Panoz Unveils New Abruzzi ‘Spirit of Le Mans’ at Le Mans

Many manufacturers make a big deal of their latest models with spectacular unveilings at major auto shows in front of thousands of press and industry big wigs. Not Panoz Motor Sports Group -- the small Georgia-based automaker is appropriately talking up its latest sports car -- the Abruzzi Spirit of Le Mans -- at the Circuit de la Sarthe.

“[The Abruzzi] is a culmination of equal parts time, effort, and dreams,” said Don Panoz. “The Panoz brand always has prided itself on hand-building and delivering an exotic automobile experience to our customers. Our new offering takes this to a completely new level.”


If the Spirit of Le Mans suffix didn’t clue you in, the Abruzzi is very much inspired by Panoz’s past Le Mans race cars, especially the roadsters and coupes it fielded in LMP and GTR1 classes, respectively. The slinky body is designed to incorporate the company’s new three-stage cooling system, which incorporates a rear-mounted radiator and air intakes integrated into the rear and side quarter windows.

The sophisticated cooling system will likely be necessary for the Abruzzi’s monstrous engine. For now, Panoz hasn’t detailed the engine specs, but says it will produce 600 horsepower and 590 pound-feet of torque. That’s impressive, but coupled with the new composite material Panoz developed for the car, it’s likely to be blessed with an astonishingly low curb weight. The REAMS material is reportedly dent resistant, completely recyclable, and is both stronger and lighter than carbon fiber.

Corresponding to the car’s exotic nature, Panoz will only build 81 examples of the Abruzzi -- one for each 24 Hours of Le Mans race held from 1923 to 2013 (the year Abruzzi production will cease). The vehicle will be so intrinsically linked to the race that Panoz will incorporate the specific race date and initials of the winning driver in each chassis number.

Panoz will also deliver completed vehicles in a very Le Mans-centric way. Each car will be hand-built in Hoschton, Georgia, and then shipped to the Circuit de la Sarthe. There, the new owner will receive driving instruction on the Bugatti circuit of the track. New owners will be invited to attend the race as guests of the ACO -- a major sponsor of the Le Mans enduro -- but they’ll be invited to drive a parade lap around the track next year.

Pricing for the car has not yet been released, but unfortunately for those hoping to grab one in the U.S., it won’t be street legal in this country. Panoz says that the car will only be homologated for street-use in Europe.

Source: Panoz Motor Sports Group

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Build Your Own: Dealers Design Last Batch of Special-Edition 2010 Dodge Viper

Dodge has had no trouble crafting its own special-edition models to celebrate the end of the 2010 Viper's production run, but it's now opening the fun to select dealerships as well.

Dealers who managed to sell high volumes of Dodge's two-seat sports car have been awarded the chance to design their own special-edition cars. For the most part, the custom Vipers are relegated to special paint schemes for the SRT10 roadster, the SRT10 coupe, and the SRT10 ACR coupe.


Thus far, Chrysler's revealed three examples of the dealer-custom program. The snake crafted by Woodhouse Dodge in Blair, Nebraska, is perhaps most unique -- the yellow Viper breaks from tradition and applies many of the unique touches found on the Viper ACR coupe to a drop-top roadster. Tromball Dodge created the "Reverse SRT10 ACR," which inverts the color combination used earlier this year on the Snakeskin Green Special Edition. Roanoke Dodge in Roanoke, Illinois, chose to apply dual Plum Crazy racing stripes on a black SRT10 coupe.

As is the case with the umpteen other special-edition Vipers we've seen this year, production of the Dealer Exclusive Program cars will be limited to 50 in total -- roughly ten percent of the entire 2010 Viper production run.

Source: Dodge

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Revealed: Subaru Cosworth Impreza WRX STI CS400 Road-Going Rally Car

Subaru and Cosworth teased us earlier this year with a monster WRX STI, but now the full details on the finished product -- the Cosworth WRX STI CS400 -- have been revealed.

As Cosworth’s forte lies with engines, it’s not too surprising to read that the majority of CS400’s changes rest within the engine compartment. The CS400 retains the STI’s turbocharged 2.5-liter boxer-four-cylinder engine, but it’s received some serious surgery. Cosworth installs new high-performance pistons, high-strength steel connecting rods, and Cosworth-designed engine bearings. A new Cosworth-designed head gasket is also added, along with a high-pressure oil pump, and a revised turbocharger compressor and wastegate.


Cosworth hasn’t disclosed the boost pressures used, but the revisions -- along with a new exhaust system and revised ECU -- are enough to get the turbocharged engine pumping out 395 horsepower and 398 pound-feet of torque. That’s roughly 90 ponies and 103 pound-feet more than a U.S.-spec 2011 WRX STI.

We’d celebrate the car simply for the extra power, but Cosworth didn’t stop there. Engineers at the tuning firm partnered with Bilstein and Eibach to revamp the WRX’s chassis tuning to incorporate new coil springs that drop the ride height by a half-inch. Fourteen-inch AP Racing brake discs were added all around, a significant improvement over the 13- and 12.6-inch front and rear discs used on the 2011 STI.

Cosmetic tweaks are subtle, but they do help differentiate the CS400 from a standard WRX STI. Cossie-tuned Imprezas receive a new front fascia with foglamps, a mesh grille insert, and a unique rear spoiler. Larger 18-inch wheels not only help dress up the car’s appearance, but also increase the STI’s track by a half-inch. Buyers have little say in the exterior décor, but can choose between three paint colors (red, silver, and dark grey). Inside, all cars receive Recaro racing seats in lieu of the stock front buckets.

Only 75 of these incredible machines will be produced, and as we suspected, none will (legally) make their way to North America. The entire production run will consist of right-hand-drive models and will be sold in the United Kingdom. The CS400 will cost a whopping £22,505 more than the base WRX STI, bringing the total to £49,995.

Source: Autocar

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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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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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