Can you believe that Porsche enthusiasts are already clamoring for Porsche’s non-existent supercar? The Mission S was recently unveiled, and the “vision model” has received overwhelmingly positive feedback from fans, some of which have resulted in genuine inquiries for a car that has yet to go into production.

Remember, the Mission S is just a concept, so it will take the German automaker a while before it even announces production or settles on a retail price. Even so, that hasn’t stopped the hardcore fans with Porsche supercar money burning a hole in their pockets. In fact, these prospective Mission S customers have even asked for contracts and paperwork they can sign right now to get them a Mission S, or whatever derivative comes, in the future.

As Porsche’s CFO, Jochen Breckner stated in Porsche’s Q3 2026 earnings call, “That car [Mission S] received really overwhelming feedback from all the stakeholders and groups that we were targeting with that car. From our perspective, that vision model is, in terms of design and positioning of the brand, a great proof point for our strategy. It’s still a vision model and a design model, but it received really fantastic feedback, and we are really happy with the feedback we received since then.’

What a Concept!

The Mission S is more than just a concept for a new flagship model, but also a concept for Porsche’s vision for the future. It would be awesome to have another Porsche supercar, because it’s been over a decade since we got the 918 Spyder, and even longer since the legendary Carrera GT. It might be high time for Porsche to flex its engineering chops on another limited-run flagship supercar.

However, unlike those legendary nameplates, reports indicate its platform will be in production and won’t be relegated to the archives right after the last production number rolls off the factory floor. This will be a monumental shift for the brand’s lineup because it will be like Porsche (sort of) admitting that putting the engine in the middle, instead of the back, is part of the brand’s future.

The Mission S seems to be more than just a standalone supercar; it will also spawn a new generation of models from the brand. Porsche has already confirmed that the Mission S will set the tone for a new model above the 911. Will it still be called the Mission S? We don’t yet know.

No Price, No Specs, but… Porsche has “Orders”

A manual transmission is also possible in the Mission S, as well as Porsche’s PDK. As usual, Porsche can chuck a three-pedal transmission with high enough demand. Also, according to sources from its debut in New York, the sound that came out of the Mission S was that of a flat engine, but Porsche hasn’t confirmed or denied a flat-eight at this point in time. On that note, Porsche is reportedly considering pure internal combustion and a hybrid powertrain. Perhaps something similar in operation to the 911 GTS, which launched earlier this year.

The thing is, “it will all take some time,” said Breckner. It will be a while before the Mission S turns into a production car, which may mean that we won’t see the final production model until perhaps 2030 or beyond, as per source estimates. If anything, this is a future product for Porsche, with the brand’s future plans of making more money from fewer cars in mind.

The Aston Martin Valhalla is the brand’s first plug-in hybrid supercar, tapping into the segment Ferrari and Lamborghini compete in with the 849 Testarossa and Revuelto, respectively. Now, Aston Martin wants to further widen the Valhalla’s appeal with a new Spider version. But the Valhalla Spider isn’t just any other open-top alternative, as it manages to retain the performance of the coupe.

Unlike many models with coupe and open-top options, the Valhalla Spider retains the 217-mph top speed of the Valhalla Coupe, even with the roof removed. Spiders tend to have lower top speeds because of increased aerodynamic drag and additional weight, something that also affects Aston Martin’s flagship model, the Valkyrie. While the Valkyrie Coupe has a listed top speed of 220 mph, the Spider is rated at over 217 mph with the roof on and over 205 mph with the roof off.

The Little Brother Has a Big Trick

So despite the Valkyrie Spider making more horsepower from a naturally aspirated hybrid V12, the Valhalla Spider is the British marque’s fastest open-cockpit model ever. It retains the same powertrain setup as the coupe, which is a 4.0-liter twin-turbo V8 paired with three electric motors, producing a combined output of 1,064 horsepower.

The Valhalla Spider achieves this feat thanks to revised aerodynamics, including a rear snorkel that’s 35 mm (1.38 inches) taller and a wind deflector that redirects airflow above the occupants while supplying cooling air to the engine intake. The active aerodynamics and electronic stability control are also recalibrated for both open- and closed-roof driving. However, while the optional carbon-fiber hardtop preserves the full 217-mph top speed, the standard fabric roof limits it to 124 mph when fitted. In the U.S., the carbon-fiber hardtop reportedly comes standard instead.

Another new feature in the open-top version is the standard carbon-fiber Touring Seats, although customers can retain the coupe’s sportier seats at no extra cost.

Supercars Without Ceilings

The press release didn’t disclose how many Aston Martin Valhalla Spiders will be produced or how much each will cost. However, reports say that the Spider will account for about 25% of the Valhalla’s 999-unit production run, which works out to roughly 250 examples. The coupe also starts at a little over $1 million in the U.S., so given that Spiders traditionally cost more, the new Valhalla variant is expected to carry a premium. For now, the new open-top version is scheduled to make its global debut at the 2026 Concours at Wynn Las Vegas this weekend, with deliveries starting in Q3 2027.

One alternative is the Ferrari 849 Testarossa, which is also available in coupe and open-top versions. Unlike the Valhalla, the Ferrari PHEV supercar doesn’t have a fixed production cap. The Lamborghini Revuelto is currently limited to coupe configurations, with the track-ready SV trim being the latest addition to the range.

View the 4 images of this gallery on the original article

Bugatti’s lineage may span over a century, but over the last 20 years, it’s been known as the purveyor of some of the most extreme hypercars the world has ever seen. From the Veyron to the Tourbillon, its cars will happily blow past 250 mph while offering a dash of luxury, all while being undaunted to drive at saner speeds.

More recently, the French automaker has been churning out exquisite one-offs for its very special (and ultra-wealthy) clients. Some fine examples include the Brouillard that just went home to its owner, the stunning Destrier, and the wonderful F.K.P Hommage. Also, it’s just started to explore more ideas and options for the Tourbillon.

The CEO Says Expect Even More

Mate Rimac, the current CEO of Bugatti, says it now has the freedom to do even more extreme projects. That’s mainly because the Rimac Group has bought the brand in its entirety from the Volkswagen Auto Group, with Porsche selling the last of its stake just a few months ago.

Rimac recently sat down with Top Gear and shared what he wants to happen to Bugatti in the coming years. Hint: There will be simpler cars and a whole lot of horsepower coming soon. “Now with the freedom, having the company independent from any car manufacturer, we can really think long-term and do bold things. And we will do lots of cool stuff,” said Rimac.

No Holding Back

That’s not to say VW had a short leash on Bugatti, but being part of a conglomerate has limitations. Now that it’s on its own, the company can let its hair down even more. When asked if sticking with a manual in a Tourbillon was possible, Rimac simply said, “Absolutely. You bet.”

Now, this doesn’t mean the project manual Tourbillon is a go, but rather that Bugatti says it has the capacity to build it. That would mean dropping the electrification bits, which would also shave off about 600 lbs. It would also mean 986 hp, 16 cylinders, and three pedals, making it a recipe for a really wild ride.

Rimac didn’t go into greater detail, but at least we know the gears are moving with that idea. As it’s now a smaller, independent automaker, Bugatti isn’t bound by strict emission rules and regulations that have forced many automakers to electrify their performance vehicles.

Back to Basics?

The Tourbillon is an amazing feat of engineering, and you don’t have to like cars to appreciate the work and attention to detail that was put into building it. That said, Rimac would also like to go back to basics with the brand. “I think the Tourbillon as it is now made a lot of sense as a successor to the Chiron. It’s an incredible car. But I wonder myself, what’s next for Bugatti and what would be interesting to do? And I think light weight and simplification of stuff,” said the CEO.

Now, this doesn’t mean the company will stop making its luxury hypercars. However, Rimac has a different kind of Bugatti in mind to complement its leather-lined top-speed missiles. The man would like something in the lines of the Type 35, one of the most successful race cars of all time. “Instead of a sledgehammer as Bugattis were the last 20 years, could you do something that’s also more engaging, more back to the roots, more Type 35? There’s so many ideas,” said Rimac.

Again, he didn’t delve deeper into that idea; it would certainly be an interesting concept. A lightweight, eight-cylinder, open-top speedster with a manual and zero electrification would be the perfect contrast and complement to what Bugatti has been building for over 20 years.

There are only a few Koenigsegg CC850s in existence, and that’s expected. With a price tag of over $3 million, the Swedish hypercar isn’t exactly for the masses.

Unfortunately, all CC850s delivered to the US are being recalled following a report of unintended vehicle movement. The issue involves the car’s electronic parking brake (EPB), which may fail to remain engaged under a specific combination of circumstances.

Koenigsegg filed the voluntary safety recall with the NHTSA last week, and it covers a grand total of seven cars. That might sound laughably tiny compared to your average recall, but for the CC850, that’s the entire American fleet.

What Caused the Koenigsegg CC850 Recall?

The recall hits all 2025 and 2026 CC850s built between September 28, 2025, and August 2, 2026. Every single one of the seven US cars is on the list, and Koenigsegg figures all of them have the bug.

The problem occurs when the engine is running, and the transmission is in Reverse. Under these conditions, pressing the electronic parking brake button will not keep the brake engaged unless the driver continuously holds the button down.

The whole mess came to light on October 12, when Koenigsegg got word that a CC850 had rolled away after the driver tried to set the parking brake. The engine was still running, Reverse was engaged, and the driver hopped out while parked on a slope. Thankfully, nobody got hurt.

Koenigsegg opened an investigation that same day and conducted real-world testing and a failure-rate assessment through October 19. The company subsequently decided to conduct a voluntary safety recall.

The biggest issue, according to the documents, is that a driver might leave the car in Reverse, skip the footbrake, and trust the parking brake to do its thing. On a hill, that could mean your multi-million-dollar hypercar decides to take a solo trip downhill. It’s a software gremlin, not a busted part. The NHTSA also points out that this glitch isn’t even covered by the usual static parking brake tests.

Free Software Fix Planned for All Seven Cars

Koenigsegg’s fix? A free software update for the parking brake, beamed straight to the car over the air. No need to haul your CC850 to the dealer – unless you really want to show it off.

The update was supposed to go live over the air last week, with letters to owners hitting mailboxes on October 29. Just goes to show, even a hypercar this rare isn’t immune to a software hiccup.

If an owner cannot complete the OTA update, an authorized Koenigsegg dealer will perform the same repair. The manufacturer also says it will reimburse owners who paid to have the condition remedied before the recall.

View the 4 images of this gallery on the original article

The Ferrari 12Cilindri is going to be Novitec’s next big reveal. The aftermarket company that loves to tinker and toy with Ferraris, Porsches, Lambos, and other high-end supercars and exotics has just teased the “next chapter of N-Largo.”

What you’re looking at right now is the silhouette of what’s going to be another wild and wide Novitec creation. As one of the premier brands right now in the high-end aftermarket space, this is one launch you’re gonna want to watch if you thought that your Ferrari 12Cilindri was a bit lacking in the width department.

View the 2 images of this gallery on the original article

Coming Soon

Breaking down the teasers, we can pick out a few details from the photos, such as the silhouette of the 12Cilindri. We can see that there is a vague outline of a fender vent over the front wheel arch. Then, out back, we see that Novitec has extended the rear spoiler just enough for us to notice, plus we also see that the brand has highlighted the iconic rear fender of the 12Cilindri, which may make you wonder if the brand did something to change things up in this area.

The next few photos may also give us clues on what Novitec plans to offer for the 12Cilindri, such as engine modifications, a rear diffuser, and aero bits. At this point, we can get a general idea based on what the company also offers for other Ferraris, Lamborghinis, and more.

View the 2 images of this gallery on the original article

A Double Wide Surprise?

The N-Largo name has always been used to denote the exclusive widebody versions of exotics. The Ferrari 812 comes to mind here, as well as the F8 Tributo. Both of these cars received the Novitec N-Largo treatment, and we can expect the N-Largo 12Cilindri to have the same wow factor plus more oomph under the hood.

Doubling back to the teasers, we can see that there are carbon fiber parts in some of the images, particularly the one that showcases the rear diffuser. I expect whatever Novitec does to the 12Cilindri to be done in quality carbon fiber, fitting for a Ferrari.

On top of that, we also expect the V12 engine to be tuned. In its stock configuration, it sings a tune that screams up to 819 horsepower and 500 ft-lbs of torque. At this juncture, I wonder if it will be physically possible for Novitec to tune it to 1,000 horsepower, naturally aspirated. I doubt it, but that would make for a great headline if they did. Though, as seen with its previous V12 escapades, closer to 900 with a full free-flowing exhaust setup and tune is what can be achieved with these modern Ferrari V12s without the aid of a turbo or supercharger.

What It’s Worth Right Now

Classic.com lists the 2002-2005 Acura NSX-T NA2 facelift market with a current benchmark of $166,436. Its reported average sale price is $174,036 across 34 sales, with recorded prices ranging from $91,000 to $350,000. The most recent sale shown in the report was $119,000.

What’s not to like? The mileage is barely broken in, the orange paint is impossible to miss, and the six-speed manual is catnip for enthusiasts. Bonus points for the original window sticker, which shows this NSX-T stickered at $89,765 when new.

That $187,777 bid? It’s already above the market average, but still shy of the wildest numbers we’ve seen. Don’t forget to factor in the aftermarket suspension and exhaust, plus the car’s overall condition and service history. With the auction still live, expect the final number to keep climbing—or not. Anything can happen.

Condition and Details

The Imola Orange Pearl paint is just the start. This NSX-T rocks aluminum bodywork, a removable roof panel, xenon headlights, an integrated rear wing, side scoops, and dual exhausts. It sits on 17-inch forged wheels with those adjustable Bilstein shocks we mentioned. Heads up: the front bumper’s been repainted, and the listing doesn’t hide the exterior blemishes—check the photos and videos for the full story.

Inside, you get Onyx leather power seats, automatic climate, cruise, and a Bose sound system—very 2000s luxury. The analog gauges are classic, with a tach that redlines at 8,000 rpm and a speedo that dreams big at 188 mph. There’s a cassette stereo (remember those?) with a six-disc CD changer, an aftermarket shift knob, all the original paperwork, a car cover, and that all-important window sticker. Carfax says no accidents or damage, so it’s got a clean bill of health.

Behind the seats, you’ll find Honda’s 3.2-liter DOHC V6 with VTEC, good for 290 horsepower and 224 lb-ft of torque. Power goes to the rear wheels via a six-speed manual and a limited-slip diff. The Pride Exhaust V2 and Bilstein shocks aren’t stock, but they should liven things up. It’s being sold by a dealer with a clean Pennsylvania title. If you’re serious, get an independent inspection to check the mechanicals, mods, and service history.

The Offer

Interested in this Acura NSX-T? View the listing here.

What Makes the Acura NSX-T Unique

The original NSX was Honda’s way of showing the world you could have a mid-engine, aluminum-bodied sports car that didn’t punish you for daily driving. The later NA2 models got a bigger 3.2-liter V6, and the 2002 facelift sharpened up the looks. The NSX-T? That’s your ticket to open-air driving, all without messing up those classic coupe lines.

This one stands out for its low miles, retina-burning paint, and that all-important manual. The aftermarket bits will tempt anyone looking to put their own stamp on an NSX, though purists might want something bone stock. At least you get a stack of paperwork and a clean history to start your homework.

Final Thoughts

Low miles, wild color, naturally aspirated V6, and a six-speed—this 2005 NSX-T checks all the right boxes. With bidding already past the Classic.com average at $187,777, you’ll want to pay close attention to condition and spec before getting caught up in the auction fever.

Thinking of throwing your hat in the ring? Check the service records and get an independent inspection—especially for the suspension, exhaust, that repainted bumper, and any flaws called out in the listing. If it all looks good, you could end up with a seriously cool piece of Honda history.

Disclaimer: This post is for informational purposes only. We are not a dealership or broker. All vehicle specifications, pricing, and availability are subject to change without notice. We are not responsible for typographical errors, omissions, or the accuracy of the provided information. Please verify all details directly with the seller.

Bugatti La Voiture Noire: $13.4 Million

A tribute to Jean Bugatti’s personal Type 57 SC Atlantic, the $13m La Voiture Noire is so disgustingly expensive that most people could live off the car’s price tag for the rest of their days pretty comfortably. It’s also the cheapest car on this list. The massive quad-turbocharged 8.0-liter W16 engine is derived from the one under the very expensive hood of the Chiron and produces a whopping 1,479 horsepower. It’s got six exhaust tips, wheels that look nothing like the ones off the Atlantic, and a longer, more rakish profile than the Chiron. It was also a one-off, so even if you had the cash, you can’t buy one.

Bugatti Brouillard: $20 Million (ish)

The Brouillard is another one-off Bugatti, though this one is so exclusive you can’t know what the car’s obscenely wealthy owner paid for it. At a guess, the car is worth some $7 million more than the already ridiculous La Voiture Noire. The Bugatti is part of its bespoke one-off service, which so many automakers at this level have also spun up. The brand’s version of the program is called Programme Solitaire. The product of it, the Brouillard, features a unique glass roof panel and is heavily based on the brand’s Mistral. A version of Bugatti’s 8-liter W16 makes 1,578 horsepower.

Bugatti FKP Hommage: $20 million (ish)

The second car in Bugatti’s Programme Solitaire, the FKP Hommage is exactly what it sounds like. We’ve reached the point where nostalgia for the early aughts is starting to emerge, and Bugatti is buying in with this tribute to the groundbreaking Veyron. Again using the brand’s W16 engine, the car’s styling elements pay tribute to the original Veyron, with rounder proportions and a unique interior intended to more closely recall the Chiron’s. Exact pricing is, again, unknown, but more than $20 million is a good guess.

Gordon Murray Automotive S1 LM: $20.6 Million

From the man who brought you the McLaren F1 comes… another McLaren F1. Gordon Murray knows what he’s good at, and the S1 LM is his own take on a modern F1 LM. Gordon Murray Automotive’s retro-ish revival uses a naturally aspirated V-12 with a six-speed manual transmission, with power estimates putting the V12 somewhere around 650 horsepower. The automaker says just five will be built, and allegedly, one hilariously greedy, mentally ill buyer has bought all five. I suppose the guy (and it could only be a guy) sold one of them at auction, where it brought in an astounding $20,630,000.

Rolls-Royce Boat Tail: $28 Million (ish)

Rolls-Royce used to be a coachbuilder, back when people literally used coaches. The Boat Tail marked a re-entry into bespoke coachbuilding and served as a successor to the brand’s 2017 Sweptail. The Boat Tail has a unique two-tone body, with its own “hosting suite.” That means a built-in umbrella and the obligatory champagne fridge. Rolls never announces pricing for these sorts of cars, but the above is a best guess.

Rolls-Royce La Rose Noire Droptail: $30 million (ish)

The Boat Tail’s successor, the La Rose Noire Droptail, is another laughably pricey coachbuilt car. The car is the first of four unique commissions, the rest of which will soon follow. This wears a totally exclusive hue – Ture Love – and could be worth as much as $35 million.

Then the bills arrive, and you discover that depreciation apparently doesn’t apply to the mechanic.

My friend Cody bought a 1975 Ferrari 308 GT4 for $38,000. After taxes and registration, he was in the low-$40,000 range. A few months and three shop visits later, he had spent just over $25,000 on maintenance and repairs. That’s about a new Toyota Corolla, sent straight to the service department.

However, this wasn’t simply an enthusiast gambling on a cheap exotic. Cody bought the very Ferrari that gave him his first ride in one as a teenager. That makes the purchase considerably more understandable, if no easier on his wallet.

Our conversation has been edited for length and clarity.

Costs reflect Cody’s experience with this particular car.

View the 1 images of this gallery on the original article

The Ferrari that started it all

Nathan: Tell me about your Ferrari.

Cody: It’s a 1975 Ferrari 308 GT4, a European-market example. It helped start Ferrari’s mid-engine V8 lineage, which continued through cars like the later 308 and, eventually, the 458, 488 and F8.

But I picked this particular car because I had a deeply personal connection to it. When I was 14, I went to local Cars and Coffee events pretty much every month. Even though I’m a Lamborghini guy, I love Italian cars, and I was always drawn to the Ferrari section.

A gentleman there owned this 308 GT4. He saw a kid who genuinely loved the cars and their history, and we became friends. Eventually, he took me for my first ride in a Ferrari.

Related: I Drove The 2026 Ford Mustang RTR: Here’s My Honest Review Of Ford’s Nearly $56,000 Factory Drift Car

Nathan: In this exact car?

Cody: This exact car.

Nathan: And you stayed in touch?

Cody: Absolutely. When I was in high school, he would attend another local event on Sundays. My house happened to be on his way home. Every so often, I’d get a text asking, “Hey, you busy?” He’d come by and take me for a ride. It was awesome.

That’s a pretty effective way to create a future Ferrari owner. Also, potentially, a future customer for a very fortunate mechanic.

What did Camry money buy?

Nathan: Give us the basic mechanical rundown.

Cody: A 3.0-liter V8, about 255 horsepower in European specification, and a five-speed dogleg manual transmission.

Nathan: And the back seats?

Cody: Small children could technically fit, but you’re punishing anybody much over five feet tall. Really, they’re extra luggage space. The luggage compartment behind the engine tends to get pretty hot.

Nathan: How much did you pay?

Cody: $38,000.

Nathan: With taxes and registration, roughly the low-$40,000 range. How many miles were on it?

Cody: A little over 60,000.

Nathan: So you finally owned the Ferrari you grew up riding in. What was the first thing you did?

Cody: Sent it to a shop.

Naturally. The honeymoon included a service advisor.

View the 2 images of this gallery on the original article

Three visits and one increasingly nervous wallet

Nathan: Walk me through the first round of work.

Cody: We knew it needed belts, and there were some leaks to fix. There was also a headlight switch on a stalk that’s known for breaking on these older Ferraris. A replacement was quoted at around $7,000. Thankfully, ours could be rebuilt.

I elected to replace the fuel lines, too. I wanted my car to remain a car, not a charcoal briquette. We also did brake lines and replaced the rear calipers because the handbrake was sticking.

Nathan: What brought it back the second time?

Cody: The starter failed. It had been failing for a while and had damaged the flywheel, so that needed replacing as well.

While everything was apart, we replaced the clutch. It didn’t absolutely need doing at that moment, but it was old. It made more sense than putting everything back together and paying to take it apart again relatively soon.

Nathan: And visit number three?

Cody: The alternator failed. According to the previous owner, it had last been rebuilt about 20 years earlier. Realistically, that’s not a bad lifespan, but it was another thing that needed doing. We also had axle boots fail.

Nathan: Some of this is simply age catching up with the car?

Cody: Exactly. We’re dealing with a 50-year-old car. These things are going to happen. And the people who have the knowledge to work on them properly aren’t cheap.

Nathan: What’s the service total?

Cody: Just over $25,000 now.

Nathan: So you’ve bought a Ferrari for Camry money and spent Corolla money keeping it running. Roughly $65,000 to $67,000 altogether?

Cody: Correct.

View the 3 images of this gallery on the original article

Do you regret it?

Nathan: That’s the obvious question.

Cody: Every time I see a bill.

Nathan: But then you drive it?

Cody: Then it makes sense. I almost think of it as a rich man’s Miata. We talk about the Miata being small, light, agile and fun without needing enormous power. This car has a lot of those characteristics.

The steering, throttle and clutch feel heavy. You really feel like you’re working the car. Once you get going, there’s a moment when you and the car are working together. It’s a really cool experience.

Nathan: What do you anticipate from future maintenance?

Cody: Pain.

There it is. Ferrari ownership, summarized in one extremely efficient word.

The lesson for bargain hunters

Nathan: You also own a Lamborghini. Are these smart purchases?

Cody: Objectively, no. They can look affordable. We recently saw an Aston Martin Vantage advertised for $45,000. That’s loaded Camry or Accord money, but it was originally a much more expensive car. Its maintenance bills still reflect that.

If you understand that and you’re prepared, you can have a good time. If you think you’re going to get away with it, it’s going to hurt.

Nathan: What comes next?

Cody: Probably continuing the masochism. Something Italian or British.

Apparently, he’d like his next repair bill delivered with a different accent.

Final thoughts

Cody’s experience illustrates the difference between being able to buy an exotic and being able to own one. The purchase price is merely the opening bid. Age, deferred work, parts availability, and specialist labor get their turns afterward.

Still, I understand this purchase. He didn’t buy an anonymous Ferrari because it was cheap. He bought a piece of his own history, complete with a V8 and a dogleg gearbox. That has value a spreadsheet will struggle to explain.

Related: Is Automotive Paint Protection Film (PPF) Worth It? I Ask an Expert

Would I recommend following his example? Only with a thorough inspection, a realistic maintenance reserve, and the understanding that your bargain might require another car’s worth of money.

Cody knew what he was getting into. It hurt anyway. But when the bills are paid, and the road opens up, he gets to drive the Ferrari that made him fall in love with Ferraris.

A Camry is unlikely to give him that experience. It would, however, leave room in the budget for an actual Corolla.

Related: 2026 Dodge Charger SIXPACK vs. EV: Which Powertrain is Best?

That sounds like Tesla is conceding that the product it is planning to launch won’t even be a road-legal car anymore, so why go that route? Why is a company with a mission statement “to build a world of amazing abundance” announcing a $250,000+ supercar that takes six hours to refill its single-use carbon-overlaid pressure vessel (COPV; responsible for those physics-bending party tricks), and can’t be used to the full on public roads? What does the Roadster have to do with anything in Tesla’s future? Is it all just another way to build hype for SpaceX, since neither company would draw as much attention on its own, before pitching the idea of merging the two companies? Maybe, maybe not.

Arguments for the Tesla Roadster’s Creation

Assuming that the Roadster is unlike pretty much every other Tesla creation to date in that it goes on sale on time, with all promised features, and without any regulatory, reliability, or safety-related compromises, it would be the achievement of the decade, if not the century. And with Tesla’s habit of regularly introducing minor refinements and improvements, it’s likely that the Roadster would get even better after going on sale. Tesla also says it’s working on getting refilling times for the COPV down to half an hour, which would be acceptable for a track day. Cool, but what’s the point of a car this crazy? Just because you can?

Partly, but making ridiculous claims and setting seemingly unattainable targets have made Musk and Tesla go viral time and time again, regardless of whether promises were fulfilled or not. The same applies to the Roadster, targeted in some form for 2028: whether it gets made or not, it has already become one of the marketing triumphs of a generation, generating worldwide buzz across cultures and interests. If it somehow does reach production as intended, it would easily become Tesla’s Veyron moment, setting new automotive standards for others to try to replicate. With cold-gas thrusters and compression tanks from SpaceX and actuating elements borrowed from the Tesla Optimus robot, not to mention new Tesla battery technology, the Roadster would not only be a rolling billboard for multiple Musk enterprises, but it would also act as a symbol of engineering prestige, with tech no other automaker could easily copy for years to come. It would offer an experience that not even Bugatti could rival (albeit just once or twice before a tank refill is required).

I’m not saying Bugatti wants to build a flying car – Mate Rimac already passed on that idea years ago – but if its customers inexplicably wanted to trade 16 cylinders for the novelty of momentary flight, Bugatti would not be able to offer the option. And let’s not forget that when the cold gas is depleted, which should make the Roadster lighter, Tesla promises owners an experience worthy of the title of “last best driver’s car,” as Musk and VP of Vehicle Engineering Lars Moravy have described it. The Model 3 Performance is already so good that some of the world’s premier journalists have likened its agility to that of a BMW M3, and with thruster-controlled yaw angles and traction maximization, the Roadster should obviously be even more capable.

However, Musk’s vision is for people everywhere to be transported by autonomous Cybercab robotaxis, so how does a great driver’s car with over a thousand horsepower fit in? Again, marketing. If the Roadster meets its production target, it would arrive at a time when robotaxis are likely to be far more abundant than they already are today, but long before they’ve become commonplace and achieved mainstream adoption. Launching the spectacular Roadster at this time would give many technophiles an incentive to use a Cybercab instead of robotaxis from other companies. Instead of getting into a completely soulless robotaxi, you’re getting a small taste of something produced by the futuristic company that made a car do a kickflip and then out-perform most hypercars on a track. That will stick. And let’s just take a second to consider how awesome it is that we’re even talking about a flying, flipping car – it’s the stuff humanity has been dreaming of for a century (see the Model 11 Autoplane from 1917 and the Tampier Roadable biplane from 1921).

Tesla could sell both the autonomous robotaxi service, potentially reducing traffic, and the luxury of experiencing the peak of four-wheeled conveyance at Tesla-owned and run looping tracks, like a rollercoaster you can drive to and from its rails. Of course, we’re assuming that Tesla can be trusted with self-imposed safety standards.

The Tesla Roadster is the Smartest Dumb Idea Ever

First of all, this is far from the first production-like or production-ready flying car, and mainly due to regulatory hurdles, none of those projects have gotten off the ground, so to speak, in any convincing manner. Clearly, the flying Roadster is impractical, silly, and highly unlikely to make it to the road as described during the launch event, but let’s ignore all the bright red flags and discuss other, more opaque issues. Like the Veyron, costs cannot be ignored. Bugatti and the Volkswagen Group famously lost money on every single Veyron, despite charging seven figures, which was unheard of in the mid-2000s. But Prof. Dr. Ferdinand Karl Piëch wasn’t as dismissive of the damage broken promises can cause to a brand. Granted, the Veyron project was delayed (by just two years), but Piëch threw all the might of the VW Group at the objective until all other targets were achieved or exceeded, without compromise. By stark contrast, Musk is hardly famous for meeting self-imposed targets or even sticking to a single point of view for very long.

The Tesla Roadster proposes something much wilder than a record-breaking, ultra-luxurious, superbly refined hyper-GT, and while we have no idea what the limited-production flying-and-flipping, invite-only Rocket version will cost, the Thrust version, which still has a 200-liter COVP and four gas nozzles, is priced at “just” $250k. I’m sure that Tesla engineers get a discount at SpaceX (they know the owner), but still, it can’t be cheap to design, develop, and test something this complex and clever, and with Tesla reporting negative cash flow of $1.1 billion in the second quarter of this year (driven mostly by capital expenditures in AI and the production of the Cybercab and the Optimus robot), one can’t help but wonder if a publicly traded company is wise to sink even more resources into yet another wild, potentially unprofitable idea.

Related: Rivian Starts Testing Tesla-Style Driving With Select Owners

Then there’s the issue of the Roadster’s pièce de résistance. Even without the ability to fly causing havoc when some moron decides to do a flip somewhere they shouldn’t (by the way, is the roof strong enough to handle the car’s weight if thrusters fail?), the rear-facing cold-gas thrusters are still *extremely* powerful, and anyone caught standing behind a Roadster as it attempts to reach 60 mph in half a second will surely not come away unscathed. There’s also bound to be an impact on the ears of anyone nearby, and the cold gas thrusters shown in Tesla’s demonstration produced huge clouds of white vapor. Although they disappear quickly, that’s a visibility hazard. Oh, and with the boost of thrusters, the semi-exposed rear tires will surely chuck stones and other debris at following windshields at terrifying speeds. And what happens if a case of unintended acceleration occurs?

Granted, the half-second 0-60 sprint time will surely require a launch sequence to allow everything to be correctly primed and prepared, but what happens if somebody tries to launch this thing on the street at the very moment a previously unseen cyclist or pedestrian enters the picture? Nobody has reactions fast enough to stop or react adequately to acceleration that violent; even Top Fuel dragsters, which this matches to 60 mph, need wide lanes to run safely. And if the Roadster becomes capable of 330 mph, what kind of safety can occupants expect in the event of a crash? What kind of risks might occupants be taking sitting inches from a 10,000-psi pressure vessel?

To my mind, the Roadster is much like the Cybertruck, a fantasy dreamed up by a mind that holds little to no regard for practicality, common sense, or safety. Look into Tesla’s legal disclaimers and procedures, and it claims that the “safety of all” should be a human right. Well, that’s difficult to realize if cars this ludicrous become a regular sight. But as a way to further highlight connections between Musk-owned entities, potentially to build hype for a SpaceX merger, the Roadster has already achieved plenty. Musk has denied the merger rumors, but every CEO does before announcing exactly that.

Tesla Roadster: A Gimmick for a Gimme?

We’ve already seen Starlink and Grok make their way to Teslas, so seeing more SpaceX tech in a Tesla feels almost natural, and if a merger happens, it’ll doubtless create even more opportunities for integration and cross-pollination than just the Roadster. We know that part of Musk’s potential $1 trillion compensation package requires him to improve stock values, and that’s tough selling just Model 3s, Model Ys, Cybertrucks, humanoid robots, and autonomous vehicles, especially when other large, innovative companies like Hyundai are competing for space. But those bullish on merger potential say, “Build more hype for SpaceX and Tesla with a vehicle that would use tech from both companies before merging them, and you suddenly have one super corporation that has connections to energy generation and storage, satellite communications, transportation and logistics, artificial intelligence and supercomputing software, robotics, reusable rockets, and semiconductor and chip production.” Such a multi-tethered company could be an interesting platform for military and surveillance applications, government contracts for which tend to bring in plenty of money. This theory helps both Tesla and SpaceX, the latter of which reported almost $4 billion of negative cash flow in the first half of 2026.

Related: Tesla Robotaxis Face Investigation Over Alleged School-Zone Speeding

So with regulatory and safety concerns making the Rocket Roadster practically impossible as a street-legal vehicle (albeit potentially worked around with some kind of “off-road only” lock), not to mention the fact that Tesla’s stunt-performing demonstration vehicles did not allow a view of the cabin, suggesting they’re simplified models rather than complete, full-weight cars, it seems that the Roadster in its ultimate form is destined to be delayed even longer than the nine years we’ve already been waiting, possibly indefinitely. And Tesla’s own fine print for just the Thrust version’s reservation agreement is already tempering expectations. According to Clause 4: “Delivery: You understand that Roadster is still under development at the time you entered into this Agreement, and so we cannot guarantee when your vehicle will actually be delivered or if it will be delivered [at all].”

The Bottom Line: We’re Talking About Tesla, and That’s All That Matters

All of this suggests the Roadster demonstrations were not meant to preview something anybody can own, but to generate hype for yet another cash-consuming dream that needs a miracle to become profitable. Musk is a master of moving debts and leveraging stocks to achieve his objectives, but that may not work forever. For reasonable individuals who want reservations fulfilled, the flying Roadster is pie-in-the-sky stuff, at least for the foreseeable future and at least until the NHTSA gives cold-gas thrusters a pass and the FAA hands out licenses in the mail. Although Tesla has pleasantly surprised me once or twice before, I’ll gladly eat my hat if the Roadster enters production as promised before the end of the decade, never mind 2028. The company took four years to make the Cybertruck, and although that’s far simpler than this Roadster, it still falls short of some of Musk’s promises. To that point, let’s not forget the countless crashes, lawsuits, recalls, and fires that have proven Tesla, like any other company, often delivers imperfect products. Yet no failure seems capable of dimming enthusiasm among Tesla’s most ardent fanatics.

Tesla and Musk have amassed such a large, faithful following that even without meeting targets time and time again, there will always be some willing to wait around, hooting and hollering every time the man makes a crazy statement/promise or moves a self-imposed goalpost. That’s not a political statement (and I hope the comments section stays free of them); Tesla is a juggernaut of a company, and it’s perhaps as demanding of its remarkably talented staff as Apple in the Steve Jobs era, but even with a $1.48 trillion market cap, I struggle to fathom the possibility of a reality in which Tesla will introduce the flying Roadster before its CEO finds another near-impossible side quest to redirect resources towards. And why not? Attention is the new currency, and Musk keeps finding new ways to cash in.

Automakers file patents to protect their intellectual property, and yes, that includes the way their vehicles look. Ford’s latest move involving the Mustang GTD is a reminder that borrowing styling cues from an expensive supercar can become a legal headache.

As of yesterday, the Mustang GTD’s exterior design is covered by US Design Patent No. US D1,154,420 S, first spotted by CarMoses. The patent includes drawings showing the car from the front, rear, sides, and above.

The timing is interesting because this issue dates back to 2024, when automotive influencer TJ Hunt and his company, Streethunter Designs, unveiled plans for a Mustang GT body kit inspired by the GTD.

View the 2 images of this gallery on the original article

TJ Hunt’s Mustang GTD Alternative Ran Into Trouble

Hunt’s idea was straightforward: offer regular Mustang GT owners a way to get some of the GTD’s aggressive styling without spending more than $300,000 on the real thing.

The proposed kit borrowed several distinctive design elements, including vented front fenders, a hood with prominent vents, reshaped rear bodywork, and side intakes. Hunt argued that his design differed from the actual GTD, especially in person.

Ford, unsurprisingly, wasn’t buying it. According to Hunt’s own YouTube recap, Ford sent him a letter raising red flags about the project. Talks started off looking like there might be a middle ground, but things got heated as the 2024 SEMA show in Las Vegas drew closer.

Hunt later revealed that Ford filed a formal complaint with the SEMA organizers, which got his Mustang booted from the show floor. The whole mess put a spotlight on the fine line between drawing inspiration and copying enough of a car’s look to get lawyers involved.

View the 2 images of this gallery on the original article

What Ford’s Design Patent Actually Means

The new patent locks in protection for the GTD’s unique look as shown in the official drawings. Even though the paperwork mentions everything from real cars to toy replicas, what really matters is the Mustang GTD-style shape sketched out across seven pages – even if the giant rear wing is missing.

A design patent doesn’t cover every nut and bolt, and it doesn’t mean all aftermarket parts are suddenly illegal. What matters is how closely a kit copies the protected design, and the legal waters can get murky fast. For now, Ford hasn’t launched a fresh lawsuit against Hunt.

So if you’re a Mustang owner, an aftermarket company, or just someone handy with fiberglass in the garage, here’s the bottom line: copying the GTD’s look is now riskier business. Ford’s got a legal ace up its sleeve, and anyone hoping to sell GTD-style kits will need to think twice about how close they get to the real thing.

View the 3 images of this gallery on the original article

View the 2 images of this gallery on the original article

Round 1: The Stunt

Tesla’s “air ready” Rocket trim is a one-seater with thrusters around the car, and Tesla says it’s invite-only and not approved for public roads. The demo included a ramp jump and a kickflip, more like short jumps and hovers, not sustained flight, and reports claim that no one was in the car. Really, it wouldn’t be an exaggeration to call the jump a “party trick,” since lifting off cuts tire load and doesn’t help performance.

The Yangwang’s trick is smaller. BYD’s DiSus-X hydraulic suspension can raise all four corners fast enough to lift the car an inch or two, and it can briefly run on three wheels after a blowout. Most agree the hop has no practical use and is “just cool.” Call it a draw: both are stunts.

Round 2: The Technology Underneath

Tesla’s fan system pulls air from beneath the car for downforce, and the company claims over 2 g of cornering and more than 80 kilonewtons from the thrusters. That is real engineering, but it’s unproven. The Yangwang’s suspension is an electro-hydraulic fully active body control system (combining dual-valve hydraulic dampers, electric motor pumps, and cameras/LiDAR scanning), with road scanning, variable ride height and self-leveling. The jump is a side effect of tech that also improves ride quality. Tesla’s thrusters have no obvious use once the stunt is over.

Round 3: Proof It Exists

BYD sold a U9 Xtreme for $2.76 million at the Beijing Auto Show this year, with at least one unit handed over on site. Production is limited to 30 cars, with more than 3,000 horsepower and a 6:59.157 Nürburgring lap. A U9 Track Edition hit 294 mph at a German proving ground in 2025.

Tesla’s Thrust trim is listed at $245,000, and Rocket has no price. Production is 2028, roughly eight years after the original target. Range goals have also shrunk from 600 miles to “over 300,” according to reports. Tesla even blamed the weather for an earlier demo delay. The thruster-free Performance trim needs a $5,000 deposit and a further $45,000 within 10 days, though we aren’t sure how that adds up to the final price. Nothing about the Roadster is verifiable on the road yet.

The Winner: Yangwang U9

The label fits. Tesla’s flying car is a demonstration of what might ship in 2028, with thrusters that aren’t road-legal. The Yangwang’s jump is a gimmick too, but it rides on suspension tech that exists, works, and has been sold. Tesla’s fan downforce could prove real, and BYD’s claims are largely self-reported. What to watch: whether Tesla shows a verified 0-60 run, a timeline for the Performance trim, and a clear explanation of how a thruster car clears certification. Until then, the technology is Chinese, and the gimmick is American. Even Chinese rivals are impressed, as per a report from Global Times. Li Bin of NIO said, “We definitely don’t have this,” while XPENG’s He Xiaopeng stressed that certification will take years.

There’s a lot of activity at McLaren, and it’s not just the new logo. Recently, the British automaker laid out its plans for the future, and it’s looking interesting, to say the least.

We know that the next generation of its supercars is coming, but it’s also lining up cars that go beyond that category. For starters, the company said it will build something it hasn’t tried before: a 2+2 grand tourer. Whether it’ll be mid-engined or not is up for debate; it’s going to happen.

But perhaps one announcement that’s been raising eyebrows is its plans to build an SUV. Now that’s something we wouldn’t have imagined the supercar maker doing, but perhaps it was inevitable, given that Ferrari, Lamborghini, and Aston Martin have their own high-riders these days. We can expect it to serve as its racers’ company cars in the Formula 1 paddock down the line.

The One They Didn’t Announce

So, there’s a lot of buzz over at Woking, and it’s part of the marque’s brand to explore horizons beyond supercars. That said, it’s not forgetting its roots, and exotics will still remain at the core of the business.

But for all the things McLaren announced recently, there may be one it’s trying to keep under wraps. As uncovered by Car Moses, the company recently filed a trademark for Bruce McLaren. At a glance, it sounds like it’s protecting the IP of its founder and namesake, but it also opens the door to using it on a car.

A W1 Successor?

Now, we wouldn’t hype ourselves up too much about the trademark filing at the moment. Again, this could simply be protecting its IP, but the thought of applying Bruce McLaren’s name on a car will tickle anyone’s imagination. Besides, McLaren is harking back to its past with its new wordmark, so the timing of this filing seems, well, timely.

Where can the name be applied? At first glance, it’s only fitting to use it on a W1 successor. Think Ferrari Enzo, and you’re on the right track. Only the halo model deserves such a nameplate, and McLaren Bruce does have a nice ring to it. It certainly sounds better than an English postcode, and it’s a welcome break from the company’s current alphanumeric naming convention.

The Tesla Roadster’s going to get another trick up its sleeve. Rather than chasing some other impossible aerial maneuver, it looks like Tesla is targeting something else in the near future. With over a thousand horsepower, the electric performance vehicle can deliver a riveting performance.

Now, there is news that Tesla is targeting 330 miles per hour with the Performance trim of the Roadster. That model is capable of 1,350 horsepower and 1,033 lb-ft of torque. Tesla’s Chief Designer, Franz von Holzhausen, and Vehicle Engineering VP, Lars Moravy, told Top Gear that a future version will reach 330 miles per hour.

… 330 miles per hour

How the team will achieve this has yet to be seen. According to initial top-speed claims, the Roadster can reach up to 214 miles per hour in its current form. However, the brand still wants more out of the Roadster, and it has set its sights on a much higher top speed.

The current record holder is the Yangwang U9 Xtreme (U9X), with a top speed of 308.4 miles per hour, logged at the ATP Automotive Testing Papenburg facility in Germany. It appears that Tesla is setting its sights on an even bigger goal for the production road car land speed record. At 330 miles per hour, things get intense, and we know brands like Bugatti go to extreme lengths to push their cars past 250 miles per hour. Safe to say, Tesla has its work cut out for it.

One of the first things Tesla may need to do is increase motor output. The Yangwang makes 3,000 horsepower, while the Tesla only makes 1,350 at the moment. Reaching 330 miles per hour may boost the Roadster’s output to around the same level. Tesla hasn’t clearly stated how it’ll achieve the eye-watering top speed just yet; however, I think the brand should focus on releasing the model to consumers first, especially those who have already put down a reservation.

Variables

At the moment, the Tesla Roadster’s other specifications remain under wraps; however, we do know the model will deliver up to 1,350 horsepower and 1,033 lb-ft of torque, and can achieve up to 320 miles of range on a single charge. Battery capacity is still unknown, but the Roadster charges from 10% to 80% in just under 15 minutes with 500kW charging.

Beyond the powertrain, the Tesla Roadster also looks like a serious performance machine. Top Gear reported that it weighs less than 3,747 lbs in its lightest configuration. The numbers alone are enough to consider it a serious performance vehicle. Add the fact that it has a few party tricks up its sleeve, and that Tesla is not done improving it, and you could say that the near-decade-long wait is about to be extremely worthwhile.

Broad Arrow Auctions has announced a highly anticipated lot for its upcoming single-day event on October 31. Held in partnership with the Concours at Wynn Las Vegas, the standout vehicle is a pristine 1997 Ferrari F50. Showing an astonishingly low 106 miles on the odometer, this particular model is widely recognized as the finest surviving example of the automaker’s analog era.

The estimated valuation for this exceptionally preserved vehicle is expected to exceed $20 million, a figure reflecting broader shifts in the high-end collector car market. As buyers increasingly seek out unfiltered mechanical experiences over the highly digitized performance of contemporary sports cars, mid-nineties automotive icons are experiencing unprecedented demand at high-profile sales events across the globe.

Formula 1 Engineering Meets Unprecedented Collector Provenance

This specific vehicle, bearing chassis number 107165, is the 334th unit of the strictly limited 349-car production run. Originally delivered new to a buyer in the United Kingdom, it features the traditional Rosso Corsa exterior paint paired perfectly with a Nero leather interior and Rosso seat inserts. Power is delivered through a 4.7-liter naturally aspirated V12 engine producing 513 horsepower, which was directly derived from Ferrari’s 1990 Formula 1 racing program and is paired with a classic six-speed gated manual transmission.

Beyond its impressive mechanical specifications and true delivery-level mileage, the car retains its original removable hardtop and custom flight case. It is also accompanied by a comprehensive suite of factory extras that collectors highly value. This includes the original J.P. Tod’s driving shoes, a dedicated three-piece Schedoni luggage set, and various tool and bulb kits that ensure the vehicle remains entirely complete exactly as it left Maranello.

The staggering eight-figure estimate is a testament to recent market trends surrounding this specific lineage. For historical context, we recently saw a beautifully maintained Ralph Lauren chassis fetch an impressive sum that completely reset market expectations. Not long after, a famous Mike Tyson variant generated massive bidding interest that pushed values even further toward the ten-million mark. However, neither of those celebrity-owned cars possessed the virtually untouched status of this Las Vegas-bound specimen.

We’ll Never See Something Like This Again

From an editorial standpoint, the massive valuation of this particular F50 makes complete sense given the current trajectory of the automotive hobby. For years, the F50 was unfairly judged against the twin-turbocharged violence of the F40 and the cutting-edge electronic wizardry of the Enzo that followed it. Today, collectors rightfully recognize that this middle child is actually the absolute peak of traditional driver engagement, offering a carbon-fiber tub and a rigid-mounted V12 without any electronic safety nets.

The classic car market is speaking clearly and decisively on this matter. Buyers with serious capital are no longer exclusively chasing the fastest modern hybrid vehicles; they are paying a premium for pure emotion, mechanical sound, and driving purity. Finding a 1997 halo car that is essentially brand new is an unrepeatable opportunity. When this car finally crosses the auction block, it will be a defining milestone for the analog supercar market.

As cars become more and more digital and software defined, there is a bit of fatigue with tech. There’s now a longing for simpler, analog cars, and automakers are well aware of that. There is some course correction going on with some bringing back more buttons in cars, but Porsche has taken it to a different level.

The folks from Stuttgart have unveiled the Mission S, and while it’s a prototype for now, at least it’s a functional car. That hints at it being relatively far into development, and the production model might not be far away. It’s a stark contrast to the Tesla Roadster that premiered on the same day, although that one wasn’t the actual car just yet.

Old-School Touches

The Mission S has something that Porsches haven’t had in a while, which is a physical key. Yes, you actually have to insert it in the ignition and turn a key to start it. There’s no touchscreen inside, either, and in its place is a MagSafe phone holder for your in-car entertainment needs.

Buttons and dials are strewn across the dashboard, and you don’t get settings buried in sub-menus because there’s no touchscreen in the first place. If anything, we haven’t seen a Porsche interior this screen-free in decades. Also, there’s a variety of drive modes that can be activated via a dial on the steering wheel, but there’s also a button that shuts off all driver’s aids simply dubbed ‘On Your Own.’

Powertrain specs haven’t been revealed yet, but if you’ve seen videos of it being started up, we just know that there’s a minimum of eight cylinders under its clamshell. It’s hard to tell if it’s electrified or not, but it’s making the right noises.

View this post on Instagram

More Carrera GT than 918 Spyder

There’s no launch date locked in for the production version just yet, but Porsche is pretty serious about actually building it. And for news to delight the analog enthusiasts, Porsche CEO Michael Leiters has confirmed that a manual transmission is compatible for the Mission S.

Of course, there has to be enough actual demand in the first place to make that happen. Leiters told Road and Track that “Customer demand will define what we build on this platform.” Then again, this is a highly-specialized classic-style Porsche, and there will inevitably be those who will say the want three pedals and actually buy it. If the math works out, this will be the first Porsche hypercar in 20 years to be offered with a manual.

With that, it seems that Porsche isn’t making a successor to the 918 Spyder, as the Mission S highlights simplicity and raw ability. Instead, it’s making a modern interpretation of the Carrera GT. Aside from the possibility of it being available with a manual, Porsche designed the platform in a way that it can go full combustion or electrified. Again, this will be defined by demand, and it will be interesting to see what the final product will look like. If Porsche actually pulls off a flat-8-powered mid-engined hypercar with no electrification and a manual, we could start partying like its 2003 again.

Over the years, we’ve seen quite a number of neat engine swaps on MX-5s. There have been V6 swaps that have turned the flyweight roadster into a rocket, and even more insane conversions that threw in a V8. Of course, there have been rotary-swapped examples, too, and we wouldn’t be too surprised if anyone’s built a diesel one, either.

If anything, the MX-5 has been a great blank canvas for anyone who wants to go fast. While it does emphasize handling and dynamics over outright speed, it’s never stopped anyone from giving the roadster more punch. Its light weight also means that it actually doesn’t take much to send it flying.

Swap Like No Other?

But in the world of engine swaps, the only limitation would be one’s imagination and budget. For example, someone swapped a V8 into a first-generation MX-5. While that doesn’t sound groundbreaking per se, the manufacturer of said V8 engine will be of interest.

Instead of something like an LS or Coyote, Daddy Motors Works from Japan went with a V8 of Italian origin. Under the hood of this particular Miata is a Tipo F131 V8 engine. Those familiar with Italian cars will know that engine, but for the common folk, that’s better known as the one that powered the Ferrari 360. Just when you thought you’d seen it all.

The Build

Daddy Motor Works is a shop in Japan that has made some pretty spectacular builds over the years. It specializes in mix-and-match swaps that pair some of the unlikeliest engines in many different cars. The man behind the shop, and the one making it happen, is Kunihiro Oto, and the story of how this build came to be is amusing, to say the least.

Speaking to Dino Dalle Carbonare, Oto-san said the Miata owner who commissioned the build initially wanted a Mazda V6 swap. However, there was a queue for V6 builds, so they pitched other engines, including an NSX V6 and, of course, an LS. When the owner suggested a Ferrari V8, something clicked, and here we are today.

The engine apparently came from a 360 that was in an accident. We bought it on Yahoo Auctions, and the build was definitely on. Of course, the whole thing was a challenge, but the result is a truly unique car and one that the world has probably never seen before.

The Car

It definitely doesn’t sound like any other Miata we’ve heard, and we’re pretty sure it sounds even better in person. But it’s the pulls that are a pure aural delight. Carbonare called it ‘intoxicating,’ and the car itself is wonderfully responsive. Interestingly, the F131 is apparently just 66 lbs heavier than a stock Miata engine.

We don’t know how much power it makes, but a regular Ferrari 360 Modena made 395 hp and 275 lb-ft. Acceleration times are surely quick, but the experience here is the far more important factor. It’s a manual, too, and it’s not from a Modena, either. Instead, it shifts with a six-speed unit from a GR86. And if you haven’t noticed, it’s a second-gen Miata with a first-gen front end plus a hood scoop straight from a Subaru WRX.

The suspension also gets a load of goodies, along with a custom exhaust, a bespoke interior, and high-level craftsmanship. What a build, indeed.

View the 4 images of this gallery on the original article

For over 70 years, the Chevrolet Corvette has been America’s true sports car. After all, it originally drew inspiration from Europe’s open-top sports cars and eventually evolved into what it is today. Sure, it had large V8s over the years, but it was never a muscle car, per se.

But in 2020, the Corvette shifted to a mid-engine layout, something legendary GM engineer Zora Arkus-Duntov had always wanted. But while Arkus-Duntov never saw his dream realized, the mid-engined Corvette silences anyone still doubting its sports car credibility. Countless wins in international sports car racing further solidify its lineage, and it is by far the most successful American nameplate in the world of endurance racing, having won Le Mans nine times.

The Mighty ZR1X

The ZR1X is possibly the most extreme production Corvette ever produced, at least so far. Its Twin-turbo 5.5-liter LT7 V8 is paired with an electric motor in the front axle, giving this hybrid all-wheel-drive sports car a combined output of 1,250 hp. It starts at $227,695, which is a lot, but given the performance, it’s still a relative bargain.

It’s not just a straight-line rocket, as it’s proven itself on the world’s most demanding track, the Nürburgring Nordschleife. With Drew Cattell behind the wheel, it lapped The Green Hell in 6:49.275, making it the fastest street-legal American car to do it. Its record, however, was later broken by the Mustang GTD, which completed the circuit/derestricted one-way toll road in 6:40.835.

That said, the Mustang’s record is still being debated to this day, as it was a specially prepped car that did the lap. Nonetheless, the ZR1X is absolutely no slouch, as breaking 7 minutes around the ‘Ring is no easy task. As for a rematch, we’re sorry to say that it’s not happening, folks.

No More Mustang Chasing

In an interview with GM Authority, GM Senior Vice President of Product Safety, Integration and Motorsports Ken Morris explained why the company won’t be trying to beat the Mustang’s record, nor is it interested in doing so. “So I’ll start by saying the cars we set the numbers with are exactly the cars you buy, other than we put things like racing brake fluid in, and things like that. But it’s a production car, and we put a production car time out.”

Improvements are possible, but Morris explained that the company won’t go down a rabbit hole adding mode development just to settle a grudge. He also said GM has no interest in building a car specifically for lap times that won’t benefit the customer. “You know, we’re always looking for things to improve, but it’s not like we’re gonna get into some crazy competition with stuff that doesn’t exist that we don’t sell to people,” added the executive.

Point Proven

The Mustang GTD may have posted the faster lap time on the ‘Ring, but Chevrolet is adamant it used a showroom-stock example for the ZR1X’s run. That should still count for something, and GM can be proud of its car either way.

The ZR1X has shown its capabilities through and through, from setting blistering 0-150 mph-0 times to actually beating the GTD on other race tracks. Of course, it’s been said that it could’ve gone about 10 seconds faster in the Nordschleife, but it will have to be another driver, and not GM, to prove that point.

Bugatti’s La Maison Pur Sang program helps keep its special supercars alive. It lets collectors trace a car’s history, check its authenticity, and restore it to how it was meant to be. The program also offers certification and refurbishment, making sure rare Bugattis keep their story as they move from one owner to another.

The program’s latest project involves chassis 8.100 – a one-off Veyron Grand Sport Vitesse built for someone who clearly wanted to stand out at every cars and coffee. The showstopper here is the exposed, polished aluminum body. To pull this off, Bugatti had to haul in aluminum blocks that weighed as much as a small herd of elephants. Subtle, this car is not.

Over ten years after it first left the factory, this Veyron returned home. Bugatti’s team removed the aftermarket changes and got to work, bringing the car back to its original, jaw-dropping glory. They checked every detail carefully to make sure the car’s story remained complete.

Polished Aluminum Meets a Carmine Red Interior

The star of the show is this Veyron’s bodywork. Forget paint – this thing is all about raw, polished aluminum that shows off every curve and crease. Depending on the light, it can look like a mirror or a piece of modern art. Either way, you won’t mistake it for anything else on the road.

Achieving this look was no simple task. Bugatti says its designers spent a long time studying how light would reflect off the metal and how each angle would catch your eye. Only after all that did the master craftsmen step in to turn the bold idea into a real, drivable car.

Inside, there’s Carmine Red leather everywhere, clashing in the best way possible with the silver outside. There’s exposed carbon fiber, polished metal, and enough handcrafted touches to remind you this isn’t just a car – it’s a statement.

The end result is a roadster that mixes high-tech materials with show-car flair. Everything about it screams engineering on display, but with enough personality to make it feel like rolling art.

A Collector’s Prized Masterpiece

Of course, all the flash wouldn’t mean much without the firepower. Under the skin, this Veyron Grand Sport Vitesse still packs the monstrous 8.0-liter quad-turbo W16, good for 1,200 metric horsepower and 1,106 lb-ft of torque. It’s every bit the hypercar legend you’d expect.

Bugatti isn’t saying how much the restoration cost or who the lucky new owner is. What we do know is that this one-off Veyron now lives on the French Riviera with its new caretaker.

View the 9 images of this gallery on the original article

Porsche has revealed the Mission S, a vision model that previews the next evolution of the brand’s design identity and introduces plans for a new mid-engined super sports car platform.

More importantly, this isn’t just another one-off hypercar concept. The Mission S is Porsche’s way of showing us how it plans to shake up its sports car lineup in the next few years, all under the banner of its Sportwagenschmiede (Sports car builder) ’35 strategy.

Porsche is cooking up a new mid-engined supercar platform that’ll sit above the legendary 911. Porsche boss Michael Leiters says this isn’t just a flash-in-the-pan special edition – it’s meant to be a permanent, versatile part of the lineup.

The Mission S debuted on a pier in Queens, New York – the same place the iconic 550 Spyder was photographed back in 1953. That car put Porsche on the map as a true sports car maker, so it’s a clever nod to the past as the brand looks ahead.

View the 2 images of this gallery on the original article

Familiar Porsche Design Gets a New Interpretation

The Mission S keeps plenty of classic Porsche cues, but gives them a fresh twist with sharper proportions and sleeker surfaces. Up front, you get those signature rounded headlights, beefy fenders, a nose that hugs the ground, and a roofline you can spot from a mile away. Porsche clearly raided its own trophy cabinet for inspiration – the 911, GT1, and 959 all get a nod, with the rear end borrowing some GT1 attitude.

Thanks to its mid-engine setup, the Mission S nails those classic Porsche proportions, with the engine smack in the middle and that unmistakable flyline. Look closer, and you’ll spot an active rear wing, cooling tricks borrowed from the 917, and lightweight wheels that riff on the old-school 928’s dial design.

Porsche calls the design authentic, consistent, and timeless. Translation: they want you to know it’s a Porsche at a glance, but with enough new tricks to shape what’s coming next.

Inside, things stay pretty clean and classic. The dash and doors flow with lines straight out of the 550 Spyder and 356 playbook, while the white, grey, and red color scheme nods to Porsche’s racing roots.

A Driver-Focused Cabin and a New Platform

Porsche isn’t going screen-crazy inside, either. Instead, you get a mix of real buttons and digital displays, keeping things simple and driver-focused.

Behind the wheel, five round gauges greet you, with an old-school rev counter front and center. The layout changes with your drive mode, and the Sport Chrono setup mixes classic looks with modern tech.

Forget the usual fixed center screen or passenger display. Porsche went with a retractable MagSafe smartphone holder instead, so you can pop your phone in for navigation or info only when you actually need it.

All of this points to one thing: Porsche wants its future sports cars to keep that raw, driver-first feel, even as the tech ramps up.

For now, the Mission S is just a vision, with no specs, performance numbers, or launch date in sight. But the fact that it’s set to sit above the 911 means it’s a big clue about where Porsche’s sports car game is headed – far from the screen-heavy cars of today.

View the 4 images of this gallery on the original article

This news bit isn’t brought to you by Need for Speed: Hot Pursuit; it’s an official announcement from the Dubai Police. This scene looks like it comes straight out of a video game, but it’s definitely not the first time that the Dubai Police has welcomed a Lambo into its fleet.

The thing is, if your country is known for its substantial population of supercars, the last thing you want is for your police force to be outgunned and outclassed at every turn. So, congratulations to the Dubai Police for welcoming the newest member of their illustrious fleet, the Lamborghini Temerario.

Not too long ago, the Dubai Police also welcomed another Lamborghini into its fleet, the Revuelto. Other notable inclusions in recent years include a Ferrari 812 Superfast, Ferrari Purosangue, and even a Rolls-Royce Cullinan.

Luxury Patrol Fleet

Dubai’s Luxury Patrol Fleet isn’t just for show; it’s a collection of cars dressed in white and green, with sirens and lights, that protect and serve Dubai’s citizens. While the Lamborghini looks fast and like it can catch anyone, it also plays another role: giving the country a positive image and raising awareness.

Brigadier Saeed Al Hajri, Director of the General Department of Criminal Investigation at Dubai Police, said: “Our luxury patrol fleet represents an innovative approach to policing, combining an effective security presence with community and tourist engagement. These vehicles help people feel safe, showcase Dubai’s positive image to visitors worldwide, and raise awareness of police services and public safety. Above all, they reinforce our commitment to being a police force that is close to the community.”

Welcome: Temerario

Lamborghini and the Dubai Police have been partners for a while now. The Middle Eastern nation has had a knack for introducing these kinds of patrol cars for quite some time, and Lamborghini has been one of the force’s favorites for over a decade.

The Lamborghini Temerario is one of the latest and greatest from the Italian supercar maker. It features a hybrid system that’s built and tuned for performance, and it makes 920 horsepower, probably more than enough to give some ne’er-do-wells a taste of justice! The High Performance Electric Vehicle (HPEV) has a 4.0-liter twin-turbocharged V8 engine mated to three electric motors, bringing it up to 62 miles per hour in just 2.7 seconds.

This new model signals a shift into a new era for Lamborghini and the Dubai Police, not just because it’s new, but because of its powertrain and cutting-edge technology.

1

The Xpeng Aridge Land-Based Aircraft Carrier may not have a sexy name, but what it proposes brings sci-fi film to life. It’s a 6×6 van-like extended-range EV with all-wheel drive, rear-wheel steering, up to 620 miles of range, and seating for four, but those facts pale into insignificance alongside the fact that the vehicle is both a mobile garage and a charging station for an electric VTOL two-seater stored in the back of the EREV.

View the 7 images of this gallery on the original article

Xpeng says the automated onboard mechanism handles the VTOL’s extraction and return in under five minutes, so if it meets all approvals and passes certification, buyers may soon have a way to beat the traffic even after getting stuck in gridlocked congestion. Thousands of pre-orders have already been placed, so there are plenty of people interested in being early adopters. We can see this being popular on I-95.

2

AITO will enter the European market in 2027 as a luxury brand offering the 9, 8, 7, and 6 SUVs, which are available as all-electric vehicles or EREVs. In these images, we’re taking a closer look at the AITO 9 (sold as the M9 in China), available with up to 666 horsepower, active suspension, rear-wheel steering, and a 0-62 mph time of just 4.6 seconds. The 9 here is the five-seater, which means it’s the EV, with the range extender offering one more place to sit. Naturally, the former is the best way to enjoy this SUV’s features, which include a projector screen for watching media.

View the 9 images of this gallery on the original article

Along with seating that lets rear passengers stretch out and headlight elements that can display messages like “Bonjour Paris” or project warnings onto nearby surfaces, the 9 offers star-like lighting in the headliner à la Rolls-Royce, Huawei’s ADS 5.0 driver aids with multiple radar, LiDAR, and camera systems, and autonomous parking. With Bentley- and Maybach-inspired looks, plenty of tech, and BMW-like pricing, this could be a hit when it goes on sale in the fall of next year, but without Huawei branding, it could also face challenges in imprinting itself on the minds of buyers.

3

Despite base pricing that vastly undercuts a Porsche 911 GT3 (just over $100,000 for the entry-level model in China; around $185,000 in Europe), the Denza Z offers performance that puts you in mind of much pricier metal. Three electric motors (one in front and two at the rear axle) produce a whopping 1,582 hp and 915 lb-ft of torque. Up to 254 miles of range is claimed from the 76kWh battery, but that will be hard to achieve when you’re in something that can get to 60 mph in around 2 seconds, even less if you have the Racing version. A top speed of 217 mph is also quoted.

View the 9 images of this gallery on the original article

There’s even a drift mode, carbon-ceramic braking, and air suspension with magnetorheological dampers, and the ability to charge at BYD’s 1,500kW Flash chargers. That means 10-90 percent charge can be achieved in as little as nine minutes, making the Denza Z theoretically usable as a real track car. Electric vehicles with a performance focus are a tough sell, but for those who have access to industry-leading infrastructure, this is seriously tempting as a Porsche alternative, so long as you don’t mind fake engine sounds.

4

With clear inspiration from Range Rover in both the front end and the overall silhouette, the Xpeng G9L was revealed at the Paris Motor Show as an ~$84,000 luxury electric SUV with individual rear chairs that are ventilated and heated with massaging (the front gets the same, plus adaptive seating tech), Nappa leather, and a 21.4-inch 3K display that appears from the ceiling. This is complemented by a 23-speaker sound system, and up front, there’s a 17.3-inch touchscreen. A motor show highlights just how bad a touchscreen can look with regular use, but that’s the affordable way to wow many buyers these days. Finally, an 8.8-inch driver display sits behind the wheel, with a head-up display included as standard.

View the 8 images of this gallery on the original article

Underneath, the G9L features an 800-volt platform that can charge at 540 kW, with the ability to reach 80 percent charge from 10 percent in under 12 minutes. A 110 kWh (gross) battery feeds rear- or all-wheel-drive variants with 367 hp or 585 hp, respectively, and the vehicle is future-proofed for Level 2++ partially automated driving, expected to become available in 2027. Notably, European G9Ls will be built in Graz, Austria, at the Magna Steyr plant responsible for the Mercedes-Benz G-Class, Toyota GR Supra, and BMW Z4, among other vehicles.

5

Finally, the AVATR Concept T09 caught our eye as a potential alternative to the Audi Q9 and BMW X7. A gas engine combined with a trio of electric motors results in an extended-range hybrid powertrain that makes over 1,000 hp, with tech from Changan, CATL, and Huawei. A turbocharged 2.0-liter makes 208 hp, while the motors develop 241 hp up front and 302 hp each at the back. A 71.24kWh Freevoy battery from CATL helps achieve a CLTC-rated estimate of between 186 and 205 miles of all-electric driving.

View the 9 images of this gallery on the original article

We didn’t get a look inside, but the six-seater places occupants in a 2+2+2 layout, giving everyone individual chairs, with those up front looking at a 10.25-inch instrument cluster and two 17.2-inch touchscreens. With pricing expected to start around $70,000 for the base version, the T09 offers a lot of luxury for around $18,000 less than a current-gen X7 or Q9, and the two-tone paint, big wheels, and angular aesthetic certainly help convey a sense of opulence that its price does not. Clearly, China has something for every niche, and pricing is always competitive. Which, if any, would you want if these cars were sold in America? Let us know in the comments below.

After hints and various reports, Porsche made the surprise announcement of a new hypercar. While we expect at least one every decade since the ’80s, the gap between the teaser and the reveal is pretty short. For those wondering, it’s just a week.

The teaser came just days after the company announced its turnaround plans dubbed Sports Car Company 2035. And before you think that the hypercar is an afterthought, it’s actually part of Porsche’s plan to rake in more cash for the brand. As with all previous Porsche hypercars, it’ll be a limited-run model with an astonishing price tag.

In a Matter of Hours

The concept model is called the Mission S, and it’ll be launched on October 15, 2026. That means by the time you read this, it’ll be less than a day before the full reveal. Still, that didn’t stop folks from finding leaks or any advanced information on the car. The Supercar Blog found one, likely from the Pistonheads forums, and it gives us a general idea of its shape.

Mind you, this isn’t a full reveal just yet, as the alleged photo leak shows the car still draped under a cover. Still, it shows the car looks very much mid-engined and incredibly low. It also appears to have a fixed roof, a departure from two successive models with detachable tops: the Carrera GT and 918 Spyder. There’s no big wing sticking out, but it could have a deployable spoiler.

What We Know So Far

The Mission S likely isn’t the production model’s name, and trademark databases haven’t turned up anything interesting yet. That said, it’s confirmed to be combustion-powered but likely to have some form of electrification like the 918 Spyder.

The big question now is what kind of engine will power the car. Some reports have hinted at either a V8 or, more interestingly, a flat-8. If so, it’ll be Porsche’s first flat-8 in over 50 years, with the last flat-8-powered model being the 908. This might also be the first flat-8 application paired with a hybrid system.

As for the platform, it is said to be based on a highly modified 911 chassis. If so, it won’t be bespoke like the Carrera GT or 918, but something more in line with the 959 and GT1. Again, it’s only a matter of hours before we see actual photos of the car, and while it’s still a concept, the road car shouldn’t stray too far from what we’ll see tomorrow.

I doubt many buyers will cross-shop them, but both cater to people who want exceptional performance, open-air luxury and a vehicle the valet will keep out front. They simply approach those goals differently.

View the 2 images of this gallery on the original article

Powertrains and performance

Both use 4.0-liter twin-turbocharged V8s with Mercedes-AMG roots, although their tuning and drivetrains produce distinctly different experiences. The Maybach delivers 577 horsepower and 590 pound-feet of torque through a nine-speed automatic and fully variable 4MATIC+ all-wheel drive. Mercedes estimates 0–60 mph in 4.0 seconds and electronically limits top speed to 161 mph. Its published curb weight is 4,409 pounds. That’s a substantial amount of rolling indulgence.

The Vantage S Roadster produces 670 horsepower and the same 590 pound-feet of torque, but sends power to the rear wheels through a rear-mounted ZF eight-speed automatic. Aston Martin quotes 0–60 mph in 3.4 seconds and a 202-mph maximum speed. An electronic rear differential, adaptive dampers and wide Michelin Pilot Sport S 5 tires help turn that enthusiasm into something usable.

View the 2 images of this gallery on the original article

Those mechanical differences become obvious immediately. The Maybach feels substantial, and that is part of its appeal. It wafts along the highway with the confidence of something that expects traffic to accommodate it. Call upon the AWD system in a corner, and it delivers reassuring traction, but the car’s mass remains apparent. It handles well; it simply prefers a flowing road to one that constantly changes its mind.

The Aston Martin feels more eager. Its steering, power delivery and chassis encourage involvement, and the engine sounds suitably enthusiastic about the assignment. It’s aimed at the sports-car crowd, including buyers considering Porsche and Ferrari, rather than someone whose main requirement is arriving without disturbing their hairstyle.

View the 4 images of this gallery on the original article

Exterior and interior design

Aston Martin has been on fire with its styling, and the Vantage S Roadster is beautiful from practically every angle. The aggressive grille, sculpted body, and purposeful rear treatment match its intent. It looks fast sitting still, and it looks even better with the roof down.

Who doesn’t appreciate something beautiful that’s topless? In terms of cars, people.

Its Z-fold roof opens or closes in just 6.8 seconds and can operate at speeds up to 31 mph. That is exceptionally quick, and useful when the weather decides your open-air afternoon needs a surprise ending.

The Maybach makes a louder visual statement despite being the quieter car to drive. I like its Mercedes-Benz star hood ornament, but there is no shortage of Maybach identification elsewhere. The patterned acoustic soft top and available monogrammed hood look like they belong in the same showroom as an exceptionally expensive designer handbag.

Some people will find that endearing. Others will wonder whether the car has a sponsorship deal with itself.

The illuminated grille, rose-gold headlight accents and Crystal White Nappa leather reinforce the theme. Inside, nearly every surface seems wrapped in something lovely to touch, and the seats are magnificent. It feels indulgent because it is indulgent. The suspension’s active hydraulic roll stabilization and standard rear-wheel steering add useful engineering beneath all that ornamentation.

The Aston’s cabin is more restrained and more focused on the driver. Its interior design has finally caught up with the exterior, with attractive materials and controls that feel appropriate for the price. The seats are supportive, although they don’t deliver the Maybach’s pampering. That suits the car’s priorities, even if my large American frame occasionally appreciates a little extra cushioning.

View the 4 images of this gallery on the original article

Technology: lovely until it needs a reboot

The Maybach’s MBUX system combines a digital instrument display with a portrait-oriented central touchscreen. I found parts of the interface clunky, but I appreciate the electrically adjustable screen angle. Reducing glare with the roof down is a practical feature in a car otherwise packed with decorative flourishes.

The Aston uses a 10.25-inch touchscreen and retains useful physical controls. Apple CarPlay Ultra extends its integration into the driver display, making it more ambitious than simply putting phone apps on the center screen.

Related: Porsche Really Doesn’t Want You to Buy a Manual 911

Unfortunately, my experience included glitches and a system issue on the highway that required me to pull over safely and restart the vehicle. It went into limp mode. I can’t determine from that incident whether the fault originated with CarPlay or the car’s software, but I can tell you it interrupted an otherwise excellent drive.

At this price, “have you tried turning it off and back on?” should not be part of the ownership fantasy.

View the 2 images of this gallery on the original article

Pricing and personality

Neither car is remotely inexpensive. The Maybach starts in the mid-$220,000 range, while the Aston occupies roughly quarter-million-dollar territory before personalization. Options can move either substantially higher, particularly when buyers begin exploring bespoke paint, leather and trim.

Still, the prices make more sense when you consider the audience. These are emotional purchases. The Maybach is built to make its occupants feel pampered and conspicuous. The Aston is built to make the driver seek a longer route home.

View the 4 images of this gallery on the original article

Final thoughts

I usually prefer reviewing vehicles people can realistically afford. Still, occasionally getting to drive machines like these feels like a holiday, and I’m grateful for it. Both cars are remarkably indulgent and an utter joy to drive in their own right.

Both make an entrance. Both have extraordinary engines, distinctive designs and enough presence to earn prime valet parking. The Maybach was a huge hit when I brought it to Beverly Hills, where it looked entirely comfortable among people who consider designer luggage an everyday necessity.

Related: 2028 Mercedes-Benz GLA-Class In The Metal: See The Revamped Crossover From Every Angle

My choice is the Aston Martin. Despite the software interruption, it delivered more entertainment and a style of luxury that suits me. The Maybach would be ideal for someone who values comfort and ceremony above sharper handling.

They both make you feel special. I prefer feeling special on the way to the restaurant rather than when I arrive.

Related: Lucid Air vs. Lucid Gravity: Sleek Sedan or Family Spaceship?

1

Despite how challenging they are to homologate, the Tensei retains the pop-up headlights of the NA1 NSX, now enhanced with LED technology, which reappears in the bumper. Carbon fiber is everywhere, yet Pininfarina’s design just about manages to avoid looking tacky, and the original NSX’s proportions are well defined, only being slightly exaggerated in some areas, like the side intake.

2

Filling the arches are 19-inch front, 20-inch rear center-locking forged aluminum Y-spoke wheels made by OZ Racing, but forged magnesium wheels are also available in a more old-school design. Behind them are carbon-ceramic brakes from Brembo, further reducing unsprung mass.

3

In profile, the original NSX’s DNA is still evident, particularly in the wraparound rear window. But it’s more aggressive, more toned, and more kinetic an aesthetic, with everything slightly more swollen or slightly more taut. Personally, I love the shape and depth of the recess feeding the side intake, and the slimness of the vent behind the front wheel arch is equally neat. And look at how the carbon fiber side skirt deviates to accommodate the wider rear track. What a piece of design.

4

The rear three-quarter angle is another highlight in a car full of them, with the spoiler’s integration with the muscular haunches particularly clean. KW coilovers with a front-axle lift and new roll bars contribute to stance and stability, and JAS developed the electro-hydraulic (thank God) steering rack specifically for this car. That brings us to the rear end, which faithfully modernizes an iconic taillight design.

5

More LED technology appears in the rear cluster, while the exhaust outlets on either side of the large carbon fiber diffuser recreate the triangular shape. It’s clearly an NSX, yet it’s also clearly something more, and that’s a rare trick in the world of restomods, where grabbing attention is as important as exhibiting elegance.

6

Inside, JAS Motorsport has shown just as much restraint with the cabin as with the bodywork, subtly uplifting the space to integrate modern creature comforts without losing the simplicity and ease of understanding that made the original NSX so enjoyable as a daily-drivable supercar.

7

The driver gets a chunky, flat-bottomed steering wheel with physical buttons and switches, but not so many as to be distracting. The original, iconic stalk pods behind the wheel remain in place, controlling lighting, turn signals, and wipers. Naturally, everything is recovered in leather and usually made of carbon fiber, and a pair of digital screens have appeared, but the original door vents, the sloped dashboard console, and the snug driving position still put you in mind of a purposeful, driver-focused machine.

8

A six-speed gearbox with a limited-slip differential sends up to 425 hp to the rear wheels. This is developed from a dry-sumped 3.4-liter V6 that started life as a 3.0-liter engine before Judd Power got involved. Along with increasing capacity through a short-stroke steel crankshaft, Judd engineered new lightweight alloy heads with more aggressive cams and titanium valves, the latter part of a race-derived fixed-timing valvetrain. 8,500 rpm will be the ceiling for this naturally aspirated screamer, which now breathes through a carbon fiber intake plenum, individual throttle bodies, and an Inconel exhaust. Think 1990s F1, and you should have an idea of the sound this will make.

9

Despite its increased rigidity, new suspension geometry, and carbon fiber body, the Tensei should still be exceptionally comfortable. JAS Motorsport hasn’t mentioned cargo space, because it’ll be minimal, but if the Tensei hasn’t messed with the NSX shell too much, we presume there’s space for a duffel bag or two between the cabin and engine.

10

Getting a shot of the Tensei without other similarly enthused show attendees photobombing the pic was difficult, but when something looks this good and stays true to the mission of its original – being a usable, comfortable, and reliable daily-driver supercar – it’s bound to attract hordes of fans. We love how analog and simple the whole thing is, despite being vastly more capable and powerful than the original, and although it’s longer and wider, the JAS Tensei truly captures the spirit of the agile, focused NSX from any angle. Hopefully, buyers take full advantage and use these cars as often as they can.

Sadly for the vast majority, just 35 will be made, each priced just short of a million dollars – excluding the NSX donor car buyers must provide. Don’t have one? NA1 NSX values range from $45,000 to over $360,000, with the cheapest ones obviously the best candidates for a wholesale transformation like this; no sense chopping up a perfectly good NSX when neglected ones are available. Worth it? In a world proliferated with restomods, it’s tough to be certain what is special and what is opportunistic, but the Tensei truly looks and feels unique. It’s also built by the best in the game (with Honda’s approval), and although JAS is much like AMG once was, the company avoids the temptation to overengineer. The Tensei is light, sexy, and engaging, and for those reasons, if I had an eight- or nine-figure bank account, my order would already be placed.

View the 3 images of this gallery on the original article

This was part of the reason the original Smart car never took off; two seats are simply too few, and even just one additional seat would expand the use case a lot, something Toyota realized when it made its similarly sized iQ city car and gave it semi-usable rear seats. But what about three seats? This is the question the French asked themselves in the ’70s.

The Pioneer: 1973-1980 Matra Bagheera

Matra was a French engineering group that built the Bagheera in cooperation with Simca, a now-defunct French automaker first started by Fiat in 1934. Chrysler Europe took over control of Simca in 1970. The Bagheera was marketed as the Matra-Simca Bagheera until its 1980 model year, when the French PSA group took over following the demise of Chrysler Europe and the car became a Talbot-Matra. It was to compete in the mid-engined 1.3L to 1.5L market, so it needed to be compact to provide adequate performance, and it had to borrow from the existing Chrysler and Simca cars’ parts bin as much as possible to save costs.

View the 2 images of this gallery on the original article

Matra’s head of design and engineering, Philippe Guédon, wanted more than two seats and got his idea of making it a 3-seater from his trip in a Ford Taunus station wagon that had 3-abreast front seating. This kept the car to a short 156.5 inches and a light 2,127 pounds, partly thanks to lightweight fiberglass-reinforced polyester body panels. The interior was interesting in that it retained the traditional left-hand-drive layout with a conventional dashboard, with the two passengers sitting to the right of the driver, presumably to avoid costly re-engineering. An 84-hp 1.3L 4-cylinder and a 1.4L variant with up to 90 hp were offered, with the engine sitting transversely behind the three seats and driving the rear wheels via a 4-speed manual transmission.

View the 2 images of this gallery on the original article

The Follow-up: 1980-1983 Matra Murena

By 1980, the now Talbot-Matra company launched the successor to the Bagheera, named the Talbot-Matra Murena, now with a 91-hp 1.6L engine and later a 2.2L engine with up to 140 hp, still mid-mounted, but now with a 5-speed manual transmission.

View the 2 images of this gallery on the original article

The body panels were made from fiberglass epoxy, so although the car grew to 160.2 inches, it still weighed no more than 2,271 pounds. The basic interior layout carried over, with the driver on the left and their two passengers to the right.

View the 2 images of this gallery on the original article

The Reinvention: 1992-1998 McLaren F1

The immortal McLaren F1 was designed by Gordon Murray, and it put the driver right in the middle this time, with two offset passenger seats to the side and rear of the driver. This made getting in and out trickier, but standardized the layout for all markets, regardless of the hand of drive. The center driving position gave the driver a perfect view of the road, with symmetrical sight lines to both sides. The car’s butterfly doors were inspired by those of a humble 1.5L Japanese coupe – the Toyota Sera.

View the 2 images of this gallery on the original article

With a naturally aspirated 6.1L BMW V12 putting out 618 hp, the F1 became the fastest car in the world, with a top speed of 240 mph, with the rev limiter raised to 8300 rpm, making it, to this day, the fastest naturally aspirated road car ever. It was a carbon-fiber technological marvel and is such a coveted collector’s item today that used prices exceed $20 million. A one-off 1996 F1 GTR, chassis 10R, has been valued at more than $35 million.

View the 2 images of this gallery on the original article

The Encore: 2020 McLaren Speedtail

McLaren brought back the 3-abreast seating of the F1 in the 2020 Speedtail, even though Gordon Murray was no longer involved and had started his own company by then. The Speedtail uses a variant of McLaren’s twin-turbocharged 4.0L M840T V8 engine with hybrid assistance, giving it a total of 1,036 hp and making it capable of 250 mph. 

View the 2 images of this gallery on the original article

The carbon-fiber monocoque was designed for lightness, strength, and aerodynamic efficiency, and the active aero devices are optimized for low-drag, high-speed performance in Velocity mode, enabling that impressive top speed.

View the 2 images of this gallery on the original article

Gordon Murray Returns: GMA T.50

The true successor to the original McLaren F1 is undoubtedly Gordon Murray’s second instalment, the T.50, designed and built by his own company, but adhering more closely to the original F1 formula than any other car, the McLaren Speedtail included. A naturally aspirated 4.0L V12 developed by Cosworth that revs to 12,100 rpm puts out up to 761 hp and drives the rear wheels via a 6-speed manual transmission. The full carbon-fiber construction ensures a dry weight of less than a ton (under 2,200 pounds), and it uses butterfly doors just like the F1.

View the 2 images of this gallery on the original article

The focus is purity and driver enjoyment, not performance figures, which would undoubtedly have been better with an automated transmission. The car’s most unusual feature is its rear-mounted 8.5-kW fan based on the design of the (Gordon Murray-designed) 1978 Brabham BT46B “Fan Car”. Working in conjunction with steep rear diffusers, the fan-assisted active aerodynamics substantially increase downforce by 30% (or 100% under braking when active spoilers deploy).  

View the 2 images of this gallery on the original article

The Boutique Exclusive: 2024 SCG 004S

The last entry of what could conceivably be called “production” 3-abreast sports cars is America’s own Scuderia Cameron Glickenhaus 004S, the street version of entrepreneur James Glickenhaus’ Sleepy Hollow, New York-based boutique automaker’s SCG 004.

View the 2 images of this gallery on the original article

Fewer than ten cars have reportedly been completed at the time of writing as Glickenhaus plans on scaling the slow hand-built production process. The SCG 004S is powered by a supercharged 6.2L GM V8 and is said to be capable of around 850 hp, and its curb weight is said to be 2,599 pounds.

View the 2 images of this gallery on the original article

Honorable Mentions

View the 3 images of this gallery on the original article

• The 1966 Ferrari 365P Berlinetta Speciale (above left) had three seats (below left), with the driver in the middle as well. Only two were ever built, and it was the first and last road-going Ferrari ever with this layout. It had a 375-hp mid-mounted 4.4L V12 engine.
• The 1968 Bizzarrini Manta (above center) was a one-off Giugiaro-designed concept car built up from an ex-Le Mans racer and taking the inspiration for its 3-seat configuration (below center) from the Ferrari 365P.
• The HTT Pléthore (above right) was a Canadian-designed prototype that was first shown at the 2007 Montreal International Auto Show and had 3-abreast seating (below right). It was meant to become Canada’s new carbon-fiber supercar, but it was stillborn after funding could not be secured for the planned 99-unit production run.

View the 3 images of this gallery on the original article

Final Thoughts

The 3-abreast sports car remains a rare exotic today, but you can still buy one, and the advantage of the format for a sports car – specifically the perfectly symmetrical sight lines on the track – is readily apparent on the road as well, where enjoyment is elevated thanks to this driver-first configuration. While the French dabbled with the concept in the ’70s, they missed the opportunity to place the driver in the center of the action, a fault Gordon Murray most emphatically corrected with the glorious McLaren F1. It’s only fitting that he makes the most faithful modern interpretation of his F1 today under his own name, complete with the butterfly doors, screaming V12, and a stick shift.

The Chiron holds a significant place in contemporary automotive history. The model helped establish the brand’s modern direction by focusing on extreme top-speed capabilities and limited-production exclusivity. Seeing a vehicle designed for engineering supremacy disabled on a public street underscores the unpredictable nature of driving high-performance machines outside of controlled environments.

View this post on Instagram

Miami Takes Another Victim

Visual evidence from the scene indicates the vehicle suffered substantial damage to its passenger side. The wheels appear to have struck a concrete curb at speed, completely compromising the hypercar’s intricate suspension setup. Based on the angle of impact, automotive experts suspect the crash also destroyed internal components like the low-mounted radiators and vital brake lines.

The financial consequences of this collision will be exceptionally high. Bugatti requires specialized factory technicians to handle structural and cosmetic fixes to maintain the vehicle’s authenticity and value. As seen in previous exotic repair bills, replacing proprietary carbon fiber panels and color-matched components can quickly exceed the cost of purchasing a brand-new entry-level supercar.

Navigating public roads in an ultra-rare vehicle always carries inherent risks, regardless of the driver’s skill level. Even factory engineers face these hazards, as demonstrated by recent public testing collisions where standard commuter vehicles caused significant damage to priceless prototypes. A hypercar’s advanced braking and handling systems cannot always compensate for sudden obstacles or the unpredictability of daily traffic.

Salvaging The Chiron Won’t Be Cheap

When images of damaged exotics surface, the automotive community often speculates about buying the vehicle at a salvage auction. However, the idea of a budget-friendly restoration is largely a misconception. Modern hypercars rely on tightly integrated electronics, specialized aerospace-grade materials, and precise structural tolerances that independent mechanics can’t easily repair.

The immense labor required to properly fix these machines often negates any initial savings from a reduced purchase price. Attempts at DIY supercar restoration typically reveal hidden damage, locked crash data modules, and a lack of access to restricted factory parts. The Miami Chiron crash is a clear reminder that acquiring a hypercar is only a fraction of the financial commitment required to keep it on the road.

McLaren’s first-ever road car was the M6GT, and its formula looks very familiar. It had a bespoke chassis with a mid-mounted V8 engine, although it was a Bartz-tuned Chevrolet Small-Block engine under its clamshell, and not a home-grown powertrain. Only three were ever built, but it was the start of something truly special.

It would take decades for the McLaren badge to appear on far more road cars. The McLaren F1 was a true record-shattering car, and its top-speed record for naturally-aspirated engines will likely never be beaten. Several years after the F1, McLaren rolled out the MP4-12C in 2011, and like the M6 GT, it was on a bespoke chassis with a mid-mounted V8 engine. This time, McLaren’s own mill powered the car.

The car would later be called the 12C and was succeeded by the 650S in 2014. The 720S eventually followed, then by the current 750S. Again, all are mid-engined V8s, true to the roots of founder Bruce McLaren’s vision.

End of an Era

After years of evolving its higher-tier supercar, McLaren is ready to close the chapter started by the 12C. The British automaker has announced that it is now taking final orders for the 750S, and production will be winding down. Production will wrap up by 2027, although an exact month hasn’t been specified yet.

Either way, it’ll be the end of an era for McLaren, as the 750S’ successor is touted to get some form of hybrid assistance. We’re certain that it’ll be faster, but there’s just something a little more special about a pure combustion supercar. Call it rose-tinted glasses, but the number of non-hybrid performance cars gets a little smaller every year.

The Next Chapter

As McLaren enters a new era, it’s also changed its logo. Say what you want about it, it’s actually a nod to the logo the McLaren family used for its fuel station back in the day. Just as fittingly, it applied to the limited-run MCL 6GT throwback special. We might also see some new names down the line, too, as suggested by trademark applications.

The 750S isn’t the only McLaren model that’s headed for retirement. Prior to that, it was reported that the entry-level Artura will also be dropped from the lineup. It’s one of the younger models in the lineup, being the brand’s first plug-in hybrid supercar, but we expect a successor to be electrified as well.

More recently, the company revealed its roadmap, and it includes some interesting notes. It will include an 810 hp supercar, likely the successor to the 750S. That’s not really a huge surprise given that the company primarily builds supercars. What’s shocking is the fact that it’s eyeing a 2+2 grand tourer that’s up against something like a Continental GT or even a 12Cilindri. But the biggest bombshell is the announcement of a new SUV, and it’s investing a lot of money to make it happen.

If the Lexus LS proved that Japan can make world-beating luxury cars, the NSX did the same for sports cars. Unveiled in 1989 for the 1990 model year and for 1991 as the Acura NSX, Japan’s first mid-engined supercar gave the European establishment a good fright. If anything, it shook off the complacency that had been brewing for years in the Old Continent.

The NSX also arrived at a great time, as Japanese automakers were rolling out technological marvels disguised as sports cars. With that, the NSX cemented its legacy in no time, alongside its contemporaries. The first generation lasted from 1990 to 2006 with two distinct versions.

Reviving the Legend

Honda and Acura revived it again in 2016, adding hybridization and all-wheel drive in the mix. The reinterpretation of the NSX was interesting, if admittedly very different from the original model. Mind you, the basic recipe was still there: a daily-friendly supercar, but with the added twist of electrification. Second-gen NSX production lasted from 2016 to 2022, with the Type S wrapping up its six-year run.

There have been talks of a revival down the line, although nothing is set in stone just yet. Italdesign and Honda did build a tribute model and showed it off earlier this year. It will be built in limited numbers, and it’s a unique take combining some elements from the first model with the second-gen hybrid system and all.

But Italdesign wasn’t the only Italian design house that’s had a crack at building a new NSX. Pininfarina, together with JAS Motorsport, made a modern version that’s an ode to the original. It’s called the Tensei, which is fitting as it’s Japanese for reincarnation or rebirth.

All Motor

The Tensei was previewed late last year, but JAS has finally revealed the juicier details of its latest car. We can confirm that the Tensei has no hybrid assists whatsoever, staying true to the spirit of the first NSX. The engine is based on the 3.0-liter V6 from the original model, internally known as the C30A.

JAS then sent that engine to JUDD Power, stroking it from 3.0 liters to 3.5 liters. The powertrain specialist heavily reworked it, and it also came with upgrades such as individual throttle bodies and a dry-sump lubrication system. Estimated output is rated at 425 hp, and that’s without any turbocharger assistance.

The Juicy Details

425 hp doesn’t sound like much these days, but the aluminum panels have been replaced by carbon, shedding even more weight from the already light platform. JAS reckons the car tips the scales at just 2,756 lbs. In a world where performance EVs easily blow past 5,000 lbs, it’s incredibly refreshing to see such low numbers from a new car.

And now, something that will delight NSX fans. The Tensei will have an honest-to-goodness six-speed manual transmission. It’s also rear-wheel drive only, making this a more faithful reincarnation of the car Gen-Xers and Millennials grew up with. The suspension has also been honed to handle the extra power, and it gets other goodies such as center-lock wheels, carbon ceramic brakes, adjustable dampers, and a Torsen rear differential, to name a few.

The interior gets a big makeover too, but not in the way that would upset the traditionalists. Yes, there is a digital display, but the overall look and feel is pretty much the same as the NSX. Given all that, production will be limited to just 35 cars, and we’re expecting a pretty hefty price tag. If anything, this is the NSX that Honda wishes it could build today.

View the 7 images of this gallery on the original article

Iley used his stolen funds to amass a private garage of more than 90 exotic and collector vehicles. While authorities often intercept fraudulent vehicle purchases in short bursts, Iley’s multi-year operation was unusually vast and deeply calculated. Authorities confirmed this massive fleet was completely funded by illegal activities and will be liquidated at auction to provide necessary restitution to his victims.

Funding a 90-Car Fantasy

Justice Department records state that from January 2020 to May 2026, Iley operated a Texas insurance brokerage and defrauded clients by accepting premiums for policies he never initiated. He also ran a fabricated private military contractor business, pitching a completely nonexistent U.S. Department of Defense loan program. Through this lie, he collected over $2 million from deceived investors while concurrently using stolen identities to open unauthorized credit cards.

The preliminary forfeiture order reveals a truly staggering lineup of high-end automotive hardware. The government seizure list features a 2012 Lamborghini Aventador, two 2015 Lamborghini Huracans, two Ferrari 488s, and three separate 2022 Maserati MC20s. To round out his performance fleet, he also purchased a 2021 Porsche Taycan, a 2014 Dodge SRT Viper, and a classic 1968 Pontiac Firebird. To match his fake private military persona, Iley even bought a 1990 BMY M923A tactical truck and two vintage AM General models.

A million-dollar collection is typically curated by enthusiasts out of genuine automotive passion, but Iley treated these rare machines merely as places to hide stolen cash. The FBI and local police successfully unraveled the paper trail, ensuring every vehicle is auctioned to compensate the individuals he manipulated.

Supercars and Dirty Money

The automotive world is increasingly intertwined with financial crimes, and Iley’s case highlights a deeply concerning trend. Fraudsters now utilize tangible luxury assets to legitimize and obscure their operations. The fact that someone could funnel millions into exotics without immediately triggering financial regulatory alarms exposes major blind spots in high-end automotive retail.

Deception mechanisms are evolving rapidly across the industry. Just as fake AI dealerships scam ordinary buyers out of their savings online, brazen criminals like Iley exploit systemic trust to steal millions in the real world. Without stricter verification protocols for cash transactions, the exotic car market will remain an attractive haven for grifters.

One could say that Porsche has been building hypercars since the ’80s. The brand’s halo road cars trace their roots to the 959, and while the term hypercar hadn’t been coined yet, it was a technological marvel. It was one of the first production cars to get close to 200 mph, only for it to be outrun by the Ferrari F40 later on.

In the ’90s, there was the 911 GT1 Straßenversion, literally a Le Mans racer without the decals and a few creature comforts. Then, in the 2000s, we saw the Carrera GT with its glorious V10 wail and sleek design. For the 2010s, the 918 Spyder combined electrification with performance with devastatingly effective results.

One for the 2020s

Built from 2013 to 2015, only 918 units of the 918 Spyder were ever built. That makes it 13 years since its premiere and 11 since the last one rolled off the line. The world is due for a new-generation Porsche hypercar, and we can say with certainty that it’s coming sooner than you think.

The folks from Stuttgart have dropped their hypercar for the 2020s, and it goes by the name of Mission S, possibly for now. As mentioned previously, this is all part of Porsche’s plan to sell higher-margin models while selling fewer cars. A risky strategy, yes, but the company is giving the world something it might actually like.

Not What the Name Suggests

Previously, the ‘Mission’ models meant it would be an EV, but that doesn’t seem to be the case here. In our previous report, we said the hypercar got the blessing of CEO Michael Leiters himself and would have a newly developed V8. It’s been said that the Mission S will not be an EV, although we could expect some electrification like the 918 Spyder.

It’s also been suggested that the car might have a mid-mounted flat-8 engine instead of a V8, though that remains unsubstantiated. Either way, we expect at least eight cylinders under its clamshell. The Mission S will reportedly be based on a modified 911 platform instead of a bespoke chassis. That breaks with the tradition of the Carrera GT and 918 Spyder, but it could be closer to the 911 GT1 from the ’90s.

When is it Coming?

The Mission S is likely a concept, as Porsche has never used ‘Mission’ in any of its production models. Then again, it could break tradition by actually applying the moniker, but a proper production name may be more likely.

As for the concept’s reveal, Porsche will pull the covers off by October 15, 2026. As it turns out, Porsche wasn’t bluffing, and the Mission S should show us what to expect from the 918 Spyder successor. By then, we’ll also know if it’ll have a V8 or flat-8.

The ZR1X Is A 1,250-HP Hypercar In Corvette Clothing

The black-over-Adrenaline Red ZR1X is a 3LZ convertible equipped with the $13,000 Carbon Fiber Aero Package, $16,000 carbon-fiber wheels, and the ZTK Performance Track Package. It also gets carbon-ceramic brakes, a front-axle lift system, GT2 bucket seats, and a carbon-fiber retractable hardtop.

View the 3 images of this gallery on the original article

The ZR1X combines Chevrolet’s twin-turbocharged 5.5-liter LT7 V8 with an electric motor powering the front wheels. The hybrid all-wheel-drive system produces a staggering 1,250 horsepower and 973 lb-ft of torque, making this the most powerful production Corvette ever built. Chevrolet claims the ZR1X can hit 60 mph in just 1.89 seconds and run the quarter-mile in 8.99 seconds at 157 mph. Those numbers have put the Corvette well into hypercar territory, with dealer markups to match.

A $145,000 Premium For A Five-Mile Corvette

This isn’t the first ZR1X to have a huge premium either. A 2027 ZR1X coupe with just eight miles sold on Bring a Trailer for $402,000 in September, despite having a $290,289 sticker price. That makes the latest result quite interesting. The convertible brought another $39,000 over the earlier coupe, even though both were essentially brand-new dealer cars.

Of course, paying $441,000 for a Corvette doesn’t suddenly make the ZR1X a $441,000 car in a Chevrolet showroom. But it does signal the extent buyers can go to own one of America’s newest performance machines. Whoever won the auction, the biggest question is how long that five-mile odometer reading will last.

There have been some 3-abreast mid-engined sports cars like the Talbot-Matra Bagheera and Murena, the McLaren F1 and Speedtail, the Gordon Murray Automotive T.50 and T.33, the Scuderia Cameron Glickenhaus SCG 004S, the Czinger 21C, and the boutique Spanish Tramontana hypercar, but two actual rows and four passengers? Rear seats can be squeezed in if you move the engine back and stretch the wheelbase, but it was only ever attempted six times. The biggest surprise of all may be that you can still buy a car with such a layout today.

Lamborghini Urraco (1972-1979)

Italian automakers dominate this list, and although Maserati also had a mid-engine 4-seater on the market by 1972, Lamborghini already showed its Bertone-designed pre-launch Urraco at the 1970 Turin Auto Show, so it wins by a nose as the first car with this layout. The Urraco was meant to be a more accessible junior Lambo with rear seats to sell in higher volumes than the V12 flagships and to compete with the Porsche 911, and it’s a segment that the automaker considers competing in again now, after a half-century hiatus.

View the 2 images of this gallery on the original article

The Urraco was the Latin 911, and received a brand-new steel monocoque chassis developed especially for it, along with a new naturally aspirated V8 engine in capacities ranging from 2.0L to 3.0L and developing 180 to 247 hp. The engine was installed transversely, and all-round independent McPherson strut suspension was used in a bid to save enough space to squeeze everything in. All of this was fitted into a wheelbase of a mere 96.46 inches – shorter than a VW Golf 2. There may have been rear seats, but they were only suitable for the tiniest of children, and adults of small stature would endure only for short distances if the front seats were moved well forward.

View the 2 images of this gallery on the original article

Maserati Merak (1972-1983)

Maserati’s approach with the Merak was different, as it was essentially the existing 2-seater Maserati Bora converted into a 4-seater car, complete with the same platform and wheelbase. Finding extra space was tough, and partly achieved by swapping the Bora’s V8 with a V6 engine made from aluminum and developed for use in the Citroën SM to shrink the engine bay.

View the 2 images of this gallery on the original article

With its upright rear window and open flying buttresses, it’s hard to believe a second row fits in. Indeed, these seats are so cramped that they were only really ever used for a few pieces of extra luggage, as only toddlers could really be transported in them.

View the 2 images of this gallery on the original article

Dino/Ferrari 208 and 308 GT4 (1973-1980)

Ferrari stretched its 2-seater Dino 206/246 tubular spaceframe structure to create the 208 and 308 GT4, adding more than eight inches to the wheelbase to create space for a second row. It was initially marketed as a Dino until May 1976 and a Ferrari from then on. The Bertone-designed body’s angular proportions invited many Urraco comparisons at the time; perhaps that is part of the reason Ferrari never asked Bertone to design a car for them again!

View the 2 images of this gallery on the original article

It used the same transverse V8 powertrain layout as the Lambo as well, but using Ferrari’s naturally aspirated Dino V8 in 168-hp 2.0 and 252-hp 2.9L guises (the latter only with 240 hp in the U.S.). Just like its rivals, rear-seat legroom was virtually nonexistent unless the front seats were moved well forward, and they rarely carried more than a few pieces of luggage.

View the 2 images of this gallery on the original article

Ferrari Mondial (1980-1993)

The 1980 Mondial carried over a modified version of the GT4 tubular spaceframe, but with the wheelbase stretched an additional four inches to 104.3 inches. The Mondial was just the stretched version of the Ferrari 208/308/328 mid-engined 2-seater sports car of the ’80s made famous by Magnum, P.I. on television.

View the 2 images of this gallery on the original article

The Mondial would spawn a Cabriolet variant, which had the distinction of being the only 4-seater, rear-engined convertible ever built in automotive history. Despite the wheelbase stretch, rear-seat legroom was still severely restricted by the limitations of the layout, and was toddler or emergency seating at most.

View the 2 images of this gallery on the original article

BMW i8 (2014-2020)

The BMW i8 brought the 4-seater mid-engined sports car into the 21st century with space-age looks and an advanced plug-in hybrid powertrain that changed the public perception of hybrids forever. It utilized a 131-hp front-wheel electric motor and a mid-mounted turbocharged 228-hp 1.5-liter 4-pot, which combined to produce 369 hp. The i8 was previewed as the 2009 BMW Vision EfficientDynamics show car, the 2011 i8 Concept, and the 2012 i8 Concept Spyder; the production variant came on stream in 2014. It could drive 15 miles on electricity alone.

View the 2 images of this gallery on the original article

With a long 110.2-inch wheelbase and a compact 3-cylinder engine installed transversely behind the passenger cabin, BMW managed to provide 28.2 inches of rear-seat legroom, which would be considered very cramped by most modern standards (even a Ford Mustang offers 29 inches), but it was more than any mid-engined 4-seater has had up until that time, and was just about adequate for small children to use on a regular basis.

View the 2 images of this gallery on the original article

Koenigsegg Gemera (2026+)

Which brings us to today, and the only 4-seater mid-engine sports car left, which is also a unicorn. Koenigsegg calls its Gemera hybrid a “Mega-GT”; it has up to 2,300 hp and massive Dihedral Synchro-Helix doors that provide easy access to both rows.

View the 2 images of this gallery on the original article

Stretching nearly 196 inches on a 118.1-inch wheelbase, it’s Accord-sized, and Koenigsegg says it’s been engineered to accommodate four adults of at least six feet tall, providing the interior space typically associated with a midsize sedan. It finally went into production in 2026, and only 300 will be built at a starting price of $1.7 million.

View the 2 images of this gallery on the original article

Final Thoughts

The 4-seat mid-engined sports car was a flawed concept from day one, and though it’s an interesting oddity that we enjoy chatting about today, it was never a practical car, and rear-seat space was usually so poor that humans could rarely be accommodated in the second row. Only the BMW i8 finally brought a modicum of 2nd-row liveability for small kids, and just as we thought we’d seen the best the format can offer, Koenigsegg upsets the apple cart with a multi-million-dollar hybrid hypercar that takes this flawed ’70s Italian concept and turns it into a practical reality for adults – at a massive cost and with assured unicorn rarity value.

McLaren is a mainstay among supercar lovers and enthusiasts worldwide. The brand attracts a certain clientele: die-hard fans who love and breathe it, whether through its cars or its motorsports efforts. We might see an SUV make the brand more profitable in the near future, and that’s just the beginning of a new era.

In an interview with Nick Collins, Car Magazine got a few statements from the McLaren boss. One statement stood out: “When we acquired McLaren last year, we really feel there’s an untapped potential with this brand.”

Brand Cachet to Sell SUVs

Collins’ statement boils down to this: McLaren has enough brand cachet to sell SUVs that people will buy, based on this year’s news. Recently, McLaren received a capital injection from Abu Dhabi investors of about $1,689,000,000. That’s enough to sustain the brand’s racing efforts for a while, or to kick-start a new era for McLaren as a maker of road cars, not just supercars.

At this point in time, details of the new model are sparse, but we’re fairly confident it will be something akin to the Lamborghini Urus, Aston Martin DBX, or Ferrari Purosangue – speculatively speaking.

Before Collins, the brand has always pushed back on the concept of an SUV, and for good reason. McLaren makes supercars, and there’s no doubt that an SUV isn’t a supercar by any known metric. However, history proves that profitability or financial safety is but one successful SUV away — think Porsche Cayenne or Lamborghini Urus and how those two models saved their respective companies from the verge of bankruptcy.

Yup, a McLaren SUV is on the Way

For hardcore McLaren fans, the notion of the brand “selling out” by making an SUV might not sit well, but for most supercar brands in the industry, creating a somewhat “accessible” model for their customers to enjoy is a reality that most brands have to face.

The new SUV will be “done the McLaren way“, so even if it’s not going to be another supercar, it will at least have touches that signal that it’s still a McLaren. “We immediately realigned our production to the underlying demand, so there’s always more demand than there is availability,” Collins stated in his interview.

McLaren had a record sales year in 2018, when the brand achieved 4,806 sales. While that was good for the sales ledger, the finance department was pretty much begging for a savior, as those sales were unprofitable for McLaren. Prices rose from there, creating a sales deficit of 2,000 units and a cumulative loss of about $1.8 billion for the brand from 2020 to 2024.

Now under its new owners, L’IMAD, McLaren’s debts are all settled, but with a renewed goal of not just selling supercars, but finding profitability and “[acting] in the long-term interests of the business,” said Collins. I guess McLaren can only go so far on supercar sales alone, as with every other brand that already bit the SUV bullet.

View the 3 images of this gallery on the original article

The McLaren Way

“Customers are looking for experience,” Collins said. “They want to be associated with a brand, with a family, community that goes with that experience that they love.” For now, we don’t know what the future holds for the brand’s SUV, only that it will be a hybrid and will compete with the likes of the Urus and Purosangue.

That being said, it’s unconfirmed what it will be named or its exact market positioning. Perhaps McLaren could go more upscale and make a GT-style SUV like the Bentley Bentayga, or perhaps it can try to create an SUV “the McLaren way,” which is a drive that gets close to its supercars. My money’s on the “McLaren way.”

2028 Lamborghini Revuelto Getting Angrier Looks

View the 3 images of this gallery on the original article

Losing the Y-shaped DRLs may make the Revuelto look more like the smaller, less powerful Temerario, but the entire fascia is being made more menacing, with additional strakes added to the lower side intakes, which appear to be less hexagonal than before. The central opening has also been widened and has lost the central support of the current Revuelto, increasing the impression of width and making the front end look even lower and sleeker. As a facelift, the hood and side profiles are being left mostly alone, but the biggest side intake has gained a horizontal strake, something repeated by the fin behind each front wheel. Interestingly, the intake on the car’s shoulder is new, apparently replacing the flying buttress of the current model. At the back, the engine cover seems to be unchanged, but most of the rear fascia has become wilder, with the diffuser dropping two vertical strakes on either side of the license plate in favor of a triple-element design that not only opens the panel up but also moves the plate holder a little higher. Either side of this are three vertical elements that join with additional vanes leading from behind the rear tires. There’s also a new vent below each taillight, and the deployable wing now protrudes further from the exhaust pipes. All of this indicates that either Lamborghini is heavily revising the styling of the facelift, it’s working on a hotter variant, or both.

Autoblog’s Take

View the 2 images of this gallery on the original article

Since the Lamborghini Revuelto SV has 1,050 horsepower, and since this prototype isn’t as extreme yet is certainly more aggressive than the regular, 1,001-hp Revuelto, we suspect this is a Revuelto S. Essentially, it is a facelift, but Lamborghini will market it as a new model. The original Urus was effectively replaced by the more powerful, plug-in hybrid Urus SE, and something similar will probably happen here – more power under a new name. But don’t expect it to happen soon. Lamborghini is still accepting orders for the current Revuelto, and this update is only expected to debut roughly a year from now, if not early in 2028.

View the 2 images of this gallery on the original article

Roadster event update

We’ve been tracking the weather closely with local meteorologists, but given the severe conditions predicted & because this event can only be held outdoors, we’ve made the difficult decision to reschedule.

New date is October 15. Additional details to…

— Tesla (@Tesla) September 28, 2026

A Delay With A Long History

This is far from the Roadster’s first postponement. Tesla unveiled the second-generation car back in 2017 alongside the Semi, originally targeting 2020 production that never happened. Executives promised “the most epic demo ever” by the end of 2025, that slipped too, and an April 1, 2026 launch date Musk floated turned out to be an April Fool’s joke. An August 2026 demo was also scrapped before Tesla finally sent out invitations for October 1, a date we reported when it was first announced — only for that date to now move again.

Why Anyone’s Still Watching

The Roadster has become something of a running joke among Tesla watchers, and it is important to question whether the car’s constant slippage still matters to anyone. But the thruster demo itself is a genuinely unusual test: strapping SpaceX hardware to a road car to briefly lift it off the pavement isn’t something any other automaker is attempting, and reporting earlier this month suggested the reveal might finally be real this time. Whether October 15 holds is anyone’s guess, but Tesla has now given itself no excuses left to blame beyond the weather. Whether buyers still care for a rocket-propelled sports car—and whether Tesla can finally deliver it—remains to be seen.

Lamborghini CEO Stephan Winkelmann said earlier this year that bringing back the manual transmission wasn’t on the brand’s “priority list.” Now, Temerario product line director Paolo Racchetti has echoed that sentiment, saying that “for the moment,” the current strategy focuses on further developing its hybrid technology.

Their choice of words is particularly interesting, as it can come off as leaving a bit of wiggle room. Neither executive completely shut the door on a stick-shift model in the future, which is more relevant today given that fellow supercar makers Ferrari and McLaren have brought back manual-style transmissions with the 12Cilindri Manuale and McL 6GT, respectively. But considering the consistency of Lamborghini’s messaging, it would be best for enthusiasts not to expect a three-pedal from the brand anytime soon.

The Power Shift

What the Italian marque is focusing on right now is hybridization, CarExpert reports. Its entire lineup now uses plug-in hybrid powertrains, including the Urus SE. Both the Revuelto and Temerario are PHEV supercars, with the former retaining a V12 engine paired with three electric motors to produce a combined output of 1,001 horsepower. That unlocks the brand’s first production road-going model with over a thousand horses.

More recently, Racchetti touched on the possibilities with the Temerario, which comes with a 4.0-liter twin-turbo V8 also paired with a tri-motor setup. The automaker can essentially make changes to the engine and/or hybrid system to deliver unique driving characteristics. The Temerario GT3 even drops the electric motors to comply with GT3 racing regulations.

One of the rumored Temerario derivatives is a Sterrato-style off-road-focused model, following the formula pioneered by its predecessor, the Huracán. The Huracán’s predecessor, the Gallardo, was the last Lamborghini offered with a manual transmission, and it seems that will remain the case for years to come.

Different Kind of Thrill

It is a bit ironic that Lamborghini is prioritizing the development of performance and driving characteristics that evoke emotion rather than bringing back a manual gearbox, when shifting gears has long been a hallmark of driver engagement. But times are changing, and with demand for stick shifts remaining limited, developing one would be difficult to justify financially.

For now, Lamborghini is expected to expand its road-going lineup to four model lines with a 2+2 grand tourer heavily inspired by the Lanzador concept. It was initially intended to use an all-electric powertrain, but amid slower-than-expected EV adoption, the company now plans to launch it as a plug-in hybrid.

View the 3 images of this gallery on the original article

McLaren Trademarks Meaningful Names

The new trademarks, first brought to light by CarBuzz, are for the names Remuera and Muriwai. The first refers to the Auckland suburb in New Zealand where company founder Bruce McLaren grew up. It’s also where his parents, Les and Ruth, ran their family garage from, and that garage’s signage is where McLaren’s new wordmark comes from, so the name seems directly connected to the brand’s new era. The other trademark, Muriwai, takes us back to Bruce McLaren’s first competitive race when, aged just 15, he entered the Muriwai Beach hillclimb in an Austin Ulster in 1952. He would eventually name his home in England after the same beach, so it was clearly a formative moment in his life. So what are they for?

Related: McLaren Is Finally Building an SUV, So We Imagined What It Could Look Like

Thus far, McLaren has confirmed very little beyond that its updated identity will retain the McLaren Speedmark and Papaya color, with the Speedy Kiwi emblem becoming a little more prominent. But according to a recent report, McLaren has already shown its dealers a roadmap for the future, outlining designs for a mid-engine V6 supercar in 2027, an SUV in 2028, and even a front-engine sedan-like GT of some sort. Either of these names could go to any of these products.

Autoblog’s Take

McLaren is expected to launch at least one new car every year through 2028, and it’s quite possible that these trademark applications are the first of many similar applications to follow at other intellectual property offices around the world as the automaker prepares to launch new products. However, these applications have arrived as we prepare to enter the final quarter of 2026, and that means the mid-engine supercar arriving next year probably won’t use one of these trademark names; lining up all the legal ducks in all of McLaren’s markets could prove too time-consuming. Instead, we predict that the names Remuera and Muriwai will appear on McLaren’s more practical four-seater machines, expected to arrive from 2028. They could also be reserved for some secret low-volume project we know nothing about yet. Or maybe McLaren is simply starting to protect names it may or may not use later in the future, aware that opportunities to trademark unique nomenclature are few and far between. Whatever the case, we’ll keep you updated on all the latest news and rumors as we get them.

Alfa Romeo Centro Stile Delivers Menacing Perla Nera

View the 3 images of this gallery on the original article

The commissioning owner worked closely with Alfa Romeo Centro Stile and the brand’s Bottega department to create the only all-black 33 Stradale, though with only 33 units slated for production, the owner could have chosen just about any color scheme and still been unique. While other examples will have a beautifully applied multi-layer paint job, an exposed carbon finish is far more challenging, requiring millimetric precision in the hand-laid arrangement of each panel’s fibers. This is most easily observed on the front end, where the weaves meet in the middle in a V-shape, drawing the eye up and over the car. Bringing the look home are exclusive carbon fiber-garnished wheels with black and silver Alfa Romeo emblems in the center caps, and the dark theme continues in the cabin.

View the 2 images of this gallery on the original article

Here, the seats have a reinterpretation of the Alfa Romeo’s typical “cannelloni” seat pattern, a design that is repeated in the door cards and on the side sills. The headrests of these seats were updated to feature a carbon fiber Perla Nera insert, and the name of the car reappears on the aforementioned door cards and in the storage cubby, which has been moved to the rear of the cockpit and is secured in a specially designed bracket. Each 33 Stradale comes with fitted luggage, and it’s only fitting (ha) that these are also refinished in black (Alcantara). The bags also get the car’s production number (3). Other neat details include the Quadrifoglio and Autodelta symbols appearing in the door frame and the rotary selector in the center console gaining the owner’s initials, though no images of this were provided to maintain anonymity.

Autoblog’s Take

View the 5 images of this gallery on the original article

The one-off Alfa Romeo 33 Stradale Perla Nera is mechanically identical to the other 32 examples of the supercar that will ultimately be produced (630-horsepower 3.0-liter twin-turbo V6, eight-speed dual-clutch transmission, rear-wheel drive), but it’s the first project from Bottega Alfa Romeo, and it’s intended to show the world, and particularly well-heeled collectors, that this automaker is capable of providing the same bespoke finishes and details that others in the high-dollar, low-volume space can. We expect to see several more specially crafted finishes and looks as production continues, and if all goes well, Alfa Romeo’s upcoming project with Maserati will attract even more attention from those who can afford rare supercars. Hopefully, this kind of passion will trickle down to more attainable creations too.

View the 7 images of this gallery on the original article

Now entering the testing phase, Mercedes-AMG has taken its prototype to the Nürburgring, as per usual. That said, we won’t be long before we see its final form, but it might take a little longer after what happened at the Nordschleife.

The Mercedes-AMG GT Black Series Prototype was spotted not long ago, sparking hope among Mercedes fans after the reception the AMG GT 4-Door got. “Kill it with fire,” some fans said, with others suggesting the 4-door is undeserving of the “GT” name from Mercedes-AMG. Now, ironically, that fire found its way to the Black Series prototype, and we hope all of this gets patched up soon.

View the 3 images of this gallery on the original article

All Fired Up

A set of images was posted on Instagram by mercedes_fans.de, who spotted the camouflaged Mercedes-AMG GT Black Series prototype burning at the track. The images were about a day old at the time of writing, so the news is still hot off the press.

In the photos, the new Black Series appears camouflaged, with a few flames peeking out from under the car and through its fender vents. Mercedes-AMG’s team responded quickly after what appeared to be a very hot lap. Fire extinguishers and apparently cameras were brought out to capture the event and snuff out the flames.

The cause of the fire is unknown, and no one has confirmed it was caused by the powertrain, brakes, or the vehicle’s electrical systems, but the rear taillight stopped working, so something could have gone haywire during the test run.

View the 3 images of this gallery on the original article

Back to the Paddock

Fortunately, nobody was injured. The driver escaped the vehicle unharmed. The car sustained only minor fire damage, and props to the team for responding quickly and putting the fire out before it could cause serious damage to the hotly anticipated model.

The incident was controlled, and judging by the photos, the folks over at Mercedes-AMG have it handled. We’ll keep an eye out for more hot news about the GT Black Series; hopefully the model wows us when it launches and doesn’t go up in smoke.

View the 2 images of this gallery on the original article

View this post on Instagram

I kept thinking about that on the flight down to San Francisco, where I passed the time learning Sonoma Raceway in Gran Turismo on my old PSP. My virtual car was a red Mustang SVT Cobra R—a machine whose name and sheer performance carry decades of pedigree. The very next day, Ford handed me the keys to a red Dark Horse SC and sent me out onto the track for real, and I almost immediately stopped caring about its naming convention. Over the course of one jam-packed day, I drove the standard SC through tight California canyon passes, ran the Track Pack down Sonoma’s drag strip, completed six laps of its road course, and then drove the Track Pack back to my hotel in Yountville. The program exposed the Mustang to three very different environments, and it emerged as something much more complete than a mere supercharged engine stuffed into a Dark Horse. The SC might have an underwhelming name, but it feels like the most appropriate flagship for the Mustang lineup in years—even if it isn’t technically the top dog.

Thinking about selling your car? Get an instant cash offer online now. Click here to get started.

More Than A Supercharged Dark Horse

Calling it a modern GT500 successor is the easiest way to explain the Dark Horse SC in Ford lore terms, particularly now that Shelby branding is absent. Its supercharged 5.2-liter cross-plane-crank V8 sends 795 horsepower and 660 pound-feet of torque through a seven-speed Tremec dual-clutch transmission. But the SC also draws upon the Mustang GTD and Ford’s GT3 program, giving it a more diverse personality than purely straight-line intimidation. Every SC receives MagneRide dampers, forged suspension links, revised geometry, enlarged stabilizer bars, a magnesium strut-tower brace, a carbon-fiber driveshaft, and enormous Brembo brakes. Its wider body and reshaped fascia are actually functional rather than just theatrical, feeding air where it’s needed while making the car look spectacularly serious.

The standard car was my initial introduction to the model. My drive partner and I left Yountville alone, free from the kind of conga line precession that can reduce a first-drive route to mere sightseeing. The road tightened as we headed toward Sonoma, and so did my attention. There is no avoiding the fact that this is a large automobile, and its width never quite disappears on a narrow canyon pass. But its responses quickly shrink the experience around its driver. The steering is intuitive, quick, and fiercely communicative. Its front end reacts immediately, while the chassis remains ruthlessly planted. With its standard Pirelli P Zero R tires warmed up, the non-Track-Pack SC found more grip than any public road sensibly requires. Its ride was equally surprising. The standard suspension breathes with imperfect pavement rather than abusing its occupants, and the Pirellis produce less road noise than the Track Pack’s stickier Michelin Pilot Sport Cup 2 Rs. This is no soft Mustang, but neither is it a car that makes every drive feel like being punished for driving a high-performance track machine on the street.

Its Gearbox Might Be The Biggest Upgrade

The engine is truly absurd, but the dual-clutch transmission might still be the Dark Horse SC’s single most transformative component. Compared with the 10-speed automatic used elsewhere in the Mustang family, it feels like it belongs in an entirely different class of car. It handles traffic smoothly, selects gears intelligently when left alone, and is seriously addictive in manual mode. Each pull of the substantial magnesium paddle produces an immediate, clean response. The shifts are rapid enough for serious circuit work without filling ordinary driving with low-speed clunks or indecision. But still, there’s that engine. Its power feels immediate, but what stays with you is the combination of exhaust rhapsody and mechanical fury. It’s like riding a ferocious steed into battle—a harnessed adrenaline rush that feels closer to a blend of GT500 and GTD than to an amplified Mustang GT.

Normal mode settles things down effectively, but open up the taps and give it room in Sport or Track mode, and all 795 horses make themselves known. The performance is surprisingly approachable, although unquestionably excessive on public roads. What prevents that power from dominating every corner is Ford’s Variable Traction Control system. Rather than repeatedly reminding you how easily nearly 800 horsepower can overwhelm two rear tires, it helps the SC behave like a sports car whose throttle you can trust with your own well-being.

Shopping for a new car? Click here to get a great deal on your next vehicle. Powered by Carvana: no-haggle pricing, 100% online.

Sonoma Raceway Revealed Its Natural Identity

The drag strip at Sonoma demonstrated how calmly the SC can accomplish something objectively absurd. We received three runs in Track Pack cars, with Ford’s line-lock and launch-control systems making preparation an intuitive, repeatable process under controlled track conditions. My first attempt allowed some wheelspin, but on the second, the car hooked cleanly and shoved off hard, its dual-clutch shifts feeling almost serene against the force of the acceleration. I covered the quarter-mile in 10.992 seconds at 131.75 mph. Another driver eventually recorded a 10.7-second pass, suggesting Ford had left considerably more capability in the car than I extracted. The time was impressive, but its composure mattered more. The SC didn’t squirm or demand corrections. It gathered speed with the calmness of something engineered to do this over and over again, rather than a road car performing a party trick.

Sonoma’s road course, though, provided the biggest revelation of all. The circuit’s blind elevation changes made my opening lap genuinely frightening. The first tight corners arrive as the track’s dramatic rise and fall obscure what comes next, and the changing load briefly unsettles the car. With this much power waiting under my right foot, building trust took time. But after just a few laps, it had been fostered. Over six total hot laps, after I established my own rhythm, the Track Pack seemed easier to drive as the pace increased. Its steering stayed tight under load, its body barely rolled, and its balance remained willing to rotate without treachery. Variable Traction Control deserves some serious credit here: it allowed meaningful adjustment while preserving the confidence to feed power into corner exits.

The long, sweeping downhill left-hander captured the car at its best. A corner that can make weight transfer feel awkward became easy to attack, with the carbon wheels, Cup 2 R tires, and carbon-ceramic brakes working together to make a two-ton Mustang feel improbably cohesive. The aerodynamics communicated themselves primarily through stability, while the brakes remained consistent throughout the session. This isn’t just a muscle car taught to survive a racetrack—it feels more like a genuine track car that has managed to retain its muscle-car identity.

Is the Track Pack Worth $36,500?

The difference between the standard Dark Horse SC and Track-Pack-equipped models is more subtle on public roads than the EcoBoost-sized price gap suggests. The normal SC already has tremendous grip, excellent steering, and a surprisingly livable ride. It’s quieter, retains its rear seats, and provides most of the same emotional experience, even when speed and space are limited. The Track Pack is firmer and louder, although never punishing. Its Recaros actually proved more comfortable through winding roads because their additional bolstering reduced the effort required to hold myself in place. More importantly, much of its weight reduction comes from unsprung and rotating mass—the carbon wheels and carbon-ceramic brakes—so the car feels more alert where those savings matter most.

If road use will dominate, the standard SC is the better value and arguably the more rational specification. If serious track use is on the agenda—or if it’ll sit still in a collection for the next few—the Track Pack is essential. And yet, if someone is already committing to a six-figure Mustang, I understand the temptation to go all the way regardless of intended use. My preferred specification would be the Avalanche Gray Track Pack with the $3,000 Teal Accent Package. The teal calipers, badges, and seat belts give the car a visual identity its name lacks. Ford’s $10,000 carbon-fiber exterior treatment and equally expensive painted graphics also enhance its presence, but they helped push our loaded example to $169,820. That’s an enormous amount of money for a Mustang—even one that drives this well.

The Cabin Remembers Its Origins

The SC’s greatest weakness has nothing to do with dynamics. It’s the reminder that beneath the carbon fiber and Alcantara sits the cabin of a comparatively affordable pony car. Some panels creaked in our standard car, continuing an unfortunate modern-Mustang tradition. Curiously, the Track Pack we drove home felt more solid despite lacking rear seats, so build quality varied between production examples, and neither vehicle was a prototype. The GTD-derived flat-bottom steering wheel helps, and the Track Pack’s Alcantara covering and Recaros make the driving environment feel significantly more purposeful. The controls are straightforward, the performance settings are easy to navigate, and the screens function well. Yet their presentation and the surrounding materials struggle to convey a six-figure-plus experience.

At least the standard car can function as a frequent road companion. Its rear seats offer little meaningful accommodation, but the ride, visibility, noise levels, and automatic transmission make the rest of the car unexpectedly easy to live with. A manual transmission might make that version even more appealing: imagine a Dark Horse SC conceived like a 911 GT3 Touring, with less track-focused aero, three pedals, and a design built for the road without sacrificing the engine. That’s the version I would find hardest to resist if it ever existed.

Verdict: The Last Of Its Kind, And Perhaps The Best

The Corvette and Porsche 911 are obvious alternatives at this price point, especially once options push the SC even deeper into six-figure territory. Neither, however, delivers quite the same raw, rumbly, and unmistakably American performance-car experience on top of their impressive statistics the way the DHSC does. To me, this Mustang feels more authentically rooted in traditional American muscle than even the Corvette does, what with its newfound flat-plane-crank howl and exotic mid-engine platform dimensions. Calling the Dark Horse SC the ultimate Mustang feels like a complicated statement as long as the GTD exists, but the GTD is a rare and extravagantly priced halo car, almost entirely detached from the Mustang most people recognize. The Dark Horse SC feels like the more natural family topper: outrageous, attainable only to a fortunate few, but still recognizably descended from the budget pony car beneath it.

Ford could’ve given it a cooler name. It could have been a Cobra, a Boss, or a new Terminator. Instead, the company gave two anonymous letters to a driving experience rich in historical identity. The Dark Horse SC succeeds because it feels like the last of its kind and, simultaneously, the best of its kind—old-school supercharged fury made faster, friendlier, and more capable by thoroughly modern mechanical engineering. Whatever “SC” lacks in mythology, this Mustang makes up for it on the road, the strip, and the circuit.

Autoblog aims to feature only the best products and services. If you buy something via one of our links, we may earn a commission.

The idea of a McLaren SUV has been bouncing around the rumor mill for ages. Every so often, someone claims the British supercar maker is finally caving in and building something with four doors and room for the whole family – just like Ferrari and Lamborghini. Each time, McLaren has shot down or brushed off the gossip.

But now, it’s official. McLaren is finally entering the SUV market, making its first real move toward a practical road car since it began building street-legal vehicles along with its Formula 1 cars. Details are scarce, but rumors say the project is called P47 internally.

The catch is that McLaren hasn’t shown the SUV yet. No teaser images, no design sketches, and no official specifications. So we took the brand’s current design direction and let AI imagine what McLaren’s first SUV could look like.

McLaren’s Newest Design and Branding

Instead of imagining a traditional luxury SUV, the goal was to create something that still looked unmistakably like a McLaren. The biggest inspiration came from the MCL-6GT manual supercar concept, which introduced the brand’s newest styling language. The concept features slimmer lighting, smoother aerodynamic surfaces, and a cleaner visual identity than current McLaren road cars.

The AI didn’t stray from that playbook. It kept the roof low, so the SUV looks more like a grand tourer on stilts than your average chunky crossover. Massive carbon fiber side sills and deep, sculpted air channels borrow straight from the Artura and 750S, helping the big body look surprisingly light on its feet.

At the back, the taillights match the McL 6GT, with the new McLAREN wordmark at the center of the tailgate. The hood up front also rocks just the iconic Speedmark emblem, ditching the old-school badge in line with McLaren’s fresh branding.

A New Chapter Backed by a Major Investment

McLaren isn’t just dabbling here. The company is investing £500 million (about $669 million) to beef up its UK manufacturing and engineering, with the SUV set to be one of the main stars of that investment.

There are still no official details. McLaren hasn’t shared anything about the SUV’s design, engine, price, or release date. However, rumors suggest the P47 will use a powerful hybrid system and arrive in 2028 with four doors and five seats.

That’s all we’ve got for now. Until McLaren finally pulls the wraps off – or at least when prototypes show up during public road testing – AI renderings like this are our best guess at what the brand’s first SUV might look like if it sticks to McLaren’s new design playbook.

View the 4 images of this gallery on the original article

The Lamborghini Temerario was unveiled in mid-2024, but it still doesn’t have any road-going derivatives. Considering how the Italian marque paces its models, it is safe to assume it is only a matter of time before the Temerario evolves, especially with a Spyder variant spotted testing at the Nürburgring in Germany earlier this year.

However, what sets the Temerario apart from its predecessors, the Huracán and Gallardo, is its architecture, which, according to Lamborghini product line director Paolo Racchetti, was purposely designed to support more diverse interpretations. Racchetti didn’t go into full detail, but noted that the automaker is considering derivatives such as off-road, track-focused, puristic, and fun road-going models.

Letting the Bull Loose

The off-road model is perhaps the most interesting one, given that the Temerario is an exotic supercar. Lamborghini already put out a trail-ready supercar with the Huracán Sterrato, which was seen as an alternative to the Porsche 911 Dakar. Despite the competition in this niche, Racchetti told CarExpert that such a vehicle is something “only Lamborghini can do.”

Racchetti also championed the flexibility of the PHEV powertrain but didn’t expound on it. This could mean Lamborghini may introduce modifications to the V8, the electric system, or both to deliver unique derivatives. In the Temerario GT3, the automaker even removed the hybrid system to comply with GT3 regulations.

For reference, the Temerario uses a 4.0-liter twin-turbo V8 with a tri-motor setup, delivering a combined output of 907 horsepower. It wouldn’t be a surprise to see the architecture exceed 1,000 horsepower, especially considering that the Audi Nuvolari, which shares the Temerario’s powertrain architecture, already makes 1,001 PS, or about 987 hp.

Racchetti may paint the future of Temerario derivatives as the sky’s the limit, but nothing beyond the Spyder is confirmed as of this writing. Speaking about a possible Sterrato model, he said, “I’m not saying we are planning to do that, but I’m not excluding that it could happen again.”

Expanding the Herd

Introducing new derivatives would not only show the architecture’s flexibility and capabilities, but would also help target different audiences in the entry-level supercar space, where models like the Ferrari 296 GTB compete. For instance, a Spyder version would appeal to those who may be willing to compromise a bit of performance for an open-air driving experience, while an STO-esque derivative would be ideal for those looking for a track-ready version that can still be driven on public roads.

Perhaps looking at the 14 derivatives of the Huracán can provide some clues as to what’s coming, except the range of possibilities could be even broader thanks to the hybrid system.

View the 3 images of this gallery on the original article

2027 Mercedes-AMG GT Black Series Reveals More of Its Design

View the 2 images of this gallery on the original article

The new spy shots reveal slightly different camouflage on the AMG GT Black Series, allowing us to see just how extreme the special edition will be. From the front, it’s immediately evident that the Black Series is wider than the regular AMG GT. We can also see a new take on the Panamerica grille design, potentially with elements similar to those on the recently revealed Mythos AMG CLE 646 Spezialanfertigung. Canards either side of this grille and above the aggressive splitter will help glue the front end of the car to the track, but as will active vents in the front wings. These will relieve pressure within the aerodynamically turbulent wheel wells at high speed, likely also flipping up under hard braking to slow the car more quickly, and they’ll fold down again when the GT Black Series needs to be slipperier. Two large bulges run down the hood, with a massive, Dodge Viper-like nostril feeding what is expected to be a twin-turbocharged 4.0-liter flat-plane crank V8. Additional vents on the hood, fading towards the A-pillars, are presumably there to help cool the mighty power plant, which is expected to produce more than its 720-horsepower forefather.

Three-pointed star elements are visible in the headlights, while the redesigned taillights call to mind the AMG ONE with their elliptical three-element clusters. We can also see carbon-ceramic brakes behind center-locking wheels. The front fenders each feature another huge vent ahead of a custom door panel, and the ridiculously wide sills have a fin behind each front wheel to smooth the airflow running down the sides of the car. The side skirts also draw the eye to twin side-exit exhaust tips, indicating that AMG has fitted an enormous diffuser that may extend from fore of the rear axle. Looking at the GT Black Series from the rear, this seems plausible, as the end of the diffuser would look more at home on a purpose-built GT3 racecar than a roadgoing machine. On either side of the diffuser, additional airflow channels help clean the airflow from the rear wheels, while above it, most of the rear end looks vented with mesh. A small ducktail lip spoiler and a vent from the rear window area almost fade into obscurity due to the savage swan-neck rear wing, which has actuators on it, indicating a drag reduction system of some sort is coming. Since this extends beyond the rear of the car, making it illegal for use on public roads in most regions, we suspect it may be a track-only option.

Final Thoughts

Low-volume, high-performance vehicles can sometimes fail to achieve the halo status manufacturers seek, but the AMG GT Black Series won’t. The rear windshield seems almost pointless, there are wild aero appendages everywhere you look, and the diffuser is so big that the exhaust had to move. All of these factors will make the Black Series the undisputed king of the AMG lineup, and they also indicate that this monster won’t be electrified – there doesn’t appear to be any room for a battery pack or electric motors given the huge diffuser. We should learn the full story before the end of the year, but we wouldn’t be surprised to discover that all allocations have already been sold out. We’ll update you once we know more.

View the 5 images of this gallery on the original article

The car you see pictured is one of five in the world. It’s a 1990 Monte Carlo Automotive (MCA) Centenaire, and it ended up on the consignment list of Broad Arrow Auctions and will be available to bid on at the second annual Broad Arrow Zoute Concours Auction, in collaboration with Zoute Grand Prix Car Week, which will take place at the Approach Golf in Knokke-Heist, Belgium, on October 9, 2026.

If there are only five of these things in the world, how do you price something as special as this? Accordingly, that’s how. Broad Arrow Auctions estimates it could go anywhere between $967,000 and $1,290,000.

View the 3 images of this gallery on the original article

The First Centenaire

The example going up for sale is the very first Centenaire, confirmed by a letter from MCA representative Matteo Ramello. This car has the original chassis and is the first Centenaire ever produced. Not only is it the first of its nameplate, but it’s also the “first road-going production car fitted with a carbon [fiber] chassis,” according to Broad Arrow Auctions. It was also the first model used for development, testing, and presentation. After that run, it was designated EL0002 and sat in the Lamborghini factory in Sant’Agata Bolognese for about 10 years. From there, it was gifted to the company founder, Fulvio Ballabio, in the early 2000s.

In its current state, it’s refinished in its factory Ivory White color, contrasted with a bright red leather interior. This intentional palette choice lets the car reflect the colors of Monaco. This car was also sent to the Lamborghini factory for about a decade before it changed hands, and if you’ve been paying close attention to the photos, you will see a Lamborghini logo on its side. That’s because it has a 5.2-liter V12 engine, the same one found in the Lamborghini Countach 5000QV. Supplying another company with its powertrain is one thing, but Lambo were also crazy enough to put its V12 in the LM002 SUV, remember that? According to the history books and Broad Arrows’ report, it makes 455 horsepower and utilizes a six-speed manual transmission from ZF.

After Ballabio, the car passed to other owners. Circa 2007, the car was refinished in blue; it was then displayed at Rétromobilethat year. It then notably changed hands with its current owner and consignor in France in 2014. About two years later, the car was restored and painted back to Ivory White.

View the 3 images of this gallery on the original article

A Little-Known Piece of History

The documentation for this car is complete. Broad Arrows describes it as a “vast history file,” including a copy of the contract between Lamborghini and Fulvio Ballabio to supply MCA with the V12 engines for the Centenaire.

Without a doubt, this is one of the more interesting cars that will appear at Broad Arrows’ auction this year. Its history, connection to Lamborghini, and estimate will be worth watching. Will it exceed that $1,290,000 estimate, or will it be on the dot?

View the 3 images of this gallery on the original article

What It’s Worth Right Now

Prices for the Ferrari 458 Speciale are still holding strong. According to Classic.com, the benchmark value sits at $649,309, but the average sale is a much juicier $830,691. That’s across 15 sales and about $12.5 million changing hands. Sales have ranged from $401,500 all the way up to $1.5 million, so it’s clear that mileage, originality, and spec can send values all over the map.

This car lands squarely in the low-mileage sweet spot with just 10,000 miles. Dealer listings for similar cars are floating between $1.22 million and $1.45 million, though we all know asking prices are just that—asking. Most of the cars out there have anywhere from 1,000 to 10,000 miles, so this one is right in the collectible zone.

With its mileage, clean record, and a laundry list of factory options, this Speciale should realistically fetch somewhere between $1.1 million and $1.35 million – give or take, depending on how wild the bidding gets. Right now, the auction is still lagging behind those numbers, but that’s par for the course early on in a no-reserve sale.

Condition and Details

This Ferrari is finished in Rosso Scuderia with contrasting Nero accents and is trimmed inside with black-and-red upholstery complemented by extensive carbon-fiber interior and exterior trim. It rides on 20-inch five-spoke alloy wheels wrapped in Michelin Pilot Sport Cup 2 tires and includes adaptive xenon headlights, navigation, dual-zone automatic climate control, and carbon-fiber racing seats.

Under the hood, you get Ferrari’s 4.5-liter naturally aspirated V8, good for 605 horsepower and 398 lb-ft of torque. That’s hooked up to a seven-speed dual-clutch sending power to the rear wheels through an electronic diff. The Speciale also gets retuned Side Slip Angle Control, F1-Trac traction, carbon-ceramic brakes, and trick magnetorheological dampers.

The listing says it’s got a clean Carfax – no accidents, no damage. It just passed California emissions in July 2026. The car’s being sold by a dealer in Costa Mesa and comes with its window sticker, car cover, and a clean Ohio title.

The Offer

Interested in this Ferrari 458 Speciale? View the listing here.

What Makes the Ferrari 458 Speciale Unique

The 458 Speciale represents the final chapter of Ferrari’s naturally aspirated V8 mid-engine lineage before the brand moved to turbocharged V8s in the 488 GTB. Ferrari reworked the standard 458 Italia with a higher-compression engine, revised intake system, lighter internal components, improved aerodynamics, and extensive weight-saving measures. Production is widely reported at fewer than 2,000 units worldwide, making it one of the rarer modern Ferrari road cars.

But it’s not just about the engine. The Speciale got all sorts of performance goodies: active aero flaps, spring-loaded radiator doors, tweaked rear diffusers, loads of carbon fiber inside and out, and Ferrari’s best electronic handling tricks. All of that turned an already wild supercar into one of the most celebrated driver’s cars Ferrari has built in the last decade.

Final Thoughts

This 2015 Ferrari 458 Speciale ticks all the right boxes for collectors: low miles, original spec, clean history, and a laundry list of options. It even comes with its original window sticker and, according to the listing, hasn’t been messed with.

Bidding is still way below what these cars usually fetch, so there’s plenty of action left before the hammer drops. Whether it hits dealer-level prices or lands closer to recent auction results, this Speciale is proof that Ferrari’s last naturally aspirated V8 supercar is still hot property.

Disclaimer: This post is for informational purposes only. We are not a dealership or broker. All vehicle specifications, pricing, and availability are subject to change without notice. We are not responsible for typographical errors, omissions, or the accuracy of the provided information. Please verify all details directly with the seller.

The McLaren Artura has always been billed as your ‘starter’ McLaren, though calling a $260,000 coupe ‘entry-level’ is a bit of a stretch. Still, US buyers are now being tempted with what might be the most eye-catching financing deal McLaren has ever dangled in front of would-be owners.

The timing here is no accident. Rumor has it the Artura’s days are numbered, so this financing push looks a lot like McLaren clearing the decks before the next wave of supercars rolls in.

Rare 0% Financing Lands on the Artura Coupe

Spotted by CarsDirect, McLaren is now offering 0% APR for 36 months on both the 2025 and 2026 Artura coupes in America. If you prefer a longer term, 72-month financing comes with a 2.99% APR. Previously, the 36-month deal had a 1.99% rate, but McLaren has now reduced it to zero.

You also don’t need perfect credit to qualify. Even buyers with a FICO score around 700 could be eligible, making this deal more accessible than most supercar financing options.

The clock is ticking – the promo wraps up on September 30. And before you ask, the fine print only mentions the Artura coupe. The Spider is left out in the cold, so convertible fans are out of luck for now.

For reference, the 2026 Artura coupe starts at $260,400, but if you get carried away with the options list, you could be staring at a $295,400 price tag before you even add the fancy extras.

More McLarens Are Nearing Retirement Too

The Artura isn’t the only McLaren heading for the exit. The GTS is expected to bow out first, with production winding down by 2027. It was McLaren’s attempt at a more comfortable grand tourer, giving buyers a bit more space than the usual mid-engine rocket.

The 750S is also on its farewell tour. McLaren hasn’t circled a date on the calendar yet, but the new 788HS is clearly a track-focused goodbye for the 750S lineup, hinting that a replacement is waiting in the wings.

McLaren says the two-seat supercar isn’t going anywhere, but the next generation will get in-house hybrid powertrains. Word on the street is that a beefier hybrid supercar is coming around 2028, packing more torque and an even steeper price tag than the Artura.

For now, the Artura is still holding down the fort as one of McLaren’s mainstays. With its swan song on the horizon and financing deals you almost never see in the exotic car world, McLaren is giving buyers a rare shot at snagging its hybrid supercar on surprisingly friendly terms.

Under the new ownership, McLaren has received a massive cash injection of £500 million ($667 million) that will allow it to expand manufacturing by adding a second factory in the UK and launch new vehicles, including its first-ever SUV.

A New McLaren Logo Reuniting the Company’s Past, Present and Future

But before all that, McLaren’s new chapter starts with a refreshed brand identity that’s said to express its evolution. The renewed brand identity brings together McLaren’s past, present and future in a single expression across McLaren Automotive (the car making business) and McLaren Racing (the motorsport business).

Rooted in the vision of founder Bruce McLaren, the new brand identity is said to bring a clearer and more unified expression of McLaren as it continues to grow its community, experiences and level of personalization.

At the heart of the refreshed brand identity is a new McLaren wordmark that features a dot under the letter “c”. It is inspired by the sign above Bruce McLaren’s family Service Station in Remuera, Auckland (see above image). Owned by his parents, Les and Ruth McLaren., the garage was where Bruce built the car that would take him to his first racing victory.

By recreating that identity for the modern age, McLaren says it is reconnecting with its origins while also gaining a confident visual language for the future. The minimalist new wordmark will be featured on all McLaren cars, merchandise and digital channels going forward.

McLaren’s Speedmark Remains but Is Removed From Main Logo

McLaren will keep the “Speedmark” motif that accompanies the name in its current logo, but the symbol will take a back seat to the wordmark. That said, the Speedmark remains at the heart of the brand as a sign of continuity, as do McLaren’s Papaya signature orange color and the Speed Kiwi symbol, which honors Bruce McLaren’s New Zealand roots.

Speaking of Papaya Orange, it is now joined by an expanded color palette inspired by pivotal moments in McLaren’s history.

“It’s a reflection of the journey we are on as a company. It marks the beginning of a new chapter for McLaren, giving a physical expression to the ambition, creativity and forward momentum that is shaping our future,” said McLaren Automotive Chief Creative Officer David Woodhouse speaking about McLaren’s evolved visual identity.

McLaren’s rebranding follows a series of storytelling moments throughout 2026 that have highlighted the brand’s origins and the ideas that continue to shape its future. These include the celebration of the M6GT as the earliest expression of Bruce McLaren’s road car vision and the reveal of the McL 6GT, a contemporary signal of McLaren’s design and performance inspired by the M6GT.

What It’s Worth Right Now

Unlike the old-school collector crowd, nobody really knows what a Temerario is worth yet. The car’s barely out of the factory, and you can still waltz into a Lamborghini dealer and order one new, so trying to guess resale value right now is a bit like throwing darts blindfolded.

The 2026 Temerario starts at a cool $387,649, but as with any Lamborghini, ticking a few option boxes sends the price skyward. This one rolled out with about $64,000 in extras – think Blu Nethuns paint, matte bronze Velador wheels, a front-axle lift, parking tech, and a handful of interior upgrades – landing at a wallet-busting $451,549 MSRP.

Since this is one of the first Temerarios to hit the used market, this auction is less about comparing past sales and more about seeing what someone’s actually willing to pay in the wild. With just 1,200 miles and a squeaky-clean history, it’s a golden ticket for anyone who wants to skip the factory waiting game and jump straight into a loaded example.

Condition and Details

This Temerario is up for grabs at a dealer in Burlingame, California, sporting a clean California title. The current owner bought it new and barely put 1,200 miles on it. The included Carfax is spotless – no accidents, no drama.

Spec-wise, this Temerario is all about mixing performance with real-world usability. It sits on matte bronze Velador wheels – 20 inches up front, 21 out back – wrapped in Bridgestone Potenza Race rubber. Adaptive MagneRide suspension, rear-wheel steering, and a front-axle lift keep things civilized, while carbon-ceramic brakes with 10-piston front and four-piston rear calipers make sure you stop as hard as you go.

Inside, you’ll find Nero Ade leather, Corsa Tex accents, and contrast stitching everywhere you look. The sport seats are both heated and ventilated, there’s an 8.4-inch touchscreen with Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, plus a 12.3-inch digital cluster. Lamborghini’s trick driving interface is here too, and the steering wheel lets you pick from 13 driving modes – including Drift Mode, for when you’re feeling brave.

The Offer

Interested in this Lamborghini Temerario? View the listing here.

What Makes the Lamborghini Temerario Unique

The Temerario is a massive leap for Lamborghini engineering. Gone is the old-school, naturally aspirated V10 from the Huracán, swapped for a brand-new twin-turbo 4.0-liter flat-plane V8 and three electric motors. The result? A wild 907 horsepower and a V8 that screams up to 10,000 rpm – something you almost never see in a turbocharged street car.

This is Lamborghini’s second shot at a High Performance Electrified Vehicle after the Revuelto, but the Temerario does things its own way. Two electric motors drive the front wheels, a third motor sits between the engine and transmission, and together they create an all-wheel-drive system that mixes instant electric shove with the drama of a high-revving V8. Throw in rear-wheel steering, MagneRide suspension, and a lightweight aluminum spaceframe, and you’ve got a car that’s just as happy on the street as it is tearing up a track.

Final Thoughts

Spotting a Temerario on the used market this soon is rare, but one with just 1,200 miles? That’s even more of a unicorn. If you want to skip the production line and jump straight into a loaded example, this is your chance.

Whether this one goes for over or under sticker is anyone’s guess, but you can bet enthusiasts will be watching. With the Temerario still gracing showroom floors, auctions like this are the first real peek at what the market thinks of Lamborghini’s latest hybrid beast outside the dealer bubble.

Disclaimer: This post is for informational purposes only. We are not a dealership or broker. All vehicle specifications, pricing, and availability are subject to change without notice. We are not responsible for typographical errors, omissions, or the accuracy of the provided information. Please verify all details directly with the seller.

This may be shown to investors on October 7, during Capital Markets Day, and the hypercar could also be joined by the 992 GT2 RS or the 992.2 GT3 RS, the gas Macan replacement, the 718 sports cars, and/or the brand’s flagship SUV. The paper claims that the S1 will cost start around €500,000, or around $575,000 at current exchange rates, but regional pricing will obviously vary depending on taxes. What’s most intriguing isn’t the six-figure asking price, however, but the rumored eight-cylinder boxer engine.

Porsche S1 Isn’t a New 911 Variant

The report indicates that Porsche is developing a standalone hypercar unrelated to its rear-engine 911, which would make fitting the boxer-eight a lot easier. Porsche has confirmed the existence of flat-eight engines in the past, with eFuels project manager Marcos Marques saying a few years ago that a 5.0-liter eight-cylinder boxer with two turbochargers, 750 horsepower, and 738 lb-ft of torque was crammed into the chassis of a 718 Cayman. Redline was set at 9,000 rpm, and all the shunt was sent to the rear wheels through a manual transmission. It didn’t make production because Porsche felt the timing was off, but perhaps now that Porsche is trying to become even more upmarket, selling fewer cars to make more money, a low-volume hypercar may be the right call.

Related: Porsche CEO Hints at New Hypercar to Follow the 918 Spyder

It’s also worth mentioning that while Porsche surely has made advances allowing for even more power to be produced from an evolution of the abovementioned prototype, ultra-elite buyers are looking for more engagement and theater (just ask McLaren), and a rear-drive, manual hypercar that screams to 9,000 rpm (or higher) sounds enticing. By the way, if the S1 is the flat-eight monster this report claims it is, it may soon have a direct rival in Ruf’s upcoming supercar.

Porsche May Revive a Stillborn Le Mans-Based Hypercar

It’s also worth mentioning that nearly ten years ago, Porsche revealed the Le Mans-inspired 919 Street, but while it was no more than a full-size clay model, Porsche has since refined the recipe with the 963 Le Mans Hypercar, built atop a spec chassis. It’s also converted one of these into a semi-road-legal hypercar called the 963 RSP, so it appears that building a racecar-like road car would certainly be possible. However, we suspect this option is less likely, as the noise, vibration, and harshness limits of a racing car are much higher. The layout is also uncomfortable for more than one occupant, and getting in and out would not be graceful. Whatever the case, Porsche has not officially confirmed that its working on a flat-eight hypercar of any sort, a Le Mans-inspired road car, or anything else. However, with more detailed reports trickling out of Stuttgart, it’s only a matter of time before we get an announcement.

Automakers typically stagger their model rollouts to give individual products time in the spotlight. With Aston Martin Valhalla deliveries already underway, the supercar could soon take its next form. That form will be an open-top Spider version.

The Aston Martin Valhalla Spider will reportedly debut as early as November 2026 and is expected to be more limited than the coupe, which is capped at 999 examples. Such a configuration would place it alongside plug-in hybrid supercar rivals like the Ferrari 849 Testarossa Spider. The Lamborghini Revuelto, meanwhile, doesn’t have an open-top version yet, though it recently received a more track-oriented SV version.

The Open-Air Formula May Be a Targa

According to The Supercar Blog, citing industry sources, the Valhalla Spider could use a targa-top configuration, which typically has a fixed rear section and a removable roof panel, instead of a traditional convertible setup. This would provide an open-air experience while retaining part of the roof structure. That could include the coupe’s roof scoop, which supplies air to the cooling systems and engine.

To be more specific, the PHEV supercar is equipped with a Mercedes-AMG-sourced 4.0-liter twin-turbocharged V8 paired with three electric motors, producing a combined output of approximately 1,064 horsepower – putting it in the same league as the Ferrari 849 Testarossa and Lamborghini Revuelto. The same powertrain is expected to carry over to the Spider.

As with many open-top versions, the Valhalla Spider could carry a weight penalty, though its carbon-fiber construction may help keep any increase modest. For reference, the British marque quotes a dry weight of 1,655 kg (about 3,649 pounds) for the coupe.

Paying For the View

The report did not specify how many Aston Martin Valhalla Spiders could be produced. But the new version should help expand the model’s appeal, especially among those willing to trade a bit of performance for an open-top driving experience. Open-top versions are also typically more expensive than their coupe counterparts. While pricing has yet to be announced, the Valhalla coupe reportedly starts at around $1 million.

In addition, the Valhalla Spider would allow customers to have an open-top Aston Martin supercar without going for the more extreme Valkyrie Spider, which is limited to just 85 examples.

View the 3 images of this gallery on the original article