Son of AMC Designer Creates AMX/4 Prototype Sports Coupe

American Motors Company or AMC for short, may be long gone as the firm was absorbed by Chrysler in the late 1980's, but the brand lives on in the hearts of people like Jeff Teague, a designer who happens to be the son of AMC's design vice president for 26 years, Dick Teague. The latter was responsible for an array of Jeep and AMC designs such as the Gremlin, Pacer, Matador coupe, Jeep Cherokee, Rambler American, Javelin and Hornet.

Having penned many sketches for a modern-day AMC in the past, Jeff decided to proceed to the next phase by creating a 1/4 scale clay prototype for a coupe model that he calls AMX/4 and which is a logical successor to his father's AMX/3.

Teague will present his AMX/4 concept to the public for the first time at this weekend's So Cal AMC Classic Car Show and Beach Cruise at the Automobile Driving Museum in El Segundo, California.

We don't know what the odds are for a full-scale, drivable version of Teague's conceptual proposal, but nonetheless, we salute his efforts and hope that he manages to bring the car to life.

Source: SoCalamc , Via: Hemmings

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Back to Future Benz: Mercedes Retrofits 190 with Modern 204HP Diesel, Faster than the 190E 2.5-16 EVO II!

We often hear people whining and groaning about modern cars, either because they don't make them the way they used to or because automakers aren't making any technological advances. We say, you can't win them all, especially those that don't have a clue about what they're talking about. Nevertheless, we'd advise them to take a look at this uber-cool 'Back to the future' style Mercedes project that demonstrates the major developments in diesel technology over the past two decades.

In order to do this, the German automaker's engineers retrofitted a 1980's 190 sedan with an ultra modern common-rail diesel from the C250 CDI BlueEfficiency.

The 2.2-liter 4-cylinder clean diesel produces an output of 204 horsepower and a massive 500Nm or 368 lb-ft of torque between 1,600 and 1,800 rpm, which is more than twice the torque of the most powerful model in the old W 201-series, the 190 E 2.5-16 Evolution II that was presented in 1990 and produced in a limited run of 502 units as a homologation special for the Group A DTM touring cars.

With the new diesel engine, the classic 190 accelerates from 0 to 100 km/h (62mph) in a mere 6.2 seconds. Now pay attention; not only does the 190 D BlueEfficiency manage to perform the standard sprint 11.9 seconds faster than a 190 D of the time (18.1 sec...), but more impressively, it literally trumps the 235HP 190 E 2.5-16 EVO II that accelerated from standstill to 100 km/h in 7.1 seconds!

For the record, the standard, BMW M3 E30 challenging 190 E 2.3 16V upon which the EVO II was based, completed the same acceleration in 7.5 seconds.

Despite the scorching sprint time and the fact that the 190 D BlueEfficiency has 72 more horsepower than the standard 190 D, the new engine in the old body consumes 4.9 lt per 100 km (NEDC) instead of the 7.3 liter figure for 1988 (51.1 mpg vs 32.2 mpg respectively).

In comparison, the larger (160mm or almost 6.3-in. longer than the 190) and heavier (+385 kg or +848 lbs) but also far better equipped C250 CDI BlueEFFICIENCY that gets all sorts of safety and luxury features such as seven airbags and ESP, hits the 100km/h mark in 7.0 sec and consumes on average 5.1lt/100 or 46.1 mpg US.

Mercedes-Benz 190 D BlueEfficiency

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Mercedes-Benz 190 E 2.5-16V EVO II

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Kneibler Autotechnik's Supercharged BMW M3 Coupe gets 459 HP

Few things are better in life than the previous-generation BMW M3 E46, one of the most complete Ms ever built. Nevertheless, many tuners such as Kneibler Autotechnik believe that there's plenty of room for improvements. The German tuning house has come out with a comprehensive package of powertrain, chassis and body modifications. The company has boosted the M3's 3.2-liter straight-six performance with a supercharger, intercooler and ECU upgrade.

These changes result to a total output of 456 horsepower and 498Nm (367 lb-ft), up from 343 horsepower and 365Nm. But there's a price for the upgrade -literally: the performance kit costs a hefty €13,000 while the sports muffler will cost you another €1,350.

Other available performance modifications include a new braking system with 6-piston calipers at the front (€3,852) and 4-piston calipers at the back (€3,103), KW-Sport coilover kit (€1,749) and stabilizers (€419) plus 20-inch alloy wheels from Oxigin wrapped in 255/30 Hankook tyres up front and 305/25 at the rear (€2,723).

We wouldn't suggest it from a style point of view, but Kneibler Autotechnik also offers an LSD scissor door conversion for €1,990.

If you do you the math, the total price of the package (without the doors) comes out to a more than hefty €26,196 or about $37,500 at today's exchange rates.

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Old Skool Tuning: 1983 Mercedes-Benz 560SE with 386HP by Inden Design

Always had a thing for the Mercedes-Benz W126 (1979-1991) with its simple, uncluttered and yet amazingly elegant and timeless styling - a feat never again repeated by the luxury sedan's S Class successors, anyone disagree? This particular example you see pictured above, is a 1983 model modified by Germany's Inden Design in 1991. Being the company's first ever Mercedes product, Inden Design thought that it would be a cool idea to photograph the car and share with us a piece of its history.

The completely blacked out 1983 W126 was upgraded with the 1986 facelift model's bumpers and side covers and the US-spec model's headlamps and tail lights while there's also a sport exhaust system with dual pipes. The lowered suspension and the widened fenders that house 18-inch alloy wheels shod in 255/35 R18 tyres up front and (overly) massive 315/30 R18 tyres at the back, offer the W126 an even more aggressive stance.

The W126's interior, which is completely covered in black Nappa leather, boasts a set of König sport seats up front and special wood trim.

The classic Merc is powered by a 6.0-liter V8 engine from the 560SE producing over 368 horsepower while stopping power comes courtesy of an upgraded 6-piston sports brake system with 352 x 32mm discs from AP Racing.

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