Oh China…Yema Auto Presents Clones of the Audi A4, VW Tiguan and Infiniti EX

Not too long ago, in a country far, far away, Yema Auto presented a clone of the previous generation Subaru Forester. The years passed and the force behind Yema Auto became stronger and stronger…

At this week's Chengdu Auto Show 2011, the Chinese automaker unleashed a second attack with a new breed of clones named the E-SUV, T-SUV and the F16.

In all cases, the pictures speak louder than words and it doesn't take an avid automobile aficionado to see that the T-SUV is a blatant rip-off of the Volkswagen Tiguan, the E-SUV China's doppelganger of the Infiniti EX crossover and the F16 and its commercial E-TAXI sibling, copies of the older Audi A4 Avant.

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It Came from eBay Hell: The Diabolical Lambieroghini [with Video]

With the amount of free publicity I give Pontiac Fiero-based replicas on eBay, I think the sellers should be paying me…ahem…a commission.

From the vulgar depths of eBay Hell comes this...thing...this yellow-painted monstrosity that wants to pass as a Lamborghini. There are kids in Nepal, kids who have never seen a car before that would spot this fake from a mile away. Let’s run down our eBay Bad Buy™ checklist, shall we?

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Delahaye USA’s Bella Figura Type 57S is available for purchase.

The Long Valley, NJ based specialist vehicle manufacturer has taken its design inspiration from Jean Bugatti’s legendary Type 57S coupe of the 1930s and ‘40s and modified it to fit a stretched and widened platform.

Using cutting edge materials such as carbon fibre and polished aluminium, Delahaye USA’s describes their new offering as, “much more than a replica”.

With air conditioning, power brakes and steering, electric windows and a choice of engine and transmission options, this certainly appears true.

The Bella Figura Type 57S is available in both left-hand-drive and right-hand-drive in turnkey complete, turnkey minus (that is, no engine and transmission), roller body (body, chassis and wheels only) and self-assembly kits both in the U.S. and the UK.

Unsurprisingly, prices are on application only though it sure will be nice to see this design classic back on the road and in much larger numbers than before.

By Tristan Hankins

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.7-liter straight-six engine, iconic sports car celebrates its 50th anniversary in 2011,

restoration specialist thadedicates its activity exclusively to the Jaguar E-Type. As the iconic sports car celebrates its 50th anniversary in 2011, Eagle has thought of a very special way to celebrate the occasion: the one of a kind Eagle Speedster, a roadster models that combines the beauty of the classic E-Type with the company's technical expertise and craftsmanship.

The car was commissioned by U.S. collector Rick Velaj, who wanted something "a bit special". Eagle designer Paul Brace penned a sketch, Velaj loved it and the rest came naturally. Everything on the E-Type Speedster is custom made. Like the 1960's Jaguar E-Type, Eagle's car sports classic finishing, with every detail being designed and customized, from the unique shape of the all-aluminum body, adapted from an original body by RS Panels, right through to the custom made windshield glass.

Under the beautifully sculpted body, Eagle engineers mounted an in-house developed 4.7-liter straight-six engine, matched to a five-speed gearbox. The six-cylinder produces 340 lb-ft (460 Nm) of torque and is expected to offers sports car performance numbers to Speedster which tips the scales at just under 1,100 kilograms (2,425 lbs). Handling was also an aspect that Eagle improved by fitting an optimized sports suspension and by widening the wheel track.

The lowered floor pan gives the Speedster a low profile, while also dropping the driver seating position for a sportier feel. The car's elegant lines connect with the cockpit through a "waterfall" console that descends between the two seats and is continued with the center tunnel. The dashboard is pure E-Type, with an aluminum fascia, classic instrument panel and wraparound leather upholstery. The custom-designed aluminum wheels fitted with three-eared wheel spinners are another example of Eagle's attention to details.

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It Came from eBay Hell: Porsche 959 Speedster Replica

In 1986, the Porsche 959 was the world’s fastest street legal product car. Some 337 of these road-going monsters were built but not one of them was a factory-finished convertible. Regardless of what you may have heard or seen on forums, such a vehicle was never sanctioned by Porsche. There was a one-off “Speedster” built by Auto-Becker for the 1989 Frankfurt Motor Show but that’s about it.

So is this done and dusted? Of course not; this is the internet we’re talking about. 959 Speedsters are sighted by Porsche enthusiasts as much as Elvis Presley or the Loch Ness monster. If you believe what you’ve read, these things are everywhere. And I do mean everywhere, even in New Zealand.

So our seller throws in the usual platitudes we’ve come to expect from this sort of posting like, “This is one very rare and special car,” and that it was “professionally built”.

The conversion was completed in 2002, “in the USA” and the 959 Speedster features a fibreglass body, 1.8 L twin turbo and is right-hand-drive. It comes with a beige soft top and two tonneau covers in black and beige. The latter, “appears to fit but is not domed [sic]”, whatever that means.

And that’s about it, really. There’s documentation that comes with the car, but honestly we have no idea what it was before it became...this. And it can be all yours on eBay for the low, low price of US$33,000. Feel free to check our gallery and leave your piece in the comments section below.

By Tristan Hankins

PHOTO GALLERY

It Came from eBay Hell: Thunder Ranch Riot with Scat Crate Engine

If Geo had asked Isuzu to design them a car that would appeal to California’s surfer crowd in the mid-1990s, chances are it’d look a lot like the Thunder Ranch Riot. A fibreglass bodied, Volkswagen Beetle-based turnkey kit car, the Riot looks like a Geo Storm that’s been cut, shut and had Dodge Viper parts tacked on to its exterior. And it can be all yours for the low, low price of US$12,000.

Assembled over two years starting in 2007, this particular example has the floor plan from a 1972 Bug. It’s since been retrofitted with a Scat crate engine, customer paint, front disc brakes, CD player and wood grain dashboard.

In all fairness, this particular Riot appears to be well built and well looked after by its current owner. That’s more than we can say for some of the cars we’ve featured previously on the site. You can check out our full gallery and leave a comment below if you wish.

By Tristan Hankins

Link: eBay

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