Camaro Convertible

This new 911-based race car, clad in familiar black-and-white graphic camouflage, was caught on film as it exited the famous Nürburgring. The test Porsche 911 racer is most likely a product of Manthey Racing—the Nürburgring-based race team of which Porsche is a majority shareholder.

Manthey Racing sprang out of the success of famed German race-car driver Olaf Manthey. However, when Manthey’s son died in an accident, Porsche agreed to take control in order to keep the race team running. The best guess of the shooter on-site is that this 911-based race car is a variant of the new-generation 911 RSR Evolution.

Some recent ’16 Camaro prototypes feature newly camouflaged roofs, but these shots provide clear evidence of a soft top in place. Previous prototypes had several details that pointed to the existence of solid roof rails and no noticeable breaks at the Camaro’s A-pillar and headliner. With these test cars, it is certain that those earlier prototypes were clearly not convertibles.

The Camaro convertible’s soft roof is uncovered in these new shots, and elements of the roof’s understructure can be seen beneath the soft surface. A redesigned B-pillar area has more of a glass-to-glass treatment than that of the Camaro coupe. There is also the clear presence of a seam where the soft top meets the headliner.

Nissan Maxima

Why is an M-plated ’80s Camaro right in the thick of a proper GM test group in the Rocky Mountains? The manufacturer’s plate affixed to this old-school red F-body strongly suggests that this car is somehow part of GM. The ’80s F-body test car was seen running with the Camaro prototype and a camouflaged Cadillac ATS.

KGP’s shooter swears that the ’80s Camaro was rocking an intercooler and sounded like some sort of turbocharged V6. At the time these photos were taken, the camo covering the entire roof of the ’16 Camaro prototypes had shooters guessing that the cars could be Camaro convertibles. However, the setup pointed to a retractable hardtop, which seemed very unlikely to the photographers on-site.

Here are shots of a ’16 Nissan Maxima prototype, the automaker’s entry into the midsize sedan segment to battle style leaders such as the Ford Fusion and Mazda6. The new Maxima takes some of its design inspiration from Nissan’s ’14 Sport Sedan concept. With this lightly covered prototype, nearly all of the concept’s key design traits have been adapted into a marginally toned-down production design.

AutoPacific sources say to expect a performance-oriented hybrid Maxima variant, reportedly using a 2.5L supercharged, direct-injection four-cylinder mated to a battery to provide strong, V6-like performance. This system is seen as a way to further differentiate the Maxima from the encroaching Altima, which will use a more sedate, eco-minded hybrid setup.