Ginetta's 50th birthday

Ginetta is celebrating its 50th birthday in the finest style possible by launching a new car and taking it racing.

The appropriately named G50 weighs just 800kg and will use a Ford-sourced 3.5-litre V6 engine with 300bhp and a five-speed sequential gearbox.

The low-slung coupe will be offered as a road car, with a price of around £35,000, while the racing version will take part in its own race series.

The Ginetta G50 Cup Car series will consist of 10 rounds at circuits across the UK in 2008, and all of the cars will run with the same specification and tyres.

Ginetta has not yet announced full specifications for the road or race cars, but it says production of the first 30 G50s is well under way and the road-going version will be on sale before the end of 2007.

© Source: topgear
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2007 AC Schnitzer S3 Cabrio based on BMW 3 Series Cabriolet

(from AC Schnitzer Press Release) A Convertible provides the ultimate for the senses: Where can you experience driving more directly than in an open car, with the wind gently emphasising the acceleration, the acoustic muscle play of the engine teasing your ears, and a breathtaking silhouette reflected in every shop window. The new BMW 3-series Convertible, a complete car with folding hard top, stimulates the automotive pleasure centre without setting reason aside. When you've had one taste, you soon long for more.

Engine

As for all current BMW models with 3.0d engine, we offer a diesel performance upgrade for the 3-series convertible. An additional control unit program provides 195 kW / 265 HP and a maximum torque of 550 Nm.

In order to provide performance upgrades for the 335d and 335i with the new Twin Turbo technology, totally new developments are required. These are currently in the first stages of the test phase. Despite the increase in power, the excellent driving behaviour, moderate fuel consumption and superb stability remain unchanged with both performance upgrades.

Even without engine tuning, we recommend to fit the sports rear silencer which - depending on base model - is available as a single system or in right-left combination. For a purely aesthetic conversion, tailpipe trims are also available "solo" for some models.

Suspension

The suspension components have been specially set up for the use of the wheel and tyre combinations. Depending on personal preference, the owner of a 3-series convertible of model range E93 can choose between pure suspension springs and a complete, performance-comfort set sports suspension which lowers the BMW by around 25 mm.

The suspension concept developed in extensive tests on the North Loop of the Nьrburgring also includes the AC Schnitzer sports antiroll bars for the rear axle and aluminium strut braces for front and rear.

Bodywork

In designing the bodykit, the objective for AC Schnitzer was not to hide the body contours under excessive bulges, but to emphasise the natural characteristics of the vehicle in a structured way.

So the front skirt, which simultaneously increases downforce, in its basic design follows the three-piece original but it is substantially softer, more facetted and more energetic.

Like the AC Schnitzer side skirts which aesthetically highlight the side crease of the convertible body and with their asymmetric lines, rising towards the back, emphasise the sporting abilities of the vehicle even when stopped.

Although the classic rear view of the new 3-series convertible is already eyecatching, the AC Schnitzer design language with its more strongly contoured rear skirt expresses extra sporting ambitions with no loss of credibility or coherence.

The Interior

For the interior of the convertible, an extensive range of high-quality accessories is available.

For example, the cockpit can be enhanced with an ergonomically designed airbag steering wheel. There is also a carbon steering wheel trim in silver Exclusive.

Another highlight in the interior is the AC Schnitzer speedometer display up to 300 km/h.

Footrests and pedals of aluminium create a more exclusive atmosphere in the cockpit together with the carbon interior trim in silver Exclusive. The aluminium gear knob, handbrake handle and cover for the BMW "i-Drive System" are available in silver or black anodized finish. Velours foot mats complete the range.

The Wheels

Type II and Type III alloys and racing rims are of course available. Wheel/tyre combinations are possible in various sizes from 17" to maximum 20", with 245/30 R 20 all round.

The avant-garde Type IV alloy with its optional chrome elements as well as the Type IV BiColor alloys constitute true highlights in the wheels sector.

© Source: seriouswheels
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Goodwood Festival of Speed

The Goodwood Festival of Speed is primarily about old cars thrashing up a country house's driveway.

But that hasn't deterred some of the world's most exclusive car makers from hijacking the event to launch their latest machinery.

At this year's Festival of Speed, which takes place on June 22-24, we'll see the 342mph Acabion GTBO for the first time in the UK.

Alongside the missile-styled Acabion will be the Bristol Fighter, which is the most powerful current production car thanks to its 1,012bhp 8.0-litre V10 engine.

We can also look forward to the launch of the Maserati Gran Turismo, Mercedes McLaren SLR Roadster and Caparo T1 putting in appearances.

British motorsport fans will also be treated to seeing all four current Brit Formula One drivers in the same place, at the same time, which is not always the case during F1 races.

The quartet is complete with the announcement that Lewis Hamilton will be at Goodwood alongside David Coulthard, Jenson Button and Anthony Davidson.

© Source: topgear
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2007 JNH Porsche 996 GT3 Version 03

(from J.N. Hephaiss) ‘Stock Body Extension’ lineup was brought to fruition by taking into account a great number of customers’ feedback. It was to keep the quality of products at the same high level as those of Version.01 and 02 yet make it easier to attach to stock body. It can be attached to Stock Bumper / Side Skirt with ease (*) and it’s even easier to take it off when selling your cars.

JNH’s pursuit of functionality is almost too honest to a fault and we are not here to make ‘decorative parts’ only. All the research put into developing Version.01 and 02 was once again essential in creating this series and it will show in real driving. One better than Stock Body, be the one to test the enhanced quality.

Functionality, design and convenience. New standard for autoparts.

© Source: seriouswheels
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Vandenbrink Ferrari 599 GTO

We're putting our eyes up for auction on eBay. We don't need them any more: we have reached ocular nirvana.

And it's all thanks to this: the Vandenbrink 599 GTO.

Arguably the best-looking car in the world, the 599 GTO is closely styled on Maranello's 1960s icon, the 250 GTO.

Based on the underpinnings of the Ferrari 599, the GTO is part of a limited run of hand-made specials by Dutch coachbuilder Vandenbrink Design.

The GTO came about as a design study, but the incredible reaction of everyone who saw it convinced the company to build the car, and three of the five have already been snapped up for undisclosed sums of money.

The aluminium body has the GTO-trademark triple scoops in the nose, shark fin vents behind the front wheels and the scalloped rear wings flowing into an upswept tail.

The 6.0-litre V12 is untouched and produces 620bhp, but with less weight, the GTO manages 0-62mph in 3.6 seconds and has a top speed of 207mph.

If you fancy one, there are a couple of Vandenbrink GTOs left to order.

You'd need to auction your eyes to afford one, though.

© Source: topgear
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Silverline Power Tool Drag Race

Powertools. Scary enough when they're standing still, but what sort of carnage would be wreaked if they were propelled at 50mph through a throng of spectators?

Well, if you're of a mechanical bent and not too emotionally attached to your extremities, you could find out this August at the Silverline Power Tool Drag Race.

Yes, that's right: angle grinders and circular saws turned into miniature drag racers and fired down a 75ft track. The competition is open to all-comers, so if you're a dab hand with a powerdrill and suture needle, this could be your chance for fame, fortune or very cheap surgery.

Apparently this is all part of an international power tool drag racing craze - one that's sadly failed to register on our radars until now. Presumably because most seasoned participants struggle a bit in the typing/writing department. Or, in fact, anything that requires fingers.

Anyhow, it's at the Haynes International Motor Museum on August 5; a date that the emergency services have circled in thick red pen.

More importantly, is power tool drag racing the most dangerous sport imaginable? It's right up there with nude piranha fishing and the rhino ironing world championships. However, we reckon it'd be a round of tiddlywinks in comparison to 12 rounds of no-holds-barred Stig wrestling.

© Source: topgear
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Special Ferrari FXX

Welcome to a piece of history. You're about to witness the ultimate lap in the ultimate car driven by one of the world's greatest drivers.
It's a hot Friday in May, and the Ferrari FXX has just rolled into the pit garage at the famous Fiorano circuit. Only 30 of these incredible cars exist, 29 of them owned by some of Ferrari's most passionate customers, the final one by some bloke called Michael Schumacher.

Watch video
Ferrari describes the FXX as a mobile laboratory. It's not road legal, and you can't race it either. What it is, though, is a rolling test bed for top-secret new Ferrari technology, the stuff that's going to appear on the Enzo's successor in 2010.

Performance, handling, aerodynamics, braking: this is where Ferrari takes its F1 expertise and figures out how to apply it to a road car. This FXX is currently producing more than 850bhp, and its gearbox is about as fast at changing gear as Kimi or Felipe's Sunday drives.
Want to know how that feels? Want to see a master at work?
You'd better watch the video.

© Source: topgear
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