BREAKING: Saab hires Castriota to be new design head, pen next 9-3 [w/poll]

Filed under: Hirings/Firings/Layoffs, Saab, Design/Style

Jason Castriota at work – Click above for high-res image gallery of the Bertone Mantide

Intriguing news comes by way of BusinessWeek this afternoon indicating that Saab has hired American designer Jason Castriota to serve as its head designer. Surely you remember Castriota, the man responsible for such memorable designs as James Glickenhaus’ one-off Ferrari P4/5 by Pininfarina and the somewhat controversial but striking Bertone Mantide.

It seems that the 36-year-old Castriota’s first assignment at the reborn Swedish automaker will be redesigning the firm’s bread-and-butter 9-3 range into something a bit more unique and upscale. Expect to see the first fruits of his labor sometime in 2012, which, incidentally, is the year that the quirky company hopes to regain profitability.

We have no idea what the designer has in store for the 9-3, but it had better be good to take on the likes of the BMW 3 Series, Audi A4 and Mercedes-Benz C-Class. For what it’s worth, company CEO Victor Muller said, “The 9-3 design as made by him is basically done, and I can tell you it is spectacular. It is truly aircraft-inspired and Swedish-clean.”

Sounds promising… but what else would Muller say? In any case, we′re anxiously looking forward to our first glimpse at Castriota’s first mainstream project to date. While we′re waiting, weigh in on whether Saab’s hiring move was a good one or not with our poll below.

*UPDATE: Official Saab announcement added after the jump.

View Poll

Gallery: Bertone Mantide

Gallery: Ferrari ̤/5 by Pininfarina

[Source: BusinessWeek]

Continue reading BREAKING: Saab hires Castriota to be new design head, pen next 9-3 [w/poll]

BREAKING: Saab hires Castriota to be new design head, pen next 9-3 [w/poll] originally appeared on Autoblog on Fri, 18 Jun 2010 13:28:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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BREAKING: Saab hires Castriota to be new design head, pen next 9-3 [w/poll]

Filed under: Hirings/Firings/Layoffs, Saab, Design/Style

Jason Castriota at work – Click above for high-res image gallery of the Bertone Mantide

Intriguing news comes by way of BusinessWeek this afternoon indicating that Saab has hired American designer Jason Castriota to serve as its head designer. Surely you remember Castriota, the man responsible for such memorable designs as James Glickenhaus′ one-off Ferrari P4/5 by Pininfarina and the somewhat controversial but striking Bertone Mantide.

It seems that the 36-year-old Castriota’s first assignment at the reborn Swedish automaker will be redesigning the firm′s bread-and-butter 9-3 range into something a bit more unique and upscale. Expect to see the first fruits of his labor sometime in 2012, which, incidentally, is the year that the quirky company hopes to regain profitability.

We have no idea what the designer has in store for the 9-3, but it had better be good to take on the likes of the BMW 3 Series, Audi A4 and Mercedes-Benz C-Class. For what it’s worth, company CEO Victor Muller said, “The 9-3 design as made by him is basically done, and I can tell you it is spectacular. It is truly aircraft-inspired and Swedish-clean.”

Sounds promising… but what else would Muller say? In any case, we’re anxiously looking forward to our first glimpse at Castriota′s first mainstream project to date. While we’re waiting, weigh in on whether Saab’s hiring move was a good one or not with our poll below.

*UPDATE: Official Saab announcement added after the jump.

View Poll

Gallery: Bertone Mantide

Gallery: Ferrari P4/5 by Pininfarina

[Source: BusinessWeek]

Continue reading BREAKING: Saab hires Castriota to be new design head, pen next 9-3 [w/poll]

BREAKING: Saab hires Castriota to be new design head, pen next 9-3 [w/poll] originally appeared on Autoblog on Fri, 18 Jun 2010 13:28:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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2011 Ford Explorer teasing continues - My, what big pillars you have

Filed under: Spy Photos, SUV, Marketing/Advertising, Crossover, Ford

2011 Ford Explorer Facebook teaser shots – Click above for image gallery

The slow burn of Ford Explorer Facebook teasers continues today as the Blue Oval has seen fit to update its online photo gallery with three new images showing off various bits of its new 2011 unibody-based sport ute. This time, we’re teased with a view of an open rear cargo hatch (above), a gearshift lever conspicuously absent of PRNDL markings and a power liftgate button. Sure, they may not be the three most interesting photos you lay your eyes upon today, but there are useful bits of info to glean with a closer look.

For instance, just how thick are those D-pillars? Judging by the size of the suitably active outdoorsey family being focused on, it would appear that the rearmost pillars could swallow an entire fleet of subcompacts in the rearview mirror. Also, unless there are some super tricky optical-illusions going on due to an awkward camera angle or there’s some sort of dual opening rear hatch arrangement, it sure looks like the cargo opening is a wee bit compromised for the sake of style and/or structural integrity (the last thing Ford execs want is more Explorer rollover headaches).

In any case, we should be privy to a full web debut sometime in July. At that time, all our questions will be answered, but in the meantime, check out all the teaser images in our gallery below.

Gallery: 2011 Ford Explorer Teasers

[Source: Ford Explorer Facebook]

2011 Ford Explorer teasing continues – My, what big pillars you have originally appeared on Autoblog on Fri, 18 Jun 2010 13:01:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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BREAKING: Saab hires Castriota to be new design head, pen next 9-3 [w/poll]

Filed under: Hirings/Firings/Layoffs, Saab, Design/Style

Jason Castriota at work – Click above for high-res image gallery of the Bertone Mantide

Intriguing news comes by way BusinessWeek this afternoon indicating that Saab has hired American designer Jason Castriota serve as its head designer. Surely you remember Castriota, the man responsible such memorable designs as James Glickenhaus′ one-off Ferrari P4/5 by Pininfarina and the somewhat controversial but striking Bertone Mantide.

It seems that 36-year-old Castriota’s first assignment at reborn Swedish automaker will be redesigning firm’s bread-and-butter 9-3 range into something a bit more unique and upscale. Expect see first fruits his labor sometime in 2012, which, incidentally, is year that quirky company hopes regain profitability.

We have no idea what the designer has in store the 9-3, but it had better be good take on the likes the BMW 3 Series, Audi A4 and Mercedes-Benz C-Class. For what it’s worth, company CEO Victor Muller said, “The 9-3 design as made him basically done, and can tell you it spectacular. It truly aircraft-inspired and Swedish-clean.”

Sounds promising… what else would Muller say? In any case, we’re anxiously looking forward our first glimpse at Castriota’s first mainstream project date. While we’re waiting, weigh in on whether Saab’s hiring move was good one or not with our poll below.

*UPDATE: Official Saab announcement added after jump.

View Poll

Gallery: Bertone Mantide

Gallery: Ferrari P4/5 Pininfarina

[Source: BusinessWeek]

Continue reading BREAKING: Saab hires Castriota new design head, pen next 9-3 [w/poll]

BREAKING: Saab hires Castriota to be new design head, pen next 9-3 [w/poll] originally appeared Autoblog Fri, 18 Jun 2010 13:28:00 EST. Please see our terms use feeds.

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Video: Rhys Millen's Red Bull Hyundai Genesis PM580 sounds like a really angry Cuisinart

Filed under: Motorsports, Videos, Hyundai, Racing

Rhys Millen’s Red Bull Hyundai Genesis P𒼌 – Click above to watch the video after the jump

Recently, we had the chance to hang out with Rhys Millen and get up close and personal with the Hyundai Genesis PM580 racer that he’ll be driving in this year’s Pikes Peak Hill Climb. It’s a mean machine, and comparisons to a real-life Batmobile are certainly not out of the question, but the one thing that text and photos cannot describe is the roaring sound produced by the 775-horsepower, 4.1-liter turbocharged V6 powerplant. It’s like a bunch of angry hornets.

Follow the jump to watch Rhys piloting the P𒼌 around a test course, and turn up the volume to hear what this bad boy will sound like as it goes racing up Pikes Peak next week. Scroll through the attached gallery to see gorgeous high-res shots of the race car, as well.

Gallery: RMR Hyundai Genesis P𒼌 Test Session

Photos by Drew Phillips / Copyright (C)2010 Weblogs, Inc.

[Source: Hyundai via YouTube]

Continue reading Video: Rhys Millen’s Red Bull Hyundai Genesis PM580 sounds like a really angry Cuisinart

Video: Rhys Millen’s Red Bull Hyundai Genesis PM580 sounds like a really angry Cuisinart originally appeared on Autoblog on Fri, 18 Jun 2010 12:29:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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2011 Ford Explorer teasing continues - My, what big pillars you have

Filed under: Spy Photos, SUV, Marketing/Advertising, Crossover, Ford

2011 Ford Explorer Facebook teaser shots – Click above for image gallery

The slow burn of Ford Explorer Facebook teasers continues today as the Blue Oval has seen fit to update its online photo gallery with three new images showing off various bits of its new 2011 unibody-based sport ute. This time, we’re teased with a view of an open rear cargo hatch (above), a gearshift lever conspicuously absent of PRNDL markings and a power liftgate button. Sure, they may not be the three most interesting photos you lay your eyes upon today, but there are useful bits of info to glean with a closer look.

For instance, just how thick are those D-pillars? Judging by the size of the suitably active outdoorsey family being focused on, it would appear that the rearmost pillars could swallow an entire fleet of subcompacts in the rearview mirror. Also, unless there are some super tricky optical-illusions going on due to an awkward camera angle or there’s some sort of dual opening rear hatch arrangement, it sure looks like the cargo opening is a wee bit compromised for the sake of style and/or structural integrity (the last thing Ford execs want is more Explorer rollover headaches).

In any case, we should be privy to a full web debut sometime in July. At that time, all our questions will be answered, but in the meantime, check out all the teaser images in our gallery below.

Gallery: 2011 Ford Explorer Teasers

[Source: Ford Explorer Facebook]

2011 Ford Explorer teasing continues – My, what big pillars you have originally appeared on Autoblog on Fri, 18 Jun 2010 13:01:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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