Luxury cars

Bugatti, Koenigsegg, Maybach top 2011 most expensive cars

Forbes loves to report on all things expensive, particularly cars. The business publication’s online version just published its list of the most expensive cars for 2011, the Bugatti Veyron to the Rolls Royce Phantom. The publication wrote in its introduction: “These cars have the über-engineered carbon fiber bodies, obscene amounts of horsepower and excessive creature comforts (silver champagne flutes and lambswool carpeting, anyone?) that draw big price tags.” “To compile our list of the most expensive cars going on sale next year, we scoured price lists from well-known manufacturers like Bugatti, Rolls-Royce and Maybach, and from lesser-known companies like Saleen and SSC. Some expected entrants (Aston Martin, Spyker, McLaren) didn’t quite have the stuff to make our list. Others, like

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Bugatti debuts online design your own Veyron configurator

Bugatti, the elite Italian manufacturer of the Veyron 16.4 and its exclusive siblings, has launched a new online configurator that allows hobbyists and high-rollers the opportunity to design their own cars. Available for the standard Veyron and open top Grand Sport models, the configurator option has one downside — it’s addictive. To configure a Bugatti, visit the web site: www.bugatti.com. James RaiaA sports, travel and business journalist for more than 45 years, James has written the new car review column The Weekly Driver since 2004. In addition to founding this site in 2004, James writes a Sunday automotive column for The San Jose Mercury and East Bay Times in Walnut Creek, Calif., and monthly auto review and wellness columns for Gulfshore

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Ferrari tops list of most expensive car auction buys in 2010

The most coveted vintage cars sold at auction in 2010 didn’t command the sky-high, record-setting prices of last year. But there were still collectors’ stunning rare purchases this year — Aston Martin to Talbot, BMW to Mercerdes Benz. Six of the most expensive cars sold at auction during 2010 occurred during Monterey Auto Week, the now nearly two-week festival of new and vintage cars scattered throughout the Monterey Peninsula. The most expensive auctioned car in 2010 was a 1959 Ferrari 250 GT LWB California Spider Competizione. It sold for $7.26 million at the Gooding & Co. auction at Pebble Beach in August. According to the web site, Luxist.com, the Ferrari 250: “Is the only LWB California to feature an alloy

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Audi A8, 2011 review

The 2011 Audi A8 all-wheel-drive sedan has imposing styling, a fabulous interior and high-tech features that can be easily utilized if you spend some time studying them. This fourth-generation A8 — Audi’s flagship car — has a revised front end but looks basically unchanged. It continues to have the automaker’s nearly all-aluminum body/chassis structure that few Americans ever understood or fully appreciated. It makes this four-door very rigid and lighter than most rivals. The A8 is still a big guy at approximately 4,400 pounds, due partly to its all-wheel-drive hardware, and it has a longer wheelbase and overall length. It’s also wider. The new A8 4.2 comes in standard ($78,050) or extended-wheelbase ($84,000) forms and is powered by a sophisticated

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Bugatti gets dubious honor: worst gas mileage averages

Bugatti is globally praised as among the world’s most innovative, powerful and expensive cars. But it isn’t often the renowned car gets recognition it would rather not have. In the recently released 2011 model list, the Bugatti Veyron has the lowest gas mileage average among all new vehicles tested by the Environment Protection Agency’s (EPA). The Veyron has average 8 mpg (city) and 15.5 (highway). While the Bugatti had the lowest average, several other cars known for their speed had abysmal averages. The Mercedes-Benz G55 AMG, the Bentley Continental GTC and Continental Flying Spur and the Rolls-Royce Phantom/Phantom Coupe/Drophead Coupe all have 11 mpg averages in city driving. Lowest 2011 gas mileage averages Bugatti Veyron, 16 cyl, 8.0 L, Automatic,

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Hall of Famer Reggie Jackson puts rare Ferrari up for auction

Reggie Jackson, the Hall of Fame baseball player and long-time car collector, is selling one the most unique cars in his collection, a 1973 Ferrari 365 GTB/4 Daytona Spyder. With chassis number 16835, Jackson’s car is among the rarest Ferrari models, and it will be one of the featured sale items at RM Auctions’ annual Automobiles of Arizona, Jan. 20-21, 2011 in Phoenix, Arizona. The Ferrari was also owned daredevil Evel Knievel, who died in 2007. The iconic motorcycle jumper sold the car to radio disc jockey Frankie Crocker after crashing while attempting to jump the fountains of Caesar’s Palace. Knievel’s injuries in the jump prohibited him from getting into the car. Crocker sold the original condition, Pininfarina-coachbuilt car to

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Lexus LS 460, 2010: The Weekly Driver Car Review

J.D. Power and Associates and Consumer Reports consistently praise the LS 460 for its dependability, with the 2010 model further adding to the car’s top-of-the-industry’s reputation. Unless they’ve driven or been a passenger, onlookers don’t know the powerful, smooth performance the LS 460 delivers. But the luxury sedan (my test vehicle had a finely finished black exterior) to the corner market or on the open road and people stare with a look of envy. It didn’t matter where I drove the car, it attracted near-constant attention. And once you drive the Lexus LS 460, it’s hard not to want to drive it. Get on highway and the 380-horsepower machine takes charge. From the push-button start to the effortless shifting and

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Mercedes-Benz named official vehicle of Luxembourg-based cycling team

“We look forward to be supporting the ambitious goal of winning the Tour de France for Luxembourg with this new team”, said Gerhard Roth, Administrateur Délégué of Mercedes-Benz Luxembourg S.A. “This partnership with the Luxembourg Pro Cycling Project fits well with our brand philosophy of ‘The best or nothing’.” According to the report, Mercedes-Benz will provide the new team with specially adapted cars, minibuses, trucks and and team tour buses. Nissan joined the cycling sponsorship as the second sponsor of the American team sponsored by RadioShack and featuring seven-time Tour de France winner Lance Armstrong in 2010. Jaguar and Skoda, the Czech manufacturer, are also major sponsors and automobile providers in professional cycling. Jaguar is the official sponsor of the

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Italian newspaper reports Fiat considering selling share of Ferrari

Fiat, based in Italy, reportedly is seeking liquidity to allow it to finance the acquisition of 51 percent of Chrysler. Selling Ferrari could be the solution, according to the daily newspaper’s sources in Fiat’s headquarters in Turin. FOR MORE FERRARI INFORMATION, VISIT: Ferrari According to the report, Fiat, which owns 85 percent of Ferrari, would keep a majority 51 percent stake in the sports car unit which, it said, is worth $3.1 billion. Ferrari this week is debuting its limited edition convertible sports car at the Paris Motor Show. A Fiat spokesman denied the report, commenting to Reuters: “There are no plans for any Ferrari listing.” Fiat, which owns 20 percent of Chrysler, is expected to increase its holding to

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Ferrari limited series convertible will debut at Paris Motor Show

Only 80 of the 12-cylinder, front-engine roadsters will be manufactured. The first models are expected to reach the buyers by the end of the year and all of 80 new offerings have already been sold. According to a Ferrari release: “The SA Apera is a true roadster which allows its occupants to enjoy the superlative emotions afforded by our signature front-engine V12 architecture in a completely open-top setting. In fact, it has just a light soft top designed to be resorted to only if the weather gets particularly bad.” The roadster has a low-profile windscreen and crouches lower to the ground, and has “exceptionally aerodynamic sleekness,” according to the Maranello, Italy, manufacturer. James RaiaA sports, travel and business journalist for

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Bentley bizarre hood ornament impalememt potential prompts recall

As such Bentley is recalling nearly 1,500 vehicles for fear that unwitting pedestrians could become impaled on the brand’s historic “flying B” bonnet ornament. Bentley reports: “It’s been discovered that in some cases, water ingress into the internal mechanism might prevent it from retracting. The recall will affect 1,436 cars worldwide, including 620 in the United States and Canada. The bizarre defect affects three discontinued Bentley models – the Arnage, Azure and Brooklands – which were produced between 2007 and 2009 and which cost as much as $300,000. The Bentley signature miniature statue ornament is an option. David Champion, senior director of auto testing for Consumer Reports, commented that said safety regulations required a minimum radius for anything on a

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Ferrari 458 recalled after Italian sports car redefines too hot to handle

A Ferrari spokesman said the source of the problem is a wheel-arch heat shield that comes too close to an exhaust pipe. The adhesive that secures the shield can smoke or catch fire due to excessive heat. Dealers have contacted Ferrari 458 owners, the spokesman said, and have asked them to bring their cars in as soon as possible for modification. The Daily Mail newspaper in England reported five Ferrari 458 Italias have caught fire as a result of the flaw. The Ferrari spokesman confirmed that “four or five” fires had been reported in 458 models but added that only one had occurred in the United States. He said that the destroyed vehicles would be replaced at no charge to

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Great 1980s cars time's forgotten, Audi to Toyota, BMW to Ferrari

Neither age makes the respective car ancient. Nevertheless, article offers unique insight and states that the 1980s was a far superior decade for cars than the 1970s. AUTOMOTIVE RESOURCES Auto Shipping Quote, Car Financing, Car Insurance Quotes, Car Loans, Online Car Insurance, Rental Cars, Used Cars The article’s premise is that the 1980s was great decade for prominent, groundbreaking cars—the BMW 5 Series, Honda Civic CRX and Ferrari F40. Writer John Pearley Huffman also offers: “A few machines have somehow faded from our collective consciousness. They’re essentially unappreciated, but their innovations or performance mean they deserve more prominence.” In his description of the 1983 BMW 5 Series, Huffman writes: “Luxury machines like the 1983 BMW 5 Series changed what the

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Rare Bugatti could fetch record price at Monterey Auto Week auction

The Bugatti, boasting its original bodywork, engine and gearbox, is predicted to sell for $4.5 million, which would be the highest price ever paid for a grand prix racing Bugatti. The car is being sold by the British private collector who paid the current world record sum for a Type 35 Bugatti two years ago. Bugatti historian David Sewell said the latest sale, 1931-built chassis 51132, is “a remarkably complete and original car and there is no doubt to its authenticity. It ranks among the finest survivors of the highly desirable Bugatti Type 51 Grand Prix.” The last time a Bugatti Type 51 came to auction, nearly ten years ago in 2001, it sold for more than $1.5 million. Dan

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Acura ZDX, 2010: Roman Mica Reports (Text and Video)

Roman Mica, contributing editor to TheWeeklyDriver.com, compares the new offering to a BMW. But he also questions the vehicle’s practicality while simultaneously appreciating its performance. Here’s Mica’s text and video review: Perhaps the closest competitor to the ZDX is BMW‘s X6. BMW took the DNA of a SUV/Crossover and spliced it together with a 4-door coupe to create the X6 and a new kind of car. Acura has done basically the same thing, but the approach is much subtle. While the BMW engineers took a sledge hammer approach to performance, Acura takes a scalpel with its super handling all-wheel-drive. And while the X6 screams “Get the hell out of of my way” on a twisty stretch of road the ZDX

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Bugatti introduces new Veyron, will debut at Pebble Beach Concours d'Elegance

The new Veyron body was is also lighter and constructed with an all-carbon, monocoque frame. The new Veyron will make its debut at the Concours d’Elegance on August 15 in Pebble Beach. The event will also feature Alfa Romeo, Pierce-Arrow and Jaguar as well as  celebrate the designs of Ghia. And the event will also welcome Hot Rods, particularly lakesters and Bonneville racers, as well as Indy Cars. The second year for motorcycles at the famed show will focus on classic American bikes built prior to 1960. Bugatti is also the marquee for Rolex Monterey Motorsports Reunion at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca, August 13-15. It’s also part of Monterey Auto Week, and will feature vintage Bugattis entered from around the

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