Hot Cars

GM’s Racy New Concept To Wow Paris Crowds

There’ll be some high octane thrills from Chevrolet at this year’s Paris Motor Show, with the debut of an all-new concept car designed to celebrate the brand’s motor sport heritage and push Chevy’s styling language to the extreme.

The WTCC Ultra will be the focal point of the Chevrolet stand in Hall 5 at the Paris Expo, and is much more than just a styling study.

For beneath the bold, muscular exterior, styled by 25-year old designer Ewan Kingsbury, is a fully working vehicle, that’s not just ready for the road, but raring to go on the racetrack.

The concept clearly illustrates Chevrolet’s commitment to using GM’s global resources. Kingsbury himself works for GM in Australia, while development work on the concept was carried out in the UK, Germany and Switzerland. The Ultra’s engine was built in Korea, and the prototype was assembled in Japan.

It’s equipped with a 190PS common rail turbodiesel engine, based on the 2.0-litre unit that will debut in the Captiva SUV and Lacetti models next year, and unlike most motor show styling studies is a fully-working vehicle, with performance to rival high performance petrol cars.

The concept exists as a vision of a new generation of World Touring Cars, and follows on from the success of Chevrolet’s WTCC race team, which took its second victory of the season earlier this month at Brno in the Czech Republic. British driver Rob Huff successfully held off championship leader Andy Priaulx in his BMW, and set the fastest lap time, to lead from the first lap.

Also drawing the crowds to Chevy’s stand at Paris will be the new Captiva SUV, which will reach UK showrooms in the first half of 2007, powered by a 150PS version of the 2.0-litre diesel engine or a 2.4-litre petrol unit.

2006 Audi R-Zero Concept

The Audi R- Zero concept is the work of a transport designer and two digital designers from the International Design School, France. Franck Levivier, Rémi Marchand and Pierre-Olivier Wagner’s collaboration centered around a desire to create a concept supercar for a time when the world could no longer rely on oil for a source of power.

Essential to the R-Zero’s design was a belief that despite the cars environmentally friendly credentials it should have the ability to excite.

A projected 1091 horsepower comes from four individual in-wheel electric motors powered by a row of batteries positioned just forward of the rear axle.

One of the advantages of the electric drivetrain layout is that it has allowed the R-Zero’s designers to capitalise on the cooling airflow provided by the front grille. Running the length of the Audi R-Zero is a hollow backbone frame which channels airflow in though the front grille, distributes cooling air to various temperature sensitive components - like the brakes, and then expels the air out the central rear grille.

Despite its gorgeous lines and innovative engineering, the Audi R-Zero is only a concept. There are no plans to build a working one-off. Let alone put the vehicle into production.

2006 Alfa Romeo Diva Concept

Built in conjunction with Alfa Romeo and to celebrate their 10th year as a design school, Espera Sbarro are presenting the DIVA concept at the 2006 Geneva Motor Show . Styling cues for the prototype hark back to Alfa Romeo’s past and the students that created this concept are obviously influenced by the iconic Alfa Romeo 33 Stradale.

Like the 33 Stradale, the Diva sports taught proportions, gullwing doors that pivot forward and a centrally mounted engine. Easy access is provided to the front mechanics and engine comparment via large flip-forward and back panels, just like the 33.

Unlike previous Alfa Romeo concepts, the Diva breaks barriers that Alfa Romeo’s own Centro Stile might not. For instance the front end treatment takes Alfa’s familiar face, but with a modern, more ‘Formula One’ edge. And, unlike the flowing 8C Competitzione released in 2003, the Diva is noticeably chiseled and features a bevy of hard lines.

Most of the technical development for the Diva was carried out by Elasis, a research and development subsidiary of Fiat. They heavily modified an Alfa Romeo 159 chassis to accept a tuned 147 GTA engine in the middle of the car!

Mitsuoka Orochi Concept

The little known Orochi concept is a creation of small Japanese car manufacturer Mitsuoka, specialists in retro concepts. The Mitsuoka Orochi is a radical design by anyone’s standards.

The name Orochi means ‘Serpent’ in Japanese, and a sinister, scaly, reptile-like resemblance is not impossible to see. The Orochi is powered by a mid-mounted 3.3 litre V6.

Buick Enclave Concept

The Buick Enclave is the first of the large unibody SUVs that GM is preparing to introduce in the next year.

The new platform has a 119.0-inch wheelbase and an overall length of 202.3 inches, which makes it as large as the Chevy Tahoe. Initially, the new sport-utes will be powered by V-6s - the Enclave Concept has a 270-hp, 3.6-liter V-6 - but a V-8 may become available later.

Renault Altica Concept

The Renault Altica might be a pure styling exercise, but expect some of its design cues to appear on the next Laguna mid-size sedan. The Altica has a 2.0-liter 177-hp diesel engine mounted transversely and front-wheel drive.