It’s Halloween for another few hours here in Las Vegas, so we felt obliged to share the scariest thing we saw at SEMA today: Christopher Walken’s disembodied head in a Hummer’s gas cap lid.
Freaky.
Do not adjust your web browsers, this wheel really has no spokes. First developed as a motorcycle wheel, the Radurra is made of two-inch thick polycarbonate and reportedly stands up to quite a bit of abuse, as evidenced by a video featuring a Nissan 350 doing an extended series of donuts and general tomfoolery.
That said, we’d be more than a little concerned about cooling issues, even if officials consider these to be “cruising” wheels, not to mention potholes and temperature changes. There’s also the small matter of brake dust. Either way, company reps say that Radurra wheels can be tinted any color, and can even be lit internally. If they can hold up under everyday use, they’re certainly an interesting development.
(Many more Radurra shots after the jump!)
As we showed you earlier, celebrity car culture staple Jay Leno got together with General Motors to create his one-off EcoJet concept, which debuted last night downstairs from WINDING ROAD’s Las Vegas offices in the Wynn Hotel.
A joint product of GM’s North Hollywood Design studio and Jay’s own Big Dog cadre of wrenches, the Cadillac-esque EcoJet is powered by a bio-diesel quaffing Honeywell LT-101 turbine, which provides 650 horsepower and 400 pound-feet of torque. Based on a Corvette Z06 platform, the car’s angular panels are in fact Kevlar draped in carbon fiber. Turbine-themed Alcoa wheels are 22-inches in the rear and 20-inches up front.
While not a pure beauty, the thrust of the EcoJet concept is an interesting one, especially in that it finds Leno embracing alternative fuel in his quest for automotive nirvana. For some reason, perhaps simply because of its long, lean profile and its far-reaching design, it also managed to remind us of some of the French concepts that we saw recently at the Paris Motor Show.
(Click through to the jump for more looks at Mr. Leno’s latest project)
The new issue of Winding Road magazine is live and available for download or online reading! In this month’s issue, we get the first crack in the world to drive Jim Glickenhaus’s Ferrari P4/5 by Pininfarina. We drove the car on track (Lime Rock Park) and street (NY and CT). Of course you’ll find the test drive complemented by a Morse original video, too.
We also get the behind the wheels of exciting new vehicle such as the BMW M6 Convertible, Mercedes-Benz S63, Honda CR-V, Saturn Vue Green Line, Jaguar XKR, Mini Cooper S, Mercedes-Benz S550 4Matic and the Mercedes-Benz CL63 AMG you see above.
If you’re not yet a subscriber to Winding Road, do so now! It’s free and we never ask for your credit card information or sell your information to anyone.
Walking the show floor at SEMA, one comes across many potential best-of-the-show moments. “Look at this!” might be the most overused quote of the day. This Chip Foose-designed Lincoln V-12 hot rod qualifies for a best-of-show award in our book. It was first seen at Autorama, where a few people weighed in on the car’s design. We tend to disagree with those who say it wasn’t Foosed enough.
The P-32 “Street Fighter” is inspired by World War II fighter planes and features a 1942 Lincoln Zephyr V-12 engine.
The aerothemed hot rod has a bullet-nose and exhaust pipes for its V-12, a nice homage to the exhaust pipes from a P-52 Mustang. The interior is finished in olive drab to mimic zinc chromate military coatings. It also has authentic bomber seats, exposed rivets, a Zephyr center gauge cluster, and gas tanks formed to resemble drop bombs.
We love it.
(Click through for additional photos after the jump!)
Masochistic door handles, anyone? Perhaps the owner of this Porsche Boxster fitted these altogether painful pulls to protect the car’s similarly over-the-top stereo system from opportunistic miscreants, but either way, we can’t help but think that Ferry Porsche is looking down upon this corner of SEMA with a scowl.
(Additional shots of these unsual handles after the jump)
One trend seen frequently at the SEMA show was a return to primer-like flat paint. It’s something we’ve seen more and more in the pages of tuner magazines over the past few years, but never have we seen the technique used in so many vehicles at a trade show like this. This year’s SEMA show is flat’s official coming out party.
Dull is the new flash, clearly. One interesting aspect of flat paint is that it does not allow for much sleight of hand. In other words, many cars are color sensitive and tend to look better in certain hues; colors with a deep, dark finish help to conceal design errors. In the world of flatness, this doesn’t happen. Bold designs with wide, flat panels look great when done in flat; small cars with exterior skin graphics tend to just look gimmicky.
We’d like to see a vehicle manufacturer roll out a flat paint option. Who’s going to be the first?
(Click through to the jump for more of SEMA’s dull roar)
You can imagine WINDING ROAD’s embarrassment upon rolling up on a posse of Segways to the credential tent this morning, only to find this sign…
We had to head back to the rental agency for a fleet of Rascals, but rest assured, we’re on the move now…
Back in July, Nissan showed off a sportier version of its Murano crossover, dubbed the GT-C, at the UK’s Goodwood Festival of Speed. Packing a Garrett turbocharger producing 345 brake horsepower, a set of big Brembos and the usual raft of interior show car trinkets (hand-blown glass ashtray, anyone?), it was pretty convincing stuff. But there’s been no firm word on a production variant, and it hasn’t been terribly clear how much of a runner the GT-C is.
Thankfully, the British motoring journalists at Fifth Gear have managed to rectify that last bit, with a spirited blast around Cadwell Park in an interesting face-off against a Honda S2000.
+ Fifth Gear: Fifth Gear Drives Nissan Murano GTC (via YouTube)
Volvo appears to be taking the import hot hatch market seriously if its new C30 display at SEMA is any indication. The traditionally staid manufacturer has gone off the deep end by cooperating with three separate tuners, Evolve Cars, Heico Sportiv (teamed with Burton Snowboards) and ipd, bringing three customized C30 hatchbacks to the show.
The yellow widebody Evolve C30 is the performer of the trio, with a twin-turbo, all-wheel drive setup that gives 507 horsepower.
The silver Heico Sportiv/Burton Snowboards has a height-adjustable suspension, one-off Toyo tires, a six-layer camouflage paint treatment, and a set of Burton snowboards and boots (natch).
Volvo tuners ipd (International Product Development) took the whole “Swedish” thing very seriously, slathering their 384-horsepower C30 in the colors of Volvo’s native flag. The front-driver has an interior with a touch-screen and heads-up display, but the most dramatic feature on the entire car is obviously its gullwing doors.
(We hope to have in-the-metal photos later in the day, but for now, sate yourselves with these press images and the full press release after the jump!) continued →
GM wowed us with the unveil of their mid-engine, turbine-powered Ecojet concept tonight at SEMA. The mid-engine beast is built on the frame rails from a Corvette Z06 chassis and runs on bio-diesel, pushing out 650 horsepower. The vehicle’s shell is an advanced construction of carbon fiber over Kevlar.
Click through for more details and the company’s press release. continued →
Our SEMA coverage begins in a matter of hours, but our illustrious online editor (the gentleman searching for internets in the above photo) is already hard at work and it isn’t even tomorrow yet. Look for more updates from the show tomorrow and through the week.
Thanks.
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