Racy Trio For Sporty Types
Newcastle Herald
Saturday April 3, 2004
FOR those who fancy getting racy in a Toyota, the company has a new name to think about: TTR.
``TTR" stands for Toyota Team Racing and the company has three different limited edition TTR cars to choose from, Corolla, Celica and MR2 Spyder.
So what does a TTR limited model bring? Well, in the case of Corolla, an Ascent hatch or sedan with alloy wheels, rear spoiler with high-mount brake light, a TTR emblem and body-coloured side mouldings, door handles and rear garnish.
TTR Celica is based on the SX coupe and adds 16x6.5-inch alloys with 50-series tyres, front fog lights and a TTR emblem, air-conditioning, high grade trim, alloy-look pedals, scuff plates and anti-lock brakes. And MR2 Spyder? Black leather interior, air-conditioning and, of course, the TTR emblem.
STILL with Toyota and news that former rally great Ove Andersson will drive a Toyota Celica GT-Four in the upcoming Targa Tasmania rally.
Andersson, 66, is an accomplished rally driver and winner of several World Championship events back in the 1970s.
As team manager the Swede led Toyota Team Europe to four driver and three manufacturer's World Rally Championship titles in the 1990s and in 1998 and 1999 Andersson also managed Toyota's assault on the Le Mans 24-hour race as a precursor to the company's entry into the Formula One World Championship.
Andersson will drive a left-hand-drive Celica in Targa with former co-driver Arne Hertz in the passenger's seat
WORD out of the UK is that former World Superbike racer Aaron Slight will run a Holden Monaro in this year's British GT Championship and Le Mans Endurance Series.
According to motorsport website Crash.net, the New Zealander has signed to drive with Britain's Emotional Engineering, racing the Monaro badged as a Vauxhall for British race fans in both series. The Vauxhall Monaro CV8 Slight will drive is understood to be one of the cars used for Holden's 1-2 finish in last year's Bathurst 24-hour race.
IN the US they are known as the Acura TSX and TL models. In Australia we know them as the Accord Euro.
Regardless of the name though the cars have just scored maximum five-star safety ratings in frontal crash tests carried out by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.
The car won top marks in every test category.
As well, both cars were given ``best pick" and ``good" designations by America's Insurance Institute for Highway Safety.
MERCEDES Benz is about to add a new model to its Australian Cabriolet range with the arrival of the new CLK 240 which joins the 320, 500 and 55 AMG models.
The CLK 240 is powered by a 2.4-litre, V6 engine and comes with fully automatic soft-top, head and thorax airbags and automatic roll bars integrated into the rear-seat head restraints.
The car is available in Elegance and Avantgarde variants, both priced at $106,600.
BMW Group Australia has named the Victor Chang Cardiac Research Unit as its nominated charity for 2004 and 2005.
Following a highly successful decade of cardiac research, the institute is about to start a major expansion program, which will be assisted by BMW.
© 2004 Newcastle Herald
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