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(from Maserati Press Release)

The Quattroporte Sport GT S “Awards Edition”, the latest jewel in the Maserati range, makes its official debut at the prestigious Geneva Auto Show.

Six years after its birth, the car that created the luxury sport sedan segment continues to receive accolades from the general public, automobile enthusiasts and the press. Maserati has decided to celebrate its success with a superlative version, blending the elegance and sporty stylishness of the brand’s flagship, thanks to the combination of highly refined details, handcrafted finishes and features with a decidedly sporty flair.

During its six years of life, the Maserati Quattroporte has received no less than fifty six awards from the most prestigious automotive and lifestyle publications in fourteen countries over in four continents: a global approval for a car that has known how to recreate itself over the years, never failing to maintain the appeal of the lines and purity of the forms created by the hand of Pininfarina, which defined it an instant classic.

The Quattroporte Sport GT S “Awards Edition”, based on the Quattroporte Sport GT S, aims to combine in one car all the features that have made the Trident flagship a benchmark for its segment:

• the unique and elegant styling, mixed with a hint of sporting flair due to the eye-catching features adopted on both the exterior and interior fittings;
• driving enjoyment, because the “Awards Edition” is based on the Quattroporte Sport GT S, which boasts dynamic and top-class performance;
• the craftsmanship of the hand-finished details which make each car a unique product.

The new Quarzo fuso finishing – a pearlescent metallic grey with golden nuanced colour – exclusive to this model, makes the exterior immediately recognizable, and highlights the body’s elegant lines. The burnished treatment used on the exterior chrome parts, as well as on the side air vents and radiator surround, also blends with the 20’’ Multi Trident dark grey rims with satin finish.

The brake system, which replicates the system fitted to the Quattroporte Sport GT S and uses dual-cast technology, is further enhanced by the hand-polished calipers both at the front and rear. With the Quattroporte Sport GT S “Awards Edition”, Maserati and Brembo are introducing on the market for the first time polished calipers, treated with precision mechanical processes and featuring a hand finish which gives them their special mirror-like appearance and enhances their sporty credentials at the same time.

The interior also bears witness to the combination of sporting flair and craftsmanship that has always characterized the Maserati flagship sedan. The Poltrona Frau leather of the seats is combined with perforated Alcantara with a new undulated pattern, and the headlining still in Alcantara. Completing the interior space are the special brushed aluminum door sills and Piano Black satin-finish wood moldings.

The boot with a full black trim has been embellished further with chrome details and a leather side pocket. The attention to details has even been extended to the mats, which are made of even richer and softer material.

A special exterior “Awards Edition” series plate completes the car’s look and makes an already unique car even more unmistakable.

The Quattroporte Sport GT S “Awards Edition” will be available in the latter half of 2010 as model year 2011

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Audi’s finally bringing its 2.0 L gasoline turbo-four to the A5.  The 2.0T will pump out a respectable 211 hp (forty-four less than the V-6) and come with the choice of a 6-spd. manual or a Tiptronic gearbox.  (The 3.2 will lose its manual-shift amid the changeover.)  The 2.0T will still benefit from all-wheel-drive as standard equipment.

Pricing, with destination, comes to under $37,000.

Many fancy themselves as speed freaks, but no can deny the ultimate form of speed lies not on the ground–but in the air.

For a fraction of the asking price for a Mecum auction Daytona, you can be the owner of America’s most praised fighter jet.  The North American F-86 Sabre drove the US Air Force to obtain air superiority over the skies of Korea in the 1950s.  The Sabre’s sleek design offered cutting-edge subsonic qualities, such as low-drag swept wings that provided superb maneuverability and speed.

GE turbojet engines, though different among the Sabre variants, could be expected to push this beauty up to 570 to 680 mph, depending on the exact model, while the ceiling hovers just below 50,000 ft.  Working Sabres range in price from $700,000 to $2,000,000, and hundreds of retired planes are waiting around for much less from Amazonia to the Balkans. chevy s10 for sale

To honor the UK’s Goodwood Festival, Jaguar’s produced a new one-off special of its XK coupe.  The Goodwood Special is painted in bright lime green with orange and silver labeling to stand out from the pack.  Its suspension has been lowered, 21″ rims have been added, and a modified exhaust has been hooked up for a more masculine sound.  The supercharged 5.0 V-8 has been tuned to produce up to 530 hp and a 0-60 time of less than four and a half seconds.  Nothing has been announced of Jaguar making the Goodwood available to the public.

Shelby’s put out official pics and specs for the 2010 GT500 Super Snake.  The Super Snake, unlike the regular GT500, is an actual Shelby project undertaking directly by the company staff.  (The GT500 uses the Shelby name pretty much for marketing purposes.)  The benefit of having the Ford/Shelby name running side-by-side is that Shelby’s own tuners can market their specials as being almost factory-grade.

There shouldn’t been much need for marketing with the refreshed Snake.  This GT500 uses a juiced supercharger instead of a needle in the ass.  With an upgraded intercool and exhaust system, the Super Snake will put out 630 hp in stage one trim, or an unfathomable 725 hp with the stage two setup.  (The regular GT500′s max output is 540 hp.)

All this power requires added tweaks to support the extra muscle.  Suspension’s been extensively modified with stiffened springs, reinforced struts, and strengthened antiroll bars.  Baer six-piston ventilated disc brakes bring in the necessary stopping power for the SC’d 5.4 L V-8.

So just how much does all this serpent glory come in at?  The Super Snake is considered a performance package: stage one is $29,500; two is priced at $33,500.  With the GT500′s approximately $45,000 sticker, expect to be doling out $75,000 for the 630 hp package and $79,000 for the 725.

If George Michael had pulled this out at that park restroom years ago, we can all be sure he wouldn’t have gone to jail.

The Ford sports car has been an ongoing issue for the company to this very day.  The Thunderbird was a wildly popular two-seater in the 1950s, easily outselling Chevrolet’s Corvette.  Bean counters opted to enlarge the T’Bird and add rear seats, leaving GM to offer the only serious American sports car.  Ford’s top brass couldn’t argue with the “Big Bird’s” growing sales figures, so it decided to support other efforts like the Shelby Cobra and the De Tomaso Pantera.

After a rough time from the mid-’70s to the ’80s, Ford mounted a big comeback.  With the ’90s, Ford felt confident enough the test the supercar waters.  It sought to revive the excitement from its classic GT40 race car with a fresh, high-tech design.  The result was the GT90.

Like the era’s top supercar, the McLaren F1, the GT90 employed an immendsely powerful engine combined with a light body.  Carbon fiber monocoque construction served as the body support, keeping the weight down to just 3,200 lbs.  The car employed a fully independent double-wishbone suspension derived from Jaguar’s XJ220.  (Also taken from the Jag parts bin was a five-speed manual transmission.)

The heart of the car was a mid-mounted 5.9 L forty-eight-valve V-12.  The engine was backed by four Garrett turbochargers, helping push the maximum output to 720 hp.  Ford spin doctors claimed the GT90 could outclass any production supercar on the road.  Top speed was said to be anywhere from 235 mph to as much as 253.

Of course, there was never any proof of this.  The test model could only hit 40 mph, and no prototype was built to achieve anything far beyond that.  Press reports and articles floated around for years claiming the GT90 was being readied for production.  Even more stunning (and McLaren-like): Only one hundred examples were to be built.

The GT90 never did get off the ground.  The projected cost far outweighed any marketing advantages.  The boom years of the Taurus and Explorer gave way to steady losses; by the start of the new millennium, the GT90 concept was left to the dust bin of time.  A tiny bit of irony came when Ford did build an exotic sports car in the 2000s, but based the design on the original GT40.

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Here are the official pics of SuPerformance’s 2009 GT40.  The SuPerformance has become the foremost builder of Ford and Shelby replicas, earning the official endorsement of Old Man Shelby himself.  The SuPerformance GT40 should not be mistaken to be a tuner-house version of Ford’s recent exotic.  This is a total replica of the original 1960s race car with a few changes, though those may not be very noticeable to the naked eye.  Customers can request various forms of customization, modern amenities, and powertrains suitable to their tastes and–more importantly–their wallets.

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