Toyota Has No Plans to Return to Formula 1

A difficult economy forced Toyota to withdraw from Formula 1, but don't expect the automaker to return to the series should the automotive industry improve. Corporate officials -- even those once tied to the F1 program -- admit the racing series doesn't reach its customer base.

"There is a big gap between Formula 1 and Toyota's actual [owners]," said Tadashi Yamashina, Toyota's Senior Managing Director. "President [Akio] Toyoda's stance on motorsports is geared more to the customer."

Although Yamashima himself broke down in tears when Toyoda held a press conference last year to announce the F1 withdrawal, the executive seems to have adopted a new perspective on the race series. In an interview with Automotive News, Yamashima says F1 has grown far too "elitist" for Toyota's tastes.

"For the fortunate few who can afford to [stroll an F1 paddock,], it's fine. I think the best kind of races are those in which people can get in close to the race."

Although F1 isn't on the company's radar, Toyota will remain involved in other motorsports series, including those that do allow spectators to have greater access to drivers and cars alike. Expect Toyota-badged vehicles to remain a part of NASCAR and NHRA, but Toyoda -- a gentleman racer himself -- has pledged to increase the company's activity in grassroots motorsports.

Toyota first joined the F1 grid in 2002, but after seven years of activity, failed to garner a single victory. Along with BMW, the manufacturer was one of two auto companies to walk away from the F1 circus at the end of the 2009 season. Honda withdrew after a dismal 2008 campaign but laid the groundwork for the championship-winning Brawn GP team last year.

Source: Automotive News (Subscription required)

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etro Repeat: BMW 328 Coupe Wins 2010 Mille Miglia

Seventy years after a BMW 328 first won the event, a 328 Touring Coupe managed to win this year's 1000-mile Mille Miglia race in Italy.

Despite the car's age (it rolled off the line back in 1940), drivers Giuliano Cané and Lucia Galliani suffered no technical issues, although arriving at the event was itself a feat. As was the case back in 1940, the BMW wasn't trucked to the starting line, but driven nearly 300 miles from the company's museum in Munich, Germany, to the checkpoint in Brescia, Italy. Such was the case for the 328 piloted by Enzo Ciravolo and Maria Lietner that ultimately finished third.

Although the cars proved reliable, the race was still quite a challenge. The 1000-mile route takes teams throughout Italy, providing them with both 80-degree heat near the Adriatic Sea and frigid temperatures in the Alps. In a brilliant marketing move, BMW provided drivers -- especially those who fielded the roofless 328 Roadster -- with insulated clothing from its motorcycle accessory range.

"Victory by Cané and Galliani, along with the third place finish of Ciravolo and Leitner, is a marvelous example of teamwork," said Karl Baumer, the director of BMW Classic. "Both the blind understanding between the crews inside the cars and the cooperation with the mechanics along the way worked out perfectly. For that, I would like to say 'thank you' to all those involved."

Source: BMW

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Spied: U.S.-Spec Fiat 500s Testing in Ann Arbor

Ann Arbor, we’re told, is a perfect college town -- but as it’s about 18 miles east of Chrysler’s proving grounds in Chelsea, Michigan, it’s also an ideal road trip destination for engineers exercising Fiat 500 prototypes.

We caught this duo of U.S.-spec 500 test vehicles following one white Euro-spec 500 through downtown Ann Arbor earlier this afternoon. Although we weren’t able to whip our camera out in time to catch all three Cinquecentos in a row, the U.S.-spec prototypes wore body stampings painted in black, and looked slightly wider than European models.


If our visual ruler holds true, this may lend credence to reports suggesting the 500 will grow slightly for its North American debut, allowing Fiat’s little hatchback to move to a new platform, will also underpin the Panda.

Production of the U.S.-spec cars is expected to commence in Chrysler’s Pueblo, Mexico, assembly plant this December. The base 500 will be the first to reach market in early 2011, while the 500C convertible, the performance-tuned Abarth, and a new station wagon model will follow shortly afterward. An electric-powered model and a four-door variant are also being considered.

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Lamborghini Navarra Concept Study Penned by Lockheed Martin Designer

Most young designers these days appear to have the hots for anything related to Lamborghini. After the Cnossus, Minotauro, Miura Nuovo, Conquisto, Furia and Toro LA690-4 - just to mention some of the Lamborghini design concepts we've shown you the past few months, here comes yet another proposal for a Raging Bull model, this time from American Adam Denning who happens to be a designer for Lockheed Martin USA.
The Navarra is design study for a flagship Lamborghini supercar to replace the current Murcielago model.

"I tried to imagine all the V12 flagships of the brand from the Miura to the Murcielago, and then create a car that would look like it not only belonged in this group, but that it was the result of these cars as well," Denning explains.



"I was very inspired by Michelangelo's La Pietà. The way Mary's garments flow down and fold over each other was the main inspiration for the Navarra's overlapping surfaces and organic shapes."

Denning, who has a masters in Automotive Design from the Scuola Politecnica di Design in Milan, Italy, says that the Navarra would make use of a carbon-fiber frame and carbon-fiber panels with power coming from a V12 engine.

Photos Courtesy: Adam Denning , Via: CBD :autocoop

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Subaru Launches Impreza WRX STI Spec C for Japanese Market

We wouldn’t exactly call Subaru’s WRX STI “soft,” but the Japanese automaker has just launched the WRX STI Spec C--a performance-tuned variant exclusively for the Japanese market.

Sure, the Spec C still uses the same 2.0-liter turbocharged boxer-four underhood, but engineers made a few small tweaks to boost performance. A redesigned turbocharger, along with a re-mapped engine computer, are said to help reduce turbo lag and improve the car’s top-end. The STI Spec C also receives an intercooler water injector, allowing intake air to remain cool, even at speed.

In the twisties, drivers will likely notice tighter steering and less body roll, thanks in part to a reinforced front suspension crossmember, stiffer coil springs, and unique rear sub-frame bushings. Subaru also replaced the rear differential with a Torsion-type unit, designed to enhance traction in corners.


If that weren’t enough, engineers put the STI on a crash diet. The Spec C gains an aluminum hood, laminate side windows, a smaller battery, and loses a spare tire in the name of saving weight. Subaru also developed a new set of 18-inch aluminum wheels (shod in Bridgetson Potenza RE070 rubber) said to further reduce unsprung weight.
If this sounds like your dream Impreza, rest assured it will remain that way. Only 900 examples will be built, and unless you’re living in Japan, it won’t be sold in your neck of the woods.

soure by automobilemag

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Spyker to Begin Selling Sports Cars at Saab Showrooms

In a move that won't surprise anyone in the automotive industry, Spyker Cars NV and Saab Automobile owner, Victor Muller, confirmed plans to sell Spyker's high-end sports cars through Saab retailers by the end of the year.

"We are signing up Spyker dealerships left, right and center," Muller said in an interview with the Bloomberg news agency at Saab's headquarters in Trollhaettan, Sweden.
The firm's CEO said that as Saab dealers open their doors, Spyker's dealer network will almost double in 2010 expanding from 35 to 60 outlets and to about 90 by the end of next year.



One of the first Spyker models to be sold through selected Saab outlets will be the C8 Aileron that can reach a top speed of 186mph or 300km/h, and carries a base price of $214,990 in the U.S.

Aside from the Swedish automaker's dealer network, Muller said that Spyker has also started to benefit from lower prices for "generic" parts such as windscreen wiper motors that Saab gets through its higher sales volumes, adding that Spyker also plans to "tap Saab's engineering resources".

"Spyker will be profitable in its own right, very much helped by its sister Saab," said Muller. "It's wonderful that the company that saved Saab is also benefiting from having done that in its own business."

Via: Bloomberg

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Lamborghini Gallardo Superleggera and Porsche 911 GT3 RS Wallpaper Gallery

source by automobilemag

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