Foose-Made Alfa Romeo Carabo Replica Found on eBay

Originally made for Alfa Romeo by Bertone, the (real) Carabo was built atop a chassis donated by Alfa's 33 Stradale. Packing a 230-horsepower V8, it debuted at the 1968 Paris Motor Show. But this isn't it.

Don't worry, this isn't some tacky, Fiero-based kit car, either. The guy behind this replica wanted to purchase the original from Bertone (so the ad says) but the design firm wasn't willing to part with the masterpiece, so he decided to say to hell with that and have his own built...by Sam Foose. For those who just got out of bed, that would be Chip Foose's father.

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Racer X Design Transforms Ultima GTR to RZ Ultima

You may or may not have heard of the Ultima GTR, but in a nutshell, it's one of the wackiest supercars around famously holding the Guinness world record for sprinting from zero to 100mph (160km/h) and back to zero again.

Fitted with a 720bhp Chevrolet V8 engine, the 990 kg British-built GTR720 completed the 0-100mph-0 acceleration and braking run in a mere 9.4 seconds.

Fast as it may be, the Ultima GTR is no beauty - at least not in a Ferrari kind-of-way. That's where 'Racer X Design' steps in. The Malta-based company, which some might remember from cars like the Alfa Romeo GTV Evoluzione and the KC427 Cobra, has presented a new design proposal for the Ultima GTR.

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Xenatec Shows Off its "Dream Cars": Bentley SUV, BMW 6-Series Sedan and More

Now that their limited production Maybach 57S Coupe (see here) has made the rounds, here are some of the other proposals from Xenatec. Since the company's specialty is chassis modification (and the necessary body work thereafter), they've got some ideas for a lengthened (and shortened) "dream cars".

Have a look at the gallery below and see what tickles your fancy. The SUV limos are a bit much, but the rag-top conversions don't look too bad (especially the CLS and 300).

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Porsche TranSport Pickup Truck Designed for Jewel Smuggling

Nouphone J. Bansasine, the designer who envisioned the Volvo SC90 4-door coupe, is clearly no purist when it comes to nameplates. How else could you explain his Porsche TranSport design?

The TranSport would fill a huge (and nonexistent) gap in the Porsche lineup for people who move "500 pounds of gold", diamonds, rubies and emeralds on a regular basis.

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Pininfarina Shows All-Electric Nido Mini

Marking the celebrations of the its 80th anniversary, Pininfarina unveiled a new all-electric mini-car prototype called the Nido EV. It is an evolution of the original Nido concept that Pininfarina showed in 2004.

According to the Italian design house, the Nido EV is a "veritable laboratory designed both to explore the electrification of a small city car and to develop a modular floorpan."

The 2,905mm-long two seater prototype uses a tubular steel frame, but the final version will have a lighter aluminium space frame. Pininfarina claims that the structure was designed to be able spawn up to four different, completely electric or hybrid vehicles including two-seater, 2+2, pickup and van models.

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2015 Volvo SC90 Sports Sedan Concept is Hot

Technically sanctioned by Volvo, the S90 was thought up by Nouphone J. Bansasine while studying at the Volvo Monitoring and Concept Center.

With a more aggressive nose and its fastback roof line, the slippery 4-door coupe would be a very welcome successor to the oh-so-bland S80. Something like the S90 could help Volvo reinvent itself as truly stylish, mid-range luxury in order to tackle the world.

With the new S60 sedan already poised to fight the 3-Series, a car providing CLS looks at an E-Class price is definitely going to be necessary for Volvo to keep its momentum going.

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Official Lancia Coupe and Ypsilon Designs from Centro Stile

Here are some conceptual drawings of Lancia models including a couple of unnamed coupes and proposals for a five-door replacement for the Ypsilon supermini found on the Italian automakers' official website.

The various drawings, which are posted alongside photos of older concepts that we've already seen at major car shows like the Fulvia Coupe and Granturismo Stilnovo, are projects designed in-house at the Fiat Group's Centro Stile. You can check them out in our gallery after the jump.

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Audi A9 Hybrid Sports Sedan Concept by Daniel Garcia

This is the A9 sports sedan study, a look at BMW's Vision concept through Audi's eyes (unofficially of course) that was created by independent designer Daniel Garcia from Spain.

Just as BMW tried to invent a new market with its 5-Series GT, the Audi A9 would aim to be in a league of its own: over-styled (in a good way) über-luxury hybrid sports saloons. A technologically-advanced Panamera killer.

Garcia says some of the lines were inspired by architect Santiago Calatrava's buildings in Valencia. As for that opaque front wind-ceiling, it's made of "as-yet undiscovered nanotechnology material" that can fix itself and be color/tint adjusted.

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Mercedes-Benz Hexawheel Concept Study

The Mercedes Hexawheel concept asks an interesting question: what if Mercedes (or Smart) tackled mini-off-roading?

Thought up by Siyamak Rouhi Dehkordi, a 35-year-old Mechanical Engineer from Iran, it features an insect-inspired all-wheel-drive platform integrating hydraulic pistons into the frame to help control the car's two halves.

A diesel engine would put power through a "flexible hydraulic power transmission system" to all six wheels.

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New Opel Calibra Coupe Rumored for 2013, Buick Version Could Follow

Ever since Opel lifted the covers off the stylish GTC Concept back in 2007, there have been rumors flying throughout the internet and the media about a production version of the study that would essentially replace the Vectra-based Calibra of the 1990s.

And while many (yours truly included) may support that an Astra-based sports coupe sounds like a more reasonable and lucrative proposal for Opel, Car Magazine has returned with an update on the Calibra II / GTC Concept story.

The report claims that the four-seater coupe is still under consideration but if it gets the final okay, it could go on sale as early as 2013, which sounds plausible given that the car would be more or less a two-door version of the Opel Insignia (sold in the U.S. as the 2011 Buick Regal).

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New Alfa Romeo Spider Design Study

Here are the names of the three designers behind this Alfa Romeo Spider: Alberto Gaiani, Massimo Paparella and Michela Zedda. They're from the Politecnico di Milano University, and this is the result of a project in conjunction with Alfa.

If ever built, this Spider would likely have an FR layout, a power cloth top, and retain the trademark Alfa nose. From these shots, it looks like a Pontiac Solstice / Saturn Sky from Alfa, a higher-luxury would-be Miata hunter.

Samuel Codegoni, a teacher at the university, explains the design like this: "One of the main ideas that drove this project was to express a sense of tension in action. This decidedly moves away from the first production model takes as a reference: the iconic Duetto of the 1960's - the second reference was the Alfa Spider from the '90s, with its typical wedge-shaped profile."

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Wörthersee 2010: Skoda Fabia RS+ and Octavia RS+ in the Flesh

Skoda used the GTI event at the Austrian lake Wörthersee over 12 – 15 May to display customized versions of its Fabia RS and Octavia RS models along with two Fabia Super 2000 race cars.

The fans' attention was of course focused on the tuned Fabia RS+ & Octavia RS+ vehicles that were used to present special optical packets and color adaptations based on self-adhesive foils.

Inspired by the Fabia S2000 rally car, the Fabia RS+ features a two-tone gray and lime paint theme with matching alloy wheels and a spoiler kit that includes front spoiler, side skirts and a rear diffuser.

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Design Proposal for Next Generation VW Beetle

Independent designer David Cordoso sent us these designs proposals for a successor to the second generation VW Beetle that will soon cease production.

David says he envisions the New/New Bug as an emissions-free, fully-electric vehicle, and judging by the latest developments at the Volkswagen Group, a gasoline-electric hybrid or even an all-electric version of the next Beetle, could very well be on the table.

And while there's room for some fine tuning in the design details (e.g. head- / tail-light styling), overall, we like David's more masculine and sportier styling approach on the Beetle's replacement.

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Shane Baxley Renders the Aebulle, the Hyundai Future-Cycle

How would everyone feel if Hyundai built a Matrix-meets-Akira lightcycle? If you have eyes and can see this, then the answer should be "Pretty darn good".

Called the Aebulle - Korean for "cocoon" - designer Shane Baxley says the magnesium-framed trike was inspired by the cocoon of the European Peacock Butterfly (Inachis io, for all you lepidopterists).

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Wörthersee Show: VW Golf GTI Excessive Study Could Spawn Sport Package [First Photos]

Volkswagen is testing the waters with its new Golf GTI Excessive study that was revealed today at this year's edition of the annual GTI-Meet at Wörthersee.

Making its debut alongside the limited production Golf GTI Adidas special (see here), the GTI Excessive features a series of motorsport-inspired add-on parts that the German firm says could make it into the catalogue of Volkswagen Original Accessories if there's enough interest from the public.

Finished in the same fire-red "Firespark Metallic" as last year's Golf GTI Wörthersee 09, the GTI Excessive gets a new bodykit trimmed in high-gloss black piano paint. The add-on parts include a front splitter beneath the front apron, side sills and rear diffuser and splitter, and flared wheel wells that add 30mm per side.

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FEV's LiiON Fiat 500 gets Rotarized

At the Vienna Motor Symposium, what's billed as "one of the world's most important power train events", German volt-heads FEV brought an electric 500 with a Wankel range-extending engine (the setup is called LiiON Drive).

The rotary engine is mounted in place of the fuel tank, which has shrunk to 12 liters / 3.2 gallons. It gives the little city car an extra 190 miles of road to travel on top of its 50-mile electric range.

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Land Rover Reveals Range_e, the Hybrid Electric Range Rover Sport

Land Rover will be putting its first dedicated hybrid model into production in 2013. The Range Rover Sport hybrid prototype shown here is named Range_e (the cutest-sounding name in just forever), and previews the diesel-electric hybrid power/drive train the rest of the world should be expecting.

If successful, expect a plug-in circa 2015 that would return 20 miles or about 32 kilometers of city driving under electric power.

Right now Land Rover is working on Rang_e's diesel-electric setup, but engineers say that a gasoline hybrid is also under developed. After all, we here in the States don't get diesel Rovers (for the life of me I don't know why).

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VW to Present Two New Special Versions of the Golf GTI at Wörthersee

Volkswagen announced today that it will pull the wraps off two new variants of its latest Golf GTI hot hatch at the Wörthersee GTI meeting in Austria next week: the limited production Adidas Golf GTI and a potential, go-fast looking version called the GTI Excessive Study.

Starting with the Adidas Golf GTI that's pictured here, the limited edition model was created in collaboration with the famous sporting-goods maker Adidas and it follows in the footsteps of the Golf GTI Pirelli special. It will be produced in a limited run of 4,410 copies with sales set to begin in July.

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New Fiat Uno Ecology Concept Study - First Photos

The new Fiat Uno supermini was only just introduced on Tuesday, yet the Italian automaker has already unveiled a concept study of the car called the 'Uno Ecology'. As its name suggests, the Uno Ecology is a green proposal that uses renewable materials and comes with reduced emission and improved fuel economy.

We don't have all the details yet but we do know that the Uno Ecology uses a modified version of the standard car's 1.0-liter flex-fuel gasoline engine equipped with Fiat's start & stop technology.

Other highlights include the photo-voltaic cells on the roof that help power various systems, the use of renewable and recyclable materials in the interior such coconut fibers and recycled PET. More photos after the break.

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Audi to Show Seven Customized A1 Models at Wörthersee

This year's edition of the Wörthersee GTI Tour that takes place in Reifnitz, Austria, on May 12 will see Audi showcasing seven custom versions of its new A1 premium supermini, including a model sporting an "FC Bayern" look, taxi and police variants.

The other four custom A1s are a "Hot Rod" version with a matt-finish look, steel wheels with white-wall tires and extremely low ride height thanks to the air suspension, one fitted with a "competition kit" that pays homage to Audi rally vehicles from the 1980s, the "Wasserwacht" model that's dedicated to the local water rescue service and a "Fashion" edition.

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