|
|||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
We've pretty much summed up our feelings about John Castriota's Corvette ZR1-based Bertone Mantide in our previous post here, so we're not going to get into the design discussion again. Just hit the jump to watch to watch the coupe's presentation from the Shanghai Auto Show earlier this month, and don't forget to lower the volume of your speakers because you're probably going to get as annoyed as we did the music background.
In this video we get a 'live' taste of some of the most important world premieres that took place on the floors of the 2009 Shanghai Auto Show. These include the Porsche Panamera, Mercedes-Benz S65 AMG, BMW X5M and the facelifted Audi Q7 from the behalf of European - okay, German automakers, as well as numerous debuts from Chinese automakers like Chery, Brilliance and BYD Auto. Watch the video after the jump.
There are clones and there are clones. While some come pretty close such as Lifan Motors' effort to give birth to a five-door MINI Cooper, other like Jiangling Motors's Landwind X8 that made its debut at the Shanghai Show this week, is a dead ringer for Mitsubishi's Outlander. For those of you with a weak memory, China's Landwind became known for being the first Chinese automaker to enter the European market with the SUV that spectacularly failed a crash test carried out by the ADAC, Germany's largest auto club.
And it's not only the exterior design of the Outlander that has been copied, it's also the interior as the X8 gets the same exact dashboard styling with the deep set instrument panel featuring the two circular tube-like structures.
But you still haven't heard the best part of the story; according to the Landwind, the X8 will be offered with two engines: a common-rail turbo diesel from Italy's VM Motori that develops 140HP and 350Nm of torque and -get this- a Mitshubishi sourced, 2.4-liter 4-cylinder gasoline engine with 150HP!
Sales of the Landwind X8 are to start in China during the second half of the year.
Mitsubishi Outlander SUV
___________________________________________________
Landwind X8 SUV
Having already brought to you two mega galleries with pictures (click here for Part I, here for Part II) of the exotically beautiful Asian female models of the 2009 Shanghai Auto Show, the only thing left to complete our 'lady' homage is a film with the most interesting presences of the show. Hit the jump and enjoy the video.
One of the new models at the Shanghai Auto Show that managed to momentarily escape our attention is the Honda Accord SR-9 concept study that was designed in cooperation with the firm's Chinese joint venture, Guangzhou Honda. Compared to the European-spec Accord and the North American market Acura TSX (they are the same cars), the Accord SR-9 features a newly designed front bumper with concave surfaces and a restyled grille with honeycomb inserts.The show car also featured a set of side skirts and beefier seven-spoke alloy wheels. Even though the styling mods are minimal, the tweaked fascia would be a welcome change for both the European-market Accord and the Acura TSX.
One of the most eye-popping examples of car-cloning at this year's Shanghai Auto Show is the Florid hatchback from China's Great Wall Motors. What's surprising about the Florid is the fact that it actually copies the design of two vehicles, bonding in a uniquely Chinese way, the body of a Scion xA to the front end of a current generation Toyota Yaris. Inside, the Chinese automaker preferred to keep things simple, maintaining the original Scion xA's dashboard layout.The driving force behind the Yaris and xA "inspired" subcompact hatch is a Great Wall Motors developed 1.3-liter four-cylinder engine that makes 87 horsepower and a maximum torque of 115Nm. For the 2009MY - or so to say, Great Wall Motors extened the Florid's range with the introduction of more powerfull 1.5-liter engine with 105HP.
2006 Scion xA
_______________________________________________
Great Wall Motors Florid
Weird looking concept and production vehicles aside, the Shanghai Auto Show, or as the organizers insist on officially calling it, the "Auto Shanghai 2009", had to show some very interesting young ladies leaning against the cars. You can check them out for yourselves right after the jump in our high-resolution gallery. If by any chance you missed out, here's the link to the first part of our Shanghai Show Babe gallery. 
_________________________________________________________
Pic Copyright: UP
