James Bond Movie Cars

If you're an automotive fan that also happens to like the James Bond films, then you're in for a treat.

In celebration of the 50th anniversary of the 007 franchise, the National Motor Museum in cooperation with Beaulieu and EON Productions (the latter co-owns, with MGM, the copyright to the James Bond films), will hold the largest exhibition of James Bond vehicles ever displayed to the public.

The exhibition will run at the National Motor Museum, which is located in Brockenhurst, UK, from January to December 2012.

There will be 50 vehicles on display including the 2008 Aston Martin DBS from Quantum of Solace, the 2002 Jaguar XKR with SFX weapons from Die Another Day, the 1964 Aston Martin DB5 from Goldeneye and the 1937 Phantom lll Rolls-Royce from Goldfinger.

Beaulieu’s Commercial Director, Stephen Munn commented: “Following the success of the first Bond cars exhibition staged at Beaulieu in 2001, we are delighted to be working with EON again on this new display, bringing together the world’s largest collection of Bond vehicles.”

Richard Hammond Blows up a Hummer

The 17th season of Top Gear recently ended with the airing of the sixth and last episode on August 2. For those of you in the States that happened to miss some or all of the episodes, we have good news as BBC America has begun releasing preview clips from the 17th season.

In the first release, we get a two-minute-long video from episode 1 with Richard Hammond trying out the Marauder, which is a South African-built armored vehicle.

During the test, Hammond compares the Marauder with the Hummer to see which one can withstand a blast from seven pounds of plastic explosives. Hit the break to watch the video.

Mercedes-Benz CLC Small Shooting Brake Model

We're still more than a year away from the presentation of Mercedes-Benz's CLC small sports sedan which will likely compete against the future A3 Sedan, yet Daimler’s boss Dieter Zetsche is said to have already given the green light for a shooting brake version.

And if you ‘re wondering what's a shooting brake model, think of it this way: it is to the station wagon what the four-door coupe is to a regular sedan. In other words, a far more stylish but much less practical five-door model with a heavily raked rear hatch.

Being that the Stuttgart company has already officially confirmed a shooting brake derivative of the new CLS, which it previewed in April with the concept you see in these photos and that was displayed at the China Auto Show, Zetsche's decision to build a similar version of its “baby CLS” sounds reasonable.

Its styling will be a fusion of the CLC and the CLS shooting brake, with the emphasis given on the desugn rather than practicality and outright loading capacity.

Like its four-door sibling, it will likely be available with front or all-wheel drive and turbocharged direct injection engines.

The Mercedes-Benz CLC shooting brake is believed to go on sale in the US in 2014, a year after the four-door coupe version arrives in the market.

Ford Focus RS 2012

Earlier this month, Ford's global boss for small cars, Gunnar Herrmann, confirmed the development of a next generation Focus RS. The news motivated Carscoop reader Lil-k Amaru to create a computer generated version of the future hot hatch.

While Herrmann shared several juicy details, revealing for example that Ford is working on a highly tuned 2.0-liter turbo engine driving the front wheels, he didn't say if the Focus RS will be based on the 5-door hatch or the rumored three door version (keep in mind, it's not clear yet if the 3door Focus will be designed more on the coupe side like the Opel Astra GTC or more on the traditional side like the previous model).

Nevertheless, Lil-k Amaru opted for the second choice blending a whole lot from the body of the older RS with select styling elements from the newer generation of the Focus like the headlamps, tail lamps and the kink over the rear wheel arches.

Kia New Three-Door Picanto in Britain

For the first time since the Kia Picanto was introduced into the market in 2004, the Korean city car is available with a three-door body style.

Revealed alongside the second generation of the five-door model at the Geneva Salon this past March, the three-door Picanto will go on sale in the UK from the 1st of September with prices starting from £7,795 for the base 1.0 ‘1’ and rising to £12,295 for the 1.25 'Halo' with an automatic transmission.

Kia says it created the 3d Picanto because city car sales (referred to as the A-segment in Europe) are rising worldwide and are expected to grow to 2.4 million in 2014 and 3.3 million in 2015, and around a million of these will be three-door cars. In the UK, the split between body styles in the A-segment is 55:45 in favor of five-door models.

While identical in size with its 5d counterpart, the 3d Picanto features new front doors, bumpers, rear panels and glass aft of the A-pillar, along with a larger front grille that's available with silver or red trim surrounds, visible exhaust tail pipes and different alloy wheel designs.

There are four trim levels available for the 3d model, two of which, the "1" and "1 Air" are carried over from the 5d Picanto, and the Halo and Equinox that are new.

Standard features on all models include a trip computer, height-adjustable seat, a tilt-adjustable steering column, a RDS radio and CD player with MP3 compatibility, electronic stability control (ESC), anti-lock brakes (ABS), electronic brake-force distribution (EBD), and emergency brake assist system (BAS).

The Picanto 1 Air gets air conditioning, while the Halo and Equinox both benefit from USB and AUX ports, an iPod cable and steering wheel-mounted audio controls, alloy wheels, Bluetooth connectivity with voice recognition, automatic lights, LED front daytime running lights and LED rear lights.

In addition, the Halo version gets unique 14-inch alloys, heated front seats, heated steering wheel, reverse parking sensors, alloy pedals and a Supervision Cluster.

The Equinox spec features a premium red ‘Chilli’ upholstery with a contrasting high gloss black fascia and gearknob, 15-inch alloys, automatic air conditioning and a smart key with a start/stop button.

The Picanto 3d is offered with two gasoline engine choices, a 1.0-liter three-cylinder unit developing 68bhp and 95Nm of torque, and a 1.25-liter four-cylinder with 84bhp and 121Nm of torque, that delivers 60.1mpg UK with a manual gearbox, 53.3mpg UK with a 4-speed auto, and 65.7mpg UK when combined with a Start and Stop system.

VW Gets Serious About Producing Microbus Successor

VW management is “very seriously” considering a plan to put the Bulli concept MPV into production according to media reports. The Bulli was launched at the 2011 Geneva Motor Show as a study about a modern, eco-friendly replacement of the iconic Microbus of the ‘60s.

Initially there was no intention to produce the Bulli, but the public’s positive reaction to the concept study has made VW reconsider.

After all, along with models such as the Beetle, the microbus concept is part of VW’s heritage. And at a time when the competition is particularly fierce, the Wolfsburg-based carmaker is thinking about placing its rich heritage to good use.

If the Bulli project receives gets the green light, it will be built at VW’s Puebla plant in Mexico alongside the brand-new Beetle with which it will share its platform architecture. The choice of Puebla makes perfect sense, since the majority of Bulli’s production would be directed to the US market where the original Microbus was most popular.

The Bulli concept is a small, five-seat MPV measuring 3.99 m in length, 1.75 m in width and 1.70 m tall, with 2.62 m long wheelbase.

VW Group’s head of design, Walter da Silva, recently told Autocar magazine that the company is positive about producing the Bulli: “We don’t have space for another MPV, but as a designer I am convinced by this idea. This one would be desirable on a different level, combining practicality with heritage appeal”.

The study that VW presented in Geneva was a pure electric vehicle with a 40 Kw lithium-ion battery that can be charged in less than an hour at a charging station. The electric motor produces 85 Kw (114HP) and 270 Nm (199 lb-f) of torque. If deemed necessary, the Bulli can also incorporate a gasoline or diesel range extender internal combustion engine.

As a pure EV, its maximum range is 185 miles (300 km), it accelerates from 0-62 mph (0-100 km/h) in a brisk 11.5 seconds and reaches a top speed of 87 mph (140 km/h).

If it finally gets the go-ahead, it could go on sale as early as 2014.