In today's highly competitive auto market, one would think there are no new niches left to explore. Well, it's pretty true, except for imaginative individuals like the crew from Sweden’s Gray Design, which also penned the Saab supercar. Enter the world of the Strand Craft Limousine Beach Cruiser, a vehicle that looks like a crossover between a limousine, a convertible and a yacht – yes, you read correctly, a yacht. Essentially a beach shuttle, the Stand Craft has been conceived for luxury hotel chains willing to offer their clients premium service. More specifically, to carry six passengers from the hotel to the nearest beach as fast and as comfortable as possible.
Crafted by luxury boat maker Strand Craft, the Limousine Beach Cruiser is designed for the sunny parts of the world. Its looks confirm it: the car (or should we say yacht?) features an opening canvas roof, chromed hubcaps and wooden inlays. It also sports an even more extravagant interior with Alcantara leather, brushed aluminum, chrome, a Breitling-made instrument panel and Swarowski crystals.
To keep the passengers entertained until they arrive at the beach, the Limousine Beach Cruiser is fitted with a 15-speaker Naim sound system that has a 1100 Watt amplifier to ensure the best audio quality even when the canvas roof is opened. Finally, the car is powered by a 6.0-liter Chevrolet V8 engine with 400 horsepower, enough to offer the car a top speed of 220 km/h (137 mph). The eight-cylinder unit is linked to a Haldex-based all-wheel drive system.
There's no info on pricing, though if you don't own a luxury hotel you probably can't afford it.

Proving once again that there is no limit to what one can build when you let your imagination take over, a team of Swedes transformed a Dodge Viper into the menacing Saab 9-3 SRT10 MegaPower you see in these pictures. It all started when a man bought a wrecked Dodge Viper SRT-10 with the intention of rebuilding it. However, it soon became obvious that task was far more difficult than he originally thought due to the extent of the damages and the lack of parts. It didn’t take long to come up with a fresh idea: strip the Viper’s body clean and use the mechanical hardware and parts of the chassis on a Saab 9-3 Sport Combi.
A team of tuners were involved in the build, which understandably, wasn’t a walk in the park as the Viper’s 8.4-liter V10 engine proved too big for the Saab’s engine bay and had to be pushed towards the cabin to fit. But the result is definitely impressive. For a more comprehensive look at the build with plenty of photos, check out the Zatsy forum.

This year marks the 25 anniversary of Saab’s Convertible model that was first launched under the 900 nameplate and later on, the 9-3 moniker, which is still used today. And while the Swedish firm’s current financial woes don’t allow for a more appropriate celebration, Saab released some key facts and figures on its drop top model.

The convertible’s history started in 1983 at the Frankfurt Motor Show, where Saab unveiled a new concept model with a powered soft-top based on the 900 liftback. After gauging the public’s reaction, Saab decided to introduce a production version of the four-seater model, which was built by Finland’s Valmet Automotive.

The car went on sale in 1986, with the first 400 examples built for the US market. The 900 Convertible was launched with a 175 hp, 2.0-liter turbocharged engine, with Saab later on enhancing the range to include full and light-pressure turbo engines, more model specifications and top-of-the-line Aero variants.

After GM’s involvement in Saab in 1989, the Swedish company presented a new generation of the 900 series based on the Opel Vectra platform in 1993. The following year, Saab added the Convertible version to the lineup under the banner: 'We didn't invent the Convertible, but we made a Saab of it'. The second generation 900 Convertible kept the same four-seat layout and powered soft-top with its predecessor, but featured a completely flat rear with the roof stowed away under a flush-fitting 'tonneau' cover. In 1998, Saab refreshed and renamed the entire 900 series to 9-3, with the Convertible model benefiting from the same upgrades as the rest of the range.

The next chapter in the Convertible’s history began in 2003, one year after the presentation of the sedan model based on GM’s Epsilon platform architecture. The third generation Saab Convertible, which is still in production today, brought several improvements at the time such as two phase’ automatic tonneau movement for quick roof deployment, water repellent textile seat upholstery and an automatic climate control adjustment for a ‘top-down’ heating mode. Saab also notes that tt was also the first soft-top model to achieve a maximum, five-star EuroNCAP rating.

Today, the 9-3 Convertible is offered with a choice of gasoline, diesel and bio-fuel engines, and various trim levels, while the Swedish automaker celebrating its first year of independence from GM with a special edition of the drop top model at this year’s Geneva Motor Show.

If Saab manages to its financial health and keep to its plan of revealing a brand new 9-3 in 2012, a Convertible version should make its way into production shortly after.

Saab Convertible Key Facts [From Saab]