Tom LaPointe's Exotic Car Lifestyle Notebook

Ramblings on exotic cars, the car market, and things with wheels overall. We especially love Rolls-Royce, Ferrari, Lamborghini and Porsche, and all the events where you find them.

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Location: Dunedin, Florida, United States

I currently publish iParent Magazine in the Tampa Bay area and work as a freelance writer for Affluent Page Index, in NYC. I grew up in Michigan near the Motor City and finished high school in Fernley NV. After attending the University of Nevada as a music major, I joined the Marine Corps as a combat correspondent. As a writer and editor, I won many publishing awards for photography, writing and editing. What led me to the auto industry is simply this: I love cars. I have raced stock cars and sports cars and competed in Land Rover off-road competitions in Vermont and Colorado. I have been a pit official for the 24 Hours of Daytona and 12 Hours of Sebring, and a pit crewman for Indy and a Hooters Pro Cup races. I've served as a manager of both sales and service for one the largest luxury car groups in the world. I'm still active as an off-road instructor for Land Rover and HUMMER dealers and owners. I enjoy crawling an off-road vehicle through the most severe obstacles as much as heel-toeing sports cars into hairpin turns! I am also a freelance writer for several automotive publications.

August 22, 2008

Bugatti going topless, expanding model range?

Bugatti recently released photos and showed the forthcoming Veyron targa version, called Grand Sport, with a removable top and the same ground-pounding drivetrain. Word is this open-top version will hustle to more than 200 mph with the top off and still retain it's 250-mph top speed capability with the top in place. Pricing is expected to be in the $2.5 million with a very limited number of units scheduled for production.

In addition, Autocar in Europe speculates that a high-performance 'GT' version of the Veyron may be replacing the current model at the end of production, though no word from the factory. The publication across the pond also speculates that a sedan model may be joining the lineup, but again, the factory and it's Audi/Volkswagen parents are mum on the subject thus far.
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posted by Tom LaPointe | 1:22 PM