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The V12 Vanquish was brought to the attention of many car fanatics when it was used in the James Bond movie, Die Another Day. In the movie it even had the features of camouflaging, causing it to be simply invincible. Now to the real world, the newest 2005 Aston Martin V12 Vanquish unfortunately didn’t see any major changes. The Newest V12 ‘Camouflage’ however can still operate as one of the finest British performance cars to date.

The V12 Vanquish sports, obviously a V12 engine. The powerful engine brings 460 horsepower at 6500 rpm. At 5000 rpm, the V12 ‘Camouflage’ vehicle brings 400lb-ft of torque. The Austin Martin V12 Vanquish will accelerate to 60 miles an hour in 4.5 seconds and will top out at an amazing speed of 190 mph. Brembo brakes with ABS system will come in handy when you are in trouble in this amazing speed capable car.

Although the V12 Vanquish can be compared to some Ferrari’s and even Bugatti’s in some cases, the Vanquish will never get the attention that these cars will, a Vanquish is rare these days, only 300 a year are in production and in most cases, individuals who plan on spending $300,000 on a car, usually end up turning to Ferrari, Lamborghini and Bugatti. Just for the fact that they get more attention and usually every kid first car that they know about is a Ferrari.

Unless you live in Montecarlo or any other big, rich cities, you probably wont be seeing a ‘Camouflage’ V12 Vanquish everyday. Also to the fact that there weren’t any major changes in 2005, for those who decide to purchase the Vanquish, most of them will end up saving the extra cash and go for a similar 2003 or 2004 model.

Posted by daniel at 12:17 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

The Phantom, delivered by Rolls Royce, is an extremely luxurious saloon in 2003. It was BMW’s first ever Rolls Royce model after buying the marquee after Vicker put up the company for sale. Unlike what Mercedes had done in the past with their ‘Maybach’ models, BMW created the Phantom to be distinctive then BMW’s other models. If you go to a BMW dealership, you will not find any Phantom’s, BMW decided to sell Rolls-Royce vehicles in separate dealerships.

The gorgeous Phantom has power too, under the hood you will find a 48 valve 6.75 Litre 12 cylinder engine. The engine produced just less than 455 horsepower and 531 lb-ft of torque. On performance tests, the Phantom took 5.8 seconds to accelerate to 60 miles an hour. The Rolls Royce Phantom includes an 84.60 mm (3.3”) bore and a 92.00 (3.6”) stroke. The Phantom tops out at 150 miles / hour. An interesting addition is also included in the car, a dial tells the driver how much of the Phantom’s power is still available to use.

As the production of the Phantom was taking place, sales were expected to be at least 1,000 in 2005. BMW (Rolls-Royce) only sold just over half of their projected target, but nonetheless the Phantoms sales still doubled the sales of Mercedes’ Maybach 57

Posted by daniel at 10:24 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Enzo Ferrari was born on February 18, 1898 near Modena, Italy. Since his father took him to his first automobile race in Bologna he decided he wanted to become a race car driver. In 1919 he started racing, finishing his first race 9th and ended up landing a job with Alfa Romeo racing there cares and eventually finishing second.

In 1923 he was approached by Count Enirco. He died on Mount Montello during the war. His parents gave Ferrari there son’s badge, which was the famous prancing horse on a yellow shield. Ferrari was connected with Alfa Romeo for many years however, he only built a few sports cars bearing his name.

In 1940, Enzo Ferrari left Alfa Romeo and started a new company Auto-Avio Costruzioni Ferrari. And during the Second World War, the Ferrari factory in Modena, Italy moved south of the country to Maranello. Unfortunatly, only a few years later, the factory was bombed in the war and was left destroyed with nothing left. On a higher note, it was rebuilt in 1946 with more and improved surroundings.

The hand building of Ferrari’s then began with the Ferrari 125 Sport and even today, hand built Ferrari’s continue to be built and successfully sold. Ferrari is known as the exotic car of all exotic cars, individuals of all ages dream of these cars from the days they only speak a few words to the last breaths of life. Similar to the life of Enzo Ferrari, from his early years to his last minutes of life, he lived the dream and changed the car world forever.

He died peacefully in Modena in 1988.

Posted by daniel at 04:30 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

The BMW M3 was introduced in 1986 as a 3-Series Sport type as was unexpectidly amazingly successful. M3 made every car more elite to the others in some way. The first M3 was based on the BMW E30 in 1986, making it a high performance vehicle. It was first equipped to produce 195 horsepower from a 2.3 Litre S14 engine, coming from the Formula 1 M10 straight-4 engine. Once other versions were introduced, the M3 got even more popular. The M3 seperated itself from other E30s also because of bigger brakes, larger fenders and wider tires to go along with a long list of additions. One of the versions even produced 240 horsepower with a 2.5 Litre engine again from the straight-4.

The next BMW to receive the M3 touch was the E36 coupe in 1992. It was equipped with a 3.0 L straight-6 engine, and produced well over 280 horsepower. The M3 was only available in Europe for its early years but in 1995, the 1995 BMW M3 began to get shipped to North America with a 3.0 Litre engine that produced 240 horsepower, which was less powerful then the European version, in fact it had the same engine as the BMW M Roadster and the BMW M Coupe. The M3 however finally broke the 300 horsepower mark in Europe 1996 where it was then equipped with a bigger 3.2 Litre engine that brought 321 horsepower. It also was made the bigger M5's brakes and a 6-speed gearbox. BMW M3 performance was beginning to become a big trend. Although it had some speed, it was named the best handling car in 1997 by Car and Driver.

The new millenium saw some change to the M3 as well. It was now based on the E46 and was equipped in every country including USA and Canada with a 3.2 Litre engine that produced more then 330 horsepower. It was a big jump especially for those in North America. In 2007, the BMW M3 is said to be equipped with a 4.0 Litre engine that will produce over 400 horsepower. Nothing has been released on the information of the 2008 BMW M3, it may or may not use the E46 platform.

Posted by daniel at 04:45 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

The now famous Saleen S7, a redesigned and tuned up version of the Ford GT is the new sports car of today. It is built by Saleen Performance Inc in Troy, Michigan. Saleen was previously known for redesigning and tuning up Fords Focus and popular Mustang. Saleen was created in 1983 by Steve Saleen, a former race car driver in Irvine, California.

Almost every part of the car was built and designed by Saleen, making the Saleen barely noticable to the Ford GT, it really is a tuned up car though, but barely. The Saleen S7 was created with a powerful engine. It was naturally aspirated and it brought about 550 horsepower at 5900 rpm's. The engine was a 7.0 litre gas with mid-engine rear-wheel drive. It had a 16 valve valvetrain but only had 8 cylinders.

The Saleen S7 took a big turn in 2005 though, it made a some big changes to the engine which increased horsepower and of course made the car faster. The 2001 Saleen S7's performance were as follows:

0 - 60 in 3.3 seconds
0 - 100 in 7.0 seconds
Quarter Mile in 11.4 seconds

The new 2005 Saleen S7 was a bit faster in ALL categorys. Half a second ws gained in the 0 - 60 run, the 2005 S7 takes 2.8 seconds. As the 2005 model got to 100 miles, its a whole second faster then the older Saleen's. It takes 6.0 seconds for the 2005 to reach 100. But as the top speed is hit, the older Saleen actually gains time on the newer one, only 0.7 seconds differential. Still though, for accelleration, the new 2005 S7's are faster.

Posted by daniel at 08:33 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

The XJR-15 is one of the rarest sport cars built by Jaguar, starting over 15 years ago in 1990. Considering it was finished being built in 1992 and released that same year, the car was easily one of the nicest automobiles to date. The car was designed based on the Jaguar XJR-9, the car that won 24 Hours Le Mans. Only 50 of the XJR-15 were produced. Each were sold for just under a million. Most of the cars bought are privately owned with a few being used for some sport events such as the famous Monaco Gran Prix.

The XJR-15 has a little bit of power as well. The engine is a powerful V12 engine but only brings 450 horsepower. It has a 6-speed manual transmission. The XJR-15’s chassis and bodywork are mostly made of carbon fiber, very rare for most cars in 1992.

Considering it was mostly privately owned and mostly used for professional racing events, the XJR-15 is guaranteed to show some quick performance. The XJR-15 can accelerate to 60 miles per hour in 3.1 seconds. Its top speed is 185 mph. Not the fastest, but you cant expect a whole lot from a 15 year old car.

Posted by daniel at 10:29 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

The Ferrari 612 Scaglietti was designed to replace the smaller Ferrari 456M. Its a Grand Touring car that competes in many long distance races such as the Le Mans 24 Hours and Targa Florio. The 612 Scaglietti entered production in 2004. It was producted in Ferrari's Carrozzeria Scaglietti Plant in Modena, Italy. The interior really isn't what you would expect. It can fit up to four passengers.

Under the hood, the 612 Scaglietti features a powerful 5.7 Litre V12 engine, the same engine as the former Scaglietti, the 575M Maranello. The powerful engine brings 540 horsepower at 7250 rpm. The 612 Scaglietti features a easy Formula 1 based six speed manual shifter similar to the transmission on the 360 Modena.

The 612 Scaglietti can be capable of many speeds as well. Its not the best car for acceleration but once its started, it can be capable of a top speed of almost 200mph. It can accelerate to 60 miles per hour in 4 seconds, 100 miles in 10.4 seconds and speeds up instantly and can go a quarter mile in less then 2 seconds more then 100 miles at 12 seconds.

Posted by daniel at 12:26 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

The Ferrari F50 is one of the most known and most expensive Ferrari’s. 1946 was the year that an automobile brand would change the way people thought of cars forever, known as Ferrari. In 1996, the Ferrari team designed the F50 to celebrate its 50th anniversary. It really only is a high speed sports car, its not a car you can drive everyday. It has two doors with only two seats. A removable hardtop is also included with the sports legend.

The F50 has a 4.7 Litre 5 valve V12 engine delivering 513 horsepower at 8500 rpm. The Ferrari F50 creates only 347ft-b of torque as well. The engine was based and developed on Ferrari’s Formula One engines.

The F50 of course is a high-performance sports car. Its acceleration is without a doubt amazing. 0 – 30 in 1.8 seconds, 0 – 60 in 3.5 seconds, 0 – 100 in 8 seconds and a quarter mile in 12.1 seconds. The F50 can be seen going for around a quarter to half a million dollars, american.

Posted by daniel at 11:13 AM | Permalink

The TVR Tuscan S is a sports car from the United Kingdom with stylish and unique looks with a standard 4.0 Litre engine producting 400 horsepower with 315lb-ft of torque. The Tuscan S uses a unique engine, known as the straight-6 or the S-6. It is an internal combustion engine that has six cylinders lined up. These engines dont require a balance shaft. The TVR Tuscan S only weighs 1100 kg, more then 200 kg less then the small Volkswagen Golf.

Dont mess with the Tuscan S either, dont underestimate the performance of it. It can go from – 0 30 in under 2 seconds, 0 – 60 in approximatly 3.6 seconds and 0 – 100 in 8 seconds. Braking isn't a concern either, it only takes 4 seconds to brake from 100 mph to a sudden stop.

With a base price of around £50,000, it isn’t affordable by most people, still though it’s a pretty good price when you compare it to the Bugatti Veyron 16.4 and the Ferrari Enzo. Its not a car you can use everyday either, theres no cup holders, and its got limited to none safety options. You don't get airbags, ABS brakes, or traction control. So some may argue that this car isn’t worth the semi-affordable price.

Posted by daniel at 07:02 AM | Permalink

The Ferrari Enzo is a supercar with a powerful uncommon 6.0 Litre V12 engine. It was named after Ferrari's italian founder, Enzo Ferrari. Using formula 1 technology, it was produced in 2003. It was made with a carbon-fiber body, easy formula1 six speed semi-automatic style shift transmission and carbon-ceramic brake discs. The Enzo has 660 horsepower when at 7800 rpm. It produces 472lb-ft of torque. Its performance is on its own scale as well. It can do 0 – 60 in only 3.6 seconds and 0 – 100 in 6.3 seconds. Speed continues to pick up as it only takes 11 seconds to complete a quarter mile at 130 mph. It tops out at 217 mph, not that you should ever reach that speed. Fuel just disappears in the Ferrari Enzo, only 8 miles per gallon in the city and 12 miles per gallon on the highway.

The Ferrari Enzo can only be purchased by previous owners, and they must be invited to purchase it. Priced at $650,000 USD, the invitation is not everything, affording it is a different story. Initially, only 349 Ferrari Enzo's were produced, lately 50 more were built meaning there is only 399 Ferrari Enzo's on earth. The 400th car was donated to past pope, John Paul II, who then requested to bid it with the money going to a charity. It sold for 1.25 million american dollars.

Keep on dreaming.

Posted by daniel at 10:51 PM | Permalink

The Lamborghini Gallardo is often underestimated. Its known everywhere as the baby of the Murcielago. Baby it is not, as it is equipped with a powerful 5.0 Litre V10 engine bringing almost 500 horsepower at 7,800 rpm. “Gallardo” comes from a name of a fighting bull in spain, the name Gallardo translates to the word “elegant” in the Spanish language.

The Gallardo can arguably be a better all-round car then the Murcielago. Reviews say that it has better handling, it is tractable in low-speed traffic in the city, and of course that the top speed of the Murcielago will never be reached, with the few highway exceptions. Enless you live in Germany and go on the Autobahn, there really is no point of spending extra money on the Murcielago.

Overall though, spending the extra money isnt worth it but even the Gallardo is 'extra money' to most people when the base price is over $165,000 USD. The fuel capacity isnt cheap either, its fuel capacity is 24 gallons and will only last you 9 miles per gallon in the city and about 17 miles per gallon on the highway. You gotta have lots of the green stuff to afford and maintain one of these.

Posted by daniel at 08:57 PM | Permalink