What happens when you live in / near the desert and have a bunch of money to waste? Cars get destroyed, that's what. Here's a small clip of somebody taking their Hyundai Sonata out for a little slideways action and utterly shredding the rear passenger side. I'd venture to say it's totaled, considering the rear wheels aren't meant to be pushed up into the wheel well like that.
Also, how fast do you have to be going to launch the spare tire out of the trunk? If anyone knows what event this was or what specifically was going on (other than putting that poor white Sonata into a mound of dirt), give us a shout.
Following on from Tuesday's presentation of the special edition version of the forthcoming 2011 Camaro SS Convertible that will be offered in this year's Nieman Marcus Christmas catalog, Chevrolet released the first videos of the car with GM's people talking us around the design details.
The Nieman Marcus edition of GM's drop-top muscle car will be produced in a limited run of 100 units, each powered by a 6.2-liter V8 engine with pricing set at $75,000 a piece. The regular Camaro Convertible will be given its public premiere at the Los Angeles Auto Show in late November. Click through for the videos, or check out our previous post for all the details on this special edition (but obviously overpriced) model.
Meet the star of Opel's Paris Motor Show stand and probably one of the best looking concepts of this year's show, the GTC Paris Concept that will spawn next year's three-door Astra model.
Even though the mainstream variants of the production Astra GTC will lose the muscular bumpers, LEDs and tall 21-inch wheels of the design study, it's safe to say that what you see here is more or less what you'll get when the car arrives in Opel and Vauxhall showrooms across Europe in 2011.
For those wanting something closer in looks to the concept, there's good news as the flagship OPC model is expected to keep most of the styling features including the chunky bumpers.
The same goes for the GTC Paris Concept's direct injection and turbocharged 2.0-liter four-cylinder engine with 290-horsepower that strongly hints at the specifications of the Golf R / Scirocco R-rivaling Astra GTC OPC model, which is also due in late 2011.
For full details on Opel's Paris Show attention-grabber, hop over to our previous story here.
In an attempt to enter the 4-door coupe market, Lotus brought a sedan - you read that right - to the Paris Motor Show. The Eterne is the new Lotus 4-door (other Loti saloons include the 377HP twin-turbocharged Lotus Carlton / Omega of the early 1990s, and they sure are cool); it uses a Lotus-tuned new bad boy engine borrowed from Lexus.
This means that sitting under the hood is a high-output forced-induction 5.0-liter V8. As with the Esprit and Elite, the Eterne will offer optional hybrid power and KERS.
An added bonus is available AWD. The Eterne provides seating for four passengers in an 1,800-kilo package that will cost approximately £120,000 [~ US$190,500 at today's exchange rates] before options.
Clearly Lotus sees a market for a prestigious high-performance 4-door with hybrid power, because Dany Bahar plainly states, "We truly believe that there is a market for the Eterne. There is nothing else like it out there both in terms of design, capacity and performance. The biggest difference between the Eterne and it's class competitors is that it's not an evolution of an existing two-door model, it's a deliberate and considered stand-alone creation. It's the ultimate four door sports car."
Hey, who am I to argue with capitalism? For that money, though, I'd just buy a Fisker Karma and go on a nasty vacation.
The new Lotus Elise jumps into entirely new styling territory, not so much evolving from the current model but fully reinventing itself as a baby Esprit. The only similarities are the mid-engine layout driving the rear wheels and 2-seats around corners.
Below, Lotus has been kind enough to provide a nicely-designed chart for your convenience instead of spreading all the car's stats across a 15,000-word press release.
The new baby Lotus will get a standard 6-speed manual (with an optional 7-speed DCT) and be powered by a Toyota 2.0-liter 4-cylinder engine putting out 320-horsepower.
If the Elise is putting out that kind of go for a £35,000 [around US$55,500] base price, this is looking to be a bargain basement killer. To make that 320 ponies extra green, it will also offer mild hybrid tech and an optional start/stop system when it comes out in Spring 2015.
