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Today we feature an ad for the Citroen 2CV that makes it look like a quite attractive car. The 2CV is right up there with the Mini and the Beetle in the cult classic car category. Like the Beetle and the Mini the 2CV was produced long after every other manufacturer had moved on to producing more modern cars but people keep on buying these cars despite them having ergonomics designed in the 40s. The last car ran off the production line in 1990 after 42 years of production.
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Today’s video is a bit of a long one from a TV program that used modern forensics to piece together James Deans last moments. Dean famously loved fast cars and he traded a Porshe 356 in on a Porshe 550 Spyder that got nicknamed “little Bastard”, Alec Guinness told Dean he would kill himself in the car within a week, ironically a week before his death. The car went on to hurt and kill several others after the wreak was bought and parts of it like the engine, wheels and drive train were sold off. Considered cursed the wreak of the 550 was put on display by the California Highway Patrol but the garage it was stored in burnt down with the car escaping unscathed. The car was last seen in 1960 when it was lost in transit while being shipped back to its owner.
Today’s launch of the all new Ford Falcon FG series has been one the most anticipated releases in Australian motoring history. It is hoped the new model range will help boost the large car market in Australia which has been suffering from dropping sales over the past few years. The new FG Falcon comes in a range of models including a new G series which is the luxury flagship for the model. The range also features a sporty XR6 with turbo charged six cylinder engine and an aggressive XR8 V8 vehicle. The vehicle comes in two body styles a sedan and a utility vehicle which is sold in both tray and tub form a must for any Aussie tradesman. The all-new FG Falcon offers fuel economy improvements AND increased performance – as well as introducing new passive and active safety features across the range.
See our photospread of the other Falcon FG models.
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With the launch of the FG Falcon tomorrow we thought it only fitting to to check out a ford concept car today to see what the future may hold for the brand. The Ford Airstream Concept uses a plug-in hydrogen hybrid fuel cell to deliver 41 miles per gallon which is pretty good news if it ever makes its way into a production car, what we hope never does make its way into tomorrow’s Ford’s is the LCD display of an open fire, I mean what were they thinking. Sure concept cars are suppose to be way out there, but a display of open fire! Perhaps they thought it was more environmentally friendly than the real open fires we will be using in our cars of the future.
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Rinspeed are a car design company based in Switzerland that you may know from their concept cars that they regular develop. First there was the Presto that transformed into half the size and then they made the Splash that turned into a boat, now they have created the sQuba, the diving car inspired by the Bond diving car in The Spy Who Loved Me. Unlike the movie this squba diving car is the real deal, it also produces zero emissions thanks to its electric motor that gives it a top speed of 120kl/h on land and 3kl/h up to a depth of 10m under water. Because this car is a convertible and not designed to be a closed in submarine it is also fitted out with squba tanks, the face masks and squba controls are located between the seats headrest for you to pop on when you want to take a dip. Although this car is a concept and will never make it to production it makes us ask the question would you buy a car to give you a drive through under sea experience or would you rather get out of the car to go swimming with the fishes?
If you have ever wanted to go for a drive under the sea the sQuba is the car for you. This aquatic vehicle is going to be on display at the Geneva Motorshow which starts on the 6th of March. The car can actually drive underwater up to about 10 metres. Designed by Rinspeed who are from Switzerland and have made quiet a few interesting show cars over the years, the vehicle can also be used on land as a car. The car uses two Sea Bob jet drives and have special louvers which control the water intake to help the vehicle drive through water. The little sports car looking vehicle was designed to be open top for safety concerns as it was thought opening the doors underwater might cause a problem and the open design also assisted buoyancy. We are not sure how much or when we might be able to have one but we are sure there are plenty of people who would love a novel vehicle like this.
The first in our series of car of the dead stars is the SS-100x, it was the secret service name of the Presidential limo that JFK got shot in. Based on a 1961 4 door Lincoln Continental the car was modified to a convertible (probably not a great idea looking back) and also featured an array of high tech gadgets including a radio link back to the White House. The car featured a variety of tops that could be popped on when needed and by the time the car was finished being modified a 1962 grill and bumper assy was fitted to keep the car up to date. Following Kennedy’s assassination the car was modified again returning it to a closed in sedan, but this time with bulletproof armor. The car continued as a presidential limousine until 1967 and was finally retired from goverment service in 1978 to the Henry Ford Museum in Dearborn, Michigan.
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Today’s video is of the AZLK Moskvich museum in Russia. The Moskvich was a popular car in Russia and were often regarded as sturdy and dependable transport, the company had most of its success during the 60’s and 70’s but actually dates back to 1929 with the first Moskvitch being produced in 1945, it was based on the Opel Kadett as the Soviets gained Opel’s production assets as part of war reparations. Today the company is no more as it went bankrupt in 2002, allegedly the companies factory was deserted with half finished cars on the production line for quite some time after the company folded. We think this video is from the factories museum so we are assuming it is no longer open as well. By the way if you are wondering what AZLK means, its short for Avtomobilny Zavod imeni Leninskogo Komsomola, which means in English Youth Communist League Car Factory, they dropped this acronym in the 90’s.