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It’s a flurry of last minute Frankfurt news and because of that the news is brief.  A lot of it will be breaking news in South Africa when the Johannesburg International Motor Show 2011 comes to town 8-16 October 2011. It’s not often we get to review a Porsche, so we take our time with racing driver and motoring journalist from The Times and Sunday Times, Thomas Falkiner, to talk about the Porsche Carrera 4S GTS. It’s also review time for a pocket rocket from the Porsche’s holding company, Volkswagen, in the form of the new VW Polo GTI, a 1.4 twin-charged beastie, but you’ll have to listen to find out why.

Thomas, Christo and Trevor agree it's a good car, but is it the best? Listen to find out. Click on the image to go to a full gallery of the 2011 VW Polo GTi

Strange name, but its the type of car that the FIAT group has needed to counter the success of the Porsche Cayene. Click on the image to go to a full gallery of the Kubang.

This is pretty much the spec of the Porsche 911 Carrera 4S GTS that Thomas Falkiner reviews in this episode of ZA Car Show. Click on the image to see the rear and interior of this customised car.

Episode 133 hi-fi download (19MB) 
Episode 133 lo-fi download (9.5MB)

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With the Geneva Auto Salon about to start, its the previews that get us excited in this week’s show. There’s something for everybody, from fans of MINI, to fans of… we’re not quite sure what the Juke represents. But it will, no doubt, have fans.

• Golf VI Cabriolet
• The Electric Rolls Royce
• BMW I electric brand
• SAAB Independence edition
• MINI Rocketman
• Nissan Juke

Episode 106 hi-fi download (12MB)
Episode 106 lo-fi download (6MB)

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Three men, seven cars, countless individual views. Episode 94 of ZA Car Show features local and international news on BMW and SAAB, Chevrolet’s South African plans, Mazda’s booted 2 and two new concepts from Jaguar and Lamborghini.

Very pretty and non-German looking, what are Germans supposed to look like anyway?

...tasty rump...

Christo also reports back on the launch of the face lifted BMW X5 and Opel Atra while the Patrick and Trevor review the 2010 Suzuki SX4 4X4.

Episode 94 hi-fi download (25MB)
Episode 94 lo-fi download (13MB)

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It’s all about Formula 1 this week, with a smattering of news from the local scene. The team is joined by South African F1 Guru Sasha Martinengo, Absolute F1, Top Gear Live MPH presenter and 5FM DJ (@F1sasha – for the Twitter fans). He joins the team for the second time to discuss cars, the absurdity of the BMW 5-Series GT, a very old Ferrari and, of course, the 2010 Formula 1 Season.

@F1sasha joins the @zacarshow team for a second time. Much fun and laughter ensues.

BMW 5-Series Grand Turismo launched in SA this week.

Not the worst they could have done, not the best either.

After great feedback from last week, we’re going to continue offering a lo-fi version of the show, to save on bandwidth. This week’s show is quite long – 1h14mins, but well worth the megabytes.
Episode 67 hi-fi download (34MB)
Episode 67 lo-fi download (16.5MB)

Remember, we WANT your feedback. Send us your questions, requests, complaints and spy photos to info [at] zacarshow [dot] co [dot] za.
Or follow us on Twitter: http://twitter.com/zacarshow, where we break news, post updates and share info.

News and show notes after the jump!

Hummer brand is shut down as the deal with the Chinese suitor falls through [via Autoblog]

SAAB and Spyker seal up their agreement and things get rolling. Small hatch is rumored to be the first for the pair [via: Automotive Business Review]

Renault dealers love their brand, and CAR magazine loves Renault too. The French carmaker has won a brand of the award.

Toyota will have some of its rarest models on show at the Franschhoek Motor Museum this weekend – including a 2000GT, Sport 800 and Conquest 4×4.

Fiat has repackaged the Panda lineup. A facelifted version of the million-plus selling Panda 1.2 Dynamic is now joined by a model with an MTA (manual transmission automated) gearbox, while the 1.1-litre and Panda 4×4 have fallen away. Some more changes coming in March, for this brand…

A facelift for the baby Italian.

And an automatic (with manual shift) as new kit.

SA Launch: BMW 5-Series GT – the car that no one thought they needed until now – Click here for a link to the price and spec sheet (PDF file)

Like individual opening windows in MPVs that are a novelty more than anything, we wonder if this boot will be the same?

BMW always does interiors well. The GT is no exception; who cares what it looks like on the outside when it looks like this on the inside?

2010 Formula 1 Season Overview with Sasha Martinengo

The cars that defined 1967, a couple of Italians, a German and an Aussie – what an eclectic mix.

Download audio file (zacs57.mp3)

In a world of motoring filled with sadness due to the partnering of Giniel De Villiers with [Crazy] Dave Coulthard in the Race of Champions which the South African nowhere and Toyota’s departure from Formula 1 we are not sure if we should be sad about the end of production  the Citi Golf – cult or kak? You be the judge.

Take two: Des Fenner of General Motors South Africa joins the ZA Car Show team of Patrick, Christo and Trevor for a very informative chat on the GM business in South Africa, even giving us a bit of insight into new models and what will happen to the GM brands which have been unbundled in the past couple of months.

Show notes, pics and links after the jump

Direct file download (21MB)

Race of champions

Toyota departs from F1 – Renault is rumored to have similar plans

BMW GTS – a club sport racer for the people with deep pockets [Via Carversation]

Clubsport racers. Cool.

Volkswagen: Death of a legend or good riddance to bad rubbish; South Africa ceases production of the Golf Mk 1-based Citi Golf:  Good Bye Shiti

Interview: Des Fenner: Product Communications Manage General Motors South Africa

Download audio file (zacs44.mp3)

Firstly, apologies for putting up this episode later than usual. Starting with episode 45 – recording tonight – we will upload and post episodes within 12 hours of recording. The freshest news from SA’s only motoring podcast, just like you’d expect. There’s also a little something in the works for our 1st birthday. Watch this space.

Coming at you this week with the mad flavour of ZACS which is high in auto news insight an opinion and low in Christohydrates. The truth is Christo was swanning about on the Port Elizabeth Riviera, South Africa testing the new VW Passat CC (sorry we’re not allowed to call it a Passat anymore).

The team covers what turned out to be a very busy news week for the motor industry both locally and abroad. Hopefully it’s a sign of good things to come.

The pretty new SAAB 9-5. Trevor van de Ven has a thing for Swedes

The last time Christo tried to say "Sexy Ass" to a Mazda driver he got a blue eye.

Show notes and links to news stories after the jump.

Direct file download (31MB)

• Porsche tries to take over VW, raises too much debt and now gets taken over by the VW it wanted to control [via Autonews]
• SAAB unveils pictures of the new 9-5 [via Topgear]
• John Surtees’ son, Henry, dies in a freak accident [via GrandPrix.com] Link to YouTUBE clip of the incident
• New Volkswagen CC [More on ZA Car Twitter feed]
• New Mazda 3

We would have expected a little more excitement in here if the exterior is anything to go by

• Nissan GTR Prices for South Africa announced [via ZA Car Twitter feed]

Nissan GTR

Download audio file (zacs39.mp3)

We’ve been doing this podcast thing for almost as long as Trevor Tuck owned crazy mommy vans. The insanity of it has gotten to him and he’s had to take a leave of absence. He will also tell you never to buy French cars, so we decided to see if we could push him over the edge by giving him a Renault Logan to use while his Peugeot dies a slow death. It’s no wonder he decided to miss the show this week. So, for the third week running we have a crew of three, Christo, Patrick and Trevor, who wish that they don’t have to discuss the international auto industry misery for much longer. We have to give it to Audi though for releasing teaser images of a sedan version of its coupe version of its sedan. Very clever . The team also reviews the 2009 BMW 520d – something that surprised us all – and wrap it up with the Daihatsu Terios, which is also surprising becuase it’s not a good one.

Sometimes our intitial predictions are all wrong...

...and other times we're right on the money.

Show notes and links to news stories after the jump

Direct file download (33.3MB)

In Episode 39 we discuss:

• Koenigsegg, the Swedish hypercar producer, is set to buy SAAB from General Motors [LA Times]
• Chrysler starts making cars again for the first time since it bankruptcy filing [Reuters]
• Audi’s sedan version of its coupe version of its sedan – Mercedes-Benz CLS and VW Passat CC competitor [Top Gear] and [Car Magazine UK]
• International Engine of the Year Awards
• Get Homer Simpson to guide you home [CNet Car Tech]
• Driven:
  • 2009 BMW 520D
  • 2009 Diahatsu Terios

Download audio file (zacs23.mp3)

Episode 23 of ZA Car Show, and our second week with the new intro theme. Doesn’t it just sound grand?
Perhaps not as grand as our content line-up, with Patrick, Christo and the Trevors talking about some pre-Geneva launches, Subaru’s lower-priced WRX hatch and reviews on the Honda Jazz, as well as the face lifted Audi A3 Sportback TDI: a car that can park itself.

. This little mite can pack a lot of stuff inside. Click in ‘more’ so see…er..more”]

The little Honda that can [hopefully turn the US auto industry around

In this episode we also discuss:

• SAAB on the skids – not the good ones either – Chapter 13. SAAB says “it’s the right way to go”
• Renault Sandero launches in South Africa. Is there room for these budget cars?
• Mercedes Benz E-Class Coupe shown ahead of the Geneva Auto Show

Witness the fitness

• BMW 5 Series Gran Turismo shown ahead of the Geneva Auto Show

Er...yes...well...we'll miss you Chris Bangle...

• BMW 7 series teases with ads flighted in South Africa – when is it coming?
• Subaru WRX Price Drop – Cheaper new than they are second hand. Legendary – not so much if you already own one.
• Chrysler’s Hail Damage special – save up to R100 000 on list price – too bad there’s no 300C Tourings on sale
• The A1 GP in Johannesburg for the first time
• We cover a couple of other F1 related news, including Renault, Honda Filipe and Virgin…oops did we say Filipe’s a Virgin? [no, thank goodness]
  

• Test Driven: Audi A3 2.0TDI S-Tronic Sportback

This car has a very nifty party trick – check out the video from 5th Gear above.

• Test Driven: Honda Jazz

Clever seats will allow multiple configurations to swollow up elephants whole

Luckilly it does not look like an elephant's back end though.

Download audio file (zacs11.mp3)

Episode 11

NOTE: Due to unforeseen circumstances, sound quality of this recording may not be perfect. We experienced a glitch in our hardware and tried our best to salvage the recording.

In episode11 of ZA Car Show, the team of Christo van Gemert, Patrick Gearing, Trevor Tuck and Trevor van de Ven  (the hollow man) tackle another challenge, this time its executive family sedans for under R300 000.   The team also goes over some new car news for SA a lot of other chats about everything mooring related. 

Renault launches the Renault Koleos in South Africa, the only car to talk all about the interior without actually showing any images of the interior

Alfa reveals the 149 – a successor to the legendary 147

Mazda announces plans to develop a Renesis rotary engine that runs on hydrogen   

Listener challenge: What was the first production car in the world with a Wankel engine?  

ZACS Challenge: Family sedans for under R300 000 – once again, the results are surprising

Visiting the licensing departments in South Africa reveal a couple of other surprises

And more…

Direct file download (30,3MB)