CARSCOOP

Jeep Survivor Concept Study - For the Man Who Has Everything
Save of the Day: Russian Driver goes to Hell and Back
SCOOP: BMW Attempts to Spiff up 5-Series GT with M Sport Package
Go-Fast Porsche Cayman Driver Smacks Ferrari 360 at Supercar Gathering in Malaysia
McLaren to Spend $1 billion to Challenge Ferrari and Lamborghini
VW Fields a Trio of 450-hp Golfs for the Nurburgring 24h Race
Citroën Designers to Answer Questions about New DS5 on Facebook
Cake Boss Transforms Bumblebee into a 2,000-Pound Cookie Monster
BAIC’s Foton to Enter Australian Market with New 1-Tonne Pickup Truck
Porsche 911 GT3 ‘Snowmobile’ Dressed up by Magnat
Toyota Presents the Successor to Last Year’s MR2 Study with the New GRMN Sports Hybrid Concept II
Buick Details 2012 LaCrosse’s New 3.6-Liter V6 with 303HP
New 2012 VW Beetle Makes Music Video Debut in Britney Spears’ “I Wanna Go”
Citroën Announces UK Pricing and Availability for New DS4
Aston Martin Prepares Two V12 Zagato Concepts for 24h Nurburgring Battle
Lotus Aims to Better Ferrari’s 458 Italia and McLaren’s MP4-12C with New Esprit

Jeep Survivor Concept Study - For the Man Who Has Everything

Posted: 22 Jun 2011 09:01 PM PDT

A cross between the Warthog from Halo and the pseudo-militaristic Mercedes-Benz M-Classes from The Lost World: Jurassic Park, is the best description I can come up with for Max Ostap's Jeep:Survivor [sic] concept study for the Art Center College of Design.

An off-road vehicle for the man who considers nature an enemy to be vanquished more than anything else, the Survivor draws its inspiration from the Jeep Bantam of WWII.

Save of the Day: Russian Driver goes to Hell and Back

Posted: 22 Jun 2011 08:29 PM PDT

If there was ever a lucky driver, it's the Russian owner of this compact-sized silver sedan, which may or may not be a Lada. The protagonist of the video clip shot from an in-car camera went to hell and back again, when he foolishly attempted to overtake a vehicle without taking into consideration the situation ahead of him. Read more »

SCOOP: BMW Attempts to Spiff up 5-Series GT with M Sport Package

Posted: 22 Jun 2011 03:55 PM PDT

What do you do to improve the image of a vehicle that looks like the BMW 5-Series Gran Turismo? Well, the painful answer to that question would be to head back to the drawing board. However, given that this is not an option for a model launched less than two years ago, BMW thought of spicing it up with the always welcome M Sports package.

Spied here in Germany, the prototype model of the 5-Series GT with the M Sports treatment gains new, lower front and rear bumpers, deeper side skirts and larger alloy wheels in a different design.

As is the case with all M Sports Packages, we can expect minor tweaks in the interior with a three-spoke steering wheel, sports seats, aluminum pedals and door sills, plus bespoke upholstery and headlining.

Go-Fast Porsche Cayman Driver Smacks Ferrari 360 at Supercar Gathering in Malaysia

Posted: 22 Jun 2011 02:33 PM PDT

A couple of mishaps involving private supercars marked this past weekend's 2011 SuperGT race at the Sepang International Circuit in Malaysia.

The first incident occurred on the tarmac during a parade of sports and super cars when an overly enthusiastic but sloppy driver of a winged Porsche Cayman rear-ended a Ferrari 360 as it slowed down in front of the crowd. The red Ferrari then bumped into a silver Ferrari California that was in front of it. You'll have to jump 52 seconds into the first video to see the very expensive fender benders.

The second mishap took place outside the track as the supercars were leaving. It involved a kitted-out Lamborghini Murcielago and a BMW M5. An eyewitness told Jalopnik that he saw the Murcielago and an BMW M5 chasing each other before the crash. You can see what happened to the Lambo in the video after the break.

McLaren to Spend $1 billion to Challenge Ferrari and Lamborghini

Posted: 22 Jun 2011 01:46 PM PDT

After Lotus, Italian supercar makers have another British contender challenging their supremacy. McLaren is the most successful team in Formula 1 after Ferrari, and yesterday opened its first dealership in the most prestigious part of London.

According to a news report from Bloomberg, the British automaker has much broader plans: its managing director, Antony Sheriff, revealed in an interview that McLaren Automotive intends to spend as much as $1 billion in developing and marketing costs to launch 13 new models and variants in the following years to challenge the likes of Ferrari and Lamborghini.

VW Fields a Trio of 450-hp Golfs for the Nurburgring 24h Race

Posted: 22 Jun 2011 12:56 PM PDT

Volkswagen will participate with three 450-hp Golf24 cars in one of the most grueling endurance races in the world, the famed 24 hours of Nurburgring that will take place this weekend at the renowned German circuit. Read more »

Citroën Designers to Answer Questions about New DS5 on Facebook

Posted: 22 Jun 2011 12:34 PM PDT

Citroën is the latest carmaker to embrace the power of social media to communicate with its consumer base. The French company announced on Wednesday that it will host a live video web-chat on social networking site, Facebook, allowing the public to ask questions on its upcoming DS5 crossover.

The web-chat will Broadcast live from Citroën's C_42 building on the Champs-Elysées in Paris between 12pm and 1pm (BST) on Friday, 24 June, with the panel including Pierre Monferrini (Project Manager for DS5), Andy Cowell (Citroën Design Manager) and Frédéric Soubirou (Designer of the Citroën DS5).

Cake Boss Transforms Bumblebee into a 2,000-Pound Cookie Monster

Posted: 22 Jun 2011 12:02 PM PDT

VW may have made some headlines with the 2012 Beetle's appearance on Britney Spears' latest music video, but when it comes to product placement, the Germans are no match to General Motors.

The General's say (or is that pay?) is so strong in the movie industry that the Detroit company was able to convince the makers of the Transformers franchise to have a 2011 Chevy Camaro play the role of Bumblebee instead of the original VW Beetle.

BAIC’s Foton to Enter Australian Market with New 1-Tonne Pickup Truck

Posted: 22 Jun 2011 11:20 AM PDT

The Australian pickup truck market will soon welcome a new player in the 1-tonne segment, courtesy of China's ever-growing automotive industry. Beiqi Foton Motor Co. Ltd, more commonly referred to as BFC or simply Foton, is a subsidiary of China's more widely known BAIC and will be represented in the country by Sydney based Australian automotive distributor, WMC Group.

The WMC Group secured the rights to distribute the Foton range of 4x2 and 4x4 utility vehicles with plans for the first vehicles to go on sale in Australia early next year. The Sydney based distributor said Australian Design Rule compliance and testing is currently underway and is due to be finalized within the next two months.

Porsche 911 GT3 ‘Snowmobile’ Dressed up by Magnat

Posted: 22 Jun 2011 10:29 AM PDT

Tuners are leaving no stones unturned to impress buyers willing to dig deep into their pockets. Even the almighty Porsche 911 GT3 can't escape from their meddling hands. This here creation is named 'Snowmobile' for the choice of colors for the exterior and interior, and is the creative work of German audio-specialist Magnat. Read more »

Toyota Presents the Successor to Last Year’s MR2 Study with the New GRMN Sports Hybrid Concept II

Posted: 22 Jun 2011 10:03 AM PDT

At last year's Tokyo Auto Salon, Toyota showcased a concept study of an all-wheel drive hybrid sports car (see here) loosely based on the now obsolete MR2 roadster, developed in partnership with Japan's GAZOO Racing.

Now the time has come for Toyota to unwrap its successor in the form of the GRMN SPORTS HYBRID Concept II that will receive both its public and racing debut at this weekend's highly anticipated 39th Nürburgring 24-hour endurance race in Germany.

The name "GRMN" stands for GAZOO Racing tuned by Meister of Nürburgring, in honor of the late Hiromu Naruse (1944-2010), the Toyota chief test driver and head of the GAZOO Racing team who died in an accident last summer driving a prototype of the Lexus LFA Nurburgring Edition in Germany.

Buick Details 2012 LaCrosse’s New 3.6-Liter V6 with 303HP

Posted: 22 Jun 2011 08:22 AM PDT

General Motors has released new information on its top-of-the-line 2012 Buick LaCrosse equipped with a new and more potent version of its direct-injected 3.6L V6 engine that joins the freshly released standard 2.4-liter four-cylinder engine with eAssist, which we've already told you about in a previous article.

For the 2012 model year, the direct-injection 3.6-liter six-cylinder unit has been upgraded with several new features including a different cylinder head design, larger-diameter intake valves in the heads and new, longer-duration intake camshafts.

New 2012 VW Beetle Makes Music Video Debut in Britney Spears’ “I Wanna Go”

Posted: 22 Jun 2011 07:28 AM PDT

Ever since Hershey's chocolates appeared in William A. Wellman's 1927 Wings movie - the first and only silent film ever to win an Academy Award for Best Picture, the practice of product placement has become an every day part of our television and cinematic experience.

Volkswagen is one of the many automakers that has adopted this strategy spending millions of dollars each year to place its products not only in movies but in music videos as well. One of our eagle-eyed readers, Dallas Howell, noticed the product placement of the 2012 Volkswagen Beetle in Britney Spears' brand-new, paparazzi-bashing "I Wanna Go" music video.

Citroën Announces UK Pricing and Availability for New DS4

Posted: 22 Jun 2011 06:42 AM PDT

The new high-riding Citroën DS4 has arrived in Britain and is available for pre-order now, with first deliveries to take place on July 4, 2011. The five-door crossover model is available with three trim-levels (DSign, DStyle and DSport) and a choice of five Euro 5 compliant engines, with on-the-road prices ranging from £18,150 to just under £24,000.

The range includes two diesels, HDi 110HP and HDi 160HP, and three 1.6-liter petrol units that were co-developed with BMW, the VTi 120HP, THP 155HP and a new THP 200HP.

Aston Martin Prepares Two V12 Zagato Concepts for 24h Nurburgring Battle

Posted: 22 Jun 2011 06:05 AM PDT

The world's toughest 24-hour race at the Nurburgring circuit this weekend will see Aston Martin entering a bevy of sports cars led by not one but two specially prepared racing examples of the freshly revealed V12 Zagato Concept.

Based on the existing V12 Vantage chassis, the concept model was designed by Italian coachbuilder Zagato to celebrate its partnership with Aston Martin in the 50th anniversary year of the DB4GT Zagato. The prototype received its public debut at the Concorso D'Eleganza at Villa D'Este in May this year, winning the Design award for Concepts and Prototypes.

Lotus Aims to Better Ferrari’s 458 Italia and McLaren’s MP4-12C with New Esprit

Posted: 22 Jun 2011 05:11 AM PDT

Lotus has lofty aspirations for its all-new supercar, the Esprit, which was presented as a concept at last year's Paris motor show along with four other concepts. According to the company's CEO, Dany Bahar, the new supercar will be launched in 2013 and will offer a "more authentic driving experience than both the Ferrari 458 Italia and the McLaren MP4-12C".

Bahar revealed that development of the the new Esprit is already under way, with prototypes up and running.