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Ferrari California priced at £143,000 abroad

As you read this, journalists in Europe are getting their first taste of the Ferrari California, flogging the new coupe/convertible through the rolling hills of Italy, and periodically stopping to snack on shaved white truffles and sip Brunello di Montalcino. Jealous? We are. But rest assured our time will come. If it doesn't, then at least we know what we'll have to remove from our tanking 401k to get a California of our own... in Europe. Evo is reporting that the Ferrari California will set back our friends abroad £143,000, placing it right in between the F430 coupe and spider. To put that into a U.S.-dollar perspective, the F430 coupe costs around $185,000 in the States, while the drop-top F430 is priced somewhere north of $210,000.
posted : 10/16/2008 @6:00:32 PM
GM closing Wisconsin SUV plant early, doors closed by end of year

General Motors has announced that it wil close its SUV plant in Janesville, Wisconsin by the end of this year in response to the woeful market for utility vehicles. The plant produces the GMC Yukon and Chevy Suburban and employs 1,200 UAW workers. GM was originally planning to shutter the plant sometime before 2010, but deteriorating market conditions have expedited the plant's demise. The news comes only one week after the General announced that it would be closing its Moraine, OH SUV plant early, as well. Some analysts think GM could pull the plug on its Oshawa truck plant and Mexico facility in Toluca early too since truck sales are down as well, as GM has already announced that those plants are slated for closure. GM top dog Rick Wagoner stated last week that some stamping facilities could also face closure to help align production capabilities to demand.
posted : 10/15/2008 @9:36:44 PM
Jeep CJ-7 turned General Lee violates natural order of things

There are fantastic combinations, like bacon and, well, just about anything, and then there are things that should never be combined. Jeep CJ-7s are super iconic, and they represent the pinnacle of AMC's stewardship of the brand. Though the Dukes of Hazzard itself was no Citizen Kane, every kid of that era has indelible images of an orange Charger flying through the air etched in their memories. Again, General Lee: cool. Put them together; ignoring the fact that a proper "Dukes"-themed CJ would mirror the Golden Eagle edition that appeared in the show; and you have created that which should never be. The "01" treatment has been applied to some very odd vehicles the world over, though, so we suppose that a General Lee-themed CJ isn't so bad in the long run. At least both elements appeared in the original show...
posted : 10/13/2008 @4:52:00 PM
VIDEO: It takes two Fiestas to tango

We're really excited for the new Ford Fiesta to hit U.S. shores, but unfortunately we have almost two more years to wait. Our friends overseas don't have to wait at all, though, so marketing for the attractive sub-compact has already started in the UK. One such publicity stunt involved a pair of three-door Fiestas that tore up the dance floor recently near the Tower of London at the Tango at the Tower event while a 20-piece orchestra jammed the classic tune. That's right – cars doing the tango. Hit the jump to view the well-choreographed video of the two Fiestas going toe to toe in the rain. We're tempted to quip that these Fiestas have better moves than Kim Kardashian, but we have no desire to admit watching.
more ...
posted : 10/5/2008 @5:36:41 PM
AZ-Wagon: Mazdaspeak for "Suzuki Wagon R"

Late Sunday night, Mazda issued a press release from the mothership in Japan touting the arrival of the new home-market AZ-Wagon kei car. Those of you who paid attention to Autoblog last week may be experiencing twinges of deja vu as you look at the enclosed photos. Yes, you have seen this car before: the new Mazda AZ-Wagon is simply a rebadged version of the new Suzuki Wagon R, just like it was before. The regular AZ-Wagon is the standard Wagon R, while the AZ-Wagon Custom Style (above) is the Wagon R Stingray. We'd happily sign up for one, but alas, Mazda's Stateside rebadge-o-rama is limited to the Tribute and B-Series.
posted : 10/5/2008 @2:29:20 PM
Suzuki unveils 2009 GSX-R1000

The Suzuki GSX-R1000 has been around since 2001, replacing the venerable 1100 sportbike that couldn't quite match the performance of the sensational Yamaha R1 that was introduced in 1998. Ever since, the big Gixxer has been battling it out with the other Japanese literbikes for the outright performance crown. For 2009, the model gets evolutionary changes that are meant to eke that extra bit of speed out of the platform, which has shed a few pounds off the slightly porky model of the past few years. One instantly recognizable update is the new dual exhaust cans, now made from titanium in a very swoopy shape. There's a slight bump in the engine's compression, which now has larger titanium valves for better breathing potential. The front forks also come from Showa and feature the firm's new Big Piston technology. All in all, it may not be as flashy as the ABS-equipped CBR from Honda or the new crossplane crank from Yamana, but Suzuki's definitely been in-the-hunt these last few years. We'll see how things play out on the track and on the sales floor soon enough.
posted : 10/3/2008 @8:39:26 PM
Corvette ZR1 to cost £109,000 in UK

The car that Top Gear liked to drive, if not exactly to look at, has a price they definitely won't want to pay. At an on-the-road price of £109,000, the ZR1 costs nearly £48,000 pounds more than a Z06 in the UK. As if that weren't problematic enough, that price puts the left-hand-drive-only ZR1 £8,000 past the 911 Turbo and a colossal £55,000 beyond the GT-R Premium Edition. True, that's still the base GT-R, but Nissan has a whole lot of room to play with when it prices the V-Spec. True as well, the price of the ZR1 also includes a driver training course and a 3-year / 60,000-mile warranty, which should count for something. Perhaps not £55,000, though. Luckily for Chevrolet UK, it will only have to sell two of them this year, and single digits in the years to come. You can read the full press release after the jump, and then decide if you'd rather have one lump of incredible American metal or a GT-R and a Swiss bank account.
posted : 10/3/2008 @8:28:09 PM
Suzuki releases new Wagon R, Wagon R Stingray

As of today, Suzuki has a new Wagon R on the market in Japan. It's joined by a new Wagon R Stingray variant (above) as well, and the duo will set about filling the shoes of their bestselling predecessors. The new Wagon Rs don't lose their signature boxiness, but they wear all-new sheetmetal and sit on a longer wheelbase. The standard Wagon R gets a friendly face with large, tall headlamps, while the sportier-themed Wagon R Stingray gets a chrome grille strip that runs between its thinner, horizontal lamps. The rest follows the standard kei-car formula. Darker, more masculine colors characterize the Stingray, while the Wagon R clearly includes women in its target audience, sporting a color palette loaded with the lighter solids and pastels. Normally-aspirated and turbocharged 660cc engines are offered, mated to either 4- or 5-speed automatics or a CVT, depending on trim level. The turbocharged Stingray with CVT even gets paddle shifters to give drivers complete control over the 64 ponies corraled underhood. A snazzier, dark interior with some nifty lighting is also available in the Stingray. Suzuki hopes to sell 18,000 new Wagon Rs every month, and if the previous generation showed us anything, we can expect to see a variety of spinoff models over time.
posted : 10/3/2008 @6:51:53 PM
First Drive: 2009 Suzuki Equator

Suzuki has chosen a rather dubious time to enter the pickup truck market with the 2009 Equator. As you are surely aware, trucks and SUV sales are way down from their apogee a few years back, and small cars like the ones that have historically filled Suzuki showrooms are all the rage. So, why would the Japanese automaker even bother with a mid-sized pickup truck based on the Nissan Frontier? That's a good question, and we aimed to find out when we grabbed the keys to Team Yellow's first-ever real pickup contender in the U.S. Read on to see what the Suzuki Equator has to offer.
posted : 10/2/2008 @4:38:15 PM
Loris Capirossi to race on four wheels in the Suzuki Tempest Rally

Loris Capirossi, who usually races on two wheels in MotoGP, will give it a go on four wheels, though he'll be remaining loyal to the Suzuki brand in the process. The race will take place on November 8 in Aldershot, U.K. as part of the Suzuki Swift Sport Cup rally racing series that we told you about last April. The Italian motorcycle racer has driven in rally events in the past, but his low experience level against the talented crew of professional rally drivers will make the successful MotoGP racer a major underdog. As an added bonus, Capirossi will race against his motorcycling boss, Paul Denning, who is also racing as a guest at the Tempest Rally. That should be fun. It isn't that uncommon for racers from one sport to take part in another. Recent examples such as Travis Pastrana and Michael Schumacher prove that success in one discipline can in fact equal a measure of success in another. For his part, Loris says he'll do his best to be competitive. We wish Capirossi the best, but we expect him to be back on his factory Suzuki GSV-R mount in short order.
posted : 10/2/2008 @2:13:56 PM
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