“Made in China”. That’s a sentence that is unfortunately seen on most of the goods we have over here in the United States. As Americans, we see that, sigh, and then drop our heads wishing that we produced all of our own goods and services. Apparently though that phrase is paying off big time for the Chinese as they’ve got a car club over there that rivals just about anything I’ve ever seen stateside. Pagani, Ferrari, Bugatti, Koenissegg, Lamborghini, Aston Martin, Porsche and Mercedes-Benz are all present and accounted for and hot damn if these guys don’t drive the piss out of them as well. Stored in a warehouse somewhere in China, the value of these automobiles together rivals the yearly economy of some small countries. So, next time you see a label that reads “Made in China”, don’t worry because it’s helping keep our favorite super car companies in business.

Ugh…

Owning a classic car can be a double-edged sword. On the one hand what your driving is a true piece of automotive history, but on the other, these wonderful machines can be extremely costly and require extensive maintenance. Now sure, if you want there is no reason you can’t go out, spend $10k and buy a decent classic to tool around in. However if you want the best of the best, well then, it’s going to cost you. This is Gavin King of Concours Sportscar Restoration just outside of Sydney, Australia. His company specializes in bringing vintage Jaguar’s and Aston Martin’s back to life and with that, they help fulfill the childhood dreams of the cars owners. Restoring a classic car is a labor of love. You do it because you want to preserve history and keep the feeling of excellence alive. It’s not easy, nor is it cheap, however the end result of a properly done concourse restoration is something that can bring one joy for a lifetime.

Source: RalfBecker.com

Concours from Toby Morris on Vimeo.

I like this thing! This is one of those rare occasions where a customized import actually looks pretty damn good. It looks as though the owner started out with a Honda Civic hatch and then decided to give it the full-on Bugatti Veyron treatment, which, in some strange way really works. Granted the wheels still have to be color matched, but the overall execution is downright cool. Who knows, maybe Bugatti should take some queues from this guy if they ever decide to go the Aston Martin Cygnet route and build a budget Bugatti.

Source: VWVortex.com

When the Bugatti released the Veyron back in 2003 for the lofty sum of $1 million, automotive enthusiasts the world over thought that the company had gone insane. It was one of the most expensive cars ever produced and market watchers weren’t sure if the company would move even one from the factory. Since the Veyron’s release other obscenely expensive hyper-cars like the Lamborghini Reventon, SSC Ultimate Aero, and Gumpert Apollo have come to fruition, and with that, a whole new type of consumer was created. The gentleman in the above photo is Neil Graham, co-founder of Mainfreight, a global logistics provider based out of Auckland, New Zealand. He’s worth about $60 million and aside from his other achievements, will now be known as the owner of the most expensive car ever ordered by a Kiwi. The car in question is the limited production Aston Martin One-77 that cost Graham a paltry $2.8 million. The One-77 is powered by a 760 hp 7.3-liter V12 that enables the car to sprint to 60 mph in just 3.5 seconds and then onto a top speed of 220 mph. Hopefully Mr. Graham will flog the snot out of the One-77 especially considering that New Zealand has some of the best driving roads on the planet.

Source: BornRich.com

I know you’ve been waiting anxiously for the third and final installment of Aston Martin’s “True Power Should Be Shared” video series, so here it is. If you’re expecting it to make any more sense than the first two installments did, you’re about to be sadly disappointed. On the plus side, this segment does have more audio and visuals of the Rapide on the roads of Portugal, so it’s got that going for it. I won’t ruin the plot and tell you that it’s all about a conspiracy to smuggle time traveling technology from 2024 into the present day, so you’ll have to figure that part out on your own. The third video is below, and I’m including the first and second in case you really want to make you brain hurt. If anyone can tell me how these videos will help Aston Martin sell even one more Rapide, I’m all ears.

Here’s part one, so you don’t have to dig for it.

Ditto for the second installment.

Since I know you’ve been hanging on the edge of your seat, waiting for part two of Aston Martin’s “True Power Should Be Shared” video series, here it is below. Sadly, it hasn’t gotten any better than part one; if anything, part two heaps on the cheese, and includes technically inaccurate gunplay and fight scenes. For his own self-reservation, I hope the driver is better at his task than the other two are. At least the Rapide in the tunnel sounds cool, too bad we don’t hear more of it.

Maybe I’m missing something here, but can anyone explain how this series of films is going to sell Aston Martin Rapides? Does Aston think that potential buyers spend a lot of time on YouTube, watching really bad heist movies? Couldn’t they have sunk the money used to produce the films into actual advertising, instead of hoping for an out of the park viral hit? Can we at least get more driving and less melodrama in the next video? Stay tuned to find out.

Do you remember BMW’s series of short films called “The Hire”? All starred Clive Owen as a BMW driver under some extraordinary circumstances, and the videos were directed by some of the biggest names in the industry (John Frankenheimer, Ang Lee, Tony Scott, etc.). Madonna appeared in one, as did Mickey Rourke, Gary Oldman, Danny Trejo and Marilyn Manson. It’s not clear if BMW sold a single vehicle because of this bold marketing approach, but they did prove that they could blow a lot of money producing videos and distributing them for free. Now Aston Martin seems to trying a similar tactic (less the big name directors and Hollywood stars); have a look at the video below to see what I mean.

Aston Martin will release the “True Power Should Be Shared” series, promoting the Rapide, over a period of three weeks. The video link from the Aston Martin site includes all sorts of disclaimers about sex and violence, so I’m hoping hta the warnings are either tongue-in-cheek or that the final cut resembles a sexed-up “Reservoir Dogs”. I have to say that I’m not thrilled with the totally cliche opening, but I’ll give the videos another chance. Look for hte next installment on January 19.

Apparently there are still a few individuals out there with money to burn. Take for example the 60 soon-to-be owners of the new limited edition Aston Martin One-77 super car. At $1.87 million a pop these suckers are not exactly listed in the affordable column, but that doesn’t mean there aren’t those willing to put up the cash for the right to be exclusive. The One-77 is powered by a 750 hp 7.3-liter V12 that is said to move the car and all of its carbon fiber body work past the 220 mph barrier. That’s great news and all, but at the end of the day, spending $1.87 million on a car seems to be a bit ridiculous, regardless of how big your bank account is. Think about it for a minute, because when all is said and done you’re spending almost 2 million bucks on one car. Wouldn’t you just rather take a cool $500,000 and build a wicked cool garage? Do that and then you could spend the other $1.5 million on the cars that would fill it up. Makes more sense as far as I’m concerned. If you must have the new Aston Martin One-77 though, you’d better place your order fast because there are only 17 of them left for sale.

Source: InsideLine.com

For me, the 1980′s conjure up visions of cars like the Lamborghini Countach, Ferrari Testarossa and Porsche 959. These were the super cars of the day and ones that I always hoped I would have a chance to drive. Most of them were outstanding performers by 1980′s standards, and have thus far, stood the test of time. There were however a select group of exotics built during the 1980′s that for one reason or another, never really caught on with the buying public. Maybe it had to do with spotty build quality, an exceedingly high price tag or the fact that they were underachievers. Whatever the reason though some of these big dollar cars simply didn’t make it and because of that, they sit below as part of this list.

• 1986 Porsche 928

Porsche originally created the 928 to replace the much loved Porsche 911 and broaden the brands appeal. Its front engine rear drive configuration never garnered much respect from Porsche enthusiasts, but the fact of the matter was that this baby was and still is, one of the best GT cars ever. It was comfortable, fast, looked good and handled great, but the fact that the engine wasn’t hanging over the rear wheels was just too much for the Porsche faithful to handle.

• 1985 Detomaso Pantera

The Detomaso Pantera is what you get when you mix Italian styling with American grunt. Designed by an American, but built in Italy, the Pantera’s greatest flaw was that the buying public simply didn’t know what to make of it. They were powered by mid-mounted Ford 351 Cleveland V8′s that enabled 0-60 times of around 5.5 seconds, so there was no doubt that the Pantera was fast. The melding of the two cultures however simply meant that your final product was a car with an identity crisis.

• 1981 DeLorean

Nothing says, “I do cocaine” like the 1981 Delorean. Manufactured in northern Ireland, the Delorean was the brain child of GM executive John Delorean. His goal was to build a cutting edge GT car that would appeal to the world over. Styling wise the Delorean was actually a very nice looking automobile. With a monocoque chassis, gull wing doors and stainless steal body panels it definitely had an appeal to it. However once it hit the market, people began to realize that the cars were not only underpowered but had severe reliability issues as well. Then in 1985 “Back to the Future” came out and gave the then defunct company some positive publicity, alas it was too late as the Delorean Motor Company hit the skids in 1982.

• 1986 Ferrari Mondial

The Ferrari Mondial is one of those rare cars that simply does not get the respect it deserves. You see it’s powered by the same 270 hp engine that powered the Ferrari 328 GTB, which means that it’s not only reliable, but easy to maintain. Its downfall however was its 2+2 configuration, something that has never been overly popular with Ferrari enthusiasts. What the Mondial does give it’s owners however, is piece of mind as they’re not only reliable but a great value.

• 1981 BMW M1

The BMW M1 was BMW’s first “M” car. It was powered by a mid-mounted 273 hp inline-6 that propelled the M1 to a top speed of 160 mph, a number that was not too shabby for 30 years ago. The cars wedge shape styling however seemed to confuse people who were more accustom to the boxy lines of BMW standard models.

• 1981 Lamborghini Jalpa

It’s tough being the low man on the company totem pole, especially when that company is Lamborghini. Truth be told the Lamborghini Jalpa is one of my favorite cars. It’s styling is not as crass as the Countach’s of the era and the car is simply easier to drive. Jalpa’s were powered by a 3.5-liter V8 that produced 255 bhp and 231 lbs.ft. of torque. That meant the car wasn’t as fast as it’s big brother, and in the eyes of the Lamborghini faithful, that simply wouldn’t do.

• 1987 Lotus Esprit Turbo

The Lotus Esprit is an automotive icon, there is no doubt about that. For all intents and purposes though, it seems to have been forgotten by the automotive public. Maybe its because it came with a turbo charged 4-banger instead of a V8, or maybe it’s because, in one form or another the Espirt has been around since 1976. Either way though it’s a damn shame because this car continues to be not only a great value, but one of the best looking cars ever to come out of Britain.

• 1989 Vector W8 Twin Turbo

Image: Karrmann

Back in the mid-1980′s the notion of the United States building a super car was pretty far fetched to the rest of the world. That however didn’t stop Detroit native Gerald Wiegert from trying. The Vector W8 Twin Turbo was a hammer of an automobile producing 625 hp from its twin-turbo V8 and running to 60 mph in 4.2 seconds. Alas, with a price tag of $455,000 back in 1989, there were very few people who were willing to take a chance on a car company with no history.

• 1988 Aston Martin Virage

God I hate this car. I hate this car because it simply looks like the fat over-bloated result of corporate decision making. The Virage wasn’t a bad car, in as much as it was a melting pot of parts from other manufacturers. The headlights for example were off of an Audi 200 with the taillights being from a VW Scirocco. Combine that with crappy GM sourced dash components and a Ford steering column and you’ve got a car that was doomed to fail before it even began.

• 1983 Porsche 924

I figured what the hell… why not let you watch the ads and decide for yourselves if the Porsche 924 is a truly forgettable car.

If you own an Aston Martin Rapide then odds are you feel like you’re “Big Pimpin’” every time you go out for a cruise. From a visual perspective the Rapide is the best looking four-door coupe on the planet hands down. From its beautiful lines, to the elegant grill, to its 470 hp V12 engine, the Aston Martin Rapide is truly in a class of its own. How about those days though when you wish to go beyond “Big Pimpin’” and into the realm of the “Super Pimp”… what then? Well I’ll tell you what then, you go out and buy the Aston Martin Rapide Luxe, it’s got all the wonderful features of the standard Rapide, with a few more little diddies thrown in for good measure. There are some new paint choices, a new luggage set to match the cars leather interior and a rear-seat mounted DVD. So, for those of you out there looking to achieve the ultimate in elegant, powerful and now colored coordinated Pimp Status, have no fear, because your chariot has arrived.

Source: Autoblog.com