Posting videos of speeding vehicles on YouTube may seem fun, and can even be profitable in some instances, but it comes with a whole host of risks. First and foremost, there’s the ever present danger that if said car’s license plate is shown in a video, then the police can easily track the owner and issue them with a host of driving violations.
Well, that’s exactly what recently happened to a 38-year-old, Japanese CEO named Mikami Tadao. He was recently captured after the following video depicted him speeding through a Japanese tunnel, at what’s suspected to be 97 mph or almost 60 mph faster than the legal speed limit.
Although the video certainly doesn’t seem to capture the offending Lamborghini Gallardo traveling at those speeds, we’ll take Asahi’s word for it. Nevertheless, Tadao was clearly speeding through the tunnel based on how many car’s the Italian supercar passes, and on one hand we can understand the attraction of pinning the throttle to capture the glorious V-10 cacophony of the car, but on the other hand, posting the video on YouTube obviously pushed it a bit too far.
The offense is believed to have occurred January 2, 2010 and the man was captured on March 9 this year, and we believe, he’s still behind bars with an array of traffic offenses expected to be passed down on him when, and if, the case ever makes it to court.
Check out the video, and be sure to keep in mind that if you ever plan to break the speed limit and film it (which, of course, we don’t condone), please don’t post it online!
When it comes to sports cars that have remained true to their heritage, there’s no other name more noteworthy than the Porsche 911.
After being in production for upwards of 50 years, the 911 continues to be the sports car benchmark of which all other manufacturers aim to trump. This particular unit, the stunning Porsche 911 Carrera RS 2.7, is the epitome of what the 911 represents.
Delivering an impressive 210 HP when new, which is more than both the Scion FR-S and Subaru BRZ, the Carrera RS 2.7 featured revised, stiffened, and more aggressive suspension and debuted with a revolutionary ducktail spoiler which remains one of the Porsche’s most iconic components fitted to any of their cars ever.
The following photo helps to capture the true beauty of the Carrera RS from ’73 with this stunning green example arguably being one of the very best examples produced by the German brand.
Taken by Alexis Goure, the stunning lighting of this photo combined with the incredible reflection helps to cement it as one of our very favorite photos of the RS we’ve seen to date.
Hat tip to Goure for allowing us to use the photo, and be sure to check out their website here.
For the better part of the last decade, Volkswagen Automotive Group has been snagging up various automakers and auto groups in an attempt to build an empire that would likely make Darth Vader cower in fear. It looks like one of VW’s Stormtroopers is turning its back on the “Dark Side,” as Suzuki, a company that VW bought some $2.1 billion worth of shares in 2009, is taking VW to court in an attempt to force VW to return the 19.9 percent of Suzuki stock that it owns.
The issues that run between the two are your typical automotive wah-fest, as Suzuki is boo-hooing over the fact that VW did not share enough technical information with Suzuki, which was a stipulation of the stock sale. VW, on the other hand, is crying foul because Suzuki opted to source a small-displacement engine from Fiat instead of VW. Oddly enough, VW is fighting Suzuki to keep its shares, while Suzuki has filed suit against VW in a London court to force VW to sell its shares back.
Another odd turn of events is the fact that Suzuki is willing to pay market value to VW for said shares, giving Volkswagen a cool $300K to $400K in profit.
Overall, this is a very strange turn of events, as we are not quite sure exactly what in the world VW would want with the Suzuki brand under its umbrella. The brand has been really struggling in the last decade and looks to eventually go the Isuzu route and pull out of the American market altogether. Then again, VW has been apt for turning around struggling car companies, a la Audi.
We’ll keep you posted on any new happenings in this legal battle.
On the back of Porsche, Ferrari, and Fisker all posting extremely impressive sales figures for the first quarter of 2012, British luxury automobile manufacturer, Bentley has joined the growing list of high-end car companies increasing profits, recently posting a global sales surge of 32% over the past 6 months.
That 32 percent increase equates to 3,929 new cars being delivered to customers, and has also resulted in the U.S. becoming the firm’s largest market once again after it was overthrown by the emerging Chinese market last year. In saying that, however, sales in China skyrocketed by 55.7% in the first half of 2012, equaling 1,059 cars delivered, while the U.S. market grew by a more modest 25.7% or 1,140 new cars delivered.
These increases in sales were partly due to the rapid rise in demand for the brand’s flagship Mulsanne rising by 30%, while deliveries of the Continental GT increased exponentially by 48.5%. In addition to these impressive individual results, sales in Europe increased by 22.9 percent (607 new vehicles), the Middle East also grew by 47.9 percent (346 cars delivered) while the U.K saw a more modest increase of 4.5 percent.
Bentley’s former Chief Executive, Wolfgang Durheimer who we now know has moved to Audi, stated, “Our half year results show strong growth for Bentley in every single global region. The competition between the Americas and China continues and we are watching closely to see who will emerge as the largest region in 2012. “
“Sales are being driven up by our flagship Mulsanne which is up 30% following strong interest in the US and China. We are also pleased to see the continued growth of the new Continental GT W12, our pinnacle performance coupé,” he continued.
“I am very optimistic about the future for Bentley. We are gaining more momentum every month due to the strong performance of our global dealer network, the appeal of our existing model line to customers and the exciting future models like the Continental GT Speed we have in the pipeline.”
With reports recently surfacing suggesting that Renault may inject new life into the famous Alpine brand, despite our skepticism of it actually happening, a new video showcasing the newly-launched Alpine A110-50 Concept has been released. This video shows the vehicle following in the footsteps of its legendary predecessor, the original Alpine A110 Berlinette.
Before you discount this video, keep in mind that it’s not just simply a short video uploaded to YouTube where both cars were spotted together on the street. It is actually an all-out production conducted by Renault to help promote support for the rebirth of the Alpine brand by demonstrating just how far the French company has come since the Berlinette’s inception back in the ‘60’s.
Even though we have great difficulty in believing that these two Alpine’s were really driving along these mountain roads as the video suggests, it’s a great sight to see with two completely different sports cars, developed and constructed by the same company both of whom were and are extremely futuristic in their respective designs.
Additionally, it’s nice to see that Renault actually created a concept which can be driven, rather than one which will remain stationary for its entire life, only ever shifting position whilst being transported around the world to different automotive shows.
After Drive visited the Pagani factory in Italy a few weeks back, we were given a great in-depth tour of the facility as a whole. Now, the following video brought to you by EVO takes a look at Pagani’s halo supercar, the Huayra in a great amount of detail.
So for any budding automotive engineers out there, this video is perfect for you.
During the clip, EVO founder Harry Metcalfe gets hands-on with the Huayra and looks at a variety of the small components which help make the Huayra as unique as it is. He goes on to reveal that, according to Horacio Pagani himself, the Huayra is constructed out of approximately 4,700 different components, while its predecessor, the Zonda, was built with ‘just’ 3,000 pieces.
Additionally, the video aims to prove that the Huayra really is worth its incredible $1.3 million price tag, and after watching it, we’re inclined to agree that the level of detail which goes into creating every Pagani far exceeds any other manufacturers we’re aware of.
As a quick refresher, the Huayra features an incredible twin-turbo, 6.0-liter AMG sourced V12 engine delivering an impressive 730HP and 730lb-ft of torque. This engine is then mated to an advanced seven-speed sequential transmission courtesy of Xtrac, and consequently, the Huayra can hit 60 mph in around 3.0 seconds before hitting an impressive top speed of 220mph.
Up until this point, we’ve seen many online magazines pit the incredible 2013 Ford Mustang GT500 against its underpowered rival, the Chevrolet Camaro ZL1, but until now, we haven’t seen either of the two in depth, until MotorTrend recently released the following video of the two.
Conducted by Australian journalist, Angus MacKenzie, the video depicts the two together in an in-depth review for all-out muscle car supremacy. Rather than simply heading to the quarter mile, seeing which one is faster, and being done with it, the following video looks at three crucial aspects of these two insane cars.
The first test involves some quick blasts through Mulholland Drive where the real-world abilities of the two cars are truly tested, due to the undulations in the road as well as the average traffic conditions one may experience when going canyon carving in one of these two cars.
The second, and arguably most important, test conducted in the review, is a series of high-speed runs around Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca to see which car is consistently faster around the infamous track, and the result may surprise you.
The test concludes with a good-old fashioned quarter mile drag race and even through the result from that discipline may seem obvious, don’t ever underestimate the 580HP Camaro ZL1 as it turns out to be quite the performance car.
Former porn star, err, “adult film star,” Jenna Jameson hasn’t made a new flick in many years, but we are fairly certain there are plenty of her classics circulating the computer screens of men everywhere. Well, it looks like her exit from “the industry” hasn’t treated her too well, as she was stuck leasing a Maserati Quattroporte S back in 2010.
Leasing of this luxury auto is not the story though; the real story is that she hasn’t paid the $2,299 lease payment since January. Using our crack mathematical skills, that puts her six months behind and owing $13,794 in late payments.
According to a report by TMZ, the finance company, Maserati Financial Services, attempted to repo the circa $130,000 425-horsepower sedan, but were apparently unsuccessful. Now MFS is outright suing Jameson to return the vehicle and pay an astronomical $107,000 in damages.
We are a little intrigued by the $107K in damages. What kind of damages has MFS undergone from not being able to repo a $130,000 car? We understand suing for the $13,794 in back payments, late fees, and even suing for fruitless repo fees, but what else could possibly add up to that number? Plus, if Jameson can’t afford to pay a $2,300 car payment, what make MFS think it can possibly milk $107,000 out of the ex-actress? We also have to ask, who leases a car anymore?
We’ll keep an eye on this one for you and let you know when we get any more details, as they are a little scarce right now.
For the most part, business deals are massaged with care and come together with relative ease and little drama. We guess the Germans must do things a little differently, as the VW takeover of Porsche was anything but easy and drama-free. In fact, it was closer to the exact opposite.
Seven years ago, Porsche was sitting pretty and decided it wanted to expand, but bit off way more than it could chew when it tried to buy out Volkswagen. This attempted takeover split Porsche’s ownership group and eventually resulted in Porsche falling into extreme debt and abandoning the takeover plan.
In 2009, the script flipped and VW ended up indirectly owning 49.9 percent of Porsche and striking an agreement in 2009 to buy up the remaining 50.1 percent. That agreement turned south when VW realized that the resulting tax payments for the purchase were its responsibility. Well, after some nifty dance steps with the taxman, VW managed to avoid paying taxes on the purchase and the deal was all but complete.
Now we can finally announce that the deal is 100 percent complete, and VW is now the sole owner of Porsche AG. The total purchase deal is going to send €4.46 billion ($5.59 billion) and a single common share of VW stock to Porsche SE. Volkswagen plans to integrate Porsche into its automotive group on August 1, 2012. Porsche SE will also receive an additional €320 million ($401 million) in lost dividend payments and net synergies, due to the rapid integration of Porsche AG into VW’s ownership group – basically VW is paying off Porsche SE to gain quicker control of its automotive group.
With this, VW’s impressive automotive group grows yet again. We are starting to wonder how big Volkswagen AG can really get before it’s too big for its own good.
Click past the jump to read the full and complicated presser from VW.
