Watch out, sports car fans, as there’s a new automaker on the block: Italian company Automobili Mignatta has unveiled the Rina, its first car and a gorgeous roadster with 1960s styling and a modern V8 to power it.
The Rina chassis is made from a material called carbon monocoque, which a frame created from individual strands of carbon fiber that is most often seen in high-end road bikes, and which makes the car highly rigid while still being lightweight.
With a weight of just 2,205 lbs, the Rina should move at quite a clip, though the exact details of the naturally aspirated 5.0 liter US V8 engine haven’t been announced yet. It has rear-wheel drive, and an option for carbon ceramic brakes, with 19 inch wheels at the front and 20 inches at the rear.
The monocoque material is formed into a tub shape which integrates the driver and passenger seats, and the company says it has been optimized for both easy access to the passenger compartment and safety in the case of an accident. And the striking exterior recalls the classic Italian sports cars of the 60s, with its elongated headlights and open-top design.
The interior has similar classic styling to the exterior, and though it’s all very neat you won’t find any modern infotainment systems here. Instead, there’s a stripped down but elegant analog look, with no digital screens or support for modern conveniences like CarPlay.
There are old-fashioned gauges with a speedometer in the center and a tachometer in an elliptical look, with aluminum and carbon materials in abundance. And to continue the interior materials theme, the seats are made of — what else — branded brown leather.
As you’d expect from a niche car hand built in Italy, the Rina doesn’t come cheap, with just 30 units to be built each year and a reported price starting at $290,000.
BYD has launched the third-generation Qin Plus DM-i in China, and the first thing that caught my eye is its price. According to CarNewsChina, the plug-in hybrid sedan starts at 79,900 yuan, which is about $11,980. That’s an incredibly low price for a brand-new car, especially by US standards.
What’s even more impressive is the range. The Qin Plus DM-i can drive up to 137 miles on electricity alone, which should cover most people’s daily commutes without using a drop of gas. Once the battery runs out, the 1.5-liter engine takes over. Thanks to its 17-gallon tank and roughly 91 mpg with a drained battery, the combined range reaches up to 1,423 miles.
Apple won the PC market’s worst quarter, but that’s not the entire story. It won the race by stumbling less than everyone else.
PC makers shipped just 57 million computers worldwide in Q3, which might look good, but it’s a 21% year-over-year plunge (via Counterpoint Research). And despite Apple’s Mac shipments falling by 11%, to 5.6 million, its market share rose from 8.7% to 9.8%. How did that happen?
Update (October 22 23:54 PT): In response to our query, GM clarified that offline recording support is already available on eligible vehicles. Like Tesla's Sentry Mode, it requires owners to connect a USB drive to save incident recordings, which can be viewed on the vehicle's infotainment screen. The upcoming Connected Cameras feature will build on this by giving owners remote access to these recordings via the revamped OnStar app, allowing them to check footage without walking out to their car.
General Motors has announced plans to add a new Connected Cameras feature to its OnStar service starting next year, giving drivers a way to monitor parked vehicles remotely and capture footage of certain incidents.