Cars

Porsche 996/997 Techquipment Wind Deflector

Porsche Exclusive is Porsche’s ultimate line of customization tools available for your Porsche. Each and every time a Porsche is birthed a consultant is available to assist in choosing from the available leathers, lighted door sills, and even paint colors to match your birthstone or the color your wife was wearing the night you met her. But the more known branch of Porsche Exclusive is the accessory line where a consultant can help your make your car an even greater extension of the buyer.

Wind deflectors are designed to keep air, most often cold air, from rushing over the occupants and into the natural low-pressure zone within the passenger area. Windbreakers of any kind can make the ride in a 911 much more pleasant in the winter from keeping the cold air away from the occupants and in the summer by allowing the stream of air conditioning to be directed at the occupants. A year-round feature of the wind deflector is that it keeps your toupee or massively flashy hair within the confines of the passenger cabin.

Today’s find is a Porsche Exclusive Wind Deflector. This easy-to-install wind deflector retails for over $1200 is listed here for nearly half the price of $699 and comes with the protective zipper case for those “hard-top” days.

[wordbay]porsche wind deflector[/wordbay]

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2009 Alfa Romeo 8C Competizione Convertible

The name really says it all, Alfa’s eight-cylinder competition convertible with parts cobbled together from all over the Fiat group. Alfa Romeo’s 8C Competetizione Convertible is derived from the previous generation Maserati GranTurismo and covered in unique Alfa inspired carbon fiber bodywork. Powered by a Ferrari engine pushing 444 HP @ 7000 RPM from the 4.7L front-mounted V8 (also found in the Ferrari Califonia and several Maserati’s) propels this svelte beauty to 60 in a respectable 4.2 secs on to a top speed of 181 MPH.

Although the 8C was always produced in low sums, today’s car is quite special because its a convertible. The limited production run included only 500 coupes of which 90 cars (the most slated for a single market) were earmarked for America. However, this red-on-white convertible is one of only 35 8C convertible’s coming to the colonies. With an abused 96 miles on the clock this rare beauty can be yours for a trip to Miami, FL and an offer somewhere south of $359,000.

[wordbay]alfa romeo[/wordbay]

2011 Bentley Continental Supersports Convertible

Everyone’s doing it these days: creating track-day cars to fill a new market. Track day cars aren’t quite full blown race cars but they’re a hard sell as a grocery-getter model either. Once touted as the “least expensive 200 MPH car,” the Bentley Continental . Bentley’s Continental line has been around for quite some time (released in 2003) and has offered no less than five variants including the original GT, the convertible GTC, the slightly upmarket GT Speed, its drop-top sibling the GTC Speed, and most recently the Supersports. As keen readers will be able to note after any model introduction comes a convertible variant so following this springs release of the Continental Supersports comes the Supersports Convertible.

Bentley’s Continental Supersports Convertible sports 621 HP and 519 LB/FT of twisties available beginning at 1650 RPM from the W12 motor. Acceleration to 60 happens in just 3.9 seconds (down from 4.3 from the GTC Speed) and to 100 MPH in 8.9 seconds. Interestingly, the Continental Supersports can deliver enough G’s (1.29) of force around a skidpad to rip your face off helped partly from the wheels weighing only a skant 22 LB’s each. MSRP for the convertible starts at $280K but all seems worth it when you consider this is the fastest 4-seat convertible money can buy.

Reviews for the Continental Supersports Convertible are quite positive. Everyone of the test drivers were impressed by how well it handled its “bulk” given the car’s 5400 LB curb weight. “Nicely weighted” steering, “superb brakes,” and comfort that could only be associated with a Bentley are the common superlatives ringing between the reviewers. Catch some of the reviews below including some of the Supersports coupe.

Supersports Convertible

• Autoblog (blog, First Drive)
• Yahoo! Cars (UK, First Drive)
• Car and Driver (Review)
• Left Lane News (Review)

Supersports Coupe

• Popular Mechanics (Test Drive)
• Telegraph.co.uk (Review)
• CNet Cartech  (blog, First Take, YouTube)
• Motor Trend (Review)
• Top Gear (UK, Road Test, YouTube segment)

Ford realized it could profit from the love of the original GT40 and in 2003 introduced the Ford GT to showrooms. Promising the same great lines and styling of the original GT40 without the headaches the GT was powered by an SVT tuned version of Fords ubiquitous 5.4L V8 and added modern conveniences like A/C, a Macintosh Stereo, and simple soundproofing. 540 HP, 0-60 MPH in as little as 3.3 seconds and looks to die for sounds good, right? Well its been nearly 4 years since the Ford GT has been out of production but that hasn’t stopped various aftermarket tuners from delivering specialized versions of the car for those who want… more.