Tag Archive for 'Laurenz Schaffer'

Schaffer to lead BMW’s California design studio [w/VIDEO]

Published on October 19, 2009 in BMW, BMW DesignWorks, BMW Designworks USA, bmw designworksusa, bmw desingworksusa, BmwDesignworks, BmwDesignworksUsa, BmwDesingworksusa, designworks, designworks usa, DesignworksUSA, Laurenz Schaffer, LaurenzSchaffer, verena kloos and VerenaKloos. 0 Comments Tags: , , , , , , , , , .



BMW has announced that Laurenz Schaffer will be taking over as the president of its Newbury Park, California-based DesignworksUSA studio on December 1. Schaffer will be replacing Verena Kloos who has been running the facility for the past five years. Kloos is moving back to Germany to run Department of Context Design and Advanced Development for the Werks.

The California studio was launched in 1972 by designer Chuck Pelly and purchased by BMW in 1995. Over the years, Designworks has been responsible for products ranging from coffee makers, to HP printers to Embraer business jet interiors and yachts. They’ve also done some work on cars as well. The current generation Z4 and the original X5 were both born out to the California facility.

Designworks also has two smaller satellite studios in Munich and Singapore. Schaffer has actually been running the Munich studio since 2000 so he knows the people there and how they work.

VERITAS RS III Roadster ready for production

Published on October 19, 2009 in BMW Z, exotic, exotic car, exotic cars, ExoticCar, ExoticCars, exotics, roadster, roadsters, supercar, supercars, veritas, veritas rs 3, veritas RS III, veritas rsIII, VeritasRs3, VeritasRsIii, Vermot AG, Vermot AG Veritas RS III, VermotAg and VermotAgVeritasRsIii. 0 Comments Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , .



After an eight-year buildup, the Veritas RS III has finally slithered into series production in Grafschaft-Gelsdorf, Germany. Just like the Dutch firm Spyker, Vermot AG has resurrected the post-war German racing marque that sold a few road-going versions of their racers to a handful of lucky enthusiasts. Now, the new company is doing less racing and more street scorching, and the RS III is its first foray into the world of production cars.

In Monterey this past August, we caught our first glimpse of the finally-ready-for-production Veritas RS III. With its newly revised front end (now with 50 percent more serpent!) it looks even more like a BMW Z8 on acid. Which is totally appropriate, because this retro rocketsled is powered by the same 5.0-liter V10 engine found in the M5 supersedan. With 500 hp propelling a scant 2,400 pounds, the 30 insane lucky folks who plunk down a million bucks for one of these can look forward to a 0-100km/h dash of just 3.2 seconds and a top speed of more than 215 MPH.

That’s Enzo-like performance for an Enzo-like price, but it offers ten times the exclusivity — not to mention Veritas started operating the same year as Enzo Ferrari in 1947. The difference is that this serpent lay dormant for almost 50 years, getting ready to strike. Vermot has released a slew of new photos and additional details about the car, which you can find in the press release after the jump.