Europe Auto News

Hyundai is a haunted company. It is trying to shake to ghosts of crappy cars. It is saddled with the image of former offerings like the Excel that, well, didn’t. This has been a great motivator for the South Korean company. It has been substantially raising the level of build quality since its introduction to the U.S. in 1986 because Hyundai doesn’t want to jinx its name, again.

The last few Hyundais we’ve has in the TopSpeed test fleet have been truly impressive. It fells like a Japanese car at a lower price. This is exactly what Hyundai wants because it is taking dead aim at Toyota and Honda.

(Read the full post about ‘Is it time to respect Hyundai or just buy a used Camry?’…)

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Posted Aug 31st 2008 5:33PM by Noah JosephFiled under: Sports/GTs, Supercars, Spyker, Special/Limited Editions Take your exotic sports car and put it in a room with its racing counterpart. Put on some R&B, dim the lights and wait nine months. It’s a winning formula that has worked for some of the world’s best automakers and resulted in such stunning performance vehicles as the Ferrari 430 Scuderia, Lamborghini Gallardo Superleggera, Aston Martin DBS and Porsche 911 GT3 RS, to name just a few. Now Spyker is getting ready to cue up the Barry White with the upcoming LM 85. Named for the starting position of the Spyker C8 GTR2 racer at Le Mans, the LM 85 will be the latest race-derived, hardcore exotic sportscar. (Read the full post about ‘Spyker to build lightweight race-derived C8 LM 85′…)

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Posted Aug 31st 2008 12:09PM by Jonathon RamseyFiled under: Motorsports, Etc., Euro, Audi, UKClick above for a gallery of David Sutton’s rally car collectionIn the eighties, the late David Sutton owned the company that prepared rally cars for Audi UK. It turns out he was collecting cars at the same time as he was preparing them, and putting them in his Historic Motors Ltd museum. The assortment includes seven Audis, some of which are Group B monsters, as well as an RS200 Cosworth, a couple of Lancias, a 1944 Volvo, and even a Skoda. Now the lot’s being sold, 22 cars in all, through Morris & Welford. It’s the kind of collection that, even if you had the time, money, and connections, would probably take you years to assemble individually. (Read the full post about ‘Ultimate rally car collection hits the block’…)

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Posted Aug 31st 2008 3:47PM by Jonathon Ramsey
Filed under: Spy Photos, Sedans/Saloons, Geneva Motor Show, Rolls-RoyceThe RR4 — the Rolls-Royce that asks that you “don’t call me ‘baby’” — is slowly undressing, striptease-like, before its final reveal at the 2009 Geneva Motor Show. Previous spy shots hinted at rear suicide doors, or coach doors as Rolls-Royce refers to them, and now it is official: the hinges on the rear door are on the rear of the door. The car has plenty of Phatom-esque cues, and although it doesn’t look anything like the initial sketch, it looks like it could be a very attractive proposition when it shows up for the big dance. (Read the full post about ‘Spy shots: RR4 wearing even less camouflage’…)

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CRUISING OLD ROUTE 27
In A 2008 VOLVO C70 CONVERTIBLE/HARDTOP
By Steve Purdy
TheAutoChannel.com
Detroit Bureau

I hooked up last week for just one day of a five-day cruise called the Old U.S. 27 Auto Tour. Only the second year for this tour it stops along a nearly 300-mile route at a variety of Michigan venues including the State capitol and includes more than 300 cruisers.

With the popularity of Route 66 cruises and similar events promoter Craig Parrish decided to put this one together to celebrate old highway U.S.

(Read the full post about ‘2008 Volvo C70 Review and Road Trip’…)

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Posted Aug 31st 2008 1:53PM by Jonathon Ramsey
Filed under: Coupes, Sports/GTs, Etc., Supercars, Lamborghini

One-third of American Top Gear, Tanner Foust, spent a day in the Lamborghini Reventon, and here’s his verdict: “Thumbs up big girl!” The fractional bit of additional horsepower didn’t mean much to him, but he did say the brakes were more capable, and, surprise, the car is quite wide and people like to stare at it. After six hours on Italy’s B-roads, that basically sums up his impressions. Since he didn’t have too much to say in print, we really do hope he’s saving the zingers for the show…

[Source: AutoFiends]

Tags: Toyota, honda, Honda, Ford

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Posted Aug 31st 2008 9:02AM by Sam AbuelsamidFiled under: Motorsports, Acura, Aston Martin, Audi, ChevroletClick the C6.R for a high-res gallery from the raceAs part of the revival of the Detroit Grand Prix at Belle Isle last year, the Detroit Sports Car Challenge was added as the highlight of Saturday’s activities. The sports car race is back this year as the ninth round of the American Le Mans Series. For those who have never checked out an ALMS race, it’s one of the best and most exciting forms of motorsport anywhere. Highcroft Racing’s Acura ARX-01B captured the pole and led much of the first half of the race ahead of the De Ferran Racing Acura. (Read the full post about ‘Detroit Grand Prix 08: The Detroit Sports Car Challenge (Spoiler Alert)’…)

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Posted Aug 31st 2008 10:26AM by Alex NunezFiled under: Etc., VideosFollow the jump to watch “One Cab’s Family”Judging by your comments, watching “Susie the Little Blue Coupe” yesterday brought back memories for many of you. Another thing that became very apparent is that you also hold Tex Avery’s 1952 short, “One Cab’s Family” in extremely high regard, and commenter “raf 280z” stuck a link to it in the thread. Like Susie, the Cab family’s story is an endlessly re-watchable classic. Mom and Dad taxi welcome their adorable little boy into the family garage (note the wallpaper border inside — one of many great touches), but as junior gets older, he gets a little rebellious, and trouble follows — big trouble. (Read the full post about ‘Weekend Entertainment: “One Cab’s Family”’…)

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Since is nice to keep tabs on carmakers even if you can’t but their products in the U.S., it’s also good to see how they are being modified. RDX Racedesign has a new body kit for the Seat Leon 1P. The new kit consists in a new front bumper, with integrated daytime running LEDs just like the Audi S6, new turbo-look side skirts and a re-designed rear bumper with integrated rear air diffuser and central exhaust system. Price of the kit: 790 euros or $1,167. And of course, all the parts come with TUV approval.

Press release after the jump.

Tags: cars, car shows, new car reviews, exotic cars

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SEE ALSO: Never Mind WHO Sarah Palin Is, WHAT Kind of Car Does She Drive?

John Adams, America’s first Vice President. We’ve come a long way, baby.
AUTO CENTRAL - August 31, 2008: More information was received yesterday about Sarah Palin’s choice of automobiles.

(Read the full post about ‘Sarah Palin’s Choice of Vehicles Revealed’…)

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