We know what you’re thinking but stop right there. What you are looking at here isn’t the result of some crafty photoshop business - it’s the real deal; an actual factual microcar replica of a 1970 Nissan Skyline GT-R coupe that was created by Japanese tuning firm Liberty Walk Performance. The scaled down, single-seater clone of Nissan’s first-generation Skyline GT-R is based on a quad-bike and it’s perfectly drivable. This is not the first time we’ve shown you a microcar replica from Liberty Walk Performance as some of you may remember the…Lambormini Murcielago snapped by our own Phil Alex at last year’s Tokyo Auto Salon. The Japanese company has not yet added pricing info on the Skyline GT-R buggy on its website, but just to get an idea, the Lambormini starts from 1.88 million Yen, which comes to about US$23,250 or €16,750 at today’s exchange rates. Feast your eyes on the photo gallery and a couple of videos after the jump.
Today, Porsche put an end to the rumors concerning the production location of the Cajun by confirming that the assembly will take place in Leipzig, in the Saxony region of Germany, alongside the Cayenne SUV and Panamera sports sedan model. The facilitate production, Porsche plans to extend the Leipzig factory and turn it into a fully-fledged manufacturing site for the Cajun, including body assembly line and paint shop. Porsche said the decision to build the Cajun will create at least 1,000 new jobs in Leipzig and Stuttgart.
The Leipzig plant has been producing the Cayenne SUV since 2002, with Porsche expanding the factory in 2009 to accommodate the Panamera. To date, Porsche has invested around 280 million euro in Leipzig. The Stuttgart-based automaker said the Cajun will come with typical Porsche traits such as “light weight” and “refined handling” adding that the baby SUV model “is expected to pave the way for new, younger customers to enter the world of Porsche”. The new model is expected to be introduced towards the end of 2012.
After a photo preview at the end of last year, the racing version of McLaren's all-new supercar has been revealed in England, where the car undertook its first shakedown tests. Built by McLaren GT, a new company set up by the McLaren Group and CRS Racing, the MP4-12C GT3 had its debut test outings at the MIRA proving ground facility and the Silverstone Circuit. Based on the standard MP4-12C, the GT3 version uses the same one-piece carbon MonoCell chassis, which weighs just 75 kilograms (165.3 lbs). Spectacular race spec composite body panels and a fixed rear wing have been added to the MP4-12C GT3, while the new aerodynamics package includes a new front splitter, door blade, rear wing, diffuser and louvres in the front fenders. “The car is around 100mm wider than the standard production car and features a new suspension system which we have tested in the McLaren Simulator. Having now experienced this new set-up in the 12C GT3 car, I’m delighted with the progress we are making,” said Andrew Kirkaldy, McLaren GT project manager. The MP4-12 C GT3 uses the same 3.8-liter twin turbo V8 engine from the road car, tuned to race specification. The unit is linked to an all-new racing gearbox developed by Ricardo and fitted with paddle-shift system. The tests were a good occasion for McLaren to introduce its newest test driver, 26-year-old Alvaro Parente, with the company planning to have a team of six test drivers by mid-2011. The shakedown will be followed by comprehensive tests scheduled throughout March and April at a number of FIA certified circuits across Europe. Details about the driver line-up and race programme for the McLaren MP4-12C GT3 will be revealed after these tests. Starting next year, McLaren GT will also supply and support a limited number of FIA GT3-compliant racing cars for privateers.
BMW's Motorsport division announced today that it will enter six M3 race cars in the DTM (Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters) starting from the 2012 season. The Bavarian company will be represented in the highly competitive championship by three teams, each entering two cars. The chosen teams are long-term partners BMW Team Schnitzer and BMW Team RBM, plus the newcomer Reinhold Motor sport GmbH. Development of the M3 DTM car has been running at full speed in Munich for the past few months, with the first track tests are scheduled to begin this month. “The concepts presented by BMW Team RBM, BMW Team Schnitzer and Reinhold Motorsport GmbH ultimately convinced us. This is an excellent team line-up for BMW. For us, it is important that all three teams have absolute equal rights. We are looking forward to cooperating over the coming years – and hope to enjoy great success together,” said BMW Motor sport boss Mario Theissen. No announcement has been made regarding the BMW driving line-up for the DTM. Of the three teams, only Schnitzer was part of BMW's DTM participation in the 80's and early 90's, winning the 1989 title. BMW was officially involved in the DTM between 1987 and 1992, winning two titles with the M3 E30 in 1987 and 1989, with drivers Eric van de Poele and Roberto Ravaglia respectively. Before that, private team Gubin won the inaugural 1984 DTM season with Volker Strycek behind the wheel of a 635CSi.
A massive 8.9 magnitude earthquake hit the northeast part of Japan earlier this morning triggering a 10-meter high tsunami on the coasts of the country sweeping away homes, cars and buildings. The disastrous earthquake, which was followed by many aftershocks, is said to be the world's fifth-largest since 1900 and the biggest in Japan in 140 years. The full extent of damages caused by the earthquake and the ferocious tsunami remain unknown for now, but we’re already hearing news of people being evacuated and many homes and factories destroyed. On the automotive front, Toyota and Honda were forced to shut down some of their production plants and evacuate their workers from several factories in the quake zone. According to reports, Toyota, which has a large manufacturing presence in northern Japan, was affected the most with the shutdown possibly affecting production of cars like the Yaris sedan and the Scion xB and xD models. Honda initially closed down both its Suzuka and Sayama plants, but production at the first factory resumed shortly after. The Sayama plant, which manufactures the US-bound Fit among other models, remains closed.
It seems that the petrol-sniffing Yellow Sac spider that forced Mazda to issue a recall on some 52,000 cars in the USA last week has a thing for mid-size Japanese sedans as the eight-legged arthropod also caused problems to Honda in the past. According to reports, Honda posted a Technical Service Bulletin in the summer of 2009 alerting its dealers to check Accords for possible infestation by the Yellow Sac spider, but had not issued a recall then. “Spider webs are clogging the EVAP canister vent hose or the drain box,” said Honda’s service bulletin with the corrective action being to clean the webs and install a spring in the drain box. Now, in the wake of the Mazda6 recall, Honda reportedly told its dealers to be on the lookout for the same spider in 2008-2009MY Accords. But while in the Mazda6 the spider webs could cause air pressure problems in the gas tank potentially leading to a crack and fuel leakage, Honda says that’s not the case with the Accord. "It's just not happening in our cars," Honda spokeswoman Christina Ra told CNN. The company said that in the Accord, the spider webs create blockages with the only visible symptom being a "check engine" light coming on.
