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August 21, 2008
Not that the Audi S5 isn't fastest enough, but another 100 horsepower or so might make it the best coupe on the planet. Looks like we'll get our wish soon enough as spy photographers caught what looks to be an Audi RS5 testing in Death Valley.
It has a more aggressive front end and a larger set of 265/35ZR19 tires too. The signature oval exhaust tips aren't there, but that's probably just a temporary attempt to confuse onlookers. Our hope is that those exhaust pipes are connected to the same 580-hp V10 found in the RS6 sedan. Expect to hear an official announcement by the end of the year.
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- Posted by: Ed Hellwig August 21, 2008, 1:24 PM
- Categories: Audi, Coupes, Future Vehicles, Spy Photos
August 7, 2008
The Infiniti G37 lineup consists of perhaps some of the best looking and most desirable cars ever to come from the Land of the Rising Sun. This is even more true of the G37 Coupe, a vehicle that's so good looking that it makes the Nissan GT-R look like the morning after of a night of too much sake.
So news that there will be an AWD version of the G37 Coupe has me a just bit giddy. Better still, Inifiniti is planning on doing a folding hardtop version as well, but likely in RWD. The hardtop-convertible will debut at the LA auto show in November, and will arrive in the first quarter of next year.
Also coming for all 2009 G models is a new 7-speed automatic that will replace the current 6-speed unit, plus an uprated brake package and new 18" rims.
Full story here.
July 21, 2008
The long wait for the all-new 2010 Chevy Camaro is about over, as images of the production model have hit the Net.
The car will be "officially" introduced this afternoon at 4:00 EDT on a webcast.
The new Camaro can be had in three trim levels -- LS, LT and SS (no, there is not an RS trim level). Power will be supplied via either a 296-horsepower 3.6-liter V6 or a 416-hp 6.2-liter V8. Both engines will be available with either a six-speed manual or automatic gearbox. Other goodies include stability control, Brembo brakes (on the SS), retro-themed gauges and LED interior lighting. Figure on a weight of about 3,750 pounds, with a 52/48 front/rear weight distribution.
Here's Inside Line's take: Revealed: Official Shots of 2010 Chevrolet Camaro
More images after the jump.
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- Posted by: Bob Holland July 21, 2008, 6:56 AM
- Categories: Chevrolet, Coupes, Sports Cars
July 14, 2008
Inside Line has learned that the next-generation Lexus SC430 and Toyota Avalon have been canceled. Sales on the SC430 are down 40 percent so far this year; and since Lexus is developing a production version of the LF-A super coupe, what's the point of keeping the SC430?
As to the Avalon, word is that Toyota may be developing a long-wheelbase version of the 2012 Camry. If that's the case there would be no need for the Avalon, it would certainly be cheaper for Toyota to offer a stretched Camry than a significantly different Avalon, which is based on the Camry anyway.
IL Insider: Toyota Cancels Next-Generation Lexus SC
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- Posted by: Bob Holland July 14, 2008, 4:00 AM
- Categories: Convertibles, Coupes, Lexus, Luxury Cars, Sedans, Toyota
June 4, 2008
UK's AutoExpress has posted some new info and a new photo-illustration of the upcoming Subaru coupe. Base models, as we know will be RWD, while the range-topping 300 hp turbo will likely get AWD—which it will need to harness all that power properly.
Full story here.
UPDATE: Actual (first!) spy shots here...
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- Posted by: Bob Holland June 4, 2008, 1:53 PM
- Categories: Coupes, Future Vehicles, Subaru
June 2, 2008
Hey Insiders,
Your votes have been tallied. See if your fellow readers agreed with your picks.
And the winners are...
Read the IL Readers' Most Wanted Results on Inside Line...
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- Posted by: Donna Derosa June 2, 2008, 4:38 PM
- Categories: Convertibles, Coupes, Hatchbacks, Luxury Cars, Minivans, SUVs, Sedans, Sports Cars, Trucks
May 28, 2008
Even though the Acura Integra Type-R coupe is FWD, and is out of production, Subaru has chosen that car to model the performance and size specs after for their new RWD coupe. Due in 2011, and being co-developed with Toyota, the new car is expected to have an MSRP under $20K for base models. It will use the Subaru boxer engine, and there have been rumors of a possible AWD version also being offered, although there is no mention of that in this latest Inside Line report.
Inside Line also reports that the Toyota version will be a Japan-only vehicle, while the Subaru version will be marketed worldwide...
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- Posted by: Bob Holland May 28, 2008, 6:00 AM
- Categories: Acura, Coupes, Subaru, Toyota
May 15, 2008
Bad news for Caddy fans, as the latest word is that Cadillac will not build a coupe-convertible version of their classy CTS coupe.
This is really odd, as coupe-convertibles from other luxury carmakers are hot items. To make matters worse, Cadillac's explanation as to why the decision, does nothing but raise more speculation and more questions.
"We're pleased to be the subject of speculation...
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- Posted by: Bob Holland May 15, 2008, 4:54 AM
- Categories: Cadillac, Convertibles, Coupes
May 9, 2008
If you're hot-to-trot on this new Bimmer, you'd better head over to your nearest dealer soon. All factory orders for 2008 have been spoken for—from the manufacturer to dealers—that is. That being the case, '08 X6s may be hard to come by in the not too distant future.
I know the X6 is a somewhat controversial vehicle, as the more "practical" AWD X5 can do just about anything this AWD SUV, er, sorry, AWD coupe can do...
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- Posted by: Bob Holland May 9, 2008, 4:00 AM
- Categories: BMW, Coupes, SUVs
April 29, 2008
Yep, it's another Nissan GT-R blog entry, but this time with a twist. This time we have Jay Leno commenting on the vehicle—and yes, you can learn a few new things about the car as well.
Full story here at Autoblog.
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- Posted by: Bob Holland April 29, 2008, 4:00 AM
- Categories: Coupes, Nissan, Sports Cars
April 28, 2008
It's the battle of the Bavarians.
We put our long-term 2002 BMW M3 against two of the latest BMWs: the 135i and 335i...
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- Posted by: Donna Derosa April 28, 2008, 1:44 PM
- Categories: BMW, Coupes
April 25, 2008
I remember very clearly the very first Mustang I ever saw in person. It belonged to Joe Benezra, who was the older brother to one of my high school buddies. Joe, who was maybe a year or two out of high school, swung by the high school one day to show off his new ride. It was a bright orange Mustang convertible, with a pathetic (by today's standards) 105 hp 6-cylinder engine, three-on-the-floor, and skinny whitewall tires with full wheel covers...
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- Posted by: Bob Holland April 25, 2008, 4:00 AM
- Categories: Convertibles, Coupes, Ford, Sports Cars
April 22, 2008
Many within FHI (Subaru) worry that a RWD Subaru coupe could dilute brand's AWD image. Well, duh... Of course it will—and I've been saying this from the very moment I got wind of this news...
"We may lose our longstanding territory, or we may lose the great niche brand image...
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- Posted by: Bob Holland April 22, 2008, 4:00 AM
- Categories: Coupes, Subaru, Toyota
April 20, 2008
Maybe you remember the name Geely? It was the first Chinese car company to show a car at the Detroit auto show in 2006. The display vehicle was a pathetic attempt at a sedan that left many wondering if it was a serious car company.
Now take a look at this Geely concept...
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- Posted by: Ed Hellwig April 20, 2008, 10:01 PM
- Categories: Beijing Auto Show, Coupes, Geely
April 9, 2008
Sketches of the upcoming RWD Subaru coupe are posted along with some info on UK's Autocar.com.
It's been known for some time that Toyota and Subaru are doing a joint coupe, using the Subaru boxer engine, and that the Toyota version would be RWD. Now this article is stating that the Subie version would also be RWD.
As comedian Redd Foxx used to say on his TV show, Sanford and Son: "This is the big one!..
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- Posted by: Bob Holland April 9, 2008, 7:21 AM
- Categories: Coupes, Subaru, Toyota
April 7, 2008
The 2009 Chevrolet Camaro has arrived at the Nurburgring. These pictures were just shot at the famous German test track, so expect to see video of it burning up the Nordschleife shortly. Note the Brembo calipers up front. Could this be the often rumored SS version?..
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- Posted by: Ed Hellwig April 7, 2008, 10:14 AM
- Categories: Chevrolet, Coupes, Spy Photos
March 24, 2008
Two powerful coupes go head to head.
Inside Line tested the new BMW M3 alongside the 2008 Audi S5. See how they matched up...
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- Posted by: Donna Derosa March 24, 2008, 5:08 PM
- Categories: Audi, BMW, Coupes
Eugene Brakke of Burbank, CA had his 1965 Ford Mustang stolen in 1965, only to just find out it has actually been found. Sounds like a story ripe for TV's Cold Case show, no?
Apparently shortly after being stolen, it was sold to a used car dealer in Bellflower. Not long thereafter it was bought as a gift for a young Judy Smongesky, who was then graduating high school. Ms...
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- Posted by: Bob Holland March 24, 2008, 4:00 AM
- Categories: Classic Cars, Coupes, Ford, Trends
March 20, 2008
Not much to report from the Mini press conference today at the New York auto show. Jim McDowell, vice president of Mini USA, got up and gave a nice little spiel on Mini's long history of racing and briefly went over the Mini Challenge racecar on display. He then moved on to the new John Cooper Works Clubman, a slick-looking variation of the standard Clubman that's just now trickling into dealers. The fact that Mini doesn't feel the need to use big flashy intros and overly ambitious language to describe its cars reflects its confidence in the product and its continued popularity...
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- Posted by: Ed Hellwig March 20, 2008, 8:45 AM
- Categories: Coupes, MINI, New York Auto Show
Kia wants to be the sporty half of the Hyundai-Kia alliance, but that just hasn't come through in any of the brand's production cars. That might change if the Kia Koup concept goes into production, and it almost certainly will: "This is a production-ready design that could find its way into the Kia lineup and perhaps sooner than one might think," said Tom Kearns, chief designer for Kia Motors America (and owner of a '71 Porsche 911 S). When we do see it, expect "Spectra" to be part of its name, as the Koup is built on the company's front-drive, C-segment platform.
It comes straight out of Kia's new Irvine design studio, so it's no surprise to see styling cues borrowed from cars like the Honda Civic coupe and Scion tC. There's also some early '80s Lotus Esprit in there, as the lead designer, Kurt Kahl, bought one just before starting in on this 10-month project. The very angular look of the wedge-shaped coupe is quite intentional. As Hyundai goes for more organic designs (i.e., Genesis coupe), Kia will use harder lines to differentiate itself.
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- Posted by: Erin Riches March 20, 2008, 8:23 AM
- Categories: Coupes, Kia, New York Auto Show
March 19, 2008
Whether you think it's massively cool or just as far down on the ugly spectrum, the Scion Hako coupe concept was one of the most unusual and interesting-looking cars unveiled at New York's Javits Center today.
Actually, Jack Hollis, Scion vice president, is kind of hoping you won't like it. "If you think it's ugly, great. That's perfect. As you know, polarizing style fits in well with our lineup."
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- Posted by: Erin Riches March 19, 2008, 1:50 PM
- Categories: Coupes, Hatchbacks, New York Auto Show, Scion
March 16, 2008
Although its official unveil is scheduled for the 2008 New York Auto Show later this week, photos of the 2009 Hyundai Genesis Coupe have already leaked out. No big surprises here as it looks much like the Genesis coupe concept shown at the Los Angeles auto show late last year. Look for full details in our show coverage from New York starting Wednesday.
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- Posted by: Ed Hellwig March 16, 2008, 3:55 PM
- Categories: Coupes, Hyundai, New York Auto Show
March 13, 2008
File this one away in the “don’t believe everything you read on the Internet" bin. Way back in August of 2006, a member of m3post.com let loose with what he claimed was official pricing on the 2008 BMW M3. He had everything from base price to the options list, and it was all from a friend who had “good reliable connections at BMWNA and a BMW Dealer.”
We were skeptical. For a car that wasn’t scheduled to go on sale for at least another year, it seemed odd that BMW had already set pricing. Then we had our own data analyst look into the “official” information and it looked even more suspicious.
Fast forward to the present. We now have official pricing from BMW, so we thought it might be interesting to see just how credible that “reliable connection” was back in 2006. Turns out, not very reliable at all.
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- Posted by: Ed Hellwig March 13, 2008, 5:22 AM
- Categories: BMW, Coupes, Future Vehicles
March 7, 2008
It looks like it won’t be long before the 2010 Cadillac CTC hits the road. These shots taken recently in Michigan reveal some very production looking bodywork. From the detailed grille to the quarterpanel vents, this looks more like an early prototype than a test mule. As we reported months ago, the 2010 Cadillac CTS coupe will go into production in the spring of 2009...
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March 5, 2008
Would you be willing to pay $30K for the Volkswagen Scirocco? Certain members of Volkswagen’s executive board in the U.S. don’t think so. That’s why they’ve been telling the home office not to send the Scirocco to the U.S. after it goes on sale in Europe later this year.
At least that’s what we hear. Too much overlap with the GTI, they say. They’ve got a point, as the Scirocco is pretty much just a GTI with a different body. Factor in the R32 that’s also based on the GTI and it’s hard to make a good business case for bringing in the Scirocco. Maybe a limited run like the R32? We’ll see, but don’t get your hopes up. –- Ed Hellwig, Senior Editor, Inside Line
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- Posted by: Ed Hellwig March 5, 2008, 6:40 AM
- Categories: Coupes, Geneva Motor Show, Volkswagen
March 4, 2008
We've been anticipating the day the Infiniti G35 sedan would become the G37 sedan to match the G37 coupe, and while it's not here yet, the cars' attendance at tonight's Infiniti party suggests it can't be far off. Same goes for the Infiniti EX37.
Because of the foothold BMW, Mercedes-Benz and Audi have in Europe, Infiniti wanted to go in with its best V6 engine, the new 3.7-liter VQ, for the brand's launch here in October 2008, said Nicolas Tschann, director of product planning and product marketing for Infiniti of Europe. "We're not going to start with four-cylinder diesels," he offered.
All of these cars will have a seven-speed automatic transmission, though a six-speed manual will still be available on the G coupe and sedan.
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- Posted by: Erin Riches March 4, 2008, 5:02 PM
- Categories: Coupes, Geneva Motor Show, Infiniti, SUVs
Finally, Maserati has a car that can go from zero to 60 mph in under 5 seconds. This would be the 2008 Maserati GranTurismo S unveiled in Geneva today. Noting the crowd's fatigue at this late afternoon press conference, Maserati CEO Roberto Ronchi took a simple tack for his speech.
"People have been asking me, 'What does the S stand for,'" he said. "First of all, it stands for 'sport' because there is the new 4.7-liter V8 engine." That engine makes 440 horsepower at 7,000 rpm and 361 pound-feet of torque at 4,750 rpm -- significant gains over the 405 hp at 7,100 and 339 lb-ft at 4,750 in the regular GranTurismo.
"'S' also stands for 'speed,'" he continued, "because this is the fastest Maserati we've ever built." The GranTurismo S has a top speed of 295 km/h, he said, which is 183 mph.
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- Posted by: Erin Riches March 4, 2008, 9:21 AM
- Categories: Coupes, Geneva Motor Show, Luxury Cars, Maserati
It was a typical day at the Rolls-Royce booth in Geneva, meaning that we couldn't get anywhere near the 2009 Rolls-Royce Phantom Coupe until 30 minutes after the press conference. Chinese manufacturer BYD had the good fortune to have its booth right next to the Rolls stand, allowing it to pull in a healthy crowd for its own press conference immediately preceding the two-door Phantom's unveiling.
As in the past, we were immediately cowed into silence by the Roller's monstrous size -- exactly as it should be for a car of this stature. Despite its 18-foot length, this will be the sportiest of the Phantoms, as it has the stiffest chassis and the firmest suspension settings. Nevertheless, said Ian Robertson, chairman and CEO of Rolls-Royce, "that waftability that we refer to is still very much in the character of this car."
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- Posted by: Erin Riches March 4, 2008, 7:07 AM
- Categories: Coupes, Geneva Motor Show, Luxury Cars, Rolls-Royce
March 1, 2008
Giugiaro, after teasing us with some close-up detail images of the Quaranta concept, has finally released official pictures and info about their new concept, which celebrates 40 year of Italdesign being in business.
The car is powered by a 3.3L hybrid-V6 which is supplied by Toyota. How's that having your cake and eating it too? Stunning Italian design hooked up to Toyota hybrid running gear...
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February 29, 2008
In the latest edition of broken news embargos, there are now images up on the Net of the production VW Scirocco. The car will debut at the Geneva auto show next week.
Probably most surprising, at least to me, is the front, as it looks very little like the concept that had been making the auto show rounds. And, as is often the case, I prefer the concept, at least from the front...
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February 1, 2008
We have a new image of the soon-to-be-released Dodge Challenger, and as you can see, it doesn't stray far from the show concept car. The taillights and exhaust tips have been tweaked slightly. There's also a new small rear lip spoiler with an SRT8 badge. Other than that, at least from this angle, it seems to remain true to the original concept...
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- Posted by: Bob Holland February 1, 2008, 5:00 AM
- Categories: Coupes, Dodge
January 31, 2008
GM has been testing Chevy Camaro prototypes in various places around the world. Now these latest photos from Australia give the best close-up views yet of the new sporty car.
It might at first seem odd to find the Camaro being tested in Australia, but that is because GM’s Australian arm, Holden, is leading the development work on the Camaro. The new Camaro is based on GM’s global rear-drive architecture, which also underpin’s Holden’s VE Commodore range of cars.
Naturally the new Camaro will stick with rear-wheel drive, and may even have independent rear suspension as shown on the Camaro concept car. Engine offerings will include a powerful V8, but will have a cylinder shutdown system for improved fuel mileage.
The car is getting very close to production-ready and is expected to go on sale in the States sometime in early 2009. A convertible version is expected to follow about a year later...
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- Posted by: Bob Holland January 31, 2008, 10:16 AM
- Categories: Chevrolet, Coupes
January 23, 2008
We've added Sync to our long-term fleet. I mean, we've added a 2008 Ford Focus SES to our long-term fleet.
Affordable, youthful, and peppy, our Focus comes with Microsoft Sync, a voice-activated system that integrates your phone and entertainment systems and is standard on the SES trim level.
Read the Ford Focus Introduction on Inside Line...
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- Posted by: Donna Derosa January 23, 2008, 6:55 PM
- Categories: Coupes, Ford
January 21, 2008
Quite possibly my favorite concept of the 2008 Detroit Auto Show, the Cadillac CTS coupe, will go into production in 18 months. I think this is great news.
Here
