Baseball Glutz: Rawlings offers limited edition models on Chevy Tahoe and Silverado

Remember when Audi rolled out the baseball leather interior on the original TT convertible? That was nothing. For the real baseball fans, aftermarket trim specialists Katzkin Leather and sports equipment outfitter Rawlings have teamed up to offer a full, authentic baseball trim package for full-sized Chevy trucks.

[Source: Autoblog]

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The package includes seats upholstered in thick, rich baseball glove leather, in either brown or black – complete with contrasting stitching – that only gets better with age. You know, just like your childhood mitt. Also part of the package are a baseball bat ash wood dash inserts and steering wheel trimmed in leather to match the seats. A special grille was designed to mimic the look of a chain-link fence, and the package is rounded out by Rawlings badges galore.

The package just hit the market and is available for Chevrolet Silverado pickups and Tahoe SUVs. Only in America, kids.

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Maserati GS Zagato revealed

Based off Maserati's GranSport Spyder, the GS Zagato is swathed in all-new aluminum body panels and adorned with a "Z" on the fenders and the automaker's trident in the grille. The hatchback design may be off-putting at first glance (all we had before were these shots), but once viewed as a whole, the smooth lines and gentle contours make the GS a subdued, yet powerful coupe.

[Source: Autoblog]

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Inspired by the 1954 Maserati A6 G Zagato, the world-renowned designer, Paolo Boffi, has created a fitting successor to the iconic automobile in the form of the GS Zagato Coupe.

Speaking of power, the 400 HP V8 has remained, along with the six-speed semi-automatic gearbox. According to Zagato, torsional rigidity has been increased, while the wheelbase has been shortened by 180mm to make it as competent in the corners as it is on the concourse.

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KTM X-Bow production to ramp up early next year

The Austrian KTM company has announced that it plans to start producing its positively acclaimed KTM X-Bow (Crossbow) vehicle as early as in the beginning of the 2008. Well, it may look like an eternity for some guys who just can't wait to put their hands on the little sports car, but it's anyway really good, considering average birth level rates in the exotic cars industry.

[Source: Auto Review]

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Although it was previously announced that the first stage of manufacturing will be outsourced to the Italian Dallara company, which was supposed to produce first 100 units of the KTM X-Bow, the plans have changed eventually. It is now reported that the whole manufacturing process will be granted to the local Magna Steyr, which has a long history of producing vehicles for such incumbents as Audi, Fiat, Chrysler, Mercedes-Benz (JFYI, the 4Matic AWD transmission was developed by Magna Steyr's engineers), Saab, VW and BMW.

The first vehicles will be delivered to customers in February, 2008. By this time KTM has about 600 orders for the KTM X-Bow and hopes to produce around 500 vehicles a year in the nearest future.

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Maserati GranTurismo starts at $95,000

At the Chicago Auto Show, Maserati PR man Jeffrey Ehoodin said "We are not an exotic." In case that didn't get the message across, Maserati has put its money where its mouth is, pricing the new GranTurismo at $95,000. That slots the Maser in above the Jaguar XKR convertible and below the BMW M6 Coupe and Mercedes CL.

[Source: Autoblog]

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Maserati discovered that people thought their cars were as expensive as DB9's and Continental GT's. That's great for the prestige stakes, but awful for the bottom line. The GranTurismo is, in fact, $18K cheaper than the cheapest Aston Martin, the V8 Vantage. Though the Maserati is short 15 hp to and .7 seconds slower to 60 than the XKR, what you get instead is a rolling sculpture designed by the man who penned the 599, usable rear seats, and the Maserati cachet that everyone else seems to think costs so much. And even though you don't see too many XKR's on the road, you're guaranteed to see even few GranTurismos -- if you're into that sort of thing. To all those folks who wanted Maserati's but thought they couldn't afford one, when the car arrives in June, you can come on in from the cold.

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MINI starts countdown to Clubman debut, releases a teaser

We've known for far too long that the MINI Clubman is on its way, but it's still nice to get some confirmation from the automaker's main information outlet that the elongated hatch is on the horizon.

Granted, the teaser page that MINI put up doesn't reveal any more information than we're already aware of, but in true-to-MINI fashion, it provides a quirky (dare we even say satisfying?) way of revealing the profile of the new Clubman.

[Source: Autoblog]

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Audi RS4 Cabriolet headed to the US?

In the long list of toys that Europe gets to play and the US doesn't, Audi's RS4 Avant and RS4 Cabriolet have got to be somewhere near the top. However, Automobile magazine has been told by an Audi product planner that the droptop RS4 could soon become a US citizen.

[Source: Autoblog]

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The convertible top is electro-hydraulic, opens in 21 seconds at speeds up to 18 mph, and features a heated glass rear window. And just like the sedan and wagon, the cab is lowered 30 mm compared to the regular A4. As well as the being distinguished by the lack of a top, the cab comes with standard with the sports seats instead of the RS buckets. That would make sense for the buyers who don't intend to use their RS4 for anything other than boulevard duty -- but we're not sure they deserve an RS4. Without a roof one would think you'd drive it just as hard since there's nothing but wind between you and the bellow of 420 hp through twin pipes -- but that's just us. The price would be $70,000 and change.

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Spied: 2008 Saab 9-3 Cabriolet facelift caught nude

Looks like Saab folks have been pretty careless lately as the upcoming 2008 9-3 (has been caught unguarded and unmasked for the second time this month not by pros but by a random reader. Following the revealing 2008 9-3 SW snap shots an AMS reader managed to catch an unmasked facelifted 9-3 Convertible parked at a petrol station just begging to be immortalized by his cell phone camera.

[Source: CARSCOOP]

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In comparison with the facelifted SW we showed you a couple of weeks ago the Convertible gets the same 9-5 inspired front end with the “Aero-X” type grille and eyelash-headlights. The difference is that the Convertible features a different bumper and heaps of chrome accents that make it look very busy. In the rear-end the facelift Convertible gets a set of clear tail lamps and a chrome insert while the bumper looses its protective pads. Unlike the sedan and SW versions, the redesigned soft-top 9-3 doesn’t get the Cadillac BLS door handles.

The 2008 9-3 Sedan, Cabriolet and SW versions will go on sale this fall but there’s a good chance that we'll see the first official pictures quite sooner as according to inside info, GM's planning to reveal initial info in mid May.

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