inside the Pagani factory…

Speedhunters were recently granted exclusive, in depth access to the magical world of Pagani. Pagani are undoubtedly one of only a few companies who can build a supercar that has some uniqueness, imagination, and outright charm (are you listening Ferrari?).  HORACIO PAGANI was the founder of Pagani and had been after the supercar dream for a long time—to finally have it realised in the form of the legendary Pagani Zonda.

Check out all the photos and the full article, very well written in 3 parts, on:

http://speedhunters.com/archive/2009/06/23/car-builder-gt-gt-pagani-factory-tour-pt-1.aspx

http://speedhunters.com/archive/2009/06/24/car-builder-gt-gt-pagani-factory-tour-pt-2.aspx

http://speedhunters.com/archive/2009/06/25/car-builder-gt-gt-pagani-visit-pt3-the-power-of-vision.aspx

foto of the day.

Audi 100 Coupe!

(click twice to enlarge to hi-res)

Let’s all laugh at Nissan!

…..and this hilarious new Nissan 370z GT4 edition.

No level of Porsche worship can justify this sort of weird, cheap looking imitation!  Come on, Nissan—we know you’re cheesy, but this cheesy?

foto of the day.

truly one of THE most gorgeous cars to ever be made…..a 1954 Maserati A6 GCS Pininfarina

CLICK TWICE THROUGH TO GET HI-RES

foto of the day.

Lancia Fulvia

CLICK TWICE TO GET HI-RES!

a $60,000+ Hyundai coming to the US?

Firstly, whatever drugs and illusionary potions the Hyundai personnel are taking must be working tremendously.  I think the press led you on to believe that your Genesis sedan and coupe were worthwhile options in the luxury sedan and coupe segments.  Sure….be happy and think you made a solid product.  The coupe is nothing more than a cut-rate Infiniti G37 (which isn’t a good thing!) and the sedan is a virtual rear end of a BMW E60 5-series and a Lexus LS (which is also not a good thing).

I thought (and still think) it’s pretty funny that Hyundai are selling a $40,000+ car in the Genesis sedan; i certainly wouldn’t buy one even if a kimchi covered gun was pointed to my head.  But hilariously enough, they’ve decided to launch a $60,000 sedan known as the Equus.  It will surely handle worse than 5-series, not have the majesty of an MB E-Class or S-Class, not be as modern of stylish as an Audi A6, and will be less reliable and more boring than an Lexus LS.  So do we want one?

NO THANKS, Hyundai!  Oh the horror….the horror.

vintage Saab 99 Turbo promotional video..

This is a 2 part video, and the 1st part of it is especially entertaining when they do some drag races of older Euro sedans! right on!

I used to love these old Saabs….and still do.  Bring this kind of glory back, Koeniggsegg!

PART 1

PART 2

foto of the day.

this Porsche 356 Outlaw is a bit of a badass, innit?

…and the most unreliable brand is: MINI!

I used to love the MINI, thought it was a great car for a great price.  As time has moved on—i’ve become more and more weary of them; maybe because there are so many of them on the road and maybe because they’ve started to simply look dated and boring now.  Once in a while, i encounter a tricked up version on the street which looks pretty sweet.  But the run-of-the-mill Mini Cooper really is a slow and boring car.

What makes all of this worse? The MINI brand is clearly the most unreliable brand sold in the US at the moment, according to JD Power’s annuall assessment of brand reliability.

So all the hype….BMW backing….and the Mini’s reliability SUCKS.  Nice one, Mini……Another reason never to buy one…

Resurrecting the engine of a Lamborghini Espada!

Very cool stuff. Check it out…this engine is from an S3 Espada, has been removed and fully modernized!

Maserati……Ramblin

This video was posted on Vimeo, and I dunno much about the video….aside from the fact that it’s great! Love it.  It might be a commercial for the Quattroporte—judging by the outro….

foto of the day.

Lancia Delta S4 cutaway!  Hotness.

(click photo 2 times through to get hi-res)

foto of the day.

click twice for hi-res!

24 Hours of LeMans is here! Watch it online…

24 Hours Of LeMans is here! Can AUDI take its R15 TDI to further its domination of the sport? Or can Peugeot finally crack the code?

My money is on the R15.  Audi really knows what they’re doing on this race….

LINKS!

WATCH IT LIVE: http://www.justin.tv/ekatesportshd

WATCH IT LIVE: http://www.justin.tv/tomcio6

WATCH IT (link 2): http://www.ustream.tv/channel/eurohd

WATCH IT (link 2): http://atdhe.net/7452/watch-24-hours-of-le-mans

LIVE TIMINGhttp://www.lemans.org/24heuresdumans/pages/chronos_fr.html

LISTEN TO THE ENTIRE RACE LIVE!: http://rlm08.0157.org/

SAAB will be cool again! KoenigSAAB is born!

 

Well i gotta say i was very happy when i learned today that Swedish supercar maker Koeniggsegg appears to be the buyer of the troubled GM-owned SAAB brand.

I had been pretty harsh on Saab a few weeks ago in my post about their direction, but it’s really nice to see them escaping the diseased hands of GM.

This is gonna be a fascinating combination.  So will SAAB go back to being a smaller niche company?  Or will K-Segg try and turn them into a higher volume, money-making swedish trickster?  My suspicions tell me that they’re gonna keep SAAB very specific, very swedish, and bring some of the soul back that’s been lost.  Whether they go retro or they go futurist—-i’m pretty sure that Koeniggsegg is really gonna put some good time and effort into resurrecting one of the cooler brands of cars around today.  It’s also REALLY nice to see Saab going back to Sweden….and not being sold to some rubbish Chinese carmaker….