+++ A few years ago, ASTON MARTIN stunned the supercar world with its Victor. It took the V12 and other mechanicals of some of the most advanced and exclusive Astons of the modern era, such as the One-77, and gave it ’70s retro looks and a retro transmission: a 6-speed manual. The problem, though, was that it was a one-off. Beautiful to look at, but out of reach for even the most well-heeled customers. We have a feeling a good number of those prospective buyers were ringing up Aston begging to give them money for something like it, because the new Valour offers a taste of Victor … y. Though Aston doesn’t explicitly say so, I’m confident that the Valour’s based on the DB12 platform, considering the shape of the greenhouse as well as the twin-turbo 5.2-liter V12 that we’ll get to shortly. But you probably won’t notice that connection at first because of the radical restyling. Just like the Victor, the Valour takes styling inspiration from the V8 Vantage of the 1970s with its forward-leaning nose, boxy fenders and subtle lip spoiler. It even gets unique round led headlights to drive home the classic look. But there are many other nifty exterior touches to this carbon fiber bruiser. Its grille slats and rear trim are made of real aluminum, and there are aerodynamic aids throughout, such as the vents and scoops in the hood, the air ducts on the outboard ends of the front bumper, and even the rear window louvres help with aero. Under that perforated hood is Aston’s twin-turbo 5.2-liter V12 making more power than the DB12, but less torque. Total output is 715 hp and 740 Nm of torque. Again, Aston didn’t explicitly say, but we wouldn’t be surprised if the torque was turned down a bit to accommodate the 6-speed manual transmission, the only gearbox available for the Valour. We doubt prospective buyers will be bothered by the lower torque number when they’re getting to shift for themselves. That power goes only to the rear wheels through a mechanical limited-slip differential. The adaptive suspension has its own unique tuning not shared with other Astons, and it comes standard with carbon ceramic brakes with six-piston front calipers and four-piston rear calipers. Connecting everything to the ground are 21 inch wheels with 275 mm wide front and 325 mm wide rear Aston-specific Michelin Pilot Sport S 5 tires. Owners will spend time in the Valour’s unique and carbon fiber-laden interior. The centerpiece is definitely the manual shifter, which has its linkages exposed and is capped with a luxurious knob crafted from a choice of aluminum, titanium, carbon fiber or walnut wood. The options expand in regards to color and fabric. Aston equipped the debut car with tweed upholstery, a nod to the 1959 DBR1 race car. This is one of the many special upholstery options. And on the topic of customization, the exterior has extensive choices, too. 4 sections of the car can be painted different hues: the front, hood, sides and rear. There are 21 colors on offer as standard, but with even more money, the Q program will let you choose completely custom hues, stripes and other graphics, and even tinted carbon fiber. No pricing was announced for the Valour, but with the limited production nature of the car, and its special design and powertrain, it likely doesn’t matter to buyers. Only 110 will be built, and they’ll probably be sold out soon after this reveal, if not already. Production starts in the third quarter of this year, with deliveries starting by the end of the year. +++
+++ Most drivers don’t pay too much attention to the doors of their cars, unless they open when they shouldn’t. In the case of the FORD KUGA built in 2020 and 2021, the situation has become problematic. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration said Tuesday that it’s received reports of 25 minor injuries to occupants when doors opened while the vehicles were in motion because they failed to securely latch when closed. According to NHTSA documents, the agency has had 118 complaints that spot welds in a door assembly bracket can fail. Many Kuga owners contacted by the agency reported a popping noise when they opened the door as a bracket begins to separate. The agency says continued use could dislodge the door, and it could fail to latch when closed. The investigation is looking at 346.000 Kugas (and the American counterpart: Escapes) to determine if the problem poses an “unreasonable risk” to safety and could prompt a recall by Ford. Ford says it’s cooperating. 2 years ago, the manufacturer recalled certain 2021 and 2022 modelyear Kuga / Escape and Bronco Sport crossovers for improperly manufactured rear brake pads that wouldn’t stop the vehicles within the government-mandated distance. +++
+++ The KOENIGSEGG GEMERA is taking the scenic route to production, making stops along the way that buyers will appreciate. Koenigsegg Registry attended an event to inaugurate a new production line for the Gemera, company boss Christian von Koenigsegg telling the audience the mid-engined 4-seat hypercar can be optioned with the 5.0-liter twin-turbo V8 that powers the Koenigsegg Jesko. The V8 adds $400,000 to the price and about 500 horsepower to the spec sheet, while decreasing torque by about 670 Nm, the announced figures being 2.300 hp and 2.700 Nm of torque on E85. The TTV8 makes 1.280 hp and 1.000 Nm by itself on premium fuel, 1.600 hp on E85. The remaining output comes from the Gemera’s 3 electric motors. The 9-speed Light Speed Transmission (LST) would also make the jump from the Jesko. The Gemera debuted in 2020, the original spec sheet boasting 1.700 hp and 3.400 Nm of torque from a plug-in hybrid drivetrain that could get the 4-seater from 0-100 kilometers per hour in 1.9 seconds. A turbocharged 2.0-liter inline 3-cylinder called the Tiny Friendly Giant (TFG) sends 600 hp and 600 Nm of torque to the front axle. It’s frugal enough that the company lists gas-powered range as 1.000 km. Three Quark electric motors turn the rear axle, 2 motors for each wheel, another between the crankshaft and the Hydracoup direct-drive transmission. The axle motors each produce 500 hp and 1.000 Nm of torque, the crankshaft e-motor makes 400 hp and 500 Nm of torque. Their combined output in the powertrain comes to 1.100 hp. The Gemera shown on stage at the event sported physical side mirrors instead of the cameras on the concept car. It’s not clear if the camera system will be offered in Europe. The options sheet grows again with the addition of a Ghost Package. This installs a larger front splitter, an S-duct in place of the traditional hood, and a rear wing. Aggression and downforce get amped up, but practicality diminishes since the S-duct front end replaces the frunk. That would be a shame considering the 4-season, nuclear family potential of the car. The Gemera comes with all-wheel drive, all-wheel steering and torque vectoring on both axles. The 16.6 kWh battery can power up to 50 kilometers of all-electric range on the WLTP cycle. The interior’s been designed with 4 heated seats, tri-zone climate control, infotainment screens for front and rear passengers, wireless chargers front and rear, and a few climate-controlled cupholders among the beverage receptacles. After production begins, 300 Gemeras will come off the line. As part of the improved headquarters, customers visiting Sweden to configure their cars will find a new showroom, lounge, experience center and retail space. +++
+++ Design house-turned-carmaker PININFARINA took a trip to the heritage well to create its latest limited-edition model. Named after Giuseppe Farina, the first Formula One champion, the Battista Edizione Nino Farina stands out with several edition-specific styling cues inside and out. Giuseppe “Nino” Farina’s ties to the Italian automotive industry aren’t limited to winning the first Formula One Driver’s Championship in 1950. He’s also the nephew of Battista “Pinin” Farina, who founded the design house that bears his name. Pininfarina honored the driver by giving the Battista edition-specific Rosso Nino paint with contrasting Bianco Sestriere and Iconica Blu accents, wheels finished in Glorioso Gold, and “01” graphics on both sides. The Furiosa Pack, which adds carbon fiber exterior trim pieces, comes standard. The interior is characterized by a 2-tone design. The driver’s seat is upholstered in black leather and has the “01” logo embroidered into the headrest. The passenger’s seat gets beige leather and the Pininfarina logo embroidered into the headrest. Production is limited to five examples, and each one will receive a specific aluminum door sill plate engraved with a date that commemorates Farina’s life and career; 1906 celebrates the year he was born, for example, and 1950 corresponds to the year he won the Formula One Driver’s Championship. Mechanically, the Edizione Nino Farina is identical to the regular Battista, and that’s not necessarily a bad thing; few could argue that it needs a higher output. Power comes from four electric motors (one per wheel) that jointly develop 1.900 horsepower and 2.300 Nm of torque. The company quotes a 0-to-100 kph time of 1.86 seconds, a top speed of 327 kph and up to 480 kilometers of driving range. Pininfarina will present the Battista Edizione Nino Farina at the 2023 Goodwood Festival of Speed that opens in England on July 13. Pricing information hasn’t been announced, but keep in mind that the standard Battista (which is limited to 150 units) starts at about $2.2 million. +++
+++ Investors who clung to RIVIAN stock over the past few months are now getting rewarded. The EV maker’s stock is on fire, up almost 90% in the past 9 sessions. On Monday, Rivian shares closed at $25.51, almost double their closing price of $13.45 on June 26. Shares have been buoyed by positive catalysts over the past week, including Rivian’s production and delivery targets. Rivian recently reaffirmed “it is on track to deliver on the 50.000 annual production guidance previously provided”. Rivian’s reaffirmation of its delivery goals helped the stock get a price target increase to $30 from $25 by Wedbush Securities. “Production coming out of the gate: it was excuses. It was 1 step forward, 2 steps back for 4 or 5 quarters. Now they finally turned the corner, and I think the worst is in the rearview mirror”, Wedbush analyst Dan Ives told. “From a valuation perspective, $30 could be a base case”, he added. Rivian’s trajectory has been rocky following a spectacular IPO in November 2021, when shares traded as high as $179 each at the height of investor sentiment over electric vehicles and the overall stock market. Shares touched an all-time intraday low of $11.26 on April 26 of this year. Some of the stock’s recent upward movement can also be attributed to investors who bet that the price would go lower. Short interest on Rivian currently sits at 12.34% of the float, according to data analytics firm S3 Partners. “Most of RIVN’s price appreciation occurred within the last several weeks. And as a result, we have been seeing short covering in the stock”, Ihor Dusaniwsky, managing director of S3 Partners told. Electric vehicle stocks have been mostly on an upward trend for weeks now after the S&P 500 entered a new bull market led by enthusiasm over the prospects of artificial intelligence. EV stocks joined in on the market rally as investors anticipated the Federal Reserve would temporarily pause its aggressive rate hikes on the heels of cooling inflation data. Valuations for companies that have yet to show a profit have come down considerably since the Federal Reserve started tightening monetary policy over a year ago. Rivian shares are currently trading about 75% lower than their $103.32 level at the start of January 2022. Supply chain challenges last year initially hindered Rivian’s production targets, also sending the stock lower. Some of the smaller electric vehicle players have yet to recuperate from their downward trajectory. Lordstown Motors (RIDE) recently filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy, highlighting the rise and fall of EV startups whose stocks went to the moon and back during the pandemic. +++
+++ The act of flipping cars (that is, buying a limited or highly desirable model and then reselling it for big profit) won’t go unnoticed, or be tolerated, by ROLLS-ROYCE . Specifically referring to the new Spectre (the first electric car from the brand), Rolls-Royce CEO Torsten Müller-Ötvös told that any customer who sells or try to sell one will be blacklisted for life if he attempts to buy another from a dealer. Speaking at the launch of the new car in California, he said: ‘I can tell you we are really sanitizing the need to prove who you are, what you want to do with the car – you need to qualify for a car and then you might get a slot for an order”. But those who violate the policy and resell the vehicle at a higher price are “going immediately on a blacklist and this is it – you will never ever have the chance to acquire again”. The super-luxe Spectre is to open its order books soon with deliveries to start in the autumn. Base price in the Netherlands is 396.275 euro. The response from some dealers, who say the inflated price resales are legal, was resentment at Rolls. London dealer Tom Hartle, known for selling secondhand Rolls-Royce models, said that he has already agreed to collect £50,000 premiums for 2 Spectres. He said he will have a Spectre for sale at his used-car dealership “within 2 weeks of it being launched”. ”I do not think it is fair for carmakers to tell customers who have spent close to half a million pounds on a car what they can do with it”, he told. Last year, General Motors said it would ban flippers “from placing future sold orders or reservations if the vehicle is resold within the first 12 months of ownership”. Those high-demand products were the Corvette Z06, the Cadillac Escalade-V, and the GMC Hummer EV. And years ago, Ford famously sued wrestler and actor John Cena, who flipped a Ford GT in violation of his purchase contract. At Rolls-Royce, the company maintains that it has paid close attention to Spectre’s specifics while in development. “To do this”, Müller-Ötvös said: “we have conceived the most demanding testing program in Rolls-Royce’s history. We will cover 2.5 million kilometers (a simulation of more than 400 years of use for a Rolls-Royce, on average) and we will travel to all four corners of the world to push this new motor car to the limit”. +++
+++ New reports out of Japan may point to the future of the TOYOTA GR 86 and the Subaru BRZ, 2 of the last bastions of lightweight sport coupes in the automotive industry. Both suggest that a GR 86 powered by the GR Yaris and GR Corolla’s turbocharged 1.6-liter 3-cylinder is on the table, but they conflict in the details about whether its Subaru twin will make it. First up is the report by Mag-X. It says that Toyota is taking development of the GR86 in-house and installing a 1.4-liter version of the Gazoo 3-pot. It may get an electric hybrid motor as well to align with carbon neutrality goals, but regardless the nimble front-engine, rear-wheel-drive layout will be maintained. One of reasons given for this move is that Tetsuya Tada, the engineer who brokered the partnerships between Toyota and Subaru for previous generations of the ’86’ and with BMW for the GR Supra, retired in 2021. Apparently there’s no successor who could rally the teams from both companies to continue the project. It would be odd for Subaru sell a car without its signature boxer engine, so the BRZ might not survive if this happens. However, the report says that even if there’s no Subaru-branded twin, the company could still build the new GR86 for Toyota in its Gunma factory, as a source told Mag-X that Subaru is eager to keep its lines from idling. Details of the article conflict with a different account from Best Car. The Japanese magazine also reports that the next GR86 will have the GR Yaris’ turbo-3 with a hybrid supplement, but that it’ll retain its 1.6-liter displacement. It goes on to say that output will be 300 horsepower at least. Because the existing platform cannot go from a boxer to a vertical in-line engine without major changes to architecture and crash structure, the next GR 86 may be built on a shortened and stiffened Lexus IS platform. In this version of the story, Subaru will continue to sell a BRZ version, however. Mag-X lays out a 2028 timeline for the next GR 86, but Best Car says it’ll be out much sooner, in 2025. While the details don’t line up, the overlap in the Venn diagram indicates that the GR Yaris and GR Corolla’s 3-cylinder is a likely engine candidate. For what it’s worth, Toyota has already tested a version of the current GR86 with that motor, as a prototype for running synthetic fuel. +++
