Toasted McLaren F1 Makes Baby Jesus Cry

Oh, the humanity!

Ok, so apparently if you are taking your McLaren out of long-term storage, make sure you have a Halon fire extinguisher (or 6) handy. This unlucky chap sprung his F1 from the lockup after a six month nap, and it turned into a veritable roman candle very quickly. Make the jump for more photos of the carnage.

The tears of every clown in the world won't make this right.

The sad thing is, as you can see above, the car was a total loss. Luckily for unlucky owner in question, it was insured for $3 million, and valued at $2 million. If it turns out this is an insurance scam, I’ll be the first to grab a pitchfork and torches. That nefarious insinuation aside, it is a tragedy that it was destroyed, as only 106 were produced.

[Source: Jalopnik]

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Official teaser photos of the new BMW X1

We are days away from the official unveiling of the BMW X1 production model and BMW has already started to release some teasers. While the official X1 Facebook page has been setup for quite some time now, the first “almost” official photos of the X1 just made their way onto the journalists’ hands last week during the press pre-view test drive which took place in Mallorca, Spain. With the X1 launch, BMW will introduce a new color for this small SAV: the Marrakesh Brown.

A bit surprising that the car still wears some camouflage since it was spotted fully uncovered just a few weeks back during a movie shooting in Germany, but that’s just another story. The production version of the X1 will be shown for the first time to the general public at the Frankfurt Auto Show in September.

Despite receiving some negative reviews in the beginning, mostly from BMW fans, recently the opinion current has changed and many of us started to see the value in this new model and started to embrace it. BMW X1’s marketing campaign runs under the name “This is your world..”, coming from the idea of a small SAV, an urban vehicle geared towards a younger demographic who enjoy outdoor activities as well and would still like to use a spacious car to transport their surfboards, skis, snowboards or climbing equipment.

Since the X1 will go on sale in Europe only, those of us that live in the U.S. will have to wait until late 2010 before seeing the car on our roads. Initially, the X1 will launch with the following powerplants:

• BMW X1 xDrive20d - 177 horsepower - 8.4 seconds 0-60 mph - Max Speed 132 mph (213 km/h) - 40.5 mph (5.8 liters / 100 km)
• BMW X1 xDrive23d - 204 horsepower - 7,3 seconds 0-60 mph - Max Speed 138 mph (223 km/h) - 37 mpg (6,3 Liter / 100 km)
• BMW X1 xDrive28i - 6.7 seconds 0-100 - Max Speed 142 mph(230 km/h)

The car will be offered in the beginning with the BMW xDrive system, but in the future, a rear-wheel drive model will follow. Pricing is unknown at this time, but it will most likely be set between the 1 Series and the X3.

The X1 Concept version revealed at the Paris Auto Show last October, was also shown recently at the BMW PGA Championship.

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What You Need to Know About the GM Bankruptcy - Car News

In a widely anticipated move, General Motors today became the second Detroit-based automaker to recently file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy. Despite receiving nearly $20 billion in loans from the U.S. Treasury Department, along with last-minute, debt-for-equity deals with bondholders and concessions from both its U.S. and Canadian worker unions, GM’s U.S. operations have joined rival Chrysler in court protection as both companies try to downsize themselves in a drastically depressed market.

In what amounts to a nationalization of GM by the federal government, the U.S. Treasury is providing the company with about $30 billion in debtor-in-procession financing to make it through bankruptcy—raising GM’s government assistance total to about $50 billion. The investment results in the Treasury gaining a 60-percent interest in GM. About 18 percent will be held by the United Auto Workers’ Voluntary Employee Beneficiary Association (VEBA), while the Canadian government will own about 12 percent. Unsecured bondholders and creditors will get the remaining 10 percent, as well as the potential to acquire another 15 percent down the road.

Under the terms of the reorganization and similar to the restructuring path forged by Chrysler, the sale of which to Italy’s Fiat has been approved by the U.S. Bankruptcy Court, GM will be split into two entities: a “good GM,” which includes the core Chevrolet, Cadillac, GMC, and Buick brands and the facilities to support those divisions; and a “bad GM,” comprised of redundant/unprofitable plants and the underperforming Hummer, Saturn, Saab, and Pontiac operations. The goal of the bankruptcy process is for the existing, overburdened automaker to turn over its best assets to a less debt-riddled “New GM.” The New GM is expected to emerge from court protection in 60–90 days as a leaner, more agile company with fewer brands, dealers, and long-term obligations. The leftover assets likely will be mired in Chapter 7 liquidation for much longer, however, as they are individually sold off or shut down entirely.

Keep Reading: What You Need to Know About the GM Bankruptcy - Car News

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Leaner GM will Emerge from Bankruptcy

U.S. Government Expected to Hold Majority Share for Years

Like a LaSalle, any stock certificates you have in General Motors have become collectors' items. Like the Pontiac Aztek, they're not worth anything. And like Citigroup, GM stock is no longer part of the Dow Jones Industrial Averages. The new owners of the company are the American taxpayers, at 60 percent, the Canadian and Ontario governments, at 12 percent, the United Auto Workers' Voluntary Employee Benefit Association at 17.5 percent and unsecured bondholders who agree not to challenge the bankruptcy owning most of the rest, about 10 percent. They hold warrants to buy another 15 percent later on.

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GM won’t import subcompacts from China, will build them in Michigan

It was reported earlier this month that GM is looking to import Chinese-made subcompact cars to the United States. The Detroit automaker had planned to export more than 51,000 vehicles from China by 2014. Yes, that had the UAW up in and arms and now, as a part of its concession deal with the UAW, GM has agreed not to import “made in China” cars.

Union President Ron Gettelfinger said that GM will build up to 160,000 units of subcompacts per year at an existing U.S. facility and will sell them in U.S.

New concessions by the UAW, which include freezing wage, cutting bonuses and reducing break time, will save GM more than $1 billion a year.

UAW members are scheduled to finish voting on the new deal by 4 p.m. today.

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GM and Magna reach preliminary deal

According to a report by Reuters, GM and Canadian auto parts group Magna International have reached a preliminary deal to invest in Opel, increasing hopes for a deal with the U.S and German governments to save the brand. The move also kills Fiat CEO Sergio Marchionne’s dream of building the world’s second-largest automaker consisting of GM’s European operations and its new stake in Chrysler LLC.

Source said that Magna and GM are working out the final details of an agreement before they meet with Chancellor Angela Merkel and senior ministers.

“We have an agreement in principle between GM and Magna,” one source said.

Nonetheless, party-pooper German Economy Minister Karl-Theodor zu Guttenberg, who previously said that Fiat and Manga need to make their proposals more attractive and assume more risk, told reports that there is no guarantee a deal to save Opel could be reached Friday.

: Reuters

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Detroit Mayor writes letter to Obama urging him ensure GM stays in Renaissance Center

Yesterday, Warren Mayor Jim Fouts made an offer to GM CEO Fritz Henderson offering the company long-term tax incentives to move its headquarters from the Renaissance Center in Detroit to the GM Tech Center in Warren.

Now, Wayne County Executive Robert Ficano and Detroit Mayor Dave Bing are doing all he can to keep GM in Detroit. Bing and Ficano announced today that Detroit will offer GM big tax breaks that come with a “renaissance zone” designation to stay in Detroit.

“So in their bankruptcy case, they can say now they have a business case to stay at the GM building,” Ficano told Automotive news. “We got together and asked what tools we have in our toolbox to tell the rest of the world that we’re really open for business.”

Bing even wrote a letter to President Barack Obama urging him to ensure that GM stays in the Renaissance Center and that the city isn’t gutted.

“The possibility of General Motor’s headquarters leaving Detroit would have a devastating effect on not only the surrounding business community, but our residents, our economic viability and the overall turnaround of the city of Detroit,” he wrote to Obama.

- By: The Daily Auto Editor

Source: Free Press

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