The Maserati GranTurismo S Limited Edition isn’t the only exclusive Maserati that has come out this week. Joining the sports car in the fold is this luxurious Maserati GranCabrio Sport Poltrona Frau.
We understand your curiosity about the Poltrona Frau name because we’ve never heard of it either until now. Turns out, Poltrona Frau is an Italian interior and furniture design and leather upholstery company that has had a partnership with Maserati since 2001. To celebrate the 10th year anniversary of the two companies’ partnership, Poltrona Frau customized the GranCabrio Sport’s interior with a special leather treatment that touches on soft, luxurious comfort. As if the GranCabrio Sport needed any more luxurious touch-ups.
On top of the finely-dressed interior, the GranCabrio Sport also has a minor performance improvement from the standard version, courtesy of a faster and more fuel efficient MC Auto Shift transmission. As a result, the GranCabrio Sport’s 4.7-liter V8 engine now produces 450 horsepower, an increase of 10 ponies from the standard model. The result is 0-62 mph acceleration time of 5.2 seconds with a top speed of 177 mph.
Italy has been celebrating the 150th anniversary of its unification all throughout 2011. In the past 11 months, a number of Italian automakers have paid homage to this special year, including Ferrari, which christened their 2011 Formula One race car as the "150° Italia". Ferrari’s biggest rival, Lamborghini, also paid tribute to the occasion with the release of the 2011 Lamborghini Gallardo Tricolore. At the 2011 Bologna Motor Show, Maserati unveiled their celebratory vehicle in the form of the GranTurismo S Limited Edition.
The most unique feature of this special edition car is the Sebring Blue paint finish, but it also comes with certain carbon fiber elements to make it stand out. Elements such as the front and rear spoilers, the side mirrors, and the door handles highlight the blue finish, while polished aluminum calipers, side skirts, headlights, and a new set of 20" alloy wheels round out the exterior details of the special edition GranTurismo S.
As for the interior, Maserati added a carbon trim for the instrumentation, particularly on the center console and dashboard. Additionally, there’s also a tradition commemorative plaque that highlights its tribute to Italy’s 150th unification anniversary, complete with the official number of the model.
On the technical side, Maserati has yet to announce whether the GranTurismo S Limited Edition received performance modifications. Nevertheless, the sports car still carries a pretty impressive 4.7-liter V8 engine that produces 440 horsepower, mated to an electro-actuated MC-Shift manual transmission. This setup is good enough to post a 0-62 mph time of just 4.9 seconds with a top speed of 183 mph.
Maserati will only be releasing 12 models of the GranTurismo S Limited Edition, which means that you’re going to have to strike early to score one.
The 2011 Bologna Motor Show will play host to a special collaboration between Mercedes and Ducati that includes a special edition model from both companies.
On the side of the German automaker, the vehicle is based on the 2012 Mercedes SLK 55 AMG. Inspired by the new Ducati Streetfighter 848, the SLK 55 AMG comes dressed with a "Streetfighter Yellow" exterior paint finish, an extraordinarily unique and aesthetically pleasing color scheme that is available as an optional special color variant courtesy of the AMG Performance Studio. Other unique highlights of the SLK 55 AMG Streetfighter Yellow include an interior that has been dressed with Black Nappa leather with contrasting yellow stitching. This material can be found on the door center panels, the beltlines, armrests, leather-covered roll-over bars, dashboard, the shift lever gaiter, and the AMG Performance steering wheel. The yellow theme of the SLK 55 AMG Stealthfighter Yellow continues with illuminated AMG door sill panels that feature LED technology, further accentuating the overall theme of the most powerful SLK of all time.
Speaking of power, the SLK 55 AMG is powered by a 5.5-liter naturally aspirated V8 engine that produces an impressive 422 horsepower and 398 lb/ft of torque. Those figures translate to a 0-62 mph time of just 4.6 seconds with an electronically limited top speed of 155 mph.
It may not have any performance boost, but you only need to look at the car to understand that even without power modifications, the SLK AMG 55 Stealthfighter Yellow is delightfully awesome.
Renault has announced the special edition Megane Coupe-Cabriolet Floride, a model that was inspired by the classic 1960’s version. Just like that model the new Floride edition will be offered in France only with classic Floride Ivory livery, while for the rest of Europe the company will also offer a red exterior paint.
The Floride Ivory paint is combined with a high-gloss, piano black panoramic roof and standard-equipment 17-inch Sari aluminium alloy diamond-effect wheels also finished in ivory. The car’s name casted in a chromed 3D font typical of the era is also visible on the lower bodyside just ahead of the rear wheel arches.
The beauty of the exterior is combined with the elegance of the interior. The car gets seats fully upholstered in red leather, with the side bolsters picked out in ivory, the steering wheel is wrapped in two-tone red/ivory leather, while the dashboard is finished in red with an ivory trim strip.
In the middle of all the concept debuts and race prototypes being unveiled at the 2011 Tokyo Motor Show, one car that’s neither of those things is fetching some serious attention.
The car is a special one-off Audi A1 that’s inspired by the Japanese National Soccer Team. Affectionately called the A1 Samurai Blue, the one-off car has been dressed in the official colors - blue and white - of the Samurai Blue, the nickname given to the country’s soccer team. Complimenting the two-color exterior paint finish is a red color - the same hue as that of the Japanese flag - that was used on the rear spoiler and the set of 18" wheels provided. The exterior also sports the logo of the Blue Samurais on both sides of the car, as well as on the roof.
The interior equipment of the A1 Samurai Blue has been dressed in black with contrasting blue stitching. Colorful accents are also found on various parts of the interior, including the air vent nozzle, the inlays, the center console, and the floor mats.
Under its hood, no performance enhancements were done on the car so the A1 Samurai Blue is powered by a standard 1.4-liter TFSI engine that produces 122 horsepower. No surprise there.
The whole purpose of the A1 Samurai Blue is for Audi to sell the one-off model and have part of the profit donated to charity. So if you happen to have a heart of gold and fancy a one-off Audi A1 like this, you might need to get to stepping and be the lucky one to go home with this ultra exclusive piece of A1 eye candy.
