Reports coming out of Spain detail what is expected to be the BMW X7, a luxurious 7-seater crossover flagship to cap off the high end of the BMW lineup.

As reported by Motor.es, the X7 is a range-topper being developed to share a platform and many parts with an upcoming Rolls Royce SUV. Known internally as the “F17,” the X7 will ride on the modular HPLC architecture formerly known as 35up that shall soon underpin all rear-wheel-drive BMWs from the 3-Series on up.

The upcoming 7-Series will see the first use of this platform, using plenty of aluminum, magnesium and carbon reinforced CFRP plastic, expected to lower curb weight by 529 lbs. Much of the suspension will be cribbed from the X5 and X6, with the possibility of a rear-wheel-drive only version.

Engines will likely include a TwinPower turbo six, gasoline and diesel V8s, and a V12.. It will also boast the most luxuriant interior of any BMW.

BMW is aiming to steal competition from the Range Rover, the Mercedes-Benz GL-Class. The next X7 will be launched in 2017 or 2018 with a starting price tag of 130,00o euros ($141,000).

Tucked beneath one of the massive wind tunnels at Toyota’s European motorsports headquarters is a treasure trove of historic race cars and concepts.

A new video by XCarFilms takes a rare tour into Toyota Motorsport GmbH’s Koln, Germany garage. The collection includes everything from an early 1970s Toyota Celica WRC car campaigned by rally legend Ove Andersson to modern Le Mans Prototypes.

TMG began as a small rally team in the early 1970s, racing early rear-wheel-drive Celicas and Corollas barely differing from their production versions. By the late 1980s, TMG (then called Toyota Team Europe) was building dedicated machines were being built for WRC competition, specifically the turbocharged Celica GT-Fours.

Of particular note is the Toyota GT-One road car, the sole example built for homologation for Toyota’s 1998 Le Mans campaign. Also present is a prototype first-gen MR2 capable of 1000hp that sadly never saw competition due to the FIA’s cancellation of the Group S program.

TMG is a full engineering firm, capable of turning a car from an CAD design to reality. As such, they also build running Frankenstein concepts, such as a Lexus LS with an IS F motor tuned to 650hp, or a Porsche-killing Toyota (Scion) iQ. Watch the video below.

A small Chinese automaker called Yogomo has introduced the 330, an entry-level model that shares more than a few styling cues with the Kia Picanto city car that is sold in Europe.
Up front, nearly all of the Picanto’s design elements are found on the 330, including the elongated oval headlights, the shape of the fog lights and even Kia’s widely-used Tiger Nose radiator grille. The copy/paste treatment continues out back with boomerang-shaped tail lamps, a roof-mounted spoiler and vertical reverse lights integrated into the bumper.

The 330 stretches 135 inches long, 59 inches wide and 58 inches tall, dimensions that make it about as big as the Picanto. When viewed from a distance, the biggest difference between the 330 and the Picanto is the that former seemingly rides on smaller alloy wheels.

Surprisingly, the 330 features its own design in the cabin, though it boasts Picanto-like door panels.

Designed largely for China’s crowded urban centers, the 330 is powered by an all-electric drivetrain that teams a small electric motor with either a lead-acid or a lithium-ion battery pack. In its most potent configuration, the 330 offers a driving range of about 100 miles and a top speed of 37 mph.

Last year, Land Rover promised to sue China’s Landwind over a blatant copy of the Range Rover Evoque. Kia has not indicated if it plans on taking similar actions against Yogomo and the 330.

Toyota’s Thai arm has introduced a limited-edition version of the homely Corolla called Nürburgring Edition.
Designed to celebrate the automaker’s seventh place finish in this year’s edition of the Nürburgring 24-Hour Race, the limited-edition model builds on the existing ESport trim level with features such as a deeper front bumper, a blacked-out radiator grille, 17-inch alloy wheels and, believe it or not, an air diffuser out back. Buyers can order the Nürburgring Edition in either Black Mica or White Pearl.

The upgrades continue inside the cabin, where the commemorative Corolla gets red accents on the dashboard and the door panels, edition-specific floor mats and leather upholstery on the seats.

Surprisingly, Toyota has not made any mechanical modifications, meaning the Nürburgring Edition packs a fully stock Corolla-sourced 1.8-liter four-cylinder engine that makes 141 horsepower and 130 lb-ft. of torque. Power is sent to the front wheels via a continuously variable transmission (CVT), and a handful of suspension tweaks make the Nürburgring Edition a little more lively to drive than a standard Corolla.

The Toyota Corolla Nürburgring Edition will carry a base price of 959,000 Bahts (about $29,500) when it goes on sale next month, a $2,000 premium over a standard Corolla ESport. Toyota has not announced how many examples it will build, though it goes without saying that the motorsport-inspired Corolla (which is known as the Altis locally) will not be sold on our shores.

Nissan has announced plans to launch a new model under its Datsun brand, landing below the already compact Datsun GO in the product hierarchy.

Called the I2, the new Datsun hatchback will be likely take after the redi-GO concept shown in February of 2014. It will cost less than and measure smaller than the GO.

Conceived as an Indian car, design and engineering has originated in the south Asian country of 1.2 billion. According to Customs Daily, Production will likely be local as well, at Nissan’s Chennai plant in southern India, but Nissan plans to export it to neighboring developing nations as well.

The I2 will share a chassis with an upcoming Renault compact called the XBA. Both will be underpinned by what the company calls the CMF-A platform. Power comes from a 800cc gasoline engine capable of 50 hp. Both manual and automatic transmissions are expected to be available.

While the Renualt XBA will go on sale by the end of the year, the Datsun I2 will launch in 18 months.

Datsun was originally a Nissan brand used on its compact cars. In the US, all Nissans were sold as Datsuns between 1958 and 1982, when the Nissan name was globalized. Datsun was then revived in 2013 in Russia, Indonesia and India, as but has seen difficulty in the market due to safety concerns and tough competition.

Nissan has announced plans to launch a new model under its Datsun brand, landing below the already compact Datsun GO in the product hierarchy.

Called the I2, the new Datsun hatchback will be likely take after the redi-GO concept shown in February of 2014. It will cost less than and measure smaller than the GO.

Conceived as an Indian car, design and engineering has originated in the south Asian country of 1.2 billion. According to Customs Daily, Production will likely be local as well, at Nissan’s Chennai plant in southern India, but Nissan plans to export it to neighboring developing nations as well.

The I2 will share a chassis with an upcoming Renault compact called the XBA. Both will be underpinned by what the company calls the CMF-A platform. Power comes from a 800cc gasoline engine capable of 50 hp. Both manual and automatic transmissions are expected to be available.

While the Renualt XBA will go on sale by the end of the year, the Datsun I2 will launch in 18 months.

Datsun was originally a Nissan brand used on its compact cars. In the US, all Nissans were sold as Datsuns between 1958 and 1982, when the Nissan name was globalized. Datsun was then revived in 2013 in Russia, Indonesia and India, as but has seen difficulty in the market due to safety concerns and tough competition.

Mazda has begun taking orders for its new MX-5 roadster in Japan and as part of the process revealed pricing data.

The pre-order website went live at noon March 20 with three trim levels, seven body colors, and a starting price of 2,310,000 yen (or $19,242 in US dollars) before taxes.

The base trim level, the Roadster S, comes with a 129hp 1.5L SkyActiv-G gasoline engine and the sole transmission choice of a 6-speed manual. The more luxurious S Leather Package adds a cowhide interior and $4,165 to the price. The optional 6-speed automatic transmission adds another $833.

Finally, the sporty S Special Package begins at the Japanese yen equivalent of $20,825, with the option of adding safety equipment such as blind spot monitoring, rear cross-traffic alerts, adaptive headlights and a lane departure warning system for $833. An upgraded Bose audio system is available for $583, while the Mazda i-ELOOP kinetic energy recovery system and i-Stop engine idling stop/go system is available for $666.

Body colors include Blue Reflex Mica, Arctic White, Jet Black Mica, Soul Red Metallic, Meteor Gray Mica, Crystal White Pearl Mica, Ceramic Metallic (silver). Interestingly, the Dynamic Blue and Sunflower Yellow from what was thought to be a leaked brochure are absent.

Prices will likely be higher when the MX-5 is released in the US, due to the larger 2.0L engine.

Live images by Ben Hsu.

BMW has published additional teaser images that preview the upcoming 2016 M6 GT3.
The M6 GT3 is being designed and fine-tuned by a small team of engineers at BMW’s headquarters in Munich, Germany, to replace the Z4 GT3. A look at the camouflage-clad mule reveals that the GT3 stands out from the stock M6 thanks to a deep front bumper with a carbon fiber splitter, large air vents in the hood and side exhaust pipes.

The GT3′s rear fascia gains a sizable air diffuser integrated into the bumper and a huge rear wing on the trunk lid. Multi-spoke center-locking wheels wrapped by low-profile tires round out the exterior updates.

Power for the M6 GT3 will come from an evolution of the twin-turbocharged 4.4-liter V8 engine that powers the M5 and the M6. Heavily modified for track use, the eight-cylinder will send over 500 horsepower to the rear wheels via a race-specific six-speed sequential gearbox. BMW is not ready to publish performance specifications but it promises the GT3 will tip the scale at less than 2,860 pounds.

The BMW M6 GT3 could be shown early next month at the New York Motor Show. It will go on sale at the end of the year, meaning buyers will be able to compete in the 2016 edition of the BMW Sports Trophy. Pricing information and full specifications will be announced in the weeks leading up to the racer’s on-sale date.

Land Rover has introduced a one-off Defender designed with input from a British designer named Paul Smith.
Starting with a bone-stock short-wheelbase Defender 90, Smith used no less than 27 different colors to paint the body, including hues inspired by the British countryside and a few historically seen on Land Rover off-roaders used by the British army over the years. Satin Black 16-inch alloy wheels provide a contrasting touch to the jazzy paint work, while a discreet Paul Smith emblem on the right side of the tailgate wraps up the custom look.

Inside, Smith has done his best to hide the Defender’s unabashedly utilitarian origins. The designer has added black leather upholstery on the dashboard, the center console and the door panels, blue seatbelts up front and a custom-designed clock integrated into the dashboard. The seats are upholstered in a combination of black leather and black cloth accented by colorful stripes, bringing the cockpit in line with the exterior.

The flamboyance stops under the hood, where the one-off Defender is powered by a stock 2.2-liter four-cylinder turbodiesel engine that makes 130 horsepower and a generous 265 lb-ft. of torque. Power is sent to all four wheels via a six-speed manual transmission.

Land Rover has not announced what the future holds for the prismatic Defender. However, the automaker points out that Paul Smith is an avid Defender enthusiast so we suspect the truck will find a spot in his garage in the near future.