HomeMediaAlvis completes first Graber continuation coupe

Alvis completes first Graber continuation coupe

Our occasional roundup of new car (and motorcycle) launches and news

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The reborn British car company Alvis reports the completion of its first continuation car, a Graber Super Coupe, which will travel from the Alvis assembly facility in Kenilworth to Japan, where distributor Meiji Sangyo has ordered five examples for customers.

The coupe has been constructed around a NOS (new old stock) engine block and chassis, “carefully stored since the original factory closed in 1967,” Alvis reported in its announcement.

The engine, now with fuel injection and 172 horsepower and 209 pound-feet of torque, is a 3.0-liter inline-6 that Alvis said will propel the car to 60 mph in 8.9 seconds. 

The aluminum-bodied car’s construction took two years, the delay caused by the coronavirus pandemic, Alvis said.

Alvis completes first Graber continuation coupe car

Alvis plans to offer six models in its continuation series, each “built to a bespoke specification with options such as air conditioning and all comply with regulations to be driven on the road. All six have been developed from original drawings and feature an in-house designed and manufactured six-inline 3.0-liter or 4.3-liter engine. 

“This car draws on the new old stocks of chassis and engine blocks, carefully stored by Alvis since the Coventry factory closed in 1967.”

Next up for Alvis will be completion of the Graber Cabriolet.

Alvis said prices for its continuation cars start at £295,000 ($404,315), though the Super coupe has an MSRP of £323,000 ($442,690).

Rolls-Royce teases electric-powered Spectre

Rolls-Royce car
Car is hidden by words used as camouflage

Rolls-Royce has announced that its first all-electric vehicle will be badged the Spectre and it will come to market in the fourth quarter of 2023, with on-road development testing being “imminent,”

The British luxury automaker also teased the car using words as camouflage. 

Rolls chief executive Torsten Müller-Ötvös said the announcement makes “the most significant day in the history of Rolls-Royce Motor Cars since 4th May, 1904. On that date, our founding fathers, Charles Rolls and Sir Henry Royce, first met and agreed that they were going to create the best motor car in the world.”

He added that Royce was fascinated by “all things electrified” back at the turn of the previous century, but that it was Rolls who had prophesied in 1900 about the future of electric vehicles. 

“The electric car is perfectly noiseless and clean,” Rolls said. “There is no smell or vibration, and they should become very useful when fixed charging stations can be arranged. But for now, I do not anticipate that they will be very serviceable — at least for many years to come.”

More than a century later, Rolls-Royce announced that its entire vehicle fleet will be electric-powered by 2030.

Maybach celebrates its centennial

Maybach car
Mercedes-Maybach GLS 600 4MATIC ‘Edition 100’
C-pillar detail on the sedan

As the Maybach brand celebrates its 100th anniversary, Mercedes-Maybach has unveiled the “Edition 100,” special versions of the S-Class and GLS models. Only 100 of each will be produced, the automaker said.

Born in 1846, Wilhelm Maybach worked with Gottlieb Daimler to develope the first Mercedes, which won at the Nice Race Week in 1901. Maybach and his son, Karl, are credited with saying,“What is good must also be beautiful,” as they established Maybach Motorenbau GmbH, displaying their first car, the W3, at the Berlin show in 1921.

In addition to its design, the car was the first German production car with 4-wheel brakes, epicyclic gears and an interior comprising “the finest materials.” Motor magazine reported “a new star in the automotive firmament is beginning to shine.”

Maybach’s luxury cars were owned by kings, industrialists and artists. After Karl Maybach’s death, Daimler-Benz AG inherited the Maybach brand.

Hennessey boosts VelociRaptor to 600 horsepower

Hennessey boosts VelociRaptor to 600 horsepower - car

Hennessey Performance Engineering has pumped up its version of the Ford Raptor in the form of the VelociRaptor 600, with 600 twin-turbocharged horsepower and 622-pound-feet of torque. The horsepower figure represents a 150 boost over the standard F-150 Raptor.

Hennessey says its truck will sprint to 60 mph in 4.2 seconds and can turn 12.9 in the quarter-mile drag race. It adds that its changes are covered by a 3-year/36,000-mile warranty.

The VelociRaptor 600 package costs $19,950 and includes installation, graphics, dyno and road testing.

Genesis shows electric GV60

Genesis shows electric GV60 car

Genesis, the luxury division of Hyundai, has revealed its GV60, its first electric car, which has a battery that the automaker says can be charged from 10 percent to 80 percent in 18 minutes.

“The GV60 is our first dedicated electric car with the most dynamic design, representing Genesis’ electrification,” said Jay Chang, global head of the brand. “It will set a new standard for luxury electric cars with a powerful driving performance and key features which are emotionally connected to customers.”

The car comes with technologies include Face Connect, which recognizes the car’s driver and unlocks the doors when the driver touches the door handle and shows his or her face to the camera in the B-pillar. 

Ducati launches Multistrada V2

Ducati launches Multistrada V2

Italian motorcycle manufacturer Ducati has unveiled the Multistrada V2, which it calls “the perfect bike to experience the beauty of traveling every day.” Ducati calls the motorcycle the “360-degree bike, increasingly intuitive, comfortable, fun and accessible.”

In addition to the version powered by a 113-horsepower 937cc Testastretta 11 V2 engine, Ducati offers another with a 35 kW electric powerplant.

Your car as an Amazon delivery depot?

car
Delivery drivers get access to place packages in vehicles

Ford has launched a program in selected areas of the UK that allows parcels ordered from an online shopping site to be delivered to and placed inside a vehicle. 

The Secure Delivery to Vehicle pilot program allows drivers for Hermes UK to place packages inside vehicles equipped with FordPass technology at the customer’s home. It saves the drivers time and puts packages in a secure and dry place.  Customers are notified by an app of the package’s arrival, and the FordPass automatically locks the vehicle should the delivery driver forget.

If all goes well, the program will expand to deliver to vehicles parked at a customer’s place of employment.

Larry Edsall
Larry Edsall
A former daily newspaper sports editor, Larry Edsall spent a dozen years as an editor at AutoWeek magazine before making the transition to writing for the web and becoming the author of more than 15 automotive books. In addition to being founding editor at ClassicCars.com, Larry has written for The New York Times and The Detroit News and was an adjunct honors professor at the Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication at Arizona State University.

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