Three years ago Melkus, the historic, East German race car builder, released renderings of a gullwing sports car they wanted to have ready in 2009. It always makes us happy to see the passionate guy make big plans and then get them achieved – on time even – and the Melkus RS2000 is the culmination of that achievement. Based on an Elise, it rides on a Melkus-designed aluminum double-wishbone suspension and wears a glass-fiber reinforced polyester body.
Power comes from the 1.8-liter, 16-valve, 4-cylinder Elise tuned up to 270 hp that shifts through a short-throw 6-speed transmission. With a curb weight of 950 kg (2,090 pounds) you can get to 60 in 4.9 seconds. Interiors can be customized as you wish, but the car comes standard with more creature comforts than you'll find in most of its competition, including the Elise. The Melkus' creation did come with a price: the original estimates were for it to cost €75,000; the actual price is €107,500. But what's a little inflation between friends.
Expect to see more of this and other Marussia's cars on this site very soon.
What happens when newly-monied Russians design a super car?
You get the successor to the first Russian super car, the B1. It's the Marussia B2 and it's got looks to shame a Ferrari Enzo and, supposedly, a 420HP Cosworth mill.
We weren't holding out much hope for the Marussia B2, but it's turned out to be one of the pleasant surprises of the Frankfurt Motor Show .We're still a little foggy on the details, but it seems the Marussia B2 is built on the same frame as it's B1 predecessor but gets a specially built 3.5 liter Cosworth V6, ranging from 245 HP to 420 HP. Whatever the powerplant, it's hard to argue on the looks — the thing is bad ass. It's got more cut lines than a knife fighter and while the forward visibility is probably pretty terrible, awesomely ridiculous is the only way we can describe it.
Acknowledging the unspoken contradiction that supercar buyers somehow have buckets of money, yet the mental faculties of small children, Hamann has combined the super sweetness of a Gallardo with the total bitchingness of a fighter jet.
* * * *
The Hamann Lamborghini Gallardo Victory can be based on any Gallardo of your choosing and comes with an exhaust that boosts power a little bit and noise a lot. That, in addition to all the fake rivets and faux warnings should easily boost the amount of money Vegas hookers charge to spank you by at least 15%
If you've grown tired of the average American sportster or chopper, check out Wrench Monkees Custom Motorcycles ($20,500 and up). Custom-built in Copenhagen, Denmark, these unique bikes feature a streamlined yet rugged aesthetic that's unlike anything we've seen before, often made using rebuilt engines and a mix of off-the-shelf and custom parts to give them an excellent ride while maintaining their independent credibility.
“We set this record on our first visit to the Bonneville salt flats on poor salt conditions and in high crosswinds,” said Edward West, a founder and president of the San Francisco startup. “And to set it with our production prototype vehicle, not a custom Bonneville bike, is truly amazing. It’s a watershed moment for electric vehicles and further proof that the era of the electric superbike has begun.”
Ferrari 458 Italia, the two-seater mid-rear engined berlinetta, is the latest addition to the Prancing Horse's history. Ferrari 458 Italia is expected to be unveiled at the upcoming 2009 Frankfurt Auto Show. The result of the Ferrari engineers’ endeavors can be summed up in to two simple statistics which together perfectly encapsulate the Ferrari 458 Italia’s exceptional performance: 0-100 km/h acceleration in under 3.4 seconds and a maximum speed in excess of 325 km/h.
View more photos of the Ferrari 458 Italia
From the vast steppe lands in the centre of the country to the more populated borders in the north and south, Kazakhstan embraces both a huge amount of space and diversity. From contemporary art in Almaty to cutting-edge architecture in the new capital of Astana to the verdant landscape of the Altai Mountains in the northeast and the geologically fascinating Mangystau peninsula in the southwest, Kazakhstan is waiting to be discovered.
As the climax of its centenary celebration ceremonies, Bugatti Automobiles S.A.S. presented customers and opinion-makers with the Bugatti 16 C Galibier concept, intended to be the most exclusive, elegant, and powerful four door automobile in the world last weekend in Molsheim.
When you're at Bonneville you see all sorts of crazy contraptions while walking (and driving) around the five mile long pit and spectator area. You witness things that can rocket to speeds just shy of 400 miles per hour to things that are created to look the best while flossing at 20 miles per hour. Basically, you see the whole spectrum from pure performance to pure hardparking. It's phenomenal to be able to to be able to take all of this at a single event.
With such an eclectic mix of cars, you also meet an eclectic mix of people. The owner of this rat rod is one of those crazy individuals that travelled long distances to attend the cultural festival at the Salt. He drove his RV with the car trailer from Vancouver, Canada to the Utah. He is 100% devoted to hot rod culture. And the build quality of this 'rat rod' even questions if we should even categorize it as that. Rod and I met and conversed with this fellow, Ken (from Top 10 Hot Rod & Customs) before we even saw the car. When he mentioned something to the nature of, "hey do you want to see my car?" The response came out instantly: "Yes Ken, we DO want to see whatever you have!"
We had absolutely no clue what to expect when we walked to the car trailer and those doors opened...
What laid before us was a 1930 Ford coupe rat rod. A car that barely even held onto the idea that it is, indeed, a rat rod. But what this car did have was an absolutely menacing presence and that each and every nut, bolt, and piece of metal on the car seemed like it radiated with history. And as we talked to Ken a bit more, we soon found out that assumption was true. Every part on this car has a vintage going to the late 50s.
More here
It ain't x-mas yet, but receiving these photos this morning was like a little gift. I think you like them, too and we should thank Sonja Moser and her photographic talent for these great shots. She took them last weekend when several members of the ACES Car Club went to Finsterwalde to attend the annual Headbanging, the famous 1/8 mile hot rod race in eastern Germany.
Freestyle rider Chris Pfeiffer took a BMW F 800 R to the top of the 22-story BMW Tower in Munich, then decided to play around with it. What that means is two minutes and ten seconds of gymnastic 2-wheeled goodness that would be impressive enough were it happening at ground level. Speaking of the ground, our favorite part might come on the first floor, before Pfeiffer gets in the elevator and rides by a BMW employee whose look says "I'll just pretend I didn't see that...
The hybrid Marussia B1 was unveiled last year, and can now be ordered for €100,000 (about $146,000 USD) while it is being prepared for serial production. Two of them will be on display at next week's the Frankfurt Motor Show alongside the company's latest car, the Marussia B2, being teased in the photo above. We don't know anything about the new model except that it has been "created in the style of a jet fighter."
Feel free to glean all the details you can in the peek-a-boo shots below, and stay tuned for the complete picture next week when we get to Frankfurt.
This (or any footage) of Group B races MUST be watched. They don't do it like this anymore, and that's a shame. If the modern safety regulations were put into play, we could see more amazing rally's like these. If you are unfamiliar with exactly what it was all about, take a sec and read up http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Group_B
You may have already heard of Dennis, also known as dsalni, the artist who makes outstanding sketches of various tuned cars. If he is new to you, you may want to check out his blog which showcases his stunning artwork. Besides his drawing skills, he also build cars and his latest project is a Datsun 280Z. It’s still in the build phase but I already love the way the car is evolving.
Here is a teaser shot with rear fender flares and no rear bumper. Old school JDM rocks!
While the word supercar has been used in connection with both current and past GT-Rs, Tommy Kaira seemed to think that supercar performance should be united with supercar looks and created a fanboy’s wet dream in the process. The ZZ-II debuted in 2001 and still is remarkable by today’s standards. The details on the car seem to be pretty sketchy, but most seem to agree that it is in excess of 500hp and it retains the RB26 and ATTESSA. Not to mention the fact that it weighs only 1000kg (2200lbs). In any case, the result was stunning and I’d like to see this car resurrected with R35 GT-R hardware.
via http://www.bespokeventures.com
Yoshimura is perhaps best known for their aftermarket exhaust systems for motorcycles and their racing efforts, but the company has produced some very interesting complete bikes that are probably somewhat analogous to RUF, just on two wheels. While the machines tend to be based on traditional production superbikes, they are modified to the degree that they wear only the Yoshimura badge. All of the complete bikes have highly limited production runs and are have thoroughly exotic spec sheets. The company’s philosophy seems to be a combination of an Opera level of attention to detail with a Top Secret level of insanity.
Old military style bikes have a place in my heart- and this Kiwi Indian is no exception. Perfectly done, right down to the metal lock box (ammo?) on the fender. Clean bars, Kick start, exposed chain gear,leaf spring front end...Just awesome. Look for a full feature on this company soon!
They say that café racers are the ancestors of modern supersport bikes and we all know that these lasts have a reputation of attracting babes like magnets. But this vintage photo of the absolutely beautiful Laverda SF 750 motorcycle reveals that things have been this way ever since the very beginnings. And, by the way, the girls were as daring then as they are now.
BMW never designed the F800R to be a scrambler, but that didn’t stop Touratech, the touring and parts specialists, to build what they call The Streetline F800 ScrambleR by only making use of a few styling tweaks.
By using clip-ons, a round headlight, bash guard, scrambler-style tyres and a numberboard among others, Touratech achieved what BMW never thought at and they even plan on selling a kit with all the parts, enabling BMW F800R owners to build their own scrambler.
Today Koenigsegg have released details of there latest incarnation, the Koenigsegg Trevita. The Trevita is a limited edition Koenigsegg CCXR featuring a new shimmering diamond carbon fiber finish.
Koenigsegg’s are famous worldwide for their visible carbon fiber weave finish, which up until now has only been available in the traditional black carbon fibre finish. But now Koenigsegg has developed a new Diamond Weave Finish, while still retaining the potential output of 1018bhp.
For the Trevita, Koenigsegg is using a new and unique method to manufacture the carbon fibre material called The Koenigsegg Proprietary Diamond Weave. This is where they have managed to coat the individual fibres with a diamond finish. This fiber treatment is conducted carefully in small quantities, prior to further processing the prepreg material. This process was fully developed by Koenigsegg at their headquarters in Ängelholm Sweden.
Only three Trevita’s will be made by Koenigsegg, hence the name, making the Trevita the rarest member of the Koenigsegg Family.
All three cars will feature the Koenigsegg Shimmering Diamond Weave bodywork, double carbon rear wing, inconell exhaust system, carbon ceramic brakes (with ABS), airbags, paddle shift, chrono instrument cluster, infotainment system, tyre monitoring system and a lifting system.
Two months. That’s all the time a 22-year-old college kid who spent his school days drawing fast cars needed to build one off the coolest electric motorcycles we’ve ever seen. It’s enough to make us want to slap all the grade school teachers who ever told us to quit doodling during social studies.
Tom Miceli built the Ion during his final year at Appalachian State University. He studied industrial design, and his senior project required him to create something that reflected all he’d learned. Given his love for getting from Point A to Point C while passing Point B in a blur, his choice for a project was a no-brainer.
Leveraging his years of experience riding dirt bikes, Miceli stripped a ‘96 Kawasaki ZX6 Ninja to the frame and went to work. The result is a DIY electric motorcycle capable of more than 70 mph and a range of 60 miles. Judging from the pics and the videos of the bike in action, the kid’s got talent to spare.
With only a semester to burn on the project, Miceli got straight to designing. He hashed out the details with brainstorming, sketches and CAD models, taking cues from some of his favorite bikes, including the radical KTM RC8. He went for a modern, almost futuristic look, but kept it within the range of something the average rider would buy right now. By the time he’d settled on the design and planned the build, Miceli had two months until his deadline.
He stripped the Ninja to a rolling chassis. The battery box that replaced the 600cc engine carries two dozen 40Ah lithium iron phosphate batteries. Miceli figures the pack has a total output about 3 kilowatt-hours. The juice powers a 6.75-inch AC motor rated at 43 horsepower and 95 foot-pounds of torque, figures that surpass the Zero S electric motocycle we rode. The total weight penalty for the electric drivetrain? Nil. The e-bike weighs as much as the bike he started with. It’s got a similar center of gravity, too.
The pack recharges in six hours from a standard 110-volt outlet. Miceli estimates the range at about 60 miles and has hit a top speed of about 70 mph. The bike has enough juice for the occasional burnout, but what about eye-compressing acceleration? Wheelies?
Sorry, not a chance … yet.
Even now, months after graduating, Miceli is still improving the bike. Next up are 60Ah batteries and a super-secret, custom-made, two-speed transmission that Miceli hopes will let the bike hit 50 mph in first and 100-plus in second. Where do we sign up?
The wiring was tricky, but dad, an electrical engineer, helped make quick work of it. To give you an idea of how efficient the system is, the LED lighting system (including the headlight) draws no more than one amp. Miceli said the hardest part of the project was fabricating the body because it was so labor-intensive. Because of the one-off nature of the bike and the limited budget, the bodywork was less than green, using polystyrene foam to create a form. But that doesn’t detract from the coolness of designing and creating your own bodywork. Although it was the hardest part of the project, Miceli said it was among the most rewarding because he got to see the bike take shape.
Ion cost $12,000, with about half that tied up in the batteries and drivetrain. It was little much for a college student to front, but thanks to a design grant from the local community college AB-Tech he was able to make ends meet.
Overall, we gave him an “A.” So did his professor. The rest of his teachers may be another story due to the amount of time dedicated to the build, but it was surely worth it.
“I didn’t build the bike for a grade,” he told us. “I did it because it was something I wanted to do and it was a gateway to getting a job in the field that I wanted.”
And how is the moto-design job search panning out? Not well so far. But with a portfolio like his, we’re sure someone will pick him up in short order. Hey you guys at Mission One and Zero Motorcycles — are you listening?
The clouds have opened, my prayers have been answered, the Pacific has parted, and DEUS is coming to America. The people that brought us some of the classiest custom motorcycles, bicycles and clothing, are now offering up their fine assortment of play-things for the US's enjoyment. No more will the images of Lovers' Land be figments of imagination. No more will the jpgs on our desktops be the closest we come to touching a DEUS original. Oh, and it's all happening right here in my very own backyard. Well, Downtown LA, at least.
The fine men and women of Deus Ex Machina searched high and low for the ultimate home for their US headquarters, and found that home within the walls of Secret Service. As I type, hammers are swinging and walls are toppling over on Industrial Ave. SS is receiving a serious face lift, and the crowning jewel will be DEUS USA taking over the second floor of the shop. We can expect motorcycles, bicycles, clothing, surf boards and everything else we've come to love about our friends to the South. I have long since been a fan of Deus's aesthetic, their involvement with the EPIC Lovers' Land tour, and now my love is solidified with their partnering with Secret Service. The grapevine has revealed that the store could be up and motors running within the next couple months. I for one can't wait.
I was lucky enough to tag along and witness the first ever USA-built DEUS cycle being delivered a couple days ago, The Grievous Angel. Keeping with the DEUS ethos, the bike was built in a small one-car garage in Marina Del Rey. They found their surfing-mechanic-turned-good-friend like all mechanics should be found - through the vouching of one of their buddies. Just like that. Michael, or "Woolie," is an ex-racer who grew up next door to Mert Lawwill. If that's not an impressive enough resume of someone capable of building anyone's bike, I don't know what is. I heard the bike, smelled the bike, felt the bike, and I am in love with the bike. It's the perfect culmination of all my 2-wheeled fantasies, and all built by a guy who cares just as much about the heart and soul that goes into the bike as the final product itself. The way it should be. I'll take two.
I also stopped by Secret Service, forced myself past the armed guards, through the velvet ropes and up the stairs to see for myself. Yep, it's under construction but I can already see the DEUS stamp all over the walls. I had to be sneaky with my iPhone sniper shots, but was able to shoot a couple off and email them to myself before my phone was confiscated and subsequently destroyed. No, the pretty fine gentleman of SS were more than happy to run me over their sketches and plans of turning their great shop into the finest in LA. When's the opening party?
Sporting the same stealth fighter-inspired angular bodywork as the standard Reventón that was unveiled two years ago at the same auto show, the new topless Lambo will reportedly make use of its all-wheel drive system to help the run to 60 in just 3.4 seconds. Top speed is expected to be well over 200 miles per hour, as you'd expect from an Italian supercar with a mid-mounted 650-horsepower V12 powerplant.
Perhaps looks modeled after an F117A stealth fighter, the 650HP, 6.5 liter V12, 211 MPH top speed and strictly limited production of 21 units weren't quite enough to urge you to buy one for the trifling $1.3 million asking price. It just didn't come with an open top, and that was inexcusable. Your prayers have been answered as the Reventón Roadster addresses the issue with a lift-off targa top and even greater exclusivity — only 20 units for this model. We'd consider one ourselves, but you can't get it in chrome. Oh, the price? Still a lark at a mere $1.75 million.
Crazy that this car looks better than the new Mclaren!
Besides moose, Mounties and socialized medicine, most Americans know little else about our neighbors to the North. Especially for car people, Canada doesn't register in any significant way unless the Buick LaCrosse comes up. That might change dramatically once the HTT Plèthore LC 750 hits the streets. The brainchild of company principle Luc Chartrand, the Plèthore is a unique supercar that has been at least six years in the making. In fact we covered a previous version of the car when it was shown at the Montreal Auto Show in 2007. Back then it carried the Locus Plèthore nameplate.
Having lost the Locus and gained an LC 750, the production Plèthore features a carbon fiber chassis and body, a 750-hp 6.2-liter V8, a 6-speed manual transmission and McLaren F1-like central driving position, among other things. This Canadian supercar is set to debut at the Frankfurt Motor Show next week, but HTT held a VIP preview of it Tuesday before loading it into a 747 bound for Deutschland. Autoblog friend and ace photographer Stephan Bauer happened to be in attendance and shared some photos and notes with us.
Although the interior still needs work and the pictured vehicle was pretty rough around the edges, this car will be shown in Frankfurt next week. Stephan adds that although similar to some other supercars in its overall shape and details, some of the things that make the Plèthore stand out are its bat-like scissor doors that go well past vertical, its protruding rear diffuser, its tasteful and functional HRE rims and the fact that it is probably the widest car he's ever seen at 89 inches haunch to haunch. That's bigger than the wheelbase on some small cars. HTT told the assembled group that 10 cars have already been pre-sold at a starting price of 395,000 $CDN. For more details, visit the HTT website, and don't forget to check out our live gallery of shots by Monsieur Bauer.
