The Japanese automaker Nissan was on hand at the 2009 Miami Auto Show, and although they unveiled the new
Rogue Krom crossover, it was a pearl white
Nissan GT-R that caught our eyes as the centerpiece of their booth. Although this particular
GT-R is nothing more than your run of the mill $80,000 super car killer, the hamburger logo did announce some
new specs for the 2011 model that includes the highly anticipated
Spec V model that takes Godzilla’s on track antics to new heights, and an even quicker lap time around the
Nurburgring.
Fox Marketing and Artisan Performance teamed up to create this subtle yet aggressive Lexus IS-F for last year’s SEMA show, and almost a year later the Sunset Orange Pearl paint on this wide body IS is still shining brightly. The subtle part involves the numerous bodywork modifications that enhance rather than rethink the lines of the V8 powered factory tuned sedan, making it look even more muscular in the process. The aggressive aspect is applied to the eight cylinder engine we mentioned earlier that gets upgraded with a full blown twin turbo kit that the tuners expect to be good for over 600 HP. No matter which angle you look at this Lexus IS-F from you can’t help but be overwhelmed with the subtle details that set this IS apart from ordinary four door luxury cars.
Full list of specifications after the jump.
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Izod/Phillips-Van Heusen-IZOD was celebrating the INDYcar Series Championship Week at The W hotel in South Beach on Saturday October 03, 2009.
The whole day was planned with the Indy Racing League and APEX-Brazil starting with a volleyball competition between the Miami Lifeguard and the INDYcar series drivers, in the evening a cocktail party was thrown in honor of the drivers with Miami celebrities and athletes in the Provencal garden of the W Hotel followed by a Brazilian Fashion Show with special guests N.E.R.D and Pharell.
The day was hot with happy Brazilian drivers and models celebrating Brazil a day after the announcement of the International Olympic Committee decision to attribute the 2016 Olympic games to Rio de Janeiro.
Vintage cars marking a century of American racing were displayed at the front doors of the W Hotel South Beach to welcome guests along with Izod car and motorcycle.
Interview with Michael Kelly, Executive Vice President of Marketing for Phillips-Van Heusen-IZOD Corporation after the jump.
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The exotic Italian automaker
Lamborghini had a strong showing at the 2009 Miami Auto Show, after all there isn’t any better place on the planet to enjoy these exotic Italian super cars. Leading the pack was a white V12 powered
Murcielago that stretched out with its elongated nose and side scoop on the fresh carpeting of the Miami Beach Convention Center. Next in line was a fresh drop top
Lamborghini Galardo Spyder, complete with some of the nicest mesh wheels we have seen in our collective lifetimes. The highlight of the group is the special edition rear wheel drive
Gallardo LP-550 2 Valentino Balboni, named after the long time Italian test driver and eagerly awaiting a new tail happy owner. Somewhat of a cult classic here in South Florida and familiar with Lamborghini enthusiasts around the world, is the proverbial Sharpie Car, a
Gallardo that was turned into a high performance piece of artwork.
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Our friends at South Florida’s premier exotic car dealership, The Collection, brought out a trio of
Ferrari’s finest to the 2009 Miami Auto Show. The headliners were the smaller of Maranello’s offerings, we saw the new retractable hard top
California back at their Coral Gables showroom
back in April, but any time you see a set of carbon fiber side mirrors, like those on an
F-430 Scuderia, it is always a stunning sight to see. Hiding out in the back of the Ferrari part of the super car retailer’s display was their current flagship model, the front engine V12 grand touring
599 GTB Fiorano. Despite almost a million dollars worth of Italian speed machines, much of the interest was on the upcoming 458 Italia mid engine sports car that will eventually replace the discreet, non striped, Scuderia.
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The English automaker Aston Martin showed off their familiar
DBS Volante, a model that we have seen earlier on this year. Marek Reichman, Aston Martin’s Director of Design, was kind enough to
tell us a little bit about the new car earlier on when they made the $300,000 V12 powered drop top’s
exclusive debut and even elaborated on the
Jaeger-LeCoultre timepiece that completes the 007 experience. Also in attendance were a pair of
V8 Vantage hard top and
roadster models, showing the hand crafted super car maker’s game plan of offering two distinct automobiles as opposed to a compromised hard top convertible.
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General Motors is the only automotive manufacturer to offer OnStar, a service that provides a variety of subscription based communications like: in vehicle security, hands free calling, turn by turn navigation and remote diagnostics systems. However as one lucky California resident learned, the little blue button in his Chevrolet Tahoe can do so much more. Thanks to the advent of Stolen Vehicle Slowdown, only 16 minutes after Jose Ruiz and his cousin were accosted by a carjacker wielding a firearm, The satellite service was able to bring his 2009 Tahoe to a halt, bringing what could have been an exhausting and endangering car chase to a halt.
This occasion marks the first time that the OnStar SVS technology has been activated to help in a carjacking situation. SVS helps take high speed pursuits out of the equation, and reduces the chance that a stolen vehicle will be crashed during a chase. Once a subscriber has reported a stolen vehicle they can call and request the service. The advisor will then use advanced GPS technology to pinpoint the location of the vehicle and notify law enforcement. When police have the vehicle in sight, they can request the advisor send a signal that interacts with the vehicle’s engine, gradually slowing it down, aiding in a safe recovery. So the next time that any carjacker thinks about boosting a new car, they ought to think twice about stealing a GM vehicle.
Press release after the jump.
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The Koenigsegg CCX is one of the rarest automobiles in the world. The Swedish super car maker only produces 25 examples of their mid engine V8 powered 800+ HP speed machines per year, and of all the CCX’s that are created, an even more limited amount of 10 Koenigseggs make it stateside. So if you have ever seen one in person, you can consider yourself to be a very fortunate individual, and if you have ever had the chance to get behind the wheel then you ought to know just how lucky you are to have driven a million dollar super car.
However luck had nothing to do with the NY based dealer who managed to do a little front end damage to this particular blue 2008 CCX. The worst part is that the now partially destroyed super car already had an owner, and when you do any kind of damage to a seven figure vehicle, you can only imagine just how much this little mess up will cost to fix. Not to mention that while destroying the dreams of their client and losing a customer in the process, the dealer who got a little too close to the guardrail also managed to damage a 2009 Porsche 911 GT2 in the process.
Thanks to Antoine Dominic for the photo.
When the blue oval’s high performance engineers were given the option of either producing another tire shredding SVT Lightning or something completely different, they opted for plan b. Instead of a supercharged work truck that can blow the doors off of most sports cars in a straight line, the SVT group chose to build an off road version of the F-150 that would be competitive in the Baja 1000 right out of the showroom, and actually ended up earning a spot on the podium. Now Texans know a thing or two about pick up trucks, with their starry skies and wide open spaces residents of America’s third coast get plenty out of their pick up trucks. So it was quite an honor when the Texas Auto Writers Association named the Ford F-150 SVT Raptor as their 2009 Truck of Texas. This marks the seventh consecutive time that a Ford F-Series pick up truck has won the award from TAWA.
Ford Motor Company’s president of the Americas, Mark Fields was particularly pleased when he heard the good news. “Winning the Truck of Texas is a distinct honor… Texans know their trucks, and this award is further proof of why the F-Series remains America’s number-one selling pickup. We built F-150 SVT Raptor for truck enthusiasts. And we’re gratified it’s gaining recognition for both its unequaled off-road performance and confidence-inspiring on-road demeanor." The Raptor combines extreme off road capabilities with an aggressive on road package that should only get better in 2010 when Ford puts the more powerful 6.2 Liter V8 version on sale at the beginning of next year.
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After seeing what it was like to get a first-hand view of what goes on behind the scenes inside the making of a Lamborghini Murcielago SV and a Rolls-Royce Phantom, National Geographic’s “Ultimate Factories” heads over to the Oshawa GM plant – at over 8 million square feet, this plant is widely considered as one of the largest auto plants in the world - to give us an in-depth look towards the making of one of America’s most iconic muscle cars, the 2010 Camaro SS.
The Camaro episode will air tonight on Nat Geo starting at 8 pm ET. Be sure not to miss this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to gain first-hand knowledge on the inner workings of how Chevrolet creates the popular muscle car.
If you’re the type that already has your TiVo’s locked and loaded, we’re giving you a sneak preview of tonight’s episode.
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