Special and Limited Editions

All posts in “Special and Limited Editions”

Aston Martin DBR22 is a retro roadster for the lucky few

It’s Pebble Beach Concours week, and you know what that means: high-end automakers showing new exotic machinery. Kicking things off is the Aston Martin DBR22. Aston calls it a concept, but that’s more of a stretch than Honda with its “prototype” car reveals. The company has said it will build some. The exact number hasn’t been given, but don’t expect many. The company highlighted a couple of its previous special models such as the Vulcan and V600, each of which were made in numbers below 30 units.

The car is more specifically from Aston’s “bespoke” division, Q, and it’s a celebration of the division’s tenth anniversary. It takes its design inspiration from far longer ago, though. The DBR22’s dramatic curves, lack of a windshield and towering cowls are all based on the company’s 1950s race cars, particularly the DB3S and DBR1 (which already inspired another low-production Aston). The grille is even based on the latter’s. The entire exterior is unique to the DBR22, down to the headlights and full-width tail light bar. It’s all made of carbon fiber, too. The interior is also unique with leather wrapping most surfaces including the carbon seats. And being a product of the Q division, the handful of buyers will be able to customize pretty much every facet of the exterior and interior to their preferences.

No matter how an individual’s DBR22 looks, they should be the same under the skin. Aston’s twin-turbo 5.2-liter V8 sits below the vented hood and makes 705 horsepower and 555 pound-feet of torque. It sends power through an eight-speed automatic transmission to the rear wheels. Top speed is 198 mph, and it will hit 60 mph in 3.4 seconds. No mention was made of what platform the DBR22 is built on, but it likely shares similarities with the DB11 and DBS. It boasts upgrades, though, such as shear panels front and rear for greater rigidity, plus unique tuning for the adaptive shocks. Most interesting is the rear subframe. It’s made of multiple 3D-printed aluminum parts that have been bonded together. It’s a preview of future Aston Martin production techniques and the company says it has allowed them to make a lighter subframe than normal with the same rigidity. It also lets the company more easily produce custom parts for low-production models.

Aston Martin made no mention of when it will start building customer DBR22 models or when it will take orders. We wouldn’t be surprised if the company has already lined up buyers. And if not, well, potential buyers surely know whom to contact. For everyone else, the DBR22 will be on display at the Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance this weekend.

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August 15, 2022 / Comments Off

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Hennessey Venom F5 Roadster headed to The Quail

Monterey Car Week is like a debutante ball for supercars, each high-horsepowered hopeful announcing itself to be of good age, etiquette and parenting, and looking for a worthy home. Next up for a planned introduction to the suitors who will crowd the Monterey Peninsula next week is the Hennessey Venom F5 Roadster. The debut happens August 19 at Monterey Car Week’s The Quail, A Motorsports Gathering. The teaser image gives us a clue of what to expect, filling in the blanks should tax too much of the imagination.

Behind the airier cockpit is the same 6.6-liter twin-turbo V8 apparently based on GM’s LS architecture. With a redline at 8,000 rpm, the mill nicknamed “Fury” will spin out 1,542 horsepower and 1,193 pound-feet of torque on regular premium gas, 1,817 hp when given E85 to drink. Those prodigious mechanical facts are shunted through a seven-speed automated manual transmission to the rear wheels only. In the coupe, that results in accelerating acceleration up to 124 miles per hour; it takes 2.6-seconds to get to 62 mph, 4.7 seconds to hit 124 mph. Assuming enough runway and courage, 15.5 ticks of the second hand can see a driver to 250 mph. Hennessey claims a 311-mph practical top speed for the hardtop and a theoretical 328-mph terminal velocity, but so far as we know, prototypes have “only” touched 271.6 mph to now.

The Texas car creators began delivering the Venom F5 coupe late last year, the entire run of 24 examples already sold. According to Top Gear and Autocar, the Roadster will field a more populous run of 30 units, around seven of which are claimed at a rumored price of $2.75 million apiece. If that’s true, shoppers who like their hair mussed the natural way are paying a $1.15 million premium over the Venom F5 coupe’s price to have that done. We’ll get all the details from the source next week. Also, with a high-downforce version of the F5 supposedly planned after the Roadster, there’s probably a dais at next year’s Quail already reserved.

August 10, 2022 / Comments Off

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First Bizzarrini 5300 GT Corsa Continuation reclaims the road

Consider the legendary cars gifted to the world because of people trying to get revenge on Enzo Ferrari. The Ford GT40? Revenge after a falling out with Enzo. The founding of Lamborghini? Ditto. The Monteverdi 375S? Ditto. The Bizzarrini 5300 GT Strada and 5300 GT Corsa? Ditto. That’s four, which isn’t all of them. Italian engineer Giotto Bizzarrini has the distinction of making this list twice. An in-house coup led to Enzo firing a number of key personnel, Bizzarrini included. Where did the engineer who’d worked on Ferrari icons like the 250 GTO and the Breadvan go? To Lamborghini to help develop the 3.5-liter V12 in Ferruccio’s first car, the 350 GT. Then Bizzarrini set up his own shop, designing the 5300 GT Strada for the road and the 5300 GT Corsa to beat Ferrari at Le Mans.

The overall win proved elusive, but the 5300 GT won the Over 5.0-Liter class in its first-ever attempt at Le Mans, finishing ninth overall. If that sounds lackluster, remember that the entire might of the Ford Motor Company couldn’t get the GT40 to the finish line in that car’s first two years competing at Le Mans in 1964 and 1965, representing nine DNFs.

As is the thing to do nowadays, a group of monied-up enthusiasts resurrected the Bizzarrini name in 2020 in the UK and committed to building 24 continuation examples of the 5300 GT Corsa that triumphed in 1965. The outfit finished the first prototype for testing in April of this year, delivering the first customer example this month. As was done with the original Lamborghini Countach prototype, engineers tracked down figures who’d worked on the original, designed the continuation using original blueprints, and sourced materials and components from original suppliers. The changes were made either to employ better technology in the spirit of the original, or for safety. So instead of the glass fiber body of the 1965 car, the modern versions get single-piece carbon fiber bodywork over a steel tube frame. And instead of a fuel bladder running through the door sills, an FIA-approved 95-liter fuel cell was designed to fit behind in voids around the cockpit.

The result is smashing. When companies designing new sports cars say they want to channel the spirit of the 1960s, this is what they’re after.

Each example comes drenched in Rosso Corsa Bizzarrini 222 red, accented with a white roundel. Under that lengthy hood lives a 5.3-liter V8 breathing through four twin-barrel Weber carbs to pump out more than 400 horsepower. In a car that weighs about 2,700 pounds, that’ll do for giddy-up. Although the car has been built for track duty, the company says clients can get a road-legal version if they prefer.

The 5300 GT Corsa continuation is meant to herald the overall continuation of the brand as well. It’s expected that all 24 versions will be delivered by next year, a company exec saying that now “we are refining initial engineering and design proposals for our modern supercar.”

August 10, 2022 / Comments Off

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Bentley Batur is the next Mulliner creation after the Bacalar

Bentley’s Mulliner personalization division launched the Balacar Speedster in 2020 — named after Laguna Bacalar in Mexico’s Quintana Roo state — and sold the limited run of 12 examples almost immediately at about $2 million per. With just four Bacalars remaining to be delivered to customers, and since the first rule of having a hit is having a follow-up ready, it’s no wonder that Mulliner will introduce its next small-batch, bespoke car in 10 days: At 8 p.m. Pacific time on Saturday, August 20, during Monterey Car Week, the Crewe automaker will unveil the Batur.

Our invitation to exhilaration. This is where finely-honed bespoke craftsmanship and next-generation design meet. The #Bentley #Mulliner #Batur. 04:00 BST, 21.08.2022 pic.twitter.com/g0kV5K2ffJ

— Bentley Motors (@BentleyMotors) August 9, 2022

We know a couple of things about the Batur. It’s not clear what vehicle the model is based on, but we’re told it will be a “hand-built grand touring Bentley.” We’re going to guess this means the Flying Spur chassis gets the nod, because the next thing we know about the Batur is it “showcases themes and forms that will define Bentley’s future range of Battery Electric Vehicles.” Bentley’s first EV is anticipated to be a high-riding sedan sitting on Volkswagen’s SSP battery-electric platform, the even more luxurious follow-up to the Audi Artemis electric sedan that will introduce upscale versions of the SSP architecture. The short video shows a very Bentley diamond grille laid in with burnt orange accents.

The last thing we know about the Batur is that it’s named after another body of water, this time Lake Batur in Kintamani, on the island of Bali in Indonesia.

There looks to be quite a span between the Batur’s EV-forward design and the first Bentley EV. A report out of Germany in July said the VW Group continues to struggle with software for the swarm of battery-electric product the brand wants by 2030, pushing launches back potentially by years — issues that cost former VW Group CEO Herbert Diess his job. Audi’s retail version of the Grandsphere concept might not show until 2027 instead of 2024, and the first Bentley EV that was due in 2025 might face a similar delay.

August 10, 2022 / Comments Off

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Aston Martin bringing two surprises to Pebble Beach

Aston Martin has at least three treats planned for its “strongest-ever presence” at this month’s Pebble Beach shindig. Two are surprises, including a “very special, ultra-exclusive” vehicle that will celebrate the first decade of the company’s Q by Aston Martin personalization service. The department that turns individual taste into automotive reality has done something said to “encapsulate the brand’s winning track bloodline, with a nod to success at the 24 Hours of Le Mans.” We don’t know what the model will be based on. Some muse it could be another limited-run special like the V12 Speedster DBR1. The cynic in us won’t be surprised to find a DBX with special colorways, leather embossing and checkered flag motifs resting on a northern California plinth.

The second surprise is a “high performance model” — as if Aston Martin makes anything else — that will go into series production, expected to be the V12 Vantage Roadster. The coupe dropped in March, a wild sendoff to the littlest 12-cylinder, front-engine sports car in the company’s lineup and the last Vantage to get the twin-turbo 5.2-liter V12. The note about series production wouldn’t mean unlimited production, though. There will be only 333 examples of the V12 Vantage, Roadster numbers could be even further restricted. Whatever it is, this one’s going to be revealed on Friday, August 19 at the English maker’s private Aston Martin Club 1913 that’s been relocated to provide a better view of the lawn during the Concours.

The final goody is an update on the progress of the Valhalla, the mid-engined hybrid supercar with a 4.0-liter twin-turbo V8 and three electric motors producing 937 hp and 738 lb-ft. We hear there will be a mockup of the revised interior that potential buyers will be able to sit in, experiencing the driver-focused, F1-like seating arrangements. Assuming nothing has changed since the Valhalla prototype exterior made its U.S. debut at last year’s Pebble Beach, the coupe will be limited to 999 examples, first deliveries planned for just two years from now.

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August 5, 2022 / Comments Off

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Rimac Nevera gets EPA and CARB certification

The Rimac Nevera has got its visas to come to the U.S. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the California Air Resources Board certified the battery-electric hypercar from the newly minted Bugatti Rimac corporation for use on American roads, automaker CEO Mate Rimac posting the papwerwork on his Facebook page. The CARB paperwork shows the Croatian coupe with 287.28 miles on a charge, slightly down on the 342 miles of range the Nevera makes on the European WLTP cycle. Among the reputable electric hypercars we know of right now, Rimac’s range figures beat all thanks to the Nevera’s 130-kilowatt-hour gross battery. The Aspark Owl makes do with 69 kWh, the Lotus Evija packs 70 kWh, the Pininfarina Battista has a 120-kWh pack.

There are a number of reasons we’d love to sample the Nevera, beyond its specs and the company founder’s impressive mix of nous and enthusiasm. One is to experience real-world range of this particular electric hypercar, which Mate says “makes the highest use of regenerative braking of any other car on the market now.” When regeneration isn’t enough, considering the 258-mph top speed thanks to 1,914 horsepower and 1,741 pound-feet of torque, six-piston Brembos clamp 15.3-inch carbon-ceramic discs. Another is the “AI driving coach,” a software-driven mode to help a driver improve lap times on the track thanks to “clear and precise visual guidance” about the racing line, as well as braking and acceleration points.

Mate also said that Production Car #002 is undergoing pre-delivery testing around the company’s base in Zagreb, Croatia now. We take that to mean the first production model is already in customer hands, usually a signal that public sightings are headed for social media. However, based on the few Rimac Ones photographed in the wild, the owner group seems to be a discreet bunch. Bugatti Rimac will manufacture 150 Neveras total at €2 million apiece ($2.1M U.S.), some tiny sliver of that cleared to pass Customs in the U.S. We suppose they’re headed to climate controlled garages where they’ll be parked next to a Rimac One.

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July 11, 2022 / Comments Off

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Lamborghini supercar prototype shows angry face in spy photos

Lamborghini made it clear last year that it’s working on a new supercar to replace the V12-powered Aventador. And the car shown above is definitely a new Lamborghini of some sort. However, we don’t think this is the Aventador replacement. Instead, we suspect this is another limited-run Aventador-based special model.

The key tipoff is the greenhouse. All the glass looks just like the pieces found on the Aventador, the Countach, the Sían and plenty of other special Aventador models. Similarly, the proportions of the car match those models, too. And Lamborghini has said that its full Aventador replacement will be a completely new car with a completely new powertrain. So nothing leftover from its predecessor.

There are of course styling features not shared with other Aventador-based cars, so it will still probably be a unique model. The front end has particularly angry eyebrows over the lights, and they appear to intersect with the lower grille openings. Interesting aerodynamic panels behind the windows also show up. The rear is the most distinct with high-mounted quad-exit exhaust right in line with slim taillights. Note, the “lights” lower in the rear are just printed on the camouflage.

This prototype also tips us off to the powertrain. On the outside are high-voltage warning stickers. And since it seems to be a special Aventador-based model, we bet it’s using the same hybrid V12 used in the Countach and Sían. Output should be around 803 horsepower, maybe a little more from the naturally aspirated V12 and a small electric motor powered by a supercapacitor.

We’re expecting the car will be revealed within a year, since it looks pretty far along in development, and it’s based on a car whose days are numbered. We don’t have a name yet, but Lamborghini recently trademarked the name Revuelto, which could be used on this model, or on that planned Aventador replacement.

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July 5, 2022 / Comments Off

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Red Bull RB17 to be a $6.1M, 1,250-hp track hypercar due in 2025

Following the Mercedes-AMG Project One and the Delage D12, the burgeoning era of Formula 1 cars for the street has another entrant. Red Bull Advanced Technologies (RBAT) and head designer for the Oracle Red Bull Racing F1 team Adrian Newey have decided to pick up where they left off with the Aston Martin Valkyrie, announcing the Red Bull RB17. A summary of the design philosophy is: “All the tricks we’ve learned in F1,” “Adrian’s greatest hits,” a combination of the “performance-enhancing technologies that have subsequently been banned in F1.” That means carbon tub, active suspension, side skirts, ground effects tunnels, blown diffuser, hybrid energy recovery system, and around 1,250 horsepower — everything but the fan, really. It also means a limited production run at an F1 price: 50 examples costing £5,000,000 each ($6.1M U.S.).

Here’s the background. In 2016, when Aston Martin was the primary sponsor of the Red Bull F1 team, both parties announced development of the AM-RB 001, which would become the almost-no-holds-barred Valkyrie road car and no-holds-barred Valkyrie AMR Pro track car. In 2020, two years after the Valkyrie was meant to be delivered to customers, Lawrence Stroll’s takeover of Aston Martin had the carmaker cozying up to new partner Mercedes on the road and the track, securing Mercedes engines for passenger cars and the Aston Martin F1 team. Aston Martin and Red Bull separated in the F1 paddock, and although both said they were committed to finishing the Valkyrie, eventually Aston Martin took charge of completing the project.

Six months before the first Valkyries were delivered to customers at the end of last year, Newey was already saying of RBAT, “Yes, absolutely, we would like to do another vehicle. Exactly what that is and what it’s targeted at is subject to debate.” While it could be that the Valkyrie AMR Pro didn’t go as far as Newey wanted, it’s definitely true that the eight-year-old technology arm RBAT was looking for more commercial outlets for its knowledge. Red Bull team principal and CEO Christian Horner said that with the sport’s current budget cap, “If you want to retain resources, there have to be projects that can justify their existence.”

Enter the RB17 to fill all the gaps. The name is a bit of inside baseball; when F1 made rule changes to save money in 2020 during the pandemic, teams used mainly carryover chassis’ in 2021. Red Bull’s naming convention began in 2005 with the RB1, representing the constructor’s first year in the sport. The team’s 2020 car was the RB16, this year’s car is the RB18, the 2021 car should have been the RB17. But because the 2021 car was so similar to the 2020 car, RB called it the RB16B. That left RB17 lurking in limbo like the 13th floor. Here is the alphanumeric’s escape hatch from the ghost world.

All we have are snippets for the moment about a track car said to be in “advanced stages” and due in 2025. Power will come from a twin-turbo V8 of undisclosed displacement, working with that mild hybrid system to develop 1,250 hp. Both are expected to be built by an unnamed third party to RBAT’s specs. This is speculation, but F1’s rumormill has Porsche already paired with Red Bull come 2026, and Porsche is coincidentally running a hybrid twin-turbo V8 in its 963 LMDh car. Newey said the hybrid system won’t just be about filling in the ICE power troughs, as the energy recovery system “also helps in other areas, which I don’t really want to go into at the moment.” Almost everything else about the car will be developed and built in-house at a rate of 15 RB17s per year, meaning a production run of more than four years. The purchase price — which is an estimate, by the way — will also pay for service and maintenance, access to Red Bull simulators, and on-track instruction.

Newey said the only limits will be physics, the need to use standardized tires, and the need to fit two people, “at least one being quite tall.” Otherwise, “it’s effectively a no-rules car” that worships the god of lap times, “which is ultimately all that counts.”

Oh, well, there is one other thing that counts, as Horner said: “It will sound fantastic, like a track car should.”

June 30, 2022 / Comments Off

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This one-off Ferrari Enzo is someone’s white whale

Forgive this blasphemy, but the best color for Ferraris is not red. Rosso Corsa might be the national racing color of Italy but, frankly, these days Mazda has a better red. Drowning in a crimson tide of red ‘Rraris at a car show gets old after a while, and being smothered by a Ferrari store’s retina-searing red is akin to what Jonah suffered while stuck in the belly of a whale.

There are so many better hues for a Ferrari. Verde Pino on a 250 Lusso, Blu Tour de France on a Daytona. And Bianco Avus, a.k.a. white, on an Enzo. That last one happens to be up for auction at R.M. Sotheby’s in Ontario, Canada next week. It’s also quite likely a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to own a white Enzo, because of all the 400 or so that came out of Maranello, only one was only one finished in Bianco Avus.

The auction lists it as THE white Enzo, but that is actually a bit misleading. According to records it is indeed the sole Bianco Avus specimen of the 651-horsepower supercar. To be completely accurate, though, there is another white Enzo out there. That one is finished in a pearl white called Bianco Fuji and located, appropriately, in Japan.

None of that takes away from the fact that the car for sale is a rare and stunning specimen. It was designed as a flagship to link Ferrari road cars with its Formula 1 racers, which finally reclaimed the championship in 2000 after a 20-year absence in the winner’s circle. Its carbon fiber bodywork, carbon-ceramic brakes, and high-revving V12 were derived from Scuderia Ferrari’s warhorses. Simply called Enzo, it was named to honor the prancing horse firm’s founder, and production coincided with Ferrari’s five-year F1 winning streak from 2000-04.

The Bianco Avus Enzo is one of 20 “extracampionario” cars painted in a color from the off-menu palette. For that privilege, it is said customers would have had to purchase both of the Enzo’s immediate predecessors, the F40 and F50.

Our argument for a white Enzo is based on the theory that if you’re already driving a shouty supercar, there’s no need to also slather it in a shouty color. Some of us enjoy the car for what it is, without all the attention that a bright red sports car would attract. Unique design elements like the floating red taillights would get lost in red as well.

In any case, at least one unnamed German-Swiss billionaire agrees. The car was finished on May 22, 2003 and sold to that billionaire in Switzerland where it was displayed in the window of a store in Matran, before changing ownership to a collector in Hong Kong in 2011. According to the auction, it was unregistered during its time there because LHD cars aren’t road legal, and is now under temporary import to Canada where it will be presented at auction June 29-30.

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June 26, 2022 / Comments Off

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Glickenhaus SCG004CS passes last hurdle, ready for deliveries

After five years of gestation, development, and crash tests for global homologation, Scuderia Cameron Glickenhaus is ready to begin customer deliveries of the 004CS this month. Conceived and developed as a GT3 racer that was then turned into a road car, the New England car company worked with Italy’s Podium Advanced Technologies honing the race version to do well at the Nurburgring. SCG namesake James Glickenhaus took the final ESC calibration prototype to the Concorso d’Eleganza Villa d’Este and talked to Road & Track about what’s ahead. In the immediate future, the Danbury, Connecticut factory expects to have 25 hand-built cars in customer hands by the end of the year, the three-trim lineup starting at $483,000.

There’s the standard road-legal 004S — the only one that can be had with a six-speed manual transmission, the road-and-track 004CS, and the track-only 004C. The first two are powered by a supercharged GM 6.2-liter V8 in 650- or 750-horse tune. The track car drops the supercharger, taking it down to 520 hp in endurance racing trim, but that can be upped to 600 horses if the sanctioning body allows. SCG hasn’t disturbed the small block with insanely complicated engineering, R&T summarizing the SCG philosophy in a way that would make any DIY enthusiast weep: “Glickenhaus believes the moment you’re no longer able to get a supercharged Chevy small-block fixed at the local mechanic, the world as we know it would have ended anyway, and your car wouldn’t matter much.”

The other side of that garagiste credo is hardcore racing performance. Despite a software bug, crashes, and errant holes in some parts, the SCG004C finished last weekend’s Nürburgring 24 Hours race in 12th place overall — and first in its class. The four drivers finished just a lap down on the race-winning Audi Sport Team Phoenix R8 LMS GT3 Evo, same as every runner from seventh to 14th, keeping company with much bigger teams like Falken Motorsports with their Porsche 911 GT3R and Mercedes-AMG Team Bilstein in an AMG GT3.

Despite the team’s entry in the World Endurance Championship, SCG might opt to narrow its focus to the ‘Ring event and Baja, where its off-roaders romp. James Glickenhaus is dubious about how much return on investment the WEC provides, where the disparity between top teams and smaller entries is much larger. “The only question is what we’re going to do going forward with the WEC and what we’re going to do going forward with our hydrogen pickup truck,” he said, in reference to the Baja Boot. “It’s dependent on the capital raise we are in the process of trying to finalize.”

June 3, 2022 / Comments Off

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Gordon Murray Automotive torture tests the T.50 hypercar

Prepping the Gordon Murray Automotive T.50 for customer deliveries around the world means testing its systems and safety akin to that of a regular production car. For GMA, this mean taking validation prototype XP1 to Automotive Testing Papenburg (ATP) in Germany for a series of torture tests that would be comical if they weren’t so brutal on a real live $2.9 million coupe. As narrator Dario Franchitti explains, many of the tests are to ensure that the airbag deployment systems know how to tell one extreme circumstance from another, so the bag deploys in a crash instead of when the T.50 is launched into a gravel pile. Yep, that’s real. The T.50 was run at nearly 20 miles an hour into — and then up — a seven-foot pile of rocks. We have no idea what the test is meant to simulate but the T.50 aced it, beaching itself over the crest, its airbag un-deployed.

The other challenges drew a more direct line to real-world driving. There’s a 37-mph dash over Belgian cobblestones and another at the same speed over a speed bump, a simulated pothole strike for “anyone who has the misfortune of driving on UK roads,” and a mad dash over a fake railway crossing. The ramp test sends the 2,173-pound, 654-hp coupe flying off a 10-inch ramp at 43 miles per hour. The steel beam test simulates plowing the wheel face into a curb, this experiment breaking a tie rod and damaging a tire. Then there’s washboard at nearly 50 miles per hour, and finally, plowing into a “simulated wild boar” that weighs 180 pounds.

The man behind the machine clearly hasn’t forgotten how to design fast cars that protect their drivers. If Murray had given the T.50 a bit more ground clearance, it might make a decent bug-out ride for anyone who knows how to travel really light.

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June 2, 2022 / Comments Off

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Mercedes-AMG One finally here with 1,049 hp of awesome

Dieter Zetsche and Lewis Hamilton presided over the debut of what was then called the Mercedes-AMG Project One at the 2017 Frankfurt Motor Show. Back then, “the hottest and coolest car” Mercedes-AMG had ever attempted was going to be released in 2019. Then the 11,000-rpm, 1.6-liter V6 engine and its dislike for low-speed urban driving met increasingly strict emissions regulations, and it took the carmaker’s engineering might five years to overcome that hurdle and others. Five years on, the delay provided AMG the chance to launch what is now the Mercedes-AMG One on the 55th anniversary of AMG’s first building, the foundation stone for which was laid on June 1, 1967.

Not since the McLaren F1 have we seen a road car work so hard to adhere to Formula 1 principles, and in fact, the AMG One (and the Aston Martin Valkyrie) go further. Much has changed since the show car — Zetsche and Moers are no longer Mercedes execs, for instance — but not the vital hardpoints. The root is the E Performance powertrain, which is that 1.6-liter V6 boosted by two turbochargers. The 121-hp MGU-H turbo works off exhaust gasses but gets help spinning up to speed with an electric motor. The 161-hp MGU-K turbo is connected to the crankshaft via a spur gear. There’s 1,049 system horsepower. AMG declined to peg a torque figure, saying, “Specification not possible due to complex drive train.” AMG also declined to list an actual rev limit; the engine’s been designed to spin to 11,000 rpm, but the engineers decided “for longer durability and use of commercial super plus petrol, [the engine] deliberately stays below the F1 rev limit.” Engine output is marked as 566 horsepower at 9,000 rpm, so owners won’t be walled off far away from the physical limits.

Output runs through a new seven-speed manual transmission with shift rods and four carbon clutches instead of the eight-speed manual in the Frankfurt show car. The fully locking differential is integrated into the gearbox.

Two more motors each contribute 161 hp to drive the front wheels, providing fully-variable all-wheel drive and torque vectoring. They also provide the car a pure-electric range of 11.2 miles thanks to an 8.4-kWh liquid-cooled lithium battery that mimics the unit from the Mercedes-AMG Petronas Formula 1 car, but with more cells. This being a PHEV, the charge port is on the rear left of the car, opposite the fuel filler cap for the 14.5-gallon tank.

Getting access to the ICE power means pressing the red start button between the front seats. That activates the electric motors immediately. The driver must then wait for the exhaust aftertreatment subsystem to reach operating temperature. The subsystem consists of four metal catalytic converters, two ceramic catalytic converters, and two gasoline particulate filters, and it was the circuit that pushed engineers to their limits.

Once the engine’s given the okay to commence combustion, and given enough road, the 3,737-pound AMG One gets to 62 miles per hour in 2.9 seconds, 124 mph in seven seconds, 186 mph in 15.6 seconds. Maximum velocity is 219 mph.

There are six driving modes. Race Safe is the default on startup, using the electric motors and on-demand hybrid power once the ICE kicks in. EV mode does just what one would expect. Individual combines the driver’s personal preferences. Race keeps the 1.6-liter running constantly so as to keep the battery charged. Race Plus, only available on the track, lowers the AMG One a little more than an inch and tightens the adaptive suspension. A second track-only mode called Strat 2 is equivalent to qualifying setup, optimizing the active aero and firming up the suspension further. That active aero allows a further three settings depending on mode, either Highway, Track, or Race DRS. ABS and a three-mode ESP come standard, for drivers who favor prudence when finding the limit.

As standard, the package sits on 10-spoke, 19-inch forged aluminum center-lock wheels in front, 20-inchers in back. They can be swapped for nine-spoke forged magnesium center-lock wheels. Both sets are hidden behind carbon covers, and themselves hide a carbon-ceramic braking system with six-piston fixed calipers in front, four-piston clamps in back. Rubber stock is a quartet of specially developed Michelin Pilot Sport Cup 2Rs.

Dimensions are 15.6 feet long, 6.6 feet wide, and a hair over four feet tall. In the middle of all that is a cockpit built for two people and not much more. The seats are built into the monocoque, their backs able to recline at either 25 or 30 degrees, and an electrically adjustable steering wheel and 11-position pedal box are used to find a comfortable position. Mod-cons like air conditioning, power windows, and mini-USB ports are the most occupants will get for luxury. Luggage capacity is limited to the “high quality stowage compartment” atop the center tunnel.

The announced production run of 275 units is sold out at $2.75 million per. The patient owners and the public get the first glimpse of the coupe driven hard at this month’s Goodwood Festival of Speed. AMG’s latest will be winding its way through the horde of BMW M cars celebrating M’s 50th anniversary. Customer deliveries are expected to begin sometime after that, before the year is out.

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June 1, 2022 / Comments Off

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Delage D12 prototype coming to tour the U.S. this summer

We’re sure someone can count how many plans were deranged by Covid over the last two years, but that someone isn’t us. What’s important is that we know the Delage D12 was one of those kicked off the tracks for a bit, but the revived French brand is still here and says its F1 car for the road is shortly headed for production. The outfit finally has a working prototype, and it’s already been sampled by potential European buyers. The wild blue looker was meant to take an honorary lap around the Miami Grand Prix circuit during last weekend’s festivities, but we’re not sure that happened. The south Florida city is home to one of Delage’s two dealers in the U.S., Specialty Car Collection. The other is Southern California Delage in Newport Beach. The D12 runner is planned to make another trip to Monterey Car Week in August this year, the same venue where Delage pre-sold a few units in 2020.

Picking up where things left off in 2020, CEO Laurent Tapie unveiled the vehicle he wants to break the Nürburgring’s passenger car lap record. There are two D12 trims, both powered by a 7.6-liter naturally aspirated V12 developed in-house, putting out 960 horsepower and shifting through an eight-speed, single-clutch automated manual transmission. In the GT trim, the ICE gets help from a 110-hp electric motor, making a total 1,100 hp. In the track-focused Club trim, the e-motor makes just 20 horses, but the vehicle loses 200 pounds and is faster around a track than the GT. The Club’s electric motor is really just used for street driving, reversing and parking.

And yes, this is a passenger car. Two occupants sit in tandem in the cockpit, the bubble canopy opening like that of a fighter jet — two traits that make the Delage D12 similar to the Czinger 21C, four if you count the carbon fiber body panels and alliteration. Tapie says the D12 separates itself from all other road cars by having a pushrod suspension. French engineer Mauro Biancchi is said to hold the patent on the pushrod design, and gave his blessing to Tapie’s team. When we get a chance to speak to Tapie, we’ll ask how his pushrod design is different than the pushrod setup Lamborghini has used in the Aventador for a decade.

This fall, the two-seater enters a production run of just 30 examples, 10 for the U.S., the remainder for the rest of the world. First deliveries are scheduled for early 2023, and buyers will get the chance to sign up for driving lessons from Delage’s development driver, ex-F1 Driver’s World Champion Jacques Villeneuve. All it will take is €2 million ($2.1M U.S.) for a base D12 before options, and getting on that list of 30 customers. For everyone else, check out Tapie’s lengthy interview with Maxim to know more about how he got the idea for the D12, why he insisted on a naturally aspirated V12, and why he wanted a racing driver over an engineer to tune the dynamics.

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May 11, 2022 / Comments Off

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Koenigsegg Jesko Absolut gets its first prototype

If there is a Koenigsegg that will break through the 300-mph barrier, this is it. If there is a Koenigsegg that will be the fastest car the Swedish automaker builds, this is also it. Not long after watching the bewinged Jesko Attack dash through the snow, Koenigsegg has shown that car’s brother, the wingless and ultimately refined Absolut.

Created to go as fast as possible, company boss Christian von Koenigsegg said: “We spent thousands of hours in CFD calculations. We’ve streamlined this car from not just an aerodynamic and design perspective, but also from a high-speed stability perspective. As a result, the Jesko Absolut has a phenomenally low drag of only 0.278 Cd.”

The development model is done up in Graphite Grey with Tang Orange stripes. Remind us to ask Christian one day if that color really refers to the chemical concoction relentlessly advertised to kids decades ago as the favorite beverage of astronauts.

To be fair to aerodynamicists around the world, we should clarify that it’s a “phenomenally” low drag figure on a relative scale. After all, cars looking to stretch gallons or kWhs of fuel do better; the Lucid Air claims a drag coefficient of 0.21 Cd, the current Mercedes-Benz S-Class a 0.24. But compared to other hypercars, the Koenigsegg is well ahead. Hennessey says its Venom F5 comes in with a drag coefficient of 0.39, the Bugatti Chiron Super Sport 300+ in Top Speed mode is 0.33 — 0.02 better than the standard Chiron — and SSC cites a figure of 0.279 for the Tuatara. If these numbers are accurate, Koenigsegg has claimed the hypercar aero crown from SSC by 0.001. Probably just a coincidence.

The Absolut’s internals almost entirely mimic those of the Attack, with a 5.0-liter twin-turbo V8 producing 1,600 hp and 1,107 lb-ft. Weight savings from changes like the lack of that rear wing mean the Absolut weighs 3,064 pounds compared to the Attack’s 3,131 pounds.

Koenigsegg hasn’t given a timeline for when customer units will be ready, but it shouldn’t be long. The Attack is expected to start reaching customers this quarter.

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April 25, 2022 / Comments Off

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European dealer working with Koenigsegg on a CC12 secret project

We tuned into James Walker’s latest episode on YouTube because The Supercar Blog reported there’s a special Koenigsegg on the way called the CC12. There isn’t much known about the coming coupe, just that was supposedly commissioned by a European dealer in ultraluxurious things called Carage. Upon tuning in to the 51-minute video, we discovered that Walker talks about the CC12 for maybe ten seconds (38:47) — he doesn’t even call it by the name written on the wall next to it, and the project is so secret that his host won’t say a word about it. Here’s the thing: The episode is called “The Best Garage in the World?”, and the answer might be “Hell yes.” We showed up for one car, we stayed because of all the amazing car stuff.

We’d never heard of Carage before, a dealer with showrooms in Lucerne, Switzerland and Marbella, Spain that specializes in “modern hypercars [and] unusually sporty vintage cars.” If a line could win an award for Swiss understatement, this is it. Walker tours just some of the Swiss facility, which is five floors and nearly 54,000 feet of luxury architectural space housing many millions of dollars in cars. The Koenigsegg room is designed to create Swedish vibes. The five cars parked inside it include CC8S Chassis #002, the first customer car of the first model Koenigsegg built, one of two Trevita’s with white carbon and clearcoat with diamond dust, and the Agera Prototype Chassis #077 that was not only the development vehicle for every evolution of the Agera, it was customized with a trunk.

There’s are a few rooms with Aston Martins (12:50) including James Bond’s DB10 (25:15), another with Ferraris, a modern Iso Rivolta (11:30), and the most magnificent tool and replacement parts sets we have ever seen (32:05) created for the Aston Martin DB4GT Continuation. Then there’s the garage, with the obligatory lifts and clean-room appearance. The garage also contains an indoor wash bay, because Carage washes every vehicle before working on it; there’s an exhaust vent on a rail that can be fitted to any vehicle in the garage; there are tire fitting and alignment machines in custom colors to match the garage; and a pump system to send used oil into a large containment tank beneath the garage. Plus the on-site carbon production and CNC machines. And other things. Carage is spectacular.

Back to that Koenigsegg CC12, though. It hasn’t been commissioned by Carage, it’s being built by Carage, CEO Kim Struve saying he’s working with Koenigsegg on the project, but he wants to show potential clientele what Carage can do. The form under the tarp looks like the CC8S that, earlier in the video, Struve says was bought “for a special project that’s going to be released in a year’s time.” But we can’t know if the two are related. What we do know is that Koenigsegg built just six examples of the CC8S, its name partly signifying the modular Ford V8 behind the cockpit. The re-engineered and supercharged 4.7-liter small block produced 646 horsepower and 553 pound-feet of torque. The automaker switched to CCR and CCX names after the CC8, never making a CC12. Whatever Carage is up to, we’re looking forward to it, and if the 12 in the name refers to the cylinder count, all the better.

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April 25, 2022 / Comments Off

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Koenigsegg Jesko gets its turn to throw snow

Yes, it’s a tad bizarre to be posting winter testing videos in the middle of April, the same way it’s a little strange for it to be 38 degrees in parts of the Midwest this week. We can do without the weather, but we’ll take the videos, and here’s another — a counterpoint to a vid from a week ago. Rimac provided our last trip to northern Sweden, the Croatian hypercar maker there to test the Nevera in temperatures well colder than 5 degrees Fahrenheit. Two hours east of that, turns out Swedish hypercar maker Koenigsegg was testing its Jesko in the frozen stuff. The Swedes called their video Egg Hunt for obvious reasons, but there wasn’t much of a hunt, just a guy gathering giant neon eggs in the forest until the trail leads him to the Jesko. Seems the Swedish Easter Bunny might be way cooler than ours.

What’s cool about these two videos is they ask, “How do you like your ice dancing?” With four motors producing 1,914 horsepower and 1,741 pound-feet of torque to move 4,960 pounds, and emitting a gentle whine that can be barely heard above the soundtrack? Or with a 5.0-liter twin-turbo V8 producing 1,600 hp and 1,107 lb-ft to motivate 3,130 pounds and a Battlestar Galactica wing, emitting a roar that would have had the Easter Bunny apologizing to every hibernating bear and rethinking his egg hunt strategy? Take your time deciding, there’s no wrong answer. By the way, that wing and the power figure mark this as the standard Jesko on E85. The Jesko on standard gasoline makes ‘just’ 1,200 horsepower.

The Jesko and Nevera should be finding their way to the first customers shortly. Maybe next time they both vacation in northern Sweden, they’ll go together. That would be a video.

April 19, 2022 / Comments Off

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Deus Vayanne EV hypercar reaches for 2,200 horsepower

The Deus Vayanne has touched down at the New York Auto Show. Despite a word salad press release about timelessness and infinity and symmetry and divinity, the battery-electric hypercar from an Austrian-led consortium looks like courtly but pretty standard stuff. We’re told that with “a ground clearance of 4.7 inches and useable storage space, the car integrates performance and practicality” and “truly deserves the title of master of versatility.” Hmmm. Perhaps the definition of “versatility” has changed recently.

The coupe is built on an EV platform created by Williams Advanced Engineering and Italdesign, the bodywork penned by Italdesign according to Deus’ ambitions. The front and rear grilles are abstractions of the infinity symbol. Between them is the undeniable shape of a mid-engined ICE super sports car, and since everyone’s going to pick another car or cars to compare this to, we’ll go with the silhouette of a McLaren 720S from the side. The interior checks all the hypercar boxes—sleek design, stitched leather, toggle switches, chunky shifter. It’s perfectly fine.

The wild side of the Vayanne is its target performance figures; the company wants to make this the first production EV with more than 2,200 horsepower. The Aspark Owl already touted a pony count of up to 2,012, the the Lotus Evija, Rimac C Two, and Pininfarina Battista are at or above 1,900 hp, so if Deus succeeds, it will put daylight between itself and the competition. Combined with 1,475 pound-feet of torque, Deus says it expects a teleport from zero to 62 miles per hour in under 1.99 seconds and a top speed beyond 248 miles per hour. Two vital caveats here: Deus didn’t mention any powertrain specs, and all of these stats and figures are derived from computer simulations.

We’re told there will be just 99 Vayannes produced, the first one reaching customers in 2025 for an as-yet-undisclosed price. However, the version on display in New York at the moment is still a “production-oriented concept,” so anyone reaching for their wallet might want to hold off to see what changes may come in the next three years. Until then, we’re going to go find a dictionary and look up some words that start with “V.”

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April 14, 2022 / Comments Off

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Deus Automobiles’ Vayanne electric hypercar headed to NYC

It feels a smidge heretical to say, “Oh man, another electric hypercar. From what country this time? (Sigh…)” But here we are, and here’s another electric hypercar hailing from Vienna, Austria — a first-time national entry in the segment that will offer more choice above six figures than there are cars costing less than $20,000 in the States. The company is called Deus Automobiles, not to be confused with the Australian motorcycle and cafe brand. In this case, the name is because it wants customers to anticipate “divinity,” and the first of its planned “ultra-limited” and “timeless” products is called the Vayanne, pronounced vy-ahn. Deus claims it is “an exclusive brand born from the unique technical partnership with Italdesign and Williams Advanced Engineering, ready to shape the future of 100% electric and luxury hypercars.”

We don’t know what that means, but we’ll see the first fruits at the New York Auto Show next month. Based on the 13-second video and a few teaser shots, the Vayanne bears quite a few traits one would expect of a mid-engined super sports car, like a trio of mesh-filled intakes in front, mesh-filled rear fender intakes, and a rear fascia with even more mesh. The photo gallery below includes three shots from Deus, two of which have been brightened for a better view of the details. Our guess is that the intakes mainly serve aero purposes, especially in front; the hood looks like little more than a vent to usher that front intake air over the body in a clean sweep.

We also don’t know who’s behind Deus, but other outlets have reported that Deus was “part of a group of businesses with more than 30 years success in industries ranging from publishing to packaging.” This would make sense, as the Vayanne looks like a packaging exercise. A year ago, Williams Advanced Engineering announced a modular electric vehicle platform called EVX it created with Italdesign to be a “complete, high-performance EV solution.” According to WAE, after buying the platform, it “is ready for customization by the Italdesign styling team who will shape the final vehicle to match the brand’s requirements in terms of marketing positioning, design direction etc.”

The EVX architecture can fit batteries of 104, 120, or 160 kWh and power motors of up to 1,341 horsepower, or a round 1,000 kilowatts. We expect to find out which battery has gone underneath the Vayanne’s bodywork and how much power comes on tap when the debut takes place at 1 p.m. EDT April 13.

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March 29, 2022 / Comments Off

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Mercedes-AMG GT Track Series is basically a 778-hp race car

Whenever we think we’ve seen the most hardcore Mercedes-AMG GT, the German automaker one-ups itself. That’s the case with the GT Track Series. It’s a track-only special edition that’s lighter, more powerful and more outrageous than the Black Series that preceded it.

The seriousness is pretty obvious from the outside. It has even more aggressive splitters and wings than before, much of which is adjustable either for more downforce or less drag. Carbon fiber makes up much of the body including the hood, fenders, side skirts, trunk lid and rear bumper.

On top of that, the car has been stripped as bare as possible, all to get the weight down to 3,086 pounds. There are hardly any comfort items to speak of in the single-seat cabin save for air conditioning, and the optional ventilated helmet and seat system as well as a drink system. In place of all that is a custom racing wheel, carbon fiber seat, five-point harness, roll cage, multifunction instrument screen, safety nets, excape hatch and a fire suppression system, all meeting FIA standards.

The carbon-intensive body hides the most powerful version of the Mercedes-AMG twin-turbo V8 yet. Like the Black Series, it features a flat-plane crankshaft, but it has “motorsports” injectors and a new tune that brings output up to 778 horsepower and 627 pound-feet of torque. Power goes down a carbon fiber torque tube to the six-speed sequential transaxle at the back.

The suspension and brakes are motorsport-quality, too. It features four-way adjustable suspension with adjustment for rebound, damping and ride height. The anti-roll bars are adjustable, too. The brakes use steel rotors measuring 15.4 inches up front, and 14 inches at the back. The front calipers have six pistons while the rears have four. It all rides on 18-inch forged wheels with tires that measure 325-mm wide. Additionally, brake bias, traction control and ABS are all adjustable.

Mercedes is only building 55 examples of the Track Series, as it’s a celebration of AMG’s 55th anniversary. Each car starts at 369,000 euros, or about $406,000. In addition to the car, owners will receive training on how to use the car, along with a support line, and the availability of an engineer for track events for help setting up and running the car.

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March 23, 2022 / Comments Off

391

Aston Martin V12 Vantage revealed as the last of the line

The Aston Martin V12 Vantage is here, and it’s a wild sendoff to the littlest 12-cylinder, front-engine sports car in the company’s lineup. Yes, this will be the last Vantage to get the twin-turbo 5.2-liter V12. As such, it’s going to be produced in very limited numbers with a whole bunch of special features to make the most of the beefy engine under the hood.

That V12 is a familiar unit, as it has also appeared in DB11 and DBS variants, as well as the Vantage-based V12 Speedster. The engine is tuned to the V12 Speedster’s specifications with 690 horsepower and 555 pound-feet of torque, the latter of which is available from between 1,800 to 6,000 rpm. It’s paired to an eight-speed ZF automatic transmission in the middle and a mechanical limited-slip differential at the rear. Aston says the powertrain will propel the V12 Vantage to 60 mph in 3.4 seconds on the way to a 200 mph top speed.

Surrounding the engine is a thoroughly revised body. It’s about 1.6 inches wider overall to accommodate the wider track and fat tires (275-mm front and 315-mm rear). The front grille is 25% larger than on a normal Vantage to provide more cooling, and the hood has a scalloped vent for the same reason. Many of the body components are made of carbon fiber for weight savings including the bumpers, side skirts, fenders, hood and trunk lid. Adding both visual excitement and additional downforce are the front splitter, side skirts, rear diffuser and wing. They provide 450 pounds of downforce at top speed. If a buyer finds the wing to be a bit much, though, it can be deleted, though downforce would be reduced. The V12 Vantage also gets a special center-exit exhaust that weighs nearly 16 pounds less than the standard Vantage exhaust.

Naturally, the chassis gets upgrades to handle the V12 Vantage’s power. In addition to being wider, the V12 Vantage’s chassis is stiffer thanks to added sheer panels, a rear shock tower brace and fuel tank bracing. The adaptive suspension features stiffer springs are stiffer, as are various bushings and the front anti-roll bar. The rear anti-roll bar is actually softer, though. Carbon ceramic brakes are standard with six-piston front calipers and 4-piston rear calipers.

On the inside, the V12 Vantage is pretty similar to a regular model, but it gets standard Sports Plus Seats with semi-aniline leather with quilted stitching and perforations. Lightweight carbon fiber seats are also available, and Aston Martin’s Q division offers all kinds of special ways to personalize a model for extra fees both inside and out from color anodized knobs to custom graphics and tinted carbon fiber.

Aston is only building 333 examples of the V12 Vantage, and that’s for the whole world. Pricing hasn’t been announced, but it also doesn’t matter much, as every example is spoken for. Production begins this year, and deliveries will start in the second quarter of next year

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March 16, 2022 / Comments Off

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