We first brought word of the 2,500 hectare Ferrari World theme park opening in Abu Dhabi last November. Three quarters of a year later the tourist attraction’s official YouTube channel has published a new promo clip to entice you to the world’s most expensive sand trap. What do you think, will the long-term future of Ferrari World be boom or bust?
Watch the video for yourself after the break to help you decide. If you’ve been there already, we’d love to hear what you thought.
Plans for Volkswagen to put its five-seat Bulli concept into production are gathering momentum, according to Autocar. Rather than just using electric power, as per the concept shown at Geneva earlier this year, VW wants to sell the Bulli with conventionally powered engines as well.
Pictures can be a little deceiving as the Bulli is only marginally larger than a Polo. However, with retro-inspired MPV-like styling Volkswagen reckon the Bulli would be a sales hit, especially in the US.
“As a designer, I am convinced by this idea,†says Walter de’Silva, Head of Volkswagen Group Design. “We don’t have a space for another conventional MPV, but this one would be desirable on a different level, combining practicality with the heritage appeal.â€
VW believe its history and heritage value give it a unique selling point against increasing competition from Korea and China.
[Source: Autocar]
The Bugatti Veyron Super Sport is a stupidly quick car; we know this. It has a top speed over 431km/h and can reach 100km/h in just 2.5 seconds. Here, in this short teaser video, Chris Harris explains what that speed feels like.
In recent days the intriguing tale of an abandoned BMW dealership in Canada has been making its way around the globe. The story goes Citation Motors in Oakville, Ontario was discarded in 1988 after the dealership was stripped of its license.
It’s unknown why the dealership lost its rights, but the man behind it moved on and opened another car yard called Downtown BMW in Toronto. This business ran until its closure in 2002.
Back to Ontario, then, and the dealership has remained as it was left 23 years ago. It’s an amazing scene with a 635csi taking pride of place on the showroom floor. The workshop rests apparently untouched, as well.
It’s believed the owner is a wealthy German businessman who had no reason or desire to sell up the former business and its stock; leaving us with a museum by happenstance.
[Source: Endras BMW]
The Ring1tv YouTube channel brings us a superb highlights package of the 2011 Nürburgring 24 hour race. We trust you will enjoy the clip above as you relive the journey that saw Manthey Racing return Porsche to the winner’s circle.
[Thanks to Obi for the tip]
Photos of an undisguised BMW F30 3 Series sedan have emerged from a recent photo shoot in Spain. The somewhat blurry images give us the first proper look at the next-gen 3er.
The new 3 Series will enter production in November this year and BMW will reveal details of their new volume seller around the same time. Sales for the F30 saloon will commence in March 2012 and will be launched at the Geneva Motor Show.
It’s expected BMW will start with 328i and 335i model designations featuring four cylinder turbo and twin-turbo six cylinder engines respectively. It also looks as though the Urban and Sport lines, or something similar, will be introduced as we have seen with the new F20 1 Series.
While this image isn’t great, you can get a sense that the new car has evolved in line with BMW’s latest design language. A head-up display can be seen forward of the main dash cowling as well as a full tan/beige interior, which is a move away from recent schemes that have been a mix of light and dark.
You can see a few more images by following the source link below.
[Source: F30post]
Here’s the official teaser video from Audi promoting their electric-powered urban concept. It’s a 1+1 seater designed to make city commuting a breeze. This clip was filmed in central Berlin and truth be told two clips from a random spotter featured in our previous post captured more than this clip gives us (see here). Audi will show us the full monty in Frankfurt next month.
Last month we brought word that Porsche is considering the re-introduction of a 928-style GT sportscar. The discussion centred around drawings of this spectacular 929 design study.
The concept was created by design student Julliana Cho who is in her final year at the Royal College of Art in London. Cho is being sponsored by Porsche and is making herself known following internships with Honda and Kia.
Talking about her work Cho says, “The reason why I am fascinated by vehicle design is because such opposite things can be combined beautifully into it.
“Creating ideas for a mechanical object with a different approach, such as architecture, fashion, sculpture or eco-friendly products, makes me motivated and passionate.
“My aim is always focused on ‘How to create the perfect balance between the message and the object?’”
Progress on a Porsche pavilion at Volkswagen’s Autosadt in Wolfsburg has just commenced and has a target opening in the first half of 2012. It’s a sign that the Volkswagen–Porsche merger is working reasonably well.
The Porsche Museum in Stuttgart will still be the best place to see the best the company has to offer. Although we expect the addition of a Porsche pavilion will certainly add to the experience at the Autostadt. It will join existing displays at the theme park which include Volkswagen Group car brands Audi, Bentley, Lamborghini, Seat, Skoda and Volkswagen.
Advertising standards and equality for the sexes have come along way in the last four decades. To see just how far, check out the ad for Goodyear Polyglas tyres after the jump.
In the meekest of defences for the copywriting, the ad was reportedly shown during the broadcast for the NFL’s first ever Monday night game in 1970. So it was intended for a largely male audience. Watch the clip to see how flimsy that defence really is.
[Thanks to Simone for the tip]
Throughout his career Mark Webber has shown he’s quite prepared to push himself way beyond accepted limits. On track, or perhaps that should be off track, we’ve seen Mark flipping race cars. His most notable examples of that were at Valencia last year and Le Mans in 1999. Webber has also pushed past the acceptable with his ad for Canberra Milk. Now, thanks to his connection with Red Bull, he has flipped and rolled a helicopter too.
If you know your BMW nomenclature then a car badged as an ‘M550dX’ will most likely make you stop in your tracks and ask, “Would they really do that?”
The ‘M’ means go fast, of course. In the good old days ‘550’ would have told you the model was a 5 Series powered by a 5.0 litre engine. Today, all it tells you is it will be a model close to the top of the 5 Series tree.
Now, here’s where it starts to get interesting: ‘d’ indicates the car is diesel powered and ‘X’ tells you that power is delivered to all four wheels.
So what are we left with? An all-wheel drive, diesel powered M5 in effect.
This is the hot tip as we near the Frankfurt Motor Show. At the very least we’ll be seeing the first of BMW’s tri-turbo madness when they bolt three turbochargers to a six clyinder diesel engine in time for the show.
The all-wheel drive M5 rumour has been around for a while now. But a diesel M5: would they really do that?
[Source: Autoblog]