The F50 is the rarest of the supercars. Just 349 examples were built, all of which were initially leased to prevent owners from immediately turning and selling them for a profit. Current examples are worth something around three-quarters of a million dollars.
When it comes to rare Ferraris, though, the F50 GT just about takes the cake. Built on the F50 platform to compete in the GT1 class of the FIA GT, Ferrari constructed just three of the specialized race cars before the company decided it wanted to abandon sports car racing and fully commit to . With its 750-horsepower V12 that could rev to 10,500 rpm, the F50 GT was rumored to lap the Fiorano test track faster than the Ferrari 333 SP prototype racecar.
It’s a rare sight to see an F50 in the wild, and you’re likely to never have the pleasure of seeing an F50 GT with your own eyes. Those in attendance at last night’s McCall’s Motorworks Revival, however, got the chance to see both. The matching pair was one of the many highlights of the event, which included the debut of the and the .
You can see a gallery of both the F50 and the F50 GT in the gallery above.
There are a few other events earlier in the Monterey car week, but for us it’s Gordon McCall’s Motorworks Revival that really gets things started. This year marks the 20th anniversary of the event at the Monterey Jet Center, and it was celebrated with plenty of amazing cars, planes, and fine food and drink.
This year also brought a host of debuts from various sports car manufacturers. debuted the , this side of the Atlantic for the first time, showed off the first destined for a domestic customer and , freshly washed and waxed after its campaign at the Nürburgring.
The Monterey car week is more about classics, however, and there was plenty of vintage iron on display as well. Attendees enjoyed everything from a gorgeous D-Type to a Trans-Am race car. You can see those and more in the high-res gallery above.
If you like but have grown tired of the aging design that characterizes the , and model lines, Monterey, California, is the place to be this week. That’s where, amidst all the classics and concours, Aston is showing off its latest car, the V12 Zagato, marking the first time that the car has been shown in North America. The transatlantic voyage follows the concept car’s decorated unveiling at Villa d’Este, its and the announcement of its .
While many times limited edition cars like this are reserved exclusively for Europe, Aston Martin tells us that the V12 Zagato will be available to customers here in the United States. Granted, buyers will only be able to import the cars under a registration, but we’re guessing that most owners wouldn’t drive more than the limit of 2,500 miles per year, anyway.
While you most likely won’t be one of the lucky 150 people to get a £330,000 V12 Zagato, you can get your visual fill of the car in the high-res gallery above.
Yesterday evening at the Monterey Jet Center, Lotus unveiled the , a tribute to the race car that was created to compete in the GTE race class. The car looks eerily familiar to the , and the badge on the back of the spoiler is evidence that the Swiss company was involved with this concept. Even so, the car is tastefully done and looks fantastic in person.
The Evora GTE Concept isn’t just about looks, though. Behind the rear seats is a 420-horsepower version of the supercharged four-cylinder engine, running through a sequential AMT gearbox. Lightweight racing wheels with center-lock hubs are wrapped around sticky Pirelli P-Zero Corsa tires.
You can view live photos of the Lotus Evora GTE Road Car Concept in the gallery above, or to read the official press release from Lotus.
has its bags packed for Germany, because the automaker is reportedly planning to unveil a new concept car at the . According to Ward’s Auto, Kia officials aren’t calling it a coupe, but state the car will have “coupe-like” styling. Does that mean the Korean automaker is taking aim at the and ? Judging by the styling direction of its latest vehicles – the , namely – we wouldn’t be surprised.
Mum’s the word on this Kia concept, but the report suggests that it will have rear-wheel-drive architecture and slot in size between the and . Our best guess? This is further confirmation that the . The V8-powered, Peter Schreyer-designed four-door is expected to take the auto show stage in Germany, and we’ll be there to bring you live photos if and when it does.
Besides word of a new model, Kia also has updates in store for its engines and transmissions. The 2.0-liter direct-injection four-cylinder unit making its way into the is already being reworked. Engineers are squeezing more power while improving fuel efficiency thanks to a continuously variable valve timing system. Additionally, while automotive kissing cousin is set to launch the with a six-speed dual-clutch transmission, Kia insiders say more gears are already on the immediate horizon. A seven-speed DCT isn’t far behind the six, with launch estimates pegged at two years time.
European divisions are keeping mum on the details, but Opel and Vauxhall are preparing to unveil some sort of new concept car next month at the .
All GM is saying at this point is that the experimental prototype will be driver-focused. Which sounds good, but we’ll reserve any sort of judgement until we know a little more. Or really, until we know anything.
The secretive show car will join the three-door hatch and minivan, which also make their production debuts, on the twin companies’ show stand. Joining them as well will be the Ampera – the European cousin of the – that is nearing its market debut, and seven vehicles equipped with the EcoFLEX family of frugal engines.
for the full press release, and watch this space for more info on what form that concept car might take as the show approaches.
has just announced that the production version of its show star, the , is on the way. Dubbed ELR and borrowing technology from the , the on-again, off-again angular coupe had been . Now, Cadillac has officially confirmed that development of the extended-range electric coupe is already underway.
While no specs are being given, Cadillac is confirming that the ELR will use a version of the same Voltec drivetrain as the Volt, though probably v1.5, and the on-board generator will again be a gasoline four-cylinder engine.
The Wreath and Crest brand isn’t giving much insight as to why the letters E-L-R have been chosen, only saying they want to “indicate the car’s electric propulsion technology” and remain consistent with the brand’s three-letter naming scheme. Maybe they stand for “Electric Luxury Ride,” or maybe someone over at General Motors is a big Everybody Loves Raymond fan. What do you think ELR stands for? Have your say in Comments.
Anyone who’s ever driven through a busy city can appreciate having a view upwards. Sunroofs are good, but convertibles are even better. But while the is available with a folding roof panel, we don’t see many city cars offering the full drop-top experience. , however, is here to ask, Why not? And what’s more, it’s not wasting any time in doing so.
Rather than roll out its star-to-be as a fixed-roof coupe and then converting it into a roadster later on, Audi has opted to show us (or at least tease us with) the Spyder version right away, just a week after previewing the coupe and before the concept has even been unveiled.
Otherwise, the concept is essentially the same, with a 1+1 seating arrangement (now in the open air), lightweight carbon-reinforced plastic construction (just a little bit less of it) and an electric powertrain. Scope it out in the updated high-res image gallery and the new press release after the jump.
The E-Type celebrates its 50th anniversary this year. And it seems about that long now that its rebirth has been in the making. Or at least the rumormill.
While the might to some seem like its successor, the luxury coupe is considerably heftier and more sedate, much as there is to love about it. A sportier model to slot in below it – in terms of both price and size – has been touted for some time, and now it appears to be nearing its manifestation at long last.
The sketch above and the press release after the jump represent the first Officially Official confirmation from Jaguar of its plans for a new sportscar – if only in “production concept” form for now. Dubbed C-X16, it looks taut (like a tiger, er… jaguar) and ready to pounce on the et al.
The concept coupe is slated for debut at next month’s , after which we’re promised a production version. So come, all ye faithful, and witness the return of the E-Type – or at least something like it.
There are places you expect to find a Škoda, and places you don’t. European streets, for example, fall squarely into the former category. Dried up lake beds in the United States, however, belong firmly in the latter. But someone forgot to tell that to the people who make the Czech derivatives.
In between for the Wörthersee show and the British Touring Car Championship, that cadre of lead-footed Škoda personnel to take the Octavia to the slat flats at Bonneville. The occasion was the tenth anniversary of the automaker’s vRS performance brand, and while their target – breaching 200 miles per hour – may have seemed distant to anyone who’s ever sat in the old Jetta with new clothes, they got theirs.
The world’s fastest Škoda achieved an official run of 202.15 mph four days ahead of schedule at the [currently ongoing] Bonneville Speed Week. The Octavia vRS with which they did it was aerodynamically optimized, dropped closer to the ground, reinforced with a roll cage and other safety equipment and fitted with a larger turbocharger and intercooler. Otherwise, however, it’s the same Octavia vRS available at dealers overseas.
Far from calling it a day and heading back to the Czech Republic, Škoda’s Bonneville team are sticking around in pursuit of the 2.0-liter production car land speed record, which currently stands at 216 mph. We’ll be watching, but in the meantime you can follow the jump for the full press release and scope out the images in the gallery for more.
It’s weird for us to report on leaked photos of a car that , but we still haven’t seen the completely finished . The sedan will make its public debut at the this coming weekend, but it appears that photos of the unwrapped prototype has already leaked onto the web.
Seen here in all-wheel-drive GS 350 guise, we must admit that the finished design is decidedly more sedate than what led us to believe. Keep in mind, this car is the spawn of the attractive concept from the , and while all cars lose a bit of sex appeal in the transformation from concept to production, the GS seems to have lost a bit more than we had expected, especially out back.
In any case, this looks to be the low-end of the range, not the F Sport or V8 model, and we’ll hold our final judgments until we see the finished product in Monterey. Stay tuned for the full details this weekend.
Monterey weekend is almost upon us, boys and girls. The event at Pebble Beach is consistently packed year-in, year-out with mouthwatering classics, record-breaking auctions, historic automobile races and even a few new vehicle debuts. And this year, has some big plans.
No, it’s not about to unveil six new concepts at once like it did at the last year, but it does have a couple of tricks up its proverbial sleeve. First up is the GTE road car concept we’ve been , which looks poised to take a page out of the less weight, more power playbook employed on such favorites as the Ferrari 430 Scuderia and . The concept starts with the Evora GTE race car and retunes it for the road, with 420 horsepower on tap, a competition-spec sequential gearbox and center-locking forged aluminum wheels.
If you’re looking for something more tangible than a concept car, though, Lotus will also be unveiling the Matte Black Final Edition. Exclusive to North America, the special Exige, as you might have guessed, bids a fond farewell to the lightweight sports car with a matte black paint job, plus black Alcantara interior and a 257 horsepower upgrade. Only 25 individually numbered examples will be made, and you can follow the jump for the full press release on both these new debuts.
What you see above is a teaser sketch of new car, called Hemera, from a new London-based luxury automobile company, called . The full concept will be revealed at the in just a few weeks, and don’t worry – up until this writing, we had never heard of any of this before, either.
Call us skeptical on the car and company’s viability, but we’ll have to wait until we see this thing in person to assess its chances.
Aside from this sketch, Eterniti Motors has not released a single detail about its Hemera concept. We can see that it’s a high-riding five-door and its sleek proportions and aggressive front fascia speak to an aura of sportiness. Kinda.
Until we can figure out what exactly is going on here, give us your best guess in the Comments, and for Eterniti’s official press release (all three sentences of it), as well as a teaser video for the Hemera.
Despite a , has been widely reported as planning to send its unibody Ridgeline down the same road as its and after 2013. Even if that’s true, that doesn’t necessarily mean the curtain will have completely closed on the automaker’s pickup truck offerings. According to AutoWeek, the next-generation – previewed in the officialconcept image seen above – could spawn a compact pickup variant. Since the CR-V is itself based on the , in a roundabout way, this could mean that we’re looking at a Civic pickup, which is a bit tough to wrap one’s head around.
A full-size car-based pickup never really set Honda’s sales charts on fire, so maybe a smaller iteration will do the trick, right? We’ll believe it when we see it.
In the meantime, Honda has a bunch of other updates planned for the next few years, including the launch of an all-new in 2012. The next Accord will once again be offered with a hybrid variant (which hasn’t been offered since 2007), and this gasoline-electric powertrain could also find its way under the hood of the CR-V.
Elsewhere in Honda’s portfolio, AW asserts that the slow-selling will finally get an entry-level four-cylinder model, and the Pilot will get a complete overhaul in the fall of 2013. Furthermore, rumors of a hotter Mugen-inspired are still being mumbled, and a city car may arrive as early as 2012.
has lifted the wraps on its latest design innovation, the A0, a sort of sit-down half- stroller for grown ups. It may only have one wheel, but the runabout was engineered with a single, hollow tire to self-stabilize.
Designed by a collaborative effort of Technische Universität München and Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, the self-propelled unicycle is good for an hour’s cruise at up to nine miles per.
That’s not as far or as fast as the Segway can travel, but we’re not sure how long you’d want to go on one anyway. To make things even more enticing, it has handlebars and a seat, so you avoid all that unpleasant standing the Segway requires.
According to the sleuths at Autoblog.nl, will not be in attendance at the upcoming . As anyone paying an ounce of attention would know, this news is anything but surprising.
Naturally, it costs money to host a display at a major auto show… and money is something Saab has been had in over the last several months. We have a feeling that, if Saab had a bank account flush enough to travel to Frankfurt and put on a good show, that money would be much better spent paying off and .
With all of this in mind, we thought it would be a nice gesture to remind you of Saab’s last concept car. Have a look at the in our attached gallery, and .
What’s the best way for to highlight its ConnectedDrive system? Thievery, of course.
BMW’s latest online spot features the from this year’s and details how the system’s connected functionality can help out in your next jewelry heist. It’s easier to highlight in motion, so to check it out.
If – or for that matter, any automaker that specializes in making vehicles that aren’t particularly efficient – has any hopes of meeting strict future standards for fuel mileage and emissions, it’s going to have to take some drastic measures.
Sure, hybrids are one potential option that we’re sure the automaker is working on, as are more diesels, but these high-tech powertrains are expensive. And, though often overlooked, diesels and hybrids are also heavy, which is one issue Land Rover would have problems with overcoming since its SUVs are already big, bulky and, well… pleasantly plump.
And so it comes as little surprise that the British bred (and Indian owned) automaker has decided to introduce a smaller, friendlier model called the . But that’s just the start of Land Rover’s apparent plans. The Detroit Bureau reports that the automaker is planning to shed as much as 1,100 pounds from its ‘utes over the next decade using materials like aluminum and carbon fiber in place of conventional steel, without actually altering the size of its vehicle’s footprints.
The first sign of Land Rover’s far-reaching goals will reportedly be seen in the form of a new concept that’s at the upcoming . We’ll be paying close attention to this machine, as the company claims it is designing the next Defender to meet U.S. regulations.
Active aerodynamics are beginning to make their way into production vehicles, but adaptive winglets and electro-hydraulic flaps can’t hold a candle to .
Partially inspired by the lateral movement of the Cars characters, the ash from his cigarettes and concepts like , Feng’s vehicle started nearly three years ago as his final project at Conventry University.
What you see here is the third iteration of the Flake, which uses 250 active body panels controlled by mini solenoids pulling on carbon nano-tube wires. The result is a body that can lay flat to decrease drag, hinge upward to slow the vehicle and collect solar power or open fully to aid cornering and increase downforce.
Just as trick are the “D-Wheels” which are made up of 12 individual legs that extend upwards and contract downwards to fit the driving surface. Both the wheels and the body structure act as part of the suspension, allowing the Flake to corner hard and even go off road. Theoretically.
If it all sounds like science fiction, it is (and props to Feng for the shout-out to Snowcrash), but the budding designer did speak with an ex-Williams Formula 1 engineer who said the idea and execution is sound – with a few more tweaks. Check out the design in the gallery above and the video .
If there’s any one vehicle that can realistically challenge the in the annals of historic Volkswagens, it’s the Transporter. More often referred to as the Microbus or just the Bus, the real original minivan first saw the light of day in 1950 as the Type 2 (the Beetle, naturally, was the Type 1).
As with the Beetle, it’s the earliest models that incite the most butterflies in the hearts of air-cooled VW enthusiasts, though the machines remained collectible all the way through the early 1990s. And, if executives have their way, the iconic Bus may once again enter production.
Previewed by the Bulli Concept from the , the production model would likely ride atop the same platform as the latest Volkswagen Beetle and sport seating for five occupants and their cargo. If that’s the case, expect a range of four-cylinder engines (maybe even a five…) sending power to the front wheels.
If Autocar is to be believed, the next Microbus may be ready for the road by 2014, and it would likely come to the States. We’ll begin the finger-crossing now.
