ford verve sedan

 Designed as the opening act in a new global small-car lineup, derivatives of the Verve are set to make their European and Asian production debut by year's end, with a North American launch set for 2010. The four-door concept is the primary car designated for U.S. sales, though Ford is also showing a European-issue three-door version to gauge public reaction as a potential sister model.

Styling for the North American Verve sedan differs slightly from European-spec models, especially in the front. A three-bar upper grill and smaller inverted trapezodial grill are substituted for the U.S. market and two federally-mandated sidemarker lights are LED items set to either side of the vehicle's nose. The Verve's headlamps are elongated and reach back into the front fenders -- and feature the latest technology with both projector beams and a LED setup

ford verve sedan

ford verve sedan

ford verve sedan

ford verve sedan

ford explorer america concept

 AFord's Explorer America concept -- a possible future vision of what Ford's fallen SUV king could become -- will be revealed to the world at the upcoming 2008 Detroit Auto Show. Ford says the forward-looking concept was designed to address the changes in the SUV market over the past 15 years, from rugged off-roaders to civilized suburban people haulers.

The concept is also a demonstration platform of sorts for Ford's new EcoBoost family of engines. Formerly known as TwinForce (and seen at last year's Detroit show in the Lincoln MKR Concept), the EcoBoost engines provide the power of larger engines while achieving 20-30 percent gains in fuel-economy, according to the automaker. Initially, this family will consist of a 2.0-liter inline-four making 275 horsepower and 280 lb-ft of torque, and a 3.5-liter V-6 expected to make some 340 horsepower and over 340 lb-ft of torque

ford explorer america concept

ford explorer america concept

ford explorer america concept

ford explorer america concept

fisker karma

 Unlike the Fisker Tramonto and Latigo CS, which are based on a Mercedes-Benz SL and BMW 6-Series, respectively, the as-yet-unnamed sedan will be built from the ground up. The technology powering the vehicle is made possible by Fisker's joint venture partner Quantum Technologies -- an outfit that has done work for Toyota and GM in the past. The recent appointment of former BMW engineer Thomas Fritz as Fisker's Director of Engineering probably doesn't hurt, either.

Fisker has set an ambitious starting price of $80,000 and claims that initial deliveries will begin in the fourth quarter of 2009. We're more than a little skeptical that the company will be able to pull off its projected volume of 15,000 cars a year, especially in light of the many delays that have tied up Tesla's $98,000 pure-electric roadster.

fisker karma

fisker karma

fisker karma

fisker karma

ferrari f430 spider

ferrari f430 spiderferrari f430 spiderferrari f430 spiderferrari f430 spiderferrari f430 spiderferrari f430 spiderferrari f430 spiderferrari f430 spiderferrari f430 spiderferrari f430 spiderferrari f430 spiderferrari f430 spiderferrari f430 spiderferrari f430 spiderferrari f430 spiderferrari f430 spiderferrari f430 spiderferrari f430 spiderferrari f430 spiderferrari f430 spiderferrari f430 spiderferrari f430 spiderferrari f430 spiderferrari f430 spiderferrari f430 spiderferrari f430 spiderferrari f430 spiderferrari f430 spiderferrari f430 spiderferrari f430 spiderferrari f430 spiderferrari f430 spiderferrari f430 spiderferrari f430 spiderferrari f430 spiderferrari f430 spiderferrari f430 spiderferrari f430 spiderferrari f430 spiderferrari f430 spiderferrari f430 spiderferrari f430 spiderferrari f430 spiderferrari f430 spiderferrari f430 spiderferrari f430 spiderferrari f430 spiderferrari f430 spiderferrari f430 spiderferrari f430 spiderferrari f430 spiderferrari f430 spiderferrari f430 spiderThese days, even hardcore performance cars are scrambing to get into the green scene. At the Los Angeles Auto Show, we saw the Pratt & Miller Corvette C6RS, an E85 capable 600 horsepower supercar. At Detroit, Ferrari has taken the leap as well with its F430 Spider Bio Fuel.

Powered by a 4.3-liter V8 running on E85 ethanol, Ferrari says this eco-friendly Italian stallion produces 10 more horsepower than the standard version (that's a total of 500 horses) and gives a four percent increase in torque. Emissions have decreased too - down five percent in CO2. To prepare its bread and butter V8 for E85 duty, recalibration of the engine's CPU was in order, as was modification to the fuel feed system. Ferrari says its goal is to cut its lineup's total emissions by 40 percent, come 2012.

ferrari f430 spider

ferrari f430 spider

ferrari f430 spider

ferrari f430 spider

dodge zeo concept

 Dodge has designed its ZEO Concept as a sports wagon, featuring "2+2" seating that gives room for four passengers. Powered with what sound like the same 200kw lithium-ion batteries as the Chrysler ecoVoyager, the vehicle is electric only and boasts a range of at least 250 miles. Built for the enthusiast, the ZEO is obviously trying to show that eco-friendly doesn't need to be dull. Now that the Magnum will be discontinued, could this car carry on the muscle-wagon theme for the 21st century?

dodge zeo concept

dodge zeo concept

dodge zeo concept

dodge zeo concept

chrysler ecovoyager

 The Chrysler ecoVoyager Concept combines four-door, four-passenger functionality, wrapped in a sleek, elegant body. A one-box design is utilized to maximize space, and the vehicle runs on a 200kw lithium-ion battery pack in tandem with a small hydrogen fuel cell for additional range. Chrysler claims the ecoVoyager should produce a range of 300 miles using both electric and hydrogen power (40 miles on electric power alone) and of course, water vapor -- the concept's only exhaust. Acceleration from 0 to 60 mph is dispatched in under eight seconds, according to Chrysler.

chrysler ecovoyager

chrysler ecovoyager

chrysler ecovoyager

chrysler ecovoyager