Browsing tag

Hypercars

Design Talent Showcase – Devel Sixteen III Concept – By Mark Holster

The Devel Sixteen has been an automotive curiosity ever since Devel Motors first laid out the groundwork for the outrageous hypercar back in 2013 when it made its debut in prototype form at the Dubai Motor Show. The idea of a 5,000 horsepower offering that could hit 320 mph seemed impossibly absurd even in a world where the Bugatti Chiron and the Ferrari LaFerrari roam the streets, but Devel has made sure to remind the world that the car is still a very real deal. When we last checked in with Devel, it was back in 2017, when the production …

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Dream Garage – Superformance LOLA MkIII Can-Am Spyders

Lola racecars are extremely special for their value-for-money today, racing pedigree, and also their incredibly timeless grace and beauty. This was a racing team directly formed in the late 1950s with one goal: build a car from scratch to win LeMans. The resulting semi-monocoque chassis design – now known as a unibody – was revolutionary at the time of frame-based racers from nearly every other racing company and nearly every single road car. A semi-monocoque? Oh yes. The other part is also pretty advanced for the time: a steel spaceframe for the engine and rear suspension cradle. In fact, the …

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2016 W Motors FENYR SuperSport – Updated w/ Tech Specs, Video and Latest Photos

  World premiere of a screaming new hypercar: the Fenyr Supersport from W Motors! Following the incredible LYKAN in production form, the new FENYR is more compact, more wicked and even more exotic. Power comes in mid-engine RUF boxer form; the FENYR runs a 900-horsepower, 1100-foot-pound 4.0-liter twin turbo. Porsche basis, but remade by RUF to an extreme degree. That giant-killing motor is mounted inches above the ground in the mid-rear of the full carbon monocoque.  The FENYR drives the rear wheels alone through a new 7-speed PDK and limited-slip differential. Quoted performance figures so far are 2.7-seconds to 100-kph, …

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Concept Debrief – 1972 Maserati Boomerang by GIUGIARO – Leading Wedge Hypercar

  The wedge. This design mantra took over the minds of the world’s top stylists collectively around 1970 – as the Ferrari 512 S Module and the Lancia Stratos HF Zero concepts swept everyone to accept the shape. The design was the ultimate expression of mid-engine hypercar engineering of the time. In wind tunnels of the day, the goal was to have as little front surface area as possible. Something like a rocket for the road. Ferrari 512 S Modulo at Atlanta Dream Cars exhibit http://www.car-revs-daily.com/2014/06/10/dream-cars-1970-ferrari-512s-modulo-pininfarina/       Lancia Stratos HF Zero at Atlanta Dream Cars exhibit http://www.car-revs-daily.com/2014/06/10/dream-cars-1970-lancia-stratos-hf-zero-by-bertone/ Wind …

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900HP, 250MPH 2016 W Motors FENYR SuperSport World Debut

World premiere of a screaming new hypercar: the Fenyr Supersport from W Motors! Following the incredible LYKAN in production form, the new FENYR is more compact, more wicked and even more exotic.   LYKAN Power comes in mid-engine RUF boxer form; the FENYR runs a 900-horsepower, 1100-foot-pound 4.0-liter twin turbo. Porsche basis, but remade by RUF to an extreme degree. That giant-killing motor is mounted inches above the ground in the mid-rear of the full carbon monocoque.  The FENYR drives the rear wheels alone through a new 7-speed PDK. Quoted performance figures so far are 2.7-seconds to 100-kph, plus a …

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Concept Flashback – 1969 Abarth 2000 Coupe Speciale by Pininfarina

This photoshoot recalls Patsy Stone from Absolutely Fabulous to me, but the car under her is not half bad either.  The Abarth 2000 Coupe Speciale by Pininfarina explored a doorless wedge design with forward-hinged full glass canopy. Shrouded and integrated lamps in front were also fairly revolutionary for the time — and a cue that would be adopted by supercars by the mid-1970s.     1969 Abarth 2000 Coupe Speciale by Pininfarina

2015 W Motors Lykan HyperSport – Watch The Furious 7 Hero Car In Action!

Why do car brands love product placement? Let us count the ways! The most powerful effect can be instant and global — delivering a lift in brand awareness and consideration that would otherwise take 50 agencies, localized creative and perhaps $100-million in measured media spending. When done right, it really is magical. Crossing borders and languages instantly, becoming part of the cultural zeitgeist and a piece of cinema history for all time. In addition, weaving a car into the plot of a film can show off its performance, dynamic poise, interior and exhaust/engine notes simply by driving the car on …

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Superformance GT40 Mk1 – Gulf Racing Livery in 90 Gorgeous Photos + 2 Videos

Update1 – Republishing this with new gallery formats. While editing these photos just now, I am trying to think of the right description for the beauty shown by the Superformance GT40 Mark I. (And its humble photographer…!) All I keep thinking is: “These Photos Are Wet-Your-Pants Gorgeous!” The 100-plus photos below hopefully make up for the very disappointing camerawork in my GT40 ride-along. Yes, for most of it, I am narrating into an iPhone that was not actually, ahem, recording… VIDEO PART ONE Ride-Along VIDEO PART TWO Overall, owning a Superformance GT40 is now near the top of my long …

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Concept Flashback – 1972 Maserati Boomerang Was Production-Ready Wedge Hypercar

  The wedge. This design mantra took over the minds of the world’s top stylists collectively around 1970 – as the Ferrari 512 S Module and the Lancia Stratos HF Zero concepts swept everyone to accept the shape. The design was the ultimate expression of mid-engine hypercar engineering of the time. In wind tunnels of the day, the goal was to have as little front surface area as possible. Something like a rocket for the road. Ferrari 512 S Modulo at Atlanta Dream Cars exhibit http://www.car-revs-daily.com/2014/06/10/dream-cars-1970-ferrari-512s-modulo-pininfarina/     Lancia Stratos HF Zero at Atlanta Dream Cars exhibit http://www.car-revs-daily.com/2014/06/10/dream-cars-1970-lancia-stratos-hf-zero-by-bertone/ Wind tunnels …

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Pebble Beach 2014 Reunions – Three 1914 Mercedes-Benz French Grand Prix Cars in 78 Photos

After falling hard for this machine in Amelia Island,it is great to meet the rest of the crew. This trio of amazing Mercedes-Benz racing machines took a 1-2-3 victory at the 1914 French GP near Lyon. Reuinted 100 years later in Pebble Beach — looking not a day older and perhaps a bit cleaner than the finished the race out front!   1914 Mercedes-Benz French Grand Prix Cars   Mercedes-Benz At The Pebble Beach Concours D’elegance: Coupes From The Past, Present And Future August, 2014 International debut of the 540K Streamliner Coupe 1914 French Grand Prix 1-2-3 racers reunited Concept …

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Updated 70 New Photos – Malboro White 1995 McLaren F1 – Reserve Not Met at Gooding Pebble Beach

Updated 8.29.14 Surprise no-sale on this amazing F1. Prices may have been a bit rich, or the right buyer was simply not in the market at this time. The good news is: the car is still on the market somewhere, so we may see it again…! In fact, the value for this car will skyrocket in 2019 or 2020 as it becomes exempt from all US import and road legality issues on its 25th birthday.   White 1995 McLaren F1   PREVIOUS: Sure, the fact that this Japanese-ordered McLaren F1 is the sole example in factory Marlboro White is not …

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EXCLUSIVE! 2014 Bugatti Veyron Legend ETTORE BUGATTI in 45 Stunning Photos

Updated 8.27.14 We owe a deep nod of gratitude to Bugatti executive leadership for letting our camera lens into this exclusive Bugatti luncheon at Pebble Beach on Concours day. Like everything in the world of Bugatti – and especially Los Legendes de Bugatti – it is a land of velvet-rope access. Limited availability. Manufactured scarcity. That is part of the Bugatti myth as well as the entire client experience. Mobs of people is not on the agenda. But flashbulbs and press guys? Lucky for us — that is part of the cult of Bugatti. Great to play any part available …

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2015 Hennessey Venom GT – Worlds Fastest Edition in 69 All-New Photos From The Quail

  The Venom GT is a major success story that keeps building momentum with every aerodynamic tweak and trip to the Kennedy Space Center. If JFK were a Vbox-reading racing driver in 2014, he would certainly approve. This white example is tipped to be the one-off World’s Fastest Edition built to celebrate the record run seen in the below video. It is only the ~14th Venom GT ever made. In fact, Hennessey may have created the first — and perhaps only — great American Hypercar. If not the first American hypercar ever, this is certainly the best there has ever …

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Veyron GS Vitesse Legend ETTORE BUGATTI is Pebble Beach 2014 Debut

A blue-carbon and brushed-alloy finish for the Ettore Bugatti Legends car is a stunning combination – perfectly complementing the saddle leather inside for dramatic effect. The leather and horses theme is pervasive, with Cordovan leather featured in design sketches early on. The muted tones reflect the low-sheen appeal of horseshoes and other early steel machinery. This is a machine you can image would look amazing at speed. In Ettoe Bugatti’s day, many photos had a lively buzzy effect from trying to keep focus in a fast racing environment. Once stopped, the subtle and timeless beauty of this final Legends Veyron …

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Gooding Pebble Beach 2014 Preview – 1995 McLaren F1 – The Only White F1 Ever Made = $12Mil+

Sure, the fact that this Japanese-ordered McLaren F1 is the sole example in factory Marlboro White is not the only reason for its $12-million-plus pre-sale estimate. Other key reasons are: This F1 has only 1,000 total miles since new and was fully restored in Woking in 2008. The white paint preference among Japanese car fans is really returning on its investment in 2014 and beyond. White paint has never been so appealing or indicative of modern status. So a great time to sell, with the flat black alloys just extra on-trend style — but ordered like this 20 years ago. …

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Updated with 50 New Photos – 650HP 2015 Corvette Z06 Convertible ~3.0s to 60MPH with Manual or 8-Sp Automatic

Okay folks, get ready for the new Z06 Convertible — up close and very personal! Chevrolet commissioned two favorite photographers to handle a moody professional studio shoot for the grey car below. Outstanding details are visible in these high-glam shots, despite the indoor lighting being almost non-existent. The next set is perhaps even more amazing, with complete credit to CorvetteForum.com member Gene Sanchez Leeds. Mr Leeds snapped more than 100 photos of the Z06 twins at the New York show in April. The work is quite breathtaking in its detail and quality, with 25 of the best featured here. NY …

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1350HP SSC Tuatara Delayed As Company Goes Radio-Silent

The SSC Tuatara is gorgeous and inspiring to behold – even from afar – as the epitome of lurid hypercar vision made real. The Tuatara packs all the right swoops, wings and curves to make the company into something big. Something to add sex appeal to the fast/ugly Ultimate Aero XT. As it stands, the Ultimate Aero XT is the only model offered for sale by SSC to date, and has been the drivetrain testing mule for the Tuatara.     The hypercar business is extremely difficult, however, and takes the typical startup odds of failure and jacks the pressure …

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Design Talent Showcase – Ugur Sahin Design Creates First Convincing 250GTO Successor + Delicious LaFerrari Alternative

Are you loving Ugur Sahin’s vision for a modern and flowing hypercar design! And it looks like we’ve not the only ones – his vision for a front-engined GT car called the USD B.V was made into a real-life car by some big fans in Utah. The name is the most awkward part – but even so, this reskinned GT car does not even seem like Sahin’s best work. Most importantly, however, Sahin’s design talent and skill is evolving just as fast as his preference for supercars. This is a designer who has come al ong, long way in skill …

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Ugur Sahin Designs a Ferrari-badged Concept F Hypercar – But Style Says Koenigsegg To Us

The second Ugur Sahin Designs article today! This one is much more supercar-focused – or maybe hypercar is more like it! While Sahin based this on the Ferrari 458 and includes Ferrari branding, the style of the visor windshield, bubble canopy roof and long rear deck all seem like a far better fit as the next Koenigsegg. Cruise over to Sahin’s website portfolio below to see all his outstanding work… http://www.ugursahindesign.com/ Ugur Sahin Design – Project F

2014 Audi R8 LMX to Bring World-First Standard Laser Highbeams Via Shared Tech with R18 LeMans

  Yes, the BMW i8 offers them – but only as a high-priced option. As such, the Audi R8 LMX is set to be the first car to ever include laser highbeams as standard when it arrives this summertime. The highbeam solution is a work-around to make sure that the lighting is still palatable to all world markets – including the United States, we predict. The below information is based on the UK-market R8, but this special edition is almost a sure thing on US roads as well. A redesigned R8 is tipped for Frankfurt – going on sale about …

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$10M Cars? Original 1925/34 Rolls-Royce Round Door Coupe vs Modern Vision by Dutch Designer Ugur Sahin

THE WHAT The thing with one-off cars made by coach-builders is that the bodywork typically has no blueprints. No panel molds or industrial stampings to use thousands of times. There is no way to even think of creating another example of a car like the 1925/24 Rolls-Royce Round Door Coupe – with its panels and every aesthetic piece made on a one-0ff basis, often by hand. And why might anyone try such a daunting task! The original chassis was completed in 1925, but it took another nine years to fabricate and complete the body — hence the 1934 tag that …

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VENTURI Taking its Visionary EV Future-Tech to Bonneville and Formula E Racetracks

PART ONE: INTRO TO BRILLIANT CONCEPTS You cannot fault Venturi Automobiles for their ambition – here is a company with the power to envision and make concept cars that might even fail the Rinspeed or ItalDesign “reality check” test. Wild ideas like a solar streamliner for commuters, the Antarctic shuttle on treads, and the America off-road cabrio concept are certainly enticing for their rarity and bold vision. The Volage concept is perhaps the most feasible as a sale-able vehicle — with unique ideas present even six years since its first look as a concept in 2008.   PART TWO: HARSH …

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2014 Radical RXC Lands in America! Track Shakedown with WISKO Racing + Mega Gallery Inside/Out

WISKO racing is based in Virginia and is an official Radical distributor in the United States — which is a bit of a relief for me as a car writer. Why? As you may note in the below photos, there is a “For Sale” placard in the windshield, which would be worrying for such a new car in any other circumstances…! But not for this amazing machine, which delivers such LeMans levels of down-force that it becomes nearly unflappable in any track scenario. All the better to put down some race-ready laptimes..! The RXC is priced from just under 100,000 …

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VIDEO and Photos – Bailey Ferrari P-4 Replica Running 400i V12 + Flat-6 917 Porsche Replica Too!

A day that fires up with GT40 V8s and ends with Ferrari P4 V12’s? What could be better? Sure, both the cars in question are recreations – replicas of these arch-rival racecars that are remade in 2014 just a bit better (we would argue)  than was possible in the 1960s. But even so, they are a wonderful time-capsules and even time machines for many – these cars were in their racing prime when color photography was rare enough to not know the difference between Rosso Corsa and Gulf Blue. This was racing at modern speeds — with decidedly vintage technology. …

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2014 Superformance GT40 Mark I – MEGA Photo Shoot and Ride-Along Videos

While editing these photos just now, I am trying to think of the right description for the beauty shown by the Superformance GT40 Mark I. (And its humble photographer…!) All I keep thinking is: “These Photos Are Wet-Your-Pants Gorgeous.” The 100-plus photos below hopefully make up for the very disappointing camerawork in my GT40 ride-along. Yes, for most of it, I am narrating into an iPhone that was not actually, ahem, recording… VIDEO PART ONE VIDEO PART TWO Overall, owning a Superformance GT40 is now near the top of my long list of life goals. Enjoy.     OUTDOOR PHOTOS …

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VIDEO: Touring the Olthoff Racing Dream Factory – Superformance GT40s and Cobras Galore

Tucked beside a country highway in North Carolina, impossible dreams come to life in the form of howling racecar replicas from Superformance. The model year says 2014, but the dream of piloting a Le Mans car on the street generally share a birthday with a 196* starting point. Authorized and licensed by Safir Spares and Shelby American, Superformance is not a fly-by-night organization. Badges and paperwork are a sure thing with every model they sell from the dozen or so assembly and retail outlets like Olthoff Racing all over the world. But the one thing with racecar assembly versus mass-market …

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Porsche, BMW and Aston Beware: Nissan GT-R GT3 Poised to Dominate Nurburgring 24H Race

Nissan GT-R GT3 Nurburgring 24H Race When the Nissan GT-R goes racing, it typically does so to win. This is not a flight of fancy – the latest GT3 version of the mighty GT-R must know something we do not about speed and stamina around the Green Hell. Either the car knows something, or the Nismo.tv YouTube channel, or perhaps the GT Academy drivers for this year’s online reality competition show? Someone must be very confident that this GT-R GT3 can beat everything else on the grid.   With this GT3-spec GT-R, perhaps Nissan is delivering such fast testing laps …

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Exclusive World Debut – 2014 Superlite SLC Le Mans Spyder – $70k, 430HP V8, Porsche Trans and 2200 Pounds Total!

Unless I am in Chicago traffic from O’Hare to Wrigleyville, I rarely like to toot my own horn. But the Superlite SLC Le Mans world debut might be a seriously exclusive piece of supercar news – seen only by readers of Car-Revs-Daily.com, so far. Why? The Spyder (or Roadster) SLC Le Mans is absolutely brand new and has never before been shown in public. This is the first complete prototype of the full Le Mans Spyder bodystyle of the Superlite SLC Coupe, an it is magnificent. Completed with a Chevrolet LS3 V8 engine and Porsche transaxle by H Craft Customs …

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SHOCK! Charlotte Motor Speedway’s Banned NASCAR Mustang Prototype… Actually Looks Like a Mustang

Confession time: I have not been an active NASCAR fan in more than 20 years. But I am definitely a fan of the cars’ outright speed, power and the bravery needed to take one to victory over near-identical others on the grid. This extremely homogenized approach to racing rules is epitomized outside by what NASCAR calls the “Car of Tomorrow” bodyshell. It makes all the cars the exact same shape, excluding stickers. This seems like a huge error in judgment versus what fans want to see: actual rivalries among not just drivers, but the car manufacturers’ racing technology and expertise. …

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Speculative Renderings – 2014 Superformance GT40 Can-Am Spyder or Street-Able Convertible

So, if the Ford GT40 and the LOLA T70 Mk II Spyder share so much under the skin, and if the Lola is already available from Superformance — why bother with a meld of both these ideas?   Three reasons: – The Lola cars have a far smaller following among the world’s enthusiasts, and therefore are a very niche machine – If Ford had continued racing the GT40 concept after its four LeMans victories from 1966 to 1969, it is likely that the car would have adopted this style to match FIA’s rule changes. Can-Am was much closer to home …

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2014 Superformance LOLA Mk III and MkII Can-Am Spyder at Olthoff Racing – Chevy-Friendly Racing Speedster?

Lola racecars are extremely special for their value-for-money today, racing pedigree, and also their incredibly timeless grace and beauty. This was a racing team directly formed in the late 1950s with one goal: build a car from scratch to win LeMans. The resulting semi-monocoque chassis design – now known as a unibody – was revolutionary at the time of frame-based racers from nearly every other racing company and nearly every single road car. A semi-monocoque? Oh yes. The other part is also pretty advanced for the time: a steel spaceframe for the engine and rear suspension cradle. In fact, the …

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VIDEO: Olthoff Racing Factory – Superformance GT40 Mark II – Specs, History + High-Res Photo Comparison Vs. GT40 Mark I

Is there beauty in functionality? That is the question to ask when debating a GT40 Mark I versus its successor, the GT40 Mark II. Is authenticity of the actual 1-2-3 1966 7.0-liter Mark II race win better than the clean lines and simple aesthetic of the Mark I — which was actually a trouble-prone testing bed for the losing 1964 and 1965 seasons? The 24 Hours of LeMans is widely known as the most grueling durability and endurance test ever fathomed, let alone run annually with a field of more than sixty cars across four racing categories: LMP1, LMP2, GT2 …

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GT40 vs Cobra Track Battle VIDEOS! Superformance Brings American Racecar Glory Global via Shelby Asia

Superformance Ford GT40 – in-car track cam Editor’s Intro: Can you tell I am getting excited to visit Olthoff Racing tomorrow in Charlotte, NC?   Have you ever wished you could just wake up tomorrow day inside Gran Turismo?  Or even better, in the pit lane of Daytona circa 1965 ? Well beyond 3D — and into 4D of not just SSM (sight, sound and motion) but SSMTSFG — Sight, Sound, Motion, Touch, Smell, Fear and Glory? Well, for a modest amount of cash and enough skill – Superformance racecar recreations can do just that. These two videos demonstrate the …

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VIDEO: 1999 Lamborghini Diablo VT at Charleston Cars & Coffee — Still Crazy After All These Years

Crazy cool… but also crazy compromised? It took a three-point-turn for this “FARM” license-plated thoroughbred to squeeze its way into this generous parking space…! The FARM plate might be a tongue-in-cheek reference to Lambo’s origins making giant tractor engines… but the car is from Lake Forrest, Illinois!  My old stomping ground… As far as curb appeal and stopping power to draw stares, little can compete with the Diablo VT.

W Motors LYKAN HyperSport Makes Production Debut in Monaco This Week – Racecar In Pipeline?

      Since winning 2013’s Best New Exotic car award here on Car-Revs-Daily.com,  the W Motors team has been anything but idle. The Lykan HyperSport’s whirlwind tour continues this spring with its European debut in Monaco April 17th through the 20th. Despite not exactly being street-legal in Europe and the United States yet — that is not likely to be a problem for this hypercar’s ~ten total owners. Not street legal there? Here is how the buyer conversations might go… “Let’s have the Lykan as our Paul Ricard HTTT track car, or maybe we should just order it shipped …

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Concept Flashbacks – Nissan DOME Zero P1 and P2 and 1987 Nissan MID4 Type II

What is not to love about a mid-engine hypercar concept? How about a three-pack of them?! These concept Nissan models are pretty amazing. All Nissans? Not exactly. The two Dome Zeroes below were from a startup by the same name, but were powered by the Nissan straight-six engine from the Z-cars of the era, making 145-horsepower in these applications. Limited any-res photos of each are readily available, but the Nissan Heritage collection does offer the specs of the 1987 MID4 Type II — which predates the Acura NSX and also foreshadowed the 300ZX and later, the 240Z of the 1990s. …

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Concept Debrief – 1969 Alfa-Romeo Tipo 332 Coupe Speciale – Gullwing Canary in Supercar Coal Mine

This Alfa is Canary Yellow. It was also a dying canary in the coal-mine of Italian supercar fates of the next decade. When a canary dies in his cage deep undergound, miners knew the toxicity of the air was going from bad to worse. In mid-1960s Italy, the momentum to start one’s own hypercar legacy was a powerful draw. By 1969, all in the small sports-car business at the time marvelled at Feruccio Lamborghini’s success in carving sales away from Ferrari. Ferrari had quashed nearly all attempts by Maserati and Alfa-Romeo at reclaiming their past glory, and non-Ferrari people were …

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625HP 2015 Corvette Z06 Convertible – SURPRISE OFFICIAL REVEAL

Here I am, farting around and debating a nap instead of writing up the 2015 Golf Sportwagen, which will replace the hideous and hated Jetta SportWagen, and ding goes my iPhone! **VERY** fresh email. Unlike the hundreds and hundreds of firewall attack alerts I have received all day long since yesterday, this is HUGE NEWS! HUGE NEWS! Only two weeks ago, we published some disgracefully-shoddy Speedster and Spyder renderings, one of which included a Z06 drop-top. In that article, we outlined how there are “two types” of Corvette buyers — which is a polite way of saying the drop-tops were …

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2014 Hennessey Venom GT Worlds Fastest Edition- 270 Stunning Photos of 270MPH Venom GT Spyder

The Venom GT is a major success story that keeps building momentum with every aerodynamic tweak and trip to the Kennedy Space Center! This video below is pretty awesome. Great intro via a  great JFK speech, HPE! Pretty outstanding results, too =] The latest WFE reached the long-held ideal of one kilogram of weight per horsepower, with both totaling 1244 thanks to the latest tweaks to the Hennessey twin-turbocharged V8 engine. The Hennessey team notes that not only is the Venom GT now the world’s fastest car, it is also the quickest. A 2.7-second sprint to 60-mph only increases in …

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Iconic Classic: 1938 Dubonnet Hispano-Suiza H6C Xenia at Mullin Automotive Museum

Orig Published on: Nov 5, 2013 @ 13:12   If it seems like we have an unhealthy fascination for the Mullin Automotive Museum, you might be right. The cars inside this Oxnard, California collection just… write their own stories. I have a dozen more that I would like to feature, but we must start at the true nexus – or “Xenia” perhaps – of the art of French coach-building by Jacques Saoutchik and his contemporaries. How all these cars got to sunny California is no accident. In many cases – the cars in the collection were painstakingly built – sometimes …

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2013 Nissan GT-R Black Edition – Drake the Akita

UPDATE: Drake is home from surgery and doing well. It is this April Fool’s birthday tomorrow and my best friend, Drake Burkart the Akita Labrador, is in surgery right now overnight for a torn ACL.   The TPLO procedure is hopefully not life-threatening, but I am very upset anyway to see him in such pain. Therefore, is a very emotional day for me, so I am going back to some all-time favorites for car-news comfort. Here is Drake. As an American Akita breed, he is something like the GT-R in many ways. Akitas in the US were generally bred with …

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2014 LeMans LMP1 – Toyota TS040 Hybrid – A Dark Horse in Audi vs. Porsche Battle

The TS040 Hybrid is looking mighty rapid this year, with a huge increase in stamina and budget for the Toyota Motorsports Group based in Cologne, Germany. Training with past winners and local talent can only be considered a huge new asset in the Toyota WEC racing ambition for its LMP1 cars. TS040 Hybrid running from ToyotaGB on Vimeo. So, is the TS040 fast and powerful enough to outwit the Porsche 919 Hybrid and Audi R18 trio? Fast enough remains to be seen, but the Toyota effort in LMP1 has garnered five race victories since 2012, which is certainly nothing to …

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2.8s QUANT e-SportLimo – Design Shootout vs Porsche 918

2.8s QUANT e-SportLimo – Design Shootout vs Porsche 918 Why so curious about this car’s origin and vision? A few things seem a bit unusual. Let’s dive into the salty blue of QUANT together.     We knew suspected from first seeing this car’s badge that it comes with a large beer-mug of Bavarian heritage: the Quandt (with a D) family is a major controlling shareholder in the BMW Group. Along with the Porsche’s and the Piech’s — these are some of the most revered industrial dynasties in Germany. And also some of the most shielded and private. But is …

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BUGATTI Marque Showcase — Geneva, Salon Prive and Pebble Beach — Veyron Vitesse and GS Rembrandt — Plus Venet, Jean Bugatti, L’Or Blanc and GS Vitesse

So many Bugatti’s, so little time!   Just kidding. It really is the opposite, in fact, with a production run closing in on the final 75 units pretty soon on the horizon in 2015. But when your car costs as much as these magnificent specimens, who wouldn’t want a custom theme and livery? Quick shorthand: GS signifies the targa cars, while the Vitesse models are the fastest and newest of the all. The Vitesse wears significant updates and shaping to the entire nose, with a mid-wing in the air ducts that is not present on the earlier cars. Geneva 2014 …

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TurboSquid 3D: Mercedes SSK, Jaguar D-TYPE Longnose and Ferrari 250 Testa Rossa

Including TurboSquid.com’s 3D design models of the Pagani Huayra ‘Extreme’ last night opened a really stinky can of worms for your humble scribe — who tries to Do The Right Thing more than even Spike Lee. On the one hand, these design models can and should be used for ethical and legal purposes. On the other hand: let’s imagine you own the intellectual property at play. Making the entire design available for just $100 or so to anyone online would be like Coca-Cola giving away the secret recipe after a customer takes their first sip of soda. Not in anyone’s …

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Unpainted Black Carbon-Fiber is Draining Hypercars of their Beauty! McLaren P1 Before/After Digitally Painted Surfaces

The epidemic of unpainted or dark-lacquered carbon-fiber is magnificent to behold from just a few paces. But for the rest of us, from far away, there is little beauty in these dark, cavernous ‘holes’ in the latest hypercar bodywork. Both the Pagani Huayra and the McLaren P1 have liberal amounts of unpainted CF — but must it be this way? Without a McLaren P1 configurator available to the public — the car is already sold out — we have taken it upon ourselves to visualize the P1 with fully-painted surfaces. Of course, nothing is simple in the hypercar battle royale …

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PAGANI HUAYRA Extreme Renderings — Plus Bugatti EB110 and SSC Tuatara

These are very photo-realistic 3D building blocks for designers. In fact, so good that the website greets you with this large caveat: these are not real! While these might not live outside computer screens: they are some great ideas regardless. Who would need these highly-detailed 3D maps of the entire car’s surface? Does this not infringe upon Pagani’s trademarked and copywritten designs with the EU Patent Office?   The answer to those questions is: we do not know for certain. Overall, these screenshots sampled here promote TurboSquid.com’s expertise — design renderings used for legal and ethical means. TurboSquid.com About Us …

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Legendary Racecars — 1983 March Porsche 83G-4 — Still Seeking New Home after Gooding Amelia 2014

Alarming fact error on this one, guys. Our sincere apologies for any confusion, and a thankyou to Wayne at Pelican Parts for pointing out the issue. This is, in fact, a 1983 March Porsche 83G-4 — a BMW prototype racer retrofitted with a flat six from Porsche. Hearing the March Porsche 83G-4 fire up immediately brought droves of people up close and personal to fawn over its details, including your humble scribe. My video of the car firing up is missing somewhere in the archives, but the photos are intact! NOTABLE ELEMENTS: — In fact, Kreepy Krawly is a brand …

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Amelia Island 2014 – 1914 Mercedes-Benz GP Car

1914 Mercedes-Benz GP Car This car does not photograph with quite the same intensity and impact of seeing it up close. There are numerous elements that truly reminded me more of a racehorse than a racecar — including the specially-made leather bonnets for much of its suspension and braking gear. Why? To keep the grime out while putting its 105-horsepower to use hitting nearly 67MPH. In 1914, those were death-defying speeds. The Dunlop Cord tires are filled harder than horseshoe steel: 80-plus PSI to maintain shape, versus about a 35PSI max in modern cars. But the real racehorse impression? This …

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2.8s McLaren P1 — 38 New Photos from Bahrain GP Course — Triumph Over LaFerrari Almost Guaranteed

The McLaren P1’s mission is clear: world hypercar supremacy.   And for the P1’s dynamic beauty in these latest photos, we’d say they are on the right track!  (No pun intended…) A few things are noticeable in these photos, which all may owe a debt to McLaren’s deep racing expertise: — The car is absolutely flying in these photos!  Serious 10/10ths driving in many cases, which is nearly impossible for amateurs to photograph as well as McLaren has. Clearly, this snapper has some F1 racing photo skills that we must bow to and respect. — The P1 is in final, …

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