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.
In the past, “bigger and heavier” would be a buzzkill for a sporting GT. But the 2024 Mercedes-AMG GT turns that axiom on its head. Based on the new-generation SL roadster, the AMG GT Coupe raises the luxury quotient over the first-gen GT while maintaining its hair-raising performance capability. The new GT adds standard all-wheel drive, a roomier cabin, and more chassis tech. With 469-hp GT55 and 577-hp GT63 models offered, ferocious performance is a given. The new model arrives by mid-year, starting around $136,000 and should make some competitors nervous.
Ferrari draws on its heritage for design inspiration and, sometimes, model names. That’s why there were three different Ferrari GTO models over a half century period. While not intended as a racecar like the legendary 250 GTO and later 288 GTO before the 2011 599 GTO was developed from an experimental track car program, called 599 XX. Ferrari built just 599 of these later GTOs, with 125 coming to the U.S. Gooding & Company is offering one of these rare machines at its Amelia Island auction, with a pre-sale estimate of $800K-$1M.
To see and be seen in the toniest zip codes, you could hardly do better than a Bentley Azure, a convertible built in two design generations from 1995-2009. The second-generation design introduced in 2006 was based on a more modern chassis and offered performance that belied its size and elegant demeanor. The hand-built Azure was 213 inches long, weighed close to three tons, and used a 450-horsepower twin-turbo V-8. Bonhams is offering a 2007 Bentley Azure in Silver Lake Blue at its Scottsdale auction – at no reserve.
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.
The 1960-1962 Ferrari 250 GT Cabriolet Series II may not have starred in a blockbuster movie about a mischievous Chicago high-schooler playing hooky, but it is nevertheless one of the brightest stars in the Ferrari universe. A bit more focused on touring comfort than its athletic California Spider sibling, the Series II Cabriolet was nearly as fast. Its Pininfarina-designed-and-built body easily draws admiring glances more than six decades later. Just 200 were built, and the RM Sotheby’s Phoenix, Arizona auction is offering one with a plethora of concours and show trophies. The pre-sale estimate is $1.5M-$1.75M.
Just 10 supercar connoisseurs were able to buy a McLaren 570 MSO-X, a special track-oriented model, in 2018. Each was decked out in livery inspired by McLaren F1 GTR racecars, and each is unique. At Barrett-Jackson’s Scottsdale auction in January, the #8 MSO-X will go to a new owner thanks to this auction company’s all no-reserve policy. McLaren built these cars as dual-purpose road and track machines, ready pile on the miles in either setting.
