Autoblog

According to InsideLine, Bugatti plans to unveil its Targa variant of the Veyron next month at the 2008 Pebble Beach Concours d'Elegance in Monterey, California. The open-air hyper-car will use a removable hardtop, while a fabric cover can be used in its place if the heavens decide to open up mid-jaunt. IL is reporting that the chassis will be heavily reinforced to cope with the loss of the crucial structural component. Production will begin next year along side the Targa's fixed-roof predecessor, and with the current Veyron going for around $2 million, don't expect to get your 217-mph (limited) top speed kicks without paying another $250,000 on top of the Veyron's base-price.

[Source: InsideLine]

Click above for high-res gallery of the 1957 Chrysler Diablo Concept

When we think of the words 'Chrysler' and 'Diablo' together, memories come to mind of a time when the American automaker owned Lamborghini and unveiled a successor to the iconic Countach model. But that's not what this is. The Chrysler Diablo Concept actually dates back to 1957 when it was the star of the U.S. auto show circuit. Most of the Autoblog staff wasn't alive back then, but they tell us it was like when the Dodge Viper Concept first debuted in 1989. The car was originally conceived by Chrysler's renowned design head, Virgil Exner, and is an example of aerodynamic design study in the '50s. It's said that the car's shape was inspired by watching ink blots blown by 200 mph winds across the surface of plastic models, which we don't really see in the svelte shape but we'll take their word for it. The 22-foot-long car is built on a shortened 1955 Chrysler 300 series chassis and features a soft convertible top that was added by the Italian styling firm Ghia, who tweaked the car's design by reworking the fins and painting it red (it was originally black) before the car debuted on the 1957 U.S. auto show circuit. The Diablo reportedly cost Chrysler over $250,000 to develop, and we imagine that it will sell for a lot more when it goes up for auction at this year's Pebble Beach Concours d'Elegance in the RM Auctions' Sports & Classics of Monterey event. Check out some gorgeous high-res photogrophy of the Chrysler Diablo Concept in the gallery below because, like us, that's probably as close as you'll ever get to it.


[Source: RM Auctions]

Click the image above for a hi-res gallery of the Lexus ES 350 Pebble Beach Edition

The Lexus ES 350 is the second model this year to get the Pebble Beach Special Edition treatment, along with the Lexus RX 350. Both of them join Lexus' Pebble Beach regular, the Lexus SC 430, in the bespoke-paint-and-packages options. We don't mind the 17-inch wheels with the liquid graphite finish one bit. And just as with the RX, you get your choice of three additonal special packages that can bestow you with Callaway goods, custom luggage or Viking cookware for you epicureans. For full details, check out the press release after the jump, and take a gander at the gallery of hi-res pics below.

Click above for a high-res gallery of the Lexus RX 350 Pebble Beach Edition.

Lexus showed up in Chicago with two special edition cars from a different time in a different state. Lexus has been making limited edition vehicles for the Pebble Beach glitterati since 2003, which up to now has always been a Lexus SC 430 unveiled at the concours' Vogue fashion show. This year marks the first time the line has expanded beyond the hardtop coupe, and the RX 350 gets its chance to try on a swanky paint job and some of them there special features. In case you're wondering what color that is, it's Truffle Mica -- but it comes in two others, in case speckly fungus isn't exactly your flavor. Buyers will even get to choose from three packages that come with the special edition -- which would make them even more special. But we won't spoil the surprise -- the full press release is after the jump, and check out the gallery of hi-res photos below.

The final word on Pebble for 2007 comes via these last video clips of the Tour d'Elegance. As we profiled in the gallery post about The Tour, this is a chance for locals and visitors to get a glimpse of the Pebble Concours field for free, a few days before the big show. The vast majority of entrants take the drive along 17-Mile Drive and down the coast a bit before heading back into Carmel for lunch and then back down to the Polo Fields near Pebble Beach to get ready for Sunday's main event. Entrants who successfully complete the drive get a bonus ribbon that will tip a tie vote in their favor during judging at the Concours.

We shared a ton of still shots from the lineup, 17-Mile Drive and the Bixby Bridge already, but here is some video from those same locales. You'll really get a feel for why the bridge can be a magical location for photos on a clear day, but this year's fog made things a bit trickier. Thanks again to our buddy Duane for processing and hosting these videos. Be sure to check out his site to see some great higher def clips from this year's Pebble Beach festivities and from a bunch of other So Cal auto shows and museum visits as well. Two YouTube compilations follow the jump.

Continuing our video wrap-ups from this year's Pebble Beach extravaganza, here is a clip of some of the track action from Mazda Raceway at Laguna Seca during the Rolex Monterey Historic Automobile Races presented by Toyota. We'll just shorten that to the Monterey Historics from now on, unless the Rolex and Toyota folks are looking in. We actually covered the races in two posts a couple of weeks ago. Part one covered Saturday's main action, while part two showed some of the events earlier in the week. The tape starts with some vintage open-wheel racers from old GP cars to the featured Indy Roadsters of the mid- to late-'50s. You'll also catch some of the most famous sports and GT racers of the mid '60s, like the Ferrari 250 LM and GTO, Shelby GT350 and Corvette pictured above. Not a lot of coverage, but we were juggling still cams and video cams so it was a bit difficult. The thrill of seeing these iconic race cars from throughout history is something that is hard to impart. Hopefully this gives you at least a little taste. The YouTube clip is after the jump.

Just when you thought we were done with our coverage of the classic and collector car events from Montery in the middle of August, here come the videos. We brought a camcorder along for the trip, and a friend or two offered to shoot some additional footage to share with all of you. We've finally uploaded and processed the clips and have them up on various hosts to share. To get things started, here's some video shot by our good friend Duane of SoCalSpeedZone.com. In it you'll see lots of Lambos displayed on, and then leaving, the Bayonet Black Horse GC at the end of the day. For fans of the Bull, this is total car pron. Duane also contributed the Ferrari video we posted with the original gallery a couple of weeks ago. Follow the jump for the YouTube videos or click over to Duane's site for a higher res version.

For some of you, seeing massive galleries of collector vehicles is a diversion from the daily automotive news you expect from Autoblog, and you lament the space devoted to them. To others, seeing massive galleries of collector vehicles is a a diversion from the daily automotive news you expect from Autoblog, and you love the space devoted to them. Personally we love seeing them and sharing them with those interested in glimpsing some of the greatest models from some of the most storied marques throughout automotive history.

Between the auctions, races, parties, tours and concours, there are literally thousands of fascinating vehicles in Pebble Beach and the surrounding area during that week in August, and it is considered a must-attend event for anyone with a love for the classics. As always, some of the comments tend to conflict with the massive traffic on these posts and so we try to strike a delicate balance between adequate coverage and overdoing it. We think we found that balance this year, and although there were approximately 20,000 photos available to us between the photographers we had on hand and those who offered to contribute to the cause, we managed to keep it under a thousand amongst a dozen or so posts.

While we already brought you an initial post from the Rolex Monterey Historic Automobile Races, there was so much more action at the track that we wanted to show off more of the great shots we got from Laguna Seca last week. Today's track pics come from earlier in the week and include some action from the special Ferrari 60th anniversary tribute, the parade of F40s to celebrate that iconic supercar's 20th birthday, and a few other classes we didn't get to see on Saturday. Things like IMSA GT and Can-Am, classic GP cars and GT racers of the '50s and '60s. We don't think you'll be disappointed.

These typically gorgeous action shots come courtesy of our friend Drew Phillips of Fast-Autos.net. We've also filled in a few paddock shots that show just how huge this event really is. If you've never attended an event like this, there's simply no way to describe how you'll feel the first time you see a dozen Bentley racers all lined up. We highly recommend making it up to Monterey next August or taking in any of the other vintage races that take place around the country.

So, it's a couple days late - call it a summer vacation hangover and let's just move on. We had a busy weekend covering both the Woodward Dream Cruise and the Pebble Beach Concours d'Elegance, which pushed our schedule back. Once in front of our mics, we start Autoblog Podcast #75 by mulling the 2008 Honda Accord. Damon regales us with the story of the Cadillac CTS media launch out at Laguna Seca. GM's made enough progress that we can just drop the "for a GM" modifier from the sentence "The new CTS is a great car." No longer able to heap abuse on the General, we look to Europe and find MINI. It seems nobody considered that the clamshell door setup on the Clubman should be engineered to swap sides, so it would always be on the passenger side, even in right-hand-drive countries. Whoops. Continuing with entertaining small cars, the Dodge Caliber SRT-4's pricing was announced. $23 large for 285 horsepower - such a deal. Big horsepower was also stuffed under a Toyota Aurion's Australian hood. The 320-odd horsepower Camry spinoff slaps our mamby-pamby weak-kneed Joe Camel Camry around pretty well. Don't change it, just send it. Speaking of car-lust, new DeLoreans are coming! $57,500 will buy you a hand built car that will net endless stupid-ass questions about the flux capacitor.

That's it - a meaty 51 minutes this week, enjoy!

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