Motoring News

The reader Jason Wright of Autoblog Stumbled upon the new concept car from Renault just sitting on the side of the road in Paris. The car is know as the Renault DeZir and is a new working electric powered concept car.

Renualt DeZir at the Side of the Road in Paris

The DeZir’s power comes from the same size 24 kilowatt-hour lithium ion battery pack that sits under the Nissan Leaf, and the driving range remains the same 100 miles, though unlike Leaf the pack in the concept is configured for Quick Drop exchanges. The DeZir is propelled by a 110 kilowatt electric motor powering the rear wheels and rocketing the lightweight electric concept to 60 mph in 5 seconds.

Here are some of the shots.

Renualt DeZir Shoing off its Wing Style Doors.

Renualt DeZir Rear

Renualt DeZir Lights

Lamborghini Presa Concept

These images are a concept for a new GT Lamborghini by Mohammad R. Shojaie that might be gracing the forecourts in the near future. The new concept is xalled the Lamborghini Presa and has been designed by Mohamad Monfared, Alireza Sahragard, and Arian Moqbeli in a joint effort to come up with a brand new GT Lambo like never before.

The Presa is the first front engined Lamborghini’s since the Jarama S in 1972. The Presa GT has been designed to take on the crowded front engined V8 GT market where the Ferrari 599 and the Aston Martin DB9 current command.

The concept is clearly a Lamborghini, but special attempts have been made to design the transverse lines in order to distinguish it from other GTs on the market.

When or even whether the Lamborghini Presa will make it to market is unsure. I hope something comes of this cencept because I love it.

Lamborghini Presa Concept Side

Lamborghini Presa Concept Front

Lamborghini Presa Concept Bottom

Original Lancia Stratos

The images below have been circulating the Internet over the last few days with the unfounded labels of photos of the new Stratos.

The photos were originally broken by Italian car blog Italiaspeed and they were taken back in June at Alfa Romeo’s Balocco test track in Italy. Though many have stated that they are the new Stratos, no one really knows exactly what it is as nothing has been confirmed nor denied.

There are of course many rally and Lancia fans across the net that are convinced that the images show the new Stratos sports car which is a continuation on the 2005 concept car that was unveiled at the Geneva Motor Show. You can definitely see why people think that the new spy shots are of a new Stratos though, the lines are very similar to the old legendary Rally car, with a low pointed from nose and an almost identical rear spoiler. The new spy shots have caused quite a stir in rally and lancia circles with all sorts of rumors about the power-plant and drive train.

As for the drive-train and chassis, no one really knows, but the general consensus seems to be that the Stratos will use a Ferrari V8 and a chopped-down Ferrari chassis, though whether these will come from a 360 Challenge Stradale, an F430 or even an F430 Challenge racer is unclear.

An F430 basis seems most sensible, but even though the use of the Balocco facility means the project has Fiat Auto’s implicit approval, it’s unlikely that neither Fiat, Ferrari nor Lancia will have anything more than a tangential involvement with the project.

New Lancia Stratos Spy Shots

Another New Lancia Stratos Spy Shots

Its been a little while since I posted a car of the week post, so here goes.

I spotted this very rare 1977 BMW E21 Alpina A1/3 for sale on Pistonheads last week and just had to feature it as a car of the week.

The car is a Alpina version of the E21 320 BMW from the late 70′s and is believed to be one of the first Alpina edition BMW’s. Alpina grabbed the classic E21 3 series car and tweaked it to make it even better. The changes include tuning of the M10 engine by including a set of twin 45mm Solex carburetors giving the car 125bhp. that doesn’t sound much these days with the new M5 BMW pumping out over 500bhp, but the old E21 weights a fraction of that of the new M5 giving it good pace. The M10 engine is mated to the standard 4 speed gearbox, but a LSD feeds the back wheels for better grip in the corners.

Alpina didn’t just stop at the engine, the springs, shocks and anti-roll bars have been changes to help the little classic BMW corner like a true sports car. Alpina also fitted the now famous front and rear splitters to the car to help aerodynamics (and make the car look much more business like).

The car also saw a make over inside with half leather sports seats and a Alpina steering wheel.

The car for sale has been lovely restored with a full respray in the original colours with all of the rust treated and repaired.

The car looks stunning and has only 55,000 miles under its belt.The car still retains all its original handbooks, service book, original Grundig radio and instructions and even the original purchase invoice for DM23,700 from 1977.

BMW Alpina E21 A1/3 classic low front shot.

BMW Alpina E21 A1/3 Front.

BMW Alpina E21 A1/3 Bottom.

Alpina A1/3 M10 Engine