The Jaguar’s teaser sketch of a sub XK production concept revealed last month is now officially the new Jaguar C-X16 and it certainly is a beauty.  The new concept, that will be revealed at next week’s Frankfurt Motor Show, is a two-seat, rear-wheel-drive sports coupe built on an aluminium architecture and offers perfect 50:50 weight distribution. The car is the smallest Jaguar has built since 1954 and the XK 120. At 4445mm long, this compact car is sure to see a convertible roadster version in due course.

Up front, the car is powered by a supercharged 3.0-litre V6 putting out 376 horsepower and 332 pound-feet of torque.  There is also the addition of a “Push to Pass” hybrid system controlled through a steering wheel-mounted button.  Integrated into the eight-speed gearbox is an electric motor generator mounted behind the seats that draws power from a battery pack that provides 95bhp and 173lb ft of power.

According to Ian Callum, Jaguars design chief, “Jaguars have always been dramatically different. With the C-X16 we have moved the current award-winning design language on to the next generation, creating a car that is the very essence of future Jaguar performance.”

The final product, very similar to what you see here, will likely go on sale in late 2012 at a price of £55,000.

For far too long the American market has enjoyed Toyota’s retro 4×4, which to be perfectly honest is the only Jeep-like vehicle that has caught my attention in a long time. Sensing that perhaps South Africans might be interested in a solid offroad vehicle with great street-cred, they’ve just launched it here. Yesterday in fact. We’ve got all the details and pictures here:

With styling cues from the original FJ40, such as the white roof, single round headlights and even sporting an original TOYOTA badge, the FJ cruiser is here to make you nostalgic for Land Cruisers of old.

With solid Land Cruiser underpinnings, the FJ is a serious 4×4, as opposed to a not-s0-serious 4×4 designed for the horrors of shopping centre car parks and climbing the curb at your daughter’s hockey game.

Four variants are available at launch, all sporting a 4.0 litre V6 petrol engine. Let’s get technical for a minute here.The powerplant is good for a rather massive 200kW (at 5600rpm) and 380Nm (at 4400rpm). With Toyota’s clever iVVTi (Intelligent Variable Valve Timing) operating all 24 valves, torque and power is spread nicely across the rev range.

In normal road mode, power is sent to the rears. Selecting 4×4 mode will send power to all four wheels through the transfer box, through the five-speed automatic transmission. The five speed auto box is equipped with Toyota’s AI Shift control with Flex Lock-Up, which measures road conditions, power requirements and driver inputs to adjust gear selection and gear changes to best deliver on driver intentions. Of course, low range is available. What did you expect?

Angles are important when offroading, apparently. You’ve got 34 degrees upfront, a breakover angle of 29 degrees and a departure angle of 30 degrees. Translation: you can drive up and down steep things. Ground clearance is 245mm on the FJ’s standard 17inch wheels and rubber.

We’ll be driving the FJ soon and let you know what we think of it. Prices below followed by a gallery.

Prices for the full range of Toyota FJ Cruiser in South Africa

FJ Cruiser:                           R435 500

FJ Desert Cruiser:            R450 400

Nudge bar with mounted driving lamps, all weather carpets, tow bar, rock rails, and Desert badges – Limited Edtion in Sandstorm colour.

FJ Trail Cruiser:                 R451 700

Roof rack with integrated driving lamps, black spare wheel cover, tow bar, all weather carpets and Trail badges – Limited Edition in Grey Metallic colour.

FJ Sport Cruiser:               R457 300

Raven black model with leather seats, chrome detailing on bumper, high mounted air intake, door handles, side mirrors, radiator grille, carpet set, FJ scuff plates and Sport badges.

Rowan Atkinson, comedian and car collector extraordinaire was released from hospital today with no serious injuries after losing control of his maroon McLaren F1 and crashing into a telephone pole, setting the car alight in the process.

Atkinson apparently walked away from the wreck and sat on the side of the road with another motorist, waiting for emergency services. He has hurt his shoulder but no long term injuries are expected.

The McLaren F1 is the pride of his enormous and secretive car collection, costing over 650 000 Great British Pounds more than a decade ago. He apparently bought it to celebrate the success of the international Mr Bean film.

The car is a bit of a TV star as well, having appeared on the BBC’s Top Gear numerous times over the years. Atkinson himself was recently a guest on Top Gear and defended the car to host Jeremy Clarkson, who has never liked the McLaren. Atkinson said you have to live with the car, he has done over 37 000 miles in the car, more than any other owner presumably.

Atkinson is no stranger to car accidents, he has crashed this car before (although it was minor) and has also crashed a rare 1954 Mercedes Gullwing, a car worth close to a million pounds depending on condition.

Atkinson is also a keen racing driver, and races his 1964 Ford Falcon. He is known to own a new Audi R8, and even a Honda Civic Hybrid for more mundane duties.

The first line in the press release mentions Bulgarian Design Studio, Vilner. Call me narrow minded, but I can’t think of the last automotive marvel to eminate from the eastern block country. Which I suppose is why this Vilner Cherokee is so special.

Starting life as a previous-generation Jeep Grand Cherokee SRT-8, an already powerful SUV, the car first made a stop at legendary/insane tuning house Henessy, where they boosted the cars 400horses to a frankly frightening 600hp. Thankfully that power is distributed via all 4 wheels, or the owner would go through rear tyres like Chappies.

Dubbed the SRT-600, after arriving in Bulgaria, the car then underwent the Vilner transformation, the results of which you are currently viewing. The car has been created to the custom spec of the owner, who is not named.

Apparently much attention was paid to the steering wheel; covered in Alcantara, the owner wanted a very specific shape and feel. The rest of the interior follows a similar style, swathed in red and black Alcantara, combined with black leather, trimmed with ornamental red seams.

External modifications, besides the bodywork were made to the headlights, with daytime LEDs added and Xenon headlamps fitted, rounding off the new, hyper-aggressive look.

If your heart has always desired a muscular American SUV with crazy power and a Bulgarian-inspired interior, Vilner Design Studio will tailor each project to the individual.

Ciro De Siena – OverdriveTV

Italians have a reputation for creating beautiful objects. They’re a nation that seemed to sacrifice almost everything for the sake of aesthetics; older Italian cars had a formidable reputation for being undriveable, unrealiable, but one look and you were quite possibly in love.

I should know, I am Italian. Although the most beautiful thing I have ever created was a wooden birdfeeder for a grade school project. But I digress. The motorvehicle over which you are currently drooling is the Maserati GrandCabrio Sports. The GranCabrio was no lay-about, so quite why they needed to make it faster is beyond me.

As you are well aware, the GranCabrio is by far and away the most beautiful Cabriolet ever built. Fact. There is drama, beauty and power in spades. Like dating a lingerie model who enjoys kickboxing. And just in case that was a little boring for you, they’ve cranked it up a bit.

Borrowing the 4.7 litre V8 from the Maserati GranTursimo Stradale, which looks and sounds like a thunderstorm in a Bond film, the GranCabrio gets uprated brakes, suspension and a new aerokit to deal with the extra power.

The naturally aspirated alloy V8 delivers 331kW, or 450hp, to the rear wheels via an improved 7 speed flappy paddle transmission. I imagine the engineers at Maserati were peering over the shoulders of their compadrés at Ferrari when they designed that one.

Because Italians are the sort of people who wave supercars past instead of arresting the drivers (Switzerland, I’m looking at you here) the GranCabrio has a new exhaust system to make it louder beyond 2500rpm. For your aural pleasure, please enjoy this video of one minute of pure Maserati sound. Glorious.

The GranCabrio Sports is on sale right now, prices are unconfirmed which means you probably have to ask. And you know what they say about that. If you have to ask, don’t bother.

Ciro De Siena – OverdriveTV

Full Specifications for the Maserati GranCabrio Sports

Body

High-strength steel monocoque, under-body aluminium cross bracing

Layout

Front-mid-engine, rear-drive

Engine

4.7-litre all-alloy V8

Power

450hp (331kW) @ 7000rpm

Torque

510Nm @ 4750rpm

Capacity

4691cc

Bore x stroke

94mm x 84.5mm

Compression ratio

11.25:1

Maximum engine speed

7200rpm

Oil delivery

Wet sump

0-100km/h acceleration

5.2 seconds

Top speed

285km/h

Fuel consumption – Urban

22.5 litres/100km

Fuel consumption – Extra-urban

9.8 litres/100km

Fuel consumption – combined

14.5 litres/100km

CO2 emissions

337 grams/km

Transmission

Six-speed automatic (ZF 6HP26) with MC Auto Shift

Ratios

First:                4.171:1

Second:            2.340:1

Third:               1.521:1

Fourth: 1.143:1

Fifth:                0.867:1

Sixth:               0.691:1

Reverse:          3.403:1

Final Drive:      3.73:1

Differential

Asymmetric limited-slip (25% in traction, 45% in release) with bevel drive

Steering

Engine-speed sensitive power steering, rack-and-pinion.

Turning circle

12.3 metres

Length

4881mm

Width (with mirrors)

2056mm

Width (without mirrors)

1915mm

Height

1353mm

Wheelbase

2942mm

Front track

1586mm

Rear track

1590mm

Front overhang

873mm

Rear overhang

1066mm

Boot/trunk capacity

173 litres

Fuel capacity

75 litres

Dry weight (EU)

1887kg

Kerb weight (EU)

1980kg

Weight distribution (roof closed)

49% front/51% rear

Weight distribution (roof open)

48%/52%

Brakes

360mm front discs, 330mm rear discs

Tyres

245/35 ZR20 (front); 285/35 ZR20 (rear)

It looks like if you want something fast and German and muscular, you will have to give Mercedes Benz a call. While their main rivals seem to have gone a bit soft in terms of design, Merc are cranking it up continuously with wider wheel arches, angrier front ends and even more aggressive rear ends.

Have a good look at this, the new Mercedes Benz C63 AMG Coupe Black Series, to give the car it’s full title. It’s not the first C Coupe Black, that arrived a few years ago with a warning letter to owners asking them to please drive in perfect conditions or else risk certain death. Oh, and sign here so you can’t sue us when that happens.

This new model is even more insane, if that’s possible. Employing the legend-in-its-own-day 6.2 litre naturally aspirated V8 (which they call the 63, but hey, what’s 100cc between friends) the new C 63 Black delivers 380kW, or 620hp. That is quite remarkable, given that it’s the lightest and smallest Mercedes to make use of that engine. The C63 that you can buy right now for around R800 000 in South Africa puts out 336kW, nothing to sneeze at but almost paltry in comparison.

Acceleration from standstill to 100km/h is at a claimed 4.2 seconds; fast, but I must admit I thought it would crack the 4 second barrier. The engine borrows heavily from the internals developed for the SLS AMG Gull-Wing, and given that this car is lighter and more track focused, we wonder which would be fastest around a track. Have Mercedes accidentally built a C-Class faster than it’s flagship supercar?

If track driving is your thing, Merc will set you up with the Black Series Track Package, which makes this car even more track orientated. But you’d have to be a seriously wealthy track day enthusiast to run one of these, given that the showroom model stands at over R800k. Deliveries start in 2012 and I wouldn’t be surprised if you needed over R1.5m of your hard earned Rands to get your hands on one.

Ciro De Siena -OverdriveTV

Full specifications of the Mercedes Benz C63 AMG Coupe Black Series

Displacement: 6208 cc
Bore x stroke:  102.2 x 94.6 mm
Compression ratio: 11.3 : 1
Output:   380 kW (517 hp) at 6800 rpm at 6800/min
Max. torque:  620 Nm at 500 rpm
Engine weight (dry): 196 kg
Fuel consumption: 12.2 l/100 km*
CO2emissions:  286 g/km*
Acceleration:   0-100 km/h in 4.2s*

We can’t think of too many ways to make the stunning SLS ‘Gullwing’ any more desirable, and to be honest we wouldn’t have immediately thought of removing those epic doors. But that’s just what Mercedes has gone and done, and the result is this, the SLS Roadster.

As you’ll see in the picture gallery, the car is undergoing final testing before its debut in Frankfurt later this year. Can you just imagine that job, testing one of these to destruction. We’ve got a full gallery and more specs after the jump.

If you look carefully you’ll notice the Merc badges are disguised, this is apparently a symbol that the car is not yet signed off as a production model.

The newly-engineered soft top takes just 11 seconds to open and has been tested on a stationary rig over 20 000 times to make sure that whichever billionaire buys one doesn’t get his hairpiece wet – if he doesn’t want to.

Mercedes say the rag-top has been engineered so that there is “no intrusive flapping, booming, hissing, clattering or howling”. Good to know. It’s also safe up to 196mph, which is quick.

Usually convertibles are much heavier than the coupe equivalent, not only because of all the extra machinery required to move the roof, but because the resulting loss of rigidity from chopping the roof away means the car has to be reinforced with heavy beams. However because the door assembly of the SLS is already so heavy, the Roadster is only 2kg heavier. Which is basically a big lunch.

The best part? Having the sound of that magnificent 6.2 litre V8 filter directly into the cockpit. I’ve got goosebumps just thinking about it.

Definitely a Murcielago, not the Gallardo. And from that side on view, looks like a cabrio…

Accidents are never a laughing matter, and we sincerely hope all involved here emerged unharmed from the accident, but a Lamborghini on its roof is quite a sight. The accident happened this morning Tuesday, on a renowned driving road in Cape Town: De Waal Drive. The car looks like the smaller Gallardo model. It also looks very flat; we’re hoping it isn’t a cabriolet.

If you have any details please send them through.

This is the upcoming C63 AMG Coupe that will be introduced next year. Speculations about the engine capacity are still all over the place with some people saying the engine will stay the same, others that the capacity will be reduced to 5.5 L with the addition of turbos.

Some even say it might have a naturally aspirated V8 of smaller capacity or even a V6. As you can see we actually have no clue about the engines, but one thing I can say for sure is that it will undoubtably, undeniably, without any question of uncertainty have 2 doors…