RideLust

The Aventador is Lamborghini’s latest supercar creation. Chock full o’ carbon fiber and V-12 horsepower, the Aventador also represents Lamborghini’s first use of a carbon-fiber monocoque chassis. The good news is that this design helps shave weight off the car; in fact, the entire monocoque weighs less than 325 pounds. The bad news? If you’re in an accident, your local body shop won’t touch your car. Neither will your local Lamborghini dealership, but they will arrange to ship your car to the one facility in the U.S. set up to handle repairs. That site is located at the University of Washington, where Lamborghini and Boeing work with university researchers to push the boundaries of carbon fiber development. Read More…

Workers building an MP4-12C. Image: McLaren Automotive

If you’ve been holding your breath waiting for the successor to McLaren’s legendary F1 supercar, go ahead and breathe. Production of the MP4-12C has begun, and McLaren estimates that they’ll produce 1,000 units this year. At a starting price of $229,000, that could be enough to meet initial customer demand, but McLaren plans to ramp up production of the MP4-12C next year. The first cars will be built in McLaren’s current Technology Center (MTC), with production switching over to McLaren’s new Production Center (MPC) in May of 2011. Both facilities are located at McLaren’s headquarters in Woking, Surrey, UK. Read More…

I was trolling through the blog over at Hemmings.com when I came across this forgotten piece of Ford history. This is a European only Ford Transit van that has beenslightly modified with a few go fast goodies to enhance its otherwise dismal performance. Originally built to bring some notoriety to the Transit vans, the vehicle was more of a publicity stunt then anything else. That didn’t mean however that it didn’t perform. Modifications included a 5.0-liter 435 hp V8, that was lowered into a custom space-frame chassis inside the Transit vans cargo hold. The transmission was a manual 5-speed unit, with the brakes and fully independent suspension being sourced from the iconic Ford GT40. All this race technology made the Transit van good for a top speed that was a tick over 150 mph, making it the world’s quickest barn door. The Supervan was a very cool experiment that, from what I can tell, had a pretty good following back in the day. Recently Ford released the Transit Van to the U.S. market which has me thinking that it may be time for a new experiment.
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This Thanksgiving, family argument time will be forced to compete with Gran Turismo 5 – which is finally (and actually) being released TODAY.  To get a sense of how big a deal this truly is, check out the clip below.  IGN has provided a video solely featuring the opening of the collector’s edition game box.  You may feel dirty after watching this.

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There are a lot of things I associate with Belgium. Good chocolate is one of them, followed by good beer, even if the fruit-enhanced lambic desert beers are an acquired taste. One thing I never associated with Belgium, until Motor Authority enlightened me, was the design and construction of supercars. Did you know that Gillet, a Belgian firm started by former racer Tony Gillet, has been cranking out street legal race cars since 1994? I didn’t either, since I’ve never seen one up close and personal, or even in photos.

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Remember a few years back, when Michael Jordan was everywhere? He was probably the only sports star in the history of the world who was universally admired; like the ad jingle, we all wanted to be like Mike. You still can’t be like Mike, but you can buy his former ride if your bank account is big enough. Up for sale on eBay is Jordan’s 2007 special edition Mercedes-Benz SLR 722, with a “Buy It Now” price of just $429,990.00. That’s steep, but the SLR isn’t exactly an everyday ride, and McLaren isn’t cranking out any more.

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If you have the price of admission for an Aston Martin One-77, the good news is that speeding tickets aren’t something you worry about. In fact, I’d be willing to bet you have at least one traffic attorney on retainer, and he’s probably the best in the world at getting your tickets tossed out of court. How much is the Aston Martin One-77? Try $1.965 million, based on current exchange rates. They’re only building 77 copies, so if you travel in those circles, you’d best be getting you order in quickly.

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I first told you about the Pagani Zonda Tricolore a few months back. Built to honor Italy’s Frecce Tricolori 313the Aerobatic Training Squadron (their equivalent of our Blue Angels), the ultra exclusive Pagani is finished in translucent blue and black carbon fiber, offset by striping in the colors of the Italian flag. How exclusive is it? The Pagani Zonda Tricolore is one of one, which makes the Ferrari 599 GTO seem kind of like a Chevy Malibu in comparison.

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We’ve all been asked if we have a perfect car. It’s usually something exotic and fast and one that makes us tingle in all the right places. We spout off names like Ferrari and Lamborghini in the hopes that maybe one day we’ll actually open our garages and see one sitting in there, but alas, for most of us, this will never happen. The real question however shouldn’t be what is the perfect car, but what would you do with it if you could use it to create your perfect automotive day.
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There’s something about the look of translucent blue carbon fiber that just does it for me. I’ve been a take-it-or-leave-it kind of guy when it comes to the styling of the Bugatti Veyron, but the Super Sport version in blue carbon fiber definitely pushes the car into my “take it” category. Maybe it’s the simplicity of the finish (since I really can’t stand the tacky two-toned Veyrons) or maybe it’s the finish in conjunction with the wheels, but I really like the styling of this car.

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