Harley softail gets softer
HAS Harley gone soft on its top-selling Softail range?
Porsche cancels Boxster/Cayman production contract, Magna wants cash
Filed under: Plants/Manufacturing, Porsche 2009 Porsche Boxster S – Click above for high res image gallery Shortly after the Boxster debuted in 1996, Porsche contracted with Valmet Automotive of Finland as a second production source for the sports car, and a few years later, employed the facili along with the Cayman coupe. In 2008 Porsche decided that it would shift that production contract from Valmet to Magna International and its assembly plant in Graz Austria. Today, with Porsche being subsumed into the Volkswagen Group, the sports car maker has decided to cancel the Magna deal. With Volkswagen now buying up the remains of Karmann, the Boxster and Cayman are now expected be built at the coachbuilder’s factory in Osnabrueck, Germany. Magna claims it has already invested a significant amount of money on development to prepare for production. As a result Magna is seeking €400 million in compensation from Porsche. There’s no word from Stuttgart on its plans to repay Magna, but with VW’s legal arm exercised and ready to go, the battle is sure to be drawn out over the coming months and years. Gallery: First Drive: 2009 Porsche Boxster S PDK [Source: Reuters]Porsche cancels Boxster/Cayman production contract, Magna wants cash originally appeared on Autoblog on Fri, 27 Nov 2009 17:03:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.Permalink | Email this | Comments
Valentino Rossi in WRC New Zealand rally
MOTOGP champion Valentino Rossi will compete in the penultimate round of the world rally championship (WRC) in New Zealand next month in a privately-entered Subaru.
GM confims Chevy Camaro Convertible for Oshawa production alongside 2011 Buick Regal
Filed under: Convertible, Buick, Chevrolet Chevrolet Camaro Convertible Concept – Click above for high-res image gallery Ever look for something high and low only to find it hiding in plain sight? That’s how we’d sum up the latest announcement from General Motors. The company has announced that the new Buick Regal – based on 2009′s European Car of the Year, the Opel Insignia – will enter production at the beginning of 2011 at its assembly plant in Oshawa, Ontario. There it will join the existing assembly line for the Chevrolet Equinox and GMC Terrain crossovers and the Chevy Camaro. The kicker? General Motors subtly slipped in the announcement that the Camaro Convertible will begin production there as well around the same time. The drop-top pony car was first mooted with the concept unveiled at the 2007 Detroit Auto Show, and GM has been hemming and hawing about its production prospects ever since. Well, apparently they’ve made up their minds, and told all of us about it in the most understated way they could think of. Follow the jump to read the official press release. Gallery: Chevy Camaro Convertible Concept [Source: General Motors]Continue reading GM confims Chevy Camaro Convertible for Oshawa production alongside 2011 Buick RegalGM confims Chevy Camaro Convertible for Oshawa production alongside 2011 Buick Regal originally appeared on Autoblog on Fri, 27 Nov 2009 09:55:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.Permalink | Email this | Comments
A great set of numbers
A record 25,512 bikes have sold this year.
Husky turns sexy again
It’s been more than 100 years since a sexy Swede named Husqvarna burst on to the sports scene.
Wayne Gardner thrill rides
Four laps on pillion behind motorcycle racing legend Wayne Gardner is a rare thrill, as Stephen Corby testifies.
Yamaha put excitement back into the new FZ1
If you let your head speak, instead of your heart, you bought the previous model Yamaha FZ1.
Chevron staging a comeback with new GR8
Filed under: Motorsports, Coupe, Performance, UK, Specialty, MISC The history of the British automobile is littered with dozens upon dozens of small, independent cottage-industry automakers. Names like Lotus, Jaguar, Aston Martin, Bentley, Rolls-Royce and Land Rover have stood the test of time. And in recent years companies like Ascari, McLaren Automotive and Ariel have sprung up to join the fold. (Heck, Lee Noble’s been responsible for half of them.) But for every new automaker that sets up shop in the UK, there are dozens more that have faded into the night: carmakers like Triumph, Sunbeam, AC, Austin-Healey and TVR. But one is making a comeback. Founded by Derek Bennett in 1965, Chevron Cars produced more than 60 distinct racing cars over the course of its history. But the Lancaster-based automaker has long since faded into obscurity. The marque now belongs to Westfield Sportscars, purveyors of Lotus 7 continuation cars, which is now preparing to bring back the Chevron with the design you see here. The new Chevron GR8 is being developed as the spiritual successor to the original G8, a lightweight mid-engine race car built in the late ’60s. The new car follows the same formula: a fiberglass body over a steel spaceframe with a 255hp 2.0-liter Cosworth engine mounted right in the middle. That might not sound like a lot of power, but the target curb weight of 1,322 pounds promises to keep the power to weight ratio on the fun side. Chevron is planning an initial run of 20 examples, each to be sold for £49,500 (about $82k). They’ll all be earmarked towards the GR8 Challenge, a new one-make racing series. After that, Chevron plans to turn the GR8 into a track-day special available for public consumption, but does not plan to make a road-going version. Which is a shame, because as many that spring up every so many years, we never get tired of British sportscars. [Source: Chevron via PistonHeads]Chevron staging a comeback with new GR8 originally appeared on Autoblog on Fri, 27 Nov 2009 19:01:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments
