BMW quickly sold out of the 1,000 M4 CSL coupes offered last year, but as consolation, it is offering 2,000 of the M4 CS, a slightly tamer rendition of the road/track coupe. It’s got the same 543-hp turbo inline-six engine and eight-speed transmission, but it’s latched to all-wheel drive in this version. The interior is a bit more civilized than the CSL’s but might still not be ideal for some daily commutes. No one should doubt, however, BMW’s claims for a 3.2-second 0-60 time and 188-mph top track speed. This very special M4 starts at about $125,000.
Just 16 people in the world will be able to buy a Bentley Batur convertible, the latest in a series of ultra-limited coachbuilt cars from the British automaker. The two-seat convertible follows last year’s Batur coupe, of which 18 were made. The coupe was not offered in the U.S., but the convertible reportedly will be. Both are based on the Bentley Continental GT, a model that starts at about $250,000. The Baturs are in a whole other league – indeed, a whole other ball game – with pricing believed to be a bit over $2 million before personalization options.
Ferrari seems to have mastered the art of hiding models under development from spy photographers, which is why, once again, the automaker surprised the auto world with another stunner in early May. The 12Cilindri is the latest in its front-engine V-12 franchise that reigned from the late 1940s through the early 1970s and then made a roaring comeback in the mid-1990s. The name is the engine, of course, and the body is, as the saying goes, to die for. It’s on its way to America, starting in the low $400k range, with the open Spider coming later.
Orange must be the hot color this season because both Aston Martin and Lamborghini chose this bright hue to showcase their newly fortified 2025 SUVs. The Aston Martin DBX 707, an upgrade model currently, will be the sole version for 2025, featuring the 697-horsepower engine and a host of enhancements. Lamborghini, meanwhile, follows a different route for its Urus super SUV, making a new plug-in hybrid the top model, called the SE. The new hybrid powertrain kicks up a storm with 789 horsepower.
A decade ago, the Jaguar F-Type returned a true sports car to the automaker’s showrooms 40 years after the last E-Type was built. And now, the final curtain is coming down on what will be Jaguar’s last internal-combustion sports car before the company switches to an all-EV lineup. When introduced, the F-Type won the World Car Design of the Year award. Performance covered a wide gamut, with a rip-roaring 575-horsepower supercharged V8 at the top. For the final year, that engine defines the F-Type R75 models and takes them into the sunset.
Ferrari had Pininfarina, and Aston Martin had Zagato, at least for a small number of very limited-edition models. The first was in 1961, the DB4 GT Zagato, with just 19 made. One of those sold for $9.5M a few years ago. The most ambitions collaboration between the British automaker and Italian designer/coachbuilder was a quartet of special bodies built around the second-generation V12-powered Vanquish model from 2017-2019. RM Sotheby’s 2024 Phoenix, Arizona auction is offering #33 of the 99 Vanquish Zagato coupes built, with an estimated selling price of $600K-$650K.
Capitalizing on the 911’s rich rally-winning history, Porsche introduced its 2023 911 Dakar at the Los Angeles Auto Show. Porsche’s new overland 911 version – reflecting road testing of Dakar prototypes over 300,000 miles, including 6,000 off-road miles – is based on the Carrera 4 GTS, and equipped with a 473-hp twin-turbo flat-six, eight-speed PDK automatic transmission and all-wheel drive, capable of 0-60 in 3.2 seconds. Porsche plans to build only 2,500 911 Dakars, with a starting price of $220,000 in the U.S. and plenty of options to take that higher.
The BMW 507 roadster, introduced at the 1955 Frankfurt Auto Show, is recognized as one of the most beautiful models that BMW ever produced. Only 252 hand-built 507s were produced, and despite their curb appeal, they were money losers that nearly sank BMW as a company. A 1957 BMW 507, discovered in a Philadelphia garage, sold last month at the Bonhams Audrain Concours Auction in Newport, R.I. for $2.1 million. Read the backstory on this historic BMW.
The automotive world may be going EV, but that’s not stopping Aston Martin from introducing its 2023 V-12 Vantage. The new Vantage has a 5.2-liter twin-turbo V-12 with 690 hp and 555 lb-ft of torque. The price tag of “around $300,000” is more than double the base price of the Vantage V-8 model, but you can put your checkbook away. The 333 Vantage V-12s to be built are already spoken for.
