Bentley Continental Convertible

By Cor Steenstra

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Infiniti G37 Convertible

Infiniti has been chasing down its Lexus competitor for many years now with a product palette that closely resembles the latter. When Lexus brought out its IS Convertible in the course of 2009, it was therefore inevitable that Infiniti would soon follow suit.

We have driven this Infiniti G37 Convertible, which features, like its Lexus counterpart, the much used retractable hardtop principle first shown on the Mercedes SLK in the early 1990’s. The Infiniti version of this hardtop does indeed perform really well in its closed version. We were unfortunate in our planning that we had the Infiniti right at the time Southern California went through its most severe downpoor season in memory, which meant we were driving the car in closed version quite a lot.
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New Ford Mustang and Mustang Convertible

With the introduction of the Dodge Challenger and soon the Chevrolet Camaro, both made with the same Retro theme as Ford has been producing its Mustang over the past years, it is interesting to think how these obvious Retro designs can be optimized to extend their life times. Normal cars get a new face every 3 years and are mostly completely renewed every 6 years, but since these companies decided to go back in time, how do they envision refreshing this?

Well, Ford has tried taking on this difficult task, and presented the new Mustang. It comes with nice little detail changes that each in themselves would be indeed quite nice. The only problem is that all of these were made just as that, individual changes, and in the whole grand scheme of things none of them really harmonize with each other. As said, it is difficult, but maybe when you go back in time to a certain generation of vehicle, look at its successor at that time to get a hint of where you may want to go.., or better yet… GET ORIGINAL and DROP THE STUPID RETRO! Designers have creativity. They can do better than this!

Design Evaluation Jaguar XK Convertible

We had. of course, a lot of fun and attracted a lot of attention when we evaluated the Jaguar XK convertible. The quality of the vehicle was so much better then expected. Here we show you the extensive video of this experience, and we can tell you now that we will be driving the XF pretty soon, so click back for that experience.

ALL-NEW 2009 INFINITI G CONVERTIBLE MAKES ITS WORLD DEBUT AT THE LOS ANGELES AUTO SHOW

LOS ANGELES (Nov. 19, 2008) – Infiniti today unveiled the latest expression of its “Inspired Performance,” the all-new 2009 Infiniti G Convertible, at the 2008 Los Angeles Auto Show. The first-ever Infiniti G Convertible builds upon the performance legacy of the Infiniti G line, with the liberation only a convertible with the top down can provide. It is scheduled to go on sale at Infiniti dealers in North America in the spring of 2009, followed later in other Infiniti markets around the world.

“Designed to rejuvenate the spirit, the G Convertible adds an open-air soundtrack to the G’s legendary driving exhilaration,” said Brian Carolin, senior vice president, Sales and Marketing, speaking before automotive media at the vehicle’s world debut. “This new G has dual beauty – it looks as good with the top up or down – along with a beautiful, leather-appointed interior that is meant to be experienced wide-open.”

The new G Convertible offers a three-piece folding steel top and a special convertible-focused interior, which features a unique Bose® Open Air Sound System that dynamically changes equalization based on outside noise, vehicle speed, and top position, and an adaptive climate control system that adjusts fan speed in accordance to top position and vehicle speed.

Every 2009 G Convertible comes equipped with an advanced 3.7-liter V6 rated at 325 horsepower. The engine is backed by a choice of an electronically controlled 7-speed automatic transmission with available magnesium paddle shifters or a responsive close-ratio 6-speed manual transmission.

Technology features include standard RearView Monitor and an available touch-screen Infiniti Navigation system with XM NavTraffic® Real-Time Traffic information with 9.3GB Music Box Hard Drive, Pre-Crash Seat Belts, Intelligent Cruise Control (ICC) with Preview Braking and Adaptive Front lighting System (AFS).

The G Convertible is offered in two models: the G37 Convertible and the G37S Convertible Sport 6MT, which adds sport-tuned steering and larger sport brakes, along with 19-inch aluminum-alloy wheels and W-rated performance tires.

Also available is a special, limited production G Convertible Premier Edition, offered exclusively through the Bloomingdale’s Holiday Catalog. With only 200 being built, the Premier Edition features a custom Monaco Red Leather leather-appointed interior, handcrafted red-tone Maple Wood trim, Midnight Black front grille and 9-spoke 19-inch aluminum-alloy wheels and tires. Pre-orders for the Premier Edition are being taken now for delivery in 2009.

The Infiniti display at the Los Angeles Auto Show also showcases the complete line of 2009 Infiniti vehicles, including the all-new Infiniti G37x Coupe with intelligent all-wheel drive, the new G37 Sedan with a 328-horsepower 3.7-liter V6 and a new, more powerful M35 rear-wheel drive sedan.

Bentley Continental Convertible in our 100th Episode Special

Posted originally as our 100th Episode Special, we showed you the design evaluation of the Bentley Continental Convertible, a formidable car with a lot of prestige, quality, status and … FUN..