Categories: Special / Limited Edition

A major year for anniversies, 2013 serves as the 100th anniversary of Aston Martin, the 50th anniversary for Lamborghini and McLaren, the 60th anniversary for the Corvette, and the 50th anniversary for the Porsche 911. Each automaker is celebrating in its own way, and those celebrations tend to include special anniversay edition sports cars. The Porsche 911 50th Anniversary Edition is the latest model to receive its official introduction, celebrating half a century, seven generations, and more than 800,000 models produced of Porsche's quintessential sports car.

Every once in a while a car comes along that we term a "crossover". Now, when we say crossover, we are definitely not talking about a Buick Enclave or a Toyota Venza here. Make no mistake, in no way are we referring to a car that crosses over two different vehicle genres. Oh no, when we talk about a car that can be termed a "crossover-car", it means something else entirely. A crossover-car is a car that is so beautiful, so special, that it can take a die-hard enthusiast from one car company and make them crossover to become a true lover of another car company. These cars don't come along too often, but when they do, they are something special. The most recent addition to the crossover-car list is none other than the 2014 Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG Black Series.

About the only thing the Nissan Juke has in common with the Batmobile is that it looks weird when compared to every other car on the road. In the Batmobile's case, the weirdness is more like a superhero-level awesomeness, whereas in the Juke's case it's... well, just weird. That hasn't stopped Nissan from building a Dark Knight  Rises Juke and awarding it to one lucky winner.

When humans and machines assemble thousands of individual parts, and the resulting product is expected to survive extreme use/abuse by... humans, something is bound to go wrong every now and then. So here's a roundup of all the latest automotive oops-a-daisies and bad ideas.

In a little less than a year, we Chevy fans are in for a treat of historical proportions. There is a very good chance that we may be privy to witnessing the debut of the single greatest Camaro of all time. Yes, that's right.  Now, naysayers will harken back to the great heydays of the 1960s and pull out names like the original ZL1 or  Z/28, Yenko, or SS/RS. But  if we are going to be honest with ourselves, there is no comparison between a car built 50 years ago and a car built today, at least if you are planning to drive it in anything except perfect conditions. 

Before you decide to claim some sort of modern day bias, just know that your humble author was the proud owner of a 1965 Mustang convertible as well as a 2001 Pontiac Trans Am and speaks from experience. Unless you live in San Diego or have a least one or two other cars, a modern 500 horsepower Camaro supersedes a classic most days of the week. Once we get beyond the '60s, there is almost no other Camaro that even comes close to challenging the new Z/28 for the crown. In fact, the only car that does present a sizable challenge to the Z/28 is its very own stablemate, the mighty ZL1. But before we delve into why the Z/28 could very well overtake its more powerful brethren, let's take a closer look at it, shall we?

Anumber of Nissan vehicles have been getting the NISMO treatment for the past year or so, with Nissan having outlined a broader role for its parts and performance arm. The latest is one of the most obvious candidates: the 2014 370Z sports car. The 370Z NISMO enjoys some distincitive interior and exterior design themes. 

A number of Nissan vehicles have been getting the NISMO treatment for the past year or so, with Nissan having outlined a broader role for its parts and performance arm. The latest is one of the most obvious candidates: the 2014 370Z sports car. The 370Z NISMO enjoys some distincitive interior and exterior design themes.

The National Off Road Racing Association (we'll call 'em NORRA from now on) announced last week that for the first time ever an all-electric off-road vehicle would race in its Mexican 1000 hot rod race, which is underway now. The rally, which is open to vintage and alternatively fueled vehicles, provides an interesting test bed for EVs, which suffer from range issues and performance problems in extreme weather - say 1,200 miles of hot, mouth-cottoningly dry desert in Baja. The SR1 EV1 truly has its work cut out for it. 

Earlier this month, Bugatti announced a claimed world speed record for convertibles in its Veyron Grand Sport Vitesse. The 1,183-hp open-topped Veyron screamed down Volkswagen's Ehra-Lessein track and was clocked in at 254.04 mph by the German inspection and certification aficianados at TUV. Bugatti followed the feat up by revealing a Grand Sport Vitesse "World Record Car" special edition at the Shanghai Auto Show. 

If you’ve been truck shopping in the last decade, then you know just how expensive they’ve become. Sure, they’re more civilized, fuel efficient, and capable than ever before. But they’re still just motorized wheelbarrows, right?

Wrong. If you’re prepared to spend north of $50k on a half-ton truck, you can get a chromed-out Aspen Ski Lodge on wheels, sans the antler chandelier. The gaudiness of the available amenities borders on the ridiculous. But if you come from old family money, and people call you by your initials, then here’s three rhinestone-encrusted wheelbarrows just for you!

For anyone who has never laid eyes on a Lamborghini, a small piece of advice:  Find one. Sure, pictures are nice, and stats are fun to read, but there is nothing – repeat, nothing that compares to the visual presence of a Lamborghini in living color. If you happen to get your choice of which Lambo to view as your first raging bull, may we suggest the 2013 Aventador LP 700-4 Roadster. Sure, the name is a mouthful, but trust us there will be plenty of room to fill when your jaw drops.  

Supercars are all about imagination. Impossibilities made possible, then wrapped in bodywork that was designed by a 12-year-old on the back of a math book. They don’t have to make sense; they have to make us excited. Hopeful that one day, we’ll be able to buy one for ourselves. And if we win the lottery any time soon, the McLaren P1 will be at the top of our shopping list.

Unveiled a few months ago at the Paris Motor Show, the McLaren P1 has slashes and swoops, butterfly doors, and the coolest orange paintjob that you’ll ever see. This car defies logic, and challenges everything that you normally associate with supercars. It’s a gas-electric hybrid (yep - just like a Prius), but it has a top speed of 218 mph. You can drive it for 6-12 mi (at reasonable speeds) on electricity alone, then the twin-turbo 3.8L V8 will spool up to charge the battery pack (it even comes with a plug-in charger for some extra ‘green-ness’).