Toyota Has No Plans to Return to Formula 1

A difficult economy forced Toyota to withdraw from Formula 1, but don't expect the automaker to return to the series should the automotive industry improve. Corporate officials -- even those once tied to the F1 program -- admit the racing series doesn't reach its customer base. "There is a big gap between Formula 1 and Toyota's actual [owners]," said Tadashi Yamashina, Toyota's Senior Managing Director. "President [Akio] Toyoda's stance on motorsports is geared more to the customer." Although Yamashima himself broke down in tears when Toyoda held a press conference last year to announce the F1 withdrawal, the executive seems to have adopted a new perspective on the race series. In an interview with Automotive News, Yamashima says F1 has grown...

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Ohio Ruling Allows Speeding Tickets to be Issued Based on Visual Estimates

It seems the most elaborate radar detector or laser jammer may do you absolutely no good if you're driving in Ohio. The state's Supreme Court recently ruled in favor of a decision that allows speeding convictions to be upheld based simply on a police officer's visual estimate of the driver's speed. Nearly two years ago, motorist Mark Jenney was clocked going 82 mph in a 60 mph zone in Copely, Ohio. During the hearing, Officer Christopher Santimarino reportedly failed to produce proper certification documentation for the clocking device, making the evidence useless. However, Santimarino's 13-year tenure, paired with visual speed estimation training by the Ohio Peace Officer Training Academy allowed his approximate to be taken into consideration....

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Hyundai Tiburon Replacement First Headed to U.K. in 2011

The long-rumored successor to the Hyundai Tiburon will be stopping in the United Kingdom before coming to the States. The compact Hyundai two-door, known as the Coupe in the U.K., is slated to go on sale in Britannia in early 2011 according to U.K. outlet Autocar. The British rag recently spotted the compact four-seater in the flesh on a trip to South Korea and noted the small Hyundai looks exceptionally similar to the oft-mentioned Veloster concept. The upcoming 2+2 Coupe will be equipped with Hyundai's direct-injected 1.6-liter inline-four developing around 140 horsepower. If the Coupe makes it to the United States under the resurrected Tiburon nameplate, it will provide a more affordable (and front-wheel drive) alternative to the Genesis...

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Report: Saab in Talks with BMW on Underpinnings, Engines for Revived 92

It’s no secret that Saab is hard at work on plans to reintroduce its 92, but it’ll need some help to before the car can be produced. The automaker is preparing to enter into talks with BMW to do just that. Instead of developing a costly platform from scratch, Saab is in talks with BMW to source underpinnings for the car. Saab is reportedly eyeing Mini’s architecture to underpin the new 92. Saab CEO Victor Muller wants the brand’s new model to closely resemble the teardrop shape of the original car, which was dropped from the Saab lineup in 1956. According to the report, Saab is also looking into sourcing engines and transmissions from Mini. Mini currently offers 1.6-liter naturally aspirated and turbocharged inline four-cylinder engines...

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Build Your Own: Dealers Design Last Batch of Special-Edition 2010 Dodge Viper

Dodge has had no trouble crafting its own special-edition models to celebrate the end of the 2010 Viper's production run, but it's now opening the fun to select dealerships as well. Dealers who managed to sell high volumes of Dodge's two-seat sports car have been awarded the chance to design their own special-edition cars. For the most part, the custom Vipers are relegated to special paint schemes for the SRT10 roadster, the SRT10 coupe, and the SRT10 ACR coupe. Thus far, Chrysler's revealed three examples of the dealer-custom program. The snake crafted by Woodhouse Dodge in Blair, Nebraska, is perhaps most unique -- the yellow Viper breaks from tradition and applies many of the unique touches found on the Viper ACR coupe to a drop-top roadster....

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Panoz Unveils New Abruzzi ‘Spirit of Le Mans’ at Le Mans

Many manufacturers make a big deal of their latest models with spectacular unveilings at major auto shows in front of thousands of press and industry big wigs. Not Panoz Motor Sports Group -- the small Georgia-based automaker is appropriately talking up its latest sports car -- the Abruzzi Spirit of Le Mans -- at the Circuit de la Sarthe. “[The Abruzzi] is a culmination of equal parts time, effort, and dreams,” said Don Panoz. “The Panoz brand always has prided itself on hand-building and delivering an exotic automobile experience to our customers. Our new offering takes this to a completely new level.” If the Spirit of Le Mans suffix didn’t clue you in, the Abruzzi is very much inspired by Panoz’s past Le Mans race cars, especially the...

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Lamborghini Navarra Concept Study Penned by Lockheed Martin Designer

Most young designers these days appear to have the hots for anything related to Lamborghini. After the Cnossus, Minotauro, Miura Nuovo, Conquisto, Furia and Toro LA690-4 - just to mention some of the Lamborghini design concepts we've shown you the past few months, here comes yet another proposal for a Raging Bull model, this time from American Adam Denning who happens to be a designer for Lockheed Martin USA. The Navarra is design study for a flagship Lamborghini supercar to replace the current Murcielago model. "I tried to imagine all the V12 flagships of the brand from the Miura to the Murcielago, and then create a car that would look like it not only belonged in this group, but that it was the result of these cars as well," Denning explains. "I...

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