Car Throttle

I'm almost done with the Los Angeles car spotting articles.  In these last two sections, we'll be looking at two dealers in Hollywood to give you a taste of the good life.  Going down Santa Monica Blvd in West Hollywood, in search of an In-N-Out Burger (which I can report is just as good as everyone says it is!), I saw this Rolls Royce Corniche convertible parked curbside.  Hmm... And a jet-black Bentley Turbo R behind it.  If there's a better name for a Bentley out there than Turbo R, I'm not aware of it.  I got out of the car and wandered up the sidewalk into the front lot of Charles Agapiou Ltd Bentley/Rolls Servicing and Sales.  A dealer and shop that specializes in

I gotta say, I'm getting pretty sick of it. By "it" I mean the constant stream of newly released tasty hot hatches that will never see the light of day in the US.  I can dream, though, right?  There's liable to be a few such debuts at the Frankfurt show, and we've already covered one - the luscious Fiat 500 Abarth 695 Tributo Ferrari.  It's also likely we'll see an RS version of Audi's attractive A3 hatch, packing my personal favorite current production engine - the TT RS's 5-cylinder DI Turbo motor.  And you can add Alfa Romeo to the list of manufacturers I hate, because they're debuting an especially tasty version of the adorable little MiTo hatchback. Called the Quadrifoglio Verde, it sits above

*Sighs* Thanks, economy! Looks like the production Alfa Romeo MiTo GTA that debuted in concept form at the Geneva Auto Show has been put on ice. To me, Alfa Romeo is all about high performance. The MiTo is no doubt good looking but a dose of more sportiness would be much welcomed. I can see the positive press now, magazines fawning over the new MiTo GTA. But alas, according to Alfa Romeo it is not to be. The GTA model would have vaulted the MiTo to the top of the hot hatch class. Styling was to be much more aggressive, along with the suspension tightened and handling improved. Where the action really was though was under the hood. The GTA was to have a 1.6 liter 4-cylinder

Remember the GTA Supercar? Well it's been launched today at an event in Valencia, Spain. The name has been announced also; the new supercar is dubbed Spano. Let's take a look! Spano, the "The Spanish Supersportscar" according to GTA Motors. Nice? No doubt. As expected, it looks very similar to the renderings released by the company a under a month ago. The design is clean and modern, with a sweeping bodyline flowing to the rear engine area. The Spano doesn't look particularly groundbreaking, but then again, we should never have expected it to be. Honestly, it's a tough job designing a unique mid-engined vehicle without it being ugly. There is a certain set of factors; engine placement, need for aerodynamics, etc that all yield for a similar

Thanks, Alfa Romeo! They've released three teasers of their upcoming hot hatch, one which reveals nearly the entire vehicle. It should help further the MiTo in it's pursuit of BMW's ever popular Mini. There is the full image of the car released by the company. I'm surprised to see they'd reveal so much, and even more surprised at the overall pace of leaks and teaser releases by the various auto company's ahead of the Geneva Show. Anyhow, the MiTo GTA ups the sports ante considerably with an altered, more agressive stance, new wheels and flared fender arches. Suspension changes include high-tech coilover springs and McPherson struts up front. Alfa Romeo has always tried to link the MiTo with it's top end sports car the 8C Competizione, with various photoshoots and advertisements placing