Special Cars

The 2011 Infiniti FX has just received that rare gift of a price cut, with $2,600 coming off the FX50′s MSRP and $1,250 in savings for the FX35. Looking at Infiniti’s numbers for 2010, the division has been outperforming 2009 by anywhere from 10 to nearly 50 percent since February 2010, but the picture comes into focus when you separate the FX from the herd. Despite good divisional performance, the swoopy FX is off 12.4 percent calendar year to date, according to the Nissan North America sales report for August 2010. It’s not like 2009 was a banner year, of course, so to help spur FX sales, Infiniti has lowered the base MSRPs on its FX models to $41,600 for the rear-wheel-drive FX35, $43,050 for the FX35 with all-wheel drive and $56,400 for the V8-powered FX50. To sweeten the pot, Infiniti is also throwing in a standard power liftgate, too. We’ll know soon enough whether the pricing gambit has worked. Official press release posted after the jump.

Leaked images claim to show a new convertible version of the Bentley Continental GT Speed Images of a convertible GTC version of the Bentley Continental GT Speed have leaked onto the internet. The model has been tipped to make its world debut at the Detroit motor show next month. The spec of the flagship convertible from Crewe is unlikely to differ too greatly from the GT Speed coupe on which it is based. So expect power to come from a 6.0-litre twin-turbocharged W12 engine, with peak output of 616bhp. An eight-speed automatic gerabox should send drive to all four wheels. The coupes 0-100kph time is 4.0sec, so expect the GT Speed convertible to be a couple of tenths off that due to the extra weight of its fabric roof mechanism.   The real headline could come from the top speed; the coupes is 330kph, so its possible the convertible could also have a top speed in excess of 321kph.   Bentley stiffened the chassis and uprated some hardware in the air-sprung suspension of the GT Sp...