FACTORY PERFORMANCE EDITIONS, SEMA AND THE AFTERMARKET, TUNERS, DRIFTING AND MORE!

910R, BRUTALE, C2 1587 BRUTALE, CITROEN, MV AGUSTA

In our "Everything Motorcycle" section, we wrote a few weeks ago about a new offering from MV Agusta, their Brutale 910 ... Now Citroen and Agusta have decided to embark on some pretty cool "cooperation". Everyone knows about the rugged and good-looking Ford F-series and Harley-Davidson "special editions" ... It was a smart match for America, a marriage made in marketing heaven. It appears that even with full-size pickup sales sliding because of the economy (including everything wrong with it right now, from the housing downturn to the price of gas), Ford and Harley are both intent on keeping their association together. By the way, if anyone can remember another marketing plan which matched a pickup (or any other vehicle, car or truck) with a motorcycle, please let us know! This "Harley/Ford" hook-up is just the sort of thing which smart car-makers and motorcycle-making outfits can do which can help perhaps, if only just a bit, prove to bring an increase in sales of either a car, truck and/or bike ... And that's good for everyone involved, from the people on the assembly lines making the four- and two-wheel vehicles to the folks in the showroom trying to make a living selling dreams at a time when it's become a pretty expensive proposition. Here's the latest from Europe (with all those fun little phrases and misspellings which, well, I enjoy .... and maybe you do, too):

MV AGUSTA AND CITROËN ITALIA PRESENT THE NEW C2 1587 BRUTALE

At the 6th edition of the My Special Car fair in Rimini (Italy), MV Agusta and Citroën Italia will present the  new C2 1587 Brutale, a show car destined to attract the attention of the qualified public at one of the most important Tuning Trade Fairs, where nothing is standard.

What made this synergy possible is the attention to detail that both brands reserve for their products, a guarantee of quality and reliability.

The car gets its name from the best selling naked bike produced by MV Agusta and inherits the sporty Pearl White/Black colour scheme.

The colour scheme of the concept car has been carefully studied directly by the MV Agusta Style Centre and replicates that of the Brutale 1078RR, possibly the highest performing naked on the market.

The interior underlines the sporty character of the show car; perforated alcantara seats, black leather detail trim with red stitching, Brutale logo on the seats and steering wheel in black alcantara with red stitching. The dashboard and foot plate are carbon fibre effect and complete the aggressive racing-style interior of the C2 1587 BRUTALE.

The C2 1587 BRUTALE is based on the top of the range C2, the VTS, featuring a 1.6 16 valve engine with 125 hp. The racing character is underlined by the Supersprint twin exhaust that gives this sporty car a racing sound that blends-in with its aggressive character.

Citroen
Paris, France

LEXUS 2008 "IS F SPECIAL BUILD SEDAN" IS NEIMAN MARCUS' SPECIAL HOLIDAY GIFT

Luxury retailer Neiman Marcus has teamed-up with Lexus and they are offering 50 not-quite-yet-available 2008 IS F models through this year's annual NM holiday catalog. These particular IS F autos are a limited edition run of the IS F with special features inside and out. These "Lexus IS F Special Build Sedan" holiday models feature obsidian black paint, a Mark Levinson premium audio system, and limited edition, hand-polished, 19” wheels. A custom interior with F-logo embossed headrests is also part of the package. And one (or more) can be all yours for $68,000 per car.

Last year, the BMW M6 convertible which NM offered sold-out in 92 seconds. Yep, you read right. Other memorable cars to be sold through the Neiman Marcus catalog include first-year versions of the most-recent Ford Thunderbird and the first-year Cadillac XLR. The new NM IS F even includes a half-day of pro-driver training, compliments of the Skip Barber Racing School, including travel and accommodations.

The "F" originates from the "Circle-F" internal code for what became the Lexus Division nearly 20 years ago. Since then, the "F" code has come to signify a special vehicle program within Lexus that falls outside the normal engineering and development process. Much of the IS F development took place at Fuji Speedway and the Higashi-Fuji Technical Center in Japan.

The IS F is the fastest production car Lexus has ever built, delivering more than 400 horsepower and 350 ft. lbs. of torque from its 5.0-liter V8. The IS F can go from 0 to 60 in under 4.9 seconds. It has the world’s first eight-speed Sport Direct Shift gearbox and a specially engineered Vehicle Dynamics Integrated Management (VDIM) system featuring a high-performance sport mode. There's also a Mark Levinson CD/DVD Premium Surround Sound Audio System with navigation and Bluetooth technology.

Only 50 Neiman Marcus IS F special build sedans will be made. These limited edition vehicles will be among the very first IS Fs off the line and have an exclusive interior design of high-style black with white accent stitching. Each will feature a unique steering wheel with white leather accents, front headrests embossed with an F logo, hand-polished finish on the wheels and a sequentially numbered Special Build badge.

(Photo --- Non-Neiman 2008 Lexus IS F showing front wheel and brake assembly).

All IS F sedans feature unique quad tailpipes, Brembo brakes with cross-drilled rotors and 6-piston front calipers, and 19″ forged alloy wheels, but for this limited edition the wheels have been hand-polished to a high luster (see photo top of page). That's interesting, because we thought "any wheel you can see yourself in" went out of favor at least five years ago ...

Available beginning Thursday, October 18, 2007 at 12:00 pm EDT. The number to call and order is  1.888.747.4504. Sweet, young Texas things/operators are standing by!

(Photo --- Non-Neiman 2008 Lexus IS F rear).