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Listen to this week's episode of Pod Rods to find out what he thought of James Bond's favorite convertible and read his road test in the autos section of Saturday's Times-Union.
IN OTHER AUTO NEWS
Fisker Automotive has announced it will buy the closed General Motors plant in Wilmington, Del. for $18 million. Autoweek.com reports if the deal goes through production at the plant could start in late 2012.
Fisker is a start up hybrid automotive company that plans to build a mid-sized plug-in hybrid family sedan. The company says the car would go for about $40,000 after federal tax credits.
Among those throwing their support behind the deal is none other than Vice President Joe Biden, who is a former U.S. Senator from Delaware.
Philly.com reports Biden was on hand for the announcement and that Fisker plans to build up to 100,00 Nina-model cars at the Wilmington plant annually. The company seems to actually have a chance. AllCarsElectric reports the deal includes a $529 million government loan, with most of that money earmarked for the Nina program.
A few weeks ago we blogged about an idea that was floated to build a new DeLorean at the Wilmington plant, which most recently assembled the Pontiac Solstice and Saturn Sky, but this week's announcement should put that pie-in-the-sky idea to rest.
Before Fisker can get the Wilmington plant up and running it's inaugural car must first make it to market. The Fisker Karma is being promoted as the world's first luxury plug-in hybrid electric vehicle. Fisker claims the Karma will have a 300 mile range when it goes on sale next year.
Fisker has been taking pre-orders for the Karma and says it will start delivering the plug-in hybrids in the second half of 2010. Those first cars won't be cheap. The Wall Street Journal reports the Karma is scheduled to be built at a plant in Finland and sold for about $89,000.
The Karma prototype is stunning, with styling every bit as refined as an Aston Martin and an interior that's filled with visual candy along with high tech goodies. You can see a photo gallery of the Karma on the manufacturer's Web site. The Discovery Channel also has a good video look at the Karma.
The race is on to deliver the world's plug-in hybrid to market. General Motors has targeted November 2010 to launch its Chevrolet Volt.
General Motors hasn't announced a price yet but an online survey obtained by a Chevy Volt enthusiast site implies it will cost less than $40,000.
Over at Chrysler the horsepower war continues. The Mopar boys are showing a 556 horsepower version of the Challenger that was built for SEMA. Enjoy the walk-around tour.
One final Mopar nugget for you. Anyone old enough the remember Chrysler's "plum crazy" color scheme from the original Challenger? If you missed it the first time around it looks as though you'll get another chance. Check out these renderings.
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