Jean’s Back: 2012 Delahaye USA Bella Figura Type 57S Enters Production

It may have taken three years but at lastDelahaye USA’s Bella Figura Type 57S is available for purchase. The Long Valley, NJ based specialist vehicle manufacturer has taken its design inspiration from Jean Bugatti’s legendary Type 57S coupe of the 1930s and ‘40s and modified it to fit a stretched and widened platform.Using cutting edge materials such as carbon fibre and polished aluminium, Delahaye USA’s describes their new offering as, “much more than areplica”.

With air conditioning, power brakes and steering, electric windows and a choice of engine and transmission options, this certainly appears true.

The Bella Figura Type 57S is available in both left-hand-drive and right-hand-drive in turnkey complete, turnkey minus (that is, no engine and transmission), roller body (body, chassis and wheels only) and self-assembly kits both in the U.S. and the UK.

Unsurprisingly, prices are on application only though it sure will be nice to see this design classic back on the road and in much larger numbers than before.

By Tristan Hankins

2012 Toyota Yaris: New Photo Gallery of North American Hatchback

After the cagey release of the North American 2012 Yaris under a tent during the Lollapalooza annual music festival in Chicago earlier this month, Toyota officially revealed its revamped contender in the subcompact segment that rivals the likes of the Ford Fiesta and Mazda2.The redesigned Yaris is available either as a three-door liftback or five-door liftback with power coming from a 1.5-liter gasoline engine producing 106HP at 6,000 rpm and 103 lb.-ft. of peak torque at 4,200 rpm. A five-speed manual gearbox or a four-speed automatic transmission drives the front wheels.

In the new Yaris, the wheelbase has been lengthened by two inches, to 98.8 inches, with the overall length of the vehicle growing by 2.9 inches, to 153.5 inches, and the height reduced by 0.6 inches.

Toyota says the luggage compartment area has been lengthened by 5.7 inches, and widened by 2.1 inches, to increase cargo volume by 64 percent in the 3-door and 68 percent in the 5-door. Cargo capacity with the rear seat up is 15.3 cu. ft. on the 3-door and 15.6 cu. ft. on the 5-door.

Buyers can choose from three different grades including the entry-level L, the LE and the sportier SE which is offered only as a five door.

The base MSRP ranges from $14,115 for the L grade three-door liftback with a five-speed manual transmission to $17,200 for the SE grade five-door liftback with a four-speed automatic transmission.

Subaru Announces Pricing for New 2012 Impreza, Starts at $18,245*

The all-new 2012 Subaru Impreza will arrive in U.S. showrooms in the beginning of November, and the Japanese carmaker announced today that its starting price will be $17,495 before the $750 destination charge (*$18,245 total) for the base four-door Impreza 2.0i with a manual gearbox, meaning that the starting price remains unchanged over the outgoing model.The base engine for the 2012 Impreza is an all-new 2.0-liter boxer engine that delivers 148-horses (22HP less than the outgoing model’s 2.5-liter unit) and 145 lb-ft (197 Nm) of peak torque, and returns a projected EPA fuel economy of 27 mpg city and 36 mpg highway.

All 2012 Imprezas feature Subaru's Symmetrical All-Wheel Drive system while the boxer engine can be paired to either to a 5-speed manual, or the new Lineartronic Continuously Variable Transmission.

Not including a $750 destination charge, the base Impreza 2.0i Sedan with the CVT starts at $18,495, while the entry-level five-door model at $17,995 when equipped with a five-speed manual and $18,995 for the CVT-equipped model.

The better-equipped 4-door 2.0i Premium starts at $18,795, while the 5-door Premium starts at $19,295. For the 2.0i Limited, prices start at $21,595 for the 4-door and $22,095 for the 5-door version, while the Impreza 2.0i Sport Premium, which is offered exclusively with the five-door body style, starts at $20,295.

[All Live Photos Copyright Carscoop / Phil Alex]

Video Presentations of the 2013 Lexus GS and Infiniti JX Showcar

Leaving aside the elegant Cadillac Ciel which is a pure design study (for now), the big production stars of this year's edition of the Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance festival in Monterey, California, are the 2013 Lexus GS 350 and the production-ready Infiniti JX showcar.We have already presented both cars in detail but we now have video footage from the presentation events that took place on Thursday evening ahead of the Pebble Beach Concours d'Elegance, and which you can watch right after the break.

VIDEO

Nissan Juke Kuro Limited Special Edition Available in the UK

For certain enthusiasts, Kuro can only mean one thing: Pioneer's now discontinued, but in the minds of many, still the best series of HD television sets to date. For Nissan's UK arm, Kuro is the name of a new special edition of its funky looking Juke small crossover.Nissan says it borrowed the name from the Japanese word for black as the strictly limited edition provides a new, dark look to the British-built Juke.

The Juke Kuro is based on the top-of-the-range Tekna grade, and is available with full range of engine options, adding ten spoke, 17-inch alloy wheels finished in gloss black along with black door mirrors and handles.

The special edition is available in two metallic shades, Pearl Black or Force Red, with all models featuring a numbered plaque fitted to the centre console. Nissan says only 700 examples of Kuro will be produced for the UK.

The Kuro is available with a choice of two metallic paint finishes which could complement the contents of any wardrobe: Pearl Black or Force Red.

Pricing starts at £17,395 for the 1.6-litre petrol, with the flagship 190hp turbocharged DIG-T model carrying a price tag of £18,995.

The Juke Kuro is available to order now, with customer deliveries expected to begin on October 1, 2011.

More Powerful 2012 Kia Soul Priced from $14,650*

After the premiere of the facelifted 2012 Soul at this year's New York Auto Show in late April, it’s time for Kia to talk prices. The revised small crossover enters the new model year with some modest styling changes but more importantly, a new pair of more powerful engines hooked up to six-speed transmissions.Pricing for the entry level Soul with the 1.6-liter engine and a manual gearbox starts at $13,900 or (*) $14,650 after a $750 destination and handling (D&H) fee, while the automatic model starts at $15,700 or $16,450 if you include D&H.

Kia has not yet released pricing from the newflagship Soul equipped with the 2.0-liter four-cylinder engine.

The updated 1.6-liter unit that features Kia's fuel-saving and emissions reducing gasoline direct injection (GDI) technology, is rated at 138-horses, an increase of 16 ponies over the previous model.

Kia says that mated to the new six-speed manual and automatic transmissions, the 1.6-liter engine delivers up to 34mpg on the highway and 28mpg in the city.

The new 2.0-liter engine produces 164HP, an increase of 22-horses over the previous model year, and is also offered with a choice of two six-speed transmissions, manual or automatic.

According to Kia's estimates, the two-liter unit returns 27 mpg city and 33 mpg highway for both the automatic and manual transmission models.

Production VW Up! Ditches Rear-Engine, Rear-Wheel Drive for a Traditional FWD Setup

It won’t be long before we get our first glimpse of the production version of Volkswagen's all-new Up! city car that scheduled to have its official world premiere at next month's Frankfurt Motor Show.But here's a little something we learned. While the three-door hatchback model's looks are very similar to the original Up! Concept car displayed at the 2007 Frankfurt auto show, under the sheetmetal it's a different story as Volkswagenhas ditched the study's unique rear-engine, rear-wheel drive layout.

Instead, the Up! is based on the German firm's Modularer Querbaukasten or MQB platform using a more traditional front-engine, front-wheel drive setup.

Volkswagen will offer the Lupo's spiritual successor at launch with a choice of small displacement, three-cylinder gasoline engines with plans to add a pure-electric version into the mix at a later date.