After an eight-year buildup, the Veritas RS III has finally slithered into series production in Grafschaft-Gelsdorf, Germany. Just like the Dutch firm Spyker, Vermot AG has resurrected the post-war German racing marque that sold a few road-going versions of their racers to a handful of lucky enthusiasts. Now, the new company is doing less racing and more street scorching, and the RS III is its first foray into the world of production cars.
In Monterey this past August, we caught our first glimpse of the finally-ready-for-production Veritas RS III. With its newly revised front end (now with 50 percent more serpent!) it looks even more like a BMW Z8 on acid. Which is totally appropriate, because this retro rocketsled is powered by the same 5.0-liter V10 engine found in the M5 supersedan. With 500 hp propelling a scant 2,400 pounds, the 30 insane lucky folks who plunk down a million bucks for one of these can look forward to a 0-100kmh dash of just 3.2 seconds and a top speed of more than 215 MPH.
That's Enzo-like performance for an Enzo-like price, but it offers ten times the exclusivity -- not to mention Veritas started operating the same year as Enzo Ferrari in 1947. The difference is that this serpent lay dormant for almost 50 years, getting ready to strike. Vermot has released a slew of new photos and additional details about the car.
You know what's not aces? When you're just trying to drink a little amber fluid and watch the Bathurst 1000 and the man treats you like a total bogan. What business is it of his how many coldies you drink when it's time to hit the turps? This makes us so mad we could eat a trough lolly! No doubt a pommy bastard thunk this 'un up...
And that marks the end of our silly attempt to sound Australian. However, it does not end our amusement over the fact that Australian officials have set a 24-beer per day limit on fans attending the Bathurst 1000. As in, you are allowed to drink 24 beers, but not 25. Cause you know, there's a huge difference. Why are they enacting this draconian alcohol policy? To cut down on booze-related crime of course.
If you don't know, the Bathurst 1000 is known in the Land Down Under as "The Great Race." Only V8 Supercars are allowed to compete. These days in Australia V8 Supercars consist of either the Holden Commodore or the Ford Falcon. That's it. Thousands of blokes and sheilas turn up in the town of Bathurst to watch the cars run, and turns out they like drinking.
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For its 27th iteration, Orange County's most prestigious classic car show returned to the St. Regis Monarch Beach Resort in Dana Point, and finally dropped the "Newport Beach" from its name. No longer would it be known as the Newport Beach Concours d'Elegance, instead adopting the Concours d'Elegance at the St. Regis moniker. The title may have changed, but the quality of the entrants hasn't. Still benefiting the Mary & Dick Allen Diabetes Center at Hoag Hospital and the CSP Assessment and Treatment Services Center, the field of classic cars at this concours was once again stunning.
This year's featured marque was Mercedes-Benz, and the automaker was represented by some truly spectacular models, aided in no small part by the show's proximity to the Mercedes Classic Car Center, the factory-backed restoration shop for vintage Mercedes vehicles. Besides the beautiful Benzes, the roughly 3,000 attendees got to see about 300 other classic and exotic vehicles spread out around the St. Regis Monarch Beach Resort and the adjacent Dana Point Sea Terrace Park.
Whatever kind of cars you're into, Forza 3 looks like it'll have you covered. The XBox 360 driving game from Turn 10 Studios is quickly emerging to be the best simulator yet, packed with four hundred cars from fifty automakers on a hundred different tracks.
We've recently brought you screen shots and gameplay video footage of some of the most tantalizing machinery under the sun on Forza's virtual circuits – from American muscle cars and sport-utes to Bugattis and Japanese Super GTs – and now Turn 10 has announced a partnership with race organizers Down Under to include Australian V8 Supercars into the game as well. The additional car selection boils down to Holden Commodore VEs and Ford Falcons in a variety of actual liveries, so if you can't make it half way around the world to see the Aussie touring cars go wheel to wheel, you'll soon be able to drive them (virtually) at home.
You've always had the opportunity to buy the world's fastest car, but now you can buy THE world's fastest car. The actual SSC Ultimate Aero TT that set the Guinness-certified top speed record for a production car is up for auction on eBay with your name on it. The 2007 model comes with Palladium paint and black Alcantara interior, nav system, 10-speaker audio/DVD system, back-up camera, and power everything. Oh, did we mention the 1183 horsepower twin-turbo V8 mounted behind the seats? Sure, the 2009 model has 100+ more horsepower and a theoretical top speed of 270 mph, but that's yet to be verified, making this very 2007 model still the world's fastest production car. At just over $150,000 the reserve has not yet been met, but the minimum bid is surely quite a bit less than the base price of a Bugatti Veyron or Koenigsegg CCX.
The BMW Z10 ED -- Efficient Dynamics -- is a green supercar that's out to get the Audi R8. Tech specs are hypothesized to be a high-pressure turbocharged inline six cylinder with 400 hp that would use either a mechanical valve system or BMW's VANOS system, and run through a 7-speed dual-clutch transmission. Along with electronic stop/start aids, there would be technology to turn exhaust gasses into electricity. With the use of plenty of carbon fiber and aluminum, the car is meant to weigh no more than 3,080 pounds. Even though it hasn't stopped Ferrari and Lamborghini, lead BMW designer Adrian Van Hooydonk thinks it might be hard to sell the Z10 with a supercar body in a global recession. Most importantly, though, he wants the car to be a symbol of the future, and to offer an "exciting dynamic experience." We can't imagine the sketch is anything go by, unless he also wants the car to try and eat you.
Most automakers -- especially those with limited resources -- get their first production model to market before announcing future variants. Hulme Supercars director Jock Freemantle had to mortgage his house to finance the development of his pet project, whose launch has been pushed back several times already. Now targeted to go on sale next year, the Hulme will be available in both closed-roof and open-air versions, with a Corvette Z06-sourced V8 replacing the previous BMW unit. Freemantle now says that an additional version will follow, featuring the supercharged V8 from the all-conquering Corvette ZR1. In a nimble, lightweight package, the 640-hp powerplant promises to propel the supercar to epic speeds... if it ever makes it to production.
The McLaren legacy is a powerful draw. Bruce McLaren himself was a tour de force as a racing driver, engineer and team principal in his day, winning races and championships in Formula One, Indy cars and Can-Am. Ever since his passing in 1970, there has been no lack of supercars ready to lift up his mantle: McLaren F1, Mercedes SLR, Caparo T1...even the tuned Viper concept that recently hit the auction block all owe their origins to the Kiwi and the racing teams he established. Add to that list the Hulme CanAm, a lightweight supercar six years in the making. The car is named after Denny Hulme, the New Zealander won the F1 title in 1967 before going on to win the Can-Am championship the following year. Appropriately, the car shown above is painted the same bright orange hue as the McLaren racer in which he did it. We've been following the development of the car, previously referred to as the Hulme F1, for a few years now. Along with the name change and the addition of an open-roof model, the Hulme has received a heart transplant in the form of a 7.0-liter LS7 V8 borrowed from the Corvette Z06 to replace the previous BMW unit, offering 600 horsepower. That's enough to push the supercar to sixty in less than three seconds and on to nearly 200 miles-per-hour. The Hulme CanAm recently underwent a public shakedown at the A1GP race in New Zealand, where it lapped the circuit at 123 mph without incident, and is expected to hit the market with a $700,000 price tag sometime next year.
We've been eying the press releases about the Ultimate Aero EV from Shelby Super Cars with a good deal of skepticism since it was first announced back in mid-2008. It seems that some of the early specs were released prematurely, though the revised information still leaves us scratching our heads. Now that we're getting closer to the car's supposed release later this year, the automaker is letting out some extremely interesting details about the EV's powertrain, which will include twin electric motors with 500 horsepower each, a three-speed automatic gearbox and a mythical lithium ion battery pack that it claims can be quick charged to full capacity in 10 minutes via a 220V line. As much as we'd love to see Shelby's system work exactly as advertised, we should mention that the math isn't on SSC's side -- that's some major amperage and is seriously outside the realm of capabilities for any 220V outlet installed in a residential home. Come on, SSC, prove us wrong.
The unique curves of a supercar tend to attract a lot of attention. But these days, some people are likely to turn away from a sleek and powerful automobile once they learn it guzzles more gasoline than a Hummer. Thankfully, those people are usually the type that can't afford them in the first place. In any case, the real spotlight getters now come with fuel saving efficient power plants. The guys from Silicon Valley kicked off a new trend with the creation of Tesla. Following in the Roadster's footsteps we first saw Ronn Motor Company announce their hydrogen supplemented 40 miles-per-gallon Scorpion HX, and now Shelby Supercars has thrown their hat into the ring. We were first teased with a few specs on an Ultimate EV last July, and now a few more details of the system have been put into words.
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