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Pontiac Solstice and Saturn Sky Not Dead Yet
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It’s not exactly the sort of news worthy of a celebration, but some cautious optimism is certainly appropriate as word comes that the Pontiac Solstice and Saturn Sky might not suffer the same fate as almost every other fun vehicle under the General Motors umbrella. Fritz Henderson, GM’s new CEO said that the company would…
Maserati Bringing GranTurismo Drop-Top to Market
Maserati is planning a convertible version of the GranTurismo, similar to the Alfa Romeo 8C Compitizione drop-top which is based on the same platform. It doesn’t exactly take the foresight of a Nostradamus to predict that Maserati will bring a drop-top version of the GranTurismo to market, but the gents over at Car & Driver…
Lotus Elise Purist Edition Announced
Lotus has confirmed that it will introduce a Purist Edition of the Elise for sale in the U.S. this year. The philosophy behind this new model is to bring the Elise back to what it was when it first crossed the pond and landed on U.S. shores. That means it will be a more basic…
Nissan 370Z Roadster: World Premiere in New York
Ahead of the New York International Auto Show, Nissan dropped the cover (and the top) on the roadster version of its new 370Z. Normally convertible versions of coupes aren’t all the different from their hard-top cousins, and while that is mostly true here we have to hand it to Nissan on the design of the…
Porsche May Bring New Entry-Level Baby Boxster to Market
As automakers downsize their payrolls, many are also looking to downsize their auto offerings by producing smaller and more affordable vehicles. While we expect as much from the GMs and Toyotas of the world, luxury and sportscar makers are also hopping on the band wagon. We recently reported that Audi is now selling a less…
Mazda Miata to Return to its Roots
The fourth generation Mazda Miata, due out in 2012 is going to be more in line with the original Miata, with a smaller engine and lower curb weight. There is also a strong possibility that Mazda will bring back the soft-top (as well as offer a hard-top) – a move that would easily save a…
Camaro Convertible Back On Track
The Camaro Convertible is back on track say the latest industry reports. While several media outlets (including Motor Trend) recently reported the indefinite future of the drop-top muscle car, MotorTrend is now reporting an about-face by General Motors. The apparent reason for putting the model on hold was that the German supplier of the convertible…
Nissan to Unveil 370Z Roadster, Plus A Mystery Z, at New York Auto Show
Not only will Nissan use the New York Auto Show to debut its new 370Z Roadster, but the automaker will also have a surprise Z on hand. What this Z will be, the folks at Nissan aren’t willing to say, but there’s a good chance it will be a NISMO version of the all-new coupe…
VW Builds Barbie Beetle to Celebrate Doll’s 50th Birthday
Real Life Barbie: Heidi Klum poses with VW’s Barbie-themed New Bettle Convertible Looking like something from the Hot Import Night’s show circuit, Volkswagen rolled out a hot pink New Beetle Convertible to help celebrate Barbie’s 50th birthday. Made with the help of ABD Racing Werks, Katzkin Leather and FoamMolder, the convertible features a custom white leather…
Aston Martin DBS Volante Revealed
The rumors were right and Aston Martin will bring a convertible version of its impressive DBS flagship vehicle to the Geneva Auto Show in March. Based on the same DBS platform and using the same 5.9-liter V12 engine, the DBS Volante makes 510 hp and 420 ft-lbs of torque and is capable of a 0-62…
Audi A5/S5 Cabriolet Official Pics & Info
With spring just around the corner Audi is debuting its much-anticipated A5 and S5 Cabriolets. Both models will come as four-seaters with a fabric roof. Audi points out that the use of a fabric roof, as opposed to a hard-top, which has become much-more popular as of late, allows it to provide more cargo space….
Audi TT RS Coupe & Roadster Official Pics, Not-So-Official Info
Audi has just released some more images of its upcoming TT RS and apparently both a Coupe and a Convertible will be offered. And while the images look great, the rumors about the power output of these cars sounds even better. Carscoop is reporting that they have obtained the official specs on the cars and…
MINI John Cooper Works Convertible: Another Geneva Preview
After debuting the 2009 MINI Convertible recently, we knew it would only be time before the John Cooper Works edition came out.. and here it is. With a turbocharged and direct-injection 1.6-liter four-cylinder, the MINI John Cooper Works Convertible makes 208 hp from 1850 to 5600 rpm and 192 ft-lbs of torque. A brief “overboost”…
GM Performance Package gives Solstice, Sky and HHR 290 HP and Up To 340 ft-lbs of Torque
General Motors is now offering a dealer-installed performance upgrade for the Pontiac Solstice GXP, Saturn Sky Redline and Chevy HHR SS, that will give the cars almost 300hp and more than 300 ft-lbs of torque. All three vehicles share the turbocharged 2.0-liter direct-injection four-cylinder engine that makes 260hp and 260 ft-lbs of torque. Thanks to…
Honda S2000 Ultimate Edition
After recently announcing that it will in fact kill-off the S2000, Honda has said that they will release a final “Ultimate Edition” version of the car. Unfortunately it won’t be all that “ultimate” and so far there are only plans to sell it in Europe. The Ultimate Edition S2000 will receive a special “Grand Prix…
Cadillac to Kill-Off XLR after 2009
Cadillac has announced that 2009 will be the last year for its retractable hardtop XLR. Pity. Apparently dealerships are still taking orders for the $87,055 sportscar (or over $100,000 for the XLR-V) and the final model will roll off the production line in Bowling Green, Kentucky in the Spring. The XLR and XLR-V were the…
2009 Last Year for Honda’s S2000
Honda has just announced that after 2009 the S2000 will no longer be produced. First launched in 1999 as a 2000 model, the S2000 has only received one major minor update since then. In 2004 the AP2 model replaced the AP1 and brought with it a few minor changes. Most significantly the new S2000 received…
First Ford Thunderbird fetches $660,000 at Barrett-Jackson
A lot of vehicles at the Barrett-Jackson auction garner attention and fetch ridiculous sums of money, but even the vast majority of them are not as rare a a bird as the Raven Black 1955 Thunderbird that hit the auction block on Saturday. Verified by the Ford Motor Company as the very first Thunderbird to…
GM’s Heritage Collection Reject Buick Blackhawk Fetches $522,500 at Barrett-Jackson
Created to celebrate Buick’s 100th anniversary in 2003, the Blackhawk Custom was one of 250 oddballs that General Motors decided to part with at the Barrett-Jackson Scottsdale auction. Grouped in with modified GEOs and a first-run Pontiac Aztek, not much was expected for the lot of cars which were parted with more to free up…
World Premiere: Fisker Karma S
Fisker Automotive had on display at the North American International Auto Show (NAIAS) in Detroit the production version of its Karma hybrid that it first unveiled in concept-form at the show 12 months ago. The company also took the wraps off a new concept, the Karma S – a hard top convertible featuring Fisker’s Q-Drive…
2010 MINI Convertible
With the slogan “Always Open” MINI unveiled the convertible versions of it’s successful second generation Cooper and Cooper S models. The Cooper will come with a 118hp four-cylinder engine and the Cooper S with a 172hp powerplant. Impressively MINI claims a 22 percent reduction in emissions and fuel compared to the past convertible model. The…
Bentley, Biofuels and the Environment
As well as debuting the Continental GTC Speed, the Bentley press conference focused on the company’s commitment to the environment. By 2012 Bentley aims to achieve a long list of green changes for its entire lineup. For starters, Bentley aims to reduce CO2 emissions by 15 percent by applying new technologies to the current vehicles…
SLR Stirling Moss in the Flesh
Mercedes kicked off the Detroit Auto Show with the world premiere of its fabulously ridiculous SLR Stirling Moss. With a substantially altered body, this chiselled machine looks more Mansory than Mercedes-Benz. It was designed in homage to Stirling Moss, who piloted the original 300 SLR to victory in the famous Mille Miglia race. In fact,…
Bentley GTC Speed
With the Continental GT Speed and Flying Spur Speed, it was only time before Bentley released a GTC Speed. And that time is now. With 600hp it is the most powerful convertible Bentley has ever produced. Even more amazing is that while the horsepower number has increased by nine percent, the torque number has gone…
