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Although this could be the result of a forbidden love affair between a brutal Hum-vee and a petite Fiat Panda obviously, that's not the case here.What this is, is the result of the collaboration between Fiat and Dainese who turned a “harmless” 5door Panda 4x4 into the impressive 3-door Panda Tanker Concept which premiered at the Bologna Show.

On the outside, the Panda Tanker maintains its usual shape, but the bodywork is a ‘naked’ satin-effect matte grey, with contrasting trims made of titanium fibre. The ‘naked’ concept continues inside where everything is extremely essential. The one-piece loading floor lets you load large objects or sports equipment, anchoring them with elastic straps mounted on a tubular aluminium structure that folds away completely. There are a number of containers fitted in the luggage compartment to hold oddments, materials and liquids.

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Ok, before you start popping your eyes out in search of differences in comparison to the current model allow me to compress Jag’s 800-word press release on the 2008 S-TYPE: Apart from new standard equipment on all versions like the Rear Park Assist System, the multi-function Sport seats instead of the previous Classic seats for SE and Sport models and the new alloys, the only “serious” change concern’s the updated front end with the addition of the sporting S-TYPE R bumper and mesh grille to all models.

Still if you’re interested, the “2008” S-TYPE (debut at the Bologna Motor Show 7-17 Dec) is available for order at all dealers. Just let us inform you that the S-TYPE’s successor, the XF, will be introduced next autumn.

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While Honda has yet to give out any specific details about this undoubtedly sexy concept –apart from the fact that it’ll make its public debut in January at the North American Auto Show, according to sources, it previews the styling direction that Honda will follow for the next Accord coupe that will go on sale in 2008 as a 2009 model. Let’s hope that the actual concept will look as good as this teaser sketch.

Related Articles: Honda CRX Concept?

As we said in our previous post last night, it was only a matter of time for Ford to put up the official pics of its 2008 C-MAX compact MPV. If we wanted to put a headline to it, we’d say that Ford is attempting to add a little “S-MAX” magic to the C-MAX, not only by changing its name (from Focus C-MAX) but also in terms of design and especially the redesigned front end that tries to imitate the S-MAX. Other changes include the new rear ligh-clusters and the slightly redesigned interior. There’s no word out yet if there’s any mechanical changes.

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While Ford is keeping the official pics to itself –for now that is, they came out with a teaser press release announcing that they’ll premier the facelifted version of the Focus C-MAX (compact MPV version of the European Focus) at the 31st Bologna Motor Show (7-17 Dec).

First of all, we have a name change here as the 2008 model distinguishes itself from the Focus range, as it’ll be called C-MAX instead of Focus C-MAX thus following in the steps of its big-bro, the S-MAX MPV. As for the real changes, according to FoMoCo, the 2008 C-MAX gets a redesigned front end with distinctive air intakes, new one-piece bumper integrates vertical fog lights and a new three-plane bonnet. At the rear, the C-MAX receives a redesigned bumper and new LED rear lights. Finally, in the interior, changes include redesigned instrument panel, centre console and door trims along with more premium quality materials. Stay tuned as we’ll have more on the 2008 C-MAX.

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Just as I thought I’d wrap things up for the day here at Carscoop, along came the first official pics and specs of Porsche’s long awaited 2008 Cayenne. That’s prior to its official debut in the Detroit Motor Show in January. Before we go into details, Porsche didn’t go all out but preferred to keep things simple and just do some fine-tuning.

However, they did fit the 2008 Cayenne with upgraded engines. Specifically, Porsche threw out the base 250 Hp 3.2 V6 motor and substituted it with VW Group’s new 290 Hp 3.6 V6 –same one as in the 2008 VW Touareg. Next up, the Cayenne S is now equipped with an upgraded version of the previous 340 Hp 4.5 V8, which has grown to 4,8 litres and produces 380 Hp and 500 Nm of torque (from 340 Hp & 420 Nm).

Last but not least, the top-spec Cayenne Turbo gets a power increase of 50 Hp & 80 Nm of torque, now producing 500 Hp and 700 Nm of torque. The latter does the 0 to 100 km/h (62 mph) sprint in 5,1 sec while reaching a top speed of 275 km/h (171 mph). This means that the new Cayenne Turbo is faster than the previous 520 Hp Cayenne Turbo S which needed 5,1 sec for the 0-100 km/h sprint and hit top speed of 270 km/h (168 mph).

As with the appearance, the most obvious changes are concentrated in the front end. The redesigned headlamps along with the new bumper that has larger intakes give the Cayenne a sleeker look. In addition, depending on the version, there are horizontal or vertical positioned side-lamps under the headlights. At the rear the 2008 Cayenne benefits from slightly redesigned tail-lights, a new bumper and a bigger rear window. Unfortunately, we haven’t got our hands on the interior pics yet, but we did find out that it’s basically left unchanged except for upgraded materials and new upholstery colours.

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