When you say "Concours d’Elegance", you think of luxury and elegance. And is natural that all we see in Monterey this week to be all about exuberance. One of this models is the 2011 Infiniti M luxury sedan.
Inspired by the Infiniti Essence concept car, the 2011 Infiniti M will be offered with V8 and V6 engines. The 2011 M models will be designated the Infiniti M56 and Infiniti M37 respectively, reflecting their more powerful, larger displacement engines.
On the interior, the Infiniti M will offer innovative materials, an advanced climate control system, superior audio and an enhanced quality feel.
Sales across the world will begin in the Spring of 2010.
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We reported at the end of July that Bugatti will bring a special edition Veyron Grand Sport at the Pebble Beach weekend. And here it is: the Bugatti Veyron Grand Sport Sang Bleu, an exclusive supercar limited to only 20 units.
The Bugatti Veyron Grand Sport Sang Bleu combines carbon fiber and polished aluminum - an innovative combination never realized before. The visual carbon fiber is tinted in royal blue to emphasize the refined volumes and surfaces of the Bugatti Veyron Grand Sport. The rear airscoops are tinted in the same nightblue – offering a dramatic view from above – and thus fluidly integrate into the overall design philosophy of this unique model.
The rims are inspired by the Grand Sport Roadster and are highlighted in a Midnight Blue and Diamond Cut two tone finish. The interior is trimmed in a newly developed Gaucho leather.
Press release after the jump.
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As you know when we talk about the Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance everything is exclusive. Exclusive is also the new Pininfarina Hyperion, based on the Rolls-Royce Phantom Drophead Coupe. This is a special vehicle commissioned by a individual who has not yet been named. The new vehicle features no back seats and a new design for the interior: the front seats were pulled back almost sixteen inches due to the new sloping windshield.
As you expected everything in this car is at is done to a higher level of refinement, even the clock: premium watchmaker Girard Perregaux manufactured a special tourbillon timepiece which can be removed from its writs-strap and mounted into the dashboard. Also a gun rack was fitted in the front of the cabin.
This is the first car unveiled since the untimely death last week of Andrea Pininfarina, CEO and grandson of the company’s founder. His designs are revered throughout the industry, and while this Rolls Royce insures his legacy, it is unfortunate that it will be one of the last to his credit.
Porsche will unveil at the Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance, the Porsche No. 1, the first two-seat sports ever built by Porsche.
This legendary sports car and the lynchpin of Porsche’s design philosophy began life in June 1947 as engineering project Type 356 in the Porsche design office in Gmünd, Austria. Officially known as Type 356-001, Ferry Porsche’s design concept took shape through the leadership of Karl Rabe, Porsche’s talented chief designer who worked alongside Ferry’s father to develop the original Volkswagen.
It is powered by a Volkswagen air-cooled, 1.31-liter flat-four engine that delivers just 25 horsepower at 3,300 rpm. The Porsche team enlarged the bore from 70 to 75 mm, increased compression from 5.8:1 to 7.0:1, and added slightly larger inlet valves and ports and twin carburetors, boosting output to between 35 and 40 horsepower.
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The Targa version of the Veyron supercar will make its world debut this August at the 2008 Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance. According to some Inside Line sources production will begin in early 2009.
The Targa will get a removable hardtop, as well as an expandable fabric cover that clips into place. The chassis will be reinforced, and top speed will be limited to 217 mph.
The Targa will be built in limited numbers, around 75 or 80 units each priced with $250,000 above the Veyron’s price.
This year the BMW Group Design team took up the time-honoured tradition of designing cars exclusively for the Concorso d’Eleganza and unveiled its BMW M1 Homage. This design study, inspired by the BMW M1 and BMW Turbo, embraces tradition and modernism to give an insight into BMW’s own vision of a historically inspired automotive future.
Voted "Best of Show" by the Jury to take the Trofeo BMW Group was the Ferrari 166 MM Berlinetta Touring from the year 1949. Count Giannino Marzotto had acquired the Ferrari 166 MM from Enzo Ferrari, which was then given an aerodynamic coupé body by Touring based on their trademark superleggera, or lightweight, construction method.
This model was exhibited at the 1950 Geneva Motor Show. The Ferrari was then equipped with a new V12 Colombo Type 195 engine and went on to win the 1950 Mille Miglia. In the late 1950s the Ferrari was deployed in small-scale racing events in the USA before being sold with its original 1949 engine to an American collector in 1965, who kept it until 2001. Its present owner, John Croul, acquired the car in 2003 and had it completely restored to its original condition.
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Pininfarina, Vignale, Zagato, Scaglietti, Bertone, Boano & Ellena, Motto, Fissore, Boneschi, Castagna, Frua, Viotti… and Touring Superleggera. These are just a few Italian brands, who starting the beginning of the twentieth century until today (even if with just a few names remained in history), were regarded as artists in the auto market. Their clients at that moments were the nobles, the gentlemen who wanted to transform their cars into a masterpiece of design but, above all into an agile, lightweight model that could compete with any other car with no trouble.
But this was long time ago. This week-end the history made a successful return at the Concorso D’Eleganza Villa D’Este, where the Touring Superleggera, founded in 1926 by Carlo Felice Bianchi Anderlon, presented a special concept as a return to those glorious days: the Maserati A8 GCS.
The A8GCS shares the engine and the transmission with the Maserati GranTurismo; it has a weight of only 1,200 kg. The engine is placed in the front middle of the car, what makes it have the characteristic long hood and the small and short cabin.
As about its design, at the front there is a great grid typical Maserati with headlights set. At the rear dominates the characteristic four headlights with four twin discharges.
Fifty-three years ago, the LaSalle II Roadster and the Chevrolet Biscayne were among the concepts that showcased General Motors’ vision of the future in its traveling Motorama. After the debut of this automotive eye candy, these cars were not only discarded but destroyed.
Throughout the 1950s, the General Motors Motorama took concept cars on tour to cities throughout the United States, inviting the public to enter the future by stepping through the doors of a GM automobile. After each cross-country show was concluded, these futuristic cars were relegated to the trash heap. In fact, since most of these vehicles had not been road tested, GM often ordered their total destruction to prevent legal problems.
General Motors will also be bringing nearly a dozen dream cars that the company itself has saved, and these cars will join the Bortz Collection and Motorama treasures owned by other collectors during the Concours’ celebration of the General Motors Centennial.
Lines from the 1955 LaSalle II Roadster can be found in such icons as the ’56 and ‘57 Corvette, while lines from the 1955 Chevrolet Biscayne are visible in the 1960 Corvair.
The Motorama cars that will be appearing at Pebble Beach will be joined by a rare assortment of GM Woodies, Cadillac V-16s and GM-powered sports cars. Other featured marques for 2008 include Lancia and Lamborghini.
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Behind this long, fastidious name there is actually a Maserati Quattroporte transformed into a station wagon by the Italian coachbuilder Carrozeria Touring Superleggera.
The Maserati Quattroporte Bellagio Fastback will make its debut t the Concorso d’Eleganza Villa D’este, April 25-27, at Lake Como in Italy.
The Bellagio Fastback will be launched as a part of Carrozeria Touring comeback, next to the Superleggera announced few weeks ago.
Carrozzeria Touring was founded 80 years ago, but in the past years they haven’t brought anything new. Anyway, the company is about to make a come back with the launch of the new Touring Superleggera Concept at the Concorso d’Eleganza Villa d’Este on Saturday April 26.
In the past, the latest Carrozzeria creations were likewise traditionally presented to the well-heeled public at the Concorso on the shores of Lake Como.
"Apart from the historic vehicles and concept cars at the Concorso, a special exhibition traditionally held at Villa Erba on the Sunday is dedicated to one outstanding designer or carmaker. This year, the exhibition looks back on the 80-year history of Italy’s Touring Superleggera coachbuilders. As well as a retrospective featuring cars from Touring’s heyday, visitors can expect to see a line-up of automobiles from the Registro Internazionale Touring Superleggera. But the brand will not merely be presenting its past heritage at the Concorso: the future is to be unveiled as well. The coachbuilders promise to reveal a sports car with thoroughbred Touring DNA as a world premiere on the Sunday."
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