A limited production run is proposed, especially since its normally-aspirated V8 is an increasingly rare configuration in today’s turbo-dominated motoring landscape.
If it actually enters production, WMD will build a few hundred at a pre-markup price of just under $100k - the actual markup percentage is yet to be determined.
The 2017 Athena is our Top-line Luxury car, Coming in at $63,900, it is our most expensive non-sports car. Named for the Greek Goddess of Wisdom, Craft, And War, often characterized by her calm demeanor and not fighting without reason. This, we felt, was a more than fitting name for a reserved luxury cruiser that could unleash the dogs of war when needed.
This All Aluminium Car is powered by an All Alloy 4.3L Twin-Turbo V8, delivering 368bhp. This gives this 2 ton Luxury sedan a 0-62mph of 4.9s and a top speed of 179mph, not bad seeing as it still returns over 25mpg!
Well some bad news the concept car is busted so we won’t be showcasing it this time, we also might have to delay the next presentation to tomorrow since there some issues with the documents.
The calmness of the show was broken yet again by the Storm Automotive group with the arrival of two insane cars, propelled by AluStar III V8’s tuned for more than 1200 horsepower.
“They look even better in public, don’t they?” Luke asked the handful of people who had grouped around the Storm Automotive cars. “Much better than just pictures in a car magazine.”
After being in a hiatus for a few months, the Miller Automobile Company is proud to unveil the 2018 Miller ZA SUV.
The Miller ZA will be available with AWD and a MAC developed 8 Speed Automatic Transmission as standard across all trims. The ZA will come with a choice of either a V6 or V8 engines, all of them turbocharged, making the ZA the first vehicle in Miller’s history to only come with turbocharged engines across all trim levels.
The entry level [color=lightblue]ZA-34[/color] will come with the newly developed 3.4L twin turbocharged 34L6 DOHC V6 producing 271 HP and acheiving 27 MPG average.
The premium [color=lightblue]ZA-41[/color] will come with the also newly developed 4.1L twin turbocharged 41L8 SOHC V8 producing 388 HP and averaging 23 MPG.
Johnson was currently on his phone trying to reach one of his drivers "take the phone Nick"he mumbled.
Meanwhile at River automotive factory
A young man around twenty years old was currently reading a book as his phone starting to buzz, he look away from his book he saw the number of the boss on the display. “huh i wonder why he is calling me”
"hello?"Nick answered the phone
["Oh good that i reached you nick, do you have a minute?"Johnson asked]
"sure boss"nick said
[“Alright i’m pretty sure you already heard what happend with our concept car?”]
“Yes i heard about it quite a shame that we had to delay the showcase of it, but what should i do about it?” nick wondered.
[“Well i thought you could perhaps bring the other concept here”]
“Uhm boss are you sure about it, didn’t you say we should show it first much later ?” Nick answered bewildered
["Yes but we need it here, how long does it take to get you here?"Johnson asked]
"About uh 10 hours, perhaps earlier after all that thing is like a bullet"Nick Answered
[Good, but put it in sport mode to unleash it’s max power then you might be here in 8 hours]
“Alright i’m on my way” Nick said before he hung up, he picked up his helmet sprinted to the garage where the car was stored upon opening there she stood waiting to greet world.
Inside the car he quickly contacted the security to open door for him since he didn’t want to wait, looking at the center dash he saw the start and driving select mode switching it to sport and hitting the start button the turbo v12 letting out a growl woken up from his slumber.
One last look to the front gate seeing it was open, he it the accelerator the car went of with smoking tires as it made its way to Detroit.
The Aiutante is quite a good seller in Japan so we thought it would be interesting to see what the American press and public think of this tiny little kei car, from a country where everything small is cute to a country where bigger is better, what do the public really think of this car.
We have 3 versions on display, one of which is our new hybrid version, we aim to sell these cars to the aging population who struggle to drive their 70’s Cadillacs and Lincolns, we also aim to sell these cars in cities where parking is limited, introducing the kei car into the states is a bold move but we will see if it comes to the states from the outcome of the show.
The car comes with a typically Japanese 660cc engine but without a turbo as we felt it might just be a bit too much for the old geezers behind the wheel, the doors on the side split to allow for a big opening for ease of access but sliding doors are optional (shown on all 3 models).
Anziano - The Anziano comes with a 4-speed DCT gearbox, easy wipe down vinyl seats, an easy to use clearly labelled infotainment system (with a free Motown CD), an extra large speedometer, an extra large rear view mirror, parking sensors, parking camera, effortless electric opening tailgate, clear LCD screen under speedo to alert of any malfunctions and the car comes with an ‘owners lifetime warranty’, we really like to take care of the aging population.
Giocare - The Giocare comes with a 4-speed DCT gearbox, recycled plastic interior and a special biodegradable seat fabric, an easy to use infotainment system with bluetooth compatibility, Apple Car Play and a free years subscription to Spotify, the car comes with a digital speedo that you can customise the look of from your iPhone (please do not do this while driving), for every Giocare trim sold we will plant two trees and donate 5% of the profits to a green organisation.
Ibrido - The hybrid version uses our state of the art E-ZAP electric motor and battery system, the electric motors increase the cars economy by almsot 25%, complete with a 100-mile range in full electric mode, all other features are similar to the Giocare trim.
Not long ago we discontinued the Roma range in the USA as we found that nobody was buying the average sized hatchback, this caused us to have to withdraw it from the US market, fortunately when we introduced the new Roma the Americans went mad and sent a lot of tweets and emails our way demanding we bring it back to the US, well, here we are with our all new US spec Roma.
The models shown have our 1.6 Turbo engine, both cars are ever so slightly different in trim levels, all Roma’s come with Automatic Climate Control, Cruse Control, 6-speed DCT and 3 different driving modes.
The Scalatore is our fairly successful SUV, the only problem we found is that the V6 was just not enough for some people, no, we had to go V8 power. the Crociera V8 comes with a compact but beefy 4.0 V8 coupled to a smooth 7-speed DCT.
We have also made a hybrid version making an extra 25% fuel economy and has a 30-Mile pure electric range.
Tomorrow we open the Horyuji and Winchester stands to show off what our sub-brands have to offer
Walking on stage at a rate of knots, Markus looks fearfully at the biggest crowd he had ever seen in his life, some 500+ people, he says to himself ‘Christ, if this had been a main branch launch event it would need another room at this rate’. As he carefully centers himself on the stage, the Valencia R1 from 1952 and 2016 both roll on from opposite sides of the stage and Chief Designer Caprio Gabagucci and Chief Engineer Aki Magasaki walk out of their respective cars, to an uproar of cheer (the enthusuiasm levels are higher than an iPhone launch at this point), and, to the crowds delight, the Picasso Sol from 1963 and Picasso Eclipse from 2016 also come on stage with Chief Designer Gaius Aarden and Chief Engineer Rob Wilheim also get out of their respective cars (another uproar and another collosal shite in the underwear of Markus Dylan Vanguard, of course that part is made up, but you get where I’m coming from, Markus didn’t like it one bit), then came his turn to speak ‘I am very pleased to be making Vaungaurd’s Detroit Debut on this fine winters day, once I heard that this opportunity was being presented to me I almost hit the ceiling with my head for joy (which is actually quite easy on a Bullet train racing towards Okinawa at 320 kmh) I was on holiday until a few days ago in Okinawa, I was on the train back when I received the email while playing Automation on my MacBook (I know Mac isn’t supported lol) and I couldn’t belive what I was reading, the look on my face must have terrified the poor old lady next to me, and then the sound as I hit the roof, ouch, I can still feel that stinging today. Anyway, I have a cracker for you tonight, 2 cars and 3 engines, Are you ready… LET THE SHOW BEGIN!’
*All of the cars and their respective owners leave the stage, with Markus getting into the 2016 R1, after about 90 seconds of sheer blackness, loud electronic rock/pop instrumental music plays and smake machines shoot smoke high up into the air at great speed, through the smoke, the audience anc just make out a team of 100 or so dancers doing a very contemporary dance of sharp, angular movements and lots of sparations, then the shillouette of 4 small hatchbacks move slowly on the stage and the smoke subsides slightly, allowing for people to get a brief glimpse of the cars, The R1 rolls back on stage and Markus gets out, this time wearing bud style electronic ear defenders (he always hated loud noises). The smke dies down and the dancers are fully revealed, wearing tight fitting black one piece suits that cover all but the face, the music subsides into nothingness and the cars are revealed, one Grey, one Orange, one Black, and one Blue, with matching coloured spotlights shining down on them. 'This, my friends is the NEW Valencia R3 and R3 Maxi, we are launching these cars into the small premium hatchback calsss in the Summer or Early Autumn, it depends on how well the current R3 and R4 are selling by July. These cars are going to launch with 2 engines, a 1.0 and a 1.3l 3 cylinder, with the 1.3 being the TFSD unit found in the Picasso Vortex, these cars have a full 5 star safety rating from all testing groups around the world (this is met by immense ‘whooping’), later this year, in Early Winter, we will be launching the rest of the engine range for the R3 and R3 Maxi (5-door) with everything from 1.5l i3s to ‘the brute of the range, a 3.2l v6 with twin turbos and special grip and aero kit with AWD to cope with the power, Tonight, I also have for you another launch’. The R3s swivel round on their turntables and roll off stage, and on rolls 2 coupes, one Silver and one British Racing Green, along with different coloured spotlights to boot, they turn 360 on the turntables and face the audience at a 30 degree off axis angle that showcases the attitude of the cars. ‘These cars are the Picasso Equinox 25i and 31d, these are straight 6 engines with i4s and all of the V style engines you should expect from a Picasso GT, these also have 5 star worldwide safety and the diesel can manage over 20mpg US, quite impressive for a luxury GT with many horsepowers (the official figures are being kept a secret until they can be found on the official configurator on the Picasso website), I would say more but I left my script in the R1 and what more is there to say anyway, All that is left for me to say is… Enjoy the rest of your night and of couse, stay for the party’ Markus very camply sashays down the stage steps as modern Electro music plays and all of the cars that featured in the launche event, even the already launched display cars joined the newly unveiled carson a side stage where the public could look at them and go inside them to get a feel for the cars, should they buy one, and also to drool over and inside of the classics (that’s what I would do, wouldn’t you), the party continued through the night and only stopped at around 1 AM when the journalists decided they were too drunk to get the story out quickly and Markus had come out as Gay to as many people as he had seen fit (trustable people and fellows in the motoring industry, not every Tom, Dick and Harry from every old fashioned British Soap Opera)
Pictures will follow later because I havnt made some of the cars that I have mentioned (the Picassos not launched basically)
##Daily Round-Up - Day 3
Welcome back to the city of Detroit where day three of the 2017 show has just closed up. Today was undoubtedly all about supercars with four big releases from three very different companies, though that wasn’t all that was going down. We heard some people today had been put off by the rain - the weather has been terrible here today truth be told - but boy did they miss out!
Petoskey reveal wide ranging 2017 line-up
Petoskey and sub-brand Ventnor revealed and interesting line-up of vehicles this morning, contrasting classic with modern. A gorgeous example of the legendary Indian from the 1950s and a very well kept Vetnor Soverign certainly drew many photos from on-lookers, but real focus was on the latest generation of the Montauk. This latest iteration crams some 522 hp under the bonnet and sports the no-frills tough-guy styling we’ve come to expect from the Montauk name.
The 2017 model of the ever trusty Stag was also on display, featuring new transmission and an upgraded version of the company’s 402 V8.
Meanwhile, at the Ventnor section of the display, an original 1945 Ventnor Speedster, formerly the worlds fastest car, sat alongside its would-be great grandchild, the brand new Bambino. The bi-turbo V6 coupe is a typical mid-engined affair, though no performance stats have yet been released, so we can’t say for certain how it competes with its rivals. The clean looks and clever design are sure to attract many buyers.
Hot rods turn out to be the centre of the Mott Works display
We’ve been waiting for Mott Works to open their display for the past few days, and that finally happened today, revealing some of the companies earliest cars. The adorable Savage and Rage, both based on the company’s B Chassis, looked fantastic in their original red paint. Alongside them was the V12 powered Aqueos Sport, which drew comparison to the Ventnor Speedster on the other side of the display hall. Once upon time, these cars were rivals, but now, they are prestigious classics.
AL Autos target wealthy buyers with two new cars
Marking the second supercar release of the day, the new 1100+ hp AL Balistica was unvelied at a keynote this morning. The design may be a little on the safe side for a car that can do 238 mph, but there’s no doubt that it is very, very fast. Prospective buyers will be glad to know its capable of a 1:11.7 around the Top Gear Test Track.
Along side this was the very unusual AL Elegante XLES, a hand crafted luxury retro-mod that blanches its classic body with modern fixtures. Made entirely from carbon fibre, sporting a very plush interior and a 6.2l twin-turbo V8, it’s easily one of the most unusual cars of this years show.
Rennen pull a show stopper with reveal of Apophis concept
Up to this point, the show had been lacking a brand new super GT to spice things up. Rennen answered our calls with the jaw dropping Apophis. In a day of many high-performance releases, this would-be FR supercar received a standing ovation at the company’s keynote this afternoon, and the Rennen display stand remained packed for the rest of the day.
Gorgeous, sumptuous curves and sharp detailing conceal remarkable levels of innovation and technology underneath on the AWD Apophis. We can only hope that the stunning interior makes it onto the final release of this car - it is incredible just to sit in this thing. It’s already being considered the best car of the show despite only being three days in.
We are most certainly blown away by Rennen’s work, but perhaps more exciting was the note that this car “demonstrate[s] the future of Rennen’s design language”. They’re already well known for producing some of the world’s best looking cars, but if this is what we can expect in the future, we may well be at the start of golden age for the company.
WMD reveal remarkable HSC-52 concept
Specialist car maker WMD showed off the exciting HSC-52 concept this afternoon, making it the third supercar of the day. The ultralight V8 powered machine could be expected to retail for surprisingly low price of just $100k, despite the limited production. While naturally aspirated, the HSC-52 is fairly efficient considering what kind of a car it is, and certainly challenges the notion that all supercars will have to turbocharged in today’s world of emission targets and economy.
Adenine launch the handsome Reverence pick-up
Riding on the success of what was a big year for Adenine in 2016, the company presented just one car today in the form of the Reverence. The well-styled pick-up is very reasonably priced, and our first impressions on the test drive were good. Revealed back in November of last year, its been put on sale immediately.
Gamma announce absence from this year’s show
Brazillian-based Gamma announce that their 2017/2018 line-up will be revealed later in the year, potentially at the year’s next big auto show. More to follow.
JHW look set to challenge the luxury sector with the Athena
JHW revealed their third car of the show, the Athena. The well-priced limousine features smooth design and some excellent performance statistics, though will have to work hard to establish its name in this image-driven sector.
Storm make another announcement in the form two new concepts
The bonkers new Sabretooth concept - which will be known as the 2017 Wildcat upon release - was on show at the Storm stand today. The handsome, muscle-car inspired monster was shown in two forms, coupe and shooting-brake, both equally wonderful to marvel. It is yet another promising car in a strong line-up from Storm this year.
Miller kick off the year with a brand new SUV
Detroit-based car makers Miller injected some home pride to the show today, showing off three classic cars and a brand new SUV. The MS-I, a car that brought the Miller name to the likes of Sebring, Daytona and Le Mans, stood proudly on its own elevated stand at the centre of the display, drawing the attention of a number of motorsport enthusiasts including myself. It famously crashed spectacularly just 10 minutes from the end of the race at the 1968 24 Hours of Le Mans. Next to it was the Anaconda, a car famed for its reliability back in the day - the name badge continues to live on in the form of the company’s compact sedan, a new version of which was launched last year.
Due for 2018 release, the ZA SUV took centre stage at the company’s keynote this afternoon, and hinted at a new direction for the company. Powered by a range of turbocharged engines linked to a Miller-designed AWD system, the ZA platform looks to challenge both regular and premium customers with the ZA-34 and ZA-41 respectively.
Some felt it was a little sad to see one of Detroit’s most recognised names launching an SUV - a sign of the times, as one journalist pointed out - but the smart looking car will no doubt keep the company going over the next half a decade. More stats including prices are expected soon.
Rumours surrounding a River supercar continue
On and off leaks of a V12 powered supercar have been circling for some time, and today a number of spyshots of a unknown car blasting its way along a highway were leaked to the press. More to follow.
Brivio to introduce a kei car to America
Joining Airborne in attempting to bring a Japanese-focused car to the US, Brivio today introduced the Aiutante. Cleverly designed, well packaged and quirky, the boxy little thing is aimed at the over-60 market (60 years, that is, rather than 60 mph). Of particular interest is that this car comes with a 4 speed sequential transmission, remarkable for such a car. A hybrid trim, called the Ibrido, is also being introduced, and has a reported 100 mile battery range, one of the highest of any hybrid on sale today.
Also announced by Brivio today were the well styled Roma and Scalatore, the former being a hatchback being reintroduced to the states and the latter being an updated SUV. Both cars seem to offer exactly what you’d expect of cars in their respective sectors, though the styling is certainly their USPs.
Vanguard put on dazzling show to launch new hatchback and luxury coupe
At the final keynote of the day, Vanguard launched the latest version of the Valencia R3 and Picasso Equinox. Both cars look set to be available with a wide range of engines, including, quite remarkably, a 3.2l V6 on the R3, despite the car’s size - we look forward to that. The dramatic show was certainly memorable, but a major cock-up by the camera crews meant that nothing was actually recorded, meaning pictures of the new cars are scarce and can currently only be found on social media.
Today, we also had a chance to chat with a number of people from various car companies displaying here at the show.
We spoke to one of the chief designers from JHW about their latest releases.
CEO Johnathan Whittingmore of OAM joined us in the S.A.M. studio for a chat about the new Chevalier.
President of Petoskey Motors, the one and only Winston Petoskey, joined us too this afternoon.
And that’s a wrap! Three days in, and this show has been incredible so far. I’m absolute knackered and will not be making a repeat of last night where I ended up drunkenly making out with someone from the Storm marketing team…bye for now! - Gavin Anderson
Johnathan was pacing up and down the hall, he had just finished an interview and was waiting for his cars to arrive. Suddenly his phone rings. Immediately his smile turned into a frown. The convoy of OAM classic cars had been forced to stop. The old OAM Cavalry had broken down, and to make matters worse, there was severe traffic on the freeway. It would take quite a while to repair the Cavalry since there were limited spare parts with them, and calling a tow truck would have taken even longer due to the traffic. It is uncertain if the OAM classic cars would be able to arrive on time.
One of our truck is currently driving here to Detroit to pick up the busted concept, we could ask the driver to stop at their location and perhaps give them a lift.
In other news, EADC have finally reached the other side of the pond (America to the non Brits) in New York. The EADC Verona, Vole concept, Weasel and the WeaselRally were in display in NYC, but an unknown sports car has been sighted in the background with with some of the old MBS Classic cars. At the moment, EADC are unwilling to give any information on the new car, however it is speculated either to be the replacement of the EADC Atlas Supercar, or a new sports/luxury car similar to the Traveller II. All that is known is that it will appear at NAIAS tomorrow.
some big company headquarters, Bridgeport CT, right now
The roar of starting V12 diesels pierces the cold winter air. 8 red trucks start leaving the facility, and then the soft voices of V6 engines join the symphony, supplemented by raindrops hitting the roofs and windows of 5 sleek, carmine limousines passing by the gate. Careful observer would notice a small text on each trailer - “See you in Detroit”.
