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Filed under: Geneva Motor Show , Tech , Videos , BMW The Internet is everywhere, and later this year BMW is joining other digitally connected automakers with its own mobile web service. We gave you details on the ConnectDrive mobile Internet while we were in Geneva, and BMW TV is following up with video of how the technology works. After the jump is a short promotional video that shows what the BMW interface looks like from the cabin of a new X6. If you've got an iPhone or any other mobile device that uses the EDGE network for access to the web, try not to choke when ConnectDrive Internet boss Daniel Wittwer calls the surfing experience "fast and pleasant." Yeah, right. Regardless of the speed, the technology won't be available in the US any time soon, but it'll be available in Europe later this year. [Source: YouTube via: eGMCarTech ] Continue reading VIDEO: BMW ConnectDrive mobile internet in action Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments
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Filed under: Sports/GTs , Geneva Motor Show , Supercars , Ferrari Click above to view in high resolution Show-stopping new production cars and concepts were not lacking in Geneva this year. There were so many, in fact, that we struggled to take it all in. Yet while Ferrari didn't have any new models to show us, somehow we couldn't help but slow down in front of its booth as we rushed from press conference to press conference. Maybe it was the classic Daytona sitting next to the 612 Scaglietti bathed in soft light, or maybe the pair of lookers standing next to them. Guess we'll never know, but you can feast your eyes on all the sexy models in the gallery below. What Ferrari did unveil at the Swiss show, however, was a new customization program. Called One-to-One, the program takes the catalog of options under the existing Carrozzeria Scaglietti Programme a step further. A customization studio is being built at the factory in Maranello where clients can hand-pick a wide variety...
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Filed under: Sedans/Saloons , Wagons/Estates , Geneva Motor Show , Euro , Alfa Romeo Click above to view the updated Alfa Romeo 159 in hi-res We had plenty of reason to frequent the Alfa Romeo pavilion at this year's Geneva show. After the unveiling of the production 8C Spider along with the updated Brera and Spider came the revisions to the 159 sedan and Sportwagon . Like its two-door counterparts, the changes to the 159 consist of a few small updates that don't interfere with the model's stunning lines. Better ergonomics and new electronics update the interior, while weight reduction where the car meets the road should help the car's driving dynamics slightly. Most importantly, however, the tweaks which Alfa Romeo announced for the 159 range gave us and our cameras another reason, as if we needed one, to get reacquainted with one of our favorite European sports sedans and wagons. To see the product of our emotional reunion, click on the thumbnails below and jump to our...
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Filed under: Time Warp , Geneva Motor Show , Supercars , Alfa Romeo Click to view the 1967 Alfa Romeo 33 Stradale in hi-res As if Alfa Romeo didn't come to Geneva with enough eye candy, sitting at the back of its booth at the Palexpo, behind the new 8C Spider and updated Brera, Spider and 159 , sat a rare classic supercar, bathed in more red lights and surrounded by more mirrors than an Amsterdam window. The 1967 Alfa Romeo 33 Stradale was, for all intents and purposes, the Bugatti Veyron of its day. It was the most expensive road car available to the public. Only 18 were ever made. Its 2-liter V8 was pulled directly from Alfa's racing cars, bearing no relation to the production units of the time, and featured such advanced systems as fuel injection and dry-sump lubrication. It sported butterfly doors long before they appeared on the likes of the Ferrari Enzo and McLaren F1. And it was and remains unspeakably gorgeous, like a true Alfa supercar should be. We had fun photographing...
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Filed under: Geneva Motor Show , Euro , Crossovers/CUVs , Ford Click above to view the Ford Kuga in hi-res Kinetic design has been swallowing Ford of Europe's product range whole, and took a big bite at this year's Geneva Motor Show. Alongside the new Fiesta , Ford showed off the production version of the all-new Kuga crossover. Previewed by the concept unveiled at the last Frankfurt show and drawing on styling cues from the Iosis X show car, the Kuga is based on the same platform as the slicker Focus they get overseas. Although the Kuga is admittedly one more European model that Ford won't offer in its home market, we're not short of Ford crossovers to choose from over here, so we'll let the Europeans have this one. (Just give us the Focus RS and we'll be happy.) But to see what we're missing, check out our gallery of images from the Geneva show floor by clicking on the thumbnails below. Unfortunately, although we're sure the Kuga rolled off its turntable...
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Filed under: Concept Cars , Convertibles , Geneva Motor Show , Japan Click above for a gallery of the K.O. 7 and 8. When we make the trek to Switzerland each year, there always seems to be one particular car that stands out. It's generally something unexpected from an independent automaker far removed from the spotlight. This year, tucked away in a corner cubicle of the Geneva Motor Show's basement, was the K.O. 7 Spider, a concept hailing from Japan that attempts to strike a balance between bespoke supercar and track-day terror. There were actually two vehicles on display at the Ken Okuyama Design booth: the K.0. 8 coupe, an E.V. that's decidedly less attractive and strictly a design exercise, and the K.O. 7, a production model that will be on sale sometime in 2008. Hit the jump for all the details. Gallery: K.O. 7 and K.O. 8 Continue reading Geneva 2008: Japanese ambition, the K07 Spyder Permalink | Email this | Comments
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Filed under: Geneva Motor Show , Euro , Crossovers/CUVs , Renault Click above to view high-res gallery of the new Renault Koleos Renault pulled out all the stops for this year's Geneva Motor Show , taking the wraps off the swoopy Megane Coupe concept , as well as debuting the Twingo Renaultsport , Laguna GT and this, the Koleos crossover. Although closely based on mechanicals borrowed from sister-company Nissan, the Koleos is far more of a complete project than that other pair of French sport-utes from archrival PSA Peugeot-Citroen . The Koleos shared center stage with the Megane Coupe this week, outlining how important the new model is to Renault. This is its first proper foray into the sport-ute segment, finally surrendering when the French automaker realized the crossover craze would not be subsiding any time soon. When you can't beat 'em, join 'em, the saying goes, but push come to snooty shove, Renault actually appears to have done a decent job. For all the details...
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Filed under: Motorsports , Time Warp , Geneva Motor Show , Japan , Honda Click above for high-res gallery of Honda's 1967 RA300 and new RA108 Honda has a long history in grand prix racing. The sport's first Japanese team debuted with its own home-grown chassis and engine in 1964, taking its first victory in only its second year in Formula One at the 1965 Mexican Grand Prix. The original RA271 was replaced by the RA300 at the 1967 Italian Grand Prix at Monza, which John Surtees won on its maiden race. Honda withdrew from Formula One in 1969, supplied engines to various teams between 1983 and 1992 and again with British American Racing in 2000, which Honda had adopted as its own factory team by 2005 before winning the 2006 Hungarian Grand Prix. Keen to highlight its rich heritage in Formula One, Honda came to the Geneva Motor Show with and old RA300 and its latest successor, the RA108 . Compared to the 3-liter 420-hp V12 and 5-speed manual in the vintage RA300, the new RA108 is driven...
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Filed under: Concept Cars , Hybrids/Alternative , Geneva Motor Show , Green Click above for high-res gallery of the Italdesign Giugiaro Quaranta concept Beauty may be in the eye of the proverbial beholder and all that, but the Italdesign Quaranta wasn't quite the beauty of the Geneva ball. And while Giorgetto Giugiaro, the celebrated designer at the studio's helm, has more iconic designs to his name than we could possibly list here, his latest was not his best, easily outclassed by the Giugiaro Mustang concept with which we fell so deeply in love and the Ferrari GG50 he built for himself. The Quaranta concept was built to commemorate the 40th anniversary of Italdesign Giugiaro, and features the Lexus RX400h's mid-mounted hybrid 3.3-liter V6 powerplant driving all four wheels through a CVT and supported by a solar panel on the unfortunately styled nose. Think of archrival Pininfarina's Maserati Birdcage concept crossed with Robocop 3 and you're beginning to get the picture...
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Filed under: Geneva Motor Show , Etc. Click above for high-res gallery of the Swiss Misses from Geneva There were quite a few models here in Geneva who were eager to show off their employers' latest and greatest offerings. Of course, we want to make sure that they don't lose their jobs due to our lack of attention, so we lent a hand and snapped away. Although we were extremely busy this go-around, the whole team pitched in to help save their jobs. Won't you do your part and click, too? Gallery: Geneva 2008: Swiss Misses Permalink | Email this | Comments
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Filed under: Geneva Motor Show , Supercars , Spyker Click above to view high-res gallery of the Spyker C8 Aileron Making any car longer, particularly a sportscar, comes with penalties and concessions. But Spyker managed to circumvent them with the new C8 Aileron, which the eccentric Dutch automaker unveiled here in Geneva. Despite a ten-centimeter stretch in wheelbase, torsional rigidity has improved by a whopping 40-percent without adding extra weight to the C8's aluminum space frame. The same Audi V8 continues to deliver 400 horsepower as in the shorter C8 Laviolette, but is now offered for the first time mated to an automatic transmission, which Spyker hopes will help improve its sales and extract the company from its financial woes. The longer wheelbase of the C8 Aileron also means that Spyker will be able to produce a more functional convertible than the spyder it's offered in the past. In the meantime, a slew of new visual details are added to the already busy design along...
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Filed under: Concept Cars , LA Auto Show , Hybrids/Alternative , Geneva Motor Show Click above to view the Pininfarina Sintesi concept in hi-res Pininfarina. Just the name evokes thoughts of sheet-metal rendered into curvaceous works of art. And at Geneva this year, Pininfarina did not disappoint, unveiling one of the most achingly beautiful four-door concepts we've seen to date. In fact, we were so taken with it, we had to bring you more after our own Jonathon Ramsey brought you the first live pics yesterday. The Sintesi, whose slow reveal we brought you incrementally as the studio released details week by week in the wind-up to this year's Geneva Motor Show, takes the notion of a four-door coupe, crumples it up and ever so elegantly throws it in the face of just about every passenger vehicle that has come before it, including Pininfarina's own Maserati Quattroporte. Come to think of it, the QP is due for a replacement, and if the Sintesi previews the next Trident sedan in...
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Filed under: Economy , Geneva Motor Show , India , Tata Click above for a high-res gallery of the Tata Nano. The Geneva Motor Show provided our first opportunity to get up close and mildly personal with Tata's potentially revolutionary Nano. Overall, we're pretty damned impressed. The squat dimensions and short overhangs lend themselves well to the Nano's protuberant proportions, and as much as we tried, we had a hard time finding where Tata really skimped on the exterior elements. There were two models rotating on stage, the $2,500 "basic" version that's garnered more press than Paris Hilton and Lindsay Lohan combined, and the lesser-known "luxury" version that gets an enhanced interior, some color-keyed body panels, fog lamps and larger wheels with an additional bolt (the lesser model only sports three lugs versus the upgraded model's four). Unfortunately, when we asked to take a look inside, the nice gentlemen from Tata kindly told us that the...
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Filed under: Geneva Motor Show , Euro , Hatchbacks , Volkswagen Click above for high-res gallery of the 2009 VW Scirocco Volkswagen has made it categorically clear that the only reason it will not sell the recently unveiled Scirocco in the United States is because of the weak dollar. Bloomberg quotes VW's sales and marketing chief Detlef Wittig as saying, "The exchange rate is the only reason for not selling it in the U.S." Wittig goes on to say that the Scirocco would fit the U.S. market, which is arguable considering that VW already sells the Rabbit hatchback here in multiple forms, including GTI and R32 variants for the performance-minded enthusiast. But because of the weak buck, the point is moot since VW would make no money importing the Scirocco from the factory in Palmela, Portugal where it will be built alongside the Eos convertible. Is all hope lost for those in the U.S. hoping to relive thier youths in a reborn Scirocco? Not quite, as the dollar will likely make...
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Filed under: Concept Cars , Geneva Motor Show , Motorcycles Last October, when Yamaha showed off its Tesseract concept, we had trouble deciding how to classify the vehicle other than as extremely awesome. We are left scratching our heads yet again as Swiss automobile and motorcycle customizing company Sbarro unleashes its Pendolauto concept. Like the Tesseract, the Pendolauto leans into turns like a motorcycle would, yet features four wheels, like a car or a quad. With most of the excitement of a motorcycle, the machine would certainly be a blast to ride, but perhaps a bit more stable due to the addition of the two extra contact patches. Piaggio has seen a great deal of success with its MP3 scooter , but that machine features three wheels and is classified as a motorcycle. Because the Tesseract and Pendolauto have four wheels, nothing quite like them will be available in the U.S. any time soon. Unfortunately, the powers-that-be have yet to understand that a machine like the Pendolauto can...
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