This is GAZ-51, it was one of the most popular trucks during World War 2. Not much of them survived till nowadays, most of the survivors are rusting on some backyards or dumps. But guys from one Russian car design lab have got a dream of reviving one of those legendary WW2 heroes and making a stylish 300hp hotrod truck out of it.
If the car you see here looks somewhat familiar, it should. It appeared in concept form at last spring’s Beijing Motor Show as the Buick Invicta concept. At the 2009 Detroit Auto Show, the Invicta becomes the 2010 Buick LaCrosse. Like many recent examples, the Invicta was a less a concept than a very mildly disguised version of the upcoming production car. Just before the Christmas break, General Motors gave the media a preview of the new production LaCrosse in the design dome at the company’s tech center in Warren, MI.
GM North America VP for Buick-Pontiac-GMC Susan Docherty, global mid-size car vehicle line executive Jim Federico, and Buick brand character chief designer Dave Lyon provided a run-down for us on the new LaCrosse. The mid-size Buick is the first North American market application of the revised Epsilon II architecture that debuted last summer as the basis of the Euro-only Opel Insignia. Follow the jump and we’ll tell you all about it.
HANNAH Fraser has found a fin way to make a living – as a professional mermaid.
Hannah: I’m maid for this job
The 33-year-old puts on a tail to go to work after making her first costume out of a plastic tablecloth and two coat hangers. She can hold her breath for up to two minutes and qualified as a scuba diver while wearing her leg-binding fishy outfit.
Hannah – seen here testing a new aquarium in Sydney, Australia – said: “I feel the most free under water.”
Nikolay Fomenko, who was probably busy enough being a popular singer, television new anchor and theater actor, also found time to become an FIA N-GT champion. And if that wasn’t enough to keep this Russian renaissance man busy, he has just launched his country’s first sportscar company, Marussia. To top it off, it’s a hybrid, just to make things more difficult. Make the jump for all the details.
Fomenko says that he brought a lot of knowledge from his racing career to bear on the Marussia. We see elements of just about every supercar on the market in its appearance, but it manages to still look unique. While he envisions producing a pure electric car sometime down the road, the company’s first project is a hybrid.
The Marussia is slated to use a 240-hp, 3.5-liter six-cylinder engine, most likely from Renault or Nissan, but it’s unclear where the electric drive components will originate from. While much of the car’s parts are expected to be sourced from established companies, approximately 35% of the content will be Russian.
Adding a bit of sizzle to its speed, the Marussia will also have “a host of gadgets,” including a 4G Yota network with 10 Mbps data transfer rates at vehicle speeds of up to 120 km/h. Bluetooth, GPS and video screens all around, plus a 320 GB hard drive to round out the electronics.
The goal for the electric supercar is a 400km range, but Russian winters mean the batteries will need a boost. That’s where nanotechnology comes in. Fomenko thinks the solution might be in a “nanotech project made at one of Russia’s big construction bureaus.” The company foresees a 0-62 mph dash of around five seconds and a Tesla-like price tag of $100,000. Plans call for the first customer cars to be delivered next Fall, with race versions taking part in the 2010 edition of FIA GT championship. Fomenko is clearly nothing if not ambitious.
Over the weekend, went to Iraq and Afghanistan, presumably to tell everyone what a great guy he is. One Iraqi journalist disagreed, and threw his shoes at Mr. Bush. Freedom of speech is alive and well!
If you would like to throw a shoe at Mr. Bush, please do so in the comments. You must give a reason for throwing a shoe. In keeping with fairness, you may also remove a shoe from the pile, as long as you cite a good deed by Mr. Bush in doing so.
Amazing pictures with this Incident:
