WES | The Motor Report: Auto News And Reviews

What Grinds My Gears: Motorists in Wet Weather

There’s nothing quite like the smell of an afternoon shower on a stinking hot day. But be warned: the smell of steam coming off the bitumen is a heady reminder to stay off the roads, because there’s craziness afoot.

Scientists have worked out what it is in the spring air that causes hayfever. Now I think [...]

Holden Commodore Turns 30, Still Looks Damn Fine

Put on your party hats people, the Commodore is now 30 years old. But - unlike most 30 year-olds - the Commodore isn’t wallowing in despair and regretting a wasted youth spent drinking beer and playing Galaga, for after three decades and 14 model variants, the Commodore nameplate is still fighting-fit and at the top [...]

Maserati GranTurismo MC Corse Revealed

Maserati has revealed details and images of its newest track-only model, the GranTurismo MC Corse Concept.

Designed to deliver uncompromising circuit-ready performance, the MC Corse (Corse means “Racing” in Italian) features a number of mods that enable it to accelerate faster and grip harder than the road-going GranTurismo S it’s based on.

The GranTurismo S’s 4.7-litre V8 [...]

Diesel-electric Renault Ondelios Concept to be Unveiled at Paris

Renault’s director of design Patrick Le Quement says the Ondelios Concept crossover is “inspired by motion rather than speed”. However, judging from that full-width chrome grille, it looks like that someone on Renault’s design team drew much of their influence from the 1967 Mercury Cougar.

Thankfully that’s where the similarities end. The Ondelios is Renault’s [...]

Hyundai to Bring i20 Subcompact to Paris Motor Show

Hyundai has revealed its newest i-series compact car, the i20, which will make its global debut next month at the Paris Motor Show and go on sale in the European market either later this year, or early next year.

Designed to compete with Toyota’s Yaris, the Honda Fit and the Ford Fiesta, the i20 will [...]

Gumpert Apollo Grabs 1st on Top Gear Test Track

The visuals might not appeal to everyone but there’s no doubting the phenomenal performance of the Gumpert Apollo. Powered by a twin-turbo version of Audi’s 4.2L V8, the Apollo laid down a blisteringly-quick 1:17.1 power lap of Top Gear’s famed test track, pipping the Ascari A10 by a scant 0.2 seconds to take top honours - and [...]

Mazda Design Chief Franz von Holzhausen Jumps Ship To Tesla

Franz von Holzhausen may not be a name most of you will instantly recognise, but if you’ve been paying attention to Mazda’s recent (and striking) concept cars like the Furai, Taiki and Nagare then you’ll no doubt be familiar with the designer’s work. He’s been responsible for the styling of every concept [...]

ROUSH’s newest vehicle packing just 1hp…

…well technically that’s not true, as a single horse actually has around 15 horsepower (weird huh?). Still, that doesn’t make ROUSH’s latest creation any less bizarre for an automaker that’s more well known for pumping out 300+kW modified Mustangs.

Built for Turkish company Kurt Systems, the fibreglass-bodied contraption is designed to allow a trainer, vet or [...]

Coachbuilt heaven: Pininfarina to create bespoke Rolls convertible

Pininfarina have confirmed that they will be using a Rolls Royce Drophead Coupe as the basis for their latest bespoke creation.

Named Hyperion, the custom-built convertible will be the Italian firm’s third such project for a private client, with the other two being James Glickenhaus’s Enzo-based P4/5 and Peter Kalikow’s Ferrari 612 “K”. Pininfarina have declined [...]

Water-powered cars about to become a reality?

As far as alternative fuels go, none are more radical than the idea of fueling your car with ordinary water. Japanese company Genepax have apparently developed an on-board system for cars that extracts the hydrogen from water held in a tank and sends the resultant gas to a fuel cell to be turned into electricity [...]

What Came First: The Suit or the Car?

That question, of course, refers to the world of pinstripes, which it seems is as much alive and well in the hotrod world as it is on three of the four suits in your wardrobe.

I’ve always had something akin to envy when it comes to the world of the hotrodding pinstriper. It’s not just the [...]

Nissan to offer Race Academy for UK GT-R buyers

If you live in the United Kingdom and need another reason to go ahead and drop a deposit on a brand-new R35 GT-R (as if the prospect of owning a R35 isn’t awesome enough!) then listen up. Nissan will be offering pre-order customers the opportunity to participate in several track events in the GT-R as [...]