Complete automation and transformable interior furniture define the ‘Palazzo’, a bespoke mobile home by Vienna-based luxury vehicle manufacturers Marchi as part of the company’s ‘Elemment’ series. Measuring 38 feet long and 13.5 feet tall, each craft in the ‘Elemment’ series is based on the aerodynamic vehicle and trailer cab design proposed by German industrial designer Luigi Colani, helping them to attain a 20% increase in fuel efficiency. An automatically controlled gangway offers entrance to each vehicle.
Some would say Mercedes-Benz specialist Brabus has a fixation with building insanely fast cars… and they would be absolutely right! Now, five years after the unveiling of what was then billed as the fastest saloon in the world, the limited run Brabus Rocket based on the first generation of the Mercedes-Benz CLS, the German company returns to Frankfurt with a vengeance presenting a new preposterous proposal.
The Scion iQ is a small car that acts like a much larger car. A little like a Jack Russell Terrier, unaware of its size and perfectly willing to take on anything.
I recently attended the Scion iQ press reveal at the Shade Hotel just south of Los Angeles in Manhattan Beach. The Shade was a perfect venue for the event — comfortable, hip and totally accommodating. After touring the iQ and learning that the design team rethought every aspect of the car, we were turned loose. I was paired up with the tuner Scion uses to customize cars for the SEMA show in Las Vegas every year. After marveling at the surprisingly spacious interior, we immediately hit the freeway to see if we could do 100. We did — and the iQ was rock solid at speed and totally maneuverable.
Debuting at the 2011 Frankfurt Motor Show this September, the ’458 spider’ by Ferrari is a retractable hard top Berlinetta coupe, modeled as a convertible version of the ’458 Italia’.
With a direct-injection 4.5L V8 engine producing 570-horsepower and a maximum torque of 398 lb-ft, the vehicle reaches a maximum speed of 198mph (320km/hr), attaining 0-62mph (0-100km/hr) in 3.4 seconds. A dual-clutch F1 paddle-shift seven-speed transmission features Ferrari’s racetrack-honed ‘e-diff’ technology for improved performance.
Mercedes Benz brought Terry Richardson, better known for his risque photography, on board to create their new ad campaign for the Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week key visual with the new Concept A-CLASS.. The fashion world combines with the car industry in this video starring Jessica Stam.
When asked to name a luxury crossover SUV, people usually jump straight onto the BMW or Mercedes bandwagon. Not to say that there’s anything wrong with that, but that’s what our brains (thanks to millions of marketing dollars) have been programmed to do. We’re programmed to spit out the names of the brands typically found on EVERY billboard from NYC to Vegas. Well, not today my Limité gremlins! Today Rafael “R.Class” Mejia is going to program your fickle brains into thinking outside the box. From here-on-out, you will be programmed to think, love, feel, and adore… (As fireworks and 40 white doves get released behind me) Acura! Yes I said it… ACURA.
The Acura brand is typically the purveyor of sensible luxury cars with strong value and copious features. Knowledgeable, I repeat, knowledgeable consumers buy an Acura because it’s dependable and well-made. That approach also applies to the 2011 Acura MDX, but in this case the MDX also happens to be one of the most luxurious and fun-to-drive midsize luxury crossover SUVs in its class.
Fiat are launching the re-edition of their Fiat 500 model, and they’ve created 500 limited edition cars that have been customized by Gucci. The 500 model is eco-friendly and Gucci’s version features colors, shiny black and white, and the brand’s red and green strip. The tires have been customized by Gucci with their classic monogram. Gucci details are everywhere, even on the gearstick. The upholstery is covered in elegant designs, with Frau leather.
According to Frida Giannini, Gucci’s creative director, in the fifties the Fiat 500 represented a style revolution, as Gucci did decades before, hence her reason to collaborate and unite the two icons of Italian design.
Commissioned by Fredericks Ice Cream company to celebrate National Ice Cream week (May 30th through June 5th), the ‘HMS Flake 99′ is the world’s first amphibious ice cream truck, capable of working on both land and in water.
The vehicle, which plays the Rod Stewart song ‘We Are Sailing’, reaches up to five knots. Its maiden voyage through blackpool marks the beginning of a UK tour, with plans to visit Venice in 2012. The ‘HMS Flake 99′ is meant to draw attention to the decrease in ice cream trucks– from 20,000 in 1960 to 5,000 in operation today – as a result of council bans on the vehicles in certain zones, concerns about noise pollution and childhood obesity, and rising fuel costs.
The Volkswagen Aqua is a hovercraft concept created by Yuhan Zhang, a 21 year old designer from China. Yuhan just graduated with honors from Xihua University with a degree in Industrial Design. The Volkswagen Aqua is designed to cope with the wide variety of terrain which covers China. From the lakes, rivers and coastal waters, to the roads, wetlands and snow and ice. The concept was shortlisted in the CDN Car Design Awards China, based on the brief entitled simply; “Chinese off-road vehicle” by Volkswagen.
Like most hovercraft, the Volkswagen Aqua uses more than one engine. The primary motor, which is powered by a hydrogen fuel cell, is used to drive the main fan which inflates the skirt around the vehicle and raises the Aqua just above the ground. The fans at the rear of the vehicle are powered by individual electric motors to provide forward thrust and directional control.
What do you get when you mix 3 parts Lexus, 2 parts Cutting edge 3D technology, and 1 part Roosevelt Hotel?
You get a Transformers-esque advertisement for its Lexus new CT 200h hybrid hatchback.
This has to be one of the best ads I’ve seen this year. Lexus hit it out the park by simulating the iconic Roosevelt Hotel with a 3D projection featuring architectural light mapping technology on the recent celebration of Earth Day activities. Using state-of-the-art projection, lighting, shadows and 3D animation, the imagery popped from the walls and windows of the hotel to animate the landmark—all without the need for 3D glasses.
