A factory Nissan GT-R will return to Bathurst for the first time in 21 years next January, with the Japanese brand launching an outright attack on the Bathurst 12 Hour.
Run by Nissan’s global motorsport and performance division NISMO, the factory-backed racer will be piloted by two-time Bathurst winner, and Nissan V8 Supercar driver, Rick Kelly.
“In selecting the Bathurst 12 Hour as a key part of our 2014 racing program, Nissan has further cemented Australasia as a critical element of our global motorsport plans,” said Nissan global motorsport director Darren Cox.
“Mount Panorama is one of the world’s iconic racing circuits and the Nissan GT-R has incredible history there. We are pleased to be at Bathurst with Nissan Motorsport in V8 Supercars this October, and then again with the Nissan GT-R Nismo GT3 next February for the Bathurst 12 Hour.”
It will be the first time since 1992 that a factory GT-R has tackled the Mountain, when Mark Skaife and Jim Richards then took a controversial victory in the iconic Bathurst 1000.
“I couldn’t be more excited about this opportunity to race a Nissan GT-R Nismo GT3 at the 2014 Bathurst 12 Hour,” said Kelly.
“The GT-R is an amazing car in its standard form, so in Nismo GT3 race-specification, I think it will be capable of great things.
You’ve got to love dictators. Particularly African ones. While their populations starve, corruption lines their pockets with gold and rubies.
Well, in an epic dose of karma, the universe has handed out some payback to the son of the ‘President’ of Equatorial Guinea, Teodorin Obiang.
A fan of supercars, Teodorin’s entire multi-million dollar fleet – which includes two Bugatti Veyrons and models from Bentley, Ferrari, Porsche, Maserati, Rolls-Royce and Maybach – has been seized and sold by French police.
French police actually raided Teodorin’s 80 million Euro, 101-room Parisian mansion way back in 2011, but only just sold some of the cars for a little over $4 million.
And the kicker? All of the cars have little to no mileage on them. Too bad Teodorin…
Also Read:History’s dictators and their cars
This looks like the lovechild of a Stormtrooper and an Ariel Atom.
It is, in fact, the Ron Automobile RXX – a Mexican sportscars hoping to make it big on the international stage.
Think of it as the Atom’s Mexican cousin, a super-lightweight, road-legal car designed to destroy the world’s race tracks.
Complete with a unique two-seater arrangement, it will be offered in three different configurations: RXX, RXX-S and RXX-R, each offers differing levels of power and equipment.
Nice.
Oh how we wish we were at the Goodwood Festival Of Speed.
This is the latest car to be revealed at the iconic event – the new, track-focused McLaren 12C GT Speed.
Think of it as a regular McLaren MP4-12C with all of the boring bits thrown away.
Designed to sit between the regular road car and the extreme GT3 version, the GT Speed is a hardcore, exclusive, track-only special.
Just 20 units will be built annually, with the GT Speed boasting 18kW more grunt from its 460kW 3.8-litre twin-turbo V8, lower, harder suspension and slick Pirelli racing tyres.
A new oil and cooling system has also been added, with revised bodywork including a more aggressive front splitter and larger radiator intakes.
Inside the GT Speed gets an FIA-approved roll-cage and fire extinguisher, with the driver able to adjust the car’s handling between three different set-up modes.
So what about money? Well McLaren says it will cost less than 200,000 pounds, which, without taxes, equates to $330,650 AUD at today’s exchange rate.
Love Ferraris but just think they aren’t exclusive enough?
This is the car for you.
One of only five in the world, this 288 GTO Evoluzione has come up for sale in the UK.
Built as a homologation special for the 308 GTB racer, the 288 Evoluzione is a purebred road racer.
Think of it as a standard 288 GTO on steroids.
Churning out a massive 485kW from its twin-turbo V8, it can hit a top speed of 362km/h and weighs just 940kgs.
So what about price? Well the auction house simply lists ‘price on application’, so expect it to be well into the millions.
But hey, no one said exclusivity is cheap, right?
Pricing of the new Mercedes-Benz CLA range has leaked, with Aussies set to pay $49,990 for the base CLA 200 model.
Boasting a 116kW/250Nm1.6-litre petrol turbo matched to a seven-speed duel clutch ‘box, it comes standard with 19 inch wheels, bi-xenon lights, Becker sat-nav and the famous diamond Mercedes-Benz grille.
Next up is the CLA 250 Sport, which, as the name implies, is essentially a four-dour coupe version of the A250 Sport. Power is upped to 155kW/350Nm, with standard equipment also including leather trim, plus heated and electrically-adjustable front seats. Claimed 0-100km/h time is 6.7 seconds, all for $63,400.
Headlining the range however is the $86,900 CLA45 AMG firecracker, which gets a 265kW/450Nm 2.0-litre turbo four. Drive goes to all wheels and standard equipment includes: 19 inch alloys, ‘Driver’s Package’ allowing 270km/h Vmax, performance exhaust, AMG Performance front seats, AMG steering wheel and Harmon Kardon Logic 7 sound. Claimed 0-100km/h is 4.6sec.
It’s not often that you hear the phrase “that was the best day of my life, thank you so much” – not unless you’re George Clooney, anyway – so to hear it three times in a few hours is a bit of a buzz.
That’s the experience we had after selecting two winners – 18-year-old Tayla Choice and 17-year-old Cody Skoumbourdis – for our win a ride in an Audi R8 V10 Plus Facebook competition (the third one was Cody’s Dad, who also snuck into the passenger seat).
The two youngsters, who happen to be cousins, won us over with their overwhelming passion, not just for cars in general, but for this car, and this colour scheme, in particular.
Tayla says the very existence of the R8 inspires her to strive harder in her chosen career – opera singing – every day, so that one day she can afford one.
Cody has chosen his career – mechanical engineering – because he’s so impressed by the technology and design involved in the Audi supercar, and one day he’d like to work on similar vehicles. Both of them already had this particular car as the save screens on their phones, tablets, computers, etc. This was love, people.
And to see them enjoying the experience of just sitting in the stunning Audi – and to hear them shouting “Holy moley!” repeatedly – was a fantastic thrill of vicarious joy.
You can see the delight written all over their faces in the accompanying video. At several stages we were worried that their heads might actually explode.
These two won their Greatest Day Ever simply by being fans of Wheels on Facebook. Next time it could be you.
Head to our Facebook page to find out how.
Grab your hankies and prepare to mop up the drool because it looks like Jaguar will reveal its all-new F-Type Coupe at this year’s Goodwood Festival of Speed.
The British brand has confirmed it will show an ‘F-Type Design Study’ at the iconic event, with the long-awaited coupe or shooting brake body style expected.
Industry insiders are tipping a shooting brake could be more likely, as the Coupe’s design language has already been previewed in the gorgeous C-X16 concept – pictured here.
Either way the design study is expected to use the supercharged V6 or V8 engine used in the current F-Type range.
It’s a sad, sad day. One of the world’s greatest performance cars is no more, with BMW officially ending production of the M3 coupe.
The final M3 coupe, pictured here, rolled off the production line yesterday, marking the end of the model’s 26-year lifecycle.
Of course the M3 name will continue, with the moniker reserved exclusively for the performance variant of the four-door 3 Series sedan.
The next-generation coupe however, will fall under the new M4 moniker, which is tipped to be lighter and use a twin-turbo 335kW six-cylinder engine when it hits Australian roads next year.
Dating back to 1986, the M3 Coupe has seen four generations, starting from the original E30 to the current E92 which has sold more than 40,000 units worldwide since its inception in 2007.
Which generation of M3 Coupe is your favourite?
Head to our Facebook page to join the debate.
Yesterday we showed you Mexico’s answer to the Ariel Atom.
Now it’s Argentina’s turn.
Officially unveiled at the 2013 Buenos Aires Motor Show, this aggressive-looking blend of carbonfibre, kevlar and stainless steel is called the Donto P1.
Finally shown in production-ready trim after years of development, on paper at least, the Donto P1 could have the performance to rival the likes of the Atom and the KTM X-Bow.
Boasting a stainless steel chassis that has been homologated by the FIA, the P1 uses a 224kW 2.0-litre Audi FSI engine and weighs just 630kg.
Sounds like a recipe for speed to us.
