Roadster cars are convertible compact sport cars, more or less luxurious but with a bold look and providing lots of feedback to the driver. they are the fun fast cars by excellence
In the 1950s, car racing was nowhere near what it has become today. The majority of the cars on road circuits were more about how good the driver was and how well the car was tuned. This meant that the majority of the cars were lightweight and only had between 200 and 250 horsepower. Having said that, there always has to be some sort of exception and the exception here is the 1953 Ferrari 375 MM Spider and RM Auctions has one set to go to auction on May 12th, 2012.
The Ferrari 375 MM Spider managed to completely dominate the World Sports Car Championship between 1954 and 1957, winning a total of 11 races and having seven more podium appearances (top 3 or 4 places). It also won two national championships in Argentina in 1954 and 1955.
In 1957, the car was retired following a crash. Post-retirement someone managed to get a hold of this storied racer, pulled out the Italian V-12 and dropped in a U.S.-built V-8 engine, which really seems pointless to us. After the V-8 muscle went into it, this once famed roadster just disappeared from automotive history.
In 1983, this American-powered Ferrari resurfaced and made its way back to home. In Italy, Count Zanon di Valsiurata repaired the image of this car by reinstalling its Italian power plant and restoring it to an acceptable condition.
How does this one-time powerhouse of the WSC and 1 of 15 Pininfarina examples ever built stand up to 2012 standards?
The Talbot line of racecars had quite a storied racing history, despite the fact that they were constantly out-powered by the likes of Maserati, Mercedes-Benz, and Alfa Romeo. Talbot always relied on its impeccable fuel mileage and extreme durability to conquest these giants of the race world in endurance racing, such as the 24 Hours of Le Mans.
By far, Talbot’s biggest achievement was its 1-2 finish in the 1950 24Hours of Le Mans, using T26 Grand Sport and a Talbot-Lago Monopasto. The chassis that was originally scheduled to run in the 1950 24 Hours of Le Mans, chassis No. 110057, but hit a few snags and was not quite ready for the race. Following the victory, the driver of its replacement in the Le Mans purchased it and began its racing history.
Unfortunately, this 1950 Talbot-Lago T26 Grand Sport had none of the success that its replacement had, as it had a long string of did-not-finish results stretching from 1951 through 1953. The curse of 110057 came to a head when Guy Mairesse was tragically killed in it when he crashed this T26 during testing at Coupe de Paris at Montlhèry.
After that tragedy, its owner at the time, Georges Grignard, parked it in its transporter and laid little more than an eye on it for four years until a savvy T26 enthusiasts, and its current owner, caught wind that one was sitting unused at Grignard’s house. The purchase almost never happened, as it was reported that Grignard wanted an unreasonably high price for this crashed racer, but apparently the two eventually came to terms.
If you have ever wanted to own a piece of Le Mans history, this is the time, as RM Auctions is offering chassis 110057 up for auction on May 12, 2012. Despite its cursed past, this is a rare model that is sure to fetch a premium and will only continue to go up in value.
In 1965, the Aston Martin DB5 was on its way out of showrooms and the new DB6 was being shown off at the London Motor Show. Between these two events lies the shortest-lasting production model convertible ever produced by Aston: the 1966 Aston Martin Volante.
The Volante was based off of the 37 remaining unused 1965 DB5s, but donned the more luxurious amenities of the DB6. When this model debuted, it was nicknamed the “Short Chassis” in an effort to help distinguish it from the longer DB6. As a result of the name, many people mistook that as meaning it was actually a shortened version of the DB5, which it is not.
Despite its awesome performance for the era, sharp looks, and popularity, the Volante was only an interim car. It was used just to bridge the gap between the time that the DB5 left and the DB6 hit showrooms. This means that production ceased as soon as the 37 unused DB5 chassis were converted.
Coming across a rare Aston Martin like this happens just about as often as you have a chance of seeing a Sasquatch or the Loch Ness Monster. Okay, maybe it’s a little more likely than seeing those, but you get our point. Well, get your wallet and passport ready, as RM Auctions is just about to auction off one of the 37 1966 Aston Martin ’Short Chassis’ Volante units on May 12th, 2012 in Monaco.
So how does this classic Brit motorcar look, feel, and drive?
Click past the jump to read our review and find out.
In the past few years, the BMW Z4 has been nearly forgotten. Practically no changes have been made to the sports car since the second generation was unveiled in December 2008, except for the addition of a new four-cylinder engine for the 2012 model year. Now, well-placed company insiders have confirmed that BMW is working on a replacement for the Z4 and that it will be launched in 2015. The new Z4 will be more agile and sportier, but the exterior changes will be "relatively modest in order to avoid alienating fans of the current sports car."
BMW plans to make the current hood a little shorter because they feel it inhibits fast driving. However, it is not very sure how short the new hood will be because customers are pretty excited about this feature, especially here on the US market. The next Z4 will also carry the current four-cylinder N20 engines because they are lighter and offer a more favorable weight distribution.
While most of us were hoping that Lamborghini would offer the roadster version of their latest Aventador supercar in March at the 2012 Geneva Motor Show, the company decided against it and extended the anticipation even longer. Now, Italian magazine Quattroruote, has offered a few more details on the upcoming Aventador LP700-4 Spyder.
According to the magazine, the new Aventador Spyder will feature a removable, solid roof and not a soft-top roof like the Murcielago Roadster. The retractable hard top should detach into two sections, separated in a transverse direction. It will be made of carbon fiber just like most of the other body components. This material will keep the weight of the car down and make the roof easier to maneuver. The magazine also reports that the Spyder version will feature an increased number of carbon fiber applications.
Expect to see the launch of the new Lamborghini Aventador Spyder in the coming months.
The recent 33rd Vienna Motor Symposium brought out some of the most amazing details about Volkswagen’s future plans, ranging from internal combustion engines to hybrids and electrics. However, one of the most amazing announcements involved a diesel engine for the future Porsche Boxster.
This isn’t the first time Porsche will be offering a diesel engine for their models - they are already doing it with the Cayenne and Panamera - but offering it in two large models and then going to a tiny sports car is quite a jump. It may sound crazy, but Porsche has indicated that it could happen in the future.
Porsche R&D Chief and VW Group’s engine guru Wolfgang Hatz said at the conference that he is "firmly convinced the internal combustion engine will remain dominant in the foreseeable future. The diesel has arrived and is a firm part of our strategy. There will be more powerful variations with Porsche-like performance. It would be wrong to say no to a Boxster diesel for all times."
This news follows the announcement of the Porsche Boxster E, which has been in the prototype stage for a couple of years ans should be debuting for the 2013 MY. The Boxster E is powered by two independent electric motors - one on the front axle and one on the rear - that develop a total power output of 241 HP and a maximum total torque of 398 lbs-ft at a maximum engine speed of approximately 12,000 rpm. With this amount of power, the car will sprint from 0 to 60 mph in 5.5 seconds and can hit a top speed of 124 mph, all while producing zero tailpipe emissions.
The question is which type of engine would you prefer for the Boxster: a diesel or a full electric? Let us know in the comments section below!
For what seems like forever, Porsche has turned out beautiful sports cars one after another and many times these beauties packed quite a punch too. One of these brawn-meets-beauty machines was the limited production 1989 Porsche 911 Speedster.
This model marked the first time that the “Speedster” moniker was slapped on a Porsche in 30 years, as the last one was the 1959 Porsche 356 Speedster. This model was coming at a rather awkward time though, as the U.S. was in a recession and Porsche was really starting to struggle. The famed automaker was banking on this limited model to help re-launch the “Porsche “ name in the minds of enthusiasts.
With its stylish lines and extremely high-powered six-cylinder engine, this model indeed helped thrust Porsche back to what it once was. The question is how does this aging high-performance machine stand up in today’s market?
Well, we will find out soon enough, as one of these rare 911 Speedsters is about to hit the auction block on via RM Auctions on June 9th through 10th in Hampton, NJ.
Click past the jump to read our full review on this classic Porsche
Porsche has spent years working on their 911, but while that might be their ultimate sports car, the Boxster is one of their best sellers. It was first seen as a disgrace to the Porsche name, as it was smaller and not as powerful, but once the Cayenne came along, all was forgiven.
The first ever Boxster was introduced in late 1996 as a 1997 model and a 2.5-liter flat six-cylinder engine powered it. Three years later, the new Boxster S variant was introduced with a larger 3.2-liter motor, while the base model received a more powerful 2.7-liter engine.
More changes came in 2003, 2005, and then again in 2007, when the Boxster got some of the stuff from the baby 911, called the Cayman. In 2009, the Boxster models received several new cosmetic and mechanical upgrades that upped the power and performance.
The changes kept coming and the Boxster kept taking them all in. Now the Boxster has been updated one more time and is looking better than ever.
UPDATE 03/14/2012: The Boxster S model lapped the Nurburgring race track in an impressive 7:58 - or about 18 seconds shy of the new, more powerful Porsche 911 which scored an heart-racing time of 7:40.
This speedy lap time means the Boxster S is faster than models like the Corvette C6 (7:59), the Viper SRT-10 (7:59), and the C63 AMG Coupe (8:01) - which are far more powerful than the tiny Boxster. This result also makes the new generation better than the model it replaces which had a lap time of 8:10.
UPDATE 05/03/2012: Porsche has unveiled a new promo video for their latest generation Boxster. Called "True Spirit" this new video is offering us some rare footage from the Porsche archive. Enjoy!
The Ferrari 458 Italia has already received two upgrade programs from Novitec Rosso: a "standard" one and a second one called "Twins." And now the tuner is turning their attention to the 458 Spyder. Just like with the coupe version, the roadster has also received a carbon aero kit, superlight forged wheels, an engine increase to 609 HP and a top speed of 201 mph.
The standard 458 Spyder delivers a total of 570 HP, but Novitec Rosso has added a special carbon-fiber air box with modified air routing and a high-performance exhaust system. As a result the car delivers a total of 609 HP at 9,100 rpm and a peak torque of 419 lbs-ft at 5,400 rpm.
For the exterior the tuner is offering a new front fascia upgraded with a two-piece front spoiler and side flaps, new sill skirts and a new rear spoiler lip or a rear wing. All these elements are made in carbon fiber. The car sits on a new set of 22" forged wheels combined with a hydraulic suspension system that can raise the car’s ride by 40 mm or lower it by 35 mm.
Hit the jump to read more about the new Ferrari 458 Spider by Novitec Rosso.
It’s rather obvious that we love cars, duh… But do you know what we love more than normal old everyday cars? We love custom monsters that make us go “what the?” What we love even more than that are factory-produced models that give us those same feelings, like the Morgan 3 Wheeler company.
Morgan manufactures three different 3-wheel cars – Standard, Bespoke, and Superdry Edition – and each one is cooler than the one before it. The standard Morgan 3 Wheeler is pretty slick on its own, featuring a 1,990 cc V-twin engine that propels this three-wheeled contraption to 60 mph in about 4.5 seconds and to a top speed of 115 mph.
It’s sweet enough to just talk about these beasts, but it’s even more fun to watch them in action. We don’t mean a leisurely Sunday cruise with grandma and the kids. Nope, we mean screaming this bad boy through Goodwood hill, breaking the ice land speed record, and doing a massive burnout. Okay, the first video is, in fact, a more leisurely Sunday drive, but it has some awesome V-twin audio and some really nice shots of the car to compensate for the lacking adrenaline.
Regardless of the video type, any car/motorcycle buff will not only love these videos, but will likely need a tissue to wipe the drool from his or her computer screen. What’s best about these awesome machines is that they are actually fairly affordable, as the Standard model bases out at just £25,000 ($40,345) plus VAT.
So crank up those computer speakers and enjoy the sights and sounds.
