Publications
Partners
All four were previously thought to have been also-rans for South Africa, but riding on a wave of optimism surrounding this year's Auto Africa Expo motor show, on in Johannesburg this week, October 21 to 27, it was announced late yesterday (Monday) that all four will be coming here.
The news about the 250 km/h Crossfire is particularly good news from Chrysler, for it was initially thought the Audi TT competitor coupe would only be produced in left hand drive.
However, Chrysler SA boss Trent Barcroft told Wheels24 that the aggressively-styled rear wheel drive sports car would be available here from the third quarter of next year.
The Chrysler Crossfire is powered by a supercharged 2.7-litre 205kW V6 engine coupled to a five-speed manual transmission. The car sprints from zero to 100 km/h in under 6 seconds.
And the news was followed soon after by the surprise unveiling of the new Hyundai Tiburon Coupe.
Completely restyled, this new 2+2 has gained enormous praise since it was first shown, and Hyundai's Stanley Anderson said the car would be on South African showrooms within the next three months.
Two versions of the car, which had Porsche input to improve its handling package, will be available. They are a 2-litre four cylinder producing 103 Kw, and a lusty 2.7 litre V6.
New Hyundai Tiburon Coupe
And at close of business at Auto Africa last night it was announced that South Africa would soon get a special 3-litre V6 version of the popular Alfa Spider open topped sports car, producing no less than 160 kW.
The attractive front-wheel-drive roadster is fitted with the same lusty quad camshaft engine as found on the Alfa GTV 3-litre.
The Nissan 350Z is another car that did not originally get the nod for this country, but Nissan SA vice president Mike Whitfield said it would now be brought into SA in the second half of next year.
The car has a 224 kW 3.5 litre quad cam V6, a top speed of 250 km/h, and accelerates from zero to 100 km/h in 5.6 seconds.
