Rallybuzz: June 2010

Wednesday, June 30, 2010

Tuesday, June 29, 2010

2009 Lancia Delta
Lancia Automobiles S.p.A. (Italian pronunciation:
an Italian automobile manufacturer founded in 1906 by Vincenzo Lancia and which became part of the Fiat Group in 1969. The company has a long history of producing distinctive cars and also has a strong rally heritage. Modern Lancias are seen as presenting a more luxurious alternative to the models in the Fiat range upon which they are based. One of the firm's trademarks is the use of letters of the Greek alphabet as the names of its models. The Lancia CEO is Olivier François.

History

Foundation and early years

Lancia Beta Torpedo (1909)

Lancia was founded on 29 November 1906 in Turin by Vincenzo Lancia and his friend Claudio Fogolin, both being Fiat racing drivers, as Lancia & C. The first Lancia automobile the "tipo 51" or 12 HP (later called Alfa) was made in 1907 and produced from 1908. This car had a small four cylinder engine with a power of 58 bhp.^[1] In 1937 Vincenzo died of a heart attack, and his wife Adele Miglietti Lancia and his son Gianni Lancia took over the firm. They persuaded Vittorio Jano to join Lancia as an engineer. Jano had already made a name for himself by constructing the Alfa Romeo 1750 Sport Alfa Romeo 6C, 2300, 2900, P2 Alfa Romeo P2 and P3 Alfa Romeo P3, some of the most successful racers of its time.

Lancia

a new Lancia

Lancia Delta

Lancia

a new Lancia

Lancia

Lancia Integrale

Lamborghini Cars Pictures

Lamborghini Car Picture

Automobili Lamborghini S.p.A. commonly referred to as Lamborghini (pronounced , is an Italian automaker based in the small township of Sant'Agata Bolognese. The company was founded in 1963 by manufacturing magnate Ferruccio Lamborghini, who set out to create a refined grand touring car.

The company's first offerings, the 350GT and 400GT, were noted for their refinement, power, and comfort. Lamborghini gained wide acclaim in 1966 for the Miura sports coupé, which established mid-engine design as the standard layout for high-performance cars of the era. After a decade of rapid growth, hard times befell the company in the mid-1970s, as sales plunged in the wake of the 1973 world financial downturn and oil crisis. After a bankruptcy and three changes in ownership, Lamborghini came under the corporate umbrella of the Chrysler Corporation. The American company failed to make Lamborghini profitable and sold it in 1994. Lamborghini would remain unprofitable throughout the 1990s, before being sold by its Indonesian owners to AUDI AG, a subsidiary of the Volkswagen Group, a German automotive concern. Audi's ownership marked the beginning of a period of stability and increased productivity for Lamborghini, with sales increasing nearly tenfold over the course of the 2000s. A world financial crisis in the late 2000s saw Lamborghini's sales cut in half, leading CEO Stephen Winkelmann to predict continued poor sales for supercar makers.

History

Origin

A green and red tractor parked in a gravel patch with trees and hills in the background

A Lamborghini 22PS from 1951.

Main article: Ferruccio Lamborghini

Automobili Lamborghini was founded by Ferruccio Lamborghini, the child of viticulturists from the comune of Renazzo di Cento, Province of Ferrara, in the Emilia-Romagna region of Northern Italy. After serving as a mechanic in the Regia Aeronautica,^[5]^[6] during World War II, Lamborghini went into business building tractors out of leftover military hardware from the war effort. By the mid-1950s, Lamborghini's tractor company, Lamborghini Trattori S.p.A., had become one of the largest agricultural equipment manufacturers in the country. He was also the owner of a successful gas heater and air conditioning manufacturer.

Lamborghini's wealth allowed him to cultivate a childhood interest in cars, owning a number of luxury automobiles including Alfa Romeos, Lancias, Maseratis, and a Mercedes Benz. He purchased his first Ferrari, a 250GT, in 1958, and went on to own several more. Lamborghini was fond of the Ferraris, but considered them too noisy and rough to be proper road cars, likening them to repurposed track cars.^[

Lamborghini

Lamborghini Car Picture

Lamborghini Car

Lamborghini Car Picturev

Lamborghini Car

Lamborghini Car Pictures

Lamborghini Murcielago pictures

2002 Italian automaker Automobili Lamborghini launched supercar Lamborghini Murcielago, built by Luc Donckerwolke. The car was named after a bull that heroically survived 24 sword injuries from a matador. Every time a new Lamborghini car is presented, the show turns into a special event.

Later, in 2004 and 2005 Lamborghini Roadster was introduced, an upgraded model, with a bolder rear flank. The first Murcielago had 580-horsepower and a V-12 engine. Since it was put out on the market, over 2 000 such supercars have been sold.

Lamborghini Murcielago Roadster

In 2006 the car’s name was changed to Lamborghini Murciélago LP640 and it was improved with more power and multiple user-friendly characteristics. The initials “LP” come from Longitudinale Posteriore, which refers to the engine that is placed longitudinally, able to reach 633 hp at 8000 rpm. It has 6.5-litre engine with 640 horsepower. The transmission is placed in front of the engine with the differential behind it. On the outside, the changes were made with the intention to make the car more effective in aerodynamics: reshaped rear bumpers and exhaust, enlarged air intake on the left, revised suspension under the body of the car. The doors open on the lateral like its predecessors, the body is made of steel and carbon fiber and the wheels are new 18-inch Hermera alloys. Inside the Murcielago LP640 has a lot more room and improved audio system. Ceramic breaks, glass engine cover - which shows off the LP640's 6.5 L V12 engine - and chrome paddle shifters are optional. At the Paris Motor Show, a special edition was presented: The Versace LP640 featured completely white exterior, created as a special version of the LP640 Coupe, with Versace personalized interior. Another all-black Versace and Roadster Lamborghini were introduced.

Green Lamborghini Murcielago

Lamborghini Murcielago

Lamborghini Murcielago Roadster

The 2007 Lamborghini Murciélago LP640 has a 6.5 l engine and torque output improved at 487 pound-feet. The 3 500-pound bull can reach over 350 km/hour, making it the most powerful street-legal supercar. It is made of carbon fiber with 113.5 cm in height. Apart from being powerful, the engine is also very loud. The automatic transmission – called e-gear - is optional, for a “merely” $10 000 while the ceramic gears cost extra $13 000. The e-gear is also available equipped with the new “Thrust” mode, an acceleration program. It reaches 96 km/ph in 3.3 seconds. It is not as technically or electronically embellished as one might expect from German manufacturer, Audi. This superb missile will weaken you account of approximately $320 000.

Mercedes-Benz reveals Ocean Drive concept for Detroit

Look past the Mercedes-Benz Ocean Drive concept's LED head and taillamps and fancy flush doorhandles and you're looking at what a likely S-Class production convertible will look like. Names for the famous strip of road on South beach, the Ocean Drive would fit right in with the beautiful people and the high-end cars known to prowl the area.

Based on the V12-powered, long-wheelbase S 600 sedan, the Ocean Drive concept gets an oversized grille (we like) and retains its source car's four-door style. the side glass is frameless, and there are no pillars to interrupt the lines when the car is open to the sky. A traditional, large soft-top protects occupants in sub-optimal weather conditions, and the car features Mercedes' neck-warming technology called AIRSCARF. Nifty indeed. Build it.

Mercedes-Benz reveals Ocean Drive concept

Maserati Khamsin Car Gallry

Maserati Khamsin

The Maserati Khamsin (named after the Khamsin, a hot, violent wind in the Egyptian desert) was a sports car introduced as a Bertone prototype in 1972 at the Turin Auto Show. In 1973 it was put on display at the Paris Motor Show, where it was badged as a Maserati. Production of the vehicle started in 1974. The car had a front mounted 4.9 litre V-8 delivering 320 hp, housed in bodywork that resembled a lower, flatter Ghibli, designed by Bertone. Production of the Khamsin ended in 1982, with only 430 vehicles produced.

The Khamsin had several unusual features, such as DIRAVI power steering, with higher than usual assistance for parking, decreasing with speed, and a glass rear panel (between the taillights) below the rear window, giving reverse visibility surpassing most cars, especially similar sports cars.