Planarian17
With the first month of the year coming to an end, remind yourself of what’s been happening in the automotive world. From cars at the CES, the new Ford Bronco Raptor, the Ending of the Citroen C1. To Motorsport news like the LeMans Virtual, and Acura’s 1-2 finish in the Rolex 24H of Daytona. Please also note that the date may be off by +1/-1 day due to timezone differences.
4 January 2022
Sony Vision S-02 Concept Revealed at CES
The electric concept car done by Sony, After showing us the S-01 in 2019, they followed it up with a 7-Seater version, by this time they were at the testing phase of this car. They said it will produce 536 Horsepower with its dual motor setup (200kW x 2), and achieve a top speed in excess of 112mph. No range estimation was officially released. At this time it seems like Sony is serious about getting this car out on the market.
5 January 2022
The BMW iX M60 accelerates from a standstill to 100 km/h in only 3.8 seconds, electronically limited maximum speed of 250 km/h. The range of the BMW iX M60 determined in the WLTP test cycle is up to 566 kilometres. By far the most powerful electric BMW ever made, 619 horsepower, 1,015 NM of Torque.
13 January 2022
Bugatti Bolide and Chiron Sold out, possibly the end of the W16 quad turbo hypercars.
All 500 Buggati Chirons, 40 Bolides, 10 Centodieci, 40 Divos, and the one-off La Voiture Noire have all been sold out. 150 Bugattis are to be built from now on. Bugatti plans to build and deliver 80 cars in 2022.
14 January 2022
GRMN Yaris and GT-3 GR Concept revealed.
At the 2022 Toyota Auto Salon, Toyota unveiled the anticipated “GRMN Yaris”, this includes the standard GRMN Yaris, the GRMN Yaris “track package”, the GRM Yaris “Rally Package”. Added features over the Basic “GR Yaris” includes but not limited to: RECARO full bucket seats, BBS GRMN dedicated 18-inch wheels, “motorsport adapted gearbox”, Usage of CFRP Carbon for hood, roof and rear spoiler. Also removed the rear seats and added reinforcement. The car is limited to 500 units, and is only available in Japan, ordering it isn’t easy either, as you have to enter a web-lottery to get a build slot.
15 January 2022
Start of the 2022 LeMans Virtual.
The 2nd installation of the LeMans Virtual Series is here, this event is organized by Motorsport Games in partnership with Automobile Club de l’Ouest. A race control will be held in Studio Gabriel in Paris, with WEC Race Director Eduardo Freitas at the captain seat. The event is bigger than ever, with the 200 drivers competing, with notable figures such as: Max Verstappen(F1), Jarno Opmeer(F1 Esports), Jimmy Broadbent(Youtuber/Britcar), Victor Martins (F3), James Baldwin (GT3), Juan Pablo Montoya (ex F1), And many more talented Esports and real life racing drivers.
18 JANUARY 2022
BMW announces end of V12 engines on road cars.
BMW announces they will be building the last V12 engine to be fitted on a road going model in June 2022. To give this a send off, BMW has announced that they will be producing a limited series of 12 vehicles for customers in the US. Based on the BMW M760i xDrive, these will be 12 of the last V12 BMW vehicles.
20 JANUARY 2022
Acura NSX Type-S goes into production.
Acura’s send off to the 2nd generation NSX results in the NSX Type-S which was unveiled in 2021. Production started today, the car is to be built in the Performance Manufacturing Center, Ohio. The cars are limited to 350 units.
20 JANUARY 2022
4 Year wait-List for Toyota Land Cruiser 300.
Toyota Japan Website confirms today and apologizes for expected “delivery time for ordering from now on may be about 4 years” At their Toyota Japan website.
21 JANUARY 2022
Cadillac Escalade V series unveiled.
Cadillac Escalade will get the “V treatment” in 2022, the car was unveiled today but full release expected in spring of 2022.
24 JANUARY 2022
Unveiling of the Ford Bronco Raptor.
Ford Bronco Raptor unveiled. There are no official figures as of now. The full unveiling is set to be done later in the spring of 2022. It is expected to have around 400 horsepower from a 3.0 Turbo EcoBoost V6, the same engine found in the Ford explorer ST.
24 JANUARY 2022
Corvette celebrates 70 years anniversary with special 70th anniversary edition.
Full production of the Corvette Z06 expected to start in the summer 2022 for the 2023 model. The first-ever retail production mid-engine Corvette Z06 will be a 70th Anniversary Edition. VIN 001 of this special edition Corvette Z06 was auctioned at Barrett-Jackson Scottsdale on Jan. 29, 2022, with proceeds benefiting Operation Homefront.
25 JANUARY 2022
The Lamborghini Countach LP800-4 takes to the road for the first time.
After being unveiled August of last year, today the Lamborghini Countach LP800 took on the road for the first time near and around the Sant’Agata Bolognese Lamborghini Factory. Also on this special occasion is the original LP400 Countach, and the last 25th Countach anniversary ever produced. The car might look a bit like its grandfather, but this car is also packed with modern technology, as it is equipped with a 34hp electric motor. The car will only be produced for a total of 112 units, all of which have already found a buyer,even before the unveiling. Delivery is expected to start from the first quarter of 2022.
27 JANUARY 2022
Citroen C1 Discontinued after 17 years of productions and 1.2 million units.
The Citroen C1 has been in production since 2005, and on this day Citroen marks the end of the city car as the last production model rolls of the factory at the plant in Kolin, Czech Republic. They have sold 1.2 million units in total.
27 JANUARY 2022
BMW M Celebrates 50th Anniversary.
“The most powerful letter in the world” Is celebrating a special day and week, as it has been 50 years since its founding in 1972. They are celebrating this by doing a parade before the 24 Hour of Daytona, which coincidentally, is the BMW M4 GT3’s IMSA race debut. The race will also be the last race weekend where Mike Krack is overseeing as the head of BMW M Motorsports before taking the position as Aston Martin F1’s Team Principal. ///M
27 JANUARY 2022
Volkswagen ID.5 Begins Production.
After spending 1.2 Billion euros, Volkswagen has successfully transformed the Zwickau site into an electric vehicle production plant, VW group has announced that they will be starting the production of the VW ID.5, and the ID.5 GTX. This plant will later be shared with 2 other brands, Audi and Cupra. The models that are going to be rolling out from this factory are:
ID.3, ID.4,ID.5 From Volkswagen,
Q4 e-tron, Q4 Sportback e-tron from Audi,
And the CUPRA Born, these cars all share the same platform.
27 JANUARY 2022
Ford Builds 40 Millionth (40.000.000) F series pickup truck.
75 years ago, in 1947. The Ford F-1, F-2, F-3 and F-4 went on sale, and it’s been going on ever since. The company has announced that the 40 millionth car has rolled out of its factory at the Dearborn Truck Plant in Michigan. This particular car is a 2022 year model F-150 Tremor in a silver paint scheme.
28 JANUARY 2022
The closing of DriveTribe
The popular automotive enthusiast’s platform created by the legendary trio, Clarkson, Hammond and May has come to an end today, after the announcement earlier this month. DriveTribe died at around five o’clock this evening CET.
28 January 2022
The Gordon Murray T.33 Is unveiled.
After the GM T.50 was revealed last year, the ‘sister’ car was announced today. The T.33, with it being targeted to be a more “Humanizing” car to drive, apparent in the conventional right or left hand drive seating position instead of the T.50’s central driving position, and the addition of a Paddle Shift option, not just a 6 speed manual. The engine is still the V12 Cosworth unit producing 615 horsepower, slightly less than the bigger brother T.50. The T.33 is also heavier at 1,090 kg instead of the T.50’s astonishing 980kg. It is expected to have half of the downforce of the T.50, but it will cost a whopping 1.8 Million dollars.
29 JANUARY 2022
2022 Daytona 24H Start.
The 60th running of the 24H of Daytona is here, and it’s bigger than ever with an 8 year high in terms of car entries. With the likes of Sebastian Bourdais, Kevin Magnussen, Marcus Ericsson, Tom Blonmqvist, Kamui Kobayashi, Alex Lynn, Louis Deletraz, Nico Mueller, Phil Hanson, Giedo van der Garde, Patricio O’Ward, Colton Herta, Ben Keating, and Jimmie Johnson just to name a few, to see full list click here.
31 JANUARY 2022
Alpine unveils 2 new models of the A 110.
Since it’s unveiling in 2017, the A110 has been in many car enthusiasts’ hearts. And today, Alpine had announced 2 new versions, the A110 GT and the A110 S, with the latter being its top of the line model. The most notable change is the 300 HP engine, that’s almost a 50HP increase than the original. Also, the new A110 S is the first A110 to be fitted with a factory spoiler. Prices of the A110 S starts around 71 500 €.
JANUARY 31 2022
Acura achieves 1-2 Finish at the 24H of Daytona.
The Meyer Shank Racing Acura ARX-05 finished first at the flag on the Dpi class. This marks Acura’s second consecutive win on the Rolex 24 Hour. The car was driven by Tom Blomqvist, Helio Castroneves, Oliver Jarvis and Simon Pagenaud. The second DPi Acura was the Wayne Taylor Racing ARX-05. They both completed a total of 761 laps.
Notes:
The Z06 later fetched 3.6m USD at the auction.
BMW M4 GT3’s maiden IMSA debut ended quite anti climatically, as the 2 cars of RLL racing finished 7th and 9th in the GTD-PRO class as they suffered underbody issues during the first hours of the race. But that isn’t too bad as it’s their first race, and it’s still a good thing that both car finished.
That’s it everyone, i hope i’m able to cover most of the important news and definetly tell me if i have missed any. But i’ve skipped on some like the iX Flow because frankly if i put every single useless car concept, i would have sleepless nights. I will continue this series until the end of the year and i hope you guys welcome it. Thanks for your time everyone, my name is David and goodbye for now!
Writer: David Ivan, https://www.instagram.com/davide.171/
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