Many guitar amps come with wheels, though not usually of the alloy variety. But that’s all changed with the new Volkswagen Beetle Fender Edition.
VW has teamed up with the legendary guitar company to create a Beetle that is more appealing to male customers (and possibly rock stars, though we still doubt they’d go for a Beetle).
The Fender Edition has been unveiled in full production guise at the 2012 Leipzig Auto Show in Germany after it was teased as a concept at the Frankfurt Auto Show last year.
The Fender Edition’s main feature is a 400 watt, nine speaker sound system inspired by some of the company’s most renowned amplifiers, including two Fender Deluxe tweeters, two Fender Twin mid-bass speakers and a Fender Bassman subwoofer. And if these Instagram-style press pictures are anything to go by, you should be able to plug your axe directly into the Bug for some morning commute rocking. The media release doesn’t officially confirm it though so we’re still not sure on this one.
The dashboard is constructed from the sunburst wood featured on many of Fender’s Stratocaster guitars and three complimentary Fender plectrums are also included. Sadly there are no free Telecasters or Stratocasters thrown in.
Every Fender Edition also comes with 18-inch aluminium-alloy wheels, bi-xenon headlights, Fender logos on the front quarter panels and can be bought in any colour — so long as it’s one of two shades of black (“Black Uni” or “Deep Black Pearl Effect”).
Choices of engine are the same as the four available on the regular Beetle line-up and include a 77kW and 118kW petrol, and a 77kW and 103kW turbo diesel.
The VW Beetle Fender Edition will go on sale in the UK in the first half of next year, with VW yet to confirm when it will be available locally.
Lately it seems like a classic Ferrari is being sold at a record breaking price every week. Here we are at the start of a new week and, sure enough, here’s another ridiculously expensive Ferrari — a 1962 250 GTO which is now officially the world’s most expensive car.
Bloomberg reports that the apple-green Fezza — which was built specifically for legendary racing driving Stirling Moss — sold privately for US$35 million (approximately AU$36.3 million). This breaks the record previously held by a 1936 Bugatti Type 57SC Atlantic which sold for somewhere between US$30-34 million in 2010.
The 250 GTO is one of only 39 ever built and features the name of Sir Stirling Moss inscribed on the back on the driver’s seat. It was intended to be raced by Moss at Le Mans, but this never happened because of a career-ending crash in 1962. It was raced by Moss’s teammate Ireland Inness though, but after failing to finish the 24-hour Le Mans race in 1962 it was officially retired and never raced again.
The car’s new owner — US billionaire and classic car collector Craig McCaw — purchased the 250 GTO from an unnamed Dutch businessman who had previously bought the car for $8.5 million. Prior to that, the car had sold for the bargain price of $3.5 million in 1996, meaning its value has increased tenfold since then.
You’d think McCaw would be hurting from the massive hit that his wallet has just taken, but he’s probably comforted by reports that the GTO 250’s value is expected to increase even further.
Bloomberg also reports that the vehicle is just one of eight rare Ferrari’s sold this year for a collective total of $135 million.
The 10 ugliest concept cars ever
Cars driven by rock stars
Well that’s it. The world must finally have gone crazy as a company is offering to coat your car from bonnet to boot in 100 per cent pure diamonds.
In a world first German firm Gemballa — which markets itself as the world’s number one Porsche tuner — has devised a process that involves grinding the rare gemstone down into tiny pieces so they are small enough to be applied as paint.
It’s a modification so extravagant it’s only previously been seen in the dreams of the Pimp My Ride team. The best they could do was gold-plate a car.
And there’s nothing synthetic about these diamonds.
“Our complex process uses genuine diamonds as its key ingredient — not metal pigments, glass fragments, or crystals,” explained Gemballa CEO Andreas Schwarz.
With carbon fibre becoming so popular in car materials these days, Gemballa also says that diamonds — which are a form of carbon — are the perfect complement to your premium ride.
This isn’t just a one-off publicity stunt either. Gemballa is inviting the public (by that they mean the Clive Palmers and Gina Rineharts of the world) to have the paint applied to any car they like. And not just on the exterior — the paint is completely compatible with interiors as well. This makes us shudder at the thought of the number of carats required.
The exact price of the paint job? You asked, so you can’t afford it.
Ferrari has built a special new model in homage to one of its most loyal customers — legendary blues guitarist Eric Clapton.
The one-off model uses design cues from Clapton’s all-time favourite Ferrari — the 512 BB — which have been integrated into the modern body shell of a 458 Italia.
Clapton, who has owned three 512 BBs over the years, told Ferrari Official Magazine that his dream was to own a Ferrari with the vintage feel of the classic model but with the modern capabilities of a car like the 458.
The SP12 EC’s silhouette still remains unmistakably that of a 458 Italia, however its subtle differences include the straight headlights featured on the 512 BB as opposed to the sharp, pointy ones of an Italia. The bonnet, radiator grille and grey lower side panels are also taken directly from the 512 BB, while the 458’s usually chunky rear has been trimmed and flattened.
The SP12 EC also does not lack in performance like the supercar of yesteryear — fitted with the Italia’s 4.5-litre V8, with 419kW and 540Nm of torque to rocket the car to 100km/h in 3.4 seconds.
The SP12 EC was designed by the Ferrari Style Centre, who collaborated with Ferrari engineers and fellow car-stylers Pininfarina to make the project a reality.
Clapton, who also had a hand in his new car’s design process, likened the experience to “being in front of a gigantic blank canvas that had to be painted on.”
He also told the magazine that it was “one of the most satisfying things I’ve ever done.”
Ferrari has not revealed how much Clapton paid for his exclusive vehicle but most reports are suggesting it was somewhere in the league of $5 million. Ouch!
BMW has debuted an amazing road-ready coupe show car built in association with legendary Italian styling house Zagato. The BMW Zagato Coupe debuted this weekend at the posh Concorso d’Eleganza Villa d’Este car show in Italy.
What is the BMW Zagato Coupe?
The BMW Zagato Coupe is officially described as a one-off and has come about thanks to a friendship between BMW design senior vice president Adrian van Hooydonk and Zagato chief designer Norihiko Harada.
Does the BMW Zagato Coupe have heritage?
The BMW Zagato Coupe is actually the latest in a line of BMW collaborations with Italian styling houses. These date back to 1939, when a special BMW 328 clothed in Italian bodywork was created: it won the famous Mille Miglia race the following year.
How traditional is the BMW Zagato Coupe?
The BMW Zagato Coupe is still, however, entirely hand built. Not only this, all the aluminium panels are hand-beaten by hand: aluminium sheet metal really has been shaped entirely by humans to create the stunning forms of the show car.
Which model is the BMW Zagato Coupe based on?
The bodywork of the BMW Zagato Coupe has been tailored to fit the rear-drive mechanical — but BMW has released no details of them. It is safe to assume they’re based on one production Z4 variant, perhaps the 225kW Z4 sDrive35iS.
Is the BMW Zagato Coupe just a show car?
Amazingly, the BMW Zagato Coupe is fully road legal. It’s been aerodynamically honed and has even been tested at high speed on the BMW test track.
What’s with the roof of the BMW Zagato Coupe?
The BMW Zagato Coupe has the trademark Zagato double bubble roof: it wouldn’t be a Zagato without this. The firm says the ‘doppia gobba’ roof gives more space for those wearing helmets, improves aerodynamics and also enhances the car’s torsional rigidity.
What is the front of the BMW Zagato Coupe like?
The front of the BMW Zagato Coupe is low, wide and forward-surging. The bonnet contains additional air intakes — hinting at a high-performance turbo motor beneath? — and the design shouts ‘BMW’, thus achieving a key aim of Zagato.
What is the rear of the BMW Zagato Coupe like?
Because it’s been hand-beaten from sheet aluminium, the designers of the BMW Zagato Coupe have been able to minimize the lines in the rear end, making it appear as if it’s built from one big section. The transparent panels are a Zagato styling cue and the rear diffuser is absolutely enormous, cutting into the side panels to suggest this car really has been optimised for high-speed use.
Why are the wheels of the BMW Zagato Coupe special?
The distinctive propeller-shaped five-spoke alloy wheels of the BMW Zagato Coupe reference the aerospace heritage of both BMW and Zagato.
How has Zagato created the amazing paint?
The stunning Rosso Vivace paint of the BMW Zagato Coupe changes from bear-black to brilliant red, depending on light levels and angle of view. It’s made up of a black base coat, a silver metallic layer, then six thin layers of brilliant red — all covered by two clear layers of lacquer.
Will BMW build the Zagato Coupe?
The BMW Zagato Coupe is an amazing design that is even more enticing because of BMW’s great effort to make it road-ready. Don’t be surprised if a limited run of cars follows. They would be expensive. They would be iconic. They would sell like hot cakes, believe us…
The most annoying car features ever
Celebrities who moonlight as racing drivers
Renault always likes to make a fuss at the Monaco Grand Prix, but this year it’s really pulled out something special: this is the Renault Alpine A 110-50 Concept, a rolling 295kW tribute to the legendary Alpine A 110 Berlinette.
It’s 50 years since the Alpine Berlinette first started ripping up rally stages in what was to quickly become its characteristically flamboyant style. So to mark the occasion, and hint at a future production Alpine coupe, Renault has built the car you see pictured here, the A 110-50.
Designed by Yann Jarsalle, working together with Renault’s Concept and Show Car Director, Axel Breun, the A 110-50 has been produced by Renault Sport Technologies and successfully re-interprets a number of the original’s styling cues while utterly avoiding any accusations of retro.
The half-domed LED lighting clusters — illuminating in the Berlinette’s trademark yellow hue — are a particularly apt feature, but Renault has carefully re-thought the cooling vents and the rear window’s lines as well. Making it far more homage than pastiche.
Also true to the original is the powertrain layout — the new concept sports a mid-mounted V6 driving the rear wheels. But with 295kW on tap from a 3.5-litre unit that’s more commonly found in racing cars, that big rear wing probably isn’t for show.
In fact, the entire car is anything but a static exhibit, as it’s actually built over the spaceframe chassis of a Renault Megane Trophy racer. Which, as you can see, isn’t much like a regular Renault Megane.
Some small adjustments have been made to reduce the height of the roll cage and engine mounting frame to better suit the A 110-50’s low-slung curves, but otherwise this is just the same as the Megane Trophy underneath. So it should be able to really tear round the Moncao Grand Prix circuit.
So while Renault hasn’t released any performance statistics, with 295kW available, a genuine race car chassis, paddleshift gearbox, and aerodynamics modelled using Formula One technology, the A 110-50 has got to be a blast.
Don’t expect much in the way of creature comforts. While Renault has done its best to smarten the sparse cockpit with splashes of carbon fibre and a pair of diamond pattern bucket seats, that’s all you get beyond the roll cage and an instrument cluster from a Renault Formula 3.5 single-seater built into the steering wheel.
Keeping the driver on their toes, the concept is fitted with absolutely no active safety devices. That means no ESP, traction control or ABS. And don’t go thinking there are any airbags, either.
Still, it does have completely adjustable racing suspension, huge brakes, and 21-inch centre-lock alloy wheels. We were halfway expecting it to be fitted with slick racing tyres, too, but actually it’s on ‘road-homologated’ Michelins.
Other funky features include the on-board pneumatic jacks that allow the A 110-50 concept to raise itself up for a quick wheel change, the carbon fibre air intake that feeds down from the roof, and scissor style doors.
It’s hard to say for sure what Renault’s got planned for the future of the Alpine A 110-50 concept. Given it’s based around a chassis it already builds, the company could presumably quite easily put it into limited production — but that certainly wouldn’t be cheap. Or road legal.
It’s also worth noting that the Alpine’s appearance is not a million miles away from the Renault DeZir concept of 2010. We wouldn’t be surprised if something a little more showroom friendly is on the way — especially with the Paris Motor Show coming this September.
