In addition to the just revealed 2008 JCW Mini Cooper S , we've also got some great shots below of the new 2008 JCW Mini Cooper Clubman S. It's the first time JCW's gotten a hold of the Clubman, and the photos look great -- better even the faux JCW Mini Cooper Clubman S we'd seen already. Unfortunately, we won't have a press release for a few more minutes so for the time being you'll just have to make do with the shots we've got below. All we can tell so far is it's got similar badging to the more-mini Mini.  read more »

Just in time for the Geneva Motor Show next month, the automaker all about the cars that are so small they're Mini has seen fit to release a bevy of shots and all the deets on their two big reveals for the show. The first is the official reveal of the John Cooper Works package for the 2008 Mini Cooper S . Other than the press shots we've got below, here's what we know about the up-powered Cooper S from a quick glance of the press release which we'll have up below the jump shortly. UPDATE: Full press release below the jump!  read more »

With a numbered limited edition of only about 500 and a one year lease price of about $820, the MINI E won't be finding a whole lot of takers, but its still a car that will attract a lot of interest. The two seat all-electric car delivers 204 HP and 162 lb-ft of torque and runs on 28 kWh of a 35 kWh capacity battery made of 5,088 individual lithium ion cells and will take the MINI E a full 156 miles before a recharge at it's dedicated wall box is needed — a scant two and a half hours for that job! Acceleration is a brisk but not blinding 8.5 seconds to 62 MPH and top speed comes when you reach 95 MPH. With such low production numbers, this MINI is more of a field test for the real life of an electric car and the results will be used in future vehicle developments. Complete details below along with a nice rant if you scroll all the way down.  read more »

Although we showed you the new 2009 BMW 7-Series in all of its unofficial glory on Thursday. Well, now we've got the official details from BMW, and we've included the full press release for the new 7-Series after the jump. Sure, focus all you want on the horsepower (407 HP in the 750i and 750Li, 326 HP in the 740i and 740Li) or the torque (600 Nm of torque in the 750i and 750Li, 450 Nm of torque in the 740i and 740Li) or even the 155 MPH electronically-limited top speed, but the one thing that's sticking out in our minds is the new "individual pedestrian recognition" night vision system.  read more »

Call it a nod to the power of an Internet leak, or a calculated buzz builder. Either way, BMW let fly with information on the next offshoot of its latest M3, after photos of the convertible showed up on forum sites earlier this week. According to the press text, the retractable hardtop switchgear adds 450 pounds to the platform. That'll likely put a bit of crimp in the car's performance figures, vis--vis its coupe sibling, which has a flyweight carbon-fiber roof. On the occasion of the convertible's live reveal in March at the Geneva motor show, BMW's also introducing its new M DCT dual-clutch transmission.  read more »

You know who we don't spend enough time talking about? Max Hoffman. Max Hoffman? Yeah buddy, Max Hoffman. Those of you with steel trap memories will remember that Hoffman was the guy who convinced Mercedes-Benz to build and import the 300 SL, a car we all agree is six degrees of triple-rad. Hoffman also had Frank Lloyd Wright design him both a home and a Jaguar dealership in Manhattan and he's responsible for bringing the Porsche 356 Speedster to American soil. The BMW 507, too. What a guy.  read more »

The letter F is an auspicious one in Lexus lore. Back in the mid-'80s, when the Lexus brand was still in the planning stages, Toyota insiders referred to the prospective luxury division as "Circle F." And the car that put Lexus on the map, the LS 400, was known internally as Flagship One, or F1. For 2008, the letter F is back: The company has decided to crash the ber-sport sedan party with the 2008 Lexus IS-F , a hard-edged performance car based on the IS-series sedan and aimed squarely at perennial magazine-cover fodder like the Audi RS4, BMW M3 and Mercedes-Benz C63 AMG.  read more »

I don't know about you, but every time we're getting one of our cars tuned by a high-end German company we always say to ourselves, "Sure, the extra 300bhp from the V12 they're shoehorning into our E30 is going to be nice, but what we really want is a gourmet dinner." Wish no more, friends; AC Schnitzer is here to help. By installing a rooftop fine dining experience at their facility in Aachen, they're ensuring fast car loving foodies needn't go unfed.  read more »

The BMW 1-Series will also get to be offerred a similar line of parts for the larger BMW 3-series from early April, and the new Tii ops BMW 1-series is to be made public at the 2008 Geneva Motor Show on March 4, said by BMW, two days ago. BMW has revealed a range of optional performance accessories enabling buyers to tweak any six-cylinder 1-series to a specification approaching that of its arresting Tii concept car. Embracing the engine, suspension, brakes, body and interior, the latest performance accessories have been developed wholly in-house and tested to the same demanding standards BMW applies to all its standard production cars.  read more »