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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UC Berkley Tests The Self-Steering Bus, Begins Slow Phase-Out Of The Effervescently Cheery Mass Transit Worker

[Photo Source: Autopia]

According to Autopia, UC Berkley geeks have tested a successful way to circumvent the reckless bus driver with a penchant for vehicular manslaughter [or perhaps that's just New Jersey's own that's coloring our perspective slightly] with a magnetized, self-steering bus. Developed by the California Partners for Advanced Transit and Highways, the self-steering bus isn’t completely automated as it relies on human braking and acceleration. It is self-piloting, however, and using magnetic strips embedded in the street, the automated bus flawlessly navigated a one-mile stretch of road and successfully parked itself within one centimeter of the curb during tests.

Magnetic guidance technology is what allows the bus to behave like a light rail transit vehicle, with magnetic markers placed in the street every 4 feet. Sensors mounted on the bus identify and track the markers, while the alternating polarity of the magnets allows an on-board computer to determine the buses precise latitudinal and longitudinal coordinates. The technology isn’t exactly new, but fuel, time, and money concerns are bringing it into the spotlight. Similar technology that would provide a buss rapid transit system to the bay area could wind up costing as much as $283 million, but simply outfitting the current fleet with a magnetic guidance system would only cost $5 million. Heralded as a major movement for improving traffic congestion and commuting conditions in general, the president of the Bay Area transit board of directors said, “The system has the potential to make bus rapid transit routes…as efficient as light rail lines, which in turn will make buses more efficient in getting people out of their cars.”

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Kia Soul-Based Concept Teased Ahead Of Detroit [Detroit Auto Show]

Kia's released the first teaser shot of a concept based on the 2010 Soul it plans to bare at next month's Detroit Auto Show.

While this teaser image doesn't reveal much about the Kia Soul Concept, our first guess to what it could be is a light duty pickup variant or possibly a delivery van with some high-tech gizmos on the inside. Others have speculated we'll see a Kia Soul coupe. Truthfully, we're really not sure what it could be. Kia is being pretty tight-lipped about this one so our guess is as good as yours, but we'll be sure to update you with new pictures as they become available.

[via Kia]

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Rumors Swirl About The 2011 Toyota Celica, A Subaru-Toyota Street Legal Speed Demon

Toyota FT-HS Concept

Although the Scion tC is widely regarded as the modern-day Toyota Celica, it’s generally agreed that Toyota hasn’t produced a performance car since the death of the Toyota Supra. Toyota’s FT-HS concept car and the fledgling Subieyota [Subaru-Toyota] partnership have people talking though, and there are rumors that Toyota [with the help of Subaru] is planning a sports-tuner comeback with the 2011 Toyota Celica.

Many expect designs for the 2011 Celica to draw heavily from the 400-hp Toyota FT-HS concept, but it’s still unclear exactly what the final product will look like. We do know, however, that the 2011 Toyota Celica will be offered with two trim levels: the GT and the GT-4. The Celica GT will be a RWD 2-door coupe and feature Subaru’s 2.0L boxer engine, while the GT-4 will be the stuff of street racers’ wet dreams. Anticipated as an Impreza STi/Celica crossbreed, the Celica GT-4 will feature the Impreza STi’s 300-hp 2.0L boxer engine as well as Subaru’s unique 4WD [complete with in-wheel electric motors for white-knuckle performance]. Careful to avoid direct competition with the 4- and 5-door offerings on the Impreza STi, the Celica GT and GT-4 will only be offered in either 2-door coupe or 3-door hatchback versions. Planned as a 2011 model, speculations place the European release of the Toyota Celica in late 2009, early 2010. Plans for a North American debut have yet to be confirmed.

Subaru Impreza WRX STi

Toyota Celica

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Swiss Firm Mindset Provides a New Perspective on Hybrids with E-Motion

There is a new Swiss firm out that is looking to help move the lithium-ion hybrid technologies forward. The company is called Mindset and their new E-Motion hybrid car is designed to effectly change all our mindsets on hybrid technology. The mind behind the design of Mindset’s E-Motion hybrid is former VW Chief Designer Murat Guenak. He prescribed to it the classic round headlights, the long torso, the gull-wing doors and the modern brake-lights of the rear-end. But despite its purpose driven design it is the motivation and aluminum light-weight construction of the car that is what makes the E-Motion special.

In the video below you will get a good glimpse of the E-Motion sans skin to see what the Aluminum framing looks like and the sound of the electric motors in action. Making the work of the electric motors easy in the E-Motion is the weight of the frame. It weighs a mere 1764 lbs. Feeding power to the electric motors are lithium-ion batteries that are recharged in 3 different ways. Not only is the E-Motion a hybrid car with a 24hp motor that serves to recharge the batteries on the road and gives the car an added 100-km (62 miles) range, but it is also a Plug-In and also contains Solar Panels on its rear-quarters for additional charging.

Check out the video below and look for the photo gallery of the E-Motion afterward.

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Super-coupe Mercedes-Benz test mule Spied in California?

The hardworking spy-boys of KGP Photography and the writers of AutoBlog have captured some fantastic photos of what may be the new Mercedes-Benz/AMG super car. While little is known about the exact ingredients that make up this test mule, the suspicion is that this is the test car for Mercedes-Benz all aluminum space frame that they plan to have incorporated in much of their line-up by 2012.

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Spy-Photos: Alfa-Romeo 8C Competizione

One of the best looking concept cars to ever hit the auto show circuit has finally been spotted in production car trim, by none other than Spy Photographer Extraordinaire Brenda Priddy.

The 2008 Alfa Romeo 8C Competizione concept car debuted at the Paris Auto Show last fall. Production of the limited edition super sports car (450hp 4.6L V8, 6 speed dual-clutch paddle shifter tranny, 20″ wheels) is to start shortly at the rate of 500 cars per year.

This heavily masked production version was captured during testing in Germany. While some details have deviated from the show car (wheels/ wider A-pillars), overall the final car still captures the spirit and essence of the superb original concept. Hmmmm… those new wheels look familiar. Where have I seen that design before? Oh I remember, on a Maserati MC12 !!!

If this car should make it to North America, expect to shell about $200,000 USD if you can get your stinky hands on a copy. I hope they are sold here; I can’t wait to spot one on the road. In any case, expect the first customer cars to start showing up on MadWhips in a year or so.

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