MINI has never been the shy type when it comes to rolling out special edition models, especially when certain situations call for it.
As an official sponsor of the 2012 London Olympic Games, you can’t come up with a more ideal situation for a special edition Cooper. Heck, they even made two of them.
Joining the Cooper Bayswater Special Edition is the Baker Street Special Edition, a unique trim of the popular Cooper line that pays homage to London hosting the 2012 Olympic Games. Similar to the Bayswater model, the Baker Street comes with plenty of unique trims, highlighted by a Rooftop Grey metallic finish with special racing stripes on the hood, black mirror caps, and a new set of 16" alloy wheels. Optional paint finishes - Pepper White and Midnight Black - are also part of the package.
Inside, the Baker Street model comes dressed with unique seating surfaces with a Cross Check Rooftop Grey color for the dashboard and door trim and diamond pattern, light grey contrast stitching for the floor mats, gearshift/selector lever, handbrake gaiters, and seat tags.
The Cooper Baker Street Edition is set to be available on the MINI One, Cooper, One D, and Cooper D models with sales expected to begin in Spring 2012.
With the 2012 London Olympics drawing closer and closer, official sponsors like MINI are starting to get their publicity machines going with hopes of squeezing every last ounce of marketing potential that goes with being an Olympics sponsor.
In the case of the German automaker, the marketing initiative involves the release of two bespoke MINI Cooper models: the Baker Street Edition and the Bayswater Edition.
The Bayswater Edition comes with an exclusive Kite Blue metallic finish with optional Midnight Black and Eclipse Grey finishes available for the Cooper S and SD models. In addition, the special edition "Bayswater" Cooper also received special racing stripes on the hood and side mirrors, a black-finished roof, and a new set of 17" wheels.
As for the interior, MINI dressed up the special edition Cooper’s seats in leather with exclusive colors and two-tone stitching on the gearshift/selector lever and handbrake gaiters. The car also has "Bayswater" lettering on the seat tags and door sills, a Piano Black cockpit trim, stainless steel pedals, and MINI’s standard Chrome Line Interior package.
In addition to the Cooper S and SD models, the Bayswater Edition will also be available for the Cooper and Cooper D models with a sale date pegged for early spring of 2012.
Facebook’s popularity has skyrocketed so it only makes sense for companies to take full advantage of the reach social media has to gain some attention for themselves. Porsche is diving into that headfirst with a special edition dedicated to the growing number of "fans" for their Facebook page. These images show a unique Cayman S decorated with the faces of Porsche’s first two million "fans."
Porsche sent out requests to their fans, asking permission to use their profile pictures as part of the design of the Cayman. Following this fan-based mosaic, the company went on to have their fans vote for their favorite historic racing livery. When the fans spoke, they chose the iconic Porsche 917 K with the red-white Salzburg livery, known best for delivering Porsche’s first overall victory in Le Mans with Richard Attwood and Hans Herrmann behind the wheel.
Porsche’s Cayman S tribute to their first two million Facebook fans will be on display at the Porsche Museum in Stuttgart until January 27, 2012. If you look real close, maybe you’ll be able to find your picture!
If we had to pick our favorite Audi, excluding the RS models of course, the S5 would be at the top of our list. It’s sporty, luxurious, elegant, and Audi has provided it with a special edition. Only 125 units of this special edition S5 will be built with prices starting at $68,700 for the S5 4.2 Special Edition (quattro manual) and $69,900 for the S5 4.2 Special Edition (quattro tiptronic).
The Audi S5 Special Edition will be offered with the Prestige package, quattro with sports rear differential, and a list of exclusive equipment, some borrowed directly from the RS5. The car is painted in a very cool Daytona Gray pearl effect exterior paint and then combined with 19" Titanium wheels with 255/35 summer tires. The interior combines Bi-color Polar Silver / Black S sport seats with Silver contrast stitching featured in the seats, armrests, shifter, and steering wheel. From the RS5, the Audi S5 Special Edition borrows the carbon fiber inlays with Piano Black instrument cluster surround and the floor mats with silver leather surround.
Back in 2009, Lamborghini unveiled the Gallardo LP 550-2 Valentino Balboni - a 550 HP special edition limited to only 250 units. This model was only offered in a coupe version, but at the 2011 Los Angeles Auto Show, Lamborghini has brought out a Spyder version to offer a "stunning level of open-air driving fun that can come only from a super sports car with a folding roof and an unbelievably agile and spontaneous handling." The new roadster model has dropped the "Valentino Balboni" name and is simply called the "Gallardo LP550-2 Spyder."
"With the Gallardo LP 550-2 Spyder, we are expanding the Lamborghini lineup with a purist model that adds yet another dimension of driving fun. This will appeal in particular to a very special group of customers that enjoy a spirited driving style and also like to experience the sheer pleasure of open-air driving," says Stephan Winkelmann, President and CEO of Automobili Lamborghini. "This special model with rear-wheel drive is a logical expansion of our lineup of spyder models with all-wheel drive."
Just like the coupe model, the Gallardo LP550-2 Spyder uses a 5.2-liter V10 engine that delivers a total of 542 hp and 398 lb-ft of torque. With a total weight of 3,351 lbs, the roadster will accelerate from 0 to 60 mph in 4.2 seconds on its way up to a top speed of 198 mph.
UPDATE 01/16/2012: Lamborghini has announced that the new Gallardo LP550-2 Spyder will go on sale this March at a starting price of $209,000, excluding the $2,995 delivery and gas-guzzler charge.
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