German investment banker and millionaire, Stephen Korbach has started a new Gemballa racing team, which will be competing in the 2012 motor sport season with two McLaren MP4-12C GT3s. Korbach has asked Sascha Bert to act as team manager for the motor sport involvement.

“Sascha Bert is an absolute pro and is ideally qualified to manage our new racing team, said Korbach.  ”We deliberately went for the McClaren MP4-12C GT3 for our motor sport commitment, because we think the car has enormous potential to be among the season’s leaders. Together with a renowned deployment team that’s already won everything in sight and exceptional drivers, we obviously want to drive to win. Racing is in our blood.”

The Gemball MP4-12C features the M838T twin turbocharged 3.8-liter McLaren V8. Power has been detuned to 500-hp and limited to 7,500 rpm. The powertrain is mated to a six-speed sequential gearbox equipped with steering wheel mounted paddles.

[Source: GT Spirit]

Volkswagen is set to unveil a single seat electric car at a special event in Berlin next month, as the company explores the future of mobility and personal transportation.

A VW spokesman confirmed that the vehicle would be shown at an event in Berlin on September 8th. VW said that the new car would surpass the previous XL1 concept unveiled in January. Volkswagen is hoping for battery-powered cars to make up 3 percent of sales by 2018.

[Source: Automotive News]

General Motors has confirmed production of the Cadillac ELR coupe. The American automaker has yet to announce pricing for the coupe, but an unidentified course close to the project revealed the Cadillac ELR’s price will be lower than the $57,400 Tesla Model S. It is expected that the ELR will be priced somewhere around $49,900 with options adding up to $8,000 to that base price. Other sources have predicted that the plug-in ELR will cost somewhere in the mid-$50,000 range.

GALLERY: Cadillac ELR

[Source: GM Inside News]

There’s no question that it’s one of the most celebrated cars in the world and certainly one of the most imitated. However, surprising as it may seem, there’s never been a Shelby Cobra exclusive event.

That’ll change in 2012, when examples from all over the world will gather in Monterey as the featured marque at the Rolex Monterey Motorsports Reunion taking place at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca on August 17-19, the announcement was made after the closing ceremonies during this year’s Pebble Beach Weekend.

2012 will mark the 39th year of historic racing at Laguna Seca and ties in nicely with the Cobra’s racing heyday – the cars originally debuted in 1962, powered by Ford small-block and later on, big-block V-8s. They proved a force to be reckoned with in sports car racing during the mid-1960s and in 1965, took the FIA World Sports Car Championship title in Division III (cars with engines of more than 2000cc)  having narrowly being beaten by Ferrari the previous year.

[Source: Autoweek]

It’s quite surprising how the perceived value of an object skyrockets strictly based on its previous owner. This classic 1970 Porsche 911S with 112,000 miles on the odometer sold on Friday night in Monterey for $1.2 million thanks to the fact that it used to belong to Steve McQueen and was used in the opening scenes of LeMans. It is also the 200th vehicle RM has auctioned off for over $1 million.

Bidding for the classic Porsche started at $200,000 and made it to $1 million almost instantly before it started to become a battle between the subsequent buyer and a determined overseas bidder. The only thing we know about the winning bidder is that they are from the United States so hopefully the Porsche remains a classic display vehicle somewhere here in someone’s collection and makes a return to Monterey one year to show off to the world.

GALLERY: Steve McQueen’s 1970 Porsche 911S

[Source: Autoblog]

Kia has formally announced pricing on their 2012 Soul, setting the Scion xB and Nissan Cube competitor’s MSRP just slightly under $14,000. The Soul A/T will start at $15,700 while the highest trim model, the Soul! will start at under $20,000.

The Soul! will come packed with features including exclusive projector headlamps with front LED accents while the rear gets LED taillights. All four corners will sport 18-inch wheels while the interior will feature Kia’s UVO powered by Microsoft voice-activated infotainment system.

Powering the Soul for 2012 is a 2.0L with 164-hp or a 1.6L with 138-hp. The 1.6L delivers a class-leading 35-mpg on the highway and now features Kia’s idle Stop and Go technology. On the outside, the 2012 Soul model also gets a slight refresh in the aesthetics department with subtle changes to the front and rear bumpers along with new lighting, side mirrors and wheels.

GALLERY: 2012 Kia Soul

Ford and Toyota shocked the automotive world with the announcement that the two companies will join forces to create a new hybrid system for light trucks and SUVs.

The companies signed a memorandum of understanding, and will do further research and studies regarding the project. The new system is said to be rear-drive based, and uses different technology than both Ford and Toyota’s current hybrid systems.

Derrick Kuzak, Ford’s head of global product development, stated that the two companies would not be sharing platforms, but rather sharing costs developing hybrid and telematics systems, which would be implemented into brand-specific vehicles. Takeshi Uchiyamada, Executive Vice President of Toyota, also stressed the importance of developing new telematics technology, though Ford’s own SYNC system, developed with Microsoft, has been criticized for being too complex and unreliable.

Set to launch in December in the European market, Volkswagen‘s up! looks to be the next great small car in the segment, especially since it’s the first with City Emergency Braking. The up! features a 1.0L three-cylinder gasoline engine with BlueMotion Technology and a Stop/Start system, allowing the powerplants to get 56-mpg from its 59-hp variant and 55-mpg from its 74-hp version. There is also a natural gas engine version with 67-hp and gets a combined fuel consumption of 73-mpg. Volkswagen also announced that they’re considering an electric up! for 2013.

The City Emergency Braking feature uses a laser sensor to detect the risk of an imminent collision and initiating automatic brake interventions. The up! is the only vehicle in the segment to offer this technology, which becomes active automatically anytime the vehicle is going slower than 18-mph.

Much like other vehicles in the class, the up! has ample interior and cargo room despite looking so small from the outside. The unique design is further played on with the option of up! boxes such as the “kid box”, “city box” or “travel box” – each have their own functionality. The “kid box” for example was designed for parents and children and includes a bag for the small items essential to small children and a lunch box for snacks.

For the first time in a VW, the up! will also feature a maps + more system, essentially a mobile Portable Information Device. It works with the Navigation in order to provide navigation to up! drivers and simple puts all of the infotainment into one central location.

Three trim levels will be made available to the European market this December with the basic Take Up!, the mid-level Move Up! and the top-spec High Up!. These three are joined by the Up! Black and Up! White launch models. No pricing was announced for any of the up! models.

GALLERY: 2012 Volkswagen Up!