Remember when Ferrari decided to auction off the first F12berlinetta in the U.S. as part of its contribution to relief efforts stemming from Hurricane Sandy?
Long Island resident Larry Roth won that auction, paying $1.125 million for the Italian supercar. It might have been way more than the $315,888 retail price of the F12berlinetta, but since it was for a good cause, we don’t think Roth had any problem opening up his checkbook.
After months of waiting, Roth’s generosity and patience has finally paid off after he took delivery of the first production F12berlinetta in the U.S. Good things come to those who wait and we assume that Roth is pretty thrilled to finally have the supercar in his hands.
He deserves it too after the tremendous bid he put up to win the auction. We just hope he takes real good care of it seeing as he paid quite a premium to own it.
Florida-based tuner and audio specialists, Ultimate Auto, is making some waves for the right reasons. A few months ago, we showed you what it was able to do to a Dodge Challenger SRT8.
True to form, Ultimate Auto followed that up with a new program, this time for the Maserati GranTurismo MC. The first thing the tuner did to the Italian supercar was to give it set of 20-inch Forgiato wheels. All well and good, but the wheels aren’t the highlight of the program.
For that, we go to the interior where you’ll notice that the GranTurismo MC has a new audio system. Not surprising, considering Ultimate Auto happens to be an expert in that area. Pop open the suede trunk and there it is, a JL Audio 10W3 subwoofer and a custom-lighted carbon-fiber trim ring that suits the luxury trim on the GranTurismo MC’s interior cabin.
Another unique and quite useful addition to the program is the Escort 9500ci radar detector, a technology that automatically drops the GranTurismo MC’s speed before it gets detected by radar, as well as a laser diffuser system that can keep the cops out of the supercar’s hair.
With all that additions, coupled with the 4.7-liter V-8 engine that produces 443 horsepower and 376 pound-feet of torque, this GranTurismo MC is definitely one to take serious notice of. And hey, it doesn’t hurt that the car can hit 60 mph in 4.9 seconds with a top speed of 185 mph.
When Pininfarina debuted the Sergio Concept at the 2013 Geneva Motor Show, a lot of people thought that the car would only be there as a show car.
But now, it looks like the company is doing an about-face with plans of building a limited number of models, each priced at around €3 million (roughly $3.89 million at the current exchange rates). Pininfarina CEO, Silvio Angori, made the announcement, telling Automotive News Europe that the company is "considering a very limited run of five to six units."
This latest developments comes a surprise to a lot of people considering the rather extreme design of the Sergio, which, in concept guise, won’t meet a lot of European safety standards.
But Pininfarina already has a plan to work around the car’s concept design to make it a street-legal model, including the installation of a windshield to comply with European homologation rules. "We already know how and where to modify the Sergio concept car to make it into a compliant, street-legal model," Pininfarina chief designer, Fabio Filippini, also told Automotive News Europe.
Should Pininfarina succeed in turning the Sergio Concept into a full-fledged road goer, albeit extremely limited model, there’s still that matter of price. Last we checked, €3 million don’t grow on trees and it might be a hard sell, awesome as the car is, to convince somebody to fork over that much money.
Then again, that’s exactly the amount Lamborghini charged for the Veneno hypercar. And all three models are already accounted for.
With the hypercar market still going strong despite the general downturn in global economy, at least one performance brand isn’t sweating the fact that it won’t be building any hypercar anytime soon.
Mercedes’ performance division, AMG, has made it clear that it has no plans of joining today’s competitive hypercar market. That much was made clear by its director of vehicle development, Tobias Moers, who told Australia’s CarAdvice that the company won’t be releasing a hypercar - or a hybrid for that matter - in the near future.
“There are a lot of rumors,” Moers said, before adding “What I can confirm today is that the SLS is not a single-shoot story. It’s not SLS runs for four years then no super-sports car from AMG.”
Moers admits that the hypercar segment, traditionally slotted just above "supercars,” is a vicinity that doesn’t quite resonate with Mercedes customers the same way it does for, say, clients of Ferrari. AMG did venture into the market with the SLR about a decade ago, but ultimately, the overriding belief in the AMG camp is that it’s better off leaving that segment alone.
“Ferrari in the hypercar segment is still a different brand than AMG," Moers added. "We have to be honest.”
While this piece of news may not be all that surprising, Moers did give hints of the long rumored AMG model that would slot in between the its existing C63 and SLS models. "You’re not wrong … maybe,” Moers said regarding the possibility of a new AMG model, rumored to be the SLC, arriving soon.
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 03/15/2013: Pagani has unveiled a new promo video for its Huayra supercar. Called simply "God of Wind" the new video is just an attempt to bring the supercar back to our attention. Enjoy!
Hit the jump for more details on the Pagani Huayra.
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In an interview with Jalopnik, Koenigsegg CEO, Christian von Koenigsegg, presented his opinion about the future of automobile engines. Currently, almost every automobile engine uses a camshaft or multiple camshafts to open and close the intake and exhaust valves.
According to Koenigsegg, however, camshafts will be gone in the next decade, or so. He said that his company has been testing a new cam-less engines for quite some time now and that many other companies are also looking for other alternatives. Fiat, for example, is developing electro-hydraulic variable valve actuation technology in its Multiair engines.
We’re not too sure when new prototypes using the new cam-less technology will start seeing use, but according to him a decade seems like a tight deadline. We are all for new technology, but electronic valve actuation and other cam-free technology just seem like expensive ventures to take. But, we’re not engineers, so what do we know?
Unlike some of the dedicated tuners in the industry today, Vorsteiner is one of those that’ll develop a program for any car it deems worthy of its time.
Well, the McLaren MP4-12C is as worthy as any vehicle Vorsteiner has ever worked on.
So, Vorsteiner has a program for the “Mac-daddy,” and it’s calling it the MP4-12V. The full package has yet to be revealed but a couple of photos of the program appear to suggest the direction the tuner is going.
There are plenty of extra components added to the MP4-12C, including what appears to be a P1-inspired front bumper, complete with a large splitter and air vents. There are also new side skirts, a set of Vorsteiner wheels and what looks like a small boot-lid spoiler. On the back, the carbon-fiber add-ons include a new rear bumper with its own huge rear diffuser and a subtle rear wing.
All in all, it’s a pretty decent program with some P1 flavor mixed in. Maybe Vorsteiner has a performance tune in the oven? Who knows, but we certainly wouldn’t mind seeing one.
Just a few days ago, we reported that the new LaFerrari supercar will be on display at the Ferrari Museum in Maranello as a part of the "Ferrari Supercar. Technology. Design. Myth" exhibition. Today, the exhibition officially opened its doors and will stay like this until September 30th.
Next to the new LaFerrari supercar, visitors will also be able to admire other great supercars offered by the Italian company, including the 250 GTO, F40, F50, Enzo, GTO Evoluzione, F40 Competizione, 599XX, FXX and many more.
At the same exhibition, visitors will also have the opportunity to learn about the entire process from the car’s initial conception to the final approval, and they will have the opportunity to see two full-scale models showing the car in various stages of its development process.
Until you have the chance to arrive in Maranello, watch this video to get an idea of what the new Ferrari exhibition has to offer.
Episode 9 of Drive’s "Inside Koenigsegg" web series is the final episode of what has been a comprehensive and highly informative behind-the-scenes look at the Swedish supercar manufacturer.
Koenigsegg founder Christian Von Koenigsegg has played the role of host of the web series and there’s no better person to know about the intricacies of building a car like the Agera R than the man who founded the company.
In this episode, Koenigsegg takes us through the Agera R’s unique transaxle, a necessary technology for the Agera R, considering its mid-engine, rear-drive setup. Diving into the specifics like the authority that he is, Koenigsegg proceeds to explain the inner workings of the supercar’s transaxle. If you don’t know how the whole thing works, this video is a definite must-watch.
In so many words, the ultimate purpose of the Agera R’s transaxle is to enable the supercar to make the most out of every one of those 1,140 ponies while also ensuring that the car’s handling and reliability isn’t compromised.
Ultimately, the technology used in the development of the Agera R is the culmination of ambition meeting ingenuity. It’s mind blowing to think how Koenigsegg was able to build his brand without the resources of rival brands and still come out with a supercar like the Agera R that, in so many words, is truly in a class of its own.
To recap the entire web series, click past the jump to watch Episodes 1 to 8.
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Late last year, Italian tuner Novitec Rosso introduced to us its very first program for the Ferrari F12berlinetta. Where that program came with a pretty hefty performance upgrade, the tuner’s new body kit for the F12berlinetta, as shown by English Novitec Rosso distributor, Scuderia Systems, is all sorts of bonkers, too.
According to Scuderia Systems, the kit is called N-LARGO - yep, all caps - and judging by the rendering photos of the F12berlinetta sporting it, these components are just what the doctor ordered.
Details have yet to be divulged, but it certainly appears that the entire kit is going to be made entirely out of lightweight carbon fiber. In addition, you can plainly see the new components on the F12berlinetta, including a new front bumper, a new hood with a distinctive air vent, wider fenders on the front and rear, new side skirts, and a new rear spoiler and diffuser.
Needless to say, the N-LARGO body is just mind-blowing.
As far as performance enhancements, expect to see the same upgrade Novitec Rosso already introduced last year. You know, the one wherein the tuner calibrated mapping for injection and ignition, increasing the output of the F12berlinetta to 763 horsepower and 518 pound-feet of torque with a new top speed of 214 mph.
