Lexus debuts $375,000 supercar at Tokyo Motor Show

A $375,000 Lexus? Toyota seems to think it's a good idea. The Lexus LFA, which debuted today at the Tokyo Motor Show, isn't, after all, one of their normal wares; it's their new supercar.

The low-slung, angular body design houses a 4.8-liter V-10 engine that distributes a meaty 552 hp and 354 pound-foot of torque to the rear wheels via a six-speed sequential gearbox (don't hold your breath for a third pedal). It also clocks a 3.7-second 0-62 mph time at a top speed of 202 mph. Try racing your RX350 against that.

The price may be prohibitive, but exclusivity generally wins out; Lexus is only producing 500 units for worldwide distribution, and we have little doubt every last one will sell.

-- Alison Lakin

Alison Lakin is a staff writer for DriverSide.com.

Photo: Lexus LFA. Photo Credit: Toyota

O.C. Auto Show lures car guys with bikini contests, poker pro and mixed martial arts

Beginning Thursday afternoon through Sunday evening at the Anaheim Convention Center, the one-weekend-only Orange County Auto Show will open and close its doors. Known as the West Coast's earliest auto show of the season, show attendees will see current 2010 models, some of last year's concept cars and pretty much any car or truck that's currently in dealerships. 

Over the years, the show has had a very small showing of national and global new model announcements, but none are expected this year. Instead, a decidedly "exotic" theme seems to be running through the show activities -- targeted directly at male car enthusiasts.

Exotic vehicles including Ferrari, Maserati, Bugatti, SSC Ultimate Aero and a Rolls Royce Phantom Drophead Coupe Convertible will be on display for your drooling pleasure. And in the same vein, the show's schedule of events, includes, not one, not two, but three bikini girl contests -- Miss Hawaiian Tropic Model Search, Hottest Hooters contest and Velvet Ring Girl contest. There's also a live mixed martial arts cage matchup and a drawing to meet and go head-to-head with Absolute Poker pro Matt Vengrin, who has won more than $1.7 million playing the game.

VW brings nine models to Frankfurt

With home-court advantage at the Frankfurt Motor Show, Volkswagen has chosen this moment to showcase just how aggressive its integration into the American market will be. At the show this year there are nine relevant concepts and models, and a number of them will actually appear in U.S. dealerships (though some might not make it to the party until 2013). The company certainly knows its target audience; the selection includes alternative-fuel concepts, boy-racer dream cars and a much-anticipated three-door. Almost every one is a compact.

It's a brilliant move to highlight the small and green offerings of the line (not a whiff of the Touareg this time around), especially when America is desperate to fill the roads with more fuel-sipping, guilt-assuaging vehicles.

It's been confirmed that the Polo Three-Door will be ours next year. The car's been in production since 1975, and 2010 marks its first entry into America's marketplace. The mini hatchback (not to be confused with Mini's Coupe) has a few things going for it, not the least of which is its lack of participation in slightly terrifying ad campaigns. More importantly, its array of small displacement engines -- including a diesel option -- and low curb weight make it a fuel-sipper. Smaller than the Golf, it will slot in at the bottom of VW's lineup.

This isn't to say VW is rejecting our need for speed. In fact, it's embracing it. With a 2.0-liter TSI that produces 265 horsepower, the brand-new 2010 Golf R is the most powerful production Golf ever. All-wheel drive treatment and the addition of the DSG gearbox make it a worthy replacement to the R32. America will get to test its 5.5-second zero to 60 mph time sometime next year. 

VW's biggest news this year comes in the form of two alternative-fuel concepts. The E-Up! concept has been heralded (by VW itself) as "Beetle of the 21st Century" and is slated to arrive in 2013. It may look like a more futuristic Tata Nano, but its lithium-ion battery will provide a range of 80 miles without a recharge. For longer jaunts, VW revisited its 1L concept, now called the L1 and transformed it into a two-seater, 1000-pound Honda Insight with the styling cues of a carbon-fiber Enterprise aircraft carrier. A 1-liter TDI engine and electric motor should combine to make an estimated 170 mpg. VW is saying it will be ready for production by 2013, but will we be ready for it?

-- Alison Lakin

Alison Lakin is a staff writer at DriverSide.com.

Photos (from top): Volkswagen L1 Concept, Polo, E-Up! Concept. Credit: Volkswagen

Dan Neil's Frankfurt Auto Show preview

For those who fret about the end of the American Automotive Empire, I’d offer the following consolation. After years of skepticism, resistance and outright ridicule, European car makers are embracing an idea and evolving a technology that Americans pioneered: the electrification of the automobile.

Don’t miss the moment here. European car makers are justifiably proud of their own, homegrown technology, in fields such as high-efficiency diesels. But when Mercedes-Benz pulls the silk off the plug-in version of its new SLS AMG Gullwing, or shows off its plug-in S-class concept, those represent a concession to a better idea that Americans had first.

Here’s one takeaway for the Frankfurt show: elephants in tutus. In other words, how will European marks squeeze their gracious saloons and premium sports cars into the ever-tighter spandex of fuel efficiency? The solutions will be inspiring and sometimes absurd. Take, for instance, BMW ActiveHybrid X6 concept, powered by 4.4-liter V8 (400 hp and 450 pound-feet of torque), a seven-speed transmission, two traction motors (91 hp and 86 hp) for a total of 480 hp and 575 pound-feet of torque. Yes, the most powerful hybrid in the world, but how much does it weigh? How much does it cost?

Another meme: three-fifths scale. A whole class of cars is getting smaller without giving anything up, in comfort, convenience and panache. Consider the Lexus LF-Ch, which is a little luxo five-door thrown against the Audi A3 and BMW 1-series.

Yet another meme: The show – starring large, effortlessly beautiful, immensely fast exotic cars for the richest one-10th – must go on. Meet the Rolls-Royce Ghost, a BMW 7-series-sized Rolls with coach doors (I’m telling you now this is my early favorite pick of the show). Maserati brings the Gran Cabrio; Aston Martin, the heartbreaking Rapide; Ferrari, the utterly bewitching 458 Italia; Bentley, the presumptively large and audacious Mulsanne. Old money is still the best money.

Beyond the jump is a brief preview of next week’s turntable stars.

-- Dan Neil

Acura creates a new category, but BMW beat them to it

 

Rather than sit back and wait for the recession to end with its current lineup, Acura has hopes of launching a whole new product segment.

An Acura press conference opened with a video positioning the new Acura ZDX SUV as a car to appeal to people who desire “an experiential lifestyle ... those who want a vehicle that demands attention.” The Acura ZDX combines the functionality of an SUV and the practicality of a sedan. However, it may be that BMW got there first with the X6, a car that L.A. Times automotive critic Dan Neil described as being "about as useful as a laminated pizza." 

The car that Acura showed was a prototype, but the company says it will be close in design to the car that arrives in showrooms this fall. The automaker says the ZDX will attract a “new level of customer to Acura.”

-- Doug Stewart

Photo: Doug Stewart

Kia builds a Forte, or two

Kia has several examples of it’s sleek, new Forte sedan on the floor here in New York. The focus of the press conference was their designers, however. The designers of the Soul and the Forte were brought on and took part in a slightly hokey demonstration that allegedly would read their brain waves to reveal the inspiration for the vehicles.

A boar with a backpack was the idea behind the Soul, one of the better looking small, boxy "trucklets."

The designer of the Kia Forte talked about the flow of the car and the powerful, aggressive look. The highlight was the reveal of the Forte Koup, an attractive car that brings the same elements of the sedan design and blends them into an aggressive, tight package.

-- Doug Stewart

Photo: Kia

Mercedes-Benz E-Class: Better than being in love?

To the tunes of a jazz combo, Mercedes-Benz introduced four new models, calling 2010 the "year of the E-Class." They even had jazz singer Dianne Reeves sing a song dedicated to the car. The lyrics to the song said it was “better than almost anything but being in love.”

At the high end was the E63 AMG. MB called it the "business sedan" that with a press of a button changes to a "sports sedan."

Mercedes showed off a 4-cylinder, E250 Bluetec diesel they called the cleanest luxury car in the world. The claimed mileage is 44 miles per gallon.

MB brought out their first hybrid, an ML450 developed for the U.S. and Canada. They promised around 90% of the power and torque and half the fuel consumption of the standard model.

-- Doug Stewart

Photograph: Doug Stewart

New York Auto Show previews coming quickly now

 
New York -- if you can make it there you can make it anywhere, or so the saying goes. After a string of major auto shows, NAIAS, Chicago, Tokyo and London that scaled back significantly, the 2009 edition of the New York International Auto Show is humming with announcements for the press preview, April 8th and 9th. The show, held at the Jacob Javits Convention Center on Manhattan’s west side, will be the coming out party for a number of models, both production and concept. Toyota plans to unveil a "micro-subcompact" representing "a new segment for the brand aimed toward the growing urbanization trend." Speculation centers around the Toyota iQ which may be badged as the Scion tD.

See more New York Auto Show cars after the jump...

Classic American wheels get together at OC Fairgrounds

If you feel like getting some Orange County sunshine while checking out more than 2,000 American hot rods, customs, classics, muscle cars, street machines and trucks, and lots of vendors and exhibitors, you'll have that opportunity at the Meguiars/Goodguys Orange County Get-Together this weekend.

With sections of the fairgrounds dubbed "Homebuilt Heaven," "Trick Truck Corral" and "Mighty Muscle," your American classic-car jones should be well-satisfied. The event also features an outdoor "Show'n Shine" and a "Street Challenge Autocross," where drivers can test their own car's performance ability. There will also be a special award presented for the 2009 Muscle Machine of the Year.

Here are the finer details:

Location: OC Fair & Event Center in Costa Mesa
(714) 708-1500; www.ocfair.com

Hours:
Saturday, March 14, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Sunday, March 15, 8 a.m. to 4 p.m.

General admission, $15; children (ages 7-12), $6; under 6, free. Parking is $5

-- Joni Gray

Photo: Goodguys Rod & Custom Assn.

Aston Martin gets into the truck business: The Lagonda

As expected, Aston Martin announced today at the Geneva Motor Show that it would revive the luxury marque Lagonda.

Unexpected was the concept vehicle (top and right): a full-size luxury SUV aimed at places in the world where rough roads and bad weather preclude the company's ground-skimming sports cars.

"We could sell in 100 more countries if we had cars with enough ground clearance,” Aston Martin CEO Ulrich Bez told Automotive News. Aston Martin currently is sold in 32 markets worldwide.

The concept vehicle, 5.2 meters long (17.16 feet), is based on the Mercedes GL, but it has much sleeker sheet metal, designed by AM penman Marek Reichmann. Of course, considering the packing crate styling of the GL, "sleeker" wouldn't be hard.

There are a couple of things worth noting here. First, Aston Martin's rise from the dead in the past few years has been leveraged against a distinct bit of engineering, the alloy monocque VH (vertical-horizontal) chassis. All of the company's cars since the Vanquish have used this adjustable architecture, and so there has been considerable economies in design and engineering.

The SUV would be a platform-share with Mercedes-Benz. It's unclear how this would affect vehicle profit margins, but suffice to say this is a whole new direction for the Gaydon-based Aston Martin. It's also worth noting that AM buyers may not necessarily want a badge-job Mercedes. This project will stress the brand equities so painfully created in the past decade.

And another thing: For historic symmetry, the right thing to do would have been to launch the Lagonda marque with the Rapide (right), the four-door super-coupe revealed in February.

A little background: Aston Martin acquired the Lagonda name in 1948 (the company is still called Aston Martin Lagonda Ltd. on its royal warrants and such). In 1961, David Brown -- he of DB fame -- attempted to revive the Lagonda marque with a car called the Rapide. The Touring-bodied Rapide was based on the DB5, just as the new Rapide is based on the DB9. The Lagonda Rapide didn't sell well and was discontinued in 1964.

The last time the Lagonda name surfaced, it was on the nose of the William Towns-designed four-door super-coupe, a gorgeous bit of 1970s-era exotica with a lot of high tech and ambitious avionics onboard. That car too failed, but not for want of looks (below).

-- Dan Neil

Photos: Aston Martin