One owner though of a 1971 Convertible Corvette, the stock engine, powerful V8 is not enough. He wants more and so he installed an LS9 crate engine under the hood of this classic sports car. This poweplant which is a supercharged 6.2L V8 is the same heart of the ZR1, the most powerful Corvette that went into production.

According to GM, the crate engine gives out 638 horsepower at 6,500 revs with a 604 pound feet torque while revving at 3,800. The owner of the car relates that his car gave out 536 horsepower linked with an automatic gearbox.

The 1971 C3 Convertible was fixed and enhanced by Fastlane in Houston which also features upgraded suspension and brakes plus power seats that came from the ZR1. Another good touch was a window on the hood just like that of the ZR1 which gives you a peek of the intercooler.

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According to reports, the front-engined Ferrari California is getting a midlife facelift and an overhaul by next year. The production of the refreshed Ferrari California is set to start by January at the earliers.

The aluminum body of the Ferrari California will not be changed except for some detail upgrades like an optional front grille but under the beautiful bodywork, the 2012 version of the California will be a lot different.

The 4.3L V8 direct injection engine that gives out 460 horsepower is getting optimized with engineers promising to give it better internals plus a new mapping for its ECU that will definitely boost its output. The number is expected to jump to 490 horsepower with the torque to jump from 485 Nm to 505.7 Nm.

Ferrari will also be using lighter materials for some components of the chassis which will trim 30 kilograms from the weight of the current California. The new ride will still be using the F1 7-speed twin-clutch gearbox. The new Ferrari California is expected to get from 0 to 100 km/h in just 3.85 seconds or a fraction faster than the 4.0 seconds of its older sibling.

The Italian car manufacturer will also throw in a package to improve its handling which will include upgrades to its suspension control system to make the ECU respond 50 % faster. Its dampers can also be adjusted from the softest to the hardest in just 8 ms. All this completes the equation for better agility and quicker response.

Ferrari also upgrades the infotainment system’s HDD from 30 gig to 40 GB. This can be synced with Apple and Android.

No hints with regard to the sticker price but we can expect this to be more pricey compared to the current model.

The main reason that the FF is so important for Ferrari’s future is that it allows the company to enter into a new market. In the past Ferrari has focused exclusively on two seat cars, this does tend to limit the market for their product. By producing a car that most people will find to be more practical than the other offerings that the company has it is hoping that it can attract buyers who want to a Ferrari but need a car that has a little bit more room, particularly for passengers.

The other reason that the Ferrari FF is so important for the company is that there is definite limit to the number of cars that they can sell in one class. Certainly there is a demand for Ferraris and the company could easily sell more of them but this would kind of defeat the purpose. Part of the reason that a Ferrari is so desirable is that the number that are available is limited allowing for a level exclusivity. By expanding the line into a new class they can sell more cars without diluting the brand.

The Ferrari FF is also important to the company is that Ferrari is just a part of a much larger company, they are owned by Fiat. Ferrari are by quite a considerable margin the most profitable brand that Fiat owns and to a large extent they are relying on the FF to help keep them profitable. The reason is that while the weak economy has really hurt sales of their other brands it has not affected Ferrari. Ferrari is really recession proof as there are still plenty of very wealthy people who are looking to buy them. In order to take advantage of this they need to increase sales and they are hoping to do this by moving into a new category.

Entering a new category is a bit of a gamble in the part of Ferrari since they are going into one that is very competitive. There are a lot of very expensive high end four seaters on the market so they are going to have their work cut out for them. Clearly the Ferrari name is going to help them here but they are still taking a risk. It needs to pay off for them if they are going to remain competitive.

The obvious reason that Stradale is the best Gallardo ever built is that it was designed to be. The company saw its competitors bringing out super cars that had an extreme level of performance and they decided to do the same. The result is a car that now sits right at the top of the Gallardo line up and can significantly outperform any of the others. The Stradale will be produced in extremely limited numbers with just one hundred and fifty of them being produced in order to maintain exclusivity.

The first thing that you will notice if you happen to get your hands on the Gallardo Stradale is the engine.  It is the engine that Lamborghini uses in their race cars, completely unchanged. Companies that build top end super cars frequently take the engine out of their race cars but usually they are detuned for road use. Not in this case, the engine is exactly the one that you would find in a Lamborghini race car. Needless to say this gives the car plenty of power, allowing it to reach a top speed of two hundred miles per hour.

It is not just the engine that comes out of the Lamborghini race car that you will find on the Stradale, the transmission does as well. This was pretty much a requirement of course since they needed a transmission that was designed to work with the engine that they had taken out of the same car. The result is a car that can accelerate at a very rapid rate going from zero to sixty in 3.4 seconds. This acceleration is helped by the fact that weight of the car is considerably lighter than other versions of the Gallardo.

The Lamborghini Gallardo Stradale is for all intents and purposes a race car that you can drive on the street. Not only are the engine and transmission the same ones that are used in the company’s race cars but the body styling is similar as well. The only real changes are on the interior which is designed for a little bit more comfort than you would find in a race car. That being said you don’t buy a car like this for comfort, it is all about performance. In that respect the Stradale excels and is definitely worthy of being the top of the line model.

For more information please do check the description with this youtube video – and for more info on the great car the R8 is – check out ASM09.

The Maybach Landaulet is clearly the ultimate luxury vehicle; it would be hard to imagine anybody building one that could exceed it in this regard. The interior is of course filled with the finest leather used to make seats that are incredibly comfortable. The rear seats have a refrigerator, folding tables and even champagne flutes. Perhaps the most remarkable par t is that the rear of the car has its own retractable roof. This allows the rear seats to get the benefits of being a convertible while the front seats remain covered.

In some respects the Maybach Landaulet may take things too far, like the doors that close automatically. The company says right in its advertising that true luxury shouldn’t include any physical effort.  Therefore the doors will close themselves. There is also a park assist to relieve you of that issue as well, not that we think that many Maybach owners drive themselves. This is clearly a car that is intended to be used as a limousine as the most luxurious features are located in the rear seats. That being said you may well want to get up front and drive it yourself.

For a car that was designed with luxury in mind the Landaulet can really perform. The engine is a twin turbo V12 that is built by parent company Mercedes. It produces more than six hundred horsepower allowing the car to reach a top speed of 278 kilometers per hour. The car also handles quite well; the drive train and the suspension all come from the top of the line Mercedes models. As a result the car can really perform better than almost any other limousine that you are going to find out there; really it can outperform most sports cars.

If you want to experience the luxury of the Maybach Landaulet you are going to have to order one well in advance. They are all built to order by hand. The result is a car that is of unsurpassed quality. It has all of the luxury that can be produced by highly skilled craftsmen while at the same time the technical components come from one the top car makers in the world. The number of cars that the company builds is strictly limited in order to maintain the exclusivity that owners expect. Of course with a price tag of 1.4 million dollars the number of potential customers is fairly limited anyway.

Like any super car the first thing that most people are interested in when they look at the SLS AMG is the engine. In this case it is a 6.3 liter V8 that produces 571 horsepower. Compared to some other super cars this is not a huge amount but it is certainly enough to get the car up to speed. With a top speed of two hundred miles per hour and a zero to sixty time of 3.8 seconds the car can move. Part of the reason for this is the electrically governed engine. This also results in a remarkable fuel efficiency of eighteen miles per gallon which no other car in its class can come close to.

The transmission on the Mercedes Benz SLS AMG is a seven speed that is controlled by a lever that is designed to look like the throttles on a jet. This takes a little bit to get used to but after a while driving with it is no problem. The transmission is not the only thing on the car that was clearly inspired by airplanes as the whole car is really designed with this in mind. From the gull wing doors to the dashboard that looks like a wing the inspiration is pretty clear.

According to MercedesTalk, The interior of the SLS AMG is designed more for function than it is for comfort, which is true of most super cars. That being said it is better appointed than most of its competitors which are basically just race cars designed for the road. There is ample room for two people but not for any luggage which does make the car rather impractical for most uses. The car is clearly designed for having fun with not for day to day driving.

The performance of the SLS AMG is of course outstanding. However it is somewhat lower than you would find on other cars in its class. Most super cars are designed for pure performance and as a result the ride is a on the rough side since the suspension is so stiff. Mercedes have made a bit of a compromise here and the suspension is not as stiff as it is on other cars. This does hurt the performance a little bit but it does make the ride a lot more comfortable. It would probably be fair to say that this is not a true super car but more of a top of the line sports car.

Finally, we get ‘m here as well.

Enjoy this great commercial.

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Pretty amazing game, pretty amazing car. It really is a good life.

A HEAVY beast.