VWGX3 Spied!Should VW be in the three-wheeled sports car business? That's a question where your answer (or ours) doesn't matter at all. Because VW has apparently answered yes.
Powered by a 1.6-liter four making about 125 horsepower but weighing next to nothing, the GX3 was shown as a concept at the Los Angeles Auto Show. But who knew they'd actually take it to the point of developing running prototypes. Rumors are that with so little weight it's almost as quick as a 911, making it to 60 mph in less than six seconds while delivering insane fuel mileage. The rear wheel is driven and the transmission is a six-speed.
Price? How about $17,000. No roof, no doors, no nothing included. This thing makes a Lotus Elise look like a limousine.
A sky by any other nameJust a quick note here: America's Saturn Sky roadster will be sold by GM's European subsidiary as the Opel GT over there. That revives a name revered by guys old enough to remember the original mini-Corvette that wore the name back in the late-'60s and early-'70s. Except for the badge changes and changes necessary to meet EU regulatory edicts, the GT and Sky are virtually identical-and only superficially distinct from the Pontiac Solstice.
Seen here during its debut at the Geneva Auto Show, the Opel GT will be assembled at the same Wilmington, Delaware plant as the Sky and Solstice and will carry the same Ecotec four-cylinder engines, including the upcoming 260hp, direct injection, turbo version.
This may be the most exciting product GM has exported to Europe since the Sherman tank.
Scion Pimps Its OwnScion has obviously decided that issuing special editions of its cars is the way to continually re-ignite interest in them. The latest issue of these special issues is the tC displayed at April's New York Auto Show.
Called the "tC Release Series 2.0" or "tC R.S. 2.0" if you don't have the energy to spell it out, this version of the tC features "Blue Blitz Mica" paint, stainless steel mesh upper and lower front grilles, 17-inch "satin metallic" alloy wheels, and seats trimmed with black Alcantara material. A Pioneer sound system with iPod connectivity is also part of the package. In fact, the only options are side and side curtain airbags. The drivetrain and suspension remains stock tC.
Scion dealers will get 2,600 of the 2.0s to sell at $18,260 ($1,960 more than a base tC).
Training WheelsIn March, Ford opened the Ford RST Rally Academy at the Silverstone circuit in Britain in order to, says the press release, "pave the way for young hopefuls to learn the basic skills of rallying, even before they are legally allowed to drive." If you're 13, this has to be the coolest school on Earth to imagine attending.
The trainer for this fine institution of muddier learning is the Ford Rally Sport Trainer (RST), a two-seat rally car built around tubular steel space frame that can withstand rollover and side impacts and keep on going. The RST is left-hand drive with a Ford 1300cc four just behind the driver, driving the rear wheels. It slides and drives like a rally car should-only not as fast.
The academy is being run by BR Racing, which was set up by former Ford Motorsport engineer Peter Beattie who explained that "We will be taking teenagers and teaching them not only driving techniques but everything else there is to know about rallying, from signing-on, scrutineering, basic maintenance, and navigation pace-notes. The student skill levels are always mixed so we make sure every one of our students learns at their own pace and most importantly has a good time doing so."
Ask mom and dad if you can spend next summer in England!
Focused On Dropping TopWhile America continues to slug along with Ford's original generation Focus, in Europe the number of permutations of the better second-generation continues to grow. The latest variant was shown at the Geneva Motor Show in late February-the Coupe-Cabriolet.
Taking most of its cues from the Vignale Concept shown at the 2004 Paris show, this production version was jointly developed by Ford of Europe and Italy's famed Pininfarina coachworks. The top is a two-piece hard roof that folds so efficiently that Ford promises usable luggage space in the trunk even when it's retracted. There are seats for four in the interior that is trimmed at least as nicely as any other Focus model's. 1.6- and 2.0-liter four-cylinder Duratec gasoline engines and a 2.0-liter Duratorq turbodiesel four are offered with the Coupe-Cabriolet as it goes on sale about the time you're reading this.