Driving down the boulevard in their Italian supercars, wealthy but genuine car enthusiasts face the difficult challenge of separating themselves from the typical playboys in fast cars. To solve this first world problem, HRE performance wheels proposed that there is no better way to add a touch of class to an exotic than by installing performance wheels with vintage flair.

Introducing the new Vintage Series, HRE wheels recreated three iconic designs from the brand’s 34-year history, each of which range from 18- to 20-inches, and are completely re-engineered as 3-piece forged wheels from quality aerospace-grade forged alloy. What’s more, each wheel is hand-finished in order to meet customer’s specifications for their modern exotic.

HRE provided a press gallery to showcase its new wheels installed upon the successors of the same automobiles that once wore the originals. The German racing car roots of the “501″ wheels are instantly recognizable, as its mesh lace design suits the latest viper green Porsche 991 ducktail nicely.  The five-porthole “454″ is a modern take on the wheels from the sensational Lamborghini Diablo and are just as striking to look at when fitted to the new Aventador. Finally, the pentagram design “505″ is a proper ode to the Ferrari F40, although pairing the set of wheels to a Ferrari 458 Spider is slightly clashing.

HRE Wheels President Alan Peltier said, “The process of recreating vintage designs that captured the style and essence of the originals was very exciting and challenging for all of us at HRE. These designs take us all back to the ’70′s and ’80′s when we were kids falling in love with exotics for the first time and truly becoming car lovers. Capturing all the character and magic of these designs, while ensuring they fit modern super cars and met our current engineering standards, made the project tougher than simply creating replicas of the original cast wheels. We found inspiration in those original designs but created wheels that reflect the HRE of today; wheels that are truly inspired.”

Wealthy automotive connoisseurs, rejoice!

GALLERY: HRE Vintage Series

[Source: Autoblog]

About two months ago we reported a collection of luxurious and exotic machines that were involved in a bizarre accident in Japan that claimed at least eight Ferraris, three Mercedes-Benzes, a Lamborghini, a Nissan Skyline and a Toyota Prius.

The exotic car crash occurred on the Chugoku Expressway out in the Yamaguchi Prefecture and fortunately only ten people were hospitalized with just minor injuries.

Now a video of the aftermath from that accident has surfaced and it appears that Japan is now home to at least two parking lots full of fine machines just sitting and rotting. This accident is now being dubbed “the world’s most expensive car pileup” with an estimated combined cost of $4-million in damage.

Take a closer look at the Italian carnage after the break.

[Source: Carscoop]

Continue Reading…

Many of usl dream of owning an Italian exotic like the Ferrari 458 Italia or Lamborghini Gallardo, but sometimes desperation causes us to get our hands on whatever we can, in whatever form we can. That’s where this awesome wooden Lamborghini Gallardo comes into play.

This handmade wooden Lamborghini Gallardo replica is out in Latvia, but the sellers are willing to ship it worldwide and currently has a starting bid of around $2,400. The eBay auction listing states that it was made at the factory of Arbo Ltd. and is constructed out of a wooden material called DendroLight. A quick peek around the Arbo website shows that they specialize in wooden windows and doors – not car replicas, in case anyone was wondering.

We love the description though, which calls the Gallardo a wooden car in very good condition, constructed in the year 2011. There are no doors, so the windshield is a bit lifted up to make it easier to step into the car. It has front and rear lights, turn signals and a horn. The best part? It’s a two-human powered car, a la pedal boat style. Funniest of all is the bullet point for the description? “Chicks magnet.”  No doubt.

GALLERY: Wooden Lamborghini Gallardo

[Source: eBay]

After much speculation, Lamborghini has finally officially confirmed development and production for its new super-SUV, its first truck since the original Rambo Lambo LM002.

According to a well-placed source at Audi, its Italian supercar subsidiary is hard at work on the project and are aiming to make a grand unveiling of its brand new SUV/crossover concept for the 2012 Beijing Motor Show. The Audi manager could provide little information but did respond, “I can’t comment in detail but the speculation in the press is largely correct.” Lamborghini itself has yet to make any statements.

Initial speculations on the Lambo-ute suggested a version of the V10 powerplant sourced from the Gallardo. What’s more, while alternative-energy power plants go against the Italian supercarmaker’s traditions, a possible hybrid drivetrain capable of 700-hp has also been rumored. As an upmarket competitor rivaling the high performance Porsche Cayenne, Maserati Kubang, as well as the statement making BMW X6, the new Lamborghini SUV is projected to produce less than 1,500 examples a year and is expected to command a steep retail price no less than $200,000 in North America.

During the 2008 Paris Auto Show, Lamborghini revealed a sleek four-door Estoque and although Lamborghini denies the concept will make it to production, a successful Lamborghini SUV just might make room for a sedan as the fourth model in the line-up.

[Source: Autoweek]

All the rumors surrounding the inevitable introduction to the Lamborghini SUV should come to an end at the 2012 Beijing Motor Show where a concept version of the exotic SUV is currently set to debut in late April 2012.

An Italian publication, Quattroruote, recently leaked what appears to be a photo of the Lamborghini SUV that is clearly being built to compete with the SUV offering from Bentley and Maserati.

Based on the photo in the publication (and it could just be a real good render) the Italian automaker will be incorporating the design from its Aventador on their SUV, which isn’t necessarily a bad thing. The Aventador is by far one of the finest Lamborghini designs in a while and if executed properly, could make the SUV look proper instead of out of proportion. The SUV is expected to be powered by the same V10 in the Gallardo with 575-hp, but a possible hybrid drivetrain is being, you guessed it, rumored with 700-hp and could be seen in 2015.

It would also make sense for Lamborghini to debut the vehicle in Beijing, where the Chinese market would welcome a Lamborghini SUV with open arms. Possibly much more than Europeans would at the Geneva Motor Show.

GALLERY: Lamborghini SUV

[Source: In Auto News]

If you’ve seen the cult classic Ferris Bueller’s Day Off you should know that nothing good ever comes of keeping a car still while revving the engine.

In the movie’s case, Ferris tries to take miles off the odometer of a 1961 Ferrari 250 GT California by jacking the rear wheels up on blocks and running the car in reverse. Pretty dumb. No miles come off the car and it rockets backwards out a display window to its doom.

You would think that people in charge of running an auto show would have enough sense to avoid such calamity, but you would be wrong. A privately-owned Lamborghini Gallardo got sacrificed to the car god of fire at this year’s Portland International Auto Show after someone gave an idiot the keys.

According to fire regulation, no car may enter the show with more than a quarter-tank of gas. When the Gallardo tried to go in with more than that, the fire marshal refused. A reasonable person might siphon the gas or better yet just cruise it off. After all, Lambos aren’t known for their fuel economy.

Nope! Enter Ferris Bueller’s real life double, someone stupid enough to pop the car in neutral and stick a wooden block on the gas pedal to burn off excess fuel. Well, as you might imagine, the car caught fire. We’re not sure whether to laugh or cry, but at least the otherwise nondescript Portland show got some unusual publicity.

Chalk this one up to ignorance.

[Source: Motor Authority]

A long while back, Italian exotic automaker Lamborghini made a bold claim that it would have something new for every major auto show. And now reports are coming in that Lamborghini will not just have one, but two debuts at the upcoming 2012 Geneva Motor Show.

One of the reveals will most certainly be the production model for the Aventador Roadster, a rumor that we had reported back in December of last year. The convertible exotic undoubtedly features a 700-hp, V12 powerplant and would be more than enough for an auto show debut. But Lamborghini clearly wants to take the center spotlight at this year’s Geneva Motor Show, so it’s believed a second vehicle will also make its way to center stage.

There’s unfortunately no confirmation as to what the second vehicle will be (where’s the fun in that?) but rumor has it that it could be a production variant of the Sesto Elemento or Lamborghini could just release yet another special edition Gallardo model.

But better yet, what if Lamborghini has an entirely new model set to debut at this year’s show? Perhaps Lamborghini has kept the Gallardo’s replacement under wraps, or maybe even a sedan or crossover will make its presence known. Whatever it may be, you can bet AutoGuide.com will be there to cover it live as it happens.

[Source: Teamspeed]

We just can’t get enough of the Nissan Juke-R project, and probably won’t until we get our grubby little hands behind its steering wheel. But until then, we’ll just have to continue living vicariously through those fortunate enough to experience the monster first hand.

While it was in Dubai to pace the 24 Hour race, Nissan took its Juke-R out to the Dubai International Marina where a makeshift course was created and the funky Japanese crossover was pitted against a Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG, a Lamborghini Gallardo LP560-4 and a Ferrari 458 Italia. You know, just some of Germany and Italy’s finest supercars.

Now it goes without saying that we’d expect the Juke-R to look mighty impressive in the video against the exotics since it was probably staged by Nissan. But there’s no denying just how remarkable its performance looks and how undoubtedly fun it was for Lucas Ordonez, the first GT Academy winner, to pilot it. And obviously by watching the video, the drivers were putting on a show more than they were looking for a fast lap time.

We just hope a better resolution video surfaces soon.

Check out the video below.

Continue Reading…

Lamborghinis, Ferraris, Maseratis, they all have distinct exhaust notes that turn heads from Hoboken, New Jersey to Hollywood, California. They still ain’t got nothing on the rare and raspy resonation that marks an Acura NSX.

Where an ultra-expensive Italian car says status, the NSX spits true tuner taste— especially because they aren’t in production. That’s why our ears perk up whenever news surfaces about the highly anticipated next generation of the old legend.

The latest? On Monday, Acura announced at the North American International Auto Show that they plan to do the research, development and manufacturing for the new NSX at their Marysville, Ohio facility.

“Honda associates are up to the challenge of producing the new NSX for global customers with a high degree of craftsmanship,” said Hidenobu Iwata, head of Honda’s North American manufacturing operations and president of Honda of America Mfg., Inc. in a press release.  ”Honda associates in Ohio have been building high-quality Honda and Acura vehicles for nearly 30 years, so this news in many ways is a culmination of their determined efforts.”

This is big news, considering the previous NSX was made entirely in Japan and then exported.

Hiroshi Takemura, president of Honda R&D Americas agreed, saying that the company has a rich history of creating cars in the U.S. and that the decision to build the new NSX in Ohio demonstrates the maturity and ability of Acura’s American operation.

For the most part, Acura is keeping mum on tech specs, though we do know that the car will, again, feature a mid-mounted V6, lightweight chassis and Acura’s Super Handling All Wheel Drive system. We also know that the car will be available within three years time.

Nothing probably irks us more than a bunch of people driving recklessly on the highway, but seeing a fleet of Lamborghinis doing it really makes us shake our heads. From the moment the video starts rolling, we’re anticipating disaster and of course it doesn’t fail to deliver.

It appears that this high speed freeway run took place out in Taiwan, and we don’t feel sorry one bit for the owner considering how many people these drivers also put at risk. Nonetheless, the Gallardo loses control and wrecks on the freeway causing quite a bit of damage to its front end and possibly more. Hopefully no one was hurt in the making of this video.

Watch the video after the break.

Continue Reading…