NEW TOYOTA PRESIDENT Akio Toyoda announced this week that the world’s biggest carmaker will fast-track development of its upcoming lightweight entry-level RWD sports car.

Speaking at the 2009 Center for Automotive Research Conference, Mr Toyoda - an avid performance car enthusiast - said he personally wanted to see more driving fun injected into Toyota’s model line-up.
“My [...]

• 
• Comment
• Read More

LESS THAN A DAY after we first saw leaked pictures of what many are saying is the highly-anticipated RWD Lamborghini Gallardo LP550-2, a mysterious Gallardo prototype has been spotted undergoing trials at the Nurburgring.

Sporting the front bumper and rear-end styling of the old Gallardo instead of the LP560-based nose we saw in the leaked photos, [...]

• 
• Comment
• Read More

FRESH IMAGES of an unidentified Lamborghini Gallardo variant have been circulating the web, prompting many to speculate that they may be the first shots of the rumoured rear-wheel-drive Gallardo LP550-2.

In Lamborghini parlance, the “-2″ suffix denotes just two driven wheels -  a number of significance considering all of the supercar maker’s recent road cars have [...]

• 
• Comment
• Read More

RECENT REPORTS suggest that the newly re-organised Chrysler is giving serious consideration to bringing the stunning 200C concept to market as a RWD replacement for the poorly performing Sebring and Avenger product lines - a move that would undoubtedly have Pentastar fans everywhere jumping for joy.

The Sebring and Avenger aren’t long for this world, with [...]

• 
• Comment
• Read More

ALFA ROMEO’S planned successor to the 166 executive saloon, the 169, is reportedly going to be built off Chrysler’s LX large-car platform, the very same platform that underpins the Dodge Charger and Chrysler 300C.

Talk of a Chrysler-based Alfa isn’t new, though. We first spoke of such plans earlier this month, and the idea of the [...]

• 
• Comment
• Read More

Despite stories you may have seen or heard, it is not news that General Motors has stated its plans to persist with the Holden-developed Zeta platform until at least 2020.
Whether those plans survive beyond 60 days and the presentation to the Obama administration of GM’s new restructuring plan is, however, uncertain.

We reported on January 19 [...]

• 
• Comment
• Read More

Say you decided your 1994 Acura (nee Honda) Legend coupe was a little bit limp-wristed. Not hard to see why, with just 172kW being tasked with dragging the Legend’s bum around.

Of course, the only reasonable thing to do would be to spin the Legend’s V6 engine 90 degrees, add a couple of turbochargers and direct [...]

• 
• Comment
• Read More

Earlier in the week, we reported that the joint Toyota and Subaru entry-level rear-wheel-drive project is still on the go, and that we should expect to see it some time around 2012.

While our mail would indicate that the body shape has been largely finalised, there remains some mystery as to the choice of powertrain and driveline.

This may be becoming [...]

• 
• Comment
• Read More

In what will likely be heart-wrenching news for many, Toyota and Subaru have together – according to the Detroit Free Press – confirmed that the small entry-level RWD sports car project the two companies had been working on, is now on indefinite hold.

Codenamed 086A, the ‘Toyobaru’ project (as it had been nicknamed, along with ‘Subota’), [...]

• 
• Comment
• Read More

What happens when the unstoppable juggernaut meets the immovable object? In the case of the global economic crisis versus Toyota and Subaru’s joint rear-wheel-drive sports car, there’s hope that new Toyota president Akio Toyoda has found a solution to that age-old riddle.

In an interview with the press at the recent Tokyo Auto Salon, speed-loving Toyota [...]

• 
• Comment
• Read More

According to the lads and ladies at Motor Trend, GM is quite literally on the cusp of releasing a range-topping and nostalgia-invoking Z/28 variant of the new Camaro.

Aside from a more heavily-vented front bumper, a new rear spoiler, re-shaped rear bumper, 20-inch wheels and one heck of a bonnet scoop, the Z/28 will also benefit [...]

• 
• Comment
• Read More

General Motors has announced that it will pull the pin on the next generation of large rear-wheel-drive cars for the North American market. The current Pontiac G8 and Chevrolet Camaro will be the only cars to utilize the Zeta rear-wheel-drive architecture developed in Australia and used beneath the Commodore.

Global product development vice-chairman Bob Lutz delivered [...]

• 
• Comment
• Read More