Drive trailer gets our right foot all twitchy

Once in a while, in between the Fast and Furious movies, we pine for some real old-school car chases on film--whether they involve police, murderers or other race-car drivers. Le Mans comes to mind, along with Bullitt, or anything by John Frankenheimer. And if a car-centric movie wins a few indie awards, that's all the better.
Next month, a car-guy film called Drive is set to hit theaters, starring Ryan Gosling as the wheelman. It's the classic story--he's a stunt driver with some pro racing experience by day and an illegal wheelman at night.
Drive won at the Cannes Film Festival for best director and was nominated for the Palme d'Or, which is sort of a "best in show" award.
The first trailer gives a glimpse of the basic story of the movie and Gosling's character, before he shows off some fancy moves in a 5.0 Ford Mustang. He makes it clear that he doesn't participate in the dirty part of the job, only the getaway. There's also a part where he dons a lifelike mask for a movie role, which is sure to be foreshadowing.
The second trailer has the wheelman waiting in the getaway car for some thugs to finish their job. Once they're in, police swarm while Gosling's character tries to slip out of the net. The scene gets tense when the criminals creep in right behind the police before making an escape.
The movie heads to theaters on Sept. 16.

Ferrari future products: Replacements due for the 430 Spider, the 599 GTB Fiorano

Ferrari will replace two of its five core models, the 430 Spider and the 599 GTB Fiorano, in the next two years, while adding a sportier variant to its best-selling model, the 458 Italia.

Here is a look at Ferrari's future product plans:

458 Italia: U.S. shipments of Ferrari's best-selling model began in June last year. A freshening is planned in 2014. Ferrari is adding a sportier variant, the 458 Scuderia, in 2013.

458 Spider: At the Frankfurt show in September, Ferrari will debut the 458 Spider, which will replace the 430 Spider. The powertrain will be unchanged, while a retractable hard top will replace the canvas top offered on the 430. Sales in Europe begin in September. U.S. shipments follow in the first quarter of 2012.

California: A freshening for the Ferrari California is planned for 2013.

599 GTB Fiorano: In 2012 Ferrari will replace the 599 GTB Fiorano with a redesigned model still known by its code-name, F152. The new car will remain a two-seat coupe with rear drive and a direct-injection V12 longitudinal engine mounted in the front. The model will debut in March at the Geneva auto show, with European sales to begin in the summer and U.S. shipments by year end.

FF: The first all-wheel-drive Ferrari debuted in March at the Geneva show, went on sale in July in Europe and will arrive by year end in the States. Ferrari is building 800 units a year of the four-seat FF coupe; production is sold out until the end of 2012.

The FF, which stands for Ferrari Four, replaced the company's 612 Scaglietti flagship. The FF is marginally bigger and roomier but at 3,946 pounds weighs the same as the Scaglietti despite adding awd.

The FF is powered by a new 660-hp, 6.3-liter V12 direct-injection engine that takes the car to 208 mph.

Limited-edition car: The successor to the Enzo limited-edition supercar is set to go on sale in 2012. The all-carbon fiber model will be powered with a new, normally aspirated V-12 and will herald weight-reduction and fuel-saving technologies that Ferrari plans to adapt to its entire range by the end of decade.

It is unclear how many units Ferrari plans to build. The company built 399 units of the Enzo, launched in 2002, and 349 units of predecessor, the 1995 F50.

U.S. turns down airbag exemption for the Pagani Huayra

U.S. safety officials have shot down Italian supercar maker Pagani's request that the Huayra coupe be exempted from needing advanced airbags--a move that means Pagani can't legally sell the car in the States.

Safety rules require that all new cars sold in the United States be equipped with airbags that can automatically adjust deployment force based on the height and weight of the seat occupant. Sensors in the seat help tailor the airbag's force.

Tesla and Lamborghini are among brands that have been granted waivers based on financial hardship over the past five years. Lamborghini's exemption expired in February, and Tesla's is almost up.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration said earlier this year that it would stop giving such exemptions.

In February, Pagani said it hoped to sell five copies of the $1.1 million Huayra in the States this year. The company said it wouldn't sell cars in the United States until 2015 without a waiver. The denial of the petition would cost it $4.5 million in net income from 2011 to 2014, Pagani said

 

Alfa Romeo future products: 4C, Giulia lead return to U.S. market

Sergio Marchionne, CEO of Fiat and Chrysler Group, says Alfa Romeo will return to the United States in late 2012. But if he makes the deadline, just a few units of the 4C limited-edition coupe would be on sale.
Alfa's full return is now planned in mid-2013, about a half-year later than Marchionne's most recent timetable, with a compact crossover. A crucial mid-sized sedan, the Giulia, will follow, by the end of 2013 at the earliest.
Technically, Alfa is in the United States: It sold a few of limited-edition 8C models at Maserati dealerships.
Marchionne's original plan called for North America to account for 85,000 of Alfa's 500,000 sales by 2014. That target looks doubtful in part because of delays in the redesign of the Giulia sedan and delays to larger vehicles. Last year Alfa sold 112,000 vehicles globally.
Subcompact: The car originally was intended as a five-door variant of the Europe-only three-door MiTo (pronounced Me-To). It is now expected to be a new model, which could be imported to North America from Italy beginning in 2013.
4C: Marchionne calls it "the first Alfa Romeo car to re-enter the U.S. market." His wish is to respect the end-of-2012 deadline, but the first units could be shipped to U.S. dealers in early 2013.
The 4C is a "baby" 8C, with a carbon-fiber body and a 250-hp, turbocharged, 1.8-liter direct-injection gasoline inline four-cylinder engine driving the rear wheels.
Alfa plans a total production of about 5,000 units a year of the 4C two-seat coupe, whose target price is below 40,000 euros (about $57,000) in Europe. The 4C will go on sale in Europe at the end of 2012 under current plans.
Giulietta: Alfa's compact hatchback would come to North America when it's refreshed in 2013. The Giulietta, launched in Europe in July 2010, was the first vehicle on Fiat's new Compact platform. Chrysler, Dodge, Jeep and some Alfa models will use a longer, wider version of the platform, called CUSW, for Compact U.S. Wide.
Giulia: In the past 18 months, Marchionne first approved but then killed three styling proposals for the mid-sized Giulia sedan. The styling work is still far from a design freeze, thus the Giulia sedan would debut at the end of 2013 at the earliest. The wagon likely would come in 2014.
The Giulia sedan and wagon are set to be built in the United States and exported to Europe. They will replace the slow-selling 159 sedan and Sportwagon models, which Alfa discontinued at the end of May.
The two Giulias, which are based on the CUSW platform, will have transverse engines and front- or all-wheel drive.
Roadster: Alfa is still considering a two-seat roadster to go into production in 2013. The company has yet to choose a platform and factory for the car. One option is Chrysler's LX rear-drive platform, used for the Chrysler 300, and the Brampton, Ontario, assembly plant.
Compact crossover: At the end of 2012, Fiat will begin building a compact crossover for Alfa based on the CUSW platform at its Mirafiori plant in Turin. Shipments to the United States are expected to begin in the spring of 2013.

Mid-sized SUV: Fiat seems to have abandoned a plan to develop an Alfa sibling with the replacement for the Jeep Liberty. Also killed was an Alfa sibling of the Jeep Grand Cherokee large SUV.

Large sedan: Marchionne's most recent Alfa product plan calls for a large sedan that Chrysler could build in the United States using a stretched variant of the CUSW compact platform. The model could appear in 2014.

 

Video: Living room gets a Cobra makeover

Has someone been watching too many home-renovation TV shows? We're not sure how else to explain this YouTube video from Germany.

In it, the driver takes a Cobra or a Cobra replica that has found its way into an empty living room and proceeds to paint the wood floor with rubber in a nice circular pattern.

Why ? We don't know--but that's the Internet for you.