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Audi to buy Ducati – the four rings expands from four wheels

Audi has struck an exclusive deal giving it first rights to buy Italian superbike manufacturer Ducati, CAR can reveal.The exclusivity deal gives Audi until mid April when the deal will likely be finalised, according to high-ranking sources contacted by CAR. Ducati's liabilities are around €200 million [earlier report said €800 million, this has been corrected], and our sources suggest the total purchase price is about €250m-€300m. This is a bold move by Audi, which sees the long-term advantage in moving into two wheels as well as four.

'American Nitro' is back!

"Seventies drag-race mayhem is back!" bills "American Nitro," a schlocky drive-in exploitation film whose only quote of praise, from a dog-eared period issue of "Car Craft," reads, simply, "SPECTACULAR CRASHES!" Director Bill Kimberlin says that he made "American Nitro" in 1979 as a response to Tom Wolfe's influential 1965 essay, "The Kandy-Kolored Tangerine-Flake Streamline Baby." "I was just getting out of high school in a small town in Northern California when Wolfe's book came out," he said. "Nitro came about as my response to the car culture I was exposed to in the small valley town of Boonville, Calif. Instead of 'American Graffiti,' I made 'American Nitro.'" A fitting comparison, in fact, considering Kimberlin later worked for George Lucas at ILM, starting with" Return of the Jedi." Now the movie is being released on DVD for the first time -- beware of bootlegs, warns the website -- and digitally remastered, while retaining the explosive charm and goofy narration of the 1979 original.

BMW to build Gran Coupe to challenge Mercedes-Benz, Porsche

BMW will build its Gran Coupe concept car, the company's development chief Klaus Draeger said. The production Gran Coupe will rival luxury coupe-styled four-door cars such as the Mercedes CLS, Audi's upcoming A7 and the Porsche Panamera. The concept was unveiled at the Beijing auto show in April.