An enormous hurricane – Ida, as it was called - ravaged the East Coast a week ago and it’s being hailed as the worst one to hit Virginia and the Carolinas in a long time. And while there’s nothing remotely funny about natural disasters of this magnitude, this photo of a Porsche Cayman getting buried in sand along Cape Hatteras in North Carolina was – in the least bit – mildly amusing.
Good luck getting that out of its sinkhole, and on a more important note, we hope everyone is alright from that part of the US.
Now we here at top speed have a bit of a thing for the Cadillac CTS-V ever since we had the chance to get well acquainted with the supercharged four door sport sedan. Now when we first saw the CTS Coupe concept we couldn’t help but dream that one day General Motor’s luxury brand would incorporate all of the same high performance stuff you don’t see that makes the V Series car so great into the two door version. Well Cadillac made our dreams come true when they confirmed the future CTS-V Coupe and things are looking up even more because they have just announced when we will see the 556 HP M3 obliterator. There is no better venue to show off Detroit’s finest than at the North American International Auto Show, and that is exactly where the CTS-V Coupe will make its debut.
One unlucky Audi R8 owning Californian learned what it feels like to be a piece of meat in when he unexpectedly taken from behind by a BMW 6 Series and sandwiched between it and a much larger (and heavier) Range Rover SUV. Unfortunately for the four ringed super car driver his dream car now looks like it was chewed up and spat out like a rotten piece of salami. The good part is that the Audi’s aluminum skin took the brunt of the impact and everyone inside was fine, however the worst part is that the R8’s aluminum skin too the brunt of the impact and even a slight fender bender looks like quite a bit of damage.
On the upside, if the red R8 owner’s insurance is any good and the adjuster is a nice guy, this just might be the perfect excuse to upgrade his wheels to the new 5.2 Liter V10 powered aluminum super car. Honestly there is no excuse for 4.2 Liter FSI owners to trade in their perfectly good mid engine machines, if it is a bump in output that they are after then the aftermarket already has a plethora of forced induction options that makes the old car even more powerful than the new car and combined with the V8’s weight savings should make for a more nimble machine. That is if you aren’t provided with an opportunity like this guy. This is just another silver lining on a very ominous dark cloud, it just depends on how you look at it.
At some point, our threshold for seeing exotic car crashes is going to be snapped. But until that time, we just have to stomach them and move on. The latest victim of the lethal mix of bad driving and bad weather is an Aston Martin DB9. In this video shot in Warsaw, Poland, the DB9 was speeding along a wet road when it loses control before slamming into a tree, breaking it in half in the process.
The DB9 then spins a couple of times before resting to a stop with the fallen tree just a few feet away from the car. Imagine what would have happened if the impact of the crash forced the DB9 to stop and the tree falling on top of it. Despite the damage done to his ride, the driver was enormously lucky not to have been crushed under a tree trunk.
In 1948 at the Turin Motor Show, Ferrari unveiled the evolution of the 125 S sports race car. Designed by Carrozzeria Allemano, The 166S was produced in only 3 units, all built on the same 2620mm wheelbase chassis, but featuring different design.
The 166 S was powered by a two-litre version of Colombo’s 60° V12 engine that delivered 150bhp at 7000rpm and had a compression ratio of 10.1:1.
The first two models, 001 S and 003 S were designed by Allemano and featured prominent nose grille and headlights. The first one was the winner at the 1948 Targa Florio, and the second one at the 1948 Mille Miglia. Unfortunately both models were destroyed.
The German luxury automaker BMW is one of the only automakers that can invent new car segments so successfully, with models like the X6 Sport Activity Vehicle. Well the Japanese car maker Nissan is attempting something similar with their first true super car GT-R. Branching out in the opposite direction from the upcoming razor sharp SpecV with a more refined SpecM, much in the fashion of the old Mizuno Spec GT-R.
In an interview with the automotive journal InsideLine, Kazutoshi Mizuno, the man behind who has been at the controls of Nissan’s flagship performance vehicle for over a decade stated that the automaker is indeed working on a SpecM version of the GT-R super car when he put the nail in the coffin saying that "we’ve always planned that after we released the SpecV, we were going to build the SpecM." The new Nissan GT-R SpecM is said to have a new set of thoroughbreds in its sights because when the more plush GT-R debuts sometime next year it will compete with high end super cars like Aston Martin and Ferrari. Now while the GT-R is sure to deliver the same super car thrills there is no word yet as to how Nissan’s engineering and design team are going to soften Godzilla and spruce up the interior, all we do know is that much like the other special edition GT-R, prices will roughly be more than double the base model. However $200,000 is still a bargain for Ferraristas and Nissan will surely sell every last one.
When the German automaker BMW introduced the new Z4 Roadster to the world with their Expression of Joy campaign they showed off the car creating automotive art in a series of bright and brilliant colors, however one shade that they left out was matte gray, just like the exterior of this slightly modified Z4. No this isn’t a new color option from the luxury automaker, but instead an aftermarket applied foil that drastically alters the appearance of BMW’s new hard top roadster. The BMW 313 performance bicolor rims don’t hurt either.
As it comes from the factory the BMW Z4 is available with two different versions of the 3.0 Liter inline six, the sDrive30i makes 255 HP, and the boosted sDrive35i uses a set of twin turbos to lay down a maximum of 300 HP. The hard top convertible Z4 can be shifted with either a 6 speed manual gearbox or BMW’s newly developed double clutch sport automatic gearbox. The BMW Z4 sDrive35i makes the 0 to to 60 MPH sprint in just 5.1 seconds with the manual transmission and one tenth faster with the sport tuned automatic. However both models are limited to a top speed of 130 MPH, but you can get up to 150 MPH with the optional Sport Package. Just don’t expect to find this matte grey option at the dealership.
The Japanese automaker Nissan has just announced pricing for the 2010 Nissan 370Z. Fortunately for Z fans Nissan is keeping true to their roots with an affordable sports car, next year’s asking price will remain under $30,000. The base model with a rev matching six speed transmission is priced at $29,990 and climbs to $31,460 for the seven speed automatic version. A drop top 370Z will set you back $34,660 if you shift it yourself, and $36,130 without a clutch. However the much coveted Nismo edition is priced at a lofty $39,190 and has no slush box option. Either way the 2010 Nissan 370Z is powered by a 3.7 Liter V6 engine that sends a total of 332 HP to the rear wheels, although Nissan’s engineers have managed to squeeze 350 HP from the race bodied Nismo’s VQ37VHR making it even more desirable.
Revealed in 1980, the 208 GTB (and is spider version 208 GTS) features the smallest V8 engine used by Ferrari by that time. The 208 GTB replaced the 308 GTB and stayed into production until 1982, with 160 examples produced, in both right and left drive versions.
The car was designed by Pininfarina and featured a pronounced wedge profile, with a rectangular egg-crate aluminum radiator grille below a slim full width satin black front bumper. A square section indent line ran along each body side between the front and rear bumpers, which was finished in satin black whatever the main body color.
The doors featured scalloped intakes to the engine bay, the right one feeding the carburettor filter box, and the left one the oil cooler. At the rear there were twin circular light assemblies on the vertical recessed tail panel. A single piece lid hinged at the roof covered the engine bay and rear sited boot, whilst the vertical concave rear screen was bounded by buttressed sail panels. Options available were wider 7.5” rims, air conditioning, a radio, a deeper front spoiler, plus Michelin TRX or Pirelli P Zero tyres on special rims.
John Surtees holds the distinction for being the only man in history to become world champion in two-wheel and four-wheel racing competitions by achieving this feat with a Grand Prix motorcycle road race championship and a Formula One championship.
And now, decades after his racing career ended, Surtees has achieved another distinction to add to an already impressive resume: becoming the first man to drive an electric sports car through the Channel Tunnel.
Surtees’ feat occurred as part of the 37th annual Beaujolais Burlington Run, which coincides with the 15th anniversary of the opening of the tunnel that connects the United Kingdom with France and the rest of the European continent.
Surees’ car-of-choice was a Ginetta G50 EV electric sports car and he began his 31-mile run at the Folkestone terminal in the UK all the way to Calais terminal in France. Surees’ momentous achievement also marks the first time a production sports car – electric or not – has been given the opportunity to drive through the Channel’s service tunnel.
For anybody to accomplish that feat is remarkable enough, but for a 75-year old man - never mind that he’s a former F1 champ - to do it without even breaking a sweat is simply awe-inspiring.
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