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The Dodge Viper has been heard Chrysler’s halo car from the time it was introduced coming back in 1992, but times are tough. Faced among the thing so it are able to not be able to remain writing the brutish sports car, the Auburn Hills-based automaker is reportedly looking at working at somewhat that is never carried on finished before by a domestic automaker (as for as we know): marketing the Viper’s times ahead to a third party. Automotive News quotes Chrysler CEO Bob Nardelli saying, “We undergo carried on approached by third parties who are interested in research coming years possibilities for Viper.” Nardelli reports overly at all happens, his association ought to go to trigger ensured the proper interests of Viper fanboys are served and which Chrysler ought to still be to forward “operational and financial” validation for the car if a purchase takes place. We’re honestly a tiny stunned this Chrysler ought to mull over this kind of a vital action, even though if it equals the Viper can not be sacrificed at the altar of sector woes, we are all for it. On the a multitude of hand, how performs one separate Dodge according to the Viper? Can you assume Ford re&wshyp;selling the Mustang to ROUSH or GM re&wshyp;selling the Corvette to Lingenfelter? Chrysler has not called any of the Viper’s suitors, so in its place as opposed to a familiar tuning house, it would as well be a conglomerate of investors or an extra automaker. Is a Viper purchased by one more kind continue to a Viper?

The McLaren P11 should significantly be powered by a 6.2-liter Mercedes AMG unit, but there isn’t anybody that knows yet how the car the current goes obtainable the engine is probable to be on the look like. Frank Stephenson, just of Fiat fame, has carried on supplied instructions to fully redesign the car when he starts at McLaren. However, he will not take up the position at McLaren until he finishes his “gardening leave,” a mandatory escape between sensitive professions too aims to hold off members on rendering such a inside knowledge amidst them.

McLaren reads the present the car will not appear anything and everything fancy the sketches this constructed the rounds persist year. That’s not these types of a bad worry — additonally a astronomical coming across as car, the sketches got uninspiring and a bit derivative. We project so the man who has had a hand in all of it according to the BMW X5 and MINI to the Ferrari F430, Maserati Quattroporte and MC12 maybe has a few well innovations left lying around. Unfortunately, the occurrence of the P11 has carried on pushed returning a year due to the redesign, to perhaps mid-to-late 2010.

The Ford GT went from concept to production in record time thanks to companies like ROUSH and Saleen that have niche manufacturing capabilities. Saleen handled the assembly of the GT in its 200,000-sq ft facility in Troy, MI, and whether it was part of the deal or just a thank you from Ford, Steve Saleen ended up owning a pre-production Ford GT, one of only nine built. There are some differences from the production version, including a 4.6-liter Mustang Cobra V8 that has been bored out to 5.4-liters, as well as a unique supercharger system made specifically for the car. The bad news is that its pre-production status means it can’t be registered as a street legal vehicle, so this Ford GT will most likely be relegated to a collector’s garage.

Some of the more hard-core tifosi have been whining that Ferrari has gone soft with the new California. It’s pretty hard to justify that a car able to hit 60 mph in the three-second range is soft, but so be it. The nay-sayers point to the inclusion of a folding hard-top as a sign that Ferrari has grown more concerned with pleasing its poseur clientele than developing genuine performance vehicles. Never mind that the innovative rapid-deployment roof, according to Ferrari, actually weighs 5kg less than an equivalent soft-top and still only takes 14 seconds to raise or lower.

However, Maranello has not finished development of the California and intends to pacify those malcontents with some new features. For starters, Ferrari says that about 10% of its customers still demand a manual transmission, and so they will have one ready for the California by the time it actually goes on sale about half a year from now. Around the same time, Ferrari will also unveil a new HGTC handling package, like those offered for the 612 Scaglietti and the previous 575 M Maranello, to tighten up the California’s suspension. A new set of lightweight wheels is also in the works, anticipated to shave some 10-12kg off of the unsprung weight. A 430 Scuderia it is not – that’s why Ferrari makes both – but don’t mistake the California for a lazy boulevard cruiser.

When the 193-MPH Nissan GT-R set a lap time of 7:38 last year at the ‘Ring, besting cars like the Porsche GT3, Lamborghini Murcielago, and Mercedes SLR, the Nissan team was disappointed. There were two damp corners on the track, and everyone was quite sure that the car, piloted by official test driver Tochio Suzuki, could go faster.

Now it has. With a completely dry track, the base model Godzilla-san wearing stock Japanese-market tires shaved 9 seconds off its previous best time, posting a lap time of 7:29. On that same lap, it leapfrogged the Porsche GT2, Koenigsegg, and SLR 722 GT. Now it’s flashing its headlights at the Carrera GT and Pagani Zonda F Clubsport, both about one second up the road. So if the standard model on stock tires does 7:29, and the more powerful, lighter GT-R V-Spec has already been casually clocked at 7:25 — betting on what the GT-R’s ultimate best lap time will be begins now… And did we say it can all be yours for $70,000? Damn. Check out Nissan’s official presser after the jump and our First Drive of the 2009 Nissan GT-R by clicking here.
[Source: Nissan]