Vexing Hex: Iranian Designer Pens 6-Wheel Mercedes-Benz Off-Roader

For now, the Unimog remains Mercedes-Benz’s most potent off-road machine -- but we rather like the ideas presented in the design concept crafted by Iranian engineer Siyamak Rouhi Dehkordi. Dubbed the Mercedes-Benz Hexawheel, the conceptual off-roader utilizes -- of all things -- six wheels. The hallowed portal axles of the Unimog are abandoned in favor of independent suspension at each wheel, but the frame itself is truly interesting. Like the unusual M561 Gamma Goat military vehicle, the Hexawheel sports a vertically articulated frame, which is hinged around the axis of the center pair of wheels. Dehkordi says the design allows...

Read More

Return of tii? BMW Executive Confirms Hotter 1 Series

BMW’s high-performance 1 Series has been spied undergoing development, but no one at the company had actually confirmed the car -- until today. Dr. Kay Segler, president of BMW’s M Division, confirmed BMW’s plans for the car and that it won’t share the M1 name of BMW’s legendary supercar.Though the M1 name won’t be coming back, we don’t yet know exactly what this car will be called. A number of different names are possible -- 135is, given BMW’s current naming scheme, the 1 Series M, as it is being developed by the Motorsport Division, or even the early return of the tii badge. We saw the 1 Series tii Concept in 2007 and reported that...

Read More

Spyker Set to Sell its Cars in Select Saab Showrooms

Spyker had promised to keep its chocolate discrete from Saab's peanut butter, but it appears Saab's new corporate parent may soon sell its high-end sports cars in Saab showrooms. "We are signing up Spyker dealerships left, right, and center," Spyker CEO Victor Muller recently told Bloomberg. Presently, Spyker has only 35 retail outlets across the globe, but that will soon change. Spyker plans on offering its wares -- including the new C8 Aileron -- through a number of select Saab dealerships. Spyker hopes to nearly double its sales network to 60 outlets by the end of this year, and bump that total to 90 by the end of 2011. Doing so may help...

Read More

Helio Castroneves Takes his Fourth Indy 500 Pole

The 2010 Indianapolis 500 won’t start until May 30, but as is so often the case with motorsports events, the action isn’t relegated to one weekend -- or, for that matter, one day. Pole Day -- the official qualifying day for the 500 -- was this past Saturday, and determined the starting order for the 500. After besting his 2009 qualifying speed by over 3 mph, Helio Castroneves will sit in the pole position once again -- and be the first back-top-back Indy 500 pole-sitter since Scott Brayton’s performances in 1995 and 1996. Castroneves earned the position -- his fourth pole qualification at Indy -- by lapping the 2.5-mile track at 227.970 mph...

Read More