Aesthetic allure meets high performance: New BMW M6

Land Rover Limited Editions

The third-generation Range Rover has been on sale for ten years now, and Land Rover is celebrating with a trio of special editions. They should also help extend the RR’s life before the impending mk4 version appears.

The Range Rover Westminster Edition replaces the Vogue and Vogue SE models. At R 900 000 +, it costs little more than the former, but gets an abundance of extra equipment. Highlights are heating and cooling for the front seats and a whopping 19-speaker, 1200W Harman/Kardon stereo. The clever dual view setup - which allows the driver to see sat-nav and car controls while the passenger watches TV or DVDs on the same screen - is also standard.

Exterior telltales include a new finish for the front grille and side vents, a set of 20in, ten-spoke alloy wheels and the obligatory Westminster badging. The only engine option is Land Rover’s 4.4-litre TDV8 diesel (linked to an eight-speed automatic gearbox), capable of launching the Range Rover to 100km/h in 7.5sec.

The TDV8 Autobiography and Supercharged Autobiography are the other two specials. Both get the ‘Range Rover Design Pack’ as standard, which includes new front and rear bumpers, silver treatments for the grille and vents and 20in ‘Shadow Chrome’ alloys.

The King Of Super Cars

New.. Bughatti supersport ..  the ultimate super car with the ultimate price .. expect to part with ZAR 19 million.

2 words you wont see often.. < MINI ROADSTER >

Yet another slightly different Mini variant – or, if you’re of a more cynical disposition, the bottom of a well-scraped barrel. The Mini Roadster is a soft-top version of the two-seat Coupe, sharing its sister’s lower windscreen line but with what we’re promised is a greater emphasis on driving dynamics than the existing, four-seat Mini Cabriolet.

The Roadster will be sold with the same selection of petrol and diesel engines as the Coupe. But, despite losing two seats and a fair percentage of its windscreen, the Roadster will be around R7000 more expensive than the equivalent cabrio. Go figure....

Volvo - A look back ..

VOLVO FACT ( for all you Swedish car lovers ) In February 1982 - 30 years ago - the new Volvo 760 GLE was launched. No typical Volvo, yet unmistakably a Volvo. Seen as elegant and exciting with its characteristic design it was well received. The 760 became the car that actually saved Volvo Car Corporation back then and paved the way to the modern company of today.


I have included print adverts from GLE times as well as a glimpse of the interior and what the standard car looked like.. all I can say .. is thankfully, VOLVO found style, aesthetic lines & performance - The evolution from brick to space mobile and along with it, the transformation from deep frown to cheeky smile.

Suzukis latest concept, the lightweight and slippery G70 is destined for the Geneva motor show . The company has focussed its efforts on making this as light as possible, just 730kg, with what Suzuki describe as 'elaborated dynamics'. The Japanese company has also worked hard on reducing the aerodynamic drag, and claims the G70 is is at least 10 per cent more aerodynamic than the previous model.

This is not a production-ready concept, but it does demonstrate a new vision for the Suzuki's new direction for its next generation compact car. As a result of the low weight and efficient engines.

Also on show will be the new Swift range-extender, Suzuki's latest development in hybrid technology. First shown at the Geneva show in 2010, Suzuki has worked hard on developing the system, now more than 100 per cent more efficient than in 2010 - We look forward to seeing these concepts come to fruition.

At the Detroit show in January much of the talk on the Volkswagen stand qas that the production version of the pretty Bluesport concept was close to death after not gaining enough support from US dealers.

The following week Porsche boss Matthias Mueller told a German mag that it would require a ‘new generation’ of customers before the company would consider production a sub-Boxster roadster. As the original plan had been for Porsche, Audi and potentially even Seat to use the Bluesport’s core architecture to produce their own models, this led many to pretty much write the Bluesport’s obituary.

But when Automoblog caught up with Volkswagen’s engineering boss, Uli Hackenberg recently, we got a very different story – and exclusive confirmation that the Bluesport project is still very much alive.. Take a look at these pics and tel me theres no market for a sub - Boxster roadster..