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If the Russian navy ever runs out of resources completely, perhaps it can retrofit a fleet of Lada Niva 4x4s to serve as a last-ditch coastal defense force. I mean, if a bunch of regular guys can jury rig one to run fully submerged, we're sure the military could gin up some kind of armed variant. Short of that, however, we think we're sold on the apparent toughness of the Niva. Stripped of extraneous interior trim, instruments, and other accessories, the white example shown here was fitted with a homebuilt snorkel system and driven into, under, and out of a lake's murky waters. Why? Who cares? This looks like fun, which is reason enough as far as we're concerned. Follow the jump for video of the whole crazy thing.
[Sources: ZR.ru (via Fresh Pics via Reddit), YouTube]
Grassroots campaigns aimed at automakers rarely succeed, and even when local dealers get involved those efforts tend to stagnate or get lost in the filter between the showroom floor and the automaker's HQ. But when an entire country's marketing and PR efforts get behind a project there might be a faint hope of success. Mazda UK is launching a lobbying blitz to get its Japanese parent to bring the goods to Britain's masses in the form of the Mazdaspeed2 (well, it'd be called the Mazda2 MPS in the UK, but you get our point).
Hot hatches have consistently been winners abroad, so Mark Cameron, marketing director for Mazda UK, is trying to get Mazda to equip its newest sub-compact with a blown motor and some suspension tweaks to bring the people what they want. If it does happen, and reports say that a three-door MS2 is a distinctpossibility, it won't happen for at least two years, but if when it does, expect a turbocharged 1.5-liter four, producing around 170 HP.
For European customers who just can't wait for the sportier Abarth version of Fiat's hot-selling new 500 super-duper-mini, aftermarket supplier MS Design has got a package that could help bridge the divide. Unfortunately it's just an appearance/aero package, but it certainly looks ready to take to the Monte Carlo rally.
MS Design fitted this look-at-mini-me Cinquecento with a front spoiler, side skirts and rear apron, plus a (relatively) large rear wing below the rear window to supplement the stock one above. MS also equipped its 500 Cup show car with Eibach springs to support the 17-inch powder-coat multi-spoke rims and a new exhaust to boot.
While it may not have any engine mods, MS Design has given the stylish 500 yet another new interpretation. Put the kit on one equipped with the range-topping engine from the kart-tastic Panda 100HP and you may have a winning package.
For more 500-tuning goodness, check out H&R and Aznom.
For those of you who worship at the alter of Playstation, life is about to get more bearable. Its name is Gran Turismo 5 Prologue (demo), and it will be available to download for free on October 20th. The move is an effort to keep thumbs from atrophying after the long hiatus between GT4 and the new prologue installment, due out in stores December 13th (at least in Japan).
The launch is coinciding with the Tokyo Motor Show, where a number of vehicles that have parts in the game will be revealed in the really-real-world the day before. Among the models already confirmed: the new Nissan GT-R and Mitsubishi Evolution X, plus 16 other manufacturers, including Ferrari and Alfa Romeo. Three new tracks are also set to make their debut in GT5, including Fuji, Daytona and Suzuka.
More is expected from Sony on the 23rd, so we'll try to keep you abreast between sake shooters and toro binges.
On Wednesday, we told you that the Corvette Racing C6.Rs would be sporting a new Bad Boy Vettes livery for the ALMS finale at Laguna Seca next weekend. Yesterday, BBV shot us a few pics of the #4 car in progress, and no surprise -- we like what we see. The final product will be unveiled at a big shindig on Wednesday, and when the cars ultimately take to the track, they'll look as every bit as menacing as they sound. Skulls on race cars are like, totally underrated. The little Michelin man on the front fender just wet himself out of fear.
As McLaren closes in another Formula 1 drivers championship this year, the road car side of the business continues to labor away on a successor to Gordon Murray's masterwork, the mighty F1. The latest rendering of the new car features design elements from the original done by Peter Stevens, including the front air intakes, the swing-up doors and strakes on the sides. Rumors are that power will come from a V-8 in place of the twelve cylinder found in the original.
The most unique element of the F1 was the three seat layout, with the driver front and center. That yielded an ideal race car-like driving position, but it's unknown if McLaren will follow this path again. While the F1 was an engineering and performance tour de force it was a commercial failure. The original plan called for a production run of three hundred cars, but that was ultimately scaled back to less than one hundred including the race cars. The big question is will McLaren try to top the F1 or go for something more "accessible" like the Enzo?
Mercedes-Benz, which supplies the engines to the McLaren team where British rookie Lewis Hamilton and Spanish champion Fernando Alonso have been battling it out on and off the track all season, is hunting down one of its employees in Spain. The as-yet unidentified employee, evidently an Alonso fan, logged on the Wikipedia and posted some less-than-flattering remarks about Hamilton, who enters the final round of the 2007 F1 season with a commanding lead over his rivals.
The employee modified a quote from Michael Schumacher on the Hamilton Wiki to read "I know he is quite ugly, but if he keeps this up I'm sure he will reach F1." (Modification italicized.) Deep. In his edit, the employee also lambasted Hamilton for a crash with Mark Webber and Sebastien Vettel at the Japanese Grand Prix.
In response, site administrators removed the edits and locked the page from further modification until October 20, the day before the final round in Brazil. Meanwhile Mercedes, which confirmed that the IP address originates from its Spanish headquarters, is trying to find out exactly who's culpable, while issuing a reminder to its staff about its internet policy. And we thought NSFW pornographic material was a problem in the workplace.
The VAG 1.8-liter turbocharged inline four was a staple of Audi and VW's product lineup for close to over a decade, but with the addition of the two-liter turbo'd engine a couple years back, it quickly lost its place as the defacto work horse for both brands. However, Audi determined that with a few tweaks, primarily the addition of a direct-injection system, they could revive the erstwhile mill in a move to appeal to consumption-conscious consumers.
They've fitted the TFSI 1.8T to the new A5, making it the cheapest way to get into Audi's newest hotness. Before, a base A5, sporting the 3.2-liter FSI V6 would set you back just over £33,000. When the A5 1.8 TFSI (mit manual) goes on sale, European buyers will be able to get behind the wheel of the Teutonic coupe for over £6,000 less -- and they aren't going to skimp on features either. Buyers abroad will be able to get Milano leather, tri-zone climate control, parking sensors, and an electromechanical parking brake, all standard.
For all the details, Audi's full press release is posted after the jump.
We've spent the entire day showing you all of the entrants for the 2007 Design Challenge, the official winner of which won't be announced until the 2007 LA Auto Show in mid-November. We don't have to wait that long to decide which automaker has the best vision of the future. Vote in the poll below for your favorite Design Challenge entrant you read about today. Your only guideline should be what vehicle you'd want to be driving 50 years from now, and feel free to tell us the reasons behind your choice in the comments.
Check out all the entrants after the jump to make an informed decision.
Spatially-challenged drivers rejoice! As previously reported, Nissan has developed a new parking assist system that employs four ultra-wide high-resolution cameras mounted in the front, rear and both sides of the vehicle to provide a bird's eye view of the vehicle's surroundings. All those images are processed and displayed in real-time on a dash-mounted screen, giving drivers a 360-degree view of what they don't want to hit.
Shifting the car into reverse or drive will alternate between a view of the front or rear, while drivers will be able to toggle the left, front and right views when performing a particularly tricky parallel parking maneuver.
The first application of Nissan's "Around View Monitor" in the U.S. will be in the Infiniti EX35, but we'd expect it to become a hot commodity on some of Nissan and Infiniti's more bloated SUV offerings soon.
Nissan's full press release, including a video, is posted after the jump.
Click the image above for more high-res pics of the Volkswagen Slipstream.
The Car: Volkswagen's people car ethos has a downside: everyone has a car – and it's even worse in 2057. In an effort to combat the unimaginably dense future, VW has taken a page out of Toyota's book and created an autonomous vehicle that houses one occupant in glorious, muscle-atrophying conveyance. The Volkswagen Slipstream, apparently designed in conjunction with the water-peddling folks at Aquafina (now a multi-quadrillion euro corp.) will stand upright when toddling around at low speeds, and once you've hopped on the motorway in one of the designated "Slipstream" lanes, you can roll along at over 250 mph lying down, with only a duo of wheels and set of rear fins preventing an untimely demise. The aerodynamic shape of the tapered top, partnered with the aforementioned fins, keeps rolling resistance at a minimum, with power provided by "hyper-efficient" solar panels.
The Future According to Volkswagen: Living off a diet of tofu curd and State-mandated, iron-rich Aquafina, the masses have become incredibly thin, and hence, lightweight. The combination of a new source of nourishment and the splicing of alien DNA into our being have negated the need for overblown crash standards that would otherwise increase the weight of our vehicles. Our bones are thicker, our muscles stronger and our brains have adapted to allow unprecedented levels of hand-eye coordination. A particularly good thing, since the licensing age for the Slipstream was just dropped down to four.
Weirdness Factor (1 – I can but that today, 10 – OMG WTF): 7
Harley-Davidson, that most quintessentially American Motor Company, has gone and released a bike in Europe before releasing it in America. What is the world coming to? The XR 1200, based on the Sportster model range, is a streetbike that's inspired by the XR750 dirt track racing bikes that Harley has been campaigning so successfully -- on racetracks in America. This is the first time that Harley-Davidson has ever released a bike first in any country other than America. In fact, the bike will be available in Europe, Africa and the Middle East, starting in the Spring of '08.
Here in the States, the best selling bikes are cruisers, and the XR 1200 is a bike that's being marketed towards the sporting standard crowd -- a popular one in Europe. We like the idea of a nice, solid handling bike with the classic "sit up and beg" riding position. If there is one brand that could make a positive impact on the slow-selling standard genre in America, though, it is likely Harley-Davidson. Here's hoping that the XR 1200 does not stay a European import forever.
click above image for more views of the 2057 Toyota Biomobile
The Car: The 2057 Toyota Biomobile is the ultimate solution for pollution. That's because it actually runs on the stuff. The Biomobile extracts pollution from the air to utilize as an energy source, though we're unclear as to what the byproduct of that process is - more pollution? Like many entrants for 2007 LA Auto Show Design Challenge, the Biomobile is also able to change form. It's maleable structure is able to contract and extend to create a low-slung performance car, upright urban commuter or even a living space. And check out those wheels, which Toyota says are made out of nano-lasers. The Future According to Toyota: The Committee to Create Interesting Cars, established by Toyota in 2007, was so wildly successful that the Japanese automaker's cars are now considered even more attractive than Italian exotics of the mid- to late-21st century. The Biomobile is the latest creation of TCCC, and its true innovation is not the set of run-flat nano-laser wheels it wears, but rather the car's amazing ability to convert pollution into energy that it uses for power, the only by product of which is a type of home-brew Sake that's stored onboard in a chilled decanter. Being that humans became immune to the effects of alcohol due to overconsumption, the driver's Sake exhaust energy drink can be enjoyed while you slice up the road in Toyota's latest interesting car created by a committee.
Weirdness Factor: (1 - I could buy that today, 10 - OMG WTF) : 8
Gallery: 2007 LA Design Challenge: 2057 Toyota Biomobile
While we're mere hours away from installing an eBay-special driveshaft into Project LeMons, the crew over at Grassroots Motorsports has officially wrapped up its $2007 Challenge. We can only imagine what we'd do with an extra $1,507. Maybe strap a snowmobile motor where the passenger seat would reside that powers an engine cooling fan from an M1 tank to suck our RX-7 to the tarmac, ala Chaparral 2J. Well, Cheaparral Racing (get it?) did exactly that to a 1989 Chevy Corvette, creating over 1000 pounds of down force and waling away with the win at GRM's 7th $2007 Challenge.
The "Sucker 'Vette" as it's been affectionately dubbed, joined a host of other competitors, ranging from an over-riced Civic to a Zamboni, and all the standings can be viewed over at GRM's site. We've included a couple of videos shot during the event after the jump.
click above image for more views of the 2057 Nissan OneOne
The Car: The 2057 Nissan OneOne is billed by the Japanese automaker as a "family pet". Like Fido goes and fetches the paper, the OneOne can go off and ferry the kids to soccer practice, pick up the groceries and do other chores without the owner's supervision. It moves around by flexing synthetic muscles in its leg to create a skating motion much like rollerblading. When traveling fast the OneOne hunkers down low to the ground, but can raise itself for better maneuverability in congested areas. The Future According to Nissan: Natural selection has chosen the Aibo to survive and thrive at the expense of numerous robot pets that were introduced at the turn of the century. Nissan, known for its love of dogs, has seen that the Aibo evolve into an autonomous robot it can sell as a family pet. Named the OneOne (code for Aibo v11.0), this new human companion comes with synthetic muscles that will scurry it along roadways guided by GPS with your most precious cargo aboard. Kids and adults both love the OneOne because it doesn't shed or spring a leak on the carpet, it comes when you call and, well... domestic canines went extinct in 2018 from a botched recall of accidentally poisoned Kibbles 'N Bits, so this is all we've got. Weirdness Factor (1 - I could buy that today, 10 - OMG WTF): 6
Gallery: 2007 LA Design Challenge: 2057 Nissan OneOne
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Honda 124 Solar Hybrid
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First Drive: 2008 Dodge Grand Caravan SXT
Autoline on Autoblog with John McElroy
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In The Autoblog Garage: 2007 Subaru Forester Sports 2.5X
