Back when supercars were just a mere figment of one’s imagination, the way to get around was to hop on a train and wait out the trip. Airplanes and cars traveling on high developed roadways have knocked traveling on a train down a few pegs, but that may be about to change. Chinese train manufacturer, CSR Corp Ltd., has launched a super speedy train whose top speed has clocked in at 500 km/h or 310 mph!
The train consists of six cars that are made of plastic materials "reinforced with carbon fiber" and was designed to look like an ancient sword. It delivers a total of 22,800 kilowatts of power, or about 30,575 HP! This project is part of China’s trillion dollar effort to build 8,078 miles of high-speed rail network by 2012, and about 12,427 miles by 2020.
CSR isn’t the only one developing these high speed machines either. Identical projects include the development of a maglev train by Southwest Jiaotong University, the Tokyo to Osaka bullet train planned for 2045, and the proposed 269 mph maglev train from Anaheim to Las Vegas.
We are actually surprised that these high speed trains are even leaving the drawing board at all. These ongoing projects were almost forced to a halt when former Railways Ministry chief, Liu Zhijun, was canned after cashing in on $122 million. This was then followed with collision back in July between two high-speed trains in Wenzhou. This incident ended up killing at least 40 people and injuring another 210. With China using low-quality materials to build the tracks, and subsequently, the trains having a higher chance of derailing, causing the top speed to be dropped from 218 mph to 186 mph, it seemed as though the railway system in China was on its way out the door.
These new high speed trains have proven, however, that the railway system is very much alive, and gaining speed.
The Chinese automotive market is growing bigger by the day and automakers everywhere are taking advantage of this growing market by throwing a number of special editions their way. One type of vehicle that is ripping through the streets of China is the super car. Anything from Ferrari to Pagani to Lamborghini is making its way over to the land of Dragons and Emperors, and this video was created to show off a number of these vehicles.
Watching this video may incite some ever growing jealousy for the people lucky enough to get behind the wheel of these bad boys. The supercars are all part of the Chinese Sportscar Club (SCC), which got together on an airstrip to show off their rides. The list of the supercars is intense, including a Ferrari Enzo, a Pagani Zonda F/R and Cinque, a Mercedes SLR, a Mercedes SLS, a Ferrari F430, a Ferrari 458 Italia, tons of Lamborghini models, an Aston Martin, and our favorite, the Koenigsegg Agera.
The sheer monetary value of the collected supercars is enough to induce drool.
Improbable as it may sound, Bugatti has somehow upstaged the already limited run Bugatti Veyron Super Sport with a special edition version of the very supercar. A special edition of a special edition, you ask?
That appears to be the case with the unveiling of the latest special edition Veyron Super Sport called the "Edition Merveilleux." The car, it turns out, was commissioned specifically for a 40-year old dude in China that goes by the name of "Simon." Details behind the Veyron Super Sport Edition Merveilleux were not disclosed, although there’s a video of the car with all of Bugatti’s top brass, including CEO Wolfgang Durheimer, rolling out the one-off Veyron Super Sport. From the looks of things, Simon’s new ride features an un-painted carbon fiber exterior with matching blacked-out alloy wheels and a bright blue interior finish.
The video features some of the Bugatti execs being given some mic time to wish Simon a happy 40th birthday and if you can put two and two together, this one-off Veyron Super Sport appears to be a birthday present that the birthday boy bought for himself.
Hey, if we had that kind of money, we’d probably splurge it on a one-off model of a supercar that produces 1,200 horsepower and can hit a top speed of 268 mph. Unfortunately, it’s going to take us a couple of lifetimes to be able to sniff a Veyron, much less a one-off model of the Super Sport.
Guess we’ll just have to settle for gift certificates to Red Lobster then.
The globe-trotting trio from Top Gear have been spotted in more places around the world than Waldo himself. Recently, Jeremy Clarkson and James May were spotted in Beijing, China filming a segment for the 18th season of the show and from what the photos are telling us, it appears that the duo - minus Richard Hammond, from what it looks like - have been spending some time in the Far East getting acquainted to some of the locally-produced cars in China.
From what we’ve been told, the duo have a long list of Chinese cars to run around with, including, but not limited to a JAC sedan, a Greatwall Hover M2, a Greatwall Coolbear, a Geely China Dragon, and a BYD F0, among other things.
Those cars really don’t mean that much to us because you’d be hard-pressed to find one running around American soil. Nevertheless, the segment should make for an informative look at the burgeoning Chinese automotive market.
And who better to give us the unfiltered lowdown than Clarkson and May.
