Lamborghini Gallardo Catches Fire at Portland Auto Show

From MotorAuthority; “The Portland International Auto Show isn’t exactly known as a hotbed of industry activity or product reveals. Nonetheless, there is often some attractive hardware on display, including, this year, at least one privately-owned Lamborghini Gallardo. Unfortunately, that Gallardo won’t be making the show. It caught fire.

Why, you ask? How? The answer is surprisingly stupid.

Fire marshals at the show, quite reasonably, won’t let any car enter the building with more than a quarter-tank of fuel. The Gallardo attempted to enter with an undisclosed greater amount, however, and was refused. Makes good sense so far.

That’s when the story gets stupid. Instead of figuring a way to extract the fuel from the tank, taking it for a quick 50-mile spin, or just swapping it for another Gallardo, the display staff decided it’d be a good idea to just sit in the car and rev it to redline in neutral. Not so good for the car, but, in a pinch, excusable–perhaps.

The person behind the wheel soon grew tired of the limiter-popping, however, and decided to automate the process with a piece of wood lodged between the seat and the gas pedal.

Yes, a piece of wood. After sitting idle at full song for several minutes, the completely predictable, inevitable, and foreseeable occurred: it overheated and caught fire. It was immediately loaded on a truck and removed from the scene.

Chalk up another win for idiots, another loss for exotic sports cars. [Sigh].”

Petition started to change gray market exemption from 25 to 15 years–your help needed immediately!!

From autoblog.com;

“A group of enthusiasts have started a We The People petition urging the Executive Branch in Washington to stop using what it says are Homeland Security funds to police gray-market vehicles. The petition also seeks to have the federal gray market exemption age reduced from 25 years old to 15 years old. As of right now, any vehicle imported into the U.S. must be able to comply with our government’s safety and emissions standards unless they are 25 years old or older, making it nearly impossible for the importation of newer vehicles on an individual basis. The petition declares that the 25-year rule was originally adopted at the behest of automakers like Mercedes-Benz.

Automotive history buffs may recall that in the ’80s, Benz only offered Americans the lackluster 380SEL while the rest of the world enjoyed the 500SEL. As a result, a massive gray market erupted for the more powerful sedan, and by some estimations, 22,000 Mercedes-Benz vehicles floated in outside of the dealer network in a single year. That caused the company to lean heavily on lawmakers to shut the import door.

The White House has agreed to respond to any We The People petition that accrues 25,000 signatures in a month. So far, this particular effort has only gained just under 5,000 names. Head over to the We The People site to check out the petition and add your own name to the effort if you agree.”

SIGN HERE!!!!!!!;
http://wh.gov/b6q

VAG numbers sold

“For the five months Jan through May 2011, it’s interesting to look at what has actually sold in America:

Audi
2,941 A3
15,201 A4/S4
6,459 A5/S5
3,043 A6/S6
1,220 A7
2,368 A8/S8
492 R8
857 TT
9,405 Q5
3,872 Q7
45,858 Total (+15.1% over 2010)

Volkswagen
13,185 CC
2,829 Eos
74,647 Jetta
1,039 New Beetle
218 Passat
14,456 Rabbit/Golf/GTI/R32
5,104 Routan
11,563 Tiguan
2,640 Touareg
125,681 Total (+19.7% over 2010)

Bentley
665 Bentley (+16.2% over 2010)

Lamborghini
135 Lamborghini (+7.1% over 2010)

Porsche
898 Boxster
2,707 911
610 Cayman
2,913 Panamera
5,868 Cayenne
12,996 Total (+47.0% over 2010)”

Audi to build cars in North America

Courtesy of autoweek;

“By: Harald Hamprecht, Automotive News on 7/11/2011

Audi AG has decided to build a vehicle-assembly plant in North America and is considering an additional engine and transmission plant.

Volkswagen Group’s premium brand is completing details of the assembly plant–including models, location and capacity. Audi CEO Rupert Stadler said all decisions will be made within three years.

“It is totally clear that we need new production capacity in the U.S.,” Stadler said in an interview here. “The question only is when.”

An Audi source also told Automotive News that the carmaker is considering building an engine and transmission plant in North America to increase local content. That second plant could be shared with VW division.

Inventory is an issue for Audi, which set a sales record in 2010 with 101,629 sales in the United States.

Stadler said Audi plans to increase U.S. sales by 10 to 20 percent this year and could surpass 150,000 units by 2015.

“Our dealers currently ask for more cars than we can deliver,” he said. “Our delivery times are still too high.”

On July 1, Audi had a 21-day supply of vehicles in the United States.

Under Audi’s “Strategy 2020″ plan, Stadler said the brand aims to nearly double its global sales by the end of the decade. Last year, Audi sold 1.1 million new cars.

The original goal of 1.5 million cars for 2015 will be reached a year earlier than planned, Stadler said, and by 2020 Audi wants to sell 2 million cars.

Globally, Audi’s lineup will increase from 38 models this year to 42 in 2015 and 50 by 2020.”

Porsche revives the passion

Courtesy of wired.com; “Porsche fans are known to be purists, people possessed of a passion that can border on fanaticism. And the world of automotive restoration can be equally fanatical in its attention to detail.

So it is perhaps only appropriate that the Porsche Club of America sent a basket-case 911 T off to the automaker’s own Porsche Classic service center in Germany for an extreme makeover. The shop is the kind of place where good enough isn’t good enough. It has to be like new. Especially since the car will be raffled [this] month at the Porsche Parade, the club’s annual convention.

Here’s a glimpse at what went into bringing a classic back to life.

Above: The Porsche 911 T, on the rotisserie, midway through its restoration.”

More pics here;
http://www.wired.com/autopia/2011/07/porsche-revives-the-passion/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+wiredautopia+%28Blog+-+Autopia%29&pid=1205