The new Opel Astra brings into the compact class its own interpretation of the brand’s award-winning design language of combining sculptural artistry with German precision first seen in the Insignia. Its strong sporty lines and elegant details add to a new handsome look. (more…)
Tag: Frankfurt
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2010 Opel Astra: Sporty with a Touch of Elegance
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BRABUS WIDESTAR Mercedes GL-Class
Muscular fender flares front and back, giant 23-inch wheels and a striking face with large air dams and four auxiliary headlights: In a world premiere BRABUS presents the 2007 WIDESTAR wide version for the Mercedes GL-Class at the Frankfurt International Auto Show IAA 2007.The elegant sweeping lines of the fender flares add five centimeters (two inches) to the width of the large SUV. The corresponding rocker panels have more than just visual effect; they also facilitate entering and exiting of the vehicle in the dark with their integrated entrance lights.
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Kia Pro-cee’d
Kia Motors Corporation has revealed the first ‘preview image’ of its exciting new Kia Pro-cee’d three-door hatchback model which will make its World Premiere at this year’s Frankfurt International Motor Show on 11 September.Based closely on the earlier pro_cee’d concept car shown at the Paris Motor Show in 2006, the new production model has been developed by Kia’s design team in Europe under the direction of Chief Design Officer, Peter Schreyer.
“Longer, lower and lighter than its five-door sister car, the new Kia Pro-cee’d is going to be a great drive,” enthused Mr. Jean-Charles Lievens, Senior Vice President Kia Motors Europe. “Combining real style and genuine practicality, our new three-door cee’d is sure to delight existing Kia customers and attract a new group of European consumers who have not yet considered our brand.”
Manufactured in Slovakia, the Pro-cee’d will be the third member of the Kia cee’d family, joining the popular cee’d five-door and recently launched wagon models to make Kia an especially strong challenger for C-segment sales in Europe.
Production of the Pro-cee’d model range is scheduled to begin in November with first customer sales during the early months of 2008.
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Wiesmann GT 2006
The success of the Roadster concept is based on a successful synthesis of classic design and state-of-the-art engineering. This encouraged Friedhelm and Martin Wiesmann to develop a new, similarly fascinating, sports car on the basis of the Roadster, the Wiesmann GT.The two-seater coupé celebrated its premiere as a production vehicle at the IAA 2005 in Frankfurt, to be acclaimed by the motoring experts. (more…)
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Yes! Roadster
It can well be expected that their expectations will be met: Both the YES! Roadster and the YES CUP/R are a manifestation of the creed of two company founders and current managing directors Herbert Funke and Philipp Will: Reduce to the core. And for the two designers this means that the direct car-road communication must not be interfered by unnecessary gadg-ets. Hence, what the owner of a YES! will purchase is nothing more and nothing less than a driving machine.
Translated into plain figures this means: Like the original YES! Clubsport model the new YES! Roadster possesses a performance-enhanced 1.8 liter 210 KW (286 hp) Volkswagen turbo engine that takes the car from 0 to 100 km/h in just 4.2 seconds at 5900 rpm and with a maximum torque of 330 NM. These characteristics place the car in the top performance range. The second new development YES! CUP/R even surpasses the features of the Roadster.
The vehicle’s 250 kW (340 hp) 2.0 liter turbo engine meets all racing de-mands: chassis, undercarriage, brakes – the entire technology has been designed for the in professional motors sports. Apart from the engine features, the car’s ultimate lightweight design plays an important role: All three models are based on an aluminum space frame, enhanced by the use of composite materials for the carbody and understructure.
Taylor-made hand manufacture
The production of the cars at the Funke and Will plant, established in 2001, strongly differs from the familiar mass output. Each YES! sports car is a hand-manufactured unique to which the purchaser contributes to a large extent. Before completion, the fine tuning is made on-site together with the buyer to adapt the car’s every detail to its subsequent owner: colour, special features, ideal sitting and switching position, and pedal alignment. This participation concept and the 100-percent hand production make the YES! a singular occurrence on the sportscar market. The same holds true for another feature: On the company’s 2.2 mile long former runway of an old military air field, the buyer can test-drive his car up to maximum speed. And finally: the manufacturers’ service concept matches the car’s individuality. If necessary, a YES! partner comes to the customer, 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
It started with a diploma thesis
The YES! sports cars owe their birth to the graduation of the two company founders at Co-logne Technical College. In the scope of their final thesis the two engineers designed road-ster. A friend, the Stuttgart based designer Oliver Schweizer developed the cars styling. The prototype was first presented under at the International Motor Show IAA in Frankfurt and generated an unexpected demand. Owing to this favourable development the engineers decided to set up their own business. The start-up company’s highly positive development on the hard-fought international automobile markets proved the founders right to uncom-promisingly pursue their initial concept of a minimalist pure sports car.
