Autoblog

Click to view the VW Golf Collectors Edition in hi-res

Remember when the Volkswagen Golf was meant to be an economy car? Well those days may be long gone, if they weren't already, as customers in Europe have demonstrated a willingness to shell out extra for luxury options even on less-than-premium automobiles. To cash in on that demand, European automakers have been scrambling to launch luxury option packages, complete with leather and all the trimmings, like Volkswagen has done with the first special edition of the new sixth-generation Golf.

Called, quite simply, the Collectors Edition, the exclusive new Golf tops the range of trim levels. The exterior is sprayed in an especially dark shade of blue which Volkswagen calls "Moonlight blue pearl effect" with matching grille. The 18-inch "Vancouver" wheels have been given a special high-gloss finish. But it's the interior that has been given the really special treatment, swathed in "Iowa" natural leather with piano-lacquer dash inserts and aluminum kick-plates. The special edition, supervised specifically by design chief Walter de Silva – whose initials adorn the vehicle – is being launched in its German market specification; we wouldn't expect it to make it to the US market any time soon, but you can still check out the press release after the jump and the trio of images in the gallery below.

[Source: Volkswagen]

New England is Volvo Country. It's also home territory for the loved and loathed Red Sox. There's plenty of cars plastered with "B" stickers, license plates and trinkum. Long a sponsor of Red Sox baseball, Volvo's rolled out a special edition of its stubby C30. The Kammback hatch comes with a factory-fitted Team logo stuck to the glass of the rear hatch, fender badges and a distinctive shade of red. This regionally pimped Volvo is a limited edition, with only 107 examples being produced.

If baseball (or just the Red Sox) isn't your thing, Volvo's got an Ocean Race Edition that spans the V70, XC70 and XC90 models. Ocean Race cars have been available a couple of times before, sporting Ocean Blue paint and nautical detailing, and the new Ocean Race themed cars continue to tie in with the actual sailing event. New this time around is the availability of Ocean Race models in Electric Silver as well as Ocean Blue. Interior details are more evocative of sailing, and new wheels draw inspiration from the undulation of the ocean. Volvo expects to shift 9,000 of these maritime units, which should make it easy enough to find a limited production Volvo, even if you miss out on the baseball themed C30. Ocean Race press release after the jump


[Source: Volvo]

Dodge Challenger Super Stock shown from 2006 SEMA Show

Just like in the '60s, some people will take their new 2008 Dodge Challengers to the drags. Chrysler is reportedly ready to make this very easy for new Challenger owners. Allpar is reporting that within a few weeks, there will issue forth from Chrysler a Super Stock special version of the Challenger. The intended application is Stock Eliminator drag racing, and the cars get their own VINs and lots of lightening. Powering drivers down the strip will be versions of the Hemi and 5.9 liter Magnum V8s, twisting through manual or automatic boxes.

Jettisoning things like wipers, HVAC, sound deadening and seats make for a Challenger that's definitely not road-ready, but much lighter for track applications. 800 pounds have reportedly been trimmed out of the car through the omission of equipment and special composite body parts. Mechanicals have been modified to better suit the use, too. The main body unit gets tweaks, and the front crossmember is modified to a drop-out unit. Front brakes are largely unnecessary when the nose is in the air for part of the run, so lightweight units have been fitted. The fascia support and cooling system also get the slim-fast treatment. More information will supposedly arrive soon, but a 1,320-pounding neo-E body pony car appears close at hand.

[Source: Allpar]

True, red-blooded Alfa Romeo fans will remember the Clover Leaf emblem, and not just from the red car in Who Framed Roger Rabbit. The badge was used on Alfa's most successful racing cars and most powerful road cars. Now the Quadrifoglio Verde is coming back to grace two new top-of-the-line versions of the 147 and GT.

Both models are being outfitted with the 170-hp 1.9-liter JTDM that made its debut on the limited-edition 147 Ducati Corse, coupled to Alfa's Q2 limited slip differential, a lowered suspension and a sport button to switch between touring and sport set-ups for throttle response. The Quadrifoglio Verde editions of both the 147 and GT also feature a range of cosmetic enhancements inside and out, including chrome exhaust tips, red brake calipers, satin-finish grilles and wing mirrors and a host of interior mods.

The 147 is being replaced soon by the "Junior" and 149, while the GT has largely become obsolete since the even more gorgeous Brera hit the market. We'd like to say these will be the last editions of both, but we have a feeling Alfa Romeo has a few more shots of adrenaline on hold to keep sales lively.

[Source: Italiaspeed]

click images to view in high-res

The Maserati Quattroporte is without a doubt one of our favorite sports sedans, exuding the kind of exotic Italian craftsmanship usually reserved for supercars and two-door GTs. But with a facelift around the corner, the Trident marque has been keeping the sensuous sedan fresh with ever more desirable editions.

The latest is the Quattroporte Collezione Cento, unveiled here at the North American International Auto Show in Detroit. If you have a grasp of any romance language, you'll have guessed that the Collezione Cento is limited to a 100 examples, each individually numbered. It features a special ivory tint with a beautiful quilted Cuoio dark tan leather interior, and comes equipped with the company's multimedia entertainment system, a keyboard built in to the rear center armrest, iPod and USB connectivity, web access and DVDs displayed on twin 10.4" touch-screens mounted in the front seatbacks.

We have a selection of live shots from the show floor as well as the press shots in the gallery below, and the official press release can be read after the jump.

[Source: Maserati]

Speculation over a potential second model from Bugatti has been a colossal roller-coaster. There were rumors of a super-luxury sedan, an entry-level roadster and a targa variant of the existing Veyron.

The Veyron was a pet project of former VW Group CEO Ferdinand Piech, who remains chairman of the VW supervisory board and is said to be keen on moving ahead with a follow-up to the Veyron. When Martin Winterkorn took over, however, he was reported to have shelved any plans for an additional model, prompting Bugatti CEO Thomas Bscher to resign. Bugatti then shifted to the control of Bentley CEO Franz-Josef Paefgen, who, after shoehorning the Veyron's engine into a Bentley Arnage luxury sedan, revealed last September that there would be an additional Bugatti coming.

Reports are now surfacing which indicate that the new model could be an even more expensive, even faster supercar than the Veyron. Whereas the Veyron, for all its enormous, time-bending power and speed, was designed as a comfortable grant tourer, the new model would be a tighter, more track-focused supercar. Power would likely come from a retuned version of the Veyron's 8-liter quad-turbo W16, which was long reported to be under-rated in its power production of 1000 hp, and is tipped to produce 1175 hp in the new version. Artistic renderings from German magazine Auto Motor und Sport depict the car with styling more akin to a Le Mans racer, with a protruding front splitter and an enormous rear wing.

The vehicle, currently rumored to be code-named "Project Lydia" after Ettore Bugatti's wife, would exceed the 400km/h top speed of the Veyron in pursuit of a Nurburgring lap time of 6 minutes and 40 seconds. While these reports could very well turn out to be no more substantial than previous ones, if Bugatti did built Project Lydia in a reported run of 70 examples for a whopping Є2.5 million apiece, it would easily eclipse anything else out there.

[Source: Auto Motor und Sport via Motor Authority]

From its headquarters in Maranello, Ferrari has traditionally operated two divisions: one that makes exquisite road cars, and another that competes in motorsports. More recently, however, a third division has emerged, with the responsibility of conducting the company's ever-increasing marketing enterprise. The Global Branding Division itself seems to be following two tracks: licensing products as exclusive as the road cars and targeted towards their owners, and marketing merchandise to the Scuderia's enormous fan base.

Take for example the ever-popular Ferrari wrist watches: the company teamed up with Swiss watchmakers Panerai to offer a line of exquisite timepieces at big prices, all the while offering the common racing fan a less complicated, lower-cost wristwatch. Ferrari appears to be offering branded mobile phones along the same strategy: the company teams up with Vertu to offer exclusive four-figure devices to Ferrari owners, and with Motorola for more cost-effective (but assuredly still plenty pricey) cell phones.

The latest to fit into the strategy is this Ferrari-edition Motorola Z8, complete with red accents and Ferrari logos, and loaded with special content, including videos, ring-tones and wallpapers. For some reason it even comes loaded with "The Bourne Identity" in mobile format.

Prices haven't yet been released, but while the Vertu sells for thousands, the previous Motorola RAZR Maxx V6 Ferrari Challenge retailed for a more manageable $524. The Motorola Z8 Ferrari will be available from Ferrari Stores and select Motorola retailers. Unfortunately for anyone reading this and thinking it would make a great Christmas gift for a certain special someone, it won't be available until after the new year, so consider putting a personal voucher in with the card instead.

[Source: Kataweb via Unwired View, Motorpasion and CarScoop]

Click on the image above to view in high resolution

Close your eyes, we're going to play a little automotive word association. Just one round. Think of "malaria" – now what vehicle are you associating with the unfortunate disease? It could only be the Land Rover Defender, the go-anywhere, no-nonsense sport-ute that has probably traveled more malarial swamps and barren deserts than any other vehicle in history. Granted most marketing firms would not recommend that their clients associating their product with a debilitating disease, but this marketing association is geared towards raising funds to eliminate the disease. That's good.

Land Rover Netherlands has teamed up with designer Piet Boon to produce a limited edition Defender. The Dutch designer has added some minimalist details to the truck, equipped with LR's 2.4-liter turbodiesel, in return for €56,900, a portion of which goes towards the Drive Against Malaria foundation. Like the previous Piet Boon Edition of the Range Rover Sport, only 15 will be made available, so if malaria is your cause, you live in Holland, and you're in the market for a new truck, we'd like to meet you better get yours now.

[Source: Piet Boon Design via Land Rover Owner International]

UPDATE: New high-res gallery of images added

Good keeps getting better over at Aston Martin, who never seem to tire of making their sports cars faster and faster. The latest in the speed wars from their new headquarters in Gaydon is this adrenaline-dripping special-edition V12 Vantage RS.

Into what could very well prove to be the fastest, hottest Aston Martin yet, the newly independent British automaker has dropped the V12 reactor not from the recently demised Vanquish, nofrom the road-going DB9 or Bond-tastic DBS derivative, but from the DBRS9 race car. With somewhere in the neighborhood of 600 horsepower (!) pushing 3500 lbs, the V12 Vantage RS is anticipated to clock a 0-60 time in the 3's on its way to a 200-mph top speed. Performance target: Ferrari 599 GTB Fiorano. That's highly ambitious, considering that the Fiorano is widely acclaimed as one of the most competent supercars on the planet, but with that kind of juice in such a brilliant package as the Vantage's, it might not be so far-fetched.

At the time of writing, AutoWeek was the only source carrying the information, and we hope to have more details soon on the special Vantage which was unveiled earlier today on the occasion of the company's new design center. Although it was launched as a concept, sources suggest it could very well find its way into limited production and slot into the Aston Martin line-up above the current flagship DBS. We certainly hope so.

[Source: AutoWeek]

If you're expecting an Italian take on a VW bus, you're thinking of the wrong kind of stoner, hippie. That's Stoner with a capital S, as in Casey Stoner, Ducati's star rider who's riding this year to the MotoGP title. To commemorate the victory, Alfa Romeo teamed up with Ducati Corse to produce this special-edition 147.

Now if you're thinking "not another special-edition 147", hold on another second there, hippie. (Okay, now we're just raggin' on hippies for kicks.) This one actually gets more power! Summoned by a power boost button on the center console, this Alfa draws an extra 20 horses from its 1.9-liter MJet diesel, bringing peak output up to 170 from the standard 150. Not bad, considering this isn't even the range-topping 147 GTA. The Ducati edition also gets Alfa's trick Q2 differential, unique 18-inch rims, special "Rosso Ducati" paint and leather sports seats.

[Source: Infomotori]