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Ford GT
The Ford GT began as a concept car designed in anticipation of Ford's centennial year and as part of its drive to showcase and revive its "heritage" names such as Mustang and Thunderbird. Camillo Pardo the head of Ford's "Living Legends" studio is credited as the chief designer of the GT and worked under the guidance of Jay Mays. The designers drew inspiration from Ford's classic GT40 race cars of the 1960s.
Positive response on the auto show circuit in 2002 helped persuade the company to produce the car in limited quantities, and the first production versions appeared in 2003. It is a very high-performance, two-seater vehicle with a strong styling resemblance to its racing ancestor and performance to match. The powerplant is a mid-mounted supercharged 5.4 liter V8, producing 550 horsepower (410 kW) and 500 foot-pounds (678 Nm) of torque. Top speed is over 200 mph (322 km/h).
Full production began in spring 2004, with a projected annual volume of 1500 cars for three years. The first customers took delivery in September 2004. The GT is built and painted by Saleen in a small, 180,000 ft? (17,000 m?) factory in Troy, Michigan. Installation of the engine, transmission, and interior is handled by Ford's Wixom, Michigan plant. Of the 4,500 GTs produced, only 101 will be exported to Europe, starting in late 2005. 1302 Ford GTs were sold in the United States in all of 2005.
As with many highly desirable new vehicles, when the Ford GT was first released demand outpaced supply, and the cars initially sold for premium prices, with the first selling for over $500,000 to a retired Microsoft executive at a charity auction and later cars selling for up to $100,000 or more over the suggested retail price ($140,000 - $157,000 depending on options). Independent sources [1] then began gathering and analysing public information on production, sales, and selling prices, and posted that information as a resource for buyers and sellers. By June 2005 prices had dropped to $10,000 to $20,000 over MSRP, and in August 2005 several new GTs had sold on eBay for MSRP. Recognizing the ongoing demand for the car, Ford raised the base sticker by $10,000 to $149,995 in late 2005.
The production run of the GT will end with the 2006 model year in September, and the Wixom Assembly plant, where the GT is assembled, is scheduled for closing in 2007
Koenigsegg CCR
The Koenigsegg CCR is an automobile made by Koenigsegg. Designed and manufactured in ?ngelholm, Sweden, it debuted at the 2004 Geneva Auto Show. The manufacturers claim that their car is the fastest road car in the world with a theoretical top speed of more than 385 km/h (240 mph). The car reached a top speed of 388 km/h (241 mph) on February 28, 2005 breaking the world speed record for a production car (the previous record holder was the McLaren F1, which had a top speed record for over 10 years of 240.14 mph). In May, 2005 not long after the CCR claimed the McLaren's record as its own, the honour was given to a prototype of long awaited Bugatti Veyron which obliterated the previous record with a top speed of 400 km/h (248.5 mph). The final production model of the Veyron reached a speed of 253 mph (407.5 kph) in the hands of Car and Driver in their January 2006 issue.
Based on the Koenigsegg CC8S, the CCR is the top-end car produced by Koenigsegg. It retains all the features of the CC8S, and has a new side air intake design, a tweaked headlight arrangement, a revised rear, bigger-sized brakes, more power and new front splitters for optimized downforce.
The improved power engine was made possible by the use of a unique Swedish Lysholm twin-screw compressor and a new titanium exhaust system. This takes the power output to a maximum of 806 hp (601 kW) at 6,900 rpm. Torque is also distributed evenly, and peaks at 920 Nm (678 ft.lbf) at 5,700 rpm.
Final version of CCR is equipped with twin Rotrex centrifugal compressors. Boost pressure has been increased from 1.2 bar to 1.4 bar. It shows same maximum power (806hp) at 7,000 rpm, same maximum torque (920 Nm) at 5,400 rpm. (Note: This information of performance is partially updated in their official page.)
To honour the Swedish Fighter Jet Squadron No. 1, (Johan r?d) which had occupied the current facility of Koenigsegg, the CCR is adorned with a symbol of a ghost. The ghost is the symbol of the squadron.
Volkswagen Golf GTI MkI
The first Golf began production in 1974. Marketed in the United States and Canada from 1975 to 1984 as the Volkswagen Rabbit and in Mexico as the Volkswagen Caribe, it featured the water-cooled, front wheel drive design pioneered by the Citro?n Traction Avant with the addition of a hatchback pioneered by the Renault 4. The Golf was Wheels magazine's Car of the Year for 1975.
While the Golf was not the first design with this layout (earlier examples being the Austin Maxi in the late 1960s and the Fiat 128 3P of the early 1970s), it was very successful, especially since it married these features with Volkswagen's reputation for solid build-quality and reliable engineering.
The Golf was designed by Italian automobile architect / designer Giorgetto Giugiaro, of the ItalDesign design studio. A version of this original Golf model, known as the Volkswagen CitiGolf, is still produced in South Africa as an entry level car.
The GTI version, launched in Europe 1976 and the US in 1983, created a whole new type of car, the hot hatch, and was widely copied by all other manufacturers since. It was one of the first small cars to adopt fuel injection for its sports version, which raised power input of the 1588 cc engine to 110 PS (81 kW/108 hp). In 2004, Sports Car International announced the GTI Mk I as the 3rd best car of the 1980s.
The convertible version, named the Cabriolet, was sold from 1980 to 1993 (a convertible version of the Golf II was not made, so the Mk1 cabrio with slight modification was produced until the introdcution of the Mk III cabrio). It had a reinforced body, transverse roll bar, and a high level of trim. The A1 Volkswagen convertible is of unibody construction built entirely at the factory of Karmann, from stamping to final assembly; Volkswagen supplied the engine, suspension, interior, etc. for Karmann to install. The vinyl tops were insulated and manually operated, with a glass rear window.
Mazda RX-7
The Mazda RX-7 (also called the Savanna and Efini RX-7) is a sports car that began production in 1978. The original RX-7 competed in the affordable sports car segment with the likes of the Datsun/Nissan 280Z. The styling was modeled after the had styling inspired by the Lotus Elan 2+2. It features a unique twin-rotor Wankel rotary engine and a sporty front-midship, rear wheel drive layout, making it well balanced and appropriate for racing. The RX-7 was a direct replacement for the RX-3 (both were sold in Japan as the Savanna) and subsequently replaced all other Mazda rotary cars with the exception of the Cosmo.
The RX-7 is a true sports coupe design, as opposed to a sports car like the Triumph TR6 or a saloon with sporting intentions. The relatively light Wankel engine was situated slightly behind the front axle. It was offered in America as a two seat coupe, with four seats being optional in Japan, Australia, and other parts of the world.
The RX-7 made Car and Driver magazine's Ten Best list five times. In total, 811,634 RX-7s were produced.
* Series 1 (1979?1980) is referred to as the "SA22C".
* Series 2 (1981?1983) had wraparound taillights, a 4-wheel disc brakes option and updated engine control components. The "FB" designation was only used in North America after the US Department of Transportation mandated 17 digit Vehicle Identification numbers. Elsewhere in the world, the 1st generation RX-7 kept the SA22C designation.
* Series 3 (1984?1985) featured an updated lower front fascia and different gauge display layout. (The S3 RX-7 is the only rotary-engined car to not have a centrally mounted tachometer.) The GSL-SE model (S3 only) had a fuel injected 1.3L 13B-RESI engine, four-lug hubs with a more common bolt pattern in 4X114.3, a clutch-type rear LSD and stronger drivetrain components.
* Series 4 (1986?1988) was available with a naturally aspirated, fuel-injected 13B-VDEI producing 146 hp (108 kW). An optional turbocharged model, known as the the Turbo II, had 189 hp (141 kW).
* Series 5 (1989?1991) featured updated styling and better engine management, as well as lighter rotors and a higher compression ratio. The naturally aspirated Series 5 FC made 160 hp (119 kW), while the Series 5 TII made 200 hp (149 kW).
* Series 6 (1992?1995) was exported throughout the world and had the highest sales. In Japan, Mazda sold the Series 6 FD RX-7 through its Efini brand as the Efini RX-7 and then returned it to the Mazda brand for 1996.
* Series 7 (1996?1998) included minor changes to the car. The main difference was an updated ECU allowing for increased boost which netted an extra 10 hp. Only Japan and Australia received this version.
* Series 8 (January 1999? August 2002) was the final series, and was only available in the Japanese market. More efficient turbochargers were installed, while improved intercooling and radiator cooling was made possible by a revised frontal area. The seats, steering wheel, and front and rear lights were all changed. The rear wing was modified and gained adjustability. The top-of-the-line "Type RS" came equipped with a Bilstein suspension and 17" wheels as standard equipment. Power was officially claimed as 280 ps (276 hp, 208 kW) (with 330 Nm (243 ft.lbf) of torque) as per the maximum Japanese limit, though realistic power was more likely 220?230 kW (290?308.4 hp). The Type RZ version included all the features of the Type RS, but at a lighter weight. It also featured custom BBS wheels and a custom red racing themed interior. Further upgrades included a new 16-bit ECU and ABS system upgrades. The improved ABS system worked by braking differently on each wheel, allowing the car better turning during braking. The effective result made for safer driving for the average buyer. Easily the most collectable of all the RX-7's was the last 1500 run-out specials. Dubbed the "Spirit R", they combined all the "extra" features Mazda had used on previous limited-run specials and all sold within days of being announced. They still command amazing prices on the Japanese used car scene years later.
Ford GT
The Ford GT began as a concept car designed in anticipation of Ford's centennial year and as part of its drive to showcase and revive its "heritage" names such as Mustang and Thunderbird. Camillo Pardo the head of Ford's "Living Legends" studio is credited as the chief designer of the GT and worked under the guidance of Jay Mays. The designers drew inspiration from Ford's classic GT40 race cars of the 1960s.
Positive response on the auto show circuit in 2002 helped persuade the company to produce the car in limited quantities, and the first production versions appeared in 2003. It is a very high-performance, two-seater vehicle with a strong styling resemblance to its racing ancestor and performance to match. The powerplant is a mid-mounted supercharged 5.4 liter V8, producing 550 horsepower (410 kW) and 500 foot-pounds (678 Nm) of torque. Top speed is over 200 mph (322 km/h).
Full production began in spring 2004, with a projected annual volume of 1500 cars for three years. The first customers took delivery in September 2004. The GT is built and painted by Saleen in a small, 180,000 ft? (17,000 m?) factory in Troy, Michigan. Installation of the engine, transmission, and interior is handled by Ford's Wixom, Michigan plant. Of the 4,500 GTs produced, only 101 will be exported to Europe, starting in late 2005. 1302 Ford GTs were sold in the United States in all of 2005.
As with many highly desirable new vehicles, when the Ford GT was first released demand outpaced supply, and the cars initially sold for premium prices, with the first selling for over $500,000 to a retired Microsoft executive at a charity auction and later cars selling for up to $100,000 or more over the suggested retail price ($140,000 - $157,000 depending on options). Independent sources [1] then began gathering and analysing public information on production, sales, and selling prices, and posted that information as a resource for buyers and sellers. By June 2005 prices had dropped to $10,000 to $20,000 over MSRP, and in August 2005 several new GTs had sold on eBay for MSRP. Recognizing the ongoing demand for the car, Ford raised the base sticker by $10,000 to $149,995 in late 2005.
The production run of the GT will end with the 2006 model year in September, and the Wixom Assembly plant, where the GT is assembled, is scheduled for closing in 2007
Koenigsegg CCR
The Koenigsegg CCR is an automobile made by Koenigsegg. Designed and manufactured in ?ngelholm, Sweden, it debuted at the 2004 Geneva Auto Show. The manufacturers claim that their car is the fastest road car in the world with a theoretical top speed of more than 385 km/h (240 mph). The car reached a top speed of 388 km/h (241 mph) on February 28, 2005 breaking the world speed record for a production car (the previous record holder was the McLaren F1, which had a top speed record for over 10 years of 240.14 mph). In May, 2005 not long after the CCR claimed the McLaren's record as its own, the honour was given to a prototype of long awaited Bugatti Veyron which obliterated the previous record with a top speed of 400 km/h (248.5 mph). The final production model of the Veyron reached a speed of 253 mph (407.5 kph) in the hands of Car and Driver in their January 2006 issue.
Based on the Koenigsegg CC8S, the CCR is the top-end car produced by Koenigsegg. It retains all the features of the CC8S, and has a new side air intake design, a tweaked headlight arrangement, a revised rear, bigger-sized brakes, more power and new front splitters for optimized downforce.
The improved power engine was made possible by the use of a unique Swedish Lysholm twin-screw compressor and a new titanium exhaust system. This takes the power output to a maximum of 806 hp (601 kW) at 6,900 rpm. Torque is also distributed evenly, and peaks at 920 Nm (678 ft.lbf) at 5,700 rpm.
Final version of CCR is equipped with twin Rotrex centrifugal compressors. Boost pressure has been increased from 1.2 bar to 1.4 bar. It shows same maximum power (806hp) at 7,000 rpm, same maximum torque (920 Nm) at 5,400 rpm. (Note: This information of performance is partially updated in their official page.)
To honour the Swedish Fighter Jet Squadron No. 1, (Johan r?d) which had occupied the current facility of Koenigsegg, the CCR is adorned with a symbol of a ghost. The ghost is the symbol of the squadron.
Volkswagen Golf GTI MkI
The first Golf began production in 1974. Marketed in the United States and Canada from 1975 to 1984 as the Volkswagen Rabbit and in Mexico as the Volkswagen Caribe, it featured the water-cooled, front wheel drive design pioneered by the Citro?n Traction Avant with the addition of a hatchback pioneered by the Renault 4. The Golf was Wheels magazine's Car of the Year for 1975.
While the Golf was not the first design with this layout (earlier examples being the Austin Maxi in the late 1960s and the Fiat 128 3P of the early 1970s), it was very successful, especially since it married these features with Volkswagen's reputation for solid build-quality and reliable engineering.
The Golf was designed by Italian automobile architect / designer Giorgetto Giugiaro, of the ItalDesign design studio. A version of this original Golf model, known as the Volkswagen CitiGolf, is still produced in South Africa as an entry level car.
The GTI version, launched in Europe 1976 and the US in 1983, created a whole new type of car, the hot hatch, and was widely copied by all other manufacturers since. It was one of the first small cars to adopt fuel injection for its sports version, which raised power input of the 1588 cc engine to 110 PS (81 kW/108 hp). In 2004, Sports Car International announced the GTI Mk I as the 3rd best car of the 1980s.
The convertible version, named the Cabriolet, was sold from 1980 to 1993 (a convertible version of the Golf II was not made, so the Mk1 cabrio with slight modification was produced until the introdcution of the Mk III cabrio). It had a reinforced body, transverse roll bar, and a high level of trim. The A1 Volkswagen convertible is of unibody construction built entirely at the factory of Karmann, from stamping to final assembly; Volkswagen supplied the engine, suspension, interior, etc. for Karmann to install. The vinyl tops were insulated and manually operated, with a glass rear window.
Mazda RX-7
The Mazda RX-7 (also called the Savanna and Efini RX-7) is a sports car that began production in 1978. The original RX-7 competed in the affordable sports car segment with the likes of the Datsun/Nissan 280Z. The styling was modeled after the had styling inspired by the Lotus Elan 2+2. It features a unique twin-rotor Wankel rotary engine and a sporty front-midship, rear wheel drive layout, making it well balanced and appropriate for racing. The RX-7 was a direct replacement for the RX-3 (both were sold in Japan as the Savanna) and subsequently replaced all other Mazda rotary cars with the exception of the Cosmo.
The RX-7 is a true sports coupe design, as opposed to a sports car like the Triumph TR6 or a saloon with sporting intentions. The relatively light Wankel engine was situated slightly behind the front axle. It was offered in America as a two seat coupe, with four seats being optional in Japan, Australia, and other parts of the world.
The RX-7 made Car and Driver magazine's Ten Best list five times. In total, 811,634 RX-7s were produced.
* Series 1 (1979?1980) is referred to as the "SA22C".
* Series 2 (1981?1983) had wraparound taillights, a 4-wheel disc brakes option and updated engine control components. The "FB" designation was only used in North America after the US Department of Transportation mandated 17 digit Vehicle Identification numbers. Elsewhere in the world, the 1st generation RX-7 kept the SA22C designation.
* Series 3 (1984?1985) featured an updated lower front fascia and different gauge display layout. (The S3 RX-7 is the only rotary-engined car to not have a centrally mounted tachometer.) The GSL-SE model (S3 only) had a fuel injected 1.3L 13B-RESI engine, four-lug hubs with a more common bolt pattern in 4X114.3, a clutch-type rear LSD and stronger drivetrain components.
* Series 4 (1986?1988) was available with a naturally aspirated, fuel-injected 13B-VDEI producing 146 hp (108 kW). An optional turbocharged model, known as the the Turbo II, had 189 hp (141 kW).
* Series 5 (1989?1991) featured updated styling and better engine management, as well as lighter rotors and a higher compression ratio. The naturally aspirated Series 5 FC made 160 hp (119 kW), while the Series 5 TII made 200 hp (149 kW).
* Series 6 (1992?1995) was exported throughout the world and had the highest sales. In Japan, Mazda sold the Series 6 FD RX-7 through its Efini brand as the Efini RX-7 and then returned it to the Mazda brand for 1996.
* Series 7 (1996?1998) included minor changes to the car. The main difference was an updated ECU allowing for increased boost which netted an extra 10 hp. Only Japan and Australia received this version.
* Series 8 (January 1999? August 2002) was the final series, and was only available in the Japanese market. More efficient turbochargers were installed, while improved intercooling and radiator cooling was made possible by a revised frontal area. The seats, steering wheel, and front and rear lights were all changed. The rear wing was modified and gained adjustability. The top-of-the-line "Type RS" came equipped with a Bilstein suspension and 17" wheels as standard equipment. Power was officially claimed as 280 ps (276 hp, 208 kW) (with 330 Nm (243 ft.lbf) of torque) as per the maximum Japanese limit, though realistic power was more likely 220?230 kW (290?308.4 hp). The Type RZ version included all the features of the Type RS, but at a lighter weight. It also featured custom BBS wheels and a custom red racing themed interior. Further upgrades included a new 16-bit ECU and ABS system upgrades. The improved ABS system worked by braking differently on each wheel, allowing the car better turning during braking. The effective result made for safer driving for the average buyer. Easily the most collectable of all the RX-7's was the last 1500 run-out specials. Dubbed the "Spirit R", they combined all the "extra" features Mazda had used on previous limited-run specials and all sold within days of being announced. They still command amazing prices on the Japanese used car scene years later.
