Venchurs Vehicle Systems has turned its attention toward the full-size truck market. As you may recall, the company produces expedition-ready versions of SUVs like the , and , and now truck owners can have their beasts turned into similarly capable Xplore machines. While Venchurs plans to expand to trucks like the and in the near future, the company only offers the for now. Buyers can choose from three stages of off-road prowess depending on their needs.
Stage one starts with custom Katzkin leather seats and a variety of dealer-installed accessories, while stage two throws in black aluminum wheels wrapped in meaty BF Goodrich tires, adjustable Bilstein 5100 series shocks and a stainless steel cat-back exhaust. Hardier floor mats and smattering of Xplore aluminum badges are also part of the mix.
Stage three lets owners choose from a variety of ARB goodies, including special racks, tent systems and recovery hardware should they find themselves mired. Stage four vehicles are custom built at the Venchurs facility in California, and include special matte-finish paints alongside AMP tricks like power retractable running boards and bed sliders. If you’re ready to weather the apocalypse, for the full press release.
is serving up an impressive smattering of Mopar accessories for the 2013 Dodge Dart, including a host of performance parts. All told, buyers will be able to chose from a total of 150 accessories that range from an integrated Wi-Fi system to aerodynamic additions.
Chrysler says the Dart will feature the industry’s first wireless charging system for phones and other battery-powered gadgets. Users simply install a device-specific case and lay the hardware in a specific charging zone. The device then gets its battery topped off without the hassle of plugging up wires. Handy. Of course, we’re more interested in bits like the available 18-inch wheels and performance brake upgrade, which includes new calipers, rotors and performance pads.
In addition, Chrysler is hoping to thwart would-be thieves with a new electronic vehicle tracking system. The automaker partnered with Guidepoint Systmes, a leading company in GPS-based vehicle recovery systems, to provide tracking from coast to coast without a subscription. for the press release and head over to the Mopar site for a look at the full list of available options.
Costco has been in the car business for years, offering a few vehicles to members at attractive rates. The warehouse chain also sells tires and discounted fuel. Now Costco wants to take its discounting model right to the dealer service bay.
Automotive News that Costco has negotiated a 15-percent discount on parts, labor and accessories with select dealerships around the U.S. The move gives those dealers access to Costco’s 44 million members, who in turn get a nice break on the cost of parts and labor.
Dealerships typically strive to make enough money in the service department to pay the bills, so this agreement could be very lucrative for retail outlets. Jeff Brandfon of Brandfon in Branford, Connecticut tells AN that the partnership with Costco will result in 500 to 600 customer pay jobs per year. Brandfon’s optimism is rooted in statistical proof of Costco’s power, as the warehouse chain can point to 250,000 vehicle sales to members in 2010 alone.
While styles its own sports cars, SUVs and sedans, its consumer goods division, PorscheDesign, styles all manner of goods: watches, phones, yachts, bars, appliances, tools, toys, clothing and accessories… even condominium buildings. At least it does now as a new project on Miami Beach prepares for construction.
Called Porsche Design Tower, the project is a joint effort between the design studio and real estate developer Gil Dezer. The 57-story block on 2.2 acres of prime Collins Avenue real estate is set to incorporate 132 housing units, each with its own parking spaces. That bit is straightforward enough, but it’s where the slots are situated that is the novelty.
Rather than have residents park downstairs and take elevators up to their condos, the project includes three robotic car elevators that allow residents to take their cars right up to their pads. It’s not the first project that incorporates car elevators, but is the first planned by Porsche Design, and could lead to similar projects across the United States. So even if you don’t want to live in your , you can still live with it.
We love bull bars. A favorite of law enforcement officers everywhere, the bull bar quietly underscores the fact you aren’t just into protecting yourself against future collisions, but that you plan to instigate them. The DeeZee American Guardian seems fully capable of nudging traffic out of its way thanks to its Police Interceptor iForce kit by Rockwell Collins. Extra pushing power comes courtesy of an AirRaid intake kit, Maganaflow exhaust and a HyperTech Max Energy Tuner.
Of course, sometimes it’s simply better to drive over obstacles than through them. With that in mind, DeeZee threw on a six-inch BDS off-road lift kit, massive Goodyear tires and a set of menacing BMF wheels. The rest of the truck is sprinkled with accessories borrowed from the DeeZee catalog, including bed caps, a cargo carrier and a bed rack. for the quick press release.
It just wouldn’t be without a whole slew of coupes and convertibles staring us in the face, and this week’s Vegas show doesn’t disappoint. General Motors’ own booth features four rather interesting specimens, which you can see in the image gallery we’ve compiled here.
First comes the Camaro ZL1 Carbon Concept, which boasts a sinister Ashen Gray look with a smattering of carbon fiber bits and pieces. Power comes from the same 580 horsepower and 556 pound-feet of torque supercharged V8 that’s set to debut in 2012 in the ZL1.
Up next is the Camaro Red Zone Concept. Based on the convertible version of the pony car, this machine wears a coat of Crystal Claret that’s newly available for 2012 along with Chevrolet Accessories silver Ice interior pieces. The exterior features Accessory wheels and a full body kit, all available straight from the dealer. Finally, that stripe package you see will soon be available to Camaro owners.
The silver convertible you see in our gallery is the Camaro Synergy Series Concept, and it’s wearing a coat of Silver Ice plus black Synergy decals with red line inserts. Chevrolet Accessory black-painted wheels join a body kit and body-color grille.
Finally, there’s the Camaro 1LE Concept. As with other 1LE packages, this one has a suspension kit that is intended for road race circuits. It’s Victory Red exterior is set off by a flat black hood and hash mark extensions. Most of the underpinnings will be available on the ZL1 for 2012, including the magnetic ride suspension.
Read all about each of these concepts in the press release after the break.
Maybe there was a time when a car was unveiled and that was that. But we can’t quite recall such a time. Especially not when dealing with a vehicle as hotly anticipated as the sportscar developed jointly by and . The car alternately known as the FT-86, the Scion FR-S and the Subaru BRZ has been the source of a seemingly endless run-up that’s included concept cars, spy shots and more leaks than a colander. And now we have one more.
Subaru just gave us its first official glimpse of what to expect with the that’s headed for the later this month, but before that, we brought you a couple of leaks from the Toyota side of things: one showing the , and another dolled up with accessories catalog. Now we can add one more as images have surfaced on FT86Club.com of the FT-86 accessorized with parts from Toyota Racing Development (TRD).
We have to say we’re more enthused by the standard model without the extra baubles, but this latest leak serves to further demonstrate the endless possibilities in store for customizing what is bound to become a popular model among enthusiasts.
We dig Abarth. In fact we hope the performance brand arrives Stateside pronto. But when it does, we hope it comes with all the parts.
You see, while many cars can be had in one specification or another from the factory, Abarth lets you upgrade after the fact. So you can order, say, a Abarth, enjoy it for a while, and when you’ve got a little extra cash on hand, you can order the EsseEsse kit from Abarth and have your car upgraded. Sorta like an aftermarket tuner, only with full factory support.
The trouble is that some of the workers at Officine 83 in Fiat’s Mirafiori plant near Turin have (after listening to and watching one too many episodes of The Sopranos) reportedly found the system easy enough to walk away with about a million euros – $1.38 million – in performance parts and various accessories. According to reports, employees were pilfering parts from the factory and selling them online at a significant discount.
The scam was reportedly uncovered when Abarth received numerous reports from dealers that components or even entire kits that they’d ordered never arrived. The company subsequently notified the Carabinieri – Italy’s federal police force – which undertook an eight-month investigation into the incident.
Running a luxury brand used to be simple. Tart up a few mass-market sedans with leather interiors and power accessories, slap on a big hood ornament, jack the price through the roof, then sit back and watch the gravy train flow. These days it couldn’t be more different. You need dedicated luxury platforms and halo cars and marketing tie-ins. And if you really want to be taken seriously among the cognoscenti, you need an in-house performance tuner to craft your own AMG or M-series line of cars.
Which brings us to , the formerly North American-only luxury brand. It has been going toe-to-toe with and in some product segments for years, but with aspirations of competing with the big two luxury marques globally, it needs to put some muscle behind its nascent brand. So that 414-horsepower you saw at Frankfurt? Yep, it’s coming, according to an interview with Executive Vice President Andy Palmer on the company’s corporate blog. And although it won’t necessarily be branded an IPL car, Palmer says the Vettel FX will serve as a pilot, to prove that Infiniti can sell “low-volume, very special versions, and be able to charge a premium.”
Vettel took his with a victory in Japan this weekend, and Infiniti might as well capitalize on its marketing partnership with . You don’t spend upwards of $10 million on a racing deal if you’re not going to use it to sell cars. Of course, Vettel is hardly a celebrity in the U.S., so we’ll have to wait to hear some official word about North American plans. “Right now,” Nissan PR told us, “it is still simply a concept.”
Super Sport. It is to what SRT is to , or what SVT, RS and ST are at . In other words, the initials SS signal performance intent, and though Chevy has, in the past, sullied the SS moniker with ho-hum versions of already ho-hum cars and trucks, it won’t be repeating the same mistake again by slapping the label on anything but true high-performance machinery.
As such, it comes as little surprise to hear that John Buttermore, lead development engineer for the , told Wards Auto that the company is not working on an SS version of the new B-segment player. But that doesn’t mean Chevrolet will abandon the enthusiast crowd completely with the Sonic.
Note that there’s an optional 1.4-liter turbocharged engine already on offer in the Sonic, and while it’s not going to set any drag-strip records, it acquits itself just fine when mated up with the six-speed manual gearbox. Plus, Buttermore promises that the 2013 model year will bring with it a few performance packages for those wanting just a wee bit more punch from their otherwise basic transportation offering. We look forward to finding out more.
We have no qualms admitting that we miss the first-generation Toyota MR2. The spry little mid-engined racer was proof that you didn’t need a summer house on the cape to enjoy a perfectly balanced, lightweight sports car. Of course, with its accessible price tag, it’s no surprise that very few MR2 models survived without encountering substantial neglect or abuse. That’s what makes this supercharged, 1989 gem particularly attractive. With a shave under 22,000 miles on the odometer, all of the factory paperwork and accessories, this machine is bone stock as close to mint as you’re likely to find in the wild.
The seller is the original owner and says that he’s sending the MR2 on its way because he’s focusing his efforts on maintaining a that he also bought new. Different strokes for different folks, we guess. If you’ve got $20,000 lying around with nothing better to do, you can pick up the the 1989 Toyota MR2 in South Windsor, Connecticut at its Buy It Now price, or you can just bid in hopes you meet the reserve. Head over to for more information.
is serious about carbon fiber. More than simply using the material, the Italian sportscar manufacturer has developed new types of it. The question is, what to do with it once it’s developed?
Well, they make supercars out of the stuff, for starters. But that’s not the end of the story. Lamborghini also has partnerships with such companies as Boeing and to use its carbon fiber in applications as varied as airplanes and golf clubs. And now Sant’Agata has found another application: handbags.
While plenty of companies are making all sorts of stuff out of finished, hardened and glossy carbon fiber sheets, Lamborghini claims to be the first to use the unfinished weave to produce this line of fashion accessories. The collection includes a soft travel duffel, a messenger bag and an envelope-style satchel. Each is made primarily out of the raw carbon fiber and fitted with hand-stitched leather, galvanized brass hardware and cotton lining, all put together by hand.
The items will be available through Lamborghini dealers worldwide and through its , but don’t expect to have any cash left over to stash inside the bags: prices range from $1,200 up to $2,100. Take a closer look in the high-res image gallery and for the full press release.
Fashionable Europeans demand a few staple accessories. Things like a Gucci bag, a and a tiny quivering dog to put in both. Fiat may not be in the breeding business, but the first two came together when the Italian automaker teamed up with the Italian fashion house to come out with the .
Now available in both hatchback and bodystyles, the Fiat 500 by Gucci is coming to America next month. That’s when it’s set to make its North American debut during New York Fashion Week. Following the fashionable retro mini’s debut, buyers can begin taking delivery of theirs starting in December.
The special edition is available in either white or black, and features such unique touches as Gucci’s green and red stripe, the brand’s signature logo on the b-pillar and double-G logo on the wheel hubs. The interior meanwhile is decked out in special embroidery and leather trim, all of which you can read about in further detail in the press release and scope out in the accompanying video footage and the high-resolution image gallery.
The – or “Couper,” as associate editor Jeff Glucker has dubbed it – goes on sale in the fall, priced from a respectable $22,000. Stepping up to the Cooper S Coupe will set you back $25,300, and the top-rung John Cooper Works Coupe commands $31,900. But those are just the base MSRPs.
Enter the online configurator. More importantly, enter Mini’s expansive list of options and accessories.
We could spend hours playing around on building the Coupe of our dreams. After all, this is the automaker that proudly boasts its “more than 10 million” possible build combinations. Head over to to play around with all the colors and options on the new Coupe.
originally appeared on on Tue, 09 Aug 2011 09:01:00 EST. Please see our .
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the Department of Transportation (DOT) recently unveiled . All future window stickers will feature a Quick Response (QR) code, which can be read by the smartphone of a prospective car buyer. elected to stay a step of ahead of the new window stickers, and is the first automaker to implement QR codes in its 2012 model year lineup.
On Nissan lots right now, the and display the data-rich boxes that work with the camera on your phone. Once scanned, the QR codes can provide:
Specific vehicle information, including grade walk, key features and available accessories
Video based product overviews
Image gallery
Incentive offers
Dealer inventory
Request a quote capability
Join mailing list request
Dealer location support
Nissan will continue to add the codes to the rest of its 2012 lineup. for more information on the QR codes, and to read the full press release.
originally appeared on on Mon, 08 Aug 2011 14:32:00 EST. Please see our .
The is just beginning to pop up on roads all over the country. It’s available in hardtop and cabriolet forms, and the hotted-up Abarth version is just around the corner. Some can’t wait to modify the car, and Boulder, Colorado-based Scagliarini Motorsports is ready to offer a slew of aftermarket accessories. Scagliarini is so into the new 500, it’s decided to build a special version of its own, and the name is larger than the car itself.
Called the Scagliarini Motorsports Fiat 500 Coupe Zagato Elaborata (try fitting that script on the hatch!), this modified Italian started life as an Abarth before gaining filled-in rear windows and an all-wheel drive powertrain. Carbon fiber accents are placed inside along the Alcantara-covered front seats. Behind the wheels sit Brembo brakes, while Abarth EsseEsse parts add a dash of go-fast to the engine. The all-wheel drive bits were pulled from a . The car will be built at Scagliani’s Italian design studio, and wears searingly hot Lamborghini orange paint, otherwise known as Arancio.
Check out the high-res shots of the Fiat 504cze (the shortened version of the rather long name), and for the full press release.
We’re sure the suits at are excited about finally managing to launch the here in America. It seems the folks at Chrysler’s customizing arm, Mopar are just as happy to see the little Italian land in the States. To show their enthusiasm, Mopar has announced a plethora of parts that will allow Cinquecento owners to make their new hatchback their own.
We’re talking about 20 or 30 items here, either. Mopar has 500 fever, and will offer over 150 parts and accessories for the little Fiat. This includes everything from custom key covers, exterior decals and roof racks on to a WiFi-supplying Uconnect system offering 3G broadband internet.
Check out a few of the Mopar goodies in the gallery, and read more about the items in the full press release .
You expect to find all sorts of optional equipment on a . It could be pearl-inlayed veneers or a special paint job. But this example is something else entirely.
Crafted for Sahib Bahadur – also known as Umed Singh II, Maharaja of Kotah – this 1925 Rolls-Royce New was coachbuilt by Barker & Company of London and includes some rather unusual accessories. Namely, a mounted shotgun, rifle stand, Lantaka cannon, a pair of search lights and a machine gun fitted to a matching trailer.
The car was custom built for the Maharaja for the purpose of tiger hunting, and though requested by the Indian Consulate for donation to a museum, is now going up for auction at the hands of Bonhams at the Quail Lodge mid-August, where it’s expected to fetch between $750,000 and $1 milllion.
Though the armaments aren’t depicted, you can check the car out in the high-resolution gallery and the press release after the jump for a closer look.
2012 Scion iQ – Click above for high-res image gallery
The will be priced from $15,995 (including destination charges) when it hits U.S. showrooms this fall. Scion says the iQ’s U.S. launch, which has been on due to various issues including the March 11 , will hit the West Coast first in October, followed by southern states in January, then the East Coast and, finally, the Midwest.
In typical Scion fashion, base models are well equipped and there are few options. The mid-level stereo includes Pandora integration, and an up-level version will be available with navigation. As with all Scions, loads of accessories (i.e. springs, body kits and wheels) will be available for the iQ.
For comparison, the iQ’s $15,995 price tag means that it’s slightly more expensive than both the and the , both of which off significantly greater utility. And with fuel economy ratings of 36 mpg in the city, 37 on the highway and 37 mpg combined, it’s not the fuel miser something of its size might suggest. Full details in the press blast .
2012 Scion iQ – Click above for high-res image gallery
Our man Damon Lavrinc is at the media introduction of the , and he reports that the diminutive hatchback will be priced from $15,995 (including destination charges) when it hits U.S. showrooms. Scion now says the iQ’s U.S. launch, which has been on due to various issues including the March 11 , is set for this fall. Officials say the microcar will actually be launched in four phases, with the West Coast getting the iQ in October, followed by southern states in January, then the East Coast and, finally, the Midwest.
In typical Scion fashion, word is that base models are well equipped and there are few options. The base stereo includes Pandora integration, and an uplevel model will be available with navigation. As with all Scions, loads of accessories (i.e. springs, body kits and wheels) will be available for the iQ.
For comparison, the iQ’s $15,995 price tag means that it’s slightly more expensive than both the and the , both of which off significantly greater utility. There’s still no word on EPA mileage estimates for the iQ.
