It’s not uncommon for some cars to look as if they’d been penned by two different teams, one at the front and one at the back, but the Pandion Sports Car Concept takes that notion to the extreme. The styling team at Bertone presented strong but aggressive Alfa nose transitioning to an dramatic profile with an interesting graphical statement in the sweep of unrealistic glass. The back end though looks like they were hopped up on Red Bull and anime. The Ariel Atom does the open-ass-end as a matter of function over form, this is based on the 8C chassis so it’s front-engined, meaning all that business out back is just junk hangin’ out of the trunk. Still, an interesting form as long as you don’t turn it around.

STUTTGART, Germany — The Mercedes-Benz F800 Style, which will be unveiled at the 2010 Geneva Auto Show, introduces a new “multi-drive” platform that can accommodate a fuel cell or a plug-in hybrid powertrain. More importantly, its overall shape and styling preview the next-generation CLS sedan teased last month in Detroit.

The five-passenger F800 Style is fitted for the show with a 300-horespower, direct-injected gasoline V6 engine and a 109-hp electric motor integrated into the seven-speed automatic transmission. Mercedes claims a total output of 409 hp for the F800.

The concept’s hybrid powertrain provides 0-60 acceleration in 4.7 seconds, says Mercedes, with top speed limited to 155 mph. On pure electric power, the F800 has a claimed top speed of 75 mph and a range of just 18 miles.

The Mercedes F800’s lithium-ion battery pack can be recharged from household current or a local charging station. The V6, we assume, can be replenished by a visit to the gas station.

Mercedes says its F-Cell technology also could be adapted to the F800, bundling a 136-hp, rear-drive electric motor that generates 214 pound-feet of torque with a fuel cell stack. Range on this version is said to be nearly 375 miles.

The F800 incorporates a number of other advanced technologies, including an enhancement on the automaker’s COMAND system with a touchpad interface. A camera in the cabin records images of the user’s hand on the pad. A transparent image of the hand is displayed over the menu functions, which are operated by applying slight pressure to the touchpad. Mercedes says the system, which controls such functions as climate, audio, phone, navigation and Internet functions, reduces driver distraction.

Benz’s Distronic adaptive cruise control also gains added functionality. Now called Distronic Plus Traffic Jam Assistant, the system will be capable of automatically steering and following another vehicle into a curve at speeds up to 25 mph while regulating the distance between the two vehicles.

Next there’s the PreSafe 360-degree collision avoidance system, which extends monitoring to the area behind the vehicle, automatically engaging the brakes milliseconds before an anticipated rear-end collision.

Access to the Mercedes-Benz F800 Style concept is provided by conventional hinged front doors and rear pivot-and-slide doors that open rearward. Inside are lightweight seats made of magnesium and carbon-fiber, backed with fine netting and trimmed in wood veneer.

Peugeot SR1 Concept

Peugeot is signalling a fresh design direction with this brave new SR1 concept car. And if it doesn’t look like a Peugeot, that’s deliberate. It’s all change at Peugeot, tacit admission that its design has erred in recent years. Until now, they claim.

The new Peugeot SR1 is a 2+1 concept car – a roadster with overtones of Aston Martin’s V8 Vantage. Seriously! The snout and body surfacing is remarkably like Aston’s triumvirate. And who’d have thought we’d be saying that about a humble Peugeot?

Peugeot SR1 concept car: what’s the point?

This is no show car today, real car tomorrow. Okay, it could influence a future 407 Coupé successor, hint the design chiefs, but that’s not this car’s intent. It’s all about drawing a line in the sand for Peugeot design. And that’s fine by us. We’ve been fierce critics of dull Peugeots for years and can’t remember the last time we got so revved up by a Pug. Excluding perhaps the soon-to-be-launched RCZ coupé.

So read this car and note a few key pointers. The front end is realistic and will influence future Peugeots ‘within two years’, new design director Gilles Vidal told CAR Online. Those narrower headlamps, that smaller, recessed grille – they’re all coming. Thank goodness; we’re no fans of the gaping shark’s gob adorning the front of most Pugs. The roaring lion is redrawn, too.

Take note also of the metalwork. Vidal talks a good game about how Peugeots are going to appear lighter, nimbler, more elegant. He is keen on sculpting away from the body surface, so those scoops appear to be gouged from the bodywork – implying lightness, taking away, rather than adding heft and bulk.

What’s under the pretty body?

The SR1 is a petrol-electric hybrid, showcasing the 218bhp 1.6-litre turbo up front twinned to a 95bhp electric motor turning the rear wheels.

This Hybrid4 system is coming to production Peugeots in 2011 on the 3008, but here it’s used to turn Peugeot’s design statement into a sporty roadster. It can operate in zero-emissions mode around town – in RWD – and yet the average figures tumble to 119g/km and 58mpg.

Perhaps the best bit of the SR1 is its interior. A pair of front seats provide accommodation for adults, and a single rear seat is centrally mounted. The front armrest slides back and forth to allow space for the rear passenger’s feet.

And there’s a neat attention to detail to the finishes inside. Leather, aluminium and ‘black nickel’ provide strokeability, clever dials appear to accelerate towards the horizon when you accelerate, and there’s a solid wooden gunwale ringing the cabin. All very lovely, but less production bound than the exterior.

Volkswagen has just taken the cover off an all-new concept called the Up! Lite, a sinister looking diesel hybrid that gets (according to VW) 70 mpg combined. As in both City and Highway. Impressive, even if that only ends up being 90 percent accurate. In fact, should Volkswagen decide to green light the unfortunately named Up! Lite, it would be the most fuel efficient and environmentally friendly four seat vehicle on the planet. Again, if the Up! Lite comes to fruition, we’ll all be impressed. Interestingly, this concept isn’t the most fuel efficient and environmentally friendly car on earth is because another Volkswagen — the L1 from Frankfurt – is. But it only seats two.

Ready for the good parts? The aptly titled Up! Lite barely tips the scales at 1,530 pounds. There are Honda Goldwings flirting with that weight class. This svelteness is achieved via a mix of aluminum, lightweight steel and carbon fiber. For instance, the roof is made entirely from the expensive weave. And those amazing wheels consist of ten carbon-fiber spokes and an aluminum fairing. Nifty, no? The tiny, stylized winglettes replace conventional rearview mirrors and contain cameras instead of reflective glass. The same holds true for the interior mounted mirror, as has been replaced by a camera.

Up front, there’s an active air dam that opens up as needed. The extra cooling will help out the TDI hybrid drive lifted from the two-seater L1. This 800cc powerplant transmits power to the wheels using a seven-speed DSG dual-clutch gearbox. Even though the diesel engine is teeny, when coupled to the electric motor, the Up! Lite can reach 100 mph and hit 60 mph in 12 seconds. Not fast by any means, but good enough – especially for an ultra-high mileage vehicle. And it can haul stuff, too – including humans. Unlike the Up! Concept we saw in Frankfurt, the Up! Lite seats four people, and with the rear seats folded, it can haul 30 cubic feet of stuff. Not bad at all.

Overall, we’re pretty impressed by the looks and promise of the Up! Lite. In our estimation, there’s absolutely nothing wrong with blending a Honda CRX with a Volvo C30. Will the Up! Lite ever make it to production? Who knows. VW claims the first Up!s(?) will go on sale in 2011. We get the sense that any future decision will be based on how the two-door Up! does. But we get the feeling the Up! Lite might give the people more of what they want.

Italdesign Quaranta

The Italdesign Quaranta was designed to celebrate Italdesign Giugiaro’s forty years of business in styling and technological research. The concept was inspired by the Bizzarrini Manta concept from 1968. But in reality the Quaranta has a lot more in common with the Volta concept created by Italdesign for Toyota in 2004.

The Quaranta uses a 3.3 litre V6 Toyota engine with Hybrid Synergy Drive to provide 268 horsepower and 212 lb-ft of torque. The innovative aspect of this engine lies in the ability of the electronic control system to regulate the power distributed by the electric motors to the wheels, making the clutch-gearbox-transmission block superfluous.

The batteries which power the electric motors are located between the engine compartment and the cockpit. These are replenished by the solar panels positioned on the roof and through regenerative braking. The Toyota Hybrid Synergy Drive system also includes the E-CVT Electronic-Continuously Variable Transmission, an automatic planetary gear transmission with ratios varying infinitely as speed changes. This power source and transmission system gives the concept a rapid 0-60 mph time of just over 4 seconds as well as a massive 621 mile range.

Access to the Italdesign Quaranta’s cabin is “step-in” via an upper door incorporating the side ones. At the touch of an electric button, the door opens upward while regulated by proximity sensors for safety.

Inside, the most striking features are the central driving position and multi-control steering wheel which houses all the vehicles driving and control functions on the spokes.

The dashboard has been conceived with a sporting, modern look, with clean-cut details matching the style of the exterior, and equipped with a vast array of instruments. These are organized on two levels: the screens of the side and rear TV cameras are positioned on the upper level, with particular attention to the left-hand view mirror, useful when overtaking; the lower level is dedicated to the management of the vehicle. The drive-panel also includes a visor for X-ray sensors for night driving.

A company planning to build a hybrid car plant in Baldwin County today made a pact with a well-known Italian firm to design those vehicles during a splashy ceremony in Montgomery.

Representatives of Hybrid Kinetic Motors and Italdesign Giugiaro signed a contract for the styling and engineering of a line of hybrids that are slated to be produced in Alabama starting in 2013.

Italdesign Giugiaro has worked with major automakers around the world and has developed more than 200 car models over the past 40 years.

Red carpet, spotlights and music marked Tuesday’s ceremony, which culminated with the unveiling of the Quaranta concept car designed by Italdesign Giugiaro to mark the firm’s 40th anniversary. It’s a 156 mph supercar powered by a hybrid system.

The Quaranta was shown in Montgomery as an example of the style and engineering that will be a part of the Alabama-built hybrids, said CT Wang, CEO of Hybrid Kinetic Motors.

Many people think hybrid vehicles are small with limited horsepower, but “the hybrid can be exciting,” he said.

Media from Europe and Asia attended the ceremony, along with local and state leaders including Gov. Bob Riley and Lieutenant Gov. Jim Folsom.

Hybrid Kinetic Motors’ founder and chairman is Yung Yeung, a former Chinese auto executive.

Audi presents the highlight of the IAA 2009: the e-tron, a high-performance sports car with a purely electric drive system. Four motors – two each at the front and rear axles – drive the wheels, making the concept car a true quattro. Producing 230 kW (313 hp) and 4,500 Nm (3,319.03 lb-ft) of torque, the two-seater accelerates from 0 to 100 km/h (0 – 62.14 mph) in 4.8 seconds, and from 60 to 120 km/h (37.28 – 74.56 mph) in 4.1 seconds. The lithium-ion battery provides a truly useable energy content of 42.4 kilowatt hours to enable a range of approximately 248 kilometers.

 Cadillac released a teaser of the show car on Tuesday, and from it we can see elaborate headlight casings, a prominent grille that follows the brand’s recent design language and impressive wheel arches. The doors and body panels appear chiseled, and the lines flow backward. The concept also will be fitted with imposing wheels.

The 2011 CTS-V coupe, which goes into production next summer, will also be revealed in Detroit, following the debut of the CTS coupe at the Los Angeles auto show.

The Detroit auto show was also the stage for the reveal of the Converj concept in 2009 and the CTS coupe concept in 2008.

Cadillac has enjoyed a product renaissance in recent years with the success of the CTS sedan. It was joined by a wagon sibling this year, as well as the redone SRX crossover.

The latest creation of Romanian designer Andrus Ciprian is the HUMMER HB, an extreme off-road vehicle with almost no front or rear overhangs, and massive wheels and tires for tackling almost any surface.

The HUMMER HB’s construction consists of a body-on-frame format with aluminium and carbon fiber being the main materials used throughout. The vehicle would be offered in two different versions. One would be equipped with a smaller windscreen split into three sections, and an array of cameras around the vehicle which relay video to screens around the driver. This model would be aimed at buyers who want greater security. The second model is fitted with a more conventional single frame windscreen and is designed more for the serious off-roader with additional lighting mounted on the roof.

The underside of the HB is protected by armored paneling which protects the drivetrain and passengers from rocks and other potentially damaging objects.

Hidden within the front bumper is a powerful winch for helping extract the HB, or other vehicles, from sticky situations.

The HUMMER HB is powered by a V6 engine which is biofuel capable. Power is sent to all four wheels through a six-speed automatic transmission.

The engine is a 2.0-litre TDI that makes 180hp (134kW) from 4,200rpm and a hefty torque of 350Nm made from just 1,750rpm. Said to be capable of a 0 – 100km/h time of 6.6 seconds and a top speed of 226km/h (140mph), the Blue Sports concept emits just 113g/km in harmful C02 gasses. It averages 4.3 litres per 100km (55mpg US/ 66mpg UK) in fuel consumption.

Not to be classified as a lightweight with no proper credentials, the car runs on massive 235/35ZR19 tyres front and 245/35ZR19 rear. The gearbox is VW’s trusted quick-shifting DSG with 6 forward gears and one reverse.

Technologies adopted are bi-xenon LED headlights outside, a touchscreen that controls infotainment sources inside and an easy-to-use top that can be removed in seconds. Could the Concept Blue Sports be pointing towards a future Scirocco cabriolet? Time will tell.

On NJ State Auto Auction  you could find what you want

If you’re thinking of a fun minicar, the 2010 Audi A1 could offer something unique in its c­lass: AWD. The Mini Cooper has front-wheel drive, and the 2009 BMW 1-S­eries will have rear-wheel drive.

2010 Audi A1 Release Date: To be announced.

First Test Drive: Is spring 2009 too much to hope for?

2010 Audi A1 Prices: They’re a long way from being finalized, but will be set to avoid stealing sales from the Audi A3, which currently runs in the $25,400-$34,000 range. We’ll go out on the proverbial limb and predict A1s will start around $22,000 and top out around $28,000 for loaded AWD versions.