resulting series is going to be. But we’ll watch it anyways this Sunday on NBC. Who knows, Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles is actually pretty good, and we were sure that show was gonna to suck. Check out the commercial for yourself after the jump. (more…)

Filed under: Spy Photos, Hatchbacks, Toyota

Vehicle test mules usually sneak out onto public roads with some camouflage to mask their identities from the legions of long-lensed paparazzi. With its latest development, Toyota opted for the opposite approach: no camouflage, no body-cladding, no shame. That could be because this facelifted Yaris hatchback bears little discernable difference to the model it succeeds. The shape of the air intakes and grille have been ever-so-slighty tweaked, while around back the tail-lights get subtly reconfigured.

With changes this minor, Toyota evidently thought that by putting masking tape around the revised bits, it would draw attention to it. And it almost slipped under the radar of the ever-vigilant online automotive press. Almost.

[Source: World Car Fans]

Filed under: Hatchbacks, Ford, UK

Another day, another hot hatch we can’t have in America. Today’s teaser: the Ford M-Sport Fiest TDCi. This special Fiesta is prepared by Ford’s WRC team M-Sport, which just celebrated a one-two-three-five finish at the Swedish rally, in conjunction with British dealer Stan Palmer Ford.

The rally-inspired Fiesta runs a 99-hp 1.6-liter Zetec S diesel engine, which can be upgraded - for an extra

Filed under: SUVs, Euro, Safety, Mercedes Benz

The Mercedes-Benz Gel