At the Paris Motor Show, Maybach announced it was taking orders for its new open-topped Landaulet at $1.4 million a pop. The car, first floated as a concept at last year’s Middle East International Auto Show, seems calculated to appeal to oil-rich sheikhs. In Paris the company displayed its one-off example in Gulf-friendly white with a two-tone Grand Nappa leather interior - black for the chauffeur’s compartment and white for the passengers, reinforcing the fact that this car is made for those who do not have to drive themselves.

The hand-built to order Landaulet, ready for delivery later this fall, harkens back to the open-topped limousines that popes and kings used to be driven around in. It’s based on the Maybach 62 S, billed as the world’s most powerful series-produced luxury saloon. At $1.4 million, the Landaulet, Maybach’s fifth model, is second only to the Bugatti Veyron Grand Sport in terms of the world’s most expensive production cars. No doubt they’re hoping the economy improves so they can sell some of them. Continued

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Well, it certainly looks pretty friendly. Plus, powered only by electrons, it will be friendly to our environment too. What is it? The Heuliez Friendly, which debuted at this year’s Paris Motor Show. Three seems to be a theme here, with a trio of electric motors to choose from, three different vehicle lengths to be offered and a seating capacity of yourself and two of your best friends. According to reports, the French automaker expects its Friendly to hit 70 miles per hour and its nickel metal hydride battery to last for 140 miles. After it’s spent, the Friendly can be recharged via any standard wall outlet.

Heuliez plans to begin selling its Friendly in Europe in 2010. Also on the schedule are kit-assembled remakes of the G-Wiz from Reva Motors. These electric vehicles would be the first cars ever to wear the Heuliez badge, as the company has so far only created modules such as convertible tops for other automakers.

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the wraps have come off the Venturi Volage at the Paris Motor Show. While Michelin may have been a collaborator on the revealed electric GT, one glance leaves no doubt it belongs to the Venturi family. It not only shares the carbon fiber body of its sibling, the Fétish, but it will also be lovingly hand-assembled in limited quantities at the same Monaco atelier. Styled by Sacha Lakic, the smooth-bottomed Volage is said to be “designed by subtraction” with its carbon fiber skin fitting tightly around its innovative technology.

Speaking of technology, each wheel on this car holds 2 electric motors! That’s right, the “Michelin Active Wheel” system uses one motor for to drive a reduction gear that is also inside the wheel while the other handles the active suspension. All controlled by “spearhead electronics,” the Volage can readily adapt to different road surfaces and driving style. Batteries for this electric car are 45 kWh worth of liquid-cooled polymer lithium and are said to provide for 320 Km (199 miles) of driving pleasure at a “stabilized” 90 Kph (56 Mph). The car is capable of getting you to 60 mph in less than 5 seconds and tops out at 150 Km (93 Mph). The car will begin its limited production run in 2012 and the price goes unmentioned. If you have to ask…

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Aston Martin said it would have a “property” here in Paris, and indeed it did. The Aston Martin One-77 made its “debut,” but it looks like we’ll have to wait a bit longer to see the British automaker’s $1,000,000+ super coupe.

Judging by the limited upskirt shots in our gallery, the length of the One-77 easily surpasses the DB9 and the stylized front end, with blacked-out headlamps, ensures that the One-77 will spend more time in the comfy confines of heated and carpeted garages then out on the track where it’s 7.3-liter V12, carbon fiber monocoque and massive brakes will be put to good use.

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Lexus has chopped off two doors and the roof from the IS250 to create the IS250C, due to arrive in Europe in the summer of 2009, and the U.S. shortly thereafter.

The 2009 Lexus IS250C features a three-piece aluminum roof that retracts in a “world’s fastest” 20 seconds, and features revised overhangs 15mm (front) and 55mm (rear) longer than the sedan, a new fog lamp design and a rising beltline that integrates into the revised haunches. The IS250C’s rear end leaves a lot to be desired, with an odd assortment of angles terminating into a set of awkwardly placed LED taillights. With the top up, nothing seems to seamlessly blend together, looking like an ill-advised amalgamation of the outgoing SC430 and BMW 335i. Inside, thing get mildly better – in typical staid Lexus tradition – with a set of rollover hoops for the rear seat passengers, a 12-speaker Mark Levinson sound system and a speed sensitive climate control system that will boost the heat during open air jaunts. And naturally, you can fit a golf bag in the trunk with the top down. Continued

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VW is going to make the most of its new GTI, with three models joining what has already been a well received hot hatch. A ‘GTD’ variant using a 2.0-liter common rail diesel will go into production in April 2009, with 170 horses and nearly 260 lb.-ft. moving through either a six-speed manual or VW’s DSG gearbox. The GTD will be sold at an €800 premium over its gasoline brother, and will get to 62 mph about a second slower in return for longer hauls between refills.

After that, toward the end of 2009, comes the GTI ‘Plus’ that will push the car dangerously close to the Audi S3 and may spell the end of the current R32. A 60 hp bump over the standard GTI takes the Plus up to 270. The fun-to-drive factor should be raised with a seven-speed DSG transmission, and handling mastery will come courtesy of a Haldex all-wheel-drive system.

The capstone: to help everyone get over the current and rather underwhelming R32, the hottest hotness is supposed to come in 2010 in the form of an R42. Swapping the current V6 for a 2.5-liter, turbocharged 5-cylinder that it will share with Audi’s TT-RS and RS3, the raunchy R is rumored to get a chest-hair-growing 350 hp. If Auto Motor und Sport are to be believed, it will start rolling out of factories in November of 2009 at an undisclosed price.

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