There's plenty of pain and anguish surrounding the flameout of the Packard nameplate in the late 1950s. Had things transpired differently, the storied marque might still be around producing the luxurious and meticulously engineered super high quality cars that the name was built upon. Cough up $1.5 million, and you could breathe new life into a marque that stretches back to 1899.
Roy Gullickson has held the rights to the Packard name since 1995 and expended a bunch of effort putting together a prototype and trying to drum up investment to relaunch the brand, but he's now looking to sell. The neo-Packard that Gullickson was shopping around is not what you'd call attractive (see above), but it comes as part of the deal, along with engineering designs, tooling, and parts. It's a good idea to make your limited-run ultra luxury car look like something other than a Chinese Bentley knockoff, but you can make that right by putting your money on the line instead of spouting off like some jaded internet scribe. At least three international companies are reported to be seriously sniffing around the half-exhumed carcass, so it might be wise to act quickly if you'd like to see new Packards in tony garages and rap videos.
General Motors CEO, Rick Wagoner, mentioned in passing that several parties have expressed interest in purchasing HUMMER and that GM is moving as quickly as possible to seal the deal. "We have some interested buyers," Wagoner told reports while attending the opening of a new GM engineering and development center.
The sale of HUMMER would help fund GM's attempt to boost liquidity to the tune of $15 billion by the end of 2009. Other brands could be cut or paired down, but Wagoner insists that Saab will continue to soldier on. "Saab is a critical part of our European portfolio and has the potential to be quite a good moneymaker for us." He went on to say that the next Saab will be built in North America, although it wasn't divulged what model would be produced or where.
For those of you desperately waiting for the next batch of Dodge Challenger SRT8s to be built after the announcement that the first 6,400 2008 models were already spoken for, fret not, supply is on your side. The Detroit News is reporting that while the majority of limited edition SRT8s were already sold before they were built, about one-quarter of the Challengers were set aside for dealer orders.
Several retailers across the U.S. have between two and twenty Challengers sitting on the lot, with one dealer advertising in Michigan's Macomb Daily that nine Brilliant Black, eight Hemi Orange and two Silver Metallic HEMI-powered coupes are available for the taking. Naturally, supply is dependent on where you live. One dealer in Naples, Florida sold out all eight Challengers in three days, while others have only sold only one out of their allotment. And just because you can find one, doesn't mean it will be selling for sticker. Markups are to be expected, with one dealer charging $45,145 – or about $7,000 – above the SRT8's MSRP.
Big-bucks enthusiasts annoyed that they're not the only ones at the club with a Veyron can now ensure that they arrive in total exclusivity. That's because the one-off Maybach Exelero, commissioned by Fulda to act as a high-profile demonstrator for its tire line of the same name, is now for sale. The Exelero isn't some delicate flower of a show car. Based on the Maybach 57 and powered by a 700-horsepower version of that car's turbocharged V12, the Exelero reached 218 mph at Nardo. In many ways, Exelero represents what Maybach could have and should have been -- a place where daring styling and incredible performance could merge with extreme luxury to compete with Rolls-Royce and Bentley. Instead, while the marque's sedans clearly get the luxury part of the equation right, in terms of styling, they basically work in anonymity, looking like peculiar old S-Class sedans. There's nothing anonymous about the Exelero, though, and for €5,000,000 (around $7.8 million USD), you can drive the sybaritic supercar that Daimler should have given Maybach all along.
Fuel is a pretty darn precious commodity these days, wouldn't you say? We're all concerned with getting the most out of every single drop of the stuff, but we still think its an interesting bit of commentary on the current state of fuel prices that somebody's looking to offload some leftover diesel that he's not going to be using any longer. It seems that our man not only fills up his fuel-guzzling '83 Suburban with good ol' No. 2, but he also fills up some extra containers in the back while he's at it. After his 'Burb's tranny took a dump, he had no need for the extra juice, so on to Craigslist it went.
Ford might be looking to sell Volvo to a Chinese company according to a report by Dagens Industri and followed up by Automotive News. Sources are saying that Shanghai Automotive Industry Corp. may be one of the potential suitors, while a Russian investor has also expressed interest in Ford's Swedish arm. FoMoCo's CEO, Alan Mulally began a strategic review of the automaker last year and the possible sale of Volvo was reported to be in the cards. However, Ford denied such a plan at the time and when AN contacted a Ford spokesperson for comment about the report today they said, "We have been consistently saying since the end of last year that Volvo is not for sale. We are focused on improving Volvo's business results."
Regardless, news of the possible sale of Volvo comes on the same day Ford announced that 2,000 workers will be laid off in an effort to cut costs due to an overall weak market and rising material costs. Volvo is hoping to slash around $662 million in costs, with the primary cuts coming from workers in Sweden. 1,200 workers were informed of the cuts today, and overall, 1,400 white-collar staff and 600 blue-collar jobs are on the chopping block.
German coachbuilder Karmann could be on the block soon. The company, a longtime supplier to German automakers, has been having trouble getting contracts lately. The family that owns the company is reportedly considering all options, and some talks with potential buyers have already taken place. No decision about whom to sell to has been made yet, but within a month Karmann may decide which suitor's offer to accept. The convertible roof business is going well for Karmann, but deals to assemble vehicles for automakers are way down, threatening the painting and assembly operations. Karmann has already cut 500 jobs from its German workforce of 5,000, and another 1,000 are slated for elimination. Perhaps a buyer will swoop in and snap up Bertone and Karmann? Mr. Tata, you listening?
When Ford announced the GT500KR's based price of $79,995, many of you thought that it was pretty steep for a Mustang. Even though it's a limited edition Shelby with 540 horsepower, $80,000 can buy a lot of really nice cars. What's even more insane is that we know people will not only buy the KR, but they will pay tens of thousands of dollars over MSRP just to have one. The only question was how much dealers would try and gouge. That question has been answered. Lone Star Ford in Houston, TX has put up a red GT500KR on eBay Motors with a "Buy It Now" price of...$154,991.00. That's nearly double the MSRP. Who knows if anyone will actually buy it at that price, but going off what happened with the standard GT500, then it's quite possible.
Having built only built 500 examples, the achingly luscious Alfa Romeo 8C Competizione is bound to become a collectors' item. Unfortunately, they've all been spoken for, but if you missed your chance and cost is no object, Italian auction site AutoScout24 has one listed that may be of interest.
On top of the clout and rarity of the standard 8C, this model stands out as one of only a handful produced in black. That alone isn't enough to justify the huge premium being charged for this example: the asking price is €380,000, over twice its original retail price of €160k. The power boost may come close, however: through unspecified means, the output on this 8C is quoted as having been boosted to 590 hp, a 140-hp bonus over the stock 450.
If you're in the market for a Bugatti Veyron, first we'd like implore you consider how wonderful it would be to have your daughter marry a blogger. Then we'd direct you to Innovation Cars, a UK-based luxury car broker that is currently listing no less than 11 Veyrons available from locations around the world (mostly in the Emirates, probably) in a variety of trims.
At the top of Innovation's list is a slot on the waiting list to order a new Veyron for delivery in September. Innovation has also got the details on a limited edition we've yet to hear of in carbon fiber over black with blacked-out chrome and an orange leather interior. Among the other nine is the all-red Veyron we brought you earlier, as well as three brand-new, unregistered models and three more registered 2008 models. No Pur Sang or Hermes edition, though, so we think we'll hold on to our cash for now.
