13 Of 2013

Ferrari LaFerrari

THE Ferrari. The name might  sound funny and a little obnoxious, but the LaFerrari makes a bold claim and has the firepower to stand by it. Its the most technologically advanced Ferrari supercar to date, with a list of technical bits and acronyms that would stretch from Dhaka to Modena, Italy, where the cars are hand built. The mid mounted V12 produces 789 hp on its own, but when combined with the Formula 1 sourced HY-KERS system, the replacement to the Enzo can rocket to 217 mph with short bursts of 950 hp delivered at the wheels. It's the highest powered Ferrari road car yet. Plus, LOOK at it.  

Aston Martin Vanquish Volante Neiman Marcus

The Vanquish name took a backseat with the launch of the DB9 and DBS, but with the release of the new one, its squarely back on top of the grand touring sports car podium. The new Vanquish was showcased towards the end of 2012 and featured design cues from the One-77 supercar, and this year the official tuner division of Aston, Q, brought out a special edition of the Volante, called the Neiman Marcus, with special touches like the sublime Seychelles Blue color. The basic shape is almost twelve years old now, but it has to be one of the most alluring automobile shapes ever.

McLaren P1

Meet the fighter McLaren brought to the ring in the heavyweight match between Ferrari and the small scale manufacturer from Woking, England: the P1. Deemed a successor to the absolute legend that is the F1, the P1 is all about the numbers: 3.8-litre twin-turbocharged V8 delivers 727 bhp and 531 lb ft, and when combined with the electric motor, the total power figure stands at 903 bhp and 722 lb ft torque. It looks like a curvaceous nuclear reactor on the move, and there's little chance you aren't going to be moved by just looking at it.

Mercedes Vision GT Concept

Created as a unique vehicle for Sony PlayStation's PS4 exclusive game Gran Turismo 6, the Mercedes Vision GT is a finely sculpted feminine form with curves in all the right places. Possibly one of the most exciting concept cars in 2013, the Vision GT is almost worth paying the premium for a brand new console. Unfortunately it's just a marketing gimmick and won't make it to production, but we pray that some of the design cues make their way to production cars at least. 

Nissan Freeflow IDX/Nismo IDX Concepts

Showcased as a tribute to the legendary Datsun 510 from the 70's, the Freeflow IDX and its Nismo version possibly hint towards Nissan preparing a rival to Toyota's GT86. The retro styled concepts are small in size and the design is funky cool, a myriad blend of muscular edginess for the Nismo and streamlined 70's chic for the Freeflow. We desperately hope these make it to production.

Maserati Quattroporte

Transportation for four, by the masters of GT car engineering: Maserati. The last gen Quattroporte was one of the best looking four door sedan ever made, and had supercar rivalling performance figures. It was always going to be a difficult car to encompass when designing a replacement, but the 2013 model is well proportioned and still manages to retain the grace and poise of the last one, with added aggressiveness in the form of a gaping mouth. The 3.8 litre V8 propels the sedan to 191 mph. 

BMW i3

The i3 is a compact electric city car, and is marketed as an efficient urban automotive alternative to traditional hatchbacks. It is environmentally friendly, being a zero emissions car, and offers impressive range from its electric motor, while the option for extended range comes from a 650cc two cylinder petrol engine. Its all set to revolutionize the city car segment with its upscale design and interior, but the price tag is a bit worrying: $43,000 USD. Will it turn into another celeb-driven car which is supposedly designed for the masses, like the Prius? Time will tell.

Audi A1 Quattro

Take the concept of a tiny two door city car, add blistering turbocharged power and all wheel drive, give it a plush-premium feel interior, slap a fairly high price tag on it and call it an Audi: meet the A1 Quattro. The Japs have been doing the fast city car thing for a while, but no one took notice because it was mostly limited within the home market. The A1 is a Mini rival, and with its highest spec, it can sling it with the rest of the big boys. 

Jaguar F-Type

Ian Callum can't seem to stop designing heartbreakingly beautiful cars. His latest work of art takes inspiration from the E-type, possibly the finest Jag ever made, and channels its spirit into the F-type. Jeremy Clarkson from Top Gear simply can't get enough of the F-type, and in his review he would go on and on about what a marvelous car it is. It looks amazing, sounds brilliant, and goes fast, but the downside is the price, which puts it in Porsche 911 territory. 

Alfa Romeo Disco Volante

The Alfa Disco Volante is built by Carrozzeria Touring Superleggera, and is inspired by the original Alfa C52 Disco Volante from 1952. The original was a gorgeous car, and to add to the list of worries for the designer, the car is based off an Alfa 8C Competizione, which in itself is astonishingly beautiful. However, we think the design is spectacular, with the right amount of retro combined with futuristic touches. It has square wheel arches, so the Alfa quirk is also there. 

Lamborghini Veneno

It doesn't look particularly good in our opinion, and some say it looks like a razor. We can even go so far as to say it looks like a 10 year old's day-dream, designed with crayons because grade six math class is too boring. But there lies its charm: it's a childish design of a rocketship, and we're pretty sure the same was said of the Countach by boring adults when it began gracing teenagers' bedroom walls in the 70's. Lamborghini's latest poster material is an Aventador with a new body and tuned engine with 740 bhp. The price tag? 4.27 million dollars. That makes for a very expensive razor. 

Dodge Viper GTS

The Viper changed perception of American engineering and design to a worldwide audience when it came out in 1991, and since then the battle between Viper and Corvette has been extremely interesting for the gearheads. The latest one, the 2013 GTS, comes after years of refinement to the base formula for a Viper, which delivers supercar level performance and out of this world looks for a fraction of the price of a thoroughbred European sports car. It still has a few crass details, but overall, the new Viper is a lot more mature and refined compared to its predecessors.   

BMW 4 series

The 3 series is gone, long live the 3 series. Or is it? Its all really confusing right now, with a medley of numbers and specs. The 4 series is supposed to be the performance variant of the 3 series, which has been demoted to only family sedan duty. So if there is a replacement for the iconic M3, its not going to be called an M3, but possibly an M4. It looks good in a muscly, aggressive way, and will obviously deliver on performance because, lets face it, BMW and M division know their stuff.