At the IAA auto show in Frankfurt this September, Volvo will unveil its new C70 coupe convertible. The Swedish car manufacturer has released the first details and pictures of the car that will be available in the spring of 2006. Volvo is following the trend of abandoning soft tops and developing retractable hard tops for its open-air cars. In the case of the new C70, the hard top consists of three parts. The development and production of the coupe convertible is the result of a new joint venture with Italian coachbuilder Pininfarina.
Over the past few years, Fedde Talsma, the C70's design manager and a team of designers and product development engineers have visited Pininfarina to oversee the project. The 2006 C70 will be the first car in the premium segment with a retractable hard top and room for four adults. Volvo has paid a lot of attention to the safety of its new topless version. The body has extremely high torsion stiffness: twice that of the current C70. With the roof closed, this increases by another ten percent.
The new C70 has a new Inflatable Curtain (IC) airbag system that is hidden in the door. It is part of an extended safety system that should offer good protection during a side impact collision. The IC is placed in the door and inflates upward. Furthermore, the curtains are extra-stiff, so that in an emergency they stand upright and protect the heads of the passengers. As the air is deflated slowly, the IC also protects the occupants during a rollover.
The new Volvo will be available with five-cylinder engines, two normally aspirated with a cylinder capacity of 2.4 liters and with either 140 hp or 170 hp. A 2.5 T5 turbo engine with 220 hp will be available. Later in 2006, there will be a diesel engine with 180 hp for the European market. The Volvo C70 will be built in Uddevalla, Sweden.
Lamborghini Gallardo Spyder
2005 Lamborghini Gallardo Spyder concept |
Lamborghini will unveil the Gallardo Spyder in Frankfurt. This is the convertible version of the impressive small Lambo that was developed together with Audi. As a side note, the Belgian designer Luc Donckerwolke, who was responsible for Gallardo and the Murcielago, has left Lamborghini to succeed Walter de'Silva as design chief at SEAT, another sister division of Lamborghini within the Volkswagen Group.
Other news from Italy is that Lamborghini decided to build the Concept S Roadster in a very limited edition. The design study of the Concept S, which is based on the Gallardo, was presented at the Geneva auto show in March. The car will be called Gallardo SE, and stands out with a two-tone color scheme: black for the roof, front and rear spoilers, rear view mirrors, along with a transparent engine cover. There are six colors available for the other body parts. The SE will be equipped with special Callisto wheels.
For the SE, the 5.0-liter V-10 engine and the six-speed manual transmission have been retuned. Horsepower increases from 500 to 522 hp, while the first five gears are shorter than in the standard Gallardo. Also, the steering is more direct in the SE.
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