These days it seems like the dream of a new Lotus Esprit is getting nothing but further away, while the troubled company responsible for it applies the classic black and gold livery to everything it produces – and many things produced by others. But there was a time when the original Esprit was a mechanical wonder to behold, and the JPS livery was championed by arguably the greatest driver who ever lived. Funk Flex
Auto Talk: Mercedes could reclaim No. 2 luxury spot from Audi by 2015
A report by the Center of Automotive Research at the university of Duisburg-Essen in Germany has revealed that Mercedes-Benz, currently the number three luxury carmaker, could move up to number two in 2015, Automotive News reported. Mercedes owned the second slot until last year, when Audi overtook it. BMW has held the lead in the luxury market since 2005. Funk Flex
Auto Talk: Chevy Corvette headed to South Korea
As of this month, South Koreans will be able to get themselves into a Corvette bought at their local Chevrolet dealer. General Motors wants to get more people in more lands behind the wheel of its icon to offset declining sales numbers here at home, and South Korea is an easier target for the moment because of the free trade agreement recently ratified between that country and the U.S. Funk Flex
Auto Talk: Car buyers falling back in love with manual transmissions
From the headlines-we-never-expected-to-see file: “Stick shifts popular again…” Yes, we thought manual transmissions were on their deathbed, what with every carmaker bemoaning low take rates and reports that Volkswagen has decided to do away with them in both its Audi R8 sports car and throughout the range of Lamborghini models. But lo and behold, it seems that manuals accounted for 6.5 percent of new vehicle sales during the first quarter this year, the highest take rate since 2006, according to Edmunds.com numbers cited by USA Today. Funk Flex
(Video) @BoBATL’s Funk Flex Freestyle
Yesterday we gave you the audio, now check out the visual of how it went down when B.o.B. stopped by Funk’s show last night on Hot 97. Marisa Mendez
IFWT Exclusive: @BoBATL x Funk Flex Freestyle
In support of his new album “Strange Clouds” dropping tomorrow, B.o.B. stopped by my show and spit a freestyle over Future’s “Same Damn Time” track. Listen and download after the jump. Funk Flex
