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Queen Converts Bentleys To Biofuels [The Royal Family]

The Queen is going green, converting her two custom $15 million Bentley Limos to run on bio-ethanol, preempting an effort by Bentley to do the same for its entire fleet.

Queen Elizabeth the II, who lives rent free in several state-owned mansions and castles — the poorly insulated kind that are a bitch to heat in the winter — travels by a state-owned private jet and requires a security detail that uses many fossil fuel powered cars, trucks, motorcycles and helicopters, has decided to do her bit for the environment. The biofuel conversion is estimated to increase the fuel economy of her two, scarcely used, Bentleys by a staggering 40%. How? By burning some of her tiny island nation’s food supply in place of gasoline. Bentley is expected to introduce a similar system for its range of luxury cars by 2012, allowing similarly well-heeled individuals to feel better about themselves while dining on imported fine foodstuffs.

Last summer, Prince Charles, the Queen’s doting son, converted his Aston Martin DB6 to run on ethanol produced from surplus wine. It’s not known which fuel source the Queen will use to power her Bentleys. [via The Daily Mail]

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2009 Fiat 500 Abarth Essesse, Paris Auto Show Preview

Surrendering to the endless bombardment of pre-Paris reveals, for the next few days leading up to the 2008 Paris Auto Show, RideLust will be exclusively covering all the leaks and teaser shots of the major impending Paris reveals. To kick things off, we’re starting with the 2009 Fiat 500 Abarth Essesse, Fiat’s sporty revision of the compact Fiat 500 Abarth that launched earlier this year.

Full gallery after the jump

Getting the full street racing treatment, the Fiat Abarth Essesse is trimmed with a full aerodynamic body kit, complete with a hefty rear spoiler, Brembo brakes, and 17″ Alloy wheels. Under the hood the Fiat Abarth Essesse is expected to feature a 4-cylinder engine 1.4L turbo charged engine, producing a respectable 160-hp. According to Fiat, they already have 200 workshops toiling away to put the kits on the market, and hope to give the Mini Cooper S a run for it’s fierce little compact money.

[Photo Cred:WorldCarFans.com]

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Auto Recalls Total 1.84 Million In China Over Last Four Years [Recalls]

Chinese state news agency Xinhua is reporting Chinese automakers recalled 1.84 million vehicles since they created a recall process four years ago. But they swear it's all the fault of foreigners.

Chinese companies have had a few issues with recalls in the past, so the news of just 1.84 million recalls in four years is a bit surprising. As a point of comparison, GM recalled 950,000 vehicles this August alone in the U.S. We have a feeling the number is artificially low given the Chinese legal system's favoritism towards Chinese-owned enterprises and the resulting lax view towards safety and quality.

Because this is Xinhua, there's a fairly strong anti-foreign bias in the piece in the form of this tidbit:

Guangzhou Honda Automobile Co., Ltd. made the single largest recall, which involved more than 420,000 Accords in March 2007.
Mercedes-Benz conducted the most frequent recalls: 19 between February 2005 and December 2008, involving 38,657 vehicles.

We'd point out the Guangzhou Hondas are Chinese-built, though Japanese designed. Perhaps the reason they had more recalls is because they're actually interested in recalling cars for safety or performance issues. Though the number feels low to us, the fact China is recalling vehicles at all is a sign they're at least attempting to hold themselves to the same standards as the rest of the world.

[Gasgoo]

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Italian Stallions' Fiat X1/9 Totally Reliable At LeMons, Other Than The Blown Head Gasket [24 Hours Of Lemons]

Most racers see a blown head gasket as a huge setback, but not Tony, Tony, Tony, and Tony from the Italian Stallions Fiat X1/9 race team. They know it's time to fix it again!

I predicted that the Stallions would finish just 27 laps before the race, though I was hoping they'd do better. Come on, I thought, it's an X1/9! As it turned out, the Stallions managed to knock off 260 laps at Thunderhill- nearly ten times my guess. Not only that, they turned a best lap time of 1:39.258, which is down in BMW E30 and Acura Integra territory.

Of course, it is a Fiat, so the team members probably knew they wouldn't be kicking back in a nice warm motel room and swapping race stories on Saturday night. Hey, why is the engine running so hot?

Turns out that some sort of cooling-system drain valve on the engine let go late on Saturday, which resulted in overheating and a blown head gasket.

Hey, no problem! Here's Tony removing the cylinder head, no doubt enjoying the bracing effects of Thunderhill's 34-degree night air and howling winds, while her assistant- also named Tony- helps out. That's right, this team has an all-woman pit crew, and they got the Fiat back in working order in time for the next day's racing. For having selected an X1/9 and getting numerous mistaken black flags, the Italian Stallions grabbed the I Got Screwed trophy for the race. Be sure to check out their website when you're done here. Thanks to Mad Science Senior and Mad Science for many of these photos.
And here's some in-car video for you; be sure to turn the sound way, way down before you hit the Play button!

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Detroit 09': Chevy Spark and Orlando Headed to the US

GM originally stated that the production version of the Chevy Beat and Chevy Orlando would not be coming to the US, but things change. With a lack of small cars in the US, it makes sense to bring the two vehicles to the US.

The production version of the Beat, officially now dubbed the Spark and the Orlando will come to the US in 2011. The Chevy Spark is going to have its official debut at the 2009 Geneva Motor Show. Sales of the Spark in Europe will begin in the first-quarter of 2010.

The one photo we have of the Spark was apparently leaked. Expect more details soon.

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VW Reveals Concept Pick-Up Truck Early, Aims To Save The Seals

Featuring design cues that suggest heavy Chevrolet Avalanche/Honda Ridegline influences, Vee Dub has released preview photos of their new pick-up truck, which isn’t set to officially debut until later this week at the 62nd IAA Commercial Vehicles Show in Germany. Scheduled to begin production in Europe in the fall of 2009, VW says their first pick-up truck was not engineered for the casual pick-up enthusiast, but rather tailor-made specifically to accommodate coastal search-and-rescue crews.

View gallery after the jump

A four-door double cab, the production pick-up will be offered with both diesel or gasoline direct-inject engines and will be equipped with VW’s 4Motion all-wheel drivetrain. Prioritizing function over aesthetic to better suit the purposes for which it was intended, the pick-up truck’s interior will be mostly bare bones. The most “luxurious” accessory is the dash-mounted high-tech navigation system, but will include other understated, useful features like a cab-integrated storage units and a tail-gate embedded tool box that optimizes available bed capacity. Choosing to save the juicer details for the unveiling later this week, VW hasn’t released the pick-up’s name or pricing specifics. What we do know is that VW’s marine rescue vehicle is only intended to service the Europäische rettungsschwimmer, and will initially only be sold to the European market - no word yet on a North American debut.

[Photo Source: TheTorqueReport.com]

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From Detroit: Autoblog on Autoline LIVE <strike>at 4:00PM EST</strike> <strike>Right Now!</strike> You missed it.

Our own Chris Paukert will be appearing on Autoline LIVE with John McElroy, which streams from the floor of the 2009 Detroit Auto Show from 4-5:00PM EST today. Hit play on the video player below and keep an eye out for Chris (we don't know exactly what time he'll appear, so keep watching).

Chris did a great job representing for the AB. If you missed it, we'll be posting an archived version once it's available.

From Detroit: Autoblog on Autoline LIVE ~~at 4:00PM EST~~ ~~Right Now!~~ You missed it. originally appeared on Autoblog on Sun, 11 Jan 2009 15:58:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Detroit 2009: Kia Soul'ster guns for fun and frolic

Filed under: Concept Cars, Detroit Auto Show, Convertibles, Kia

Click above for a high-res gallery of the Kia Soul'ster

The Kia Soul has people talking. Specifically, you. Kia's media presentation here in Detroit highlighted feedback from the Autoblog commentariat. No, we didn't know in advance, but you won't hear us complaining either. However, the star of the show for Kia wasn't the Soul -- it's a new concept derived from the boxy people-mover.

After some dancing fanfare involving large placards, the Kia Soul'ster drove onstage. Put simply, it's cool. The two-door design study looks like a pickup from the side, but the "cab" is open-air, much like the old Isuzu Amigo. Pretty much everything on the car is manual: the gearbox, the window cranks, and the two-piece canvas roof. Other details set it apart from its wagonoid brother, such as a slightly chopped roofline and dual exhausts with carbon fiber sleeves. The roof lamps integrated into the roll bars are a nice touch, too. Cantilevered seats mounted off the center console free up storage room beneath them, and there's a small cargo space aft of the second row. The Soul'ster's meant to be an economical four-cylinder, tarmac-only, front-wheel-drive plaything whose primary mission is fun. It sure looks the part, so now the ball's in Kia's court. Do they have the stones to actually follow through and build something like this? Tell them what you think below. One thng's certain: they'll be reading.

Gallery: Detroit 2008: Kia Soul'ster Live