More exciting than all its numbers combined In retrospect, the Alfa Romeo 8C Competizione proved to be a bit of a tease. This super-limited-production sports car was meant to establish the beachhead for this fabled marque’s return to U.S. shores in 2008. More accessible models would follow two years later, and these impressed driving enthusiasts. […]
The new Aston Martin Valour will cost $2 million and doesn’t even come with an automatic transmission. And for that, the 110 customers who will be able to acquire a Valour are eternally grateful. Aston Martin is building this special model for the marque faithful, and each customer likely has plenty of automatic-transmission supercars in their garages already. The carbon-fiber-body Valour blends supercar power with a manual transmission for a purist driving experience on road or track.
Anyone making a personal Top-10 Porsches list would surely have to include the 1973 911 Carrera RS 2.7 and 1974 911 Carrera RS 3.0. There’s a much bigger difference between the two than their 0.3-liter cylinder displacement. The RS 2.7 was rare, with just 1,580 made and the car not sold in the U.S. market. In comparison, the RS 3.0 was a unicorn, a homologation special for the 3.0 RSR with just 55 made. That explains the $1.6M-$1.8M pre-sale estimate at RM Sotheby’s Monterey auction in August for what many consider the best RS 3.0 extant. A car with factory provenance, it remains in original condition with just about 18,000 miles.
While Bugatti recently became a joint venture run by EV hypercar maker Rimac, fans of the marque will likely celebrate that the latest model, called Tourbillon, uses a 986-horsepower V-16 internal combustion engine. It also uses three electric motors that contribute nearly 800 more horses to the corral. So, yes, this one has EV genius Mate Rimac’s imprint all over it. The Tourbillon promises 0-60 in two seconds and a 277-mph top speed. Starting in 2026, Bugatti will build just 250 of these hyper hybrids, with a starting price north of $4 million.
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.
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.
If you missed your chance at last year’s Aston Martin Vantage F1 Edition, you can now get the best consolation prize ever. The 2025 Vantage is a major upgrade over the previous Vantage in every way while maintaining the striking design. The biggest news is under the hood, where a new version of the twin-turbo V8 gets a nearly 25-percent boost to 656 horsepower. The new interior shows a major leap in elegance over the previous car. You can also expect a leap in the price, which has not yet been announced.
