Fioravanti has made a habit of showing interesting things at the Geneva Motor Show. This year it will reportedly be the LF1, a car built to demonstrate the application of Formula 1 design and build techniques to a production vehicle. Done up like the Caparo T1’s open-air cousin, the LF1 doesn’t look exactly like a production ca,r but we don’t know anything further about it yet… except that we look forward to seeing it.

Fioravanti will also evidently be recycling another one of its Geneva concepts from 2000, the TRIS. A tiny subcompact that is also a display of novel build technologies, the car’s two doors and hatch are identical, as are the headlights and taillights.

[Source: Motor Trend]

The 2009 BMW Alpina B7 Bi-Turbo will join the B6 GT3 race car on the stand in Geneva, and thanks to AutoZeitung, we’ve got a singular photo and some preliminary specs on the uber-sedan from Alpina.

The B7 Bi-Turbo is essentially the M7 BMW forgot to build, packing a twin-turbocharged, 4.4-liter V8 putting out 507 hp and 516 lb-ft of torque. Alpina claims the B7 can run to 60 in 4.7 seconds and on to an electronically-limited 173 mph. We’ll have more details from the Geneva Motor Show next week, but expect a host of upgrades to join the engine mods, including uprated brakes, suspension components and a reworked interior to compliment the B7’s new body kit.

[Source: AutoZeitung]

Piloted by Fabrizio Giovanardi of the VX Racing, Vauxhall took all three golden trophies in last year’s British Touring Car Championship (BTCC): driver, team, and manufacturer. To celebrate, Vauxhall is making 888 Corsa and Astra VX Racing Editions. The number of the run comes from the name of the race prep firm, Triple Eight Engineering.

Each car will sport the team colors of red and black, Recaro seats, logos on the B-pillars and sill plates, a black rear diffuser, black door trim and mirror covers, and a tinted rear window. When it comes to rubber, the Corsa gets 18-inchers, while the Astra wears 19-inch radials and also gets piano black trim inside.

The package adds at least a couple thousand British pounds to the ordinary top of the line models: The Corsa VXR will run you £17,425 (just under $25k USD) and the Astra VXR goes for £21,445 (around $30,700 USD). That’s a lot of coin even when accounting for the UK’s inflated market prices, but if you still want to tweak them further, you’ll at least get discounts on VXR Performance Center parts. Of course, you should probably be devoted enough to have at least one Vauxhall tattoo if you’re going to get into all of that…

[Source: Vauxhall]

Star Wars fans, behold, your dream car; too bad the listing has ended. The original owner of this particular piece of automotive art apparently had a serious love affair with George Lucas’s space-themed soap opera. Painstakingly painted across the surface of this unassuming Chevy are images of Yoda, Han Solo, X-Wing fighters and other movie characters, as well as nebula and galaxies originally photographed by the Hubble Space Telescope. This would have been just the thing to drive to the theatrical premiere of the Clone Wars. A lot of work went into this paint job, though it would take a level of dedication we don’t have just to own it, let alone drive it in public. After all, it’s a Cobalt underneath it all, and it’s emblazoned with the stigmata of the basement dweller.

Our friends over at Jalopnik managed to get their hands on a few spy shots of what appears to be a U.S.-spec Ford Fiesta sedan out and about in upper Michigan undergoing some harsh cold weather testing. Despite the heavy coat of grime, road salt and camo, it’s clear that we can all let out a sigh of relief because the overall look of the car hasn’t changed too much from what’s been on the road in Europe and China for the last few months.

The only significant change that’s readily apparent is a revised front fascia and a different bumper that appears just a bit worse for the wear as it has likely been reinforced to perform well in U.S. crash testing. We sense a slight underbite look on this prototype, but we’ll reserve final judgment for the day we get to see one live and undisguised. Expect a U.S. debut before the end of the year.

[Source: Jalopnik]

At a time when many coachbuilders are struggling and/or leaving the industry, it’s nice to hear news of fresh long-term contracts. Magna Steyr has just announced that it has had its contract with Mercedes-Benz extended to continue building the G-Class (a.k.a. Geländewagen) until at least the end of 2015.

Around 200,000 examples of the rugged, boxy SUV have been built thus far by the Austrian manufacturer at its Graz facility over the last 30 years. The contract builder currently builds five door (like we have in the U.S.), three-door and convertible bodystyles, along with special editions and bespoke commissioned models like the 1,200 Australian army units it churned out last year.

French youth like to burn cars on New Year’s - and they don’t mind lighting a few the rest of the year, either. German youths apparently really get their “arson on” when the economy takes a dip, as it happens to be doing right now. According to Bloomberg, at least 29 luxury vehicles have gone up in flames in Berlin so far this year, instigated by “‘youths across Europe who ‘perceive their future as rather precarious’.”

The torchings in Berlin have been centered on the nicer, gentrified areas of town like Prenzlauer Berg, where some residents feel they are being squeezed out to make room for the moneyed. There is even a group called BMW that is claiming responsibility for some of the fires, but this time the acronym stands for the Movement for Militant Resistance (auf Deutsch, naturlich).

If cars are going up in smoke so quickly right now, perhaps the real question is: What will the disgruntled turn to next when things get worse? The police have created a special unit to investigate the arson, since it’s considered a political act, but the advice from a Berlin police commissioner is: “I wouldn’t advise someone to park their Porsche on the street.” Thanks for the tip, Eric!

[Source: Bloomberg | Image: Tigerhawk]

While we’re working on our own shoot-out between the Hyundai Genesis Coupe and a yet-to-be-named contender, the crew at Inside Line put Hyundai’s new rear-wheel-drive two-door against one of its strongest opponents: the Infiniti G37.

IL’s 3.8-liter V6 Genesis Coupe tester came equipped with the Track pack, which includes a stiffer suspension, limited-slip differential, Brembo brakes and 19-inch wheels, along with the standard six-speed manual. The sticker? $30,375, or $6,625 less than a base model Infiniti G37. For the extra scratch, the Infiniti is a more luxurious package and carries a bit of badge snobbery, but performance and driver engagement are the metrics we’re interested in and the Hyundai proved to be a serious contender.

The G is packing more power from less displacement (330 vs. 306 hp), a bit more torque (270 vs. 266 lb-ft) and revs higher (7,600 vs. 6,800 rpm). But it’s also packing the pounds. The Infiniti tips the scales at 3,709 pounds, while the Genesis Coupe comes in just under 3,500 pounds.

IL performed its usual battery of tests, along with a dyno run, and deemed the G37 a better vehicle on the road from both a driving and livability standpoint, but gave props to the Genesis for its competence on the track and predictable handling characteristics. Both cars were remarkably close in the performance department, with the Hyundai taking the win on the skid-pad, while falling short on the sprint to 60, quarter-mile time and slalom run.

IL’s conclusion: For two-thirds the cost of the Infiniti G37, the Genesis Coupe 3.8 gives you more bang for the buck and deserves a place on any enthusiast’s short-list. Look out for our own review – including the 2.0T model – soon

Former president Bill Clinton came this close to joining fellow politicos like Arnold Schwartzenegger and Gordon Brown as veterans of the Tesla Roadster Test Drive Club.

At a recent event put on by Shangri La Industries (a green building contractor) at Burbank’s Bob Hope Airport, Clinton was on “Guest of Honor” and speech duty, exhorting all that could be good for business and the planet. But just as he was handed the keys and set free to experience the electric thrill that is the Tesla Roadster, the Secret Service stepped in and said playtime was over, it was time to go.

Knowing how much the ex-Prez loves adventure, and if, as it was claimed, Clinton has been into the green thing for 30 years, well, we imagine he’ll be back for a spin.

[Source: Tesla Motors]