Friday, March 9, 2012
599GTO BY NOVITEC ROSSO
that Ercole Spada was responsible for designing this and the gorgeous Aston DB4 GT Zagato.
458 BY MANSORY
There are some cars that you'd assume would be sacred territory. After all, what sane person would feel that the 500GTO is somehow lacking? Well the guys at Novitec did; they not only boosted the engine's output from 670bhp to a ludicrous 888, but they also gave it a lairy paint scheme.
250GT BREADVAN
The word 'understated' isn't in Mansory's dictionary; it knows only 'OTT' and 'massively OTT'. Which one applies to the company's 458, otherwise known as the Syracusa, we'll leave up to you. Power is boosted to 590bhp and the visuals are turned up to 11; this isn't a car for shrinking violets.
360 MODENA LIMOUSINE
The 250GT SWB is arguably the most beautiful Ferrari ever created, so chopping one about will never result in something better looking. But when Count Giovanni Volpi was refused one of the new 250GTOs in 1962, he created his own racer, based on a 1961 250GT SWB - the now-legendary 'Breadvan'.
ZAGATO 3Z If the FZ93 was a travesty, it was nothing compared with the 3Z, which started out as a 1961 250GT SWB California Spyder. In 1969 the car was bought by Luigi Chinetti, who commissioned Zagato to rebody it for him. For the princely sum of $5,000, they turned it into this; some people have too much money.
Now here's one that got Ferrari seriously hot under the collar; it's threatened to sue the builder of this stretched 360, because the guys from Maranello claim as a result, this is no longer a Ferrari. Either way, it'll seat eight and can top 160mph.
31
Chevrolet Car of the Year surprise
Chevrolet Europe President and Managing Director Susan Doherty has revealed winning the European Car of the Year title for the Volt extended-range electric vehicle was a genuine surprise. Describing the announcement of the prize, which was made in a ceremony on the eve of the Geneva Motor Show, Doherty said it only dawned on Chevrolet management that they were in with a chance as scores from judged in the final three countries were revealed. “We thought, ‘wow, we can win this!’,” said Doherty. “It didn’t dawn on us until the second to last country was announced – but we then saw the points spread was so significant, we’d already won the prize.” The award, shared with Vauxhall for the Ampera, is a “big deal” for Chevrolet. “It is incredible to win and will help us communicate the strengths of the Volt. “This is our moon shot car, a real game-
changer. Now it is up to our team to communicate the award and the benefits of the Volt itself.”
CHEVROLET ON THE UP
Chevrolet is a brand on the up in Europe, despite still being largely unknown by car buyers, said Doherty. “Our unprompted awareness in Europe – those who know us without being promoted with clues – ranges between two to 10 per cent. We have a long way to go in Europe here. “Car of the Year will help this. Even if people aren’t interested in the car, they will be more aware that something is going on with the brand. The fact motoring journalists have voted for our car also helps our credibility.” Chevrolet currently commands a 1 per cent market share in Europe but this figure, reveals Doherty, was limited last year due to supply-led issues caused by the Japanese Tsunami. Full supply of diesel engines was only restored in December 2011. Since then, Chevrolet’s sales increase has been striking: January sales were up 123 per cent and February sales were up 53 per cent. “If you can get the right powertrain,” said Doherty, “magic happens.”