1990 Nissan Maxima Se Sedan 4-door 3.0l on 2040-cars

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Nine cars we wish were convertibles

The snow has melted, the sun is shining, and the days are getting longer. At the Autoblog Detroit office we feel like our winter hibernation is finally over. And with warmer temperatures come visions of opening up a convertible roof and cruising. You know, just turn up the bass and let the Alpine blast. There are plenty of droptops on sale in the US, and more on the way (like the 2016 Mazda MX-5 Miata). That said, we always want more. More! More! More! In that spirit, we cooked up a list of nine cars aren't currently sold as convertible, but ought to be. Check out our picks, below. Summer's just around the corner. Subaru BRZ / Scion FR-S In some parallel universe, this car actually happened. Toyota showed us a FT 86 Convertible concept at the Geneva Motor Show in 2013, and we immediately started licking our chops over the thought of a rear-wheel-drive convertible based on the Subaru BRZ and Scion FR-S twins. These days, the MX-5 Miata is our only option for affordable roadster fun. A competitor to the Mazda seems like a no-brainer to us, especially since we have naught but good to say about the BRZ/FR-S as-is. Unfortunately in our present timeline, this car is as likely for production as a BRZ STI. Which is to say, not very. Dang. Lexus RC F Unlike the FR-S, a convertible from Toyota's luxury division might actually see the light of day. The current IS convertible is about to be phased out, and the Lexus LF-C2 concept from the 2014 Los Angeles Auto Show is really a thinly veiled look at a possible RC convertible. A droptop RC would be plenty good, but let's reach for the starts. What we really want is to run topless in an RC F, complete with that powerful, loud, 5.0-liter V8 engine. Lexus says the RC F is a true competitor to the BMW M4. If that's true, it only makes sense for Lexus to mimic the Germans and offer its performance coupe in a folding hardtop form. Maybach Landaulet Maybach is bach back, recast as an upper crust trim level for Mercedes-Benz. The Mercedes-Maybach S600 is seriously awesome, and more luxurious than a trip to the spa. But why not go a step into the truly ridiculous levels of extravagence and bring back that open-top Landaulet? We think your local princess will love this idea, and with better S-Class bones underneath, Jeeves will have a pretty enjoyable ship to steer, too. Besides, with that slick new Mercedes design language, a Landaulet redux wouldn't be nearly as hideous as the old model, pictured here.

Renault's new Talisman smacks of Maxima [UPDATE]

UPDATE: Well, despite taking up virtually the same amount of space on the road, Nissan spokesperson Josh Clifton confirmed to Autoblog that there's "no linkage on the two vehicles," and that "they weren't developed in tandem." The story has been edited to reflect this information. While Renault and Nissan maintain a strong alliance, the amount of sharing between the two brands is generally pretty subtle. The two automakers haven't made a habit of rebadging the other's products, although we'd surely support rebadging the Renault Clio or Megane as the new Versa or Sentra, especially if the RenaultSport versions were rebadged as Nismo models. That's not likely to change with the new Renault Talisman The big four-door sedan is the latest vehicle to ride on Renault-Nissan's Common Module Family, which also underpins the current Espace MPV. While it may wear Renault's diamond logo and ride on the Espace's platform, the new Talisman sedan takes up almost exactly the same amount of space on the road as the new Nissan Maxima. There's less than two inches separating the two sedans' overall length and wheelbase, while differences in width and height are negligible. The similarities end with the size, though. While the Maxima is only offered with a 3.5-liter V6 and continuously variable transmission, the Talisman will be available with a range of four-cylinder engines. There will be three diesels, available in 110-horsepower, 130-hp, and 160-hp varieties, along with a pair of gas engines, delivering 150 and 200 hp, respectively. The diesels can only be mated to six-speed transmissions (manuals are available for the 110 and 130-hp models), while the petrol mills are limited to seven-speed dual-clutch units. The Renault will also offer four-wheel steering, in the form of the company's 4Control system, and active dampers. While not pictured here, the Talisman will also be offered as a five-door wagon. You can expect to see both the sedan and long-roof models when Renault shows its newest entries in September, at the 2015 Frankfurt Motor Show. Related Video: THE TALISMAN Renault's new saloon packs style and real driving enjoyment Renault is proud to reveal its new executive saloon. The evocatively named TALISMAN ticks all the boxes that D-segment customers have come to appreciate, while taking wellbeing and driving enjoyment to a new level. The Renault TALISMAN features a unique combination of: • Assertive styling: sleek, elegant lines.

Nissan Leaf has 2nd-best sales month ever, Chevy Volt does a 2013 repeat [UPDATE]

UPDATE: The official press release says that "Volt [sales were] up 7 percent," but Randy Fox let AutoblogGreen know that this is simply due to a change in the fleet/retail mix between March 2013 and 2014. The actual number sold was exactly the same in the two months. A month ago, Nissan's director of EV sales and marketing, Toby Perry, said he expected to see the Leaf's sales momentum continue into March. It wasn't a big leap, since January and February were slow sales months in 2013 (around 640 each) before a big climb to 2,200 in March. In 2014, the first two months of the year were better (around 1,300 each) but Nissan can still be happy that the Leaf just had the best March ever and its second-highest sales month ever, with 2,507 sold. That's a 12.1 percent increase from 2013 and Perry said in a statement to AutoblogGreen that one reason is all of the buyers who are becoming evangelists for the vehicle. "We've also seen an increase in showroom traffic as we enhanced our marketing presence in March," he said. Nissan pointed to cities like Washington, DC, Raleigh-Durham, NC and urban areas in Texas as strong Leaf markets last month. On the Chevy Volt front, January and February were also slow months in 2014, down roughly half from the 2,000-ish the plug-in hybrid was selling at the end of 2013. For 2014, sales were up slightly from the first two months of the year and Chevy spokesman Randy Fox told AutoblogGreen that the March number was "pretty flat, year-over-year." Even with that warning, we were surprised to see the total come in at 1,478. Why's that? Because the total for March 2013 was ... 1,478. So, yeah, that's pretty steady even if there were 26 selling days in March period this year compared to 27 last year. As always, our more complete report of last month's green car sales will be coming soon. News Source: General Motors, Nissan Green Chevrolet GM Nissan Electric Hybrid PHEV ev sales