For some time, Mercedes-Benz has not produced a sportscar that can rival the Aston Martin V8 Vantage and Porsche 911 in terms of price. For those car enthusiasts who does not mind paying around €90,000 for a powerful and elegant car, Mercedes’ Head of Design, Gorden Wagener made a special announcement, the SLC will be put in production. He also announced that the CSC will be produced, and the name will be changed to the CLA. Meanwhile, he gave some hint that there might be an ML coupe launching pretty soon. According to some reports, gullwing doors fans will be sad as the car won’t have it. The SLC will have a 4.0 liter V8 engine, and could also be offered in V6 with 3.5 L. The car is expected to be launched in 2014. Source: Autoexpress.co.uk Read the original here:  Mercedes Confirmed the Production of SLC

After a period of silenzio stampa (or “News Blackout” for our English speaking readers), the interwebs’ famous BMW insider Scott27 returns with more rumors around the future models of BMW Group.  In his or hers typical way, Scott27 gives  detailed descriptions around the upcoming 2 Series Coupe and Cabriolet, the highly rumored and somewhat expected M2, and a surprise: a Gran Coupe Compact or in other words, 2 Series Gran Coupe. Here is the full text unedited, courtesy of Germancarforum : The latest Autobild magazine from Germany is currently running a feature on BMW and the seventeen new models due from the company over the course of the next two-three years. One such model illustrated is the BMW 2er shown below in Cabrio variant. Whilst some of the rendered illustrations border on some fiction, the 2er Cabrio illustrated shows some idea of the actual surface changes in distinguishing the 2er from the 1er, which BMW have concentrated on to give a more sportier look to the small and very popular 1er Coupe replacement. The 2er as it progresses from the 1er to slot in with the even number of the Coupe family , will be BMW’s entry Coupe model in Rear Wheel Drive specification. With advanced plans to switch the entire 1er to front wheel drive in the next generation. The 2er is introduced to keep the sportier compact rear wheel drive concept in balance. As seen on the rendering by the Autobild artist Larson. He has incorporated some of the current design thinking within BMW demonstrated on the visual canvas of the Vision ConnectedDrive and 328 Hommage concepts with their prominent surface layering in this case the 2er given its sporting credentials is designed as a concept in motion with everything on the surface of the car raked forward. The Surface layering distinguishes the bloodline between the 1er and 2er with the rear wheel arch being formed by a dropping character line which will give the car a compact rear deck as the typical BMW 2dr Sedan look. Like the Sporthatch this line will surround the rear arch and pronounce the surface work on the lower flanks of the car. The rear tail-lights appear in two formats one not shown here , is raked forward in some way similar to the current car with tones of the Vision ConnectedDrive...

Each week, our German correspondent slices and dices the latest rumblings, news, and quick-hit driving impressions from the other side of the pond. His byline may say Jens Meiners, but we simply call him . . . the Continental. Now that seven-speed manuals and eight-speed automatics have become the “benchmark,” who wants more gears? I don’t, but it seems that the industry soon will have us consider nine-speeds as state-of-the-art. Daimler and Chrysler will be reunited in an odd way, as the leaders of this trend. Chrysler will launch the ZF-sourced 9HP nine-speed automatic in some of its front-wheel-drive vehicles. I now hear that Mercedes-Benz will also offer a nine-speed auto beginning in 2013; the NGS ( Neue Generation Stufenautomatik ), in its W9A and high-performance K9A variations, will be standard on a number of rear-wheel-drive Mercedes vehicles. You can bet several competitors will follow suit in the escalating gear-count wars. It’s interesting to note that Benz is taking pride in its nine-speed slushbox, while—as we’ve reported before—its six-speed manuals will be purchased from ZF in the future. Priorities. Mercedes has released photos of its Citan light commercial vehicle (shown above), which is a rebadged Renault Kangoo. I’ll refrain from comment on the styling, but want to share the company’s official statement that the lower air intake is “a typical styling element of Mercedes-Benz, from compact passenger cars to the Actros.” The Actros, of course, is a brick-shaped heavy-duty truck. If true, this statement explains a lot about Mercedes’ current styling. Diesel Chatter At the New York auto show, I helped present the World Green Car Award to the Mercedes-Benz S250 CDI. A full-size luxury car is an unlikely recipient for this award, but putting a 2.1-liter, four-cylinder turbo-diesel under its hood is worthy of recognition—particularly since this behemoth gets mileage far superior to most hybrids. The award is on its way to Sindelfingen, and there is little chance this car will be offered in the U.S. But the refreshed GLK , a New York debut, will be sold in the States with the same OM651 engine. Mercedes has slowly switched from straight-six engines to V-6 units from the late 1990s, but the inline-six will be back. Beginning...

The Avant/Garde Diaries festival called “Transmission LA: AV Club” at the Geffen Contemporary at MOCA in Los Angeles started in April 21 until May 6. Mike D of Beastie Boys curated the event. The festival features different designs, music, food and film from artists from Jim Drain, Benjamin Jones, Peter Coffin, Will Fowler, Ton Sachs and Takeshi Murata. Food is served at an outdoor pop-up resto with a bar designed by Robert McKinley, foods are from Chef Roy Choi. The highlight of the event is the Concept Style Coupe, Mike D of Beastie Boys was caught boasting about the CSC, the highlight of the event. He said, “what you are seeing is: The Mercedes-Benz A.K.A Benzo Concept Style Coupé, will be bathed not unlike a young infant in an installation of light and sound. We were inspired by our visit to the Design Center and to Mercedes-Benz’s climate tunnel. We have used the car to create an installation that uses light triggered by sound to startling effect translating the car’s dynamics into real movement.” The Trasmission LA: AV Club in Los Angeles is a sequel to the festivals by Mercedes-Benz curated by Raf Simons in Berlin, Germany. Its aim is to gather artists and trend-setters to present and showcase their vision of the world’s future to the public. The schedule of the Transmission LA: AV Club are as follows: Sunday: 11 am to 6 pm Monday: noon to 6 pm Tuesday: closed Wednesday, Thursday, Friday: noon to 10 pm Saturday: 11 am to 10 pm For more information on the event visit: theavantgardediaries.com . See original here:  Transmission LA: AV Club Now Starting

The MINI Inspired by Goodwood is the most ambitious and luxurious special edition model the brand has ever launched. To celebrate delivery of the first customer cars, a single example is going on display in prime position at Harrods, the world’s most aspirational shopping destination. The MINI which takes inspiration from the design team at Rolls Royce Motor Cars, forms part of a specially created window display. It is also visible from inside the iconic Knightsbridge store, allowing shoppers, pedestrians and drivers on the busy Brompton Road to see it. The window features a beautiful manor house and gates, providing a quintessentially British backdrop to showcase the MINI. Inside Harrods, display screens provide information about the car, with a selection of swatches and samples of the premium interior trims used in the cabin. A member of staff from MINI’s flagship Park Lane showroom will be on hand so customers can find out more or even place an order. Highlighting the exclusive and limited edition nature of the MINI Inspired by Goodwood, the MINI logo and the words ‘1 of 1000’ will be projected on to the pavement outside the window every night. The scene will be on display for two weeks starting from Easter Sunday, 8 April. Guy Cheston, Harrods Director of Media Sale commented, “Harrods is delighted to be showcasing such an iconic British brand. The store attracts an average of 42,000 visitors every day from over 130 different countries every month. What better place than Harrods to showcase the most luxurious production MINI has ever built to a truly global audience.” The MINI Inspired by Goodwood is a special edition model like no other. Announced at last April’s Shanghai Motor Show, it brings together the unparalleled fun and character of MINI with the outstanding quality of materials and bespoke workmanship that come as standard with any Rolls-Royce Motor Car The dashboard, centre console, air vents, carpets, heated leather seats, roof lining, doors and interior cladding are all finished in the exclusive Rolls-Royce colour Cornsilk. The dashboard and door handle surfaces are of Walnut Burr, a premium wood trim bespoke to Rolls-Royce. No expense or attention to detail has been spared on the car. The roof linings, sun visors and rear storage...

The Mercedes-Benz design philosophy is oriented towards long-term effect rather than short-lived trends View original here:  Mercedes-Benz Style Unveils Furniture Collection in Milan

The new Citan rounds out the Mercedes-Benz van family and will be launched with a comprehensive model range See the original post here: Mercedes-Benz Citan World Premiere

Being rich can be very difficult. Do you choose to ride around in a limo, drive a super car, or go for something rare and vintage? Now, thanks to Becker Auto Design’s $400,000 JetVans, you have a new choice. A custom Mercedes-Benz Sprinter van filled with mobile Bond-villian grade levels of technology and luxury. More » Excerpt from: Inside The $400,000 Van Built Like A Private Jet [Video] View post:  Inside The $400,000 Van Built Like A Private Jet [Video]

Muneer i is wearing sunglasses. He wears them like a bad-ass, the rest of his face stone-solid, no smile. He looks like a contract killer, maybe a dude who ends people with a knife the size of your thigh. He is driving a 2010 Nissan Patrol. He likes jumping it. Keep Reading: Nail It, Muneer, and Don’t Spare the Horses: The Impossible Weirdness of the Dubai Desert Dune Tour – Feature Read the original post: Nail It, Muneer, and Don’t Spare the Horses: The Impossible Weirdness of the Dubai Desert Dune Tour Read more from the original source:  Nail It, Muneer, and Don’t Spare the Horses: The Impossible Weirdness of the Dubai Desert Dune Tour

Most intelligent civilized people know that there is a time and a place for certain things. Those intelligent civilized people likely aren’t the ones blasting a rare and expensive Brabus Mercedes-McLaren SLR Roadster (with matching Smart) through a Paris parking garage at more than 90 mph. More » Here is the original: Watch A $1 Million Mercedes Hit 93 MPH In A Tiny Parking Garage [Video] Read more from the original source:  Watch A $1 Million Mercedes Hit 93 MPH In A Tiny Parking Garage [Video]

Mike Musto is the car guy’s car guy. He’s run Bullrun, campaigned a vintage Dodge Charger called “Mr. Angry” in One Lap of America and has forgotten more about the pro-touring scene than you or I will ever learn. Now he’s got his own weekly series on YouTube’s Drive channel called “Big Muscle,” and if the first episode is any indication, it will be worth tuning into. What do you get when you cross a 1949 Ford F5 dump truck with a 1997 Ford F350 diesel and a 1935 Miller Indy Car? We’re not sure, either, but the end result is the one-of-a-kind rod seen here, built by Max Allread. If it’s performance you want, Allread’s truck won’t disappoint – it’s packing 400 horsepower and 700 pound-feet of torque under its hood. That’s impressive, but the detail on the build is even more amazing. Those stencils on the doors? Original to the truck, which was last registered in 1985. Those aircraft-style seats? Allread built them himself. The front suspension? Inspired by a vintage Indy car. Now matter how well built, most rods don’t capture your attention for long, but Allread’s seems to cross generations and demographics. From any angle, there’s always something to look at, and it’s impossible to view the truck without wanting to jump in and go for a ride. We’re not even into the hot rod scene, but we’d love a chance to spend a day with Allread’s Dr. Frankenstein creation. It’s a sculpture that even we can appreciate.   View post: Big Muscle Debuts On Drive See the original post:  Big Muscle Debuts On Drive

You have the old and the new, and the new is supposedly an improvement. The new 3 Series is obviously larger, more sophisticated and more powerful than its predecessor. But once you lay your eyes on it, s it better looking? Are you struck by its exterior design? How do you define an improvement in looks, especially when there is clear parity in theme, dimensions and functionality. Before going any further, there is one indelible problem with the F30 and it has to do with an add-on: the front license plate housing for North American models is nonsense. And this is putting it nicely. Looking at a new Mineral Grey 328i without it and an older 335i with the more contoured plate housing tells the difference. BMW, please revise the design to follow just the plates and no excess also. Now about the actual F30 exterior design. Remember the cousin that was slightly chunky before hitting that growth spurt, and the next time you saw him he had chiseled out, lighter, stronger and maybe even a little meaner? The E90 and F30 are exactly that; in comparison the E90 is a little chunky compared to a leaner, lighter but more muscular F30. Read our review of 2012 BMW 328i What’s more amazing is how this has been achieved. Start at the front end. Well both have that menacing hood with four lines pointing the way to the twin-kidneys. But check carefully on the outside lines of the F30. There is a concavity that deftly slides into the fenders. Previous designers would have defined this as flaming or “Banglelized.” No more, this is “muscling”. Much in the way sculptors cut away until they have defined the perfect anatomical feature, the designer has created this perfect sculpted line that “lightens” the whole front end. Muscling isn’t lost on just the F30 front end, compare the midline on both cars, just below the greenhouse. The F30 adds the same muscling, that concavity to a sweeping heretic line that runs away from the greenhouse and blends into the concavity of the hood. This line is a rebel by any design standard. Non-conforming, not parallel to the greenhouse, not blending into the fender but into the concavity of the hood. This is the lightest, most unique line on the car. And this line has a sibling. The midline just below which marks the stance of the car, is...

Translating the dynamic style of Mercedes-Benz into the compact A-Class was a challenge that was fun to tackle – Gorden Wagener View original here:  2012 Mercedes-Benz A-Class Design Development

It isn’t a secret that the most-loved cars don’t come from the design-by-committee process. Most new product phenomenons are the result of a groundbreaking invention as well, not a by-the-numbers exercise. As far as design-by-committee, that is where Toyota has been for much of its recent history. Producing cars with the goal of having no risks. Sometimes that results in a very successful product, such as the current 2013 Camry. But, it generally doesn’t do much for your company over the long term. Via Automotive News , Chief Executive Officer Akio Toyoda spoke about Toyota’s approach to development at the height of its success. “The feeling at the time was, ‘If we build it, they will come….instead of developing what customers would want next, we were making cars that would rake in sales,” said Toyoda. Indeed. Akio Toyoda has set about to change the corporate culture at the company that bears his name. So far two results of this have been the Lexus LFA and the new “Toyobaru” sports car. Now, Toyota is trying to implement this from the top down, with a new process of development that saves time and money. Greater decision making power is now being given to engineers and designers rather than executives. Additionally, the executives involved are being reduced to save time (there used to be around 80 to 100. Wow). Sound familiar? Under Bob Lutz General Motors dramatically retooled its development process, with fantastic results. Toyota is hoping for a similar change. Key in this is a “Toyota New Global Architecture” which includes three front-wheel drive platforms. Toyota plans to have half of the vehicles it produces covered by these three platforms. It’s a definite step forward, but one that isn’t unheard of; Toyota is just playing catchup. Volkswagen, General Motors and Ford are already well on their way in implementing similar ambitious plans. They have streamlined global operations and platforms, and that is resulting in the products we see today. More important is how the change in development process impacts the products we see out of the automaker. We’ll have to see what taking layers of bureaucracy out does for Toyota’s core model lines. Automoblog.net –...

When you think of companies that build truly exceptional interiors into their sports cars, who comes to mind? Chances are good that Audi and Ferrari are at the top of the list, Porsche is likely in the middle, and Chevrolet is at the bottom with the Corvette. Just above that is likely the original Dodge Viper, since the kindest thing we could say about its interior is that “Chrysler needed to save money by using common parts.” The original Viper wasn’t a luxury car and it wasn’t a grand tourer. If you wanted to go really fast on a reasonable budget and knew a thing or two about car control, the Viper was a solid choice for track days, club racing or time attack events. It was never a great choice for a street car, since driving any model of Viper required your full and constant attention. Perhaps it was a good thing, then, that the seats weren’t comfortable for long hours behind the wheel. That changes with the 2013 Viper, and the video below gives a good overview of the design process on the new car’s interior. Gone are the cheap, uncomfortable seats and “pulled from a Ram pickup” interior bits. Hard, squeaky plastic is replaced by leather and (presumably) vinyl-wrapped trim, accented by contrasting stitching. The new Viper looks like a more expensive car inside, partly because many high-end sports and luxury car interiors were studied during the Viper’s design process. Despite its shortcomings, we were fans of the old Viper. It did what you asked it to, and it was comfortable enough for its intended purpose. We expect that the new Viper will be improved in every way, and we can’t wait to get behind the wheel of one.   Excerpt from: SRT Talks Up The New Viper’s Interior: Video See original here:  SRT Talks Up The New Viper’s Interior: Video