A weekly round-up of automotive news, good, bad and just plain weird.
Celebrating B.C.'s Classic Car Day
If you're free this Saturday morning, July 12, pop on over to the Park & Tilford parking lot, and check out some sweet classic rides. Local adventure crew Classic Car Adventures - whose name is a dead giveaway - are hosting a Cars and Coffee event to celebrate B.C.'s first annual Collector Car Day. Actually, this whole sunny month of July is now dedicated to collectible cars, thanks to an official proclamation issued by the B.C. government in April.
The mix you'll see this Saturday is bound to be eclectic and certainly interesting. Not your average touring group, CCA's events are always a heterogenous affair, with concours-quality 911s rubbing shoulders with ratty old Vee-Dubs. Not to mention the ex-rally Saabs, Mini Mokes, classic Aston Martins and all sorts of other scrumptious delights.
This informal event starts at 8 a.m., and no car nut will be turned away. Bring your ride along if it's something interesting, or just park the minivan a few spots over and let the kids check out a few blasts from the past. It's the perfect way to spend a cool B.C. morning before whiling away the day in the backyard hammock, dreaming of all the cars you'd fit in your imaginary garage.
Volvo Pulls Wraps off 400 Horsepower Hybrid
And now, before we get too much into moaning about how modern cars don't have the spirit and character of the classics, here's Volvo to show just how good the modern car can be. Never mind the boxy, reliable and safe machines of the past, here's a clean running hybrid 2.0-litre fourbanger pumping out 400 horsepower and 472 footpounds of torque.
Holy Swedish Meatballs! Rumoured to be the drivetrain for the new XC90 crossover, a favourite that was previously propelled by a relatively thirsty Yamahadesigned V-8, the new engine employs all sorts of technology, including a twin-charger setup that uses both a turbocharger and supercharger to force air into the 2.0-litre engine.
Front wheels are powered by the forcedinduction engine, while the rears are propelled by an 80 h.p. electric engine that should allow the XC90 to travel approximately 40 kilometres on electric-only power. Plug-in capabilities should be available, at least overseas, and the new car will likely be equipped with Volvo's full suite of safety technologies.
What's more, if the drop-dead gorgeous Concept Estate is anything to go by, this XC could lead a revolution in Volvo styling as well. Bring on the future.
Sportscar Designers Wanted
United States-based Local Motors attracted a great deal of attention and/or scepticism for their crowd-sourced Rally Fighter, right up until the curvy off-roader hit the desert. It lived up to the hype and then some.
It was just the first step for the company, which has since used the same distributed-intelligence format to come up with less commercially viable (but still fun) ideas like a tricycle set up for drifting, and a tiny futuristic pizza-delivery machine. Now they're working on a sportscar.
The essential ingredients sound very tasty indeed: a turbocharged fourcylinder making 200 h.p., rear-wheel-drive and independent suspension all around. A manual transmission is also on the spec sheet, and two versions are planned: one track-focused example without sheetmetal (like a naked sportbike), and one set up for the street.
Given how good the Rally Fighter is, this new machine could be the real deal. Check out Local Motors website to see how you can participate.
Most Powerful Mini Cooper Coming
Spotted testing at the Nürburgring, the newest version of Mini's new Cooper is now rumoured to be making 230 h.p. from its 2.0-litre turbocharged engine. Given how much more pep the chassis of the Cooper SI drove last week felt like it could handle, that's a very good thing indeed.
Mini has traditionally reserved the John Cooper Works badge for its most-powerful and mostexpensive variants, the JCW Cooper will likely get even stiffer suspension and a growlier exhaust. Sure, it's a bit bigger than the old car, but the polish and livability of the new Cooper is about to be tested to its limits. How shall I put this delicately? Um, hooray!
BMW - the M is for Mexico
Production won't start until a half-decade from hence, but BMW recently announced plans for a billion-dollar factory to be built in Mexico. Inexpensive land and labour has already lured VW to invest deeply in their long-standing Puebla plant, and NAFTA trade laws make it even more lucrative for companies to build cars for the United States market south of the border. What'll they build? Likely, the 3, the 1, and some of the Mini lineup will be hecho en Mexico. How will purists react? With torches and roundel-branded pitchforks, of course, but as BMW strives to become an even bigger automaker producing every conceivable niche vehicle possible, it's a move towards volume.
Watch this space for all the week's best and worst of automotive news, or submit your own auto oddities to [email protected]. @brendan_mcaleer
