May 1st 2009 06:10

A production version of the Up! concept cars has just been confirmed for 2011, and all the signs point to a car which will be the right size and price to slide in below the Polo down under in Australia.

Volkswagen has given few specifics on how the Up! will go from motor show tease to showroom reality, but it has chosen Slovakia as the production site for what is being called the 'New Small Family'.

This could mean one car or many to satisfy the needs of the Volkswagen, Seat and Skoda brands. But there will definitely be both three and five-door hatchbacks - at least at first.

Volkswagen Group began its search for a price fighter in 2007 when it unveiled the original Up! concept at the Frankfurt Motor Show, complete with a rear-mounted engine. It stretched the idea into a baby people mover a few weeks later at the Tokyo Motor Show.

It has now chosen the factory at Bratislava in Slovakia to build the production car, partly because the site already feeds four brands at the same time.

"Our team at Volkswagen in Slovakia is ideally prepared to provide the flexibility required for the production of the New Small Family," says the chairman of Volkswagen Group, Dr Martin Winterkorn.

Volkswagen is expected to get the Up! first - if it carries that name, followed by Seat and Skoda.

The plans for Australia are just as murky, although Volkswagen says it is keen to get the car.

"The Up! is still a concept and they have not confirmed the production car," says Volkswagen Group spokesman, Karl Gehling.

But he admits the 'New Small Family' is being watched closely.

"It's something we'll certainly be looking at. It will have to be price competitive but it looks a very promising product to expand our range."

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Posted By: Craig Hill - Category: German Cars, Concept, Volkswagen

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Monaro From HAL

February 25th 2009 13:59

A dazzling blue Monaro was rushed to Victoria to star at the 2009 Melbourne Motor Show.

The hand-built supercar is the latest extreme machine to join the show lineup, which also includes wicked Sucker Punch Sallys motorcycles from the USA.

But the Monaro is a car with a difference, right down to its name: The Monaro from HAL.

Every panel on the car has been tweaked and it is fitted with a 427 Corvette engine and a full custom interior. And there is the one-off blue paintwork.

The car is a joint venture between one-time supercar hero Paul Halstead, who was the Australia importer for DeTomaso cars and created the locally-built Giacattolo, and Autotek chief Bob Roman.

Between them they have more than 50 years experience in engineering and fast cars which is reflected in their super-special Monaro.

"It's a one-off. We took a brand-new Monaro and did something very special," Roman says.

"It has been totally stripped and then re-sculpted to Paul Halstead's vision."

The car was built in Castlemaine and finished this week in time for a first public appearance at the motor show. It will also be the key to a reader contest in next week's edition of the Carsguide.

But, even more, it reflects the depth of Australian motoring expertise and that is something Halstead and Roman will be pushing with a new joint venture between Autotek and ADAPS to provide automotive engineers and project managers to the industry.

It's a new contract plan which is in its infancy but which can be used for cars like the Monaro, and more.

"Concept cars are the traffic magnets and the heart-and-soul of every motor show," Roman says.

"We think creating a car like the Monaro from HAL is a great way to get people thinking about the talent that is available to the Australian motor industry. We are moving to the next level of services to the industry.

"We want to occupy our own place. Show we're at the cutting edge."

The result is a car with wild flared guards, a deep jutting nose and an aero diffuser under the rear bumper. It also has a full custom interior and an upgraded Corvette-style mechanical package.

"It's street legal but race ready," Roman says.

"And it's all steel. There is no plastic or fibreglass, the car is completely real."

Roman says the car cost around $250,000 to build but it is a cheap investment in the future of a new company.

"The vehicle itself is basically to show the skills of both companies, on a special project. We could do the same thing on a concept car, or skilled labour in any level of the automotive business."

The Monaro from HAL is actually the latest in a string of wild one-off cars created by Roman, from a Hillier Falcon coupe to the gullwing Raptor ute and a Commodore ute known simply as `The Beast'.

But there is more to come from the Autotek-ADAPS, in time for the next Melbourne Motor Show in 2011.

"We're working on something even more radical. It is a rear-mid engined supercar. But that's something for the future," Roman says.

The Melbourne Motor Show opens at 5pm on Friday, February 27 at the Melbourne Exhibition Centre.

It runs from 10am-10pm each day until Sunday, March 8.

The final day of the show is Monday, March 9 when it is open from 10am-6pm.

The 2009 Melbourne International Motor Show with video wrap...

Herald Sun

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Posted By: Paladin - Category: Australian Cars, Concept, Holden, Melbourne International

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Rolls-Royce RR4 200EX

February 18th 2009 12:30

The new baby of the Rolls-Royce family is actually a giant.

The only time the 200EX looks small is when it is lined up beside the flagship of the British luxury fleet, the Phantom.

The 200EX, officially only a concept car for the Geneva Motor Show next month but already confirmed as the RR4 for production, is a full 327mm longer than a BMW 7 Series, as well as 46mm wider and 81mm taller.

When you see the RR4 - or 200EX as Rolls-Royce now prefers - the car comes into crisp focus as a potential leader in the $350,000-ish luxury class which is about to become a hotbed of competition with everyone from Bentley to Aston Martin, Lamborghini and Porsche.

It is clearly a Rolls-Royce, yet much less imposing and formal than the Phantom.

Even the giant chromed grille, a RR signature for generations, has been moved aside and replaced by something which is just as recognisable but far less confrontational.

"This car is for a new group of Rolls-Royce customers. They will be considerably younger than Phantom buyers," says Ian Robertson, chairman of Rolls-Royce and now also head of marketing for the BMW Group in Germany.

He is speaking at an exclusive press preview of RR4, at Goodwood in Britain last September.

I am one of a small group of journalists to see the car before it is confirmed as the 200EX concept and the impact of the car is immediate and surprising. It looks smaller than I expect, and less like a Roller, at least at first.

But as I slide into the back seat, and luxuriate in more space and luxury than a long-wheelbase 7 Series, I can feel that this is something different. The smoother look is good, too.

If only the dreaded iDrive controller, picked up as part of the electronic package from Rolls-Royce's owners in Germany, was not so obvious in the centre console...

There is also a BMW-style shark-fin aerial on the roof as a reminder of the family tie, although Rolls-Royce's chief designer does not see it that way.

"I prefer to think of it as as Rolls-Royce beauty spot," says Ian Cameron.

The 200EX is being unveiled as Rolls-Royce gears up for production in 2010. The factory has already been split, as I see in September, to allow two cars to be built at the same time without disrupting production of a Phantom family which already has four members.

It is the latest in a series of near-production concept cars which have also previewed the Phantom coupe and convertible since Rolls-Royce became part of the BMW Group in 2003.

The big surprise is that it is confirmed with an all-new V12 engine.

The car still has the rear-hinged 'coach' doors used on the Phantom but the design is much more modern, including the grille.

"200EX is a touring saloon with more than a little panache and perhaps more bravado than one might expect," says Cameron.

"We wanted this to be less reminiscent of the traditional 'Parthenon' style and more like a jet intake."

The bottom line, says Rolls-Royce's chief executive Tom Purves, is simple.

"200EX is a modern execution of timeless Rolls-Royce elegance, breaking with some areas of tradition but retaining the core values that make our marque unique," he says.

But there is one thing Rolls-Royce is not talking about - a name.

The car is being shown as the 200EX at Geneva, and internally it is known as RR4, but it will be called something different for production.

It could be a traditional name, like Silver Cloud or Wraith, but no-one at Rolls-Royce is giving any hints and there is strong talk that - like the car - the name will be completely new.

News of the 200EX comes as Rolls-Royce makes some minor revisions to the Phantom for 2009.

There is a streamlined front bumper that is closer to the design of the Phantom Coupe and Drophead, finished in stainless steel.

The car also gets 21-inch alloy wheels, LED illumination for the door handles, new door cappings with grab handles and double reading lamps for the rear seats. There is other stuff but it is very minor.

Rolls-Royce says it sold 1212 Phantom series cars in 2008, the best for the brand in 18 years, and that it has recently spent $100 million on its factory at Goodwood in preparation for production of the RR4 in 2010.

Herald Sun

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Posted By: Paladin - Category: British Cars, Concept, Rolls Royce

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