“2020″ - a concept car for the year 2020

2000-2001: “2020″ - a concept car for the year 2020

The winner of the 2000-2001 competition was “Moonster” by
23-year-old student at the university of applied art in Belgrade -
Marko Lukovic. His proposal was that the Peugeot of 2020 should be an
original vehicle, inspired by aeronautics, incorporating a two-seater
passenger compartment in the center.

Here is a couple of screenshots of a digital 3D Model:

And here is the actual photo of a real concept from auto show:

(with thanks to CarDesignNews.com)

* * *

2002-2003: “Retrofuturism”

This contest, themed “Retrofuturism”, had a winner named Stefan
Schulze with “4002”. Schulze’s well-done, not to say fabulous, mixture
of historic elements and futuristic body design makes the 4002 differ
from the bland retro concepts we have seen on international motor shows
so many times before. The vehicle’s silhouette is intended to symbolize
the Peugeot’s heraldic animal - the lion. But the original one stands
upright whereas the vehicle’s side profile shows the one that lies and
waits in the Savannah.

Digital 3D Model:

The actual concept car photo exhibited at one of the auto shows:

(with thanks to UltimateCarpage.com)

* * *

2004-2005 “Design the Peugeot you dream of seeing in the near future”:

That years’ contest’ best work was of a Portuguese designer André
Costa with a work called “Moovie”. I guess that the main reasons for
the award were the original style expressing a clear allegiance to the
brand with lots of innovations at the same time which made it a genuine
future prospect.

The digital 3D Model:

And this is what “Moovie” looks like in actual life:

(with thanks to: Official Peugeot ‘2020′ Design Contest Results and Moovie by Andre Costa)

* * *

2006-2007 “P.L.E.A.S.E.” - stands for Pleasurable, Lively, Efficient, Accessible, Simple, Ecological:

The great winner is Mr. Mihai Panaitescu, 20 year
old, a design student of I.E.D. Turin. With unbelievable work called
“Peugeot Flux Concept.” It’s a relatively small car (3,500cm long by
1,650cm wide), it runs on a slim hydrogen power generator hidden in the
back, with the tank mounted under the hood, according to what it says
in car’s features.

3D Model:

The name Flux was inspired by the continuous change and flow of our
daily lives during work and fun. The shape also represents this flow
with transitions between hard and smooth lines, straight and curved all
of which are typical Peugeot’s styling cues.

According to the author, his intention was to design a vehicle that would please its passengers whatever the situation is.

The actual concept car:

(with thanks to: Official Peugeot ‘P.L.E.A.S.E.‘ Design Contest Results and Flux by Mihai Panaitescu)

* * *

Wesley Saikawa, 27-year guy from Brazil took the second place with
a very uncommon work called “N Jooy” that can be read in two ways:
“enjoy” and “Nature + Joy”. Designer offers to take form as “organic”,
a vehicle management system as “intellectual” and appearance as
“aggressive”. Wesley said that he was inspired with old Formula-1 race
cars to give the driver a strong sense of a car movement.” Instead of
wheels this car has some sort of spheres which makes it omnidirectional.

* * *

The third prize belongs to Venezuelan artist
Gustavo Ferrero with his project of hybrid sport car called “Allscape”.
As you can remember this work called “Peugeot Allscape - Feel the Wind”
was mentioned in our “Awesome 3D Cars and Vehicles”
blog post. This sports car is a part of a new generation of extreme,
powerful and really fast cars and at the same time it remains clean and
safe for the environment. Besides the contest jury called this work the
most detailed work ever presented in Peugeot design contests.

The most detailed work means that not only did the author make the
exterior outlook of concept car, but also designed the interior as much
as possible so that we could see the parts and how they look inside the
car. And honestly I like this concept the most.

* * *

It’s all for the winners and let’s look to some less fortunate
finalists that nevertheless deserve some portion of your attention.

A concept model “CUB” by Chineese designer Ka Dan excels from others with simple forms and futuristic ergonomics:

* * *

Nice work called “Peugeot Plaire” by James Ma. A nonstandard sports car with a calm and suspended design:

* * *

“LiiON Concept” by Christian Sano from Romania.
3-cycled-cars are very uncommon for design contests but this concept is
truly unbelievable! Single-seated, aggressive, slim - all these things
are half the battle for being a successful vehicle.

* * *

And Peugeot 910 by Turkish designer Ertug Yenidemir
with clean and streamline design. Author made accent to the lines and
form and was right about it - model looks very attractive.

* * *

As for this year - the contest’s topic is the following: “Imagine the Peugeot in the worldwide megalopolis of tomorrow.” It’s open to budding designers from all over the world. The participants can use the application form
and send one or more images (exterior perspective, side view, interior,
sketches or 3D model renderings, etc) as well as text explanations of
their concept. So designers, modelers and artists who love beautiful
cars - you still have a little time until July 20th to design the car
from your dreams and send it to Peugeot. We in turn can’t wait to see
the results of the contest of 200 - we promise we’ll publish the review
of this year’s contest participants.

Peugeot launches limited edition 207 Le Mans

In honor of its almost all-conquering 908 HDi diesel race car, Peugeot has decided to create a limited edition 207 Le Mans. Like the big gun 908, the 207 will only be powered by 1.6L diesel engines with a choice of two power levels. The lesser engine will be rated at 110hp while the more sporting edition rates 175hp. The 2,000 European customers who get their hands on a 207 Le Mans also get to select from Banquise White and Obsidien Black. Like the race cars, the 207 gets a longitudinal red stripe on its nose. The little 207 gets big 17" wheels and assorted badging including a number plate on the steering wheel.

Dale Earnhardt Jr. wins in Michigan, ends 76-race losing streak

Dale Earnhardt Jr. is the darling of NASCAR, but the motorsport's most popular driver was completely winless for the last 76 races until this past weekend when the Intimidator's son won the LifeLock 400 at Michigan International Speedway. Junior won the race in an odd way, literally coasting across the finish line on an empty tank of gas under a caution flag after Patrick Carpenter spun out on lap 203. The race had been extended to overtime after Sam Hornish Jr. spun on Lap 200, and had it not been for the caution Carpenter created three laps later, Junior would likely would've ran out of gas before the finish. Rather than do burnouts afterwards on the track, Earnhardt's #88 Hendrick Motorsports Chevy had to be pushed to Victory Ciricle. The win not only ended Junior's drought, but also gave his new employer, Rick Hendrick, his second win of the season. Many thought this might be Junior's year after he handily won the Bud Shootout ahead of the Daytona 500. That was his first race as a member of Hendrick Motorsports and didn't count for points, but the rest of the season has not gone his way until this past weekend.

Blue 1989 Geo Metro has been "green" since 1993

Like a number of other folks who didn't get much attention at the time, Doug Heffron was worried about gas mileage and pump costs way back in 1993. That was back when this particular blogger had a VW Jetta that could be filled to the tippy top for $11, and having to spend $13 was considered criminal banditry. But Doug wasn't happy with merely cheap fill-ups and 56 mpg in his Geo Metro Xfi. So he turned it into the car you see above.

That meant installing tandem seating on the left side, fairing the wheels, changing the gearing, and chopping off the right side and replacing it with, well, nothing but a wing. Once finished, the car got 75 pg. All that work might sound like a lot for an extra 19 mph, but one should expect a bit of aero tweaking and math to squeeze a 34-percent gain in fuel economy from an already frugal econobox.

The car was driven for two years in all four New England seasons, and then gas prices went down and it was put away in a barn. In 2006, however, the barn doors opened again, but Doug hasn't said what he plans to do with the car. We're not saying that everyone should drive this type of... thing, but if a guy in his garage can crank out something like this, then... come on Chevy Volt! Thanks for the tip, Ted!

Ford Racing Invitational '08: The aftermath

I
went into the Ford Racing Racing Invitational drag race this weekend
with only a cursory knowledge of drag racing. Sure I was aware of all
the usual suspects like Garlits, Prudhomme, Force and other famous
names over the years. I knew about the kind of speeds they reached and
I had a vague awareness of bracket racing and the need for consistency.
But I figured "How hard can it be to go from a starting line and
traverse 1320 feet in the shortest possible time?" Well, it turns out
that it's a lot harder than you might think. If nothing else, I came
away from this experience with with a vastly increased respect for
successful drag racers.

Let's start with a brief run down of
the procedure. First up, before getting to the starting line you do a
couple of burnouts to warm the tires in hope of getting some extra
grip. On racing slicks this undoubtedly helps. Whether it actually
helps with street tires is something about which we need to consult
with some tire engineers. Once your tires are warm, you pull up to the
line. This is where things start to get very complicated. Read on to
learn more and check out the gallery below for shots from the day
showing Autoblog and its peers doing their best on the quarter-mile.

Is Genepax for real? A car that runs on water? Highly unlikely!

It
never fails, whenever fuel prices go up someone comes up with some new
miracle that will reduce or eliminate your gas consumption. Back in the
1970s, it was 200mpg carburetors, magnets you put on the fuel lines and
all manner of other things that never worked. One staple of these
schemes has always been the car that runs on water. The latest example
comes from Japan created by a company called Genepax. They have devised
a system that consists of a fuel cell and a so called energy generator.
The energy generator is claimed to consume water and breaks it down to
hydrogen and oxygen which is fed to the fuel cell. While fuel cells are
well understood and are known to work, the hydrogen generator is the
issue.

Hydrogen can actually be separated from water quite
easily with no energy input. Just put a piece of aluminum in into some
water and hydrogen will be release as the surface of the aluminum
oxidizes. The problem is that such processes are not sustainable. Once
the surface of the aluminum is fully oxidized, the reaction stops.
After this, the material needs to be reprocessed so it can be used
again. This part requires significant energy input. Genepax has not
revealed details of their process, however it is believed to be
something along these lines. While the converted Reva electric car may
indeed be able to run on water for a short time with no external inputs
other than water, it's not clear how long that can actually happen. It
may turn out that Genepax has come out with something revolutionary.
More likely they are only showing part of the big picture right now and
we aren't seeing the other part of the process that regenerates the
energy generator.

Greener golf with a solar golf cart

FYI: We'd have used "going green on the green" if Uncrate hadn't already beaten us to it. Clever tagline aside, what we have here is a solar-powered golf cart which uses 48 volts worth of batteries to power its 5.5 horsepower electric motor. According to the specifications, the roof-mounted solar panels increase its range by about sixty percent over regular electric golf carts. That solar installation offers three amps per hour and can completely charge the batteries in fifteen hours. Otherwise, a regular outlet can charge the vehicle overnight.

Top speed is said to be twenty-four miles per hour. That seems plenty fast enough for the golf course, if you ask us. We also think that its 755 pound capacity should be more than enough for a couple of golfers and their assorted gear. Two cup holders are available for when the ever-important beer cart makes it over to your area, so all the bases appear to be covered.

Spy Shots: 2010 Ford Mustang glass-top coupe and base convertible

It seems to be getting easier to take spy shots of the 2010 Ford Mustang, as reader Chris F. chatted up the drivers of these two prototype 'Stangs in Lake Zurich, IL who told him they were both base models with the 4.0L V6. The coupe also features a glass top, which suggests this relatively new feature will carryover to the redesigned '10 Mustang and be available on all models. Unfortunately, the fact that both base models were still powered by the same old 4.0L V6 suggests that, at least when it debuts, the '10 Mustang will not feature the 3.5L V6 that can currently be found in nearly every other Ford product.

We can see all the tell-tale signs of the redesigned Mustangs in these pics, including its new headlights, new grille, new front fascia, new wheels and new taillights. Out back there's only one tailpipe, confirming their base modelness. Unfortunately, the cool drivers Chris met up with asked him not to photograph the interior and weren't willing to give up any other juicy tidbits, but we'll take what we can get.

Spoiler Alert: Diesels take top six positions at Le Mans

If you have the 24 hours of Le Mans on your DVR and don't want to know which diesel crew landed at the top of the podium then don't follow the jump. If you want to know who covered the most distance today go right ahead.

Honda presents first customers at FCX Clarity Job 1

Today is Job 1 for the world's first series production fuel cell car as Honda executives and the first customers for its FCX Clarity looked on. Honda CEO Takeo Fukui and American Honda EVP John Mendel were also there to watch as the first production FCX Clarity was completed and driven off the line. Joining the Honda bosses were Ron Yerxa, Jon Spallino and Lauren Harris. Those three along with Jamie Lee Curtis, her husband Spinal Tap lead guitarist Christopher Guest and business owner Jim Salomon will be the first customers to take possession of their Claritys when they arrive in Southern California next month.

Honda put in a dedicated assembly line at its Tochigi New Model Center to produce the 200 Clarity units that are planned for delivery over the next couple of years. Currently Honda is only leasing the cars (for three years at $600/month) in areas where there is a already a dedicated supply of hydrogen and enough places to buy it. That means the Los Angeles area first, along with Japan. Three Los Angeles area Honda dealers have been named to provide service and support for the hydrogen fueled four passenger Accord sized sedan in case a cup holder or the car's very high-tech hydrogen fuel cell needs fixing. All we know is that these new FCX Clarity owners better have some big pockets for those oversized keys.

Plug-In Prius prototype in Nashville today

The Congressional Tennessee Valley Authority Caucus is a bipartisan group of U.S. Senators and Representatives from the Tennessee Valley Authority area (Alabama, Georgia, Kentucky, Mississippi, North Carolina, Tennessee and Virginia). Today, the Caucus will hold a field hearing on electric drive vehicles in Nashville, and Toyota will be showing off the plug-in Prius prototype there. We're familiar with the Toyota PHEV Prius PR routine (we took one for a drive late last year at EVS23), but we'd be much happier about these events if certain Toyota execs didn't spend so much time downplaying the plug-in hybrid.

In any case, Toyota will also have Camry and Highlander hybrid models on display at the Caucus hearing, as well as a regular Prius. More details after the break.

Spy Shots: Next BMW Z4 and 7 series caught on PCH

Friend of the blog Fred K. happened upon a pair of BMW prototypes while cruising California's Pacific Coast Highway recently and had his camera phone in tow to take some pics. What he saw were the next BMW Z4 and 7 series sedan heavily covered in camouflage, but not so much that we can't make out their general shapes and few new styling cues. Feast away at the pics in the gallery below and remember, always have a camera with you as prototypes are popping up all over these days.

Audi going to full LED lighting on the R8 for just $5,600

In the ongoing effort to improve fuel efficiency on vehicles, automakers are looking for ways to reduce parasitic losses that absorb power from the engine rather than sending it to the drive wheels. That means replacing constant drive hydraulic steering assist systems with on-demand electric equivalents and just generally trying to cut the power requirements for all accessory systems. One area that draws power is the lighting system. Cutting the power requirements for headlights is a tricky problem since performance needs to be maintained for safety reasons. One of the best new technologies for lighting is LEDs. Last year Lexus launched LED low beam headlamps on the LS600h and now Audi is taking the next step with the R8 sports car.

Audi has just added a new full LED light option that includes high and low beams, turn signals and daytime running lights. The cluster contains 54 LEDs that never wear out, provide better lighting performance and use less power. There is just one problem, as usual with new technology: it's expensive. Audi is charging a €3,590 ($5,600 U.S.) premium for the full LED system. Eventually the price will come down, hopefully sooner rather than later and on a car like the R8 it probably won't make much difference to the mileage. Nonetheless all of these little things add up and help. Going forward as we move to electrified cars, reducing the electrical power draw will be even more critical. By the middle of the next decade when we have significant numbers of electric cars coming to our roads we will probably start seeing LED lighting going mainstream. Details from Audi after the break.

Spotted in the wild: 1968 Lamborghini Islero

For a car fan it's always cool to be wandering around somewhere and stumble across an extremely rare automobile. That's especially when it's out on the road in a most unlikely of locales. My wife and I took a little road trip this weekend in the new Saab Turbo X (you'll be hearing more about that soon!) to Yellow Springs, Ohio. For those unfamiliar with Yellow Springs, it's a small town northeast of Dayton that is home to Antioch College and Dave Chappelle. As we were walking to get some dinner, I noticed a very red coupe with an extraordinarily long hood. It looked vaguely familiar, but I knew I had never seen one in the metal before. I grabbed my camera and started shooting away. It turns out the car was a GT known as the Lamborghini Islero. Isleros were built in 1968 and 69 following the end of the 400GT run and preceding the Jarama. Unfortunately for Lamborghini, the rather sedately-styled Islero didn't have the flash of the gorgeous Miura that debuted in 1969 and it never sold in large numbers. According to Lamborghini, only 225 were built including 70 "S" models in 1969 with slight body changes and a more luxurious interior. The Islero was propelled by Lamborghini's 4.0L 350hp V12. If the owner of this car sees this post please get in touch and share the story of your car.

Hole in One this weekend earns LPGA golfer one of first Aspen Hybrids

Last summer Ichiro Suzuki was selected as the MVP of the baseball All-Star game and got the keys to one of the first Chevy Tahoe Two-Mode Hybrids. At the time, those SUVs were still more than six months away from production. This year, Chrysler is getting ready to launch their own full-size hybrid SUVs and they may be awarding one of the early production Aspen Hybrids to a women golfer at the Ginn Tribute LPGA tournament this weekend. If any of the 144 golfers, including Annika Sorenstarn, shoot a hole-in-one during the tournament they will get one of the first Aspens.

The Aspen and its twin Dodge Durango hybrid don't go on sale until this fall but they are set up very much like the corresponding GM hybrids. The same two-mode hybrid transmission is paired up with a large V8, in Chrysler's case the 5.7L HEMI. The HEMI is also equipped with cylinder deactivation allowing it to run on either four or eight cylinders. The nickel metal hydride battery pack is installed below the second row seat. While GM is offering their hybrids with either rear or all wheel drive, Chrysler is only planning to offer the Aspen/Durango with the latter configuration. The Chrysler press release is after the jump.

eBay Find of the Day: 1923 Model T powered by Harley V-Twin

Ford's
ubiquitous Model T has seen its fair share of modifications over the
years. Often powered by an engine other than what was originally
designed for the large engine bay, countless variations of the hot rod
theme have made Henry Ford's original mass-market vehicle a highly
desirable machine to customize. Today, we've stumbled across an
entirely new way to power the T, and it's just too cool not to share.
Behind the custom spiderweb grille of this 1923 Ford Model T
is a 1200cc V-Twin engine taken from the frame rails of a
Harley-Davidson Sportster. Considering how little this vehicle is
likely to weigh, the air-cooled twin cylinder mill with Screaming Eagle
mods is probably plenty powerful to get the vehicle out of its own way.
The owner used quite a few HD cues in the overall design and as many
original parts from the donor bike as was possible. Note the dual rear
shocks suspending the rear axle -- those are from the Sportster, as
well as the foot pegs which now see duty as the gas and brake pedals.
Nice work.

Officially, official: Ford to build Fiesta in Cuautitlán, Mexico, US gets hatch!

Ford
has finally made it official: the upcoming Fiesta for the North
American market will be built at the company's assembly plant in
Cuautitlán, Mexico. Job 1 for Ford's new B-class car will be coming up
in early 2010. The plant near Mexico City currently builds F-Series
pickups for the Mexican market and will be re-tooled starting later
this year after production of the current generation trucks winds down.
Once the revamp of the factory is complete, it will supply Fiestas for
all North American markets. As part of the announcement, Ford also
confirmed that U.S. customers will also get three body flavors of the
Fiesta to choose from. In addition to the originally planned four-door
sedan, we will indeed get both the three- and five-door hatchbacks. No
word yet on which powertrains we'll get for the Fiesta.

Ford
also announced that the Chihuahua Engine Plant that builds four
cylinder engines right now will add a new line to produce diesels for
the light and medium duty trucks. This would be the 4.4L diesel V8 that
is being added to the F-Series lineup next year.

Audi R10 TDI using biofuel for the first time

In the world of alternative power, not all fuels are created equal.
This fact is true with ethanol, where the alcohol can be made using
fairly inefficient processes, some of which involve corn, or using more
advanced cellulosic methods which do not use a foodstock. Diesel too
can come from either petroleum or from non-dino sources. You're
probably aware that Audi has been assaulting various race tracks using
its advanced diesel powered race cars, specifically its two-time Le
Mans-winning R10 TDI,
which has so far been running on what is known as gas-to-liquid (GTL)
diesel fuel. With the 24 Hours of Le Mans just around the corner, Audi
and Shell, the fuel provider for Audi's race team, have announced that
the team will be blending a small amount of biomass-to-liquid (BTL)
fuel into its secret mixture. Shell's BTL fuel is made from materials
such as wood chips and will make its on-track debut on Sunday, June 1,
as Audi's R10 TDI begins its official Le Mans testing.

Toyota denies decision has been made to build Prius in U.S. at joint GM plant

Responding to a Tokyo Shimbun
story that said discussions with GM were underway, Toyota says that no
decision has been made about potentially building the Prius at New
United Motor Manufacturing Inc. (NUMMI), the joint Toyota-GM plant in
California. The APToyota will build two new hybrid battery plants (and expand a third) in Japan for increased hybrid vehicle production. If the Shimbun
story is true, then major components (like those batteries) would be
shipped to NUMMI for final assembly. Something tells me we'll hear more
about this in the future.
reports that Toyota is stepping back from the rumor that the Prius
could be built in North America for the first time. The Prius is
currently made in Japan and China. Officially, Toyota's statement said,
"We are always considering the best places for production, but nothing
has been decided about producing the Prius at NUMMI." We do know that

Belgium: Dodge wants you to steam up the windows in the Journey

When
we read the tip from reader Thijs B. telling us that in Belgium, Dodge
is planning a Journey launch promo centered around backseat
baby-making, we thought it was a big joke. So we started using our
Google powers to see what else we could dig up. And guess what? It's
legit.

If you go to babymadeonboard.be, you'll be greeted by the screen above, which features a play on those annoying "Baby On Board" window signs that were ubiquitous during the 80s.
It's paired with a countdown timer that will zero out on the weekend of
June 14, which is when the Dodge Journey officially launches in
Belgium. A quick WHOIS lookup on DNS.be reveals that the site's domain name is registered to someone at the Brussels office of Proximity BBDO, a BBDO partner. BBDO is Chrysler's ad agency.

More Googling led us to a Dodge press release
posted on a Belgian media portal. The car is being targeted toward men,
and its launch slogan roughly translates to "Become a father, stay a
man." According to the PR, Dodge suggests that "everyone try out the
back seat of the Dodge Journey in a little unorthodox manner."
Well, that's one way of getting folks to look past Chrysler's
lamentable interiors. People whose "backseat trial" is successful and
subsequently produce a newborn child 9 months after the car's launch
weekend have a chance to win themselves a new Dodge Journey, and the
baby's picture will be posted to the website.

We don't think that Dodge really wants
people taking special test drives out of Belgian dealerships for the
purpose of steaming up the windows the old fashioned way (we can
imagine porters quitting en masse on June 13th if this were the case).
This particular assignment can probably be completed at home, too. To
help encourage people to take action, however, all Journey floor models
will have those "Baby Made on Board" signs in their windows. If you're
in Belgium, are planning a family, and are in the market for a new car,
you might want to (ahem) get to work on or around June 14. Maybe
earlier. After all, a little practice never hurts. Thanks for the tip, Thijs!