Fast isn’t Koenigsegg fast. The Swedish company’s new supercar, the Agera, reaffirms this, with grace and power. Jet quick, its 910 horses and 850 foot pounds of maximum torque launch you, and a passenger, if he or she dares, to 62 mph in 3.1 seconds, with an estimated top speed of 245 mph — if you dare. Just a few months ago at the Geneva Auto Show, Christian von Koenigsegg debuted the Agera, and the dual-turbo car has impressed more than just the Swiss since. Scheduled for production this fall, the Agera celebrates 15 years of production for the elite […]
KEEP READING >Power, Beauty, Soul. Aston Martin devotees — 007 included — know that these defining characteristics drive them to their chosen vehicle, and you’ll know quickly that the marque’s new four-seater satisfies these conditions admirably. The company’s first four-door sports car in its august 87-year history, the aptly named Rapide accommodates four adults while embodying the thoroughbred legacy of its stable mates and forebears. Built on the DB9 platform — for long-time owner David Brown and the generation of his signature cars — but elongated slightly to 197.6 inches for the rear doors, the new Rapide will inspire new Aston Martin […]
KEEP READING >If there’s any image sexier than a topless Maserati, call Scottsdale Ferrari/Maserati with your svelte candidate. Chances are Gary Simon and his sales crew will still choose the new magic from Modena. The Penske Automotive Group dealership, 6825 E. McDowell Road, has a 2010 GranTurismo convertible demonstrator, so stop down and see it. After taking a drive top up or down, take a long look, from all sides, at a beauty that the Roman gods would have been happy to take to the foot of Olympus. Designed by Pininfarina, the all-new Maserati droptop has arrived, and, if you’ve arrived, too, […]
KEEP READING >The car is brutal fast. Not just fast, as in road legends such as Murciélago, ZR1 and GT40. Enzo fast. Veyron fast. Carrera GT and Koenigsegg CCXR fast. And-then-some fast. The mid-engine Ultima GTR is the fastest accelerating and decelerating production vehicle in the world at — hold on — 9.4 blistering seconds. Manufactured by Ultima Sports Ltd. of Hinckley, Leicestershire, England, this is the road-legal supercar that recently bested the $3 million Ferrari FXX, piloted by seven-time Formula 1 champion Michael Schumacher around the Top Gear test track. It beat the Ferrari’s record at work, then traveled back home […]
KEEP READING >The artists at Forgiato have reinvented the wheels. Norman and AC Celik, the cofounding brothers of the Sun Valley, Calif.-based company, have introduced two premium lines — Monoleggera and Reventón — to their exclusive portfolio of highline wheels. Forgiato (“forged” in Italian) manufactures luxury alloy wheels for high-performance vehicles such as Lamborghini, Ferrari, Bentley, Rolls-Royce, Porsche, Mercedes-Benz and BMW. Built in their factory/warehouse to jewel-like specifications, Forgiato’s 20 custom wheel styles are available in various sizes and almost unlimited finishes. The new lines are both one-piece artworks. Introduced in early 2009, the Monoleggera, retailing at $6,000 a set, is a […]
KEEP READING >Where else but Barrett-Jackson? The 1930 Ford Model A in which John Dillinger and criminal cohorts fled from Melvin Purvis and the FBI in April ’34; Buddy Holly’s ‘58 Chevy Impala, purchased in the days before the day the music died; and a 1952 Watson Roadster customized by Blastolene and powered by a 900-plus-horsepower Patton Tank Engine packing 1,500 foot pounds of asphalt-tearing torque . . . Where else but Scottsdale Barrett-Jackson 2010 will you experience the thrill of such superb examples of vehicular Americana on the road to new homes? Here, too, you’ll see 1,200 additional collector cars and […]
KEEP READING >For anniversaries, ten may be tin for some couples, but for Russo and Steele, it’s pure gold. The Russo and Steele Collector Automobile Auction will celebrate 10 years serving the car-collector hobby with its annual auction Jan. 20–24, 2010, under the signature white tents at 18601 N. Scottsdale Road, just south of the Loop 101 Freeway. This year, founders Drew and Josephine Alcazar will offer more than 600 European sports cars, American muscle cars, hot rods and customs at their all-reserve event. “For sure, it’s a milestone to achieve, and we have so many contributions from friends, family and volunteers […]
KEEP READING >The new Devon GTX: a moving experience, standing still. The first vehicle from Devon Motorworks, the 650-horsepower rear-drive American supercar was unveiled at the 2009 Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance on Aug.15. A synthesis of flowing sculptural design, coachwork details, superlative engineering, road/race athleticism and a passion for the legacy of great sports cars, the Devon GTX will be limited to a first-year production of 36, with deliveries beginning March 2010, says Scott Devon, founder and owner of the Los Angeles, Calif.-based industrial-design company. The Aria-Group, led by founder Clive Hawkins, will produce the carbon-fiber-body two-door from a studio in Irvine, […]
KEEP READING >The child should always outperform the parent. So is it with the Spyker C8 Aileron, the newest car from the Dutch super-sports-car manufacturer, which holds fast to the company’s almost century-old motto, “Nulla tenaci invia est via,”: “For the tenacious, no road is impassable.” Tenaciously redesigned from the company’s first-generation cars, the Spyker C8 Laviolette and the Spyker C8 Spyder, the Aileron celebrates with them the company’s aircraft and racing heritage, evidenced by the signature propeller and wheel logo. Spyker began building horse coaches in 1875 and followed with its first car in 1898; the company later built fighter aircraft […]
KEEP READING >How do you get the owners of head-turning cars to turn their heads? How do you make a Porsche 997 Turbo or GT2 better — not just different but faster, better appointed, more fun than it was when you excitedly took delivery of one of the world’s premier sports cars? Call CEC in Los Angeles: Claus Ettensberger Corporation, 10349 Santa Monica Boulevard, one of the great automotive tuners in North America and the exclusive importer and distributor for TECHART in North America. The 997T is the platform for the company’s GTstreet R and the GT2 for the GTstreet RS — […]
KEEP READING >This Prancing Horse will gallop and lope for you all day and far into a Pacific-coast sunset. Unveiled at the Paris International Car Show in October 2008, the new Ferrari California celebrates the tradition of the legendary 250 California Spider. This all-aluminum Grand Tourer is not only the least expensive current Ferrari — a base price of $196,450, with an average equipped price of about $226,000 — but it’s an accessible Ferrari, offering in one remarkable vehicle muscular performance, Pininfarina styling, comfort, great handling and, of course, the panache of the marque. This is a world-class GT for everyone — […]
KEEP READING >Want to ride happily into the sunset with one of America’s — one of the world’s — great sports cars? Ride over, then, to Sunset Ford, 9130 W. Bell Road in Peoria, to order a 2010 Shelby GT 500. When you take delivery of this very special ‘stang, you’ll find yourself making unnecessary trips for rutabagas to the food store, topping off your gas tank at 7/8ths or asking your significant other if he/she needs anything at Walgreens. This steed is a stud, and the road, even the quiet asphalt to the Circle K a block away, will look like […]
KEEP READING >Be different, be UNIQ! This difference you see, touch, hear, even smell, at UNIQ Motorsports, a member of the UNIQ group of companies, 3045 E. Main St. in Mesa, between Lindsay and Val Vista roads. It’s sensed through the speakers, the smell of leather, the stare of hand-stitching. Opened in October of 2008, UNIQ is a high-end auto salon that sells customized vehicles including Lamborghini, Ferrari, Rolls Royce, Bentley, BMW, Mercedes-Benz and Aston Martin. The boutique also handles “niche” cars such as MINI Cooper, Smart Cars and Hummers. The UNIQ Team purchases the finest vehicles, then its expert technicians discuss […]
KEEP READING >Audi is just now getting to 100. It’s new R8 5.2 FSI Quattro — blink! — just got there a whole lot faster. Ten cylinders, 525 horses at 8,000 rpm, 0 to 62.14 mph in 3.9 seconds, and a top speed of 196.35 mph. MSRP: $114,200–$123,300. This isn’t your Vater’s Audi, by any means, or his father’s. Did either have a Quick Launch Control program at his fingertips — catapulting him into automotive ecstasy — when the mood, and time, is right? The Bavaria car company, which produced an “Alpensieger” in 1912 to celebrate the young company’s racing victory in […]
KEEP READING >Can the new Ariel Atom 3 top the AA 2? Ask Franz Forman. He knows. Franz and wife Emily own Forman Motorsport, 22515 N. 19th Ave. in Phoenix, the only authorized dealer in the Southwest for the Ariel Atom 3, an asphalt rocket ship that will contort your face with astronautlike g’s — and still make you smile. “The Ariel Atom 3 is really about creating a true sports-car experience for the driving enthusiast,” says Franz, whose north Phoenix shop also showcases select late-model, pre-owned imports such as Porsche, BMW, Mercedes-Benz, Audi and Lamborghini as well as distinctive upgrade packages for […]
KEEP READING >Zero to 60 in less than 6 seconds — and zero emissions. Irvine, Calif.-based Fisker Automotive is producing the Karma, a performance four-door sports sedan that performs for the environment as much as it does on the road. A plug-in electric-gas hybrid, the Karma is said to eco-responsibly zip to 60 mph from start in 5.8 seconds and attain a top speed of 125 mph from a maximum 403 horsepower. The car premiered at the North American International Auto Show in 2007. Shortly afterward, “Green Car Journal” named it a finalist for its Green Car Vision Award. This January in […]
KEEP READING >The Fourth Phantom has arrived. The long-awaited Coupé completes the sixth–generation Phantom family, which includes the Phantom, Phantom Extended Wheelbase and the Phantom Drophead Coupé. Rolls-Royce Motor Cars began production of the motorcar last summer. This isn’t just a cosmetically different version, though, of the lead model. Designed for those who want to drive and not be driven, for whom the journey is the joy, the Coupé is the enthusiast’s Phantom — dynamic, agile and just a little rakish, incorporating what the legendary British carmaker calls “subtle but significant modifications.” “The Coupé is contemporary, cutting-edge, muscular and beautifully proportioned, exuding […]
KEEP READING >The gavel is down: Everyone is SOLD! on Barrett-Jackson. The 38th annual Barrett-Jackson Collector Car Auction returns to the big white tent at WestWorld in north Scottsdale, Jan. 11–18, with a docket of collector cars for all budgets, hundreds of automobilia vendors as well as events for all family members. Bidders from the 50 states and a dozen countries are expected as well as some 300 credentialed media outlets and more than a quarter million paying guests. Leading the hundreds of vehicles scheduled to cross the famous B-J blocks is the 1947 Steyr-Allard racer owned and raced by Sydney Allard; […]
KEEP READING >January 14–18, 2009: Set your stopwatches to Russo and Steele time. For bidders, consignors and lovers of legendary cars: The Ninth Annual Russo and Steele Collector Automobile Auction returns to the Valley for its ninth year — just south of the Loop 101 at Mayo Boulevard and Scottsdale Road. For five days in January, more than 500 European sports cars, American muscle cars, hot rods and customs will appear in the boutique all-reserve auction under 200,000 square feet of white tents. More than 1,500 bidders will vie for $20 million of the world’s great cars, including a one-of-a-kind 2007 Creative […]
KEEP READING >A $150,000-plus Porsche pulls up to your right at a quiet stoplight. You’re in your Griggs Racing GR40 ST and could extend a kowtow nod: After, all, you’ve been challenged by supposedly superior European automotive force. Instead, your custom Mustang smokes the classy Carrera. Next stop, the Porsche is ready with all six gears and hand-stitched leather upholstery. You deliver a smoke show again. Then, to show that your GR40 corners at the highest levels as well, you take a tight freeway onramp and kick Griggs’s g’s in his face as well. This is Bruce Griggs’s dream come true — […]
KEEP READING >The “gallant one” from Lamborghini just got gallanter. Revealed at the 2008 Geneva Auto Show, the 2009 Lamborghini Gallardo LP560-4 charges even more fearlessly than its predecessor with a new 5.2L V10, which puts down 560 horsepower at 8000 rpm and 398 foot pounds of torque at 4250 rpm. The engine, with FSI direct injection, based on owner Audi AG’s potent RS6 V10, is not only slightly larger than the previous version but is mated to a new transmission and its four-wheel rear-biased drive system. Lamborghini also says the LP560-4 is 44 pounds lighter than the former edition, which should […]
KEEP READING >Only five fortunate drivers will own one. Only five 2009 Zonda Cinque cars will be built at Pagani Automobili in Modena, Italy — hence the “Cinque” (Italian, “cheen-kway”). You will need an armored car of American five spots, though, to own one of these carbon-fiber supercars, equal to the best of Ferrari, Lamborghini, Mercedes-Benz and Porsche. The ticket price for the svelte Italian mid-engine is $1.24 million. This street legal version of the race-only Zonda R carries a 7.3-liter V12, detuned, if you will, to 678 horsepower from that rocket ride’s explosive 750. Still, the Cinque accelerates, in equally galactic […]
KEEP READING >“The car has multiple personalities,” says a smiling Stan Briggs of the Aston Martin DBS. Stan is the brand manager at Scottsdale Aston Martin, a Penske Automotive Group dealership, which is awaiting delivery of the new luxury sports car from the Land of Bond. Excited AM-ers might want to rush down to 6825 E. McDowell Road as soon as the DBS lands. “For city driving, this is a very-easy-to drive coupe,” he explains. “Or, it’s a car that can be taken on a long trip with great comfort. On the track, due to the adjustable suspension, ceramic brakes, weight distribution, racing […]
KEEP READING >Michael Schumacher didn’t just drive the new Ferrari 430 Scuderia. The seven-time world champion honed it to Formula 1 excellence, adjusting gear-change timing, traction, suspension, stability. So, the 510-horsepower limited-edition supercar from the land of the Prancing Horse is directly connected to the racetrack, where it is as comfortable as it is on the freeway or a street in Scottsdale. Hence, the name that echoes that of Ferrari’s Formula 1 team: Scuderia Ferrari. Schumacher tested the V8-equipped mid-engine at Nürburgring, the great German track that sounds Wagnerian, mythic, a place for the gods. For sure, this car, with its extraordinary […]
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