One of the worlds most exclusive cars, the Maybach Exelero, is currently being offered up for sale by an Austrian dealer. The price? A substantial €5 Million ($7,848,492 or £3,958,262). The car was originally built as a one off test bed for Fulda Tyres and a marketing tool for both companies, back then it was rumoured to have cost Fulda an estimated $8 million, so the price we believ is spot on. It pays homeage to the original pre-war Maybach SW 38 which Fulda again commissioned for tyre testing and which promtly disappeared during the war years. The SW 38 has not been found since and remains somewhat of a legend. For the substantial cost, the new owner will gain a one off, retro-futuristic twin-turbo V12 that is capable of 0-62mph in 4.4 seconds and on to a top speed of 351km/h (218.38mph). Hopefully this new car will find a good home and will not go missing…

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Yesterday BMW released new pictures of its 2009 7-Series. Visually, the new 7-Series looks more curved and less like the controvirsial angular looks of the previous generation, however the 7-Series still looks like a natural continuation to the previous generation. The instrument cluster echos a return to traditional styling with simple, four dial setup and the transmission selector has been transferred from the steering column to the center console. The new car is both larger and heavier than the previous generation, however the design helps hide this and potential customers are unlikely to be able to notice this.

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Pictures have surfaced of the latest Ford hot hatch, the Focus RS. Up until now any pictures that have been released have been branded a ‘concept’, these new photos however are of the production ready car that will be shown later this month at the London Motorshow. The car is then expected for release within the 1st quarter of 2009. The car boasts a 2.5 litre 5 cylinder turbocharged engine with a power output of 300PS and over 410Nm of torque. Early performance indications are a 0-62mph time of under 6 seconds.

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As a follow up on yesterdays McLaren SLR Speedster article, we now have pictures and video to prove that Mercedes and McLaren are working on this stripped out, limited edition SLR Speedster. The pictures were taken somewhere in the middle of Germany and show a heavily disguised and heavily chopped version of the SLR Roadster. It’s therefore not difficult to see where the weight losses will come from with no windows, windscreen or roof.

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After the facelifted 2009 911 Carrera & Carrera 4 coupe and convertible models were revealed, the remaining Targa model has been spotted in Germany. The official release for the facelifted 997 Targa is planned for 28th of july. We can see this picture shows the Targa 4 model featuring the rear reflector like on the other Carrera 4 models.

For more spyshots head over to the GermanCarScene!

To mark the end of the relationship between McLaren and Mercedes, a special edititon of the McLaren-Mercedes SLR will be build. The final model will be a McLaren SLR Speedster. This lightweight version will lack a roof, windscreen and windows. Instead it just has a small deflector reminding us of the Smart Crossblade. Together with removal of the airconditioning and a number of other weight-saving measures this will be the ultimate SLR track warrior with a topspeed of 350 km/h. Only 75 SLR Speedsters will be produced at a price of € 450.000.

The car will also have a body constructed of carbon fiber, ceramic brakes, side pipes and a five-speed automatic gearbox. The car is a homage to the original 300 SLR (pictured above). Lewis Hamilton is said to be involved with this special SLR Speedster project. On 30th July more information is expected when McLaren racing driver Lewis Hamilton makes his appearance at the Stuttgart Arena.

Apart from this limited edition SLR Speedster both manufacturers are already working on their next individual supercar projects. McLaren is working on their McLaren P11 which is expected by 2010 and Mercedes is working on their new Mercedes SLC supercar to extend their already impressive range of powerful cars.

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Due to be introduced at the Salon Privé Luxury and Supercar Show on 2nd July at the Hurlingham Club in London, the Range Rover Supersport is Overfinches latest creation. Overfinch, a company who specilising in tuning Rang Rovers, offer the new product in three different engines, the V6 and V8 diesel and 4.2 V8 Supercharged petrol. All of which feature revamped ECU for performance and economy benefits, exterior ‘aero’ bodykit, new exhausts and some interior upgrades. The price for these new upgrades is £59,995 for the lowest spec model to £73,495 for the highest spec naptha leather, V8 package. Theres a choice of 20 inch alloys or huge 22 inch alloys as well. We believe the new kit is likely to appeal most to footballers tastes offering them an alternative to Astons and Bentleys.

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The 2008 Gumball 3000 has not even kicked off yet or Gumball HQ released their plans for Gumball 2009. With no entrance fee mentioned it will be interesting to see how much they charge for the first Gumball 3000 since the 2005 rally that doesn’t involve some kind of air transport. What do you think? How much would you be willing to pay to sightsee most of the I-40 and I-10 with US law enforcement becoming more and more aware and against road rallies?

Update: At 22,500 pounds or $ 45,000 dollar it doesn’t come cheap…

Press release: Gumball 2009 Route Announced!
“Coast to Coast”

The dates of the event have been brought forward to Gumball’s traditional first week of May (2nd-7th). God bless America…..

The latest on Gumball 3000 can be found in our Gumball 3000 forum.

With the success of the Alfa Romeo 8C Competizione and 8C Spider their strategy was proven right. Now Alfa Romeo is thinking ahead. Where the current 8C competizione is based on a platform from sister-company Maserati, sources within Alfa Romeo say that the next generation Alfa Romeo supercar should be based on the new Ferrari California GT platform.

While the power to do this is not only in Alfa’s hands, their request could persuade Fiat and Ferrari directors to comply. The 2nd generation Alfa Romeo 8C will see the light as early as 2010 to celebrate Alfa’s 100th birthday. Clearly before this car can battle Alfa’s rival supercars on the roads, Alfa has some battles to win within the Fiat group. We can only hope they will succeed as well as they did with the 8C and the 8C spider!

[via autoblog.com]

Vitt specialises in creating one off ’super wide’ versions of Mercedes models. Their latest creation for the Mercedes CL (W216) is no different. The Japanese company will take a customers car and for a fee of around 1,680,000 Japanese Yen (£7,950 or 10,060 Euro) will transform it into a taylor made widebody special. The conversion includes a new front and rear bumper, front and rear fenders and a new side skirt. Roof and Trunk spoilers, Exhausts and Bonnet grooves can be added at extra cost to the owner. The bad news is however that these kits are only available in Japan for the moment.

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The Mercedes SL65 AMG Black Series has been spotted in Germany. Although still covered in black ducttape the new AMG powerhouse shows more of it’s natural lines than it did in previous spyshots. The 6 liter V12 will have an expected output of around 680 bhp, combined with a number of weigth-saving measures and improved aerodynamics we are looking at razorsharp performance.

[via autoblog.nl]

The complete stock version of the Corvette ZR1 lapped the Nurburgring Nordschleife in 7:26,4 last week. Showing once again the importance of a good laptime at the Ring, GM can be proud with their Corvette ZR1’s performance at the Ring. Japanese rivals as the Nissan GT-R that did a 7:29 ring lap last month, but also high-powered expensive supercars as the Pagani Zonda F and Porsche Carrera GT bite the dust.

The ZR1 was completely stock except for additional communications and safety equipment, according to Corvette’s chief engineer Tadge Juechter. The record ZR1 has the exact same tyres and ride height as the streetlegal and production ZR1 that will begin production at the Corvette facility in Kentucky in a few months from now.

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