Back in August when General Motors introduced the all-new GT2 class Corvette C6.R, it ran downsized 6.0-liter version of the 7.0-liter V8 from the long-dominant GT1 car. At the launch, Corvette Racing program manager Doug Fehan told us the 6.0-liter was just an interim engine. With revised GT rules on tap for 2010, GM was already planning a brand-new engine for its race Vette.
Unlike the 6.07.0, which is a ground-up race engine that only shares basic architectural dimensions with the production small block, the 2010 C6.R's V8 is a new 5.5-liter unit that will indeed be derived from the production engine found in roadgoing Corvettes. In fact, the 5.5-liter race engine will be built at GM's Performance Build Center alongside ZR1 and Z06 V8s.
Fehan has confirmed that the 5.5 is running on the dyno and will make its race debut at the 12 Hours of Sebring in March. We don't have any additional details on the new engine yet, although we were told earlier that it is based on the next-generation production small-block, which we expect to see in the Corvette soon.
Subaru has collaborated with outdoor gear company Columbia for some time in other markets, and the latest result is the limited edition 2010 Forester X Columbia. This version swaps out the standard steel wheels for 16-inch alloys and adds fog lights, a roof rack, cargo tray, rear step panel, and a $500 voucher for actual Columbia gear. Not bad, but it's arguably a step down from the 2007 Forester X Columbia, which also got a sunroof and heated seats.
There will be 1,050 examples on offer and they go on sale in Australia beginning Monday, January 4. The "driveaway" price has been announced as $33,990 AUD for the manual ($30,486 USD – note: that's a straight conversion and does not correspond to the car's U.S. price), which is $600 less than the Forester X price on Subaru's Aussie site. Unless we're missing something, that can't be all bad for the country's best-selling crossover.
We're not likely to see a new TC by Maserati on display at Chrysler's North American International Auto Show stand, but a quick glance away from the rebadged Lancia Delta and Fiat 500 we're all waiting to eyeball will be machinery from Ferrari and Maserati. Last year, Ferrari stayed out of the Detroit Auto Show altogether, but for 2010, Chrysler, Maserati, and Ferrari are all under the Fiat, SpA corporate umbrella. Taking advantage of that, shuffling has gone on to put the group's exotic wares at the Detroit show, right between Dodge and Jeep.
Positioning such high-end rides in the show's equivalent of the Bowery might be the best (or only) way for the likes of Dodge and Jeep – which have no new product with which to draw foot traffic – to gain a "contact high" of visibility. Anyone wishing to ogle the Italian exotica (and honestly, who doesn't?) will have no choice but to navigate through the lesser corporate cousins from Chrysler on the way to and fro. Crafty, Sergio, very crafty.
Heineken ran commercials that showed a guy's ultimate closet as a walk-in refrigerator filled with the Dutch beer. To support the ads they put huge cardboard boxes around Amsterdam on garbage day with "Walk-In Fridge" written on them, as if someone had actually gotten one as a gift. Well, it looks like Mini did the same thing after Christmas, casting giant, empty boxes with shreds of gift wrapping around Amsterdam. Predictably for a Mini campaign, it got people's attention.
Before the Hyundai Genesis arrived in showrooms, there was talk of the car launching under the aegis of its own brand, much like the debut of the Lexus LS400 back in 1990. That didn't happen, and premium Hyundai models like the Genesis and the forthcoming 2010 Equus share floor space with Accents and Tucsons.
Still, the thought of a roped-off premium car department has a certain pull. "Sectioning off the brand, that's the Holy Grail," said Hyundai Motors USA CEO John Krafcik to Ward's Auto. What Krafcik and his Korean masters may have up their collective sleeve is a way to get some of the desired differentiation without the massive costs a new brand launch would entail.
Dave Zuchowski, Hyundai's North American sales vice president, has drawn parallels to Toyota's co-locating efforts with its Scion sub-brand in a letter to dealers, laying out the plans for incorporating the Equus into showrooms. "This strategy will create physical and psychological separation in the Hyundai showroom," says Zuchowski, while dealers remain less convinced that this means anything more for them than increased costs. On the retail end, stores will be required to purchase several kits for showroom, service, and parts support of the Equus. While not as expensive as a full-blown new store would be, dealers still might have trouble mustering enthusiasm for hundreds of thousands of dollars in corporate-ordered directives that franchisees may have to comply with.
Aston Martin will be shepherding perceptions of its forthcoming Cygnet as much as it can, and it will doubtlessly be monitoring the reception that the Toyota-turned-Aston microcar receives as closely as it can.
On that former front, the company has begun video marketing for a car it still only suggests will go into production at the end of this year. The intent, of course, is to make the Cygnet appear as cool as possible, and the method used in this application is the French sport of parkour. Follow the jump to watch the vid and then answer this question for us in Comments: Did it work?
Jason Calacanis, CEO of Mahalo.com and erstwhile founder of Weblogs Inc. (of which Autoblog and AutoblogGreen are a part) is a big fan of Tesla, and now he's announced that he's giving one away. Calacanis is already the owner of an early Tesla Roadster which he let us drive in late 2008. Even before he took delivery of his Roadster, Calacanis announced his intention to buy the company's second vehicle, the Model S. When Tesla unveiled the sedan last spring, Calacanis made good on his promise and put down deposits on two of the upcoming electric car, including serial #1.
Now Calacanis wants to give away his second Model S by getting his newly established Twitter account @auto to number 1 on the micro-blogging service. That position is currently held by actor and cougar-catcher Ashton Kutcher who has over 4.2 million followers. As this is written, @auto is up to almost 1,000 followers after only one hour. If you want a crack at a free Model S, just follow @auto.
