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Volkswagen unveils 12-cylinder GTI show car
Volkswagen unveiled a GTI concept car with a 640-hp W12-cylinder
engine at an annual GTI club event in Austria on the weekend.
The GTI W12-650 has a 6.0-litre bi-turbo W12 engine and
six-speed automatic transmission mounted longitudinally
behind the driver and front passenger. 0 to 100 km/h is
reputed to take just 3.7 seconds and top speed is 325 km/h.
Klaus Bischoff, Director of Volkswagen Design, said, "Our
greatest challenge was to provide the six-litre mid-engine
with sufficient air, without watering down the GTI's side
profile. In addition, provisions had to be made for sufficient
downforce at the rear axle on such a fast type of car.
But for aesthetic reasons we did not want to put an enormous
rear spoiler on the car." At the same event, VW showed
the new VW GTI Pirelli which is due to go into production
in September for European sales only. The original GTI
Pirelli was produced in 1983 as a limited production model.
The new model offers Pirelli 18-inch wheels and size 225
P-Zero tires, a 225-hp engine from the GTI Edition 30,
and unique sports seats with a tire tread design.
Toronto-area Jaguar dealer celebrates 25th anniversary
Jaguar
Canada has announced the 25th anniversary of Robert Motors
Jaguar, a family-owned and operated business in
Toronto's west-end district of Etobicoke. The company has
been under the leadership of dealer principal Tony Scott
Fisher since it opened. "Our success and longevity
is due to our commitment to providing the highest, time-honoured
standards for service, for selection, and customer satisfaction," Fisher
says. "We want to keep our customers for a long time,
so we always aim to exceed their expectations." Robert
Motors was the leading dealership for new-car sales in
Canada in 2006, and has been the leading Canadian dealership
in parts and service sales for the last three consecutive
years. The dealership is located at 5507 Dundas Street
West in Etobicoke.
Honda Civic, Ford F-Series top Canada's
April sales
The Honda Civic and the Ford F-Series topped Canadian car
and light truck sales in April, as well as year-to-date
sales, according to industry analyst Dennis DesRosiers.
Desrosiers reports that small vehicle segments "continue
to do very well in the face of high gas prices," with
subcompact cars up 16.8 per cent on the month, compact
cars up 5.2 per cent, small pickups up 26.0 per cent
and compact SUVs up 34.0 per cent. Large/luxury/sports
cars are down 3.7 per cent. In order, the top ten cars
sold in April, 2007 were the Honda Civic, Mazda3, Toyota
Yaris, Toyota Corolla, Chevrolet Impala, Pontiac Grand
Prix, Chevrolet Cobalt, Toyota Camry, Pontiac Pursuit/G5,
and Toyota Matrix. The top ten year-to-date cars, in
order, are the Honda Civic, Mazda3, Toyota Corolla, Toyota
Yaris, Chevrolet Cobalt, Toyota Camry, Pontiac Pursuit/G5,
Chevrolet Impala, Ford Focus, and Dodge Caliber. The
top ten light trucks sold in April, in order, were the
Ford F-Series, Dodge Caravan, GMC Sierra, Dodge Ram,
Chevrolet Silverado, Ford Escape/Escape Hybrid, Ford
Ranger, Pontiac Montana SV6, Chevrolet Uplander and Honda
CR-V. The top ten light trucks year-to-date, in order,
are the Ford F-Series, Dodge Caravan, Dodge Ram, GMC
Sierra, Chevrolet Silverado, Ford Escape/Escape Hybrid,
Ford Ranger, Chevrolet Uplander, Pontiac Montana SV6
and Honda CR-V.
Honda builds 15-millionth engine in Ohio
Honda of America Manufacturing celebrated the 15-millionth
engine built at its plant in Anna, Ohio. The facility
is the largest Honda auto engine plant in the world;
it opened in 1985. The plant is currently undergoing
a US$75 million expansion project, expected to be completed
this year. The project will transfer connecting rod and
camshaft production from Japan to Ohio. The milestone
engine was a six-cylinder designed for a Honda Accord
Coupe that will be assembled 72 km away at the Marysville
Auto Plant. The Anna Engine Plant has three assembly
lines and two foundries; it produces driveshafts, connecting
rods, brake components, and all of its own engine blocks
and heads. It will also serve as the engine supply source
for the Honda Manufacturing of Indiana plant under construction
in Greensburg, Indiana, which will begin production in
the fall of 2008. At the Anna plant's current production
rate of 1.5 million engines annually, it will take only
13 years for the facility to build another 15 engines.
The plant supplies engines for the Honda Accord sedan
and coupe, Civic sedan, Element and CR-V, and Acura TL
and RDX made in Ohio, as well as the Honda Civic sedan,
coupe and Si, Ridgeline, and Acura MDX and CSX made in
Alliston, Ontario. Honda has invested more than US$1.4
billion in the plant. The company also announced that
later this year, the Marysville Auto Plant will celebrate
the 25th anniversary of the first Japanese car built
in America, a Honda Accord. The anniversary coincides
with the production of an all-new 2008 Accord.
Armoured
car maker builds Mercedes that's hard to catch
A company that converts vehicles to "armoured cars" with
steel plates and bullet-proof glass has given a power boost
to its armoured Mercedes-Benz S600 models. "We're
in the business of protecting our clients," explained
Chris Pecalevski, Director of Business Development at INKAS
Armored." "That means we have to be ready for
anything." INKAS hired RENNtech, a tuner company run
by Hartmut Feyhl, formerly technical director of AMG North
America, to give its cars more power. "No matter how
much armour you have," explained Feyhl, "armour
just buys you time to escape. You can't just sit there
waiting for the bad guys to run out of bullets - and a
thousand pounds of armour doesn't make it any easier to
outrun the bad guys, either." With that in mind, RENNtech
took INKAS' armoured Mercedes-Benz S600 and boosted the
horsepower for a quicker getaway. Under the hood, RENNtech's
ECU software, carbon-fibre airbox, and intercooler pump
upgrades keep the engine temperature cool and the turbos
on "boil", building 640 hp and over 775 lb-ft
of torque. RENNtech also beefed up the brakes, employing
15.2-inch two-piece front and 14-inch rear brakes. To that,
INKAS added level NIJ Level IV armouring capable of taking
close-range Armor Piercing bullet fire, run-flat performance
tires, and proprietary armoured panels and ballistic glass
compounds all previously tested by authorized test labs.
For security reasons, performance figures haven't been
released.
Vegas city council orders car dealer to take down
American flag
Las Vegas has ordered a Hummer dealership to remove an
American flag that flies above the business. The American
flag has flown 100 feet above the dealership for the last
year. The owner of Towbin Hummer, Dan Towbin, said he can
not believe the Las Vegas city counsel's decision that
told him the flag must be taken down, reports the Las Vegas
Review Journal. "It's ridiculous in today's day and
age to suggest removing an American flag," he said.
Mr. Towbin was told he has 60 days to remove the flag.
He is considering a lawsuit to challenge their action.
In May of 2006 when he was given approval of the flag he
agreed to a six-month review, which was contingent on any
complaints by the neighbors. At a recent council meeting,
there were some residents that complained about the flapping
noise the flag made and also the looks of the flagpole.
At last year's meeting the city council was told the dealership
planned to build a memorial for military veterans at the
pole's base. Mr. Towbin was questioned about this by council
members and others at the meeting as the memorial has never
been built. According to Mr. Towbin the reason the memorial
hasn't been built is he was waiting for the city council
to give their final approval of the flag. Since the six-month
review slipped through cracks at city hall, some residents
went to their councilwoman to ask her about it. This isn't
the first time Dan Towbin and the Vegas city council have
been at odds over American flags. Just before Memorial
Day in 2004 Mr. Towbin had small flags on his vehicles
at Prestige Infiniti dealership and was ordered by Las
Vegas code enforcement to remove the flags as they were "attention
gaining devices." The city backed off after the story
got national attention. An if the name Towbin sounds familiar,
it should. Dan Towbin's son Josh has garnered national
recognition as "Chop" on the King of Cars television
show.
Car dealers transform historic bakery into luxury
car dealership
Spanos brothers undertake painstaking renovation of an
old bakery building. Converting a 1924 industrial building
to a car dealership at times resembled an archaeological
dig, reports the Daytona Beach News Journal. First, layers
of paint and wood flooring had to be removed to expose
the original dark red quarry tile on the foundation slab.
Then, a 3-inch layer of cement had to be ground off the
brick walls. An old advertising sign for bread, rescued
from a pile of trash, was cleaned and framed as a reminder
of the building's earlier life as the Dandee Bakery. Finally,
after a year of restoration and expenses that exceeded
their $1 million budget, Alex and Vic Spanos have opened
their new Spanos Imports dealership. From a sleek, ultra-modern
lobby, visitors slide open a glass door to step back into
the 1920s - a 25,000 square-foot stripped-down showroom
with 16-foot-high ceilings. In the dim, cavernous space
- track lighting hasn't been installed yet - they can wander
about and view 60 used cars, which represent such luxury
brands as Mercedes-Benz, BMW, Lexus and Land Rover. The
restoration is still a work in progress. A second ground-floor
showroom that will house an additional 50 cars isn't finished
yet, and the building's second floor hasn't been touched.
Eventually, the upstairs will house offices, a customer
lounge and a small shop selling auto-themed apparel and
accessories. Vic Spanos said he and his brother expected
sales to be slow for the few months of their transition
to a new building, but their opening weekend of business
turned out to be strong. About 40 percent of their orders
have been coming from Orlando and points beyond, as they
continue strengthening their Internet advertising.
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