Auto Avio Costruzioni Tunes Second Alfa 159, Battle with Ferrari Continues

If you are a frequent Carscoop reader, you may recall a story that we wrote in October about Laurent Muller, the man who bought the rights to the Auto Avio Costruzioni trademark in 2004.

Muller’s original goal was to build a supercar based on the Ferrari 430, but with a V12 engine instead of the production version’s eight-cylinder unit.

However, as soon as he announced his plans in 2008, Ferrari filed a lawsuit against him claiming that it still owned the rights to the Auto Avio Costruzioni name, as it was used by Enzo Ferrari for a short period after leaving Alfa Romeo and before founding the car company that carries his name.

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So You Want Buy a Used Ferrari, do You? F355 Owner Spent $47,845 to Repair the Engine!

Admit it; if you're one of our regular readers, as much as you may like mainstream models such as the BMW 3-Series Coupe, chances are that the thought of owning a genuine German or Italian sports car has crossed your mind more than once.

But unless you're super rich (you're not), you'll probably never have the opportunity to buy a new supercar which leaves you with only one option if you really want to make your dream come true: look for a used exotic sports car.

However, while the used supercar market offers a variety of options for many different sized wallets, before you go car hunting on eBay, we would like to remind you of the saying, "All that glitters is not gold".

Naturally, not all used cars are the same, but just because you can afford to buy a second- or third-hand Ferrari doesn't mean that you can afford to maintain one. Keep in mind that these vehicles were designed for people who had no problem spending the equivalent of a house on a car.

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“Porsche Returns to Le Mans” Promo Video Takes us Back

Porsche is inextricably linked to Le Mans having won the famous 24-hour endurance race a record 16 times. The first win came in 1970 with the legendary 917, and the last in 1998 with the 911 GT1.

This past July, the Stuttgart-based sports car manufacturer announced that it will return to the La Sarthe circuit in 2014 with an official entry. Not that it has ever actually left, as numerous privately owned 911s participated each year and even the factory team won the LMP2 class in 2008 and 2009 with the RS Spyder.

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Color me Orange: 1973 Lamborghini Jarama GTS Could be Yours for $79k

The Jarama may be one of the lesser-known models to come out of Lamborghini's Sant'Agata factory, but it remains a genuine Italian exotic and a representative GT sportscar of the 1970s - and one which most gearheads would love to add to their collection.

The one we found for sale on eBay is a 1973 Jarama GTS (also known as the Jarama S) with only 6,600 miles on its odometer and a 'Buy it Now' Price of US$79,000.

Named after the Jarama bullfighting region in Spain, the 2+2 Lamborghini sportscar was designed by Bertone's Marcello Gandini. It was introduced in 1970 as a replacement to the Islero with the Italian company claiming at the time that it was conceived for the "gentleman driver".

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Saab Files for Bankruptcy After All Rescue Plans Fail, This Could be the End

It is sad news for the automotive world to learn of the demise of a company. Unfortunately, Monday December 19, will mark the end of the road for Swedish carmaker Saab – and this time it looks like it is final.

Earlier this morning, Swedish Automotive N.V. (Swan) announced that Saab Automobile, Saab Automobile Tools and Saab Powertrain filed for bankruptcy with the District Court in Vanersborg, Sweden.

This comes after Youngman, the Chinese company which last week promised to pay for the carmaker’s restructuring, informed Saab that it cannot provide the funding necessary for the continuation of the process.

Therefore, Swan concluded that, with GM vetoing any proposed plan until now, and without the essential funding, it would be insolvent. Thus, it was better for its creditors to file for bankruptcy.

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1969 Dodge Charger V/C: Are You Happy to See me or is that a Viper Under Your Hood?

We've seen the Viper's 10-cylinder engine slithering out of its old skin and sliding under the bonnet of many different cars ranging from a Chrysler PT Cruiser and a 300 sedan, to a Dodge Challenger and a Saab 9-3 Sport Combi, but what could be more fitting than seeing it in a classic muscle car like the 1969 Dodge Charger?

This bad boy was found for sale on eBay with the seller claiming to have modified or replaced just about everything on the original 1969 Charger, from the upper and lower control arms and the independent rear suspension to the rack and pinion steering system, all of which are said to have been sourced from the Viper.

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Stunning 1954 DeSoto Adventurer II Concept going under the Hammer

On display alongside hundreds of classic vehicles to be auctioned off at the 41st annual Barrett-Jackson event in Scottsdale, Arizona, in January, will be a 1954 DeSoto Adventurer II Coupe Concept.

The one-off study, which is generally touted as one of the greatest concept cars ever made, was designed by Ghia's Luigi Segre and Giovanni Savonuzzi with the Chrysler Group's head designer at the time, Virgil Exner, believed to have contributed to some extent.

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Volvo Designer Imagines a P1800 Coupe for the 21st Century

Volvo Designer Imagines a P1800 Coupe for the 21st Century

The P1800 is by far the sportiest looking model ever to leave Volvo's production facilities - though to be precise, manufacturing began in the UK by Jensen Motors before Volvo moved production to Sweden in 1963. This year marks the 50th anniversary since Volvo introduced the coupe model to the world in 1961, and to celebrate the event, the Swedish firm's head designer and an avid fan of the P1800, Christopher Benjamin, came up with a sketch to show what a modern day version could look like.
Benjamin's proposal blends the lines and shapes of the original P1800 with the styling language of Volvo's most recent and future-telling study, the Concept You sedan that was displayed at the Frankfurt Motor Show this past September.
You can see the result in the pictures below. And for the record, Volvo has no current plans for a spiritual successor to the P1800.
 
Story References: Volvo/Facebook via Autoblog.com

PHOTO GALLERY

Volvo Designer Imagines a P1800 Coupe for the 21st Century

The P1800 is by far the sportiest looking model ever to leave Volvo's production facilities - though to be precise, manufacturing began in the UK by Jensen Motors before Volvo moved production to Sweden in 1963.

This year marks the 50th anniversary since Volvo introduced the coupe model to the world in 1961, and to celebrate the event, the Swedish firm's head designer and an avid fan of the P1800, Christopher Benjamin, came up with a sketch to show what a modern day version could look like.

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Dealer Celebrates Showroom Opening by Dropping a 1950s Cadillac 60 from a Crane… [Video]

There are a lot of different ways to go about generating some buzz for the grand opening of a new car dealership, but hanging a classic 1950s Cadillac 60 sedan from a crane and then releasing it to crash down to the ground is something you don't see happening every day.

This controversial marketing stunt came from the Texas-based, Frank Kent Motor Company, and it took place on November 11 for the opening of its new Cadillac store in Fort Worth.

We can't say for sure what condition the Caddy was in, and even though the move did realize its goal of getting the word around for the new showroom (we're here talking about it, aren't we?), somehow trashing one of your brand's classic models doesn't seem quite right. That or we’re being old fashioned about it…

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George Harrison's 1965 Aston Martin DB5 Fetches More Than Half a Million Dollars at London Auction

Some people seem to have Midas touch - whatever they touch turns into gold. That is true about ex-Beatle star George Harrison, whose 1965 Aston Martin DB5 changed hands for an astonishing £350,000 or about US$546,000 / €410,000, after a fierce bidding war from fans around the world at the COYS True Greats Auction in London.

The winning bid came from an anonymous Beatle and Aston Martin fan from Houston in Texas who said: "George Harrison would be amazed about all the money his car is going to raise for Christian causes."

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Rare Classic Cars Including a DB5 Owned by George Harrison Going Under the Hammer

An Aston Martin DB5 or a Mercedes-Benz 300SL Roadster is, no doubt, a sought-after classic that commands a high price. The bill, however, rockets skywards when a celebrity has owned the classic, as is the case with some of the 36 cars going under the hummer in the Coys True Greats auction that will be held in London on December 7.

“There are some extremely interesting cars on offer which could be the ultimate Christmas present,” said Managing Director of COYS, Chris Routledge. “The classic car market is one that is still buoyant and many people are looking at cars as an investment that is also fun.”

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Rare Find: Fully Restored 1973 Alfa Romeo Montreal V8 up for Sale on eBay

Looking over at eBay's listings today, we discovered a very rare Alfa Romeo sports coupe up for sale.

The car is a 1973 Alfa Romeo Montreal of which only around 3,900 examples were built over a period of seven years from 1970 to 1977, and none were officially imported to North America as the coupe didn't meet U.S. and Canadian emission control requirements at the time.

The Italian sports car was designed by the great Marcello Gandini of Bertone fame and was originally presented as a concept at the 1967 Montreal Expo in Canada before making it into production as the Montreal in 1977.

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Polish Video Awesomeness: BMW E30 Gymkhana Style

Polish Video Awesomeness: BMW E30 Gymkhana Style

Ken Block's Gymkhana? Sure, it's cool and all but for those of you that want to see something different and out of the PR-ordinary [...] for a change and one that does not include a Ford Fiesta for the umpteenth time, some chaps over from Poland have readied a pretty interesting video that you may want to watch. For starters, it's more like a short film and an impressive one at that – though we could have done without the black filters.
The star of the clip is a tuned, E30 BMW 3-Series coupe from the late 1980s that can be seen drifting around or with several types of vehicles from a classic Ford Gran Torino and a truck to a…tank (though we're not entirely sure if the latter is real or has been digitally added). And then there's that blonde in high heels and not much else…
Watch the first installment of the two-part series in the video after the break.

Thanks go to Michał Dyrda for the video find!

VIDEO

 

Last MGB Roadster Ever Made Returns Back Home Through the Window

The MGB Roadster was an open-top British sports car that was launched by MG in 1962 and was followed three years later by a 2+2 GT Coupe. It had a very long life span, surviving until 1980.

At the time, the company changed hands from the British Motor Corporation to British Motor Holdings and then to British Leyland Motor Corporation. The decay and eventually, the fall of the British car industry began during that period.

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If Looks Could Kill: Meet the 1999 Subaru Impreza Casa Blanca Limited Edition

Subaru is one of those automakers that will either bore you to death or irk you with the styling of its products, but scarcely, if ever, cause any excitement with its designs.

The Impreza series is a characteristic example going from boredom to controversial and vice versa not only with each new restyling, but sometimes even within the same generation.

Time to meet the Impreza Casa Blanca - a special edition version of the first generation Sport Wagon with the 1.5-liter boxer engine that was introduced in Japan in 1999 to address the craze consumers had for retro styled cars at the time.

And yes, you read that correctly: the Casa Blanca isn't a abomination creation from some unknown coachbuilder but an official Subaru product and it was produced from 1999 to 2000 in a limited run of 5,000 units!

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Polish Video Awesomeness: BMW E30 Gymkhana Style

Ken Block's Gymkhana? Sure, it's cool and all but for those of you that want to see something different and out of the PR-ordinary [...] for a change and one that does not include a Ford Fiesta for the umpteenth time, some chaps over from Poland have readied a pretty interesting video that you may want to watch.

For starters, it's more like a short film and an impressive one at that – though we could have done without the black filters.

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Sweet Wheels of Ebay Time: 1965 Buick Riviera with 59k Original Miles

The first-generation of Buick's Riviera coupe series is considered by many to be a styling icon of the 1960s and one of the best creations made under the tenure of legendary GM head designer, Bill Mitchell, who had replaced Harley Earl in 1958.

General Motors launched the razor-sharp Riviera onto the market in late 1962 (as a 1963 model) to take on the wildly successful Ford Thunderbird, which it managed to compete but never surpass in sales.

As typical of the time, each year brought several design changes to the original body. This particular example found on eBay is from 1965, which was the last year for the first generation Riviera.

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Happy Thanksgiving from Everyone at Carscoop!

Here’s wishing to all of our readers and their families a happy and hearty Thanksgiving. Even in the case that you don't celebrate the day, perhaps you can still take a moment to acknowledge all the super-duper things that make your life and a little better and more pleasant – and hopefully we're one of them.

In lieu of a traditional Thanksgiving dinner, we plan to take half the day off (okay, maybe a bit more) but we will resume our regular coverage of the daily automotive news and then some more on Friday, November 25.

We’ll send you off with the sounds of happiness: a compilation of new and old V12-powered Lamborghinis, which you can check out in the video after the break.

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BMW 325i Convertible E30 wants to be an 8-Series when it Grows Up [PHOTO GALLERY BMW 325i]

While there's only a single digit gap between the E30 and E31 codenames, in reality, these two BMW models couldn't be more different from each other. The E30, a.k.a. the 1983-1991 3-Series, represented the firm's entry-level family car in the 1980s, while the E31, more widely known as the 8-Series, was the brand's flagship GT coupe in the 1990s.
But one German owner had the bright idea of taking a 1989 325i Convertible (albeit with pre-1987 tail lamps) and fusing the front end of an 850i Coupe on its nose. Of course, there was a slight problem with the width of the 8-Series fascia that was solved by…removing one of the BMW kidney grilles.
Aside from the bespoke front end, it also gets puffed up wheel arches to fit the wider tires, a different rear bumper and a Momo steering wheel.
The modded 325i Convertible comes equipped with the standard 2.5-liter inline-six producing 170-horses and is said to have clocked just 99,750km (62k miles).
Even if do you find the...825i's looks alluring, the €6,990 (US$9,900) price tag on Autohaus Bryjak is less than tempting as it is a bit too close for comfort to the lower-end prices (~€10k) for a real, early 1990s 8-Series model in Germany.

PHOTO GALLERY BMW 325i:

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