BY JAKE HOLMES, PHOTOGRAPHY BY CARPIX AND THE MANUFACTURER
The everyday sports car from Lotus.
Lotus has released full information and photos of its latest sports car, the Evora. Previously known only by its “Eagle” code name, the car was revealed at the British auto show. (more…)
BY JOHN PHILLIPS, PHOTOGRAPHY BY AARON KILEY
Antique Road Show: What would Andy Warhol drive?
This road test may be irrelevant. Which wouldn’t necessarily make it unique to the pages of C/D. This time, however, it isn’t our fault. See, Bentley is going to create only 550 Brooklands—delivering the final one toward the end of 2009—and 549 of them are already spoken for. The grand-touring coupe you see on these pages, in a color Bentley calls “Porcelain,” is the last copy for sale. Or was at the time this was written. (more…)
BY MARK GILLIES
In case the F430 wasn’t fast (or good) enough.
The great thing about the 430 Scuderia”a faster, lighter, and even more compelling version of the F430”is that Ferrari didn’t have to make it. Automakers create new versions of their existing models to stimulate sales, but with North American waiting lists at two years for the F430, Ferrari didn’t need to drum up showroom traffic.
Ferrari people say the primary reason for building the Scuderia is that it showcases the company’s racing technology in a street car. Another reason is that, historically, Ferrari has built more extreme versions of its entry-level sports car, going back to the F355 Challenge in 1995. And Lamborghini, its northern-Italian rival, has just introduced the Gallardo Superleggera, while Porsche, its perennial competitor, is continually making go-faster versions of the 911. (more…)
BY STEVE SILER
You think Bond would approve? Actually, he already did.
To most James Bond movie hounds, Daniel Craig was the star of the most recent James Bond film, Casino Royale. But we speculate that most Car and Driver readers were more interested in seeing his new ride, the Aston Martin DBS, than the hunky new Bond boy. Unfortunately, Bond rendered the slinky supercoupe’s appearance to more of a cameo than a starring role, choosing to roll it several times in a ditch to save his damsel in distress within just minutes of hitting the engine start button for the first time (indeed, some of us might have chosen to save the car). (more…)
BY MARK GILLIES, PHOTOGRAPHY BY AARON KILEY
Hard to believe it’s a Porsche, Hard to believe it’s a sport-ute.
The Cayenne has always seemed an anomaly. On one hand, it has generated the cash that allows Porsche to continue building the sports cars we love, which is a good thing. On the other, a 5625-pound vehicle is antithetical to the creed of light weight and efficiency that Porsche has historically followed. (more…)
BY JAKE HOLMES
Limited Edition package is for North America only.
In Britain, a new government plan to tackle pollution proposes charging luxo-ute owners $50 per day if they want to drive in London. Not so here, where SUVs are as omnipresent as ever. (more…)
BY STEVE SILER, PHOTOGRAPHY BY HOLLY REICH AND THE MANUFACTURER
We’re not getting this V-8 diesel here, but we can tell you that the current Q7 flagship lacks soul and that Audi’s B&O doesn’t stink.
At the tail end of our first drive experience of Audi’s mouth-watering A5 and S5 coupes, we were thrust into the driver’s seat of something entirely different in pretty much every conceivable way: the newly minted Q7 4.2 TDI. Some of us rolled our eyes at this, since this particular oil burner, positioned as the current flagship of the Q7 line in Europe (until the V-12 TDI launches), won’t be making it stateside any time soon. (more…)
BY LARRY WEBSTER, PHOTOGRAPHY BY AARON KILEY
Inner Beauty: The new-for-2008 Vette doesn’t look much different, but more power, better steering, and an available inteior upgrade address the car’s few shortcomings.
From a list of 22 new and notable features on the 2008 Corvette, item 12 caught our eye: improved steering feel. (more…)
BY ERIK JOHNSON
A Conti GT with 50 extra horsepower takes Bentley to a place it’s never been.
How many times in your career as a Bentley salesperson have you found yourself in the embarrassing position of having nearly closed the sale on a Continental GT only to be rebuffed when the customer finds out it isn’t capable of 200 mph? (more…)
BY STEVE SILER
Porsche’s upcoming hybrid ute will deliver more than 400 pound-feet of torque.
Two years ago at the Frankfurt auto show, Porsche announced it had begun work on a hybrid Cayenne program, but the company has remained quiet since then, except to tell us it has remained partnered with VW on the SUV’s development. However, Porsche recently broke its silence and gave us a few more details about what we can expect from its new hybrid SUV, which is on track for a 2009 launch. (more…)
