Video: French Devise Innovative Alternative to Spare Tires

They say necessity is the mother of invention, but we doubt that’s the case with these fun-loving Frenchmen who decided to attach a little board on wheels on the rear tire of their Citroen Saxo. -Video after the jump

Tatra 903 Fuel Cell Concept

Tatra, not to be confused with the Indian carmaker Tata, is a Czech vehicle manufacturer founded in 1850 that produced its first motor car in 1897 and the last one, in 1999 (it continues to build trucks today). Though the company has no official plans to create a new car, Czech magazine AutoDesign&Styling summoned designer Mike Jelinek to draw up a concept of a futuristic Tatra model. Jelinek came up with the Tatra 903 Concept, a fuel-cell powered 4door-coupe. -Continued

Here’s what Jelinek had to say about his creation:

“The water drop shaped back refers to one of the most characteristic values of Tatra, the aerodynamics – same as covered rear wheels. It may look retro, but in the term of aerodynamic optimization it has its own purpose,” said Jelinek.

"The A-pillar has moved in the axis of the car – again, not just a quotation of split screen theme pointing back to the original models, but certainly a safety factor designed to offer a better view from the car. I didn’t want to refer to any model from the history of this legendary manufacturer, but I tried to catch something like the spirit of Tatra cars and bring it to aesthetics of the 21st century.” added Jelinek.






Source: AutoDesign&Styling , Via: Carbodydesign

Roush Presents Bespoke... One-Horse Power Training Vehicle!

We won’t lie and tell you that we didn’t double check this story. Though it would have been cool if someone (re)invented a one-horse powered car that would solve our energy problems, this bespoke vehicle was created by the Roush Technologies for Turkish-based, Kurt Systems that specializes in racehorse and camel training equipment.

In a nutshell, the ground-up, turnkey project will be used as a high-tech machinery for the continuous monitoring of animals at speeds of up to 60km/h or 37mph. The yet unnamed vehicle effectively provides a moving enclosure similar to a starting stall, in which the animal can walk, trot or full gallop freely in a controlled environment, whilst being monitored and trained to optimise race performance. -Continued

Weighing in at around 4 tonnes, the training vehicle uses a cross-braced frame, with suspension derived from a Ford F150 series truck. Power is provided by a Volvo 2.4litre, 5-cylinder turbodiesel matted to an automatic gearbox.

The training vehcile’s cabin, which is mounted rearward of the horse, includes a centrally mounted driver’s seat, plus additional seats for a trainer and a veterinary specialist. Onboard systems include 12-volt and 240-volt electrical supplies, to power systems such as computerised heart, blood, oxygen and fitness monitoring.

As for the open fronted stall section of the vehicle, it features an independent hydraulic steering, combined with electronically controlled reins, to steer the horse in the same direction as the vehicle. The reins are enclosed within two forward curving booms on the body structure, controlled by the driver.

Aston Martin Presents “Tailor” Made V8 Vantage Coupe

Who said that only Lamborghini gets the designer treatment? So does Aston Martin that teamed up with design house Kilgour of Savile Row to present a haute couture bespoke V8 Vantage Coupe at Kilgour’s first-ever fashion show in Paris. The one-off V8 Vantage was finished in a unique Morning Frost Satin paint, while the coupe’s interior was influenced by Kilgour’s latest collection and finished in Kilgour Midnight Blue, with the seat-inserts adorned with a polka-dot effect. Unfortunately, Aston Martin did not provide any pictures of the polka-dot cabin…

Aspid: Caterham-esque Sportscar with up to 400Hp Coming to London Show

The never ending saga of small firms popping up from nowhere continues with the Aspid that will make its world debut at the British International Motor Show in late July. The Aspid (Spanish name for the snake that killed Cleopatra) has been developed by the automotive engineering consultancy IFR Automotive that was founded by automotive engineer Ignacio Fernández Rodriquez who has worked in the past for Prodrive and the Mitsubishi World Rally Championship team.

IFR Automotive supports that the Aspid is the only car in the world to meet both FIA safety requirements and European homologation standards. Initial prototypes feature a 2.0-litre engine; either naturally aspirated to deliver 270Hp or supercharged to 400Hp with power delivered in both cases to the rear wheels via a 6-speed manual gearbox and limited-slip differential. -Continued

The lightweight aluminium and carbon structure of the car, which has a mass of just 700kg (1,550lb) and the resulting 570Hp-per-tonne (1.75kg/Hp) power-to-weight ratio give awe-inspiring performance figures with the Aspid accelerating from zero to 62mph (100km/h) in just 2.8 seconds and 100mph (160km/h) in a mouth dropping 5.9 seconds. Maximum speed is restricted to 155mph (250km/

The Aspid braking performance is equally impressive with IFR Automotive supporting that the sportscar can come to a complete halt from 100mph (160km/h) in a mere 3.0 seconds. When cornering, the car has been said to generate an intense 1.6g of lateral acceleration.

IFR Automotive says that journalists will have the opportunity to drive the first production models later this year, with the first cars being delivered to customers in summer 2009. Prices are set to start at £75,000 (€95,000) with fully loaded models expected to cost twice as much. (Pic edited by Carscoop)

How Many People Can Fit in a Smart ForTwo?

And you thought that the Smart ForTwo was good enough for only two passengers –driver included. Well, if there’s no need to drive, and the way gas prices are raising this may be a reality in a few years, the ForTwo can actually fit 13 people. This was proven during the annual Smart Destination Brooklands event held at Mercedes-Benz World at Weybridge in the UK.

With more than 1,200 Smarts attending the event, there was no shortage of participants but the winning team was the ‘smart car-tortionists’, a group of body-bending specialists chosen for their gymnastic feats. The flexible ‘smart car-tortionists’ managed to squeeze 13 people. Just for the record, there were more women than men in the team. -One more pic after the jump

Maserati Quattroporte “ala” Burberry

What a horrid fate for such a beautiful vehicle; well before Maserati even dreamt about redesigning the Quattroporte, this Saudi Arabian owner of the Italian sports sedan decided to perform a facelift of his own by (w)rapping the entire vehicle in what seems to be some sort of Burberry themed perforated plastic cover. This thing is beyond tasteless… -More images after the jump



Via: Cardomain

Disney’s Cars Coming to London Show

If you’re planning to visit next month’s British International Motor Show with your offsprings, you’ll be happy (or unhappy…) to know that Disney/Pixar’s Cars will make their UK debut appearance at the show. The characters set to make it to London are: Lightning McQueen, a custom-built race car with a fibreglass body on a 1978 Trans am chassis; Sally, a customised 2002 Porsche 911; Mater, a custom-built vehicle built on a Chevy dually pickup chassis, and Mack the Truck, a 1985 Mack super-Liner.