2008 Automotive Hall of Fame commemorative stone

Last night, eight new auto industry legends were inducted into the Automotive Hall of Fame during a ceremony in Detroit. Of the honorees, several were awarded posthumously, but all were recognized for the indelible impression they’ve made on the industry. The inductees included: William Metzger (September 30, 1868 - April 11, 1933) an American auto pioneer, who was honored for his significant contributions to early growth in the industry, including the establishment of the first independent auto dealer in the U.S. in 1887, John North Willys (1873-1935) owner and proprietor of Willys-Overland Motor Co, legendary for his part in engineering what is referred to today as the Jeep, Paul Galvin (1895-1959) co-founder of Galvin Manufacturing Corporation, presently known as Motorola - one of the largest communications developers in the world and one of NASCAR’s premium sponsors, and Robert Galvin, son of Paul Galvin, Robert assumed controlling authority of Motorola after his father’s death.

The other new inductees include Jack Telnack, former head of design for Ford Motor Company, most notable for his distinction as the lead designer of the Ford Taurus; Mort Schwartz, who founded the Global Automotive Aftermarket Symposium in 1996; Phil Hill (April 20, 1927 – August 28, 2008), the first American to win the Formula 1 World Drivers Championship, and Bob Irvin (1933-1980), reporter for Detroit News who eventually advanced to editor-at-large of Automotive News and associate publisher of Auto Week.

Caught by KGP Photography and offered as feast to our motor-hungry guys at AutoBlog, two Audi RS performance monsters were spotted laying it down on the Nurburgring in Germany. The tinier of the two, the Audi TT-RS, appears to be flaunting its production-ready form, sporting two massive front-mount intakes and chunkier fender flares. The sporty revision doesn’t stop with the bodywork either - when the TT-RS hits the market it will feature a twin-turbo 2.5L 5 cylinder engine expected to net between 350 and 390 horsepower.

Full TT-RS and RS5 gallery after the jump

Obviously, Chevy’s PR team was well aware that the Chevy Orlando is one of those “hit it with the lights off” kind of ride. Initial photos that were leaked last week of the Orlando at a pre-Paris rave definitely sparked some interest, and successfully managed to hide the Orlando’s Pontiac Aztek rear-end. Under the harsh glare of the Paris Auto Show lights, however, the Orlando’s frankly fugly rear bodywork is unable to escape public scrutiny.

Described as a “seven-seat multi-purpose vehicle with distinctive sport utility-like design,” the production Orlando will sit atop the Chevy Cruze platform and replace the HHR in Chevy’s current model lineup. Firmly intended for production in both Europe and the United States, Chevy is keeping the official dates for both quiet, at least for now.

In other news, Christian Lander pens a new item on his list, “Stuff White People Like #112: Cars with asses like most of their women - flat and unexciting.”

Full gallery after jump

Being a designer for Ferrari is second on my list of dream jobs, right below working as a Disney Imagineer, and slightly above writing for an automotive website. I’m not the only one though, it’s a popular dream, which is why you get thousands of random design or engineering students coming up with their own vision of the new Ferrari flagship every year. The internet is swimming with independent designs, and still, finding a really original one is difficult.

Israeli designer Amir Glinik has my attention though. His concept of a V4 motorcycle is based on the Ferrari Enzo, and I love it. It has beautiful vintage lines that capture the original Ferrari design nicely, and yet it’s almost 100% aluminum to keep weight down, and has a drive by wire computerized system.
Check out the pictures:

The rather un-BMW program intended to design and develop a new vehicle for city dwellers, Project i, is starting to take shape.  Project i is a decidely long-term committment by the German automaker to offer a wide range of options, including electric vehicles, over the next decade.  This follows on BMW’s announcement of deep cutbacks on V8 engine production in the coming months and years.

Toyota iQ rear-seat airbag

In response to safety concerns surrounding the increased risk of serious harm many rear seat passengers face in micro cars, Toyota has engineered a rear seat airbag for their new micro car, the Toyota iQ. Intended to prevent passenger injuries in the event of a rear-end collision, the rear airbag is similar in both design and function to side-impact airbags [which Volvo pioneered in 1995]. In the event of an accident, the roof-stored rear airbags deploy in a curtain-like barrier, providing an air-filled buffer between the head rests and the rear window. Together, the curtain and the headrest work in tandem to minimize the impact absorbed by rear occupants during a collision.

Forget about hydrogen or electric or any of the alternative energy vehicles that are so popular with the worldsavers. Screw solar, the sun is far away. There’s one resource that is constantly increasing and right here on Earth…human power. The GYM concept car uses just that.

The car is powered by an electric motor and battery pack, but the batteries are charged either through a handy plug-in socket, or more interestingly, by harnessing the energy created by the driver when parked and working out using the built-in exercise equipment. The GYM has a stepping machine, rowing machine, bench press, pull up simulator and arm weights. Hardcore.

Electrorheology is a pretty complicated looking word. It doesn’t even look like it’s spelled correctly, although it is. I checked. It’s equally difficult to define, even after I looked it up online. But I’ll attempt: Electrorheology is a phenomenon whereby particles of a liquid become more or less viscous upon the application of an electric field of very low current.

A Temple University physics professor has developed a simple device which could improve automotive fuel efficiency by 20 percent using electrorheology. The device creates an electric field that thins fuel, so that smaller droplets are injected into the engine. That leads to more efficient and cleaner combustion.

BMW X1 Spy Shot [Source: Motorbang.com]

Looking to generate some hype for the BMW Concept X1 that’s scheduled to premiere at the 2008 Paris Auto Show next week, BMW-web.tv uploaded video footage giving us a sneak peak of the new BMW Concept X1 that is strangely reminiscent of those 90’s-era slightly instructional videos I used to sit through in French class that always fell just short of identifying with the American teenage demographic.

At any rate, according to BMWblog, the BMW X1 will be available with either a rear- or front-wheel drivetrain, and its optional 4 or 6 cylinder engine offerings will be equipped to run on either diesel or standard fuel. Slated to make its first debut in the European market, the X1 is expected to be placed and priced somewhere between the BMW 3 Series Wagon and the BMW X3 - no word yet on how that would translate for a North American introduction.

Video after the jump

Nissan engineers have built a micro-robotic car with an advanced collision-avoidance system that draws inspiration from the way a bee flies. It’s called the BR23C (Biomimetic car robot drive) system, and it was developed as part of Nissan’s safety project. The projects goal is to cut in half the number of fatalities or serious injuries in Nissan vehicles between 1995 and 2015.

Bees can fly as full speed and never collide with other objects, unless they are human controlled objects specifically aiming for the bee. Bees actually use their compound eyes to maintain a 300-degree view over their surroundings. That view allows them to make adjustments to their flight path anytime a obstacle is detected.