Wednesday, April 09, 2008

BMW Brings Two New Vehicles At NYIAS

The New York International Auto Show is already ongoing and since the minute that the doors opened to the public, the venue has been filled with auto journalists, experts, car fans, and just anybody who was interested in looking at what the auto world has to offer this time. Auto makers had also made sure that everything which they would be setting on display would be in top form so much so that they could earn the trust and the attention of consumers who are in the market looking for a vehicle to purchase.

BMW is one of the car makers who have constantly been joining the New York International Auto Show. This brand has been bringing with it some of its topnotch vehicles and has been setting on display the best and the coolest that they have ever created. Two of the vehicles that BMW has brought with it to the NYIAS are the 2008 M3 convertible and the Concept CS unit. Both vehicles are described to be elegant by the auto maker. BMW also said that the two vehicles also come with the best type of driving performance one would ever experience in a vehicle.

Tom Purves is the chairperson and the CEO for the North American arm of BMW and on the BMW M3 he mentioned, It's a balance between something that's really, really sporty, but also something you can take your kids to school in. While on all BMW products that the company has created, he described, I hope you'll agree that you can expect a lot from BMW, except a boring product. Now that is something that most people can agree with for even BMW wheels do have their own distinct character.

The BMW M3 convertible would be available in the United States auto market sometime this spring and it would be entering the market with a coupe version and a sedan version beside it. For the convertible, one can expect to see a V8 engine that can produce 414 horsepower. This engine is mated to a seven speed double clutch transmission system. As a whole, a unit of the BMW M3 convertible can be bought for $65,725.

As per the BMW Concept CS, this vehicle comes with four doors and is described to be one vehicle that comes with utmost luxury. Experts who have witnessed the concept vehicle have mentioned that this vehicle has the power and the performance that the Gran Turismo has.

About the Author
Anthony Fontanelle is a 35-year-old automotive buff who grew up in the Windy City. He does freelance work for an automotive magazine when he is not busy customizing cars in his shop.

Wednesday, February 27, 2008

The Facts About Concept Cars

Concept cars, or cars designed according to a certain theme or older model, are by and large prototypes introduced at car and motor shows to estimate consumer response and appeal.
Combining the best of modern technology with the sleek lines of tried and time-tested cars from the past, concept cars are often tentative feelers put out by automobile companies to test the waters before ‘diving’ into serious production.

The automobile industry being a multi billion dollar industry, car manufactures alike see the benefit of these widely attended car shows. The manufactures have an opportunity to gleam a great deal of valuable information from these shows at a relatively low cost.

Concept cars were first introduced by designer Harley Earl of General Motors in the 1950s. It was for the concept of a car that offered buyers state-of-the-art motor car engineering in a new design which was really a version of a senior theme. This gained almost instant popularity with the universal public.

Recognizing a winning horse when they saw one, General Motors further publicized the concept and their car, through its traveling Motorama shows of that period. Beautiful to behold, concept cars show off radical, futuristic designs, powerful engines and sometimes even controversial technology.

However, alluring as these concept cars may appear under the spotlight, many of them often obtain changes before being put on the production line by their manufacturers, and all of them are subjected to alterations that make them more suitable, and affordable, to their target markets.

An from the eyes of the public these changes to the car are often very drastic changes. This of course, is after the study of the data from these shows. Which again as become a valuable asset to the car manufacturers. These car shows alone save the manufacturer several million dollars. Just knowing that a car is not deemed acceptable or needs a few modifications before going to production.

The majority of concept cars seen at auto exhibitions such as the Geneva Motor Show are the dream rides of automobile fans and racing enthusiasts, but are more often than not only show models made of wax, clay, metal, fibreglass and plastic. In fact many concept cars never even reach this phase due to impractical design glitches and price factors.

An interesting example of an old, functional concept car being brought back into service would be the 1954 Ford Lincoln Futura, which after having been stored in the North Hollywood car shop of George Barris came out of storage to stand up to stardom as the Batmobile of the 1966 Batman series on the ABC TV Network.

On the same note, current examples for concept cars would be the Mercedes-Benz bionic car (this is said to mix the best of nature, engineering and the ever popular DaimlerCrysler engine), the 2006 BMW Mille Miglia concept coupe (based on the earlier BMW 328 Traveling coupe and the BMW Z4 M coupe), the Camaro Concept sports coupe (which follows the lines of the first Camaros) and the Chrysler Imperial Concept 2006 (a direct descendent of classic Imperial and Chrysler designs).

Sadly, the bulk of concept cars are destroyed once their use has been served. However, some do escape the crusher and continue to live their lives in storage or on exhibit in automobile museums.

The information that is gathered by manufacturers from these car shows is proven to be a method of great value.

Bowe Packer provides free online information to the public. He has written many articles on Cool Cars - such as concept cars, exotic cars and tricked out cars. Visit his Cool Cars site and learn about exotic and hot cars for free.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Bowe_Packer