Panzani Design Jaguar S-Type Vintage GT – Click above for high-res image gallery

For better or worse, nothing is quite as divisive as modern Jaguar design. The current XF is controversial enough in its own right, but the S-Type that came before was even more so. With its pinched grille and comically retro lines, the S-Type was the very antithesis of the model that followed. So how about making the old girl even more of a love-it or hate-it affair? Not an easy task, but Panzani Design has clearly risen to the challenge.

Reaching back a few years to when the S-Type was still around, the Italian tuner has given the retro Jag saloon such up-to-date features as 20-inch wheels mounted on a track widened by 10 centimeters and enormously flared arches to accommodate them. There’s also a new front bumper with integrated LEDs, a carbon fiber hood with vents, mesh lamp covers, side skirts, spoiler, diffuser, little round mirrors and what looks to be a very intricately crafted interior.

The result is all decked out in matte gray and called the Vintage GT. It may not be your cup of tea, but it’s worth a second glance, so check it out in the gallery below for all the angles.

[Source: Panzani Design via Autoblog.nl]

Fremont Motors Fido electric scooter – Click above for the high-res image gallery

Could the Fido electric scooter from Fremont motors one day become your best friend? If you value things like practicality, simplicity and a fetching aesthetic, then yes. This freshly-unveiled design is definitely barking up the right city-mobility tree with a 45 miles per hour top speed, removable battery for apartment charging and 35 miles of range (70 with optional boost pack).

With its one-sided wheels, disc brakes and hub motor, maintenance is minimal and the small stowable storage box you can carry as back pack is a great touch. If production hopes for the prototype come through, you should be able to collar one next year for about $ 5,000. You can keep up with their progress and show them some belly-rubbin’ love over on their Facebook page. Check out the detail from all angles in the gallery below.

[Source: Fremont Motors]

EDAG Light Car Sharing Concept – Click above for high-res image gallery

It has been two years since German company EDAG first introduced its Light Car Open Source concept at the Geneva Motor Show. Making its debut at this year’s show is the latest version of the Light Car, which builds upon the previous concept and keeps pushing forward on a way to reduce the high cost of acquiring an electric vehicle. This is why EDAG is advocating car sharing with this concept as a way to get more zero emission vehicles on the road.

The all-electric Light Car is perfect for city driving with an expected 62-mile range and 62 mile per hour top speed. Lithium-ion batteries are mounted in the floor to keep them safe in the event of an accident and the car’s exterior uses fiber-based composites and plastic parts to keep the weight of the body panels to a minimum. As with the previous incarnation – which was much sleeker and cooler looking (see here) – the new Light Car is able to communicate with other vehicles using body-panel mounted OLEDs. Check out the gallery below to see more images of the concept, including some interior renderings.

[Source: All Cars Electric]

Richard Hammond’s 2008 Morgan Aeromax – Click above for high-res image gallery

Richard Hammond pretty much gets to live every car guy’s fantasy: get paid an exorbitant sum to sample, drive and comment on dream cars. Hammond maintains quite a collection of his own exotics, which until recently included a 2008 Morgan Aeromax that he waxed lyrical about on Top Gear.

Despite his purported love of BMW V8-powered Aeromax, he’s decided to sell it through Surrey, England’s Mole Valley Specialist Cars. Being that it has celebrity pedigree, precious few babied miles, and is one of only six right-hand-drive manual cars, the asking price is a heady £99,950, or about $ 159,000.

[Source: Mole Valley via The Daily Mail | Images: Mole Valley]

When we last visited the topic of sales figures for the 2011 Chevrolet Volt we reported that a modest 281 of the plug-in hybrids moved off dealers lots during the month of February, about a third of the 928 Volts that have been sold since launch.

With updated numbers now in hand, it looks like General Motors sold 410 Volts to California buyers. A breakdown of the figures shows that buyers in Los Angeles nabbed 227 Volts, those in San Francisco, CA bought 131 and the remaining 52 plug-in hybrids moved off dealer lots in the San Diego area.

With Californians laying claim to nearly half of all of the Volts sold, it’s worth re-reading the quote Rob Peterson’s recently sent to AutoblogGreen :

Over the next few months we will be shipping Volt dealer demo vehicles and vehicles to our coastal launch markets which takes longer than delivering them to nearby states.

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Mini Rocketman Concept – Click above for high-res image gallery

This year’s Geneva Motor Show was loaded with concept cars. Even though most of them will never make it past the show’s floor, the Mini Rocketman just might eventually roll into dealerships. According to Autocar, Mini plans to launch a production Rocketman based on BMW’s front-drive platform and its eco-conscious “i” technologies.

If it enters the production schedule, the Rocketman would slot in below Mini’s current three-door Cooper hatchback (at least in terms of overall size) and add to the automaker’s rapidly expanding range of vehicles. BMW sales and marketing boss, Ian Robertson, told Autocar that:

The themes in the car [Mini Rocketman] are not just about a smaller Mini. Lightweight construction, and new types of components will go on to Minis. The BMW i-concept [technology] will be available to all members of the group.

So, what would be a proper nickname for the production version of the Mini Rocketman? The “mini” Mini?
Live photos copyright ©2011 Drew Phillips / AOL Read more…

Click either image for high-res image gallery

We’ve gotten word from a very reliable source that Toyota is planning two big debuts at the New York Auto Show, although neither is wearing a ToMoCo badge.

First up is a fully redesigned Lexus GS, something that we’ve reported on and spied before. Although it’s unclear whether the GS we’ll see in NYC is a concept or a production model, we do know that it will be underpinned by an all-new platform that will also be used on the next-generation IS, due out sometime next year.

The current GS has been on the market since 2005 and, despite consistent sales, it’s overdue for a refresh. Expect many of the same V6 and V8 powerplants to carry over, although we haven’t gotten word on an F variant or whether the 450h hybrid will soldier on.

More intriguingly is word that Scion will bring its own version of the FT-86 to the Big Apple’s auto show, although don’t expect a production version – this will be yet another concept similar to the version we saw at the Geneva Motor Show, just with new badges and a few stylistic tweaks.

Expect more details to follow in the coming weeks.

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