Kief Cars

The VW Concept R was unveiled at the 2003 Frankfurt Auto Show. The car is a sporty 2-seater roadster with mid-engine and rear wheel drive. The VW Concept R is powered by a V6 3.2 L FSI petrol engine with a maximum output of 195 kW / 261 hp. Apparently this is strong enough to enable this sports car to reach 100 km/h in 5.3 seconds. The VW Concept R was based on the VW Golf Hatchback. The car is 4,1m long, 1,8m wide and 1,2 high. The VW Concept R is fitted with a 6 speed direct-shift transmission and has a top speed of 250 km/h which is electronically limited. This concept car has a Volkswagen logo which is generated digitally by a display and begins to pulsate in the OLED screen when the ignition is turned on by the driver. The pulse stops when the ignition is activated. The seats are not adjustable at all. The correct seating position must be found by electrically moving the polished metal information block of the instrument panel, including the steering wheel and pedal cluster back or forth in order to find the correct seating position. The VW Concept R’s seats are filled with active foam. The active foam adapts to the body shape of the driver and passenger. This is a first for sports car. In 2005 VW confirmed that they intend to build a production car derived from the VW Concept R concept car. It’s 2009, no production model based on this vehicle has been released yet, but the VW Concept Blue Sport was revealed at the 2009 North American Auto Show, which is derived from the VW Concept R.

This is a very stylish looking car. No two ways about it. I doubt that this car will ever be transformed into a production car. And should this become a production vehicle its highly unlikely that it will make it to South Africa. I will keep my fingers crossed though. In the meanwhile I’ll look around in the classifieds for a 2nd hand vehicle instead. The VW Concept R probably will not be within my price range if its released here.

The BMW Z9 was introduced as a concept car at the Frankfurt Auto Show in 1999. It was also called the BMW Z9 Gran Tourismo. The car never made it to production but many of its features did. At the 2000 Paris Auto Show, a convertible variant of the BMW Z9 made its appearance. The BMW Z9 featured a carbon fiber skin over an aluminum space frame. The styling used on the BMW E63 6 series is derived from the BMW Z9. The vehicle featured unique gull wing doors that could also be opened like conventional hinged doors. An early concept of BMW’s iDrive system was fitted in the BMW Z9, then called the Intuitive Interaction Concept. The BMW Z9 featured the first V8 Turbo Diesel engine, which was later manufactured for the BMW 740 Diesel. The BMW Z9 drive or reverse gears can be engaged with mounted lever on the dash. Steering wheel mounted buttons were also added for the Steptronic transmission. The driver can manually shift gears with these buttons.

This truly is a very stylish looking vehicle. One can really admire concept cars. They either get built or they are an inspiration and motivation for designers and future designers alike. There can’t be many of these BMW Z9s in existence, so you’ll probably never find a 2nd hand Z9 to buy in the classifieds. Guess I’ll have to look for a cheaper vehicle, since BMW has a price tag way above my pricing range for a vehicle.

At first glance the Chrysler Turbine car looks like a classic car. The Chrysler Turbine was an automobile powered by gas turbine engines that were assembled in a small plant in Detroit, Michigan, USA in 1963. The automobile was only used for consumer tests for gas turbine-powered cars. The vehicle was the high point of Chrysler’s decades-long project to build a practical turbine-powered car. The 4th generation Chrysler turbine engine ran up to 60,000 RPM. The engine could use diesel fuel, unleaded gasoline, kerosene, JP-4 jet fuel, and even vegetable oil. It could run on virtually anything. The president of Mexico put this tot the test. He ran one of the first cars successfully on tequila. Air/fuel adjustments were required to switch from 1 kind of fuel to another. The only evidence of which fuel was being used was the odor of coming out of the exhaust. Only 55 of these cars were built. When Chrysler finished the program and when public displays ended, 46 of the cars were destroyed. 6 of the 9 remaining cars engines were de-activated and donated to museums around the US. Chrysler retained the 3 remaining cars for historical reasons. The Chrysler turbine program did not die either. A re-engineered version of the turbine engine would appear in the 1966 Dodge Charger.

If car manufacturers or entrepeneurs could find a cost-effective way of making a turbine engine it could change the face of cars and reduce the demand for oil worldwide. One can not buy the Chrysler Turbine car anywhere. A few of the old car’s engines are owned by a few private collectors and Chrysler themselves. I guess I’ll have to look around in the classifieds to find another car instead.

The Japanese Auto Manufacturer, Honda, is pushing ahead with the mass-production of the Honda FCX Clarity which will be powered by zero-emission hydrogen fuel cell technology. The car was named as the World Green Car for 2009 at the World Car Awards. On the Honda FCX Clarity, Honda promises that the car is fun to drive and smooth, quiet en powerful. The vehicle also features a reinforced body structure, Vehicle Stability Assist (VSA) and a Collision Mitigation Braking System (CMBS).

This decision to mass-produce this vehicle comes even though there has been a slow uptake on hydrogen fuel cell technology. The Obama administration in the US, a key market for this technology, has publicly backed electric car technology and ignored hydrogen fuel cell technology. In the United Kingdom no network for hydrogen fuel cell technology exists. Honda is presently the only Auto Manufacturer in the world to offer a hydrogen fuel cell powered vehicle for public leasing. General Motors and Toyota have also backed hydrogen fuel cell technology adoption as one of their strategies. General Motors plans to release a fuel cell car by the year 2012. Toyota are looking to bring out a fuel cell car in the next 6 years. The problem with hydrogen, in my opinion, is that it costs twice the price of gasoline, so it won’t be that cost effective. Or maybe it could be if there is fuelling structure like the established gasoline one. It will be a while before we see these cars advertised as 2nd hand vehicles in the classifieds, probably another 5 years or so.

Related Links:
Honda FCX Clarity – Official Website

The Chevrolet Orlando took centre stage at the Chevrolet stand at the 2008 Paris Auto Show, next to the Chevrolet Cruze sedan. The vehicle is a 7 seater part SUV, part MPV. This could probably change the shape of the MPVs produced in the near future. It has a fashionable squared-off styling and versatile cabin. The Chevrolet Orlando can easily accommodate seven adults in 3 rows of seats. This can be transformed quickly into a flat load-carrying area. The vehicle has a sloping center stack with a high-mounted gear lever, brushed metal-effect trim and blue-backlit instruments. The Chevrolet Orlando was designed by GM Holden in Australia. The vehicle has a double-deck grille and prominent bow-tie logo, with an octagonal windscreen and concave bonnet. The Chevrolet Orlando will replace the Tacoma Compact MPV. It was announced that this vehicle will go into production at the 2009 Detroit Auto Show. I don’t think that there are plans to sell the Chevrolet Orlando in South Africa (my home country), but I could be wrong. Guess I’ll have to look around in the classifieds for a similar vehicle, which might be hard to find since this vehicle seems to be in a class of its own.

Related Link:
Chevrolet – Official Website