A little while ago we reported that Daimler – former owner of Chrysler – was about to give up on yet another one of its brands. This time it is not the middle-class Chrysler lineup, but instead it is the extremely expensive Maybach lineup. Daimler’s not even making an attempt to sell it, it’s just axing the failing company altogether.
In light of its upcoming release, Daimler is trying to rid itself of every last one of these nearly half-million-dollar machines. It is now taking drastic measures by adding in a $100,000 rebate. We’ve heard of crazy rebates upwards of $10,000 on some high-end cars, but $100K, really?
Then again, ridding itself of the remaining $376,000 Type 57 and the $427,000 Type 62 is not going to be an easy task. Maybe cutting the price by nearly one-third and one-fourth, respectively, will do the trick. Besides, reports say that Maybach loses roughly $500,000 on every model it sells, so what’s another $100K per car?
After this whole snafu, it appears that the “Maybach” name will again remain dormant in the automotive world, which it did from 1940 to 1997, for a very long time to come. So if you want an ultra-luxury car “on the cheap,” that may soon be worth tons of money as a collectable, swing on down to Maybach, if you can find a dealer, err, “studio” anywhere, and claim your cool $100K rebate.
We’re curious to see what kind of crazy restrictions there are to getting this rebate. We all know there is some kind of catch. Missing out on a $1,000 rebate due to some weird financing requirement ticks us off enough; missing out on $100K would likely send us into a small temper tantrum.
When Bugatti set the bar for 0-to-60 mph times on production cars at 2.4 seconds, most enthusiasts saw this as similar to the person that can limbo under a 1-foot-high bar. So for the most part, the Veyron was assumed to maintain the crown as fastest production car from 0-to-60 mph for many decades. In addition, we all assumed when someone finally did beat it, it was bound to be one of the other supercar builders.
In both cases we were all completely incorrect. First off, the record didn’t even last a decade. The second incorrect assumption is by far the most surprising, as it wasn’t a Ferrari, Porsche, Lamborghini, or even a Maserati that smoked the Bugatti Veyron, it was a Ford Mustang…
Let’s explain this one. Back in 2010, Ford announced that it was releasing a revamped version of its existing Cobra Jet model, and that it would boast a 5.4-liter supercharged V-8 engine that would pump out 430 to 500 horsepower, depending on which supercharger it came with. This 2012 Mustang Cobra Jet shredded the Bugatti’s 0-60 mph time by almost a full second, clocking in at 1.52 seconds. It also hit 100 mph in just 3.26 seconds, again killing the Veyron.
Having said all of that, don’t think that you are just going to waltz into Joe Blow’s Ford Dealer and snag one of these Cobra Jet Mustangs for $50K and drive out a racecar driver. Nope, the term “production car” is used very loosely here, as there were only 50 2012 Mustang Cobra Jets produced and they are not street legal. To boot, these beasts have a base price of $91,990 and run about $104K fully loaded.
This all means that the Veyron still holds the record for the quickest road-legal production car, plus it does still hold the top-speed record of 267.857 mph. Eat that, Ford. Then again, we just received word on the 2013 Cobra Jet late last year, so we’ll see what Ford has in store for Bugatti this time.
Nobuhiro "Monster" Tajima is, without question, the king of the Pikes Peak International Hill Climb. Not only is he the record-holder for the fastest ascent to the top of the mountain, but he’s the only man to do it in less than 10 minutes.
For this year, Monster Tajima will be keeping his record-setting Suzuki SX4 Hill Climb Special in the garage in favor of an electric car that his team, Team APEV Monster Sports, is in the process of putting together. And here’s the best part: Tajima isn’t looking to break the EV record for the climb; he actually has his eyes set on the overall record. Yep. The same record he set last year.
From what we’ve seen out of this man, if there’s anybody that can do it, it’s Monster Tajima.
As far as details behind the car is concerned, Team APEV Monster Sports is still keeping information tight-lipped, although we do expect them to reveal the car pretty soon.
The 2012 Texas Mile run was an enormous success this year, which is evident in the number of records that were broken. We’ve already reported on the Hennessey Twin-Turbo Ford GT that now holds the new world record at the Texas Mile for standing mile, but it’s the Camaro’s turn to take its spot on the podium. A fourth generation Camaro has become the fastest standing mile Camaro in the world with an impressive top speed of 253.1 mph. It doesn’t beat out the Ford for fastest standing mile, but at least it broke the record for its own model.
This was obviously not a stock Camaro. It was built by Late Model Racecraft, owned by Kelly Bise, and driven to success by driver Josh Ledford. The car is powered by a twin-turbocharged engine that will deliver an amazing 1,809 horsepower.
The video shown here includes the impressive run, a series of in-car run images, and some burnouts. Enjoy the video and let us know what you think about the 2012 Texas Mile!
Hennessey’s vehicles are smashing records after records. The newest one was established by a Hennessey Twin-Turbo Ford GT which established a standing mile record of 257.7 mph, officially becoming the fastest car at Texas Mile (for cars running on the Chase Field runway in Beeville).
Hennessey attempted to break the standing mile record last year with the Ford GT as well, but fell short at just 235 mph. The first day of the 2012 Texas Mile brought them up to 246.8 mph, but the second day was the true triumph with the 257.7 mph record. The victorious Ford GT by Hennessey is owned by Mark Heidaker and driven by Sean Kennedy.
Hennessey Performance CEO, John Hennessey, is confident that the Ford GT has even more to offer, so we expect to see some more amazing feats in the future. For now, we’d like to send a big congratulations to Hennessey and their team!
There are some amazing things you can do with cars and we have seen plenty of world records broken with people showing off those very things. Now, it’s time for another one that’s a it more unusual; the largest loop de loop in a car.
This record was broken while driving a Youngman Lotus L5 Sportback - a car developed by Youngman - a local Chinese maker that builds cars under Proton’s license. The car is powered by a 1.6-liter four that produces just 130 HP - not powerful, but enough for what this guy needed.
The largest loop de loop in a car measured 12.87 m (42 ft 2.69 in) in diameter and was achieved by Li Yatao (China) from the Car Team of Zhejiang Youngman Lotus Automobile Co., Ltd. in Shanghai, China, on September 23, 2011. The loop was made from steel and was 3.68 m (12 ft 0.88 in) wide and weighed 33,000 kg (72,752 lb).
It didn’t take long for that record to be eclipsed.
Earlier this week, 75 cars gathered at the Infineon Raceway in Sonoma, California specifically for one purpose: break the almost year-old record that was set on the other side of the world in Australia.
The record attempt was to do simultaneous donuts for at least 15 seconds, which isn’t all that hard to do if you know the art of the burnout. Drivers from all over Northern California participated in the raceway’s weekly Sonoma Drift powered by NOS program. Now on its second year, the program provides drifters the perfect escape to hone their hooning skills in a safe, legal, and controlled environment.
The video was shot and sent over to the Guinness Book of World Records for confirmation, and should the governing body conclude that this attempt will stand, you can expect it to be hailed as the new record holder for most cars doing simultaneous burnouts.
Check out the video and see the record-breaking attempt for yourself.
Just when we thought we found our favorite customized GT-R in AMS Performance’s monster of a Nissan GT-R called the "Alpha Omega". Capable of blasting along a quarter mile in just 8.97 seconds with a ridiculous top speed of 216.9 mph, the Alpha Omega vaulted to the top of the list as far as most awesome GT-R’s are concerned. Well, now we have to reconsider because UK tuner Severn Valley Motorsport has released their own souped up GT-R, affectionately billed as "The Hulk."
One monster GT-R deserves another monster GT-R.
The Hulk, which has been painted in a metallic Imperial Green Pearlescent finish, also comes with plenty of aerodynamic carbon components, including the new front bumper, the GTC Carbon bonnet, carbon gas bonnet lifts, and a host of carbon items - the rear diffusers, side skirts, and rear arch extensions - from Wald International. The S2 Active split wing from Aeromotion was also fitted into the Hulk, as are carbon race mirrors mounted on pillars, carbon exhaust surround, front and rear side markers, LSD doors, L.E.D angle eye day light running lights, and a new set of 20" Volks Racing light weight wheels wrapped in Toyo R888 315/30/20 tires. Inside, the Hulk was treated to a full carbon interior package, Cobra front carbon ultra light race seats, Alcantara fabrics, a six-point roll cage that was custom built to SVM specs, and Takata four-point race harnesses.
All that said, the real meal ticket of the Hulk is what lies under its hood. With an extensive performance upgrade that includes fitting their own 4.2-liter SVM HULK Spec Forged Blueprinted Unit, SVM was able to boost the street-legal GT-R’s output all the way up to 1,250 horsepower with a sick top speed of 218 mph, which by the way, is a new top speed record! The record was achieved at RAF Marham military base in Norfolk, UK and was confirmed by Racelogic Vbox data.
When we first heard about the Electric RaceAbout (E-RA) last year, we didn’t pay much attention to it. But since then, the car has broken two world records: it became the fastest EV car around the Nurburgring in 2011 and now it has broken the world record on ice.
The record was broken on Saturday March 17, 2012 on the frozen Lake Ukonjärvi in Northern Finland under the capable hands of test driver Janne Laitinen. The task was to drive one kilometer in both directions in under 6 minutes, and Janne Laitinen did so, while hitting a top speed of 161.63 mph. However, the Guinness organization didn’t attend the event, so this isn’t an official record...yet.
As a reminder, the E-RA is powered by four electric motors - one placed at each wheel. The four engines deliver a total of 378 HP and 2,360 lb-ft of torque. It can run about 124 miles on a single charge.
We all know that world records always have an expiration date; it’s just a matter of finding somebody willing and able to break that record.
One particular record that was recently shattered involved jumping a car the longest distance on snow. Mads Ostberg, a daredevil in every sense of the word, took his WRC Ford Fiesta and jumped 50 meters (164 feet) through the air, staking claim to the new world record.
It may have taken Ostberg three tries to hit his mark, but when he did accomplish it, he did it so clean that you could feel the adrenaline oozing out of the driver amidst all the cheers from the audience gathered at the site.
The distance is still unofficial and is subject to validation. But that doesn’t take away from the impressiveness of the feat, especially when you’re launching your car on a less-than-ideal surface.
