The Excelsior was JHW’s vision of a grand tourer for the post war world. this 3.4L Inline 6 powered beast was good for 130mph and 9.1 seconds to 60, along with fuel economy that would be good even today! This was in thanks to a highly advanced spaceframe chassis and hand shaped aluminium bodywork. it was not a big seller, but it has become a classic amongst enthusiasts the world over.
This car was JHW’s attempt to create a multi discipline racer for the ABL series that ran in the 70’s, and this particular car ran in the 72/73 series (we don’t talk about the 70/71 series).
The 4200GT’s nickname came from it’s Flatplane V8 and it’s Kammback body-style. The car itself wasn’t the most sucessful car, but it was consistent and competitive throughout the series.
Full 2017 JHW Lineup
Now we have all of this years cars on display for the rest of the show, so today we will present them all together for the fist time!
Named for the Greek god of the deepest abyss of the Underworld, the Tartarus is a single seated concept car that is the very definition of unlimited design.
We’re not going to be revealing any technical data about the car, but the performance figures should give you an idea. 832bhp, 0-62mph in 2.6 seconds, 237mph top speed.
In 2003, EADC launched one of their best light sports cars alongside with the, then new, EADC Vixen sedan. it has been over a decade since then, and EADC have felt it has been a long time since they made a light sports car. so here it is, the EADC K180 Roadster.
Although not very fast, the K180 is fun and easy to drive, and can easily slide around a track. Inside, the interior is rather standard, having equipment similar to the EADC Verona. The K180 also has a rather small, yet fuel efficient 1.9L Sport engine.
In addition, there are other versions of the car, including a convertible premium trim, and a cheaper cabriolet trim.
So, now that the new car is out, heres what it’s replacing.
The old K150 Roadster was first shown in 2001, and production began in 2003. Designed by the EADC designer Imura Kaitou, the K150 featured an weight distribution of almost 50/50, giving the car almost perfect handling.
This car celebrates Cavallera’s return to rallying, commemorating the Keihäsrausku, and so Cavallera Suoritskyky Oy, our dedicated rally division expresses our confidence in our abilities and appetite for future competition. The mechanical underpinnings of the design were handled by our Finnish rally department while the winning student from a German Design House joined them in styling this futuristic looking rally car. However, we stay true to our roots, maintaining the signature quad high visibility headlights.
##Daily Round-Up - Day 8
Welcome back to Splendid Auto Monthly’s coverage of the Detroit Auto Show 2017. It’s been another quite day at the show, but that has made time for some interesting debate, which we’ll get onto shortly.
EADC’s new Prototype becomes talking point for future of the automobile
Comments made by S.A.M. were replied to by EADC in a statement earlier today, discussing why their new groundbreaking Prototype was a hybrid rather than powered by Hydrogen or Electricity. In their statement, they discredited both energy types, stating that electricity was “currently very limited, in not only range but also in eco friendliness” and that FCVs were still not plausible as “the infrastructure is simply not there yet”, as well as noting the numerous storage problems related to Hyrdrogen.
They describe the Prototype as “a test bed for all our current tech”, and that there are plans “to convert it to hydrogen fuel cells”. More exciting however is this:
Could we potentially see an all new type of alternative powered car emerge from this research?
JHW roundup their 2017 releases with keynote
Summarizing their complete 2017 lineup in one go, JHW hosted their main keynote today, showing their entire range. The company now has a seriously large lineup that spans all areas of the premium and luxury market, seemingly offering great value for money with every model. How these new cars will fair in the Q1 and Q2 sales reports, we’ll have to wait for.
Showing off two cars from their past as well, JHW had a gorgeous 1949 Excelsior on display, joining the numerous other 40s GT cars that we’ve seen at the show. Alongside this was the 4200 GT, nicknamed the ‘Flat Kamm’. Geeky looks aside, this was a proper race car back in the day, and its clever aerodynamic body was rather advanced for its time.
Adenine unveil new version of the Valence
Returning to the family sedan market after a brief absence, the new version of the Valence looks remarkbly smart and well designed. The specs too are quite something; powering their entire range off a single 2.0l Turbo i4 and simply adjusting power output for each trim, they’ve managed to make a car that seriously, seriously impressed us on its test drive and looks set to provide fierce competition in the fierce world of the compact sedan.
EADC throw their hat into the budget sports car ring
Launching their new sports car, the K180 today, EADC reentered this comeptitive part of the market. Sporting clean styling, good specs and what looks to be a very reasonable price, this little car will happily keep up with its rivals and quite possibly out-do them on running costs. We’ll get back to you on how this things stacks up against rivals such as the Maesima MRZ-3, Erin Nardella, Adenine Essence (to name a few) later on in the year. The car it’s replacing, the K150 Roadster from 2003, was also on show.
Cavallera are returning to rallying
A stunning new concept was unveiled by Cavallera today in the form of the Fiacci rally car. No frills, ultra aggresive styling meets bonkers amounts of power in this stunning little hatchback, which has a 2.0l Turbo V6 under the bonnet that produces 450hp. There are echoes of Group B in this monster of a car, and indeed echoes from Cavallera’s rallying past. We cannot wait to see this at the 1000 Lakes rally or on the Monte Carlo stages.
In the S.A.M. studio today, we had a few interviews over two very different cars.
Mike Seier of River Automotive came to discuss the company’s new Speeder concept.
[quote]What is the thinking behind the Speeder Concept? Is this River continuing a tradition for fast cars or a new direction for the company?
“Well you could say its a continuing tradition of river to build fast cars, but well our last few hypercars didn’t perform good as we expected so we decided to build one last hypercar which was back in 2010.So the idea behind the speeder concept is to bring our tradition back to life again and return to our roots and just make, simple, fun, fast cars.”
Was there any particular reason for making this Concept? Was it simply made to be a hypercar or is this about showcasing technical advancements from the company?
“I would say both question are the reason why we made the speeder concept, it simply was made to be a hypercar in the start but also showcasing technical advancements of our company as i already told our last was built seven years ago and in the meantime new advancements have been made. the speeder concept show our new technical advancement with his carbon fibre body which makes it our first car to be build solely out of carbon fibre.”
What do you mean “collaborating with another manufacture”? Could we potentially see a joint-venture between River and another company with an all new hypercar, or just a production version of this?
“Yes that is correct but for now it is just an idea, even though the it could give us some advancement if we would joint-venture with another company.But i can reassure you if the choose to make a joint-venture with another company it will be an hypercar and not just production version of it!”[/quote]
We also interviewed Adenine about the new version of the Valence.
That does it for today’s round-up. Apparently there’s an 80s Night on in the city, and the after party is being hosted by some of the team from JHW, so I’m off to style my best bangs and strut my stuff to Visage’s Fade to Grey. Bye for now!
He got out, found one of the Auto Show’s journalists, then said, “Care to take an official report? Because this car just made it here, from Chicago to Detroit, without hybrid technology, and without a single drop of gasoline or diesel fuels.”
He waited for the reporter to get ready, then continued on with his statement.
Now, I believe you’re from the magazine, so I’ll answer what was asked. You asked whether more time should be spent searching for a replacement to the Internal Combustion Engine. I don’t think so, personally. Hybrids are a stop-gap forced upon the auto manufacturers by ever-tightening restrictions and regulations. Electric cars, while a nice idea, are a nightmare waiting to happen. I believe the bigger problem is the one everyone keeps ignoring. We need a fuel that is renewable as a stop-gap before we even think about getting rid of the internal combustion engine. Why? Because, like it or not, the automotive industry has put decades of work into the internal combustion engine to make it more reliable, more efficient, more powerful, but no work, no research has gone into bringing technologies that were competitive in the 1910s and 1920s up to the same levels.
What this means is that while electric cars, gas cars, and steam cars were all competitive in 1910, by 1920, gasoline had nearly killed electric and steam cars because it was cheap, easy to run, and had decent range. A modern gasoline engine is hundreds of times more efficient compared to the early 1920’s engines, producing more power at higher RPM with more torque and while consuming less fuel. But our electric motors are only dozens of times more efficient, because no regulatory standards were inflicted on factories building electric motors to power vehicles. Battery technology crawled along at a glacial pace because for nearly 100 years, no one cared about a lighter battery that produced more power.
Which brings me to the point I intended to make in the first place. Our problem is that we’re too focused on eliminating the internal combustion engine without first considering the results. The power grid can’t handle everyone switching to battery cars, it’d just wither and die and we’d have people calling off of work left and right because their car’s out of power. The power stations still rely on coal and oil and natural gas to make more than 70% of the nation’s power, so all we’d do by electrifying every car in the United States is force power companies to build more power stations.
Hybrids are a necessary stepping stone, yes, but they’re not the only half of the equation. We need to break our dependance on fossil fuels, and we need to do that sooner, rather than later. That is why we built the Storm Solara. It is our test-bed for alternative fuels. I drove from Chicago to Detroit with my 39 mile per gallon, $20,300 estimated cost, 5 seat economy car. Doesn’t sound that remarkable, does it?
However, as mentioned, I didn’t burn a single drop of gasoline on the trip, and that is because I made my own fuel for the run. The fuel tank on this car has a capacity of 30 gallons, and that’s only because I didn’t know what to expect when I assembled the engine. The result is a car that will travel 1170 miles on a full tank.
So, what is my fuel? Alcohol. In the 30’s or 40’s, it might have been called moonshine, but for the purposes of this trip, it is simply fuel. However, this engine will run on any flammable liquid that can produce an octane rating around 76. Yes, 39 MPG with such poor fuel. If I refined the engine for regular gasoline, I believe it could be possible to break 45 MPG, maybe higher.
My belief is that fossil fuels are the inefficient part of the equation. They don’t renew in a reasonable time span and their power outputs, while impressive, can easily be matched with modern technology and a fuel humans have been making for thousands of years.
Sure, there’s better fuels than alcohol, but the thing is, we don’t need a perfect fuel in 20 years time, we need a decent replacement for gasoline now.
Luke then got into the Solara and drove it back to where the other Storm Automotive cars were at, shutting it down and joining the rest of the Raceworks Division in signing posters of the cars.
It’s tuned as a multi-fuel engine. It will run on any fuel that can be ignited with a spark. The retail versions will have the proper tuning for the fuel they’re intended to run on.
(Though I do thank you for mentioning that I can use Ultimate Unleaded to simulate ethanol. Oh, and it’s tuned for 76 AKI, not RON. I did know it’s not as energy dense, though, hence the large fuel tank.)
Considering that theres quite a bit of interest on alternate fuel/propulsion for cars, should someone make an off topic thread about it? Unless of course if a thread for that has already been made and I just havent found it.
Also I would like to raise a problem about ethanol as a fuel source. Firstly to produce ethanol from sugar cane, lots of time is needed, since the sugar needs to ferment. In addition, the ethanol also has to be filtered multiple times to make it usable as a fuel source. This overall takes lots of time and effort for a relatively small output. Furthermore, to produce ethanol from sugar, lots of space is needed. Space for the sugar plantation, space for the processing plant, space for the storage tanks for ethanol and resources. This completely negates the idea that ethanol is more eco-friendly due to it’s smaller carbon footprint since to make the space for these facilities, many trees have to be cut down. And this is why ethanol cannot be a replacement for petrol. As an additive, however, it is something that should be done.
In my opinion, hybrid systems are the best short term solution. In my view, a hybrid car should only be using a small ICE to run an electric generator to produce electricity for the electric motor that will run the car. This way resources are used more efficiently and less materials are being used in the production of cars.
We at DSD like to think outside the box and after 15 years of development Darkshines personal project is complete.
We started out with an Saratoga glued alloy chassis to which we fitted push-rod suspension to each corner and mounted the all new 2.5L twin turbo v8 longitudinally in the middle of the chassis resulting in a 60:40 weight ratio.
The next step in the vehicle’s evolution was the vacuum formed fiberglass body shell which is bonded to the alloy chassis. The body is designed to be as smooth through the air as possible whilst still creating enough down-force to force the car into the Earth.
Active wings are used to help set the rear spoilers whilst cornering, these are not your standard Active units but rather use flaps built into the rear wings and front bumper to adjust downforce on the fly.
The heart of this beast is an all new Magnesium cross-plane 2.5L 40valve V8 producing 560hp.
Whilst this may not sound like much in the Automation world this car is an example of simple engineering done right with weight and aerodynamics a far bigger factor in how fast and frugal this car is. Not for the faint hearted the turbos spool aggressively at 5000rpm before a shove of torque and power races the redline to 11000RPM.
The other option is the Hybrid. The turbos have been replaced with an electric engine, however unlike most hybrids this engine is used to create extra power and torque and not to be used as a fuel saving device. The electric engine kicks in at 3000RPM before being cut off at 8000RPM torque is fed in slowly to allow better throttle response and control. The resulting 280hp engine feels like nothing before it.
Attached to this engine you will find a twin clutch 7sp manual trans-axle fitted with a tradition LSD and an AWD system with a 20/80 torque split…
We used magnesium again on the 21" wheels and Federal 555 tyres are fitted to each corner.
Behind the wheels are enormous 420mm/275mm vented disc brakes with 4 piston calipers on the fronts and twin calipers on the rears.
Inside you will find 2 sporty seats trimmed as always in Red Deer leather and Bunya pine with the entire swathe of driver assists. However there is no fancy active suspension you get one setting and one setting only, this is a true performance car you do the work not the computers.
The stereo is adequate with a set of 3 way component speakers mounted in each Lambo style door and a single 8" subwoofer mounted under the dashboard.
Performance figures are extreme considering the price of each vehicle with the R doing 0-100km/H in just 2.9sec and the S doing the 0-100 sprint in just 4seconds flat. Cornering G’s regularly reach over 1.5 with the active aero keeping all four tyres planted on the tarmac.
The R trim will retail for $64999 AMU
The S trim will retail for $43999 AMU
Below is the stat sheets and export for each vehicle
Even without time to spend at the new prototype we could somehow at least put it together. All we know until now is how the car will look and what engines it will use, everything else is still to be worked on.
So with no more waiting, we present you the all new Gamma Suri!
The Suri is our compact SUV, for the ones that want a comfy and high ride without needing to worry about small streets and parking spots.
It’ll be available with two engine configurations:
After alot debating, we announce that the speeder concept (Name will be changed of course) will go into a limited production of 200 units,the production start is still unknown and the price isn’t settled yet.
Brivio are just getting the finishing touches done on the classic cars ready for display, there will be a small charge of $5 to enter the auction car display when it is finished but it will give you full access to the cars, test drives will be available but only to serious buyers, the auction will take place on the 21/1/17, we hope to see you there, bag yourself something great, there will be cars for all price ranges.
It will come equipped with the same 4.1L twin turbocharged SOHC V8 found in our new Miller ZA-41 with a few more horsepower in the RA, producing 511 HP to be exact. Those 511 HP will be sent to the rear wheels via the new Miller Celes Seven 7 speed dual clutch sequential gearbox.
The RA also features adaptive aerodynamics and suspension. Inside you will find all the amenities you would find in the Miller Prestiege Deluxe. The RA will be available in late spring with pricing to be revealed later on.
On behalf of the Miller Automobile Company, I would like to personally thank you Detroit for allowing us to reside in your town for 65 years and for taking the time today and the rest of the show for viewing our display.
##Daily Round-Up - Day 9
Welcome back to Detroit, where the 9th day of the show has just ended. Incredibly, we’re still getting some big releases and announcements this far into the show, which is certainly turning this year’s show into one of the biggest ever.
Storm unveil Ethanol powered sedan
Adding to the debate over the future of cars, Storm waded in today with the new Solara concept, and ethanol powered car. Using just distilled alcohol to power it, the actual display car made the trip from Chicago to Detroit by itself just to get here. Storm’s ethos behind the car is “we don’t need a perfect fuel in 20 years time, we need a decent replacement for gasoline now” - that’s quite the mantra.
Plausibility has come into question though. Representatives from EADC pointed out the huge costs and environmental impact caused by the production of ethanol, while an Adenine spokesperson made the important point that Ethanol lacks the same energy density as petroleum, meaning larger fuel tanks would be needed. One other problem we can see is the exhaust gases from these cars - they won’t be toxic, but they could make you make you drunk.
Assoluto launch the Infinito
For some completley inexplicable reason that we simply cannot possibly fathom, we predicted that Assoluto might be about to launch a V12 GT 2+2 Coupe (no idea how anyone could have worked that on out). Anyhow, they have, in the form of the Infinito. The 6.0l V12 powered, 720 hp super GT is monstrously fast, made from a blend of aluminium and carbon fibre and is styled to perfection. We already love it, and we’re told that one is being sent to us for a roadtest next week. Eek!
DSD launch final car of the show with a fantastic show
To the echoey soundtrack of Tango In The Night-era Fleetwood Mac (we most certainly approve), DSD today launched even more vehicles to complement an already strong line-up. The Arowana, a modified version of last years brilliant Saratoga, was the real star of the show, having apparently been in development for over 15 years (we aren’t too sure how that works). The mid-engine, AWD supercar features a vacuum molded fibreglass body, ultra advanced active aero and two powertrain choices, a conventional 560 hp Turbocharged 2.5l V8 that seems to have come straight off an old F1 car, or a naturally aspirated hybird version of the same engine. Both versions seem equally savage.
Along with this, the three other new vehicles the company launched were also on display, and it’s certainly one of the strongest line-ups of the show we’ve seen so far.
Gamma launch their first car of 2017
Brazillian auto maker Gamma launched a new car today in the form of the Suri. The cute little car entices you with its curvy styling, which certainly fit in with the compact SUV image. Two naturally aspirated engines, a 1.6l and 2.0l i4, will power this car, which is expected to do well in its home market. We’re certainly struggling to find faults…
Roadrunner show off an American hero
The graceful old Roadrunner Cerberus was back on display today, this year marking its 50th birthday. This aircraft carrier of a car was surprisingly efficient for what it was back in the day, coming in sedan and wagon form. Both featured ahead-of-their-time styling and still look gorgeous today. Plus, it was great to hear the restored 10l, 500hp V8 Man-O’-War engine fire up once more - it’s still an asbolute monster.
Miller introduce new V8 sports car
Miller announnced the final car of the show today, the RA-41 Celes. This new, lightweight, carbon fibre sports car is powered by the same 4.1l Turbo V8 found in the ZA-41 luxury SUV, only tuned to produce a lot more power. 511 hp is sent to the rear wheels via a 7 speed DCT, so it appears to be a very traditional affair. A full release is coming later this year, and we certainly can’t wait to see how it fits into the current sportscar market.
While all this was going on, we even had a time for an interview (ooh fancy that!).
Rayssa Almeida of the Gamma PR department came over to the studio to discuss thew new Suri.
That does it for today’s round-up. I’m still hung over from that 80s Night yesterday so I’m hitting the hay early. Ta ta for now!
-Gavin Anderson
EDIT: Corrected spelling mistake in Gamma interview (17/1/16)
