Ram 1500 named 2013 Automobile Magazine All-Star truck

[USA] The Ram 1500 has been named a 2013 Automobile Magazine All-Star by the publication’s editorial staff for the third time in the past four years.

“The Automobile Magazine All-Star award puts the 2013 Ram 1500 on top of other half-ton trucks in the market,” said Reid Bigland, President and CEO – Ram Truck Brand, Chrysler Group LLC. “This prestigious award doesn’t just focus on new trucks but all current model trucks and we’re proud to accept the honor.”

For 2013, the new Ram 1500 offers buyers best-in-class 25 MPG fuel efficiency, new technology and new features without sacrificing capability. Ram 1500–the most recognizable pickup on the road–marks a milestone for Ram as this truck delivers a truckload of pioneering and fuel-saving systems. Equipped with a choice of engines, including the legendary 5.7-liter HEMI® V-8 engine or the award-winning Pentastar V-6, the Ram 1500 offers the best powertrains in the industry, known for their reliability.

Automobile Magazine’s testers put the luxurious Ram 1500 Laramie Longhorn through its paces and were favorably impressed.

"The chocolate brown hide and thick stitching are of European quality, there's real wood on the dash, and it comes without the tawdry veneer that looks like cheap plastic," the article states. Automobile Magazine declares: "The Longhorn is the ultimate in cowboy cool."

The 2013 Ram 1500 features first-in-segment technologies: eight-speed automatic transmission, stop-start system, thermal management system, pulse-width modulation and active aerodynamics, including grille shutters and active air suspension. The 2013 Ram 1500 is available in nine trim levels and starts at $23,900 including $1050 destination charge.

Ram engineers changed every area of the truck – from a newly designed frame to new engines and transmissions to a new interior with the next-generation Uconnect® Access system. With best-in-class ride and handling and best-in-class aerodynamics, the 2013 Ram 1500 delivers unmatched content, performance and capability to truck buyers.

About the Automobile Magazine All-Stars

Established in 1986, the Automobile Magazine All-Stars is a list of the best vehicles currently in production. Eligible vehicles are not limited to new or significantly changed. Automobile Magazine’s editorial staff searches for greatness in all segments, not an easy task in times of keen competition. This year’s list of 11 vehicles was finalized after days of testing last fall, following hours of discussion and voting by each of Automobile's 16 editors and contributors.

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Scion FR-S named 2013 Automobile Magazine All-Star

[USA] The Scion FR-S was named a 2013 AUTOMOBILE MagazineAll-Star yesterday as part of the leading automotive publication’s annual list. To earn its spot, industry judges evaluated the FR-S against all current model year vehicles on sale in the United States across all categories. The FR-S shares its spot with the Subaru BRZ.

In naming the FR-S, AUTOMOBILE Magazine highlighted the rear-wheel sport car’s engaging driving experience and accessibility.

“The affordable and fun-to-drive FR-S is not only a welcome addition to the automotive landscape for American enthusiasts, it’s also exactly the sort of vehicle we’ve been hoping to see from Scion,” said Jean Jennings, president and editor-in-chief at AUTOMOBILE Magazine. “We are very happy to celebrate its arrival.”

The FR-S comes standard with 17-inch alloy wheels, a limited-slip differential and 2.0-liter flat boxer engine that produces 200 horsepower and 151 pound-feet of torque.

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Limited edition Megane Renaultsport Red Bull Racing RB8

The Mégane Renaultsport is widely acclaimed by many as the benchmark hot hatch, but on the off chance it isn’t quite exclusive enough for some, then Renault has the answer with the launch of a new limited edition, the Mégane Renaultsport Red Bull Racing RB8.

The exclusive Twilight Blue finish takes its inspiration directly from the race team’s famous colours, while Red Bull Racing graphics at the rear and on the sides are further tell-tale hallmarks of this limited edition car. In addition to its sporty credentials, it stands out as particularly elegant, too, thanks to exterior Platinum Grey details (F1 blade, door handles, door mirror housing and rear lip spoiler) which contrast with the Twilight Blue paintwork. Last but not least, a monochrome laurel on the rear side windows celebrates the team’s 2012 Constructors’ world title.

Inside, the new limited edition version comes with a number of exclusive features, including Red Bull Racing branding on the numbered aluminium kickplates and carpet mats. The same logo appears on the headrests of the Recaro seats which are trimmed in a new leather/fabric upholstery.

Mégane Renaultsport Red Bull Racing RB8 is shod as standard with the same Bridgestone tyres that helped Mégane Renaultsport 265 Trophy to establish a new lap record for the Nürburgring. These high-performance tyres are fitted to exclusive 19-inch black ‘Steev’ wheels with platinum rims.

Advanced on-board technology

This limited edition version marks the availability of the built-in, connected R-Link multimedia tablet for the Mégane Renaultsport range. The system’s six functions (navigation, telephony, multimedia, vehicle, systems and R-Link Store applications catalogue) are controlled using either the touch screen display, the voice command function or the joystick situated on the centre console.

Along with R-Link, there is now also the 2.0 version of Renaultsport Monitor which fans of sporty driving will particularly appreciate. Owners will no longer need to choose between using the navigation or on-board telemetry systems thanks to the fact that the TomTom Live navigation system is built-in.  

The limited edition version packs the same fundamental features as Mégane Renaultsport 265 Cup, including stiffer springs, dampers, anti-roll bar, limited slip differential, grooved discs with Brembo callipers and the potent two-litre-turbocharged 265hp engine with Stop&Start and trademark Renaultsport technologies.

The limited edition Mégane Renaultsport Red Bull Racing RB8 will be available until 30 September 2013.

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Beautiful Triumph TR4 ex-police car

Back in the day police cars used to be cool like Fonzie.

One of only a small number of Triumph TR4 police cars commissioned into service will go on sale next month at Historics’ Brooklands-based auction.  4100 HJ is a rare and exceptional example supplied as new to Southend-on-Sea County Borough Constabulary in May 1962.  Eventually retired from service, the car was last sold to a vendor in 1991 who took the decision to restore it to its original police specification.

Triumph TR4 ex police car

The original car, which could reach a top speed in excess of 100 mph, was supplied with a specification including Pye radio, Winkworth bell, air horns, windscreen mounted hand operated lamp, front and rear police signs and a rear stop sign.  So detailed was the recent restoration, that where special equipment was missing, items were sourced with the assistance of members of Police Car UK.

4100 HJ has undoubtedly seen some action as recollections from retired Superintendent Bill Burles of Southend-on-Sea Constabulary suggest.  Having allocated it the task of ‘fast pursuit car’ he recalls that it went out on two shifts a day, seven days a week, clocking up approximately 1000 miles a week.  Officers invariably drove the car with the top down and always wore their helmets with chin straps in place. 

Since its restoration, this rare and beautiful police car has been maintained to the highest standards and is sold with a history file containing some interesting documentation including a copy of ‘ Advanced Driving Explained’ by Inspector W.H Jobson, price one shilling and sixpence, with a picture of 4100 HJ on the cover.     

Testament to the scarcity value of the police TR4 is that Vanguard Models have produced 1500 limited ‘Special Edition’ models based on this actual car with the number plate 4100 HJ, one of which comes with the car.

With its unique history and exemplary condition, Historics expects strong interest from enthusiasts and collectors alike, with the car anticipated to achieve a price in the region of £35,000 - £40,000.

The Triumph TR4 police car is one of over 100 fine classic motor cars and  100 classic motorcycles that will be presented for sale by Historics at Brooklands on Saturday June 1, 2013.

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1918 LaFrance Open Speedster offers 14.5 litres of wind-in-the-hair motoring exhilaration

It would be frowned on as a fuel-guzzling, eco-ignorant behemoth if manufactured today but, as the Roaring Twenties approached, what better way could there have been to celebrate and impress the neighbours than in a mighty 14.5 litre, 1918 LaFrance Open Speedster, a superb example of which comes to auction at Historics at Brooklands, Surrey, on Saturday, June 1.

With roots that go back to around 1830, American LaFrance was, and remains, a manufacturer of fire trucks. But they also applied their talents to the build of a number of passenger vehicles from their New York premises.  These were based on their fire truck chassis, and hence the significant and sturdy proportions of the LaFrance Speedster.

The model on sale at Historics, SV 5636, was imported into the UK in the mid 1980s. It was used extensively on tours and rallies before it received a complete overhaul, bringing it to its impressive current-day standards.  

Kerb presence is what your get aplenty with this magnificent vehicle.  Driver and passenger sit up high, resplendent in a ‘Roi de Belge’ blue leather bench seat with wicker finish, a long polished aluminium bonnet stretching out before them and a period touring trunk to the rear, with superb artillery wooden wheels giving a distinctly sporting stance. 

But it’s not just the style of this car that is larger than life.  The car weighs in at 3.5 tonnes and a measures of its gargantuan proportions is in the fact that the six cylinders in the 14.5 litre engine displaces 2.4 litres, more than the total engine capacity of an average family saloon car. 

Starting is by hand crack (although for the less physically adept, the push-button provided is surely a better choice).  With its massive torque, a gearbox has little relevance other than to accomplish greater vigour and panache, with three forward gears capable of propelling the Speedster to a heady pace, 150kph being typical for Speedsters used in competition.

With the capacity to draw as much attention as any £1m supercar, the LaFrance Speedster is also the ideal car for anyone who fancies embarking on an adventure. Hugely popular on the Peking to Paris Rally (where all but one event to date has featured a La France entry) and on every running of the West to East Road Race in the USA, the Speedster is guaranteed to turn heads and get people talking wherever it goes. 

The sale price of the American La France Open Speedster is estimated by Historics at between £42,000 - £48,000  and robust bidding is anticipated internationally.

Viewing of this, and all 100+ consigned cars, 80+ classic motorcycles and automobilia is at Historics at Brooklands, near Weybridge, Surrey on Friday 31^st May from 10.00am with the auction on the following day, Saturday 1^st June

For more information see the website,www.historics.co.uk for the full consignment list.

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New Subaru Forester shines in frontal crash test

The new Subaru Forester has become the first vehicle to score top marks in a severe new frontal crash test conducted by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) in the USA and the only small SUV to achieve the highest (“good”) rating.

In contrast to the Forester, of 13 SUVs subjected to the test, the protection afforded by 11 other models was found to be “poor” or “marginal”.

The new small overlap front crash test replicates what happens when the front corner of a vehicle strikes another vehicle or object such as a tree or telegraph pole. With a 50^th percentile male dummy belted in the driver’s seat, 25 per cent of the vehicle’s front end on the driver’s side strikes a five-foot-tall rigid barrier at 40mph.

In the test, the Forester achieved good ratings for structure, restraints and kinematics, and all four injury measures on the dummy, with the dummy’s movements sufficiently well controlled to prevent contact with hard surfaces.

In many vehicles, such an offset impact misses the primary structures designed to manage crash energy, increasing the risk of severe damage to the occupant compartment. IIHS data shows that this type of front overlap impact accounts for nearly one-in-four frontal crashes involving serious or fatal injury to front seat occupants.

Joe Nolan, vice president for vehicle research at the IIHS, said: “The Subaru’s performance was textbook. With the redesigned Forester, Subaru’s engineers set out to do well in our new test, and they succeeded. This is exactly how we hoped manufacturers would respond to improve protection for people in these kinds of serious frontal crashes.”  

The new Forester has also been awarded the full five-star Euro NCAP crash safety rating, notable scores of 91 per cent for both adult occupant and child occupant protection confirming it as one of the safest cars on sale in the UK.

A link to the IIHS findings can be found at: http://www.iihs.org/news.

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Aston Martin CC100 Speedster Concept Breaks Cover

Aston Martin is celebrating its centenary in world-class style with the debut last Sunday (19 May) of the exceptional CC100 Speedster Concept.

Created as a stunning celebration of the great British brand’s 100 years of sports car excellence the one-off CC100 looks both to the past and the DBR1 – Aston Martin’s greatest sporting triumph on the track – and to the future with its teasing glimpses of potential future design direction.

The 6.0-litre V12-powered concept car today makes its world debut by completing a lap of the famous Nordschleife at Germany’s ADAC Zurich 24 Hours of Nürburgring race. It is lapping the circuit together with the 1000km race-winning 1959 DBR1 with British racing legend Sir Stirling Moss at the wheel. It is the most tangible expression yet of the brand’s year-long 2013 centenary celebrations.

Viewed by tens of thousands of lucky spectators in Germany, the radical speedster is being driven today by Aston Martin CEO Dr Ulrich Bez. He said: “CC100 is the epitome of everything that is great about Aston Martin. It represents our fantastic sporting heritage, our exceptional design capability, our superb engineering know-how and, above all, our adventurous spirit!

“I have nicknamed it ‘DBR100’ because of its affinity to the great 1959 race-winning cars and, of course, our 100-year anniversary in 2013.

“But this car is more, even, than a simple ‘birthday present’ to ourselves: it shows that the soul of Aston Martin – the thing that differentiates us from all the other car makers out there – is as powerful as ever and I very much hope that everyone who catches a glimpse of it at the Nürburgring today enjoys seeing it.”

Designed and constructed in fewer than six months at Aston Martin’s global headquarters in Gaydon, working with key supplier Multimatic Inc, under the leadership of Special Projects and Motorsport Director David King, the finished look of the two-seater CC100 is the work of Design Director Marek Reichman working alongside the brand’s Chief Exterior Designer Miles Nurnberger.         

Miles explained: “The brief was very simple, yet enormously testing: create something that reflects the 100 years of Aston Martin heritage and signals the future of the brand.

“The idea of an iconic speedster concept that nods to the Le Mans − and Nürburgring – winning cars of 1959 soon came, and we have had complete freedom to shape this car.”

Marek Reichman said: “I’m extremely proud of the entire team at Gaydon for creating this remarkable sports car concept in such a short time.

“The need to create a truly fitting tribute to 100 years of the Aston Martin brand has brought out the creativity and talent that makes Aston Martin such an exceptional luxury sports car maker.”

Measuring almost four and a half metres nose to tail, and more than two metres wide (including mirrors) the Speedster Concept body is a classic example of the almost infinitely flexible nature of Aston Martin’s trademark Vertical Horizontal engineering philosophy.

With a body and interior crafted from carbon fibre, tooled and provided by low volume specialists Multimatic, the CC100 utilises the latest generation AM11 naturally aspirated V12 gasoline engine mated to a six-speed hydraulically actuated automated sequential manual transmission. Controlled via steering column-mounted paddle shifts the lightweight ‘box delivers truly sporting changes perfectly suited to the Speedster’s track-focused nature.

The drivetrain will power the CC100 from rest to 62 mph in a little over four seconds, while the top speed is limited to 180 mph.

Dr Bez added: “The future of Aston Martin is, very clearly, more exciting now than perhaps at any time in its history and I’m looking forward to seeing the excitement and anticipation that CC100 creates among Aston Martin owners and enthusiasts worldwide.”  

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