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This Volkswagen Beetle is priced to sell at $250,000. No, there’s no typo in that figure. This 1963 VW Bug has celebrity ownership, as it once belonged to Mr. Paul Newman. Still not doing it for you at that price? Perhaps a peak under the hood will change your mind.

Paul Newman loved him some fast cars, and this ‘63 Beetle is no exception. Rather than stick with the old four-cylinder lump in the rear, Newman had IndyCar builder Jerry Eisert set out to turn the droptop bug into a super sleeper.

Eisert dropped a Ford 351 V8 into the middle of the Volkswagen. He added the five-speed ZF transmission (thought to have come from a Ford GT40), and the now-transformed Beetle was pushing out 300-horsepower. That’s a whole lot of juice for this bantam-weight brawler. So much, in fact, that Newman’s handlers advised him to sell the car before he got into serious trouble with it.

Paul Newman’s Volkswagen Beetle Convertible sleeper is now up for sale, after receiving a full restoration. The seller wants $250,000 but is open to “serious offers.” While we think 250 large is rather optimistic, there’s no doubt this car has the potential to plaster permanent smiles on anyone who drives it. Check out OldBug.com for a look at the car’s history.

Paul Newman’s mid-engine V8 Beetle on sale for $250K

Continue reading Ferrari Superamerica 45 unveiled ahead of Villa d’Este

Ferrari Superamerica 45 unveiled ahead of Villa d’Este

Review: 2011 Ford F-150 4×4 SuperCrew [w/video]

There can be only true king. In this feudal system, it’s Ford F-150, which has attracted more buyers than the Chevrolet Silverado, GMC Sierra and Ram 1500 for years. Why? We took to the saddle of Ford’s latest entry-level F-Series equipped with the company’s new 5.0-liter V8 to find out.

Official: 2012 Audi A6 Avant arrives, automatically acquires adulation

We love a good station wagon. Audi has just pulled the wraps off its sleek new 2012 Audi A6 Avant, and we’re already swooning over the capacious cargo-hauler.

Spy Shots: Scion FR-S sprouts a wing at the ‘Ring

Remember that Scion FR-S prototype we spied heading to the Nürburgring earlier this week? Well, it’s now doing hot laps, complete with a body kit and huge wing.

Also of interest:

• Spy Shots: Is this 2012 Honda CR-V test mule packing a third row of seats?
• Report: Why some Nissan Juke owners are getting a $400 check in the mail
• Official: Mugen releases first photos of its supercharged Honda CR-Z
• Report: Chrysler developing TR Ram Life Style Truck to compete with Honda Ridgeline
• Report: New York Taxi Commission moves to ban Lexus RX 450h

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What you missed on 5.18.11

The internet is an amazing place. There’s so much information available for free and people from across the globe can communicate instantly. A flip-side to the amazing power of the internet can be revealed by digging through any forum. While most forums are filled with people who enjoy discussing a shared passion, they also become home to folks who enjoy spouting off ridiculous falsehoods and creating a vision of reality that doesn’t quite exist. That practice can invoke internet justice, and one member of SVTPerformance.com found out this out the hard way.

A video was posted to YouTube, which showed a man driving a Ford Shelby GT500 down a dark road. Amidst the howl of the car’s supercharger, the occupants talk about what it would be like to hit a deer on this road… and then they hit a deer. The rest of the clip involves yelling, not safe for work language and the driver fleeing the scene after running an oncoming car off the road.

The sleuths at SVTPerformance.com identified the driver as board member “Grant218″ (later changed to “Grant Theft Auto”). Grant explained that he borrowed his dad’s GT500, and the damage isn’t as bad as it seems. After reading through many (many) pages in the thread, we find out that Grand stole the car from a man he knows, put over 300 miles on the Shelby(!) and then tried to return it and hide the damage.

Moral: You can’t hide the truth from the internet. Click past the jump to watch the clip, then join us over at SVTPerformance.com as we continue to dig through the hilarity that is this thread. We’re going to warn you though, the language is NSFW, and the thread will suck up the rest of your life the day.

Continue reading Why you shouldn’t steal a GT500 and drive through deer country

Why you shouldn’t steal a GT500 and drive through deer country

We love a good station wagon. Audi has just pulled the wraps off its sleek new 2012 Audi A6 Avant, and we’re already swooning over the capacious cargo-hauler.

‘Lightweight’ seems to be the buzzword for the latest A6 wagon. The body is comprised of bits of aluminum (20 percent of it in fact), and the A6 benefits from composite construction that integrates high-strength steel where needed to keep passengers safe. The lightweight approach to construction has helped the 2012 A6 Avant drop 66 pounds versus the previous model, and depending on the powertrain installed, the new car is as much as 154 pounds lighter than the one it replaces. The base A6 2.0 TDI Avant, for example, weighs just 3,616 pounds.

The A6 Avant is available with a choice of six engines and four transmissions. The base unit is a 2.0-liter TDI turbo-diesel four-cylinder that produces 177 horsepower, and is rated to consume approximately 47 miles per gallon when paired with a six-speed manual gearbox. A larger diesel is offered in the form of a twin-turbo 3.0-liter TDI mill, available in 204-, 245- and 313-horsepower configurations. That last one will push the A6 Avant from 0-60 miles per hour in 5.4 seconds.

Two petrol engines are offered, measring 2.8 and 3.0 liters, and both units employ variable valve technology. The 2.8-liter FSI engine produces 204 horsepower while the 3.0-liter TFSI pumps out 300 horsepower thanks to the attached supercharger. Besides the aforementioned six-speed manual, the A6 Avant can be fitted with a CVT or the seven-speed S-Tronic gearbox. However, the 3.0 TDI is equipped with an eight-speed Tiptronic transmission.

It seems there’s no word yet on whether this Audi wagon is making the jump across the pond to pose in U.S. dealerships. For now, it’s slated to go on sale in Europe later this summer with a starting price of €40,850 (approximately $58,288 USD). Read the full details in Audi’s press release, after the jump, and click through our image gallery for a smattering of high-res photos.

Continue reading 2012 Audi A6 Avant arrives, automatically acquires adulation

2012 Audi A6 Avant arrives, automatically acquires adulation

Rollin’ With The F-150’s New 5.0

As a race, we humans are obsessed with the notion of “best.” Whether it’s generations of on-point marketing or a strand of latent genetic code that pushes us to shack up with a better mate, we just can’t shake the disposition. It’s what drives our society forward – the quest for the latest product that promises a slightly improved experience or that one feature that eclipses the competition. It’s why we can happily saunter up to the feeding trough at the local buffet instead of poking at wild boars with pointy sticks. It is, simply put, a good thing.

The domestic full-size truck segment provides perhaps the greatest study in “best” available. Each new model year gives the Big Three one more shot at outdoing each other in the areas of power, towing capacity, interior room and fuel economy. Neither Ford, General Motors nor Chrysler skips the chance to brag about its latest advancements over the other two. But as with everything, there can be only true king. In this feudal system, it’s Ford F-150, which has attracted more buyers than the Chevrolet Silverado, GMC Sierra and Ram 1500 for years. Why? We took to the saddle of Ford’s latest entry-level F-Series equipped with the company’s new 5.0-liter V8 to find out.

Continue reading 2011 Ford F-150 4×4 SuperCrew [w/video]

2011 Ford F-150 4×4 SuperCrew [w/video]

That Honda could have done more with the CR-Z than the lukewarm hybrid sport-hatch that resulted is no big news. But Mugen is here to highlight the point.

After teasing us with some initial details, a rendering and a shot of the engine bay, the pseudo-works Honda tuner has released the first photos of the modified CR-Z it is preparing to unveil at the Goodwood Festival of Speed in July.

Performance figures haven’t been finalized just yet, but earlier, Mugen pegged combined output from the supercharged 1.5-liter four and electric assist at 197 horsepower and 181 pound-feet of torque. Combined with the 110 pounds of weight shaved off the chassis, Mugen figures that ought to be enough to make the custom CR-Z match the acceleration times of the Civic Type R.

Unfortunately, this is strictly a concept car for the time being, but there’s no telling what could result from enough positive response. Follow the jump for the press release and check out the trio of images in the high-res gallery.

Continue reading Mugen releases first photos of its supercharged Honda CR-Z

Mugen releases first photos of its supercharged Honda CR-Z

If you were one of the many automotive enthusiasts to shed a tear when it became known that Japan’s Best Motoring set off for the giant junkyard in the sky, we have a little piece of good news to cheer you up: there’s one final track battle for your viewing pleasure.

Even better news: Best Motoring went out with a bang, pitting the Lexus LFA up against such performance benchmarks as the Nissan GT-R, Chevrolet Corvette ZR1, Porsche 911 GT2 RS and Ferrari F430 GT3.

Yes, there are two almost-race-cars in the mix there along with three machines intended solely for the street, but it doesn’t really matter. All such contests should be taken with a grain of salt anyway.

When it’s all said and done, what we have here are five mouth-watering supercars on a track together being driven in anger. Want to know how it all shakes out? Check out the video after the break.

Continue reading Final Best Motoring battle pits LFA against GT-R, ZR1, 911 GT2 RS and F430 GT3

Final Best Motoring battle pits LFA against GT-R, ZR1, 911 GT2 RS and F430 GT3

Bill Rombauts and his buddy Dave Sherer have taken the patina’d rat rod look to new heights, applying the rust-first philosophy to a 2010 Chevrolet Camaro SS. Before going all Father Time on the paint job, the two spent close to $100,000 giving the car as much go as it has show.

Underneath all that affected rust and thinning paint lives a worked-over Kenne Bell supercharged 485-cubic-inch V8 based on a GM Performance Parts block. Before the addition of the blown 485, the Chevrolet was pumping out in the neighborhood of 650 rear-wheel-horsepower and tripping the lights in around 11 seconds through the quarter mile. Now, Sherer and Rombauts are looking for the 10-second range, and won’t say what kind of power the car makes.

Say what you will about the decision to make a brand-new Camaro look like it’s 30 years old, but you definitely can’t argue with this thing’s gusto. With prodigious power, a $100K mod list and a paint scheme some might call ugly, it’s also guaranteed to make a stir on Power Tour 2011. To make that goal a reality, Rombauts and Sherer are looking for sponsors to get their car to and from the Tour.

Patina’d 2010 Chevrolet Camaro headed to Power Tour

Audi keeps churning out more exciting versions of its two-door supercar, the R8. It began with the R8 V8, went power hungry with the R8 5.2 FSI V10, topless with the R8 V10 Spyder and on a track-focused diet with the R8 GT. Soon, Audi will let loose with the next iteration; the Audi R8 GT Spyder, a lightweight droptop poised to bring a more aggressive open-air motoring to R8 fans.

The Audi R8 GT Spyder is powered by the same 5.2-liter V10 found in other non-V8 R8 coupes and convertibles. The mill produces 560 horsepower and sends marching orders directly to both the car’s four tires and your ears, seeing as it’s mounted right behind them. Audi is going to build 333 of them, so get your cash in line now. The R8 GT coupe costs $196,800 so bring at least $200,000 for the convertible, just to be safe.

Audi R8 GT Spyder almost ready to scatter toupees across race tracks

The Maserati GranTurismo is one sexy two-door, and the ultimate in Trident-wearing super coupes is the MC Stradale. To give this super GT its bragging rights, Maserati engineers coaxed another 20 horsepower from its 4.3-liter V8 engine, bringing the grand total to 450 powerful ponies. Also tweaked were the chassis and aero, giving the MC Stradale the agility to handle all the extra brute force.

We haven’t had the opportunity to test the GranTurismo MC Stradale for ourselves, but we can at least hear how good this primo coupe sounds on the open road. Hit the jump to watch video of the MC Stradale as it prances through the winding roads of Maranello, Italy.

Continue reading Maserati GranTurismo MC Stradale making music on the hills of Maranello

Maserati GranTurismo MC Stradale making music on the hills of Maranello

It’s “full speed ahead” for McLaren. The British racing team-turned-supercar-maker is hard at work producing the new MP4-12C and just recently debut the GT3 racing version. But that’s just the tip of the proverbial for McLaren, which has big plans for additional models to follow. Autocar has published a forecast on a new top-of-the-line hypercar to follow in the footsteps of the iconic McLaren F1, set to take on the likes of the Bugatti Veyron and Pagani Huayra.

Like the MP4-12C, the flagship supercar is expected to be built around a carbon-fiber monocoque packing a 799-horsepower, 5.0-liter version of the 3.8-liter twin-turbo V8 developed with Ricardo mated to the same Graziano seven-speed “pre-cog” dual-clutch gearbox. With that much power, we’re looking at a 2.8-second sprint to 60 miles per hour before hitting 200 mph in 20 seconds flat.

According to the report, the car dubbed “Mega Mac” will arrive sometime in 2014, with just 500 examples pegged for production with a price tag in the neighborhood of $600,000. Of course, these specifications could prove entirely speculative, and we wouldn’t be surprised if the end result were even quicker, and – given the seven-figure supercars we’ve been seeing lately – more expensive.

“Mega Mac” McLaren F1 successor to pack 799 horsepower

Citroën has come a long way with its revived DS line of premium offerings. What started with the basic DS3 hatchback has since grown to include the DS3 Racing hot hatch, the DS3 R3 and DS3 WRC rally machines; the DS4 crossover, and the new DS5. Now it seems a convertible is on the way as well.

Tentatively dubbed as the DS3 Airflow, the rumored convertible will apparently follow a similar approach to that taken by Fiat with the 500C. Look for a retractable fabric roof panel that will retain the pillars and door frames, in effect bridging the gap between a full convertible and a large sunroof. The advantage is a more cost-effective development cycle and superior handling, retaining much of the body’s rigidity while offering open-air driving. For our part, we’re interested to see what Citroën’s designers do with the car’s slick B-pillar treatment once the top drops. (Ben Walsh, we’re looking at you.)

European reports say the DS3 Airflow will launch in the spring of 2013. Of course, unlike Fiat, which has finally made a splashy return to North America, Citroën seems content to stay on its side of the Atlantic. Think it’s time for the French automaker to come back so we can sample cars like the reborn DS range? Cast your vote in the poll after the jump.

Continue reading Citroen to follow Fiat’s lead with DS3 Airflow convertible [w/poll]

Citroen to follow Fiat’s lead with DS3 Airflow convertible [w/poll]

The Audi A1 may be small, but the latest home-market spot for the supermini highlights the car’s features in a big way. How big? How about a towering wall of guitar amplifiers that’s really an enormous Bose speaker like those you’ll find inside the A1? Or a movie screen that’s actually the Navigation System display.

We have no explanation why you’d want to jacklight rabbits, as depicted in the commercial, but the A1’s HID headlamp clusters carry out the task. Like those rabbits, Audi’s going to need to proliferate its vehicles worldwide if it wants to meet its goal of becoming the largest luxury automaker in the world, and the A1 is one of those bunnies.

Whatever the case, you’ll definitely want to see it for yourself in the video pasted after the break.

Continue reading Audi A1 commercial highlights big pieces of a small car

Audi A1 commercial highlights big pieces of a small car

We got right up close and personal with the all-new Lamborghini Aventador when our own Matt Davis spent some quality time with the latest raging bull, and the exotic supercar earned itself plenty of high praise. But if our opinion on this newest Lamborghini isn’t enough for you, we would like to offer up another point of view. Steve Sutcliffe of Autocar secured some time with the Aventador and, despite the rain, put together an informative video review.

The clip, which you can view after the jump, is filled with wet-weather drifts, insight from Sutcliffe and the other-worldly howl from that 6.5-liter V12 engine. We’re going to end it here so you can stop reading and start watching.

Continue reading Autocar and the Lamborghini Aventador are slingin’ in the rain

Autocar and the Lamborghini Aventador are slingin’ in the rain

The Diablo had one. The Murciélago did, too. So it’s only safe to assume that, a few years down the line, Lamborghini will create a Super Veloce version of the new Aventador. But an assumption is about all this is amounting to at this point.

Consider, if you will, two factors in anticipating the next SV: timeline and output. The Diablo SV arrived in 1995 (five years after the Diablo was first introduced) and packed 510 horsepower (compared to the standard Diablo’s 492, though there was a more powerful Diablo SE30 Jota with nearly 600 horsepower before the model was phased out). The Murciélago SV, meanwhile, debuted as the most powerful version some eight years after the original with 661 horsepower to the first model’s 572.

Apply the same logic to an eventual Aventador SV and we’re looking at nearly 800 horsepower, if and when it arrives some five to eight years from now (several years after the anticipated roadster comes along). Now that’s a mouthful and a half, and though there’s not much weight to be trimmed off the new Aventador’s carbon-fiber monocoque chassis (compared to the Murcielago’s steel frame), who knows what kind of new materials might be developed by the time the Super Veloce comes rumbling along.

Until then we’ll just have to make do with the current version and its 691 horsepower, 2.9-second sprint to 60 and 217-mph top speed, and try not to get ahead of ourselves. Which is just as well, because with those kinds of numbers, not much else will be, either.

Lamborghini to roll out 800-hp Aventador SV a few years down the line?

The Diablo had one. The Murciélago did, too. So it’s only safe to assume that, a few years down the line, Lamborghini will create a Super Veloce version of the new Aventador. But an assumption is about all this is amounting to at this point.

Consider, if you will, two factors in anticipating the next SV: timeline and output. The Diablo SV arrived in 1995 (five years after the Diablo was first introduced) and packed 510 horsepower (compared to the standard Diablo’s 492, though there was a more powerful Diablo SE30 Jota with nearly 600 horsepower before the model was phased out). The Murciélago SV, meanwhile, debuted as the most powerful version some eight years after the original with 661 horsepower to the first model’s 572.

Apply the same logic to an eventual Aventador SV and we’re looking at nearly 800 horsepower, if and when it arrives some five to eight years from now (several years after the anticipated roadster comes along). Now that’s a mouthful and a half, and though there’s not much weight to be trimmed off the new Aventador’s carbon-fiber monocoque chassis (compared to the Murcielago’s steel frame), who knows what kind of new materials might be developed by the time the Super Veloce comes rumbling along.

Until then we’ll just have to make do with the current version and its 691 horsepower, 2.9-second sprint to 60 and 217-mph top speed, and try not to get ahead of ourselves. Which is just as well, because with those kinds of numbers, not much else will be, either.

Lamborghini to roll out 800-hp Aventador SV a few years down the line?

In a perfect world, maybe the world’s top museums would have infinite space and infinite resources to acquire and display every significant piece of artistic creation they could get their hands on. But, as we are all at times painfully aware, this is an imperfect world. Which is why the Guggenheim Museum is forced to sell this unique BMW M1 art car, in order to raise funds and make way for other works of art. And their loss could be your gain.

The original Bavarian supercar was painted by the celebrated artist Frank Stella in 1979. But while BMW has commissioned many art cars (including another M1 by Andy Warhol and a 3.0 CSL also by Stella) since the program kicked off in 1975, this is the only one that was officially sanctioned by the factory for a private client, whereas all the others remained in the German automaker’s private collection. This, then, represents an extremely rare opportunity to acquire an original BMW art car.

The vehicle has been part of the museum’s collection since 1999, and will be auctioned by Bonhams this coming August at the Quail Lodge in Carmel, California, where it’s expected to fetch around half a million dollars, an estimate we can see it blowing right past. Us? We’re just hoping that BMW itself decides to bid on the car so that this Stella M1 can rejoin its celebrated relatives in the German automaker’s collection.

If you’re in New York and want to catch a glimpse at this one-of-a-kind rolling work of art, it’s currently on display outside Bonhams’ offices in the atrium of the IBM Building at 56th and Madison.

Follow the jump for the official press release and scope out the images in the gallery below.

Continue reading BMW M1 art car by Frank Stella headed for the auction block

BMW M1 art car by Frank Stella headed for the auction block

In most segments, chances are the transmission was developed and manufactured by the same company that built the rest of the car. Some are made by independent suppliers like Borg-Warner, Getrag or ZF. But at the top end of the market, where exotic supercars roam, a disproportionate share of the high-performance gearboxes come from Graziano.

The Italian company – part of Oerlikon since 2007 when it merged with Fairfield – has built the transmissions in countless Ferraris, Lamborghinis, Aston Martins and Maseratis, to name just a few. That new-fangled seven-speed Independent Shifting Rod transmission in the new Lamborghini Aventador? Also Graziano’s. But before that project, Graziano developed the clever gearbox in the McLaren MP4-12C.

The Sequential Shift Gearbox developed for McLaren, as you may be aware, takes the dual-clutch transmission to a new level by allowing the driver to pre-select the next gear and load it onto the second clutch before engaging it, reducing shift times to practically nothing while engaging the driver in a way lost on many paddle-shift transmissions.

In an apparent nod to the clairvoyant siblings in Minority Report, Graziano and McLaren dubbed the system “pre-cog,” but that’s not the extent of the transmission’s advances. It’s also said to be the lightest, most compact, most refined and most durable gearbox of its type, while capable of keeping its fluids pumping at extreme levels of multi-directional loading. Want to read more? Follow the jump for the full press release.

Continue reading Graziano highlights the “pre-cog” dual-clutch transmission in the McLaren MP4-12C

Graziano highlights the “pre-cog” dual-clutch transmission in the McLaren MP4-12C

It’ll be a landmark running for the Indianapolis 500 later this month, as the event celebrates its 100th anniversary as the premier open-wheel racing event in America. All of which only gave some fans more reason to be ticked off when Donald Trump was announced as this year’s pace car driver.

Annoyed by political implications detracting from the spirit of racing, many fans were up in arms when Trump was announced as the official pace car driver, evidently prompting the celebrity businessman and possible presidential candidate to change his plans. In his place, organizers at the Speedway have invited none other than A.J. Foyt to drive the Chevrolet Camaro SS Convertible that will serve as the official pace car. As a four-time Indy 500 winner, Foyt is among the most decorated drivers ever to lap the Brickyard, and his nomination will surely come as more welcome news to the legions of open-wheel devotees.

In related news, two drivers better known for their formula racing activities overseas will make their Indy debuts at the 500 this year. One of them is Scott Speed, the last American to race in Formula One. Speed shifted over the NASCAR after things didn’t pan out in F1, until Red Bull dropped his sponsorship last year. Given his experience in open wheels and oval tracks, Speed may find a new home at Indy.

Also making his Indy debut will be Ho-Pin Tung, who will become the first Chinese driver to contest the Indianapolis 500. Tung is a reserve/test driver for Renault F1 this season and has contested such feeder series as GP2, A1GP and Superleague Formula. Both he and Speed will be driving for Jay Penske’s Dragon Racing team and will be eligible for the $5 million bonus available to drivers from outside the series should they overcome the insurmountable odds to claim the checkered flag and drink milk in victory lane.

A.J. Foyt to replace Donald Trump as Scott Speed and Ho-Pin Tung debut at 100th Indy 500