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Filed under: Sports/GTs, Japan, Nissan

 Nissan Skyline.

It finally sank in a while back that Skyline and GT-R are now two exclusive entities unto themselves. As such, Nissan has just unveiled its newest version of the Skyline to its domestic market, which is essentially the Infiniti G37 here in the States, but with an additional three horsepower, Nissan’s new pop-up engine hood technology and a blind-spot monitor system.

The V36 Skyline comes with the VQ37VHR V6 engine, mated to either a six-speed manual or an electronic five-speed auto ‘box that employs “Adaptive Shift Control,” revising shifts dependent on driving style and environmental situations.

Four flavors of Skyline are available to Japanese consumers — the 370GT, Type-P, Type-S and Type SP - all ranging in price and options.

We’ve posted Nissan’s full press release after the jump for all you JDM OCD types, and there’s a gallery below for your viewing enjoyment.

Filed under: Sports/GTs, Green, Lexus, Toyota

Lexus is the latest to join the “we’re looking at performance hybrids” chat room. Now that everyone’s talking about it, and rolling out concepts, we’re only waiting on someone to do something about it — as in, put one up for mass market sale.

Lexus US General Manager Jim Farley said the brand is looking gas-electric cars aimed at “enthusiast groups” outside of Lexus core buyers. Toyota already controls 78% of the hybrid market, and ironically, after Toyota recently blasted GM’s Volt, the article asserts that Lexus is waiting for the customer reception to that vehicle before deciding which way it will go. We suppose they will also want to see how their LS600h does, as well. Farley did say, though, that a “super-efficient” version of Toyota’s current hybrid system is more likely.

Three years ago Toyota showed off the concept pictured above, the Volta. It wouldn’t look bad branded as a Lexus, and we could only hope they’d create a hybrid system with the power and frugality to match its looks. Though a hybrid LF-A wouldn’t be so bad either.

[Source: Bloomberg]

Filed under: Frankfurt Auto Show, Videos, Supercars, Lamborghini

 Lamborghini Reventón

It’s fast, it’s rare, and it costs one million euros to own. The Reventón may well be the Lamborghini to end all Lamborghini’s, but with only 20 copies ever scheduled to see their way through the assembly process, it may be too exclusive for its own good. Either way, 650 HP and 0-60 in 3.4, and slap you in the face styling are enough to keep enthusiasts of all ages up at night. The Reventón may be 20 copies exclusive, and none of us may ever see one on public roads, but that doesn’t mean it isn’t all over YouTube. Hit the jump to see 1:41 of a fast cut montage all about Lamborghini’s one million euro baby.

Filed under: Frankfurt Auto Show, Coupes, Mazda

Mazda is celebrating 40 years of putting engines inspired by pony kegs in their cars by rolling out a special version of the RX-8 2+2. Mazda’s official hyperbole about the RX-8 brags that the car changed customer expectations of what an affordable sports car should be when they launched the four-place coupe in 2003. It sure did; we’ve now come to expect less than the stated power output from the Renesis Wankel, which also swills oil like a… well, like a Wankel. Now that we’ve ensured that every single Rotary fan on Autoblog will lambaste us, let’s go on to say that we really do like them. Any engine you can mercilessly spin out to 10,000 RPM without aerating the block has significant entertainment value. The fact that there’s about three major moving parts is cool, too.

The Special Edition RX-8 has two new colors for its sinewy sheetmetal, Metropolitan Grey and Crystal White Pearl. There’s also new ten-spoke wheels, blue tinged foglamps, and the obligatory emblems to dress up the exterior. Open the clamshell doors and the Special Edition greets you with a specially outfitted interior, full of Alcantara, contrast stitching, leather, and silver bits. It’s not all just prettying up, either. The suspension crossmembers get shot full of foam for quieter operation, and there are new springs that are held in check by Bilstein dampers. So, while there’s been no massive power upgrade to the RX-8, the Special Edition is more than just a glamorization of an affordable, entertaining coupe.

Filed under: Convertibles, Sports/GTs, Japan, Honda

The hardcore, track-ready Honda S2000 Club Racer unveiled back in April at the New York Auto turned quite a few heads, and it looks like many of its visual cues are headed to Japan in the form of the JDM S2000 Type-S. A teaser for the S2000 Type-S is now up on the automaker’s Japanese website showing the JDM car wearing the same wheels, bodywork, and rear wing as the USDM Club Racer. In contrast to the CR, however, the Type-S appears to have retained its folding soft top. The Club Racer has had that hardware removed for weight reasons and wears a cover with integrated fairings (or a removable aluminum hardtop) instead. You can compare the two cars by looking at the galleries below. The Honda Japan website doesn’t give any specific Type-S details at the moment, but we grabbed screenshots of the images made available so far. Expect to see the S2000 Type-S revealed for all next month at the Tokyo Motor Show.

[Source: Honda]