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STUTTGART, Germany — Porsche fans late last week began circulating on the Internet an internal document that details a number of significant changes for the 2009 Porsche 911, including midcycle engine and chassis upgrades for the Carrera and Carrera 4 coupe and cabriolet, as well as the Targa 4 and 4S.

Gleaned from an official company PDF file leaked on the fan site 911uk.com, it appears the 3.6- and 3.8-liter flat-6 engines will get direct injection, which results in higher output and torque figures on the Euro-spec versions: 345 horsepower and 288 pound-feet of torque for the 3.6, 385 hp and 310 lb-ft for the 3.8. Both engines will get better fuel economy, with lower emissions.

The six-speed manual gearbox has been improved, with an upshift indicator and drive-off assist.… Read the rest of this entry

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Coach Builders Ltd will take the top off your Cadillac CTS for $19,000. (Photo courtesy of Coach Builders Ltd.)

HIGH SPRINGS, Florida — The folks at Coach Builders Ltd. have seized the opportunity to capitalize on the success of the 2008 Cadillac CTS by offering a convertible version of the recently redesigned sedan.

Coach Builders’ Larry Moran says the design work for the CTS convertible is complete, and that the company is currently taking orders for the $19,000 conversion.

The drop-top conversion consists of a full open convertible without a roll bar. The acrylic polyester cloth hydraulic tops come in a variety of colors including tan, gray, blue, brown and black, and employ General Motors-style manual latches at the front corners. The roof is padded between the structure and the exterior fabric for sound and temperature insulation. A heated glass rear window… Read the rest of this entry

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The Zastava 10 (pictured) is based on the previous-generation Fiat Punto hatchback. Fiat is considering a bid to invest in or even buy the East European company. (Photo courtesy of Zastava)

BELGRADE, Serbia — Fiat executives are holding talks with the Serbian government about making a substantial investment in — and possibly acquiring — cash-strapped Zastava, the former manufacturer of Yugo cars.

Zastava currently builds a version of the previous-generation Fiat Punto, called the Zastava 10.

Local news reports last week quoted a top government official as saying Fiat was prepared to invest up to $470 million to take a controlling interest in Zastava.

Fiat’s chief executive, Sergio Marchionne, was a bit more circumspect. According to Reuters, Marchionne, in a Friday conference… Read the rest of this entry

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The 2009 SX4 (pictured) is the first sub-$16,000 car to get a standard navigation system, says Suzuki. (Photo courtesy of American Suzuki Motor Corporation)

BREA, California — Suzuki says its 2009 SX4 will be “the personal technology leader” in the compact segment of the market now that a Garmin-developed navigation system is standard on all models.

The navigation system is called “T.R.I.P,” for Travel, Real-time traffic, Information and Play. It is preloaded with street maps, Navteq mapping software and Bluetooth hands-free calling technology that can receive and play text messages aloud. The system will also have real-time traffic, weather forecasts and a gas-station finder that will select for prices. It will be available on both the four-door Sport and five-door Crossover versions of the 2009 SX4.

Suzuki says this is the first time a new vehicle priced under $16,000 will come with a… Read the rest of this entry

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Spada put Corvette Z06 mechanicals into the aggressive-looking Codatronca. (Photo courtesy of Spada)

MONACO — Ercole Spada, previously of Zagato fame, first unwrapped his sharklike, Corvette-based Codatronca a year ago, to widespread acclaim and — in some cases — incredulity.

Now Spada, along with Paolo, his son and their partners in SpadaConcept, have rolled out a production-ready version of the car at the annual Top Marques Monaco show. In partnership with coachbuilder Aznom, the firm hopes to build some 20 copies, priced from around $390,000, according to Italiaspeed.com.

The Codatronca (Italian for “truncated tail”) draws its styling inspiration from one of Ercole Spada’s earlier classics, the 1964 Alfa Romeo Giulia TZ. It is based on Corvette Z06 mechanicals, with an LS7 7.0-liter V8 massaged to deliver more than 600 horsepower.

Several brand-name suppliers, notably Pirelli, OZ and Sparco, are contributing to… Read the rest of this entry

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The online retailer Amazon.com counts this “I Love Kirk Kerkorian” T-shirt in its inventory. Will Ford shareholders be ordering them soon? (Photo courtesy of Amazon.com)

NEW YORK — Tracinda Corporation, owned by casino magnate Kirk Kerkorian, said Monday it intends to make an offer to buy up to 20 million shares of the Ford Motor Company, at a premium to the stock’s closing price on Friday. If successfully completed, the offer would give Tracinda ownership of 120 million shares of Ford — roughly 5.6 percent of the company.

Kerkorian’s company earlier made unsuccessful attempts to buy out Chrysler and to control General Motors.

In a statement released early Monday, Tracinda said it has been following developments at Ford and believes the automaker has begun a turnaround under the direction of CEO Alan Mulally. Ford last week reported a modest first-quarter profit while sharply… Read the rest of this entry

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Formula 1 racing driver Heikki Kovalainen crashed his McLaren-Mercedes at the Spanish Grand Prix. His Web site says that although he’s now in the hospital, “chances are good that Heikki will be back in a car for the Turkish Grand Prix in two weeks’ time.” (Photo courtesy of HeikkiKovalainen.net)

BARCELONA, Spain — Finland stole all the headlines in Sunday’s Spanish Grand Prix, with Formula 1 points leader Kimi Raikkonen scoring a dominant win while countryman Heikki Kovalainen survived a frightening high-speed shunt.

Kovalainen’s McLaren-Mercedes had just inherited the lead during a sequence of pit stops on lap 21 of the 66-lap event when tire failure sent the car off course at the high-speed Turn 9 of the Circuit de Catalunya. Cars travel at 180 mph as they scream through the 5th-to-6th-gear right-handed Campsa corner.

The car went nose first into a tire barrier,… Read the rest of this entry

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BMW\’s supercar icon, the M1, blew out the candles at the Concorso d\’Eleganza at Villa d\’Este this weekend. In honor of the car\’s thirtieth birthday, BMW rolled out the new BMW M1 Homage, a concept/design study that pays tribute to the original M1 and shows what could be possible if BMW were to produce a new mid-engined sports car. Follow the jump for the breakdown.

Gallery: BMW M1 Homage

[Source: BMW]

The BMW M1 Homage blends a wide, aggressive… Read the rest of this entry

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GM has seen plenty of tough times over the past few years, and even the company\’s top executives have felt the pinch. Executive pay was among the items cut as the General waded through multi-billion-dollar losses and immense market pressure, but after two years of cuts, the members of GM\’s top brass are getting their old salaries back. Top boss Rick Wagoner\’s base pay went as \”low\” as $1.1M but is now back to its 2003 level of $2.2M. Product czar Bob Lutz and money man Fritz Henderson also had their pay restored, and Fritz even got a raise to reflect his promotion to COO. Many of the pay cuts were voluntary in recognition of GM\’s market struggles, but even with the cuts in base pay, overall executive pay packages are worth a lot more than just the salaries alone. Wagoner, for example, was paid $14.4M in 2007,… Read the rest of this entry

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In recent months, Hyundai has made a big splash with the introductions of the Genesis sedan and coupe. While those two models will likely do wonders for Hyundai\’s street cred, they will definitely be niche players when it comes to volume. Among passenger cars in the US market, the midsize segment has been the highest volume category for nearly two decades. Since the mid-nineties, the Toyota Camry and Honda Accord have been the primary players with everyone else having been an also-ran. In recent years, however, Hyundai\’s entrant in the segment, the Sonata, has put up an increasingly aggressive challenge to the big dogs. The current generation Hyundai Sonata debuted for the 2006 model year and the company unwrapped its mid-cycle refresh back in February at the Chicago Auto Show.

The 2009 Sonatas have been in production since… Read the rest of this entry