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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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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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UK Student Drivers to be Tested on Eco-Driving Efficiency

The UK has recently added a new level of complexity to student driver testing. In addition to proper signaling, highway driving and parallel parking, the UK Driving Standards Agency will be testing how efficient of an eco-driver the student is.

According to the Agency, efficient driving means not speeding too much and avoiding sudden brakes, driving techniques that they say could save motorists a whole month’s worth of fuel each year.

Other aspects of the new testing method will include the “proper” way to shift and how to anticipate stopping down the road so you can slow down to avoid a complete stop. The motto for new drivers to absorb is: Gears are for going, brakes are for slowing. Why is it that dictitorial governments always love mottos?

No students will be failed for not knowing how to improve their fuel efficiencies, but the driving agency hopes that the new methods will help create a generation better eco-drivers.

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The King of Cars Closes His Hummer Dealership

Hummer sales are plummeting all over the country. In the past year alone, eight Hummer dealerships have closed down, that’s an 5% decline in dealerships. And just the other day, Chop closed his doors. That’s right, The King of Cars, Dan Towbin, is out of the Hummer business. Apparently, he says he’s going to start selling Smart Cars and Vespas next year along side various mid-sized luxury cars. Can you image Chop selling Vespas?

Towbin’s known as a Las Vegas personality and Hummer enthusiast. He says the Hummer and Vegas are connected. “It’s all about bling and it’s in the desert,” he said. “I feel very aligned with the brand, neither General Motors nor I wanted to go this way.”

I just can’t picture The King of Car’s rapping about a Smart Fortwo. Can you?

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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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Brilliance Brings BS BMW’s Stateside

Brilliance BS6

Small Chinese automaker and BMW-alligned Brilliance Jinbei Automotive Co. has recently scrapped plans to showcase 4 new vehicles at the Detroit Auto show in January. The original North American Brilliance line-up was to showcase 4 models, the BS6 mid-size sedan, BS4 compact car, BC3 sports coupe, and FRV hatchback. Today, Brilliance modified their U.S. debut to only include 2 models, the BS6 and BS4. In much the same way the Hyundai Genesis resembles a Mercedes S-Class, in the right light, the Brilliance BS models could pass for BMW 3- or 5-series sedans.

Brilliance BS4

Apparently, the plan was revised after Brilliance sent their model line-up to the U.S. in 2007 for government safety and emissions evaluation, and the cars failed to past muster. According to company VP He Guohua, the cars fared reasonably well during the crash testing, but emissions readouts indicated high levels of oxides of nitrogen. Determined to participate in the U.S. market by 2009, Brilliance hired both the engineering arm of Porsche AG as well as the U.S. engine technology company FEV Inc to bring their vehicles up to American safety/emissions standards. Guohua expects the design revisions to be completed by December, cutting it close but still allowing them to participate in the Detroit showing.

Brilliance ultimately plans to participate in the global market and hopes to begin selling cars in the U.S. by 2009 and worldwide shortly thereafter. Despite the setbacks, Joe Serra, co-chair for this year’s Detroit show, said that Brilliance is a much-anticipated and very welcome addition to the ranks of auto makers expected to be in attendance.

Brilliance BC3

Brilliance FRV

[Source: Automotive News]

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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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Stereoscopic Parking Garage: I’m Freaking Out, Dude

Axel Peemoellerof Australia apparently won several design awards for the three-dimensional directional system he created inside the Eureka Tower Carpark in Melbourne, Australia. The Eureka Tower is self-described as the tallest residential building in the world as well as one of the largest building projects to use 3D Virtual Building^TM.

Admittedly a pretty impressive design, I still picture at least 30% of the building’s parking garage patrons going, “Dude, that is some serious chronic…”

[Hit "Read More" below to see full gallery]

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“NGR”, WTF?

In guilty-conscience news, the Arkansas Office of Motor Vehicles is making amends for hundreds of standard-issue license plates that some motorists have interpreted as racist. Generally oblivious, the gaffe was brought to the attention of the Office of Motor Vehicles by offended Arkansas residents.

Apparently, the license plates in question bear the letter combination “NGR”, which some have taken to represent an abbreviation for a notorious, offensive racial slur. While personalized plates are screened for inappropriate material via both computer and OMV employee, standard-issue plates are randomly computer-generated and printed. Although largely an efficient system, the lack of manual screening for obscene material on standard-issue plates can be held accountable for the discrepancy.

Some motorists assert that the controversial content amounts to little more than an unfortunate computer error, and subsequently do not feel offended. Anxious to avoid the shadow of their stereotypical Southern image, Arkansas has taken immediate action to remove and replace the offensive plates, explaining that “they must consider who may see the plates on other cars on the highway and become offended.”

[Source: Arkansas Local News]

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