Shocking news for the black London cab

In 2009, the TX4E will join its diesel counterparts on the roads of London.

Black cab maker Manganese Bronze will work with British commercial electric vehicle maker Smith Electric Vehicles to develop the TX4E, which is said to have a range of 100 miles and top speed of 50mph. It will use lithium ion batteries and, claims Manganese Bronze, will cost around 4p per mile to run.

Pricing is yet to be announced but it will cost more than the usual TX4 which starts from £28,000 which will put some cab drivers off.

A conventional TX4 is exempt from emissions-based charging such as London's congestion charge, despite the automatic model emitting more than the 225g/km limit above which drivers must pay £25 to enter central London.

Dodge Journey to launch in China (CN)

Chrysler LLC will introduce 2 new vehicles to the Chinese market. First will be the Jeep Wrangler and secondly will be the Dodge Journey. The Journey will join the Dodge line-up in 2009 alongside the Caliber, Avenger and Caravan. Locally, the new crossover will be known as the JCUV.

The JCUV will open up a new market segment to Dodge in China and straight away claim best-in-class power, torque and safety features. The crossover seats 5+2 with plenty of storage space.

“This product offensive, together with an expanded and strengthened dealer network, is allowing us to continue our sustainable profitable growth in this critical market for our Company,” said Phil Murtaugh, Chief Executive Officer – Asia Operations. Four of the Chrysler Group cars are built in China, namely the Chrysler 300C and Sebring by BeijingBenz-DaimlerChrysler Automotive and the Chrysler Grand Voyager and Dodge Caravan are produced at Southeast Motor in Fuzhou.

Related link:

New Car: 2009 Dodge Journey

Tuning cars

Mini Cooper S With A John Cooper Works Tuning Kit

Vintage car

How blue can you be? with red cheeks too and blue carpet. The white is provided by the car next door! I love this car, is amazzing

Car Show Girls

Pit Babes, Race Babes, Umbrella Girls, Motocross Hotties, Babes, great picture, of a car show.

Maybach Exelero - Concours d'Elegance

A Concours d'Elegance is a competition between automobile owners to be judged on the appearance of their automobiles. These are commonly held at auto shows or after racing competition. Notable Concours d'Elegances include Pebble Beach Concours d'Elegance, Hillsborough Concours d'Elegance, Meadow Brook Concours d'Elegance, Villa d'Este Concours d'Elegance, Louis Vuitton Bagatelle Concours d'Elegance, Forest Grove Concours d'Elegance, Scarsdale Concours d'Elegance, Hilton Head Concours d'Elegance & Motoring Festival and Amelia Island Concours d'Elegance.

Numerous local organizations sponsor 'Concours' events; traditionally vehicle judging at a Concours d'Elegance is much more demanding than that of a neighborhood or general car show. Trained judges examine the vehicle thoroughly and in its entirety and rate each and every component. Only those vehicles that are judged perfect (or very nearly so) in every way are considered trophy class. Often the competitiveness of a Concours d'Elegance forces restoration of a vehicle to surpass 'mint' condition. Mint condition would be the state of the vehicle when it originally left the factory. Concours-quality cars are often given upholstery, paint, chrome (or nickel) plating and mechanical restoration far exceeding that of the car when new. All too frequently Concours d'Elegance quality cars are not driven, except for short distances from their trailers to the show fields. They are not intended to be used as daily drivers and are often not seen outside of museums or private collections. Even after driving only the short distance to the show field, the car is 'staged'; errant bits of dirt or pebbles removed from the tire treads, bits of grass or mud wiped from the under-carriage, and the vehicle is constantly maintained, and frequently dusted to keep the absolutely flawless appearance while on display. SmK1361

1939 Mercury Sport Convertable

This classic sport car "1939 Mercury Sport Convertable" was originally made for and owned by Johnny Weissmuller, olympic swimmer and 'Tarzan

Chery to export 3 models down-under (AU)

Chery is now invading the Australian market with 3 new models. The vehicles won't be imported directly by Chery but Ateco, the exclusive importer for Ferrari, Citroen, Peugeot, FIAT, Alfa Romeo and Maserati for Australia. The deal has been three years in the making, with a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) signed in November 2005.

Sales figures stand at 261,000 in China last year with 120,00 exports. Chery is set to introduce 38 new vehicles within the next 5 years. The QQ (Chevrolet Matiz clone), QQ6 (Chevrolet Matiz sedan) and the Tiggo SUV (2nd generation Toyota RAV4) will arrive this year.

Chery started producing cars back in 1999, in August 2007 they built their millionth car. Chery has a production capacity of 650,000 units and plans to lift that number up to 1 million annually.
“We believe that China represents the future as a source of automotive products which makes this association with Chery a very exciting development for Ateco,” Mr Neville Crichton, Ateco Governing Director had said.

So that got me thinking, will Chery come over into the UK anytime soon despite them testing their cars here? Another thing I forgot to mention, they were right-hand-drive cars.

AMG Mercedes

Susie Stoddart Mucke Motors Sport AMG Mercedes C Klasse Brands Hatch July 2006

Bentley Derby Sport 1934

1934 Bentley Derby Sport Open Tourer 4 1/4 at Auto Salon Singen, Germany.

Audi A4

DTM Timo Scheider Brands Hatch July 2006 Audi Sport Team Rosberg Audi A4

Lamborghini Murcielago

Lamborghini Murciélago is a sports car produced by Italian automaker Automobili Lamborghini S.p.A. and designed by Luc Donckerwolke. It was introduced in 2002 as the successor to the Diablo. The Murciélago is a two-door, two-seat coupé.
The Murciélago sports a 6.2 Liter version of the legendary Lamborghini V12 engine, a six-speed manual or six-speed sequential automatic transmission, and four-wheel drive. It also has a rear spoiler that can be raised to an angle of 70 degrees, side mirrors that fold in to improve aerodynamics, and side scoops that automatically open to the needed size to let in just the right amount of air needed to cool its engine.

Lotus Elise

The Lotus Elise is a roadster conceived in early 1994 and released in September 1996 by the English manufacturer Lotus Cars. The car has a hand-finished fiberglass body shell atop its aluminium extrusion and bonded frame that provides a rigid platform for the suspension, while keeping weight and production costs to a minimum. The Lotus Elise is capable of speeds up to 240 km/h (150 mph).

Hyundai i800 on sale in June (UK)

Updated: 24/04/08

Forget about the popular Volkswagen Caravelle, if you want value for money, then this is just your type of MPV.

The Hyundai i800 (H-1 in oversea markets) is a 8 seater minivan and will go on sale in the UK with a starting price tag of £17,000 rising to £20,000, so expect to see value for money. High grades will see a satellite navigation system, leather seats, parking sensors, ICE for rear passengers and multi-zone air conditioning.

Under the hood will be a 2.5-litre turbodiesel engine developing around 168bhp and 289lb ft of torque. Expect a 5.1 metre mono-cab commercial variant called the i50M later on in the year.

Dear readers, please excuse my hiatus. During the last 16 days, the PC I’m using has become unresponsive. Please bear with me as I’m sorting out the problem

Thank you