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BMW M3 coupe gets stripped down to go club racing

BMW's M division is back in the business of building specialty street-legal race cars with a new lightweight version of the M3 called the GTS. The lightweight coupe, set to go on sale in early 2010 at a yet-undisclosed price, was conceived as a limited-edition model primarily for club-based racing in much the same way that Porsche builds the 911 GT3 Clubsport. But in a clear effort to link its track-based activities with the production-car side of its business, BMW's M division is offering the new car with a homologation package that will allow customers to register the M3 GTS for street use.

Jaguar XK and XKR Special Edition launched

New Jaguar XK and XKR Special Editions launched Jaguar has decided to give the XK and XKR sales a bit of a boost with the launch of  Special Edition models as coupe and convertible. There’s nothing quite like a Special Edition model to get punters in showrooms, and with the Jaguar XK and XKR perhaps losing a bit of their glow – thanks in part to getting towards the end of their shelf life, and the arrival of the bonkers XKR-S – Jaguar has launched ‘Special Edition’ models of the XK and XKR as both coupe and convertible. The new XK and XKR Special Editions are purely cosmetic – there’s none of the extra power we’ve seen in the XKR-S – but the cosmetic tweaks are appealing.

Brit success story Prodrive celebrates 30 years

BRITISH race and rally specialist Prodrive is celebrating 30 years of putting drivers on the top step of the podium. The Banbury-based company first entered motorsport in January 1984 when it competed in the Qatar International Rally with a Porsche 911 SC RS. This car was driven by Saeed Al Hajri and the same car went on to be campaigned by Henri Toivenen in the European Rally Championship.