Dodge Circuit-EV,Possibly in 2010!

With all of the recent upheaval at Chrysler, it's no surprise that the fate of the very cool Dodge Circuit is not exactly certain. In May, Chrysler assured everyone that the program was not DOA, and Chrylser ENVI president Lou Rhodes recently said something similar to Car and Driver. Rhodes even gave C&D a few details about how the program is shaping up.

Chrysler's plan involves having the vehicle produced by Lotus in the UK (sounds familiar) and then shipped to the U.S. for the electric powertrain. Chrysler's sales target is 100,000 EVs in order to benefit from economies of scale for all the expensive EV bits. By selling that many vehicles, Chrysler's efforts could make the Circuit "tens of thousands" of dollars less than the somewhat similar Tesla Roadster. The Circuit is still likely to be Chrysler's first EV, and could start production next year.

2010 Chevy Camaro Transformers Special Edition

Today at Comic-Con, General Motors officially announced the 2010 Chevy Camaro Transformers Special Edition. The $995 appearance package can be applied to LT (V6) and SS-trim Camaros in Rally Yellow with or without the optional RS package. So, whadda ya get for the dough? It's very straightforward:

• Autobot insignia fender badges and wheel caps
• An embroidered Autobot insignia on the center console
• Gloss-black rally stripes with Transformers logos
• Transformers-logo doorsill plates

If you were hoping for more, such as the Z/28 fascia and hood, the storm drain-sized exhaust outlets used on Bumblebee in Transformers:Revenge of the Fallen, or, say, an actual robot mode, you're outta luck. There are no performance upgrades, either -- you'll simply have to make do with the 304, 400, or 426 horsepower that comes standard, depending on which base config you select. If you desperately want your own Bumblebee but are turned off by the whole Transformers brand-mania thing, you can still do the obvious thing and order up a regular Rally Yellow car and simply add plain black rally stripes for $470.

Bugatti Veyron Grand Sport

Production of the Veyron Grand Sport, Bugatti's roadster version of the ultimate super car, is just getting underway at the automaker's factory in Molsheim, France. Accordingly, Bugatti has released a batch of new high-res pics that were taken last year in such places as Napa Valley (hence the wine reference), Rome and Sardinia when the car debuted. Now, keep in mind, you don't just take a Sawzall to a Veyron's roof and get a Grand Sport. The GS gets a higher windscreen, daytime running lights and a transparent polycarbonate roof panel or umbrella-like soft top. There's also enough extra bracing beneath the carbon fiber skin to survive a black hole, and the two large air intakes above the engine are now reinforced to act as rollover bars.

The Veyron GS can go nearly 253 mph with its roof panel on, almost as fast as the straight coupe. Sans roof panel it can still hit almost 224 mph, and the soft top brings things down a top speed of just 99 mph. Only 150 units will be made, which means the 1.4 million euro Veyron Grand Sport is an ultra exclusive version of an already ultra exclusive car. Deliveries start in July and 30 have already ordered.

The New Tesla Model S sedan,cheaper than the roadster

With a promised price tag of less than $50,000 (after a $7,500 federal tax credit), the new Tesla Model S sedan is certainly a good deal cheaper than Tesla's pricey roadster, not to mention its competitors, but according to Tesla CEO Elon Musk, it's actually quite a bargain compared to your run-of-the-mill sedan as well. As Musk tells it, 'the ownership cost of Model S, if you were to lease and then account for the much lower cost of electricity versus gasoline at a likely future cost of $4 per gallon, is similar to a gasoline car with a sticker price of about $35,000.' Musk further adds that the Model S would still be a bargain 'even if gasoline were $1 per gallon,' saying that it costs just $5 to drive 230 miles. Of course, all of that assumes that you'll actually be able to get your hands on the car one of these days, but Musk seems confident that'll happen as well, saying that the company is 'close' to receiving $350 million in loans from the U.S. Department of Energy, which would be used to build the plant in California that would manufacture the Model S.

Possible Future Cadillac!

GM is beating on the drums -- softly, to be sure -- and the message they're sending is that the Cadillac Converj Concept could see production. The first issue with building such a car is money, and GM's problems in that arena are already well-documented. If that hurdle were to be cleared, GM has said that the next question is the number of doors: two or four?

A four-door car has a much better chance at the kind of volume GM would need in order to make the Converj a worthy proposition and Lutz apparently said that a production Converj would be as close to the concept as the production Camaro. If GM adds an extra set of doors while maintaining the go-fast profile, it would still have a car that could drive straight into a buyer's heart.

But how much would it cost? The Volt -- under the mass-market Chevy brand -- is expected to run about $40,000 when it arrives. Add in the brand premium and the requisite luxury accoutrements, and when it's tallied up, a theoretical Cadillac version is likely to wear a substantially higher sticker price. Would buyers be ready to embrace it?

Blaupunkt's Car Internet Streamer

"Blaupunkt's miRoamer-powered TravelPilot New Jersey 600i internet car stereo"The prototype head unit connects to a cellphone over Bluetooth to access the internet, and uses the miRoamer service to stream 'tens of thousands' of stations on the service -- which the company estimates will consume about 2GBs of data a month, so you'd better hope your data plan doesn't cap you off or charge you for overages. The radio is expected to arrive in the second half of the year for $399, which isn't bad, but doesn't do much good for the squares like us who never swap out their car stereos -- which is probably why miRoamer is targeting 2010 for placement in OEM head units."

09 Nissan 370z With Nismo S-Tune Kit

Autoblog: "Nissan's latest Z-car has hit the ground running in the U.S. and Nissan may begin stirring the pot to ratchet up excitement another notch. Although we usually have to wait for the extra goodies launched in Japan to make the trek to the States, rumor has it that the factory NISMO S-Tune kit will migrate over the Pacific in short order. In addition to the coupe's already aggressive bodywork, a ground effects kit designed to improve aerodynamics will be part of the package, along with a new set of deep dish, five-spoke aluminum wheels and upgraded suspension and brake kits. A cat-back exhaust system rounds out the bits and pieces. If the rumors hold true, we can expect to see the NISMO S-Tune 370Z kits on dealer shelves sometime in June."

Buicks To Get Opel Design?

"2009 Opel Insignia"

Just before the Detroit Three presented their loan guarantee/bailout proposals to Congress, Motor Trend learned that General Motors would shift Opel’s design language from Saturn to Buick. Now we know why.

In the short period between the credit crisis beginning in mid-September and the Capitol Hill appearance in December, GM hatched a plan to weed down its eight North American divisions. It will try to sell Saab and says it’s progressing on a deal to sell Hummer. It will “explore alternatives” for Saturn. That sounds like plans to kill off the division, although Saturn’s 400 dealers are considered the best franchises in the corporation. And it will “downsize” Pontiac into a “specialty” car brand, to remain within the Pontiac-Buick-GMC sales channel.

Thus, merging Buick design with Opel make even more sense. With plans for a big splash with the new Chevrolet Cruze, which launches in Europe this April, a full year ahead of its North American debut, GM will push Opel’s image back up to a middle-upscale brand. Opel wouldn’t be as upscale as Mercedes-Benz or BMW, but would target the lower end of Audi — or where Audi has been until recently.
The change also makes sense for GM’s Chinese strategy. Opel Corsas and Astras already are badge-engineered as Buicks there.Like the current Opel-based Saturns,Buicks for China and the U.S. would be designed with different grilles and trim to distinguish them from European Opels.There is a history here:Opels were designed in Buick's studio until the late 1960s.With its voluptuous lines,the new Opel Insignia in fact would make a better Buick than a Saturn.