In the world of supercars, you have many different players. Ferrari is the technological wonder child, while Lamborghini is that school bully that developed a bit of common sense with age. Aston Martin is the sophisticated gentlemen spy that can charm any living thing with a single word. Then, you come to Pagani, the new boy. These cars don’t feature any sophistication or old world charm. Yet, their radical designs and outrageous performance have placed them in the top tier of the supercar tree and now, we have a new version, the C9.
In the world of follow-ups, this one is massive. Sort of like the Godfather II following the Godfather. The Zonda was the car that made Pagani into the company you see today. Automotive journalists loved it and the base version spawned many different special editions and one-offs like the Zonda F and Cinque. It was like nothing ever seen before. The Zonda’s development was evolutionary, but the C9 that will replace it will be revolutionary.
UPDATE 09/16/2011: The new Pagani Huayra has found its way into one of the most famous garages known to man: Jay Leno’s Garage. Horacio Pagani accompanied the brand’s new supercar as he explained the most amazing details about the Huayra to Leno. Hit the jump to watch the video.
UPDATE 01/03/2012: Pagani has unveiled new images of their latest Huayra supercar, and we have to admit, the car looks great in red. Enjoy!
Hit the jump for more details on the Pagani Huayra.
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The crazy powerful and very rare Aston Martin One-77 has been in the public eye now for some time, after it was first shown in North America at the lovely Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance.
Like all Aston Martin products, this one is stunning in every category, from exterior styling to power. What they have done with the One-77 is fuse advanced technology with a stunning design to create possibly the world’s most desirable automotive art form.
Yet, as is the way with these things, most people in the world will never get the chance to own or even drive one of these vehicles. The first reason is the price, which is - get ready for this - $1.4 million. Fine, we can just sell everything we own and work really hard for the next 50 years. Yet, even if you have the money, only 77 will be made, making this automotive art form quite rare indeed.
UPDATE 04/06/11: And then there were ten... Interested in purchasing the One-77? You still have a chance because there are ten units still available. Potential customers seem to be hesitating due to the fact that they can’t test drive their $1.4 million investment before they buy it. Sounds reasonable to us.
UPDATE 08/04/11: Aston Martin has unveiled a new video revealing the One-77 supercar in action on the French Mountain roads, just a few short miles from the famous Paul Ricard circuit in France. This video apparently shows the highlights of the vehicle’s visit to the mountains. Enjoy!
Hit the jump to keep reading.
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If there are any legs to a new report coming out recently, the Aston Martin DB9, Bentley Continental GT, and the Jaguar XKR-S will soon get a strong response from Porsche in the form of an entirely new supercar.
Following the report that came out about Porsche’s intention in introducing a new sports car to slot between the 911 GT2 RS and the 918 Spyder, another piece of news has come out that could lay credence to this latest development.
According to Autocar, Porsche is preparing a new front-engined GT coupe that will be part of the second-generation Porsche Panamera line-up that’s scheduled for 2014 or 2015. If there’s any leg to this, it’s possible that the GT coupe will be based on a short-chassis version of the next generation Panamera and will bear inspiration from the popular 928 coupe that ran back in the 70’s. The car could be badged as the 929 and will enter a growing market that includes plenty of serious competition.
Hit the jump for more details on the Porsche 928 GT Coupe.
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The automotive factories of today utilize computers and robots in order to produce different combinations of cars in short order. The buyer is able to choose different options, colors, and accessories that can all be changed at a moment’s notice on the assembly line. Some may consider this customization, but having a specially ordered car in the 1930s was a much different scenario.
In 1936, Mercedes Benz introduced its new 540K model at the Paris Motor Show. Subsequent years would see this car be called on as the most striking Mercedes model ever built. When it came out, this car was not simply sitting on dealers lots to be test driven and sold to the first person with enough money. It was specially ordered and built once the customer had made payment. Recently, one of the rarest models came to auction at RM’s Villa d’Este event.
The Cabriolet A model was built for the 14th Maharajah of Indore whom was an avid car collector. More recently, the car was fully restored and has won its fare share of concours events across the country. The rare and beautiful 540K Cabriolet was auctioned for the price of $2,013,000 to one lucky bidder that will undoubtedly be satisfied with his purchase.
Hit the jump for more details on the 1937 Mercedes-Benz 540K Cabriolet A
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Alfa Romeo was returning to motor sports when it built the 1962 Giulietta Sprint Zagato. Zagato was a prominent designer and past collaboration with Alfa Romeo had proven fruitful in the Le Mans and Formula 1 circuits. In 1957, Alfa had formed a relationship with Bertone, another famous shop, to develop the Giulietta Sprint Speciale which was a high performance version. That car would become the basis for the new venture with Zagato.
The companies decided to concern themselves with form over function while developing the new GT racer. The plan was to offer the car to customers for their own GT teams and thus it needed to be a strong and reliable performer on the track. Zagato was a master and developing aerodynamically efficient and lightweight machines and the Giulietta Sprint Speciale chassis provided the perfect jumping off point.
Perhaps the reason these cars remain so special today is their overall beauty. The design was focused around performance, but in turn the body became very well recognized and an instant classic for Alfa. Combining the low roofline with the elongated and round body made the car desirable to collectors. The rarity of the “Coda Tronca” version lends to the high selling price at the recent auction that saw chassis 0184 sell for $420,800.
Hit the jump for more details on the 1962 Alfa Romeo Coda Tronca
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