http://michel-cruz.rimontgo.com Welcome to our new weblog. On this site you will find an archive of articles and information, as well as news and feedback on a broad spectrum of topics. Wed, 08 Sep 2010 08:30:45 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=3412 en hourly 1 http://michel-cruz.rimontgo.com/cars/the-glory-of-the-prancing-horse/ http://michel-cruz.rimontgo.com/cars/the-glory-of-the-prancing-horse/#comments Tue, 07 Sep 2010 11:49:20 +0000 Michel Cruz http://michel-cruz.rimontgo.com/?p=475 In an issue dedicated to Italy we could not ignore the most famous maker of luxury sports cars in the world. After all, the very name Ferrari is synonymous with speed, power and beauty. To many, Ferrari’s are the stuff young dreams are made of. Ask an ambitious young man to describe his ultimate goals and they could often best be summed up in the form of a gleaming red bolide from the scuderia in Maranello, for Ferraris symbolise success, ambition and dynamism. These cars simply are brio on wheels. The recently opened Ferrari World in Dubai is a living testament to that.]]> http://michel-cruz.rimontgo.com/cars/the-glory-of-the-prancing-horse/feed/ 0 http://michel-cruz.rimontgo.com/cars/bentley-continental-supersports/ http://michel-cruz.rimontgo.com/cars/bentley-continental-supersports/#comments Wed, 28 Jul 2010 13:27:36 +0000 Michel Cruz http://michel-cruz.rimontgo.com/?p=398 The combination of the names Bentley and sport may not have been heard much in the past few decades, but with the arrival of the superhot new Supersports that is set to change for good. True, think of Bentley and sumptuously crafted luxurious cars with a rather regal bearing come to mind, yet there was a time when the name was synonymous with both quality and speed. In fact, much of the enduring fame and pedigree of Bentley is built on its legendary racing successes of the 1920s and 30s, when the solid ‘Blower Bentleys’ swept all before them and beat even the Bugattis to win the 24 hours of Le Mans in four straight years from 1927 to 1930.]]> http://michel-cruz.rimontgo.com/cars/bentley-continental-supersports/feed/ 0 http://michel-cruz.rimontgo.com/cars/pininfarina-hyperion/ http://michel-cruz.rimontgo.com/cars/pininfarina-hyperion/#comments Fri, 28 May 2010 11:31:08 +0000 Michel Cruz http://michel-cruz.rimontgo.com/?p=350 With the exquisite Hyperion – an ode to the sumptuous pre-war limousines – Pininfarina have truly outdone themselves. For once not designed to the brief of a large car manufacturer, but made to measure for a private client, this Rolls Royce-based car is the epitome of elegance and hand-built quality in our era. Take a Rolls [...]]]> http://michel-cruz.rimontgo.com/cars/pininfarina-hyperion/feed/ 0 http://michel-cruz.rimontgo.com/motoring/motoring-for-individualists/ http://michel-cruz.rimontgo.com/motoring/motoring-for-individualists/#comments Fri, 23 Apr 2010 09:47:46 +0000 Michel Cruz http://michel-cruz.rimontgo.com/?p=327 Built for individualists with a penchant for style and elegance, Wiesmann cars are as exclusive as they look – a modern sports car beneath classic retro charm. On the outskirts of the German town of Dülmen stands a modern building whose stunning architecture offers a hint at what is inside. No, this is not a state-of-the-art museum, a science faculty or a futuristic conference centre but actually a factory where cars are made.]]> http://michel-cruz.rimontgo.com/motoring/motoring-for-individualists/feed/ 0 http://michel-cruz.rimontgo.com/freelance-writing/tygan-speedster-porsche-356/ http://michel-cruz.rimontgo.com/freelance-writing/tygan-speedster-porsche-356/#comments Wed, 08 Apr 2009 07:30:39 +0000 Michel Cruz http://michel-cruz.rimontgo.com/freelance-writing/tygan-speedster-porsche-356/ Until I got into the Tygan Speedster, however, I hadn’t driven a 'real' car. Now not all my cars have had power steering, power assisted breaks and traction control. In fact, I can still remember flooding the carburettor with the choke on a cold winter’s morning or having to push-start an unwilling car, but none of the vehicles I had driven before—no matter how fast or recklessly—prepared me for the real McCoy. In this case, a picture-perfect replica of a 1958 Porsche 356.]]> http://michel-cruz.rimontgo.com/freelance-writing/tygan-speedster-porsche-356/feed/ 0 http://michel-cruz.rimontgo.com/freelance-writing/opel-gt/ http://michel-cruz.rimontgo.com/freelance-writing/opel-gt/#comments Thu, 19 Feb 2009 12:47:48 +0000 Michel Cruz http://michel-cruz.rimontgo.com/freelance-writing/opel-gt/ Opel has created its share of memorable and classic cars, but one of the finest and best loved among them is without a doubt the pretty little GT sports car. Built in an age when small, compact roadsters were desired by young and old alike, the GT was an early German entry into what had been a market dominated by British Triumphs and MGs, or Italian Alfas and Lancias. Like the other Johnny-come-latelies in this category, the Japanese, Opel took to the making of a classic sporty road car like a duck to water. ]]> http://michel-cruz.rimontgo.com/freelance-writing/opel-gt/feed/ 0 http://michel-cruz.rimontgo.com/freelance-writing/pininfarina-cars-design/ http://michel-cruz.rimontgo.com/freelance-writing/pininfarina-cars-design/#comments Fri, 09 Jan 2009 09:33:46 +0000 Michel Cruz http://michel-cruz.rimontgo.com/freelance-writing/pininfarina-cars-design/ The name Pininfarina conjures up images of luxury, speed and taste. Over the past 50 years the famous Turin design house has penned some of the most desirable and iconic cars in the world, but besides giving shape to Ferraris, Maseratis and other exotic forms of transport Pininfarina has also been at the forefront of innovation – pioneers in search of the perfect alchemy of form, technology and function]]> http://michel-cruz.rimontgo.com/freelance-writing/pininfarina-cars-design/feed/ 0 http://michel-cruz.rimontgo.com/freelance-writing/alfa-auto-cars-design/ http://michel-cruz.rimontgo.com/freelance-writing/alfa-auto-cars-design/#comments Tue, 05 Aug 2008 05:31:10 +0000 Michel Cruz http://michel-cruz.rimontgo.com/freelance-writing/alfa-auto-cars-design/ Picture this: a sunny day in Tuscany, the breeze running through your hair as you follow a winding road and watch the rolling hills of this iconic region unfold before you. Head through a lane framed by tall cypresses on the way to a stately country home, or park your car in the square of a picture-perfect village. Could it get any better than this? The soundtrack to this motorist’s daydream should be something like Nessun Dorma, and the car an Alfa Spider. ]]> http://michel-cruz.rimontgo.com/freelance-writing/alfa-auto-cars-design/feed/ 0 http://michel-cruz.rimontgo.com/freelance-writing/jaguar-xk-alc-advanced-lightweight-coupe/ http://michel-cruz.rimontgo.com/freelance-writing/jaguar-xk-alc-advanced-lightweight-coupe/#comments Mon, 23 Apr 2007 07:17:16 +0000 Michel Cruz http://michel-cruz.rimontgo.com/freelance-writing/jaguar-xk-alc-advanced-lightweight-coupe/ When first seen at the Detroit Auto Show earlier in the year, Jaguar’s Advanced Lightweight Coupe stole the show, capturing the attention as few cars have in recent years.]]> http://michel-cruz.rimontgo.com/freelance-writing/jaguar-xk-alc-advanced-lightweight-coupe/feed/ 0 http://michel-cruz.rimontgo.com/freelance-writing/bmw-z4-m-coupe/ http://michel-cruz.rimontgo.com/freelance-writing/bmw-z4-m-coupe/#comments Wed, 11 Apr 2007 11:11:05 +0000 Michel Cruz http://michel-cruz.rimontgo.com/freelance-writing/bmw-z4-m-coupe/ You can always tell when a car was primarily designed to be one thing and then adapted for other uses. As a result, hatchbacks with a boot often look ridiculous and many a sumptuous open-topped roadster has been joined by a rather awkward looking hardtop version. The BMW Z4 defies this logic, however, with the new hardtop coupe actually outshining the already attractive Z4 roadster. Rather than a rigid roof artificially superimposed on the body of a 2+2 roadster, this new model not only adds to the overall beauty of the Z4s design, it has actually helped to solve some of its design flaws. ]]> http://michel-cruz.rimontgo.com/freelance-writing/bmw-z4-m-coupe/feed/ 0