American contemporary/Neo-Pop/Post-Pop artist Jeff Koons has followed in the footsteps of Roy Lichtenstein, Andy Worhol, Ernst Fuchs, and other greats with his design for BMW’s 17th art car. Koons has taken the E92 BMW M3 GT2 car as his carte blanche and used God only knows for inspiration. All we know is that the result is attention-grabbing, unabashedly different, and the most exciting design at this year’s 24 Heures du Mans.
But who is Jeff Koons? And where else might we have seen his work?
Earlier today, Scuderia Ferrari unveiled their 2010 Formula One championship contender, which they’ve named the F10 in firm hopes of channeling some of their illustrious past victory. Will this herald a return to winning ways for the beleaguered team? We know about as much as you do on that score. Follow the jump for more, including a full gallery. Oh, and also, a video of something that isn’t quite the 2010 Mercedes Grand Prix car.
On New Year’s Eve, at Red Bull’s 2010 New Year No Limits show, Travis Pastrana successfully jumped his Subaru WRX STI an astonishing 269 feet, from a pier on Long Beach to a barge waiting in the harbour. This beat out Ken Block’s previous 2006 world record by almost a full 100 feet! Watch the video for professional hoonage at its finest. At the very least, watch the first 40 seconds.
Fans of understated Q-cars should be celebrating because Audi’s latest S4 rocketship is all new for 2010, and not to spoil the plot at all, but it’s very, very good. It takes a modern view to performance and does away with all that’s wasteful. A pure Audi? It does exist.
Audi gets all German when it comes to the art of going fast – meaning it throws lots of technology at the problem. The most notable change over the outgoing S4 is a new powerplant efficiently thumping underhood. Gone is the sonorous but fuel-sucking 4.2-litre V8, replaced by a new 333-hp 3.0-litre supercharged V6. While that’s down a few ponies compared to the old car, the new engine is lighter, and produces more torque – 325 lb-ft – at a lower rpm. It’s also a throwback to the old boosted S cars from the ‘80s and ‘90s, and more keeping in the S4’s character.
It may only be wishful thinking on our parts, we’ll admit. After all, CarEnvy.ca is “Home of the Canadian Car Enthusiast,” and as such, we’d have to be completely nuts to not ardently hope for Formula One to make its triumphant return to the Circuit du Gilles Villeneuve, wouldn’t we?
Well, it’s looking more and more like that might actually happen.
After a prolonged teaser campaign, Jaguar has let the, err, cat out of the bag. Today in London, Elle Macpherson and Jay Leno took the wraps off the 2011 Jaguar XJ. The new XJ is set to compete with the S-class/7-series/A8 trio, but also, Jag hopes, with the Panamera and Quattroporte. Obviously, Ian Callum has been busy these last few years since the release of the successful XF sedan, but has all his work paid off with a successful, coherent design?
The answer, and a 16-image gallery of the new XJ, are below.
Wait Peter, you’re saying, don’t you mean the LP560-4, not LP550-2? Why did the first number drop by 10, and the second by 2? And who is Valentino Balboni?
Well, Lambo has decided to make a lighter, rear-wheel-drive version of its AWD Gallardo. The “2″ indicates the number of wheels driven, and the 550 is the power output for this new, less expensive model. As for Valentino Balboni, it’s called Google – use it.
Though to call this LP550-2 an entry-level model would be to miss the point. I’ll tell you why and show you some spyshots below.
Of course it’s a song we’ve all heard before, but the CBC have confirmed that talks are ongoing between François Dumontier (NASCAR organizer in Montreal) and Bernie Ecclestone, and that they in fact met on Tuesday to talk some more about putting Canada back on the F1 map where it belongs.