Dear Ferrari…Damn! The Ferrari 612 GTO concept is so hot that I am at a loss for words. In the realm of concept supercars, Sasha Selipanov of Berlin, Germany has certainly outdone himself!
I imagine that designing a luxury concept car like a Ferrari can be a bit daunting, because is seems that it would be a challenge to improve upon perfection. I wonder if designers just start drawing, with no brand in mind. This Ferrari concept is obviously the product of much talent and skill. This is a perfect car to add to a fleet of Miami luxury rental cars or Chicago exotic car rentals.
The renderings show the designer’s various nods to some of the greatest supercars in history, like the Ferrari 250 GTO’s hood scoops and the new Ferrari 458’s headlamps and hind fender haunches. There are also hints of the Ferrari 575 Maranello in the 612 GTO concept. This is a remarkable and inspiring auto concept that is a nice direction for Ferrari.
Even writing that headline amused me, and so did the antics of singer and minority owner of the Miami Dolphins, Gloria Estefan. Estefan climbed from the window of her luxury box at Sunday nights Dolphins Vs New York Jets game, due to the entrance becoming inexplicably locked.
It seems Estefan and guests became trapped somehow in the luxury box at Sun Life Stadium in Miami sometime prior to halftime of the game. Now people are talking about how badass Estefan is for kicking off her Dolphin-colored Yves Saint Laurent pumps and essentially became like Spiderman, scaling down from the third-level of the stadium as fans watched and snapped photos from below. You go girl!
It remains unclear how the high-profile group became stuck in the luxury box, but it has been reported that locksmiths, stadium security and even local firefighters failed at freeing the group. I think it is kinda sexy that Estefan climbed out the window, rather than waited for a rescue like a fairy tale. She’s like 007, I think for the next Dolphins game she should just use our Aston Martin rental free of charge, and be James Bondish.
So was it an attempted sabotage from a Jets fan? Well, if that is indeed what it was, Estefan still made it from her suite to the football field in time to introduce Enrique Iglesias for his halftime show. I find this to be awesome, well done Gloria!
For my movie buffs out there who also happen to be luxury motorbike fans, the movie ‘Wall Street, Money Never Sleeps’ features two Ducati D16RR’s. These are rare superbikes, only 1500 were made by Ducati for the retail market.
Ducati branded each of the 1500 D16RR motorcycles with a special number to differentiate them all, which is another thing that makes them special, aside from their exclusive status. So it is cool that two of these Ducati bikes made it onto the big screen.
It seems the luxury bike company has been on a bit of a PR mission lately, donating two Ducati Multistradas to the Pope for his personal motorcade, and starring on the big screen. Money never sleeps, and neither does Ducati. That is fine with me, if it is fast and expensive, it has my attention, and Ducati makes amazing motorcycles.
When friends laid eyes on James Dean’s Porsche Spyder, they told him it was trouble. Only one of a mere 90 made in 1955, Dean nicknamed the diminutive Porsche “The Little Bastard”, and it certainly lived up to the derogatory title!
Yes, some say the Little Bastard is a cursed car, not only carrying the Rebel Without a Cause to an early grave on September 30th, 1955, but also continuing to cause havoc long after his death. The stories may have begun much like those of the legendary Elvis, wherein fans refuse to accept that he is gone and create urban myths. One such myth was that Dean survived the crash, but was horribly disfigured and in hiding. It did not take long for one tale to spin off and a legend to take a life of its own, starting with Dean’s Porsche Spyder.
It seems that following the death of James Dean salvaged parts of the cursed Porsche have been linked to other tragedies. Following the tragedy, a master car customizer by the name of George Barris purchased the Little Bastard wreckage for $2,500. Upon arrival at Barris’s garage, the Porsche was accidentally dropped on a leg of one of the mechanics unloading it, breaking the leg (Well, they say that in show biz, ‘Break a Leg’).
The next incident with the famous Porsche Spyder occurred at a race at the Pomona Fair grounds on October 24, 1956. Two physicians, William Eschrid and Troy McHenry, were racing cars that included parts from Dean’s Porsche. McHenry’s car had the engine from the Little Bastard, which he lost control of and hit a tree, killing him. Eschrid flipped his car over after it suddenly locked up on a curve, but he survived.
The tales continued, with a story of a kid who tried to steal the famous steering wheel from Dean’s Porsche, and suffering a terrible arm gash. Barris sold two of the tires to a young man, and within a week he was involved in a crash because both tires blew out simultaneously. Ok, that one is creepy.
Barris then loaned the cursed Porsche Spyder to the California Highway Patrol to use in a safe driving display. Within days, the garage housing James Dean’s Porsche Spyder burnt to the ground, with only the Little Bastard unscathed. Every other vehicle parked in the building was completely destroyed. Was it coated in fire retardant, or put back after the fire? Hmm.
Next the Little Bastard got to visit Sacramento, where it fell from its display and broke a teenager’s hip. A man named George Barkuis was hauling it on his flatbed, when he was ejected from the vehicle and crushed to death by the Porsche.
These types of stories flourished until around 1960, when Dean’s Porsche was loaned out for a safety exhibit in Miami, Florida. Following the duration of the exhibit, the Porsche was en route back to Los Angeles when it mysteriously vanished. To this day, the whereabouts of the Little Bastard are unknown. I do not think I will be buying any used Porsche parts from California…just kidding.
I suppose my theory is that someone sold it and made a fast buck, or a superstitious Burris finally put it in a safe place? What do you think may have happened to James Dean’s car? Leave comments below!
*Pictured is a replica of Dean’s car, taken at the2010 James Dean Festival in his hometown of Fairmount, Indiana where Imagine Lifestyles attended the auto show.
The latest Ferrari to prance its horses for the auto world is the Ferrari 458 Italia, replacement for last year’s amazing Ferrari F430. The F430 Spider was the topless version of the coupe, and now rumors are circulating that the luxury and exotic car leader may be drawing up plans for a 458 Italia convertible. I certainly hope for the rumors to be true, we need one for our Ferrari rental Miami fleet.
The 458 Italia is a stunner, imagine it with its top off! Delicious sneak peek renderings of what the Ferrari 458 Italia convertible would look like are already saturating the Internet, fueling speculation that it could indeed occur. I assume it would be named the Ferrari 458 Italia Spider, if it follows in the tracks of its successful predecessor, the Ferrari F430 Spider rental.
It appears that Shelby SuperCars has done it again, producing the SSC Ultimate Aero II supercar. And by ‘it’ I mean unleash one hell of a fast supercar upon the market, one perhaps even capable of beating out the luscious Bugatti Veyron for the coveted title of ‘Fastest production car available’.
The Bugatti Veyron can get up to 267 miles per hour, and the SSC Ultimate Aero II is capable of rocketing up to around 274 miles per hour. Basically, the SSC Aero II not only looks like a jet fighter, it is damn fast like one, too! Check out our fleet of private jet charters, you will see the resemblance.
Before we go forward, let’s go backward, to the predecessor of the Ultimate Aero II, the Ultimate Aero. The original never really had a shot at outdoing the Bugatti, but the new one seems to have filled in all the holes. Not that the original was an embarrassment by any means, it reached speeds of about 257 miles per hour, and had the sleek appearance of a DeLorean from ‘Back to the Future’ with sweet gullwing doors. The new SSC Ultimate Aero is simply more powerful and robust, and obviously had the design team working overtime. It is literally astonishing.
Specifications include the same twin-turbo V8 engine, but kicking out 1350 horsepower instead of 1183. That is around 150 more horses than the Bugatti Veyron SS. So theoretically, the SSC Ultimate Aero will reach speeds of around 274 miles per hour, though we still must wait for the official record. I assume the brains behind Bugatti are already looking to the future, as the war wages on for the best and fastest supercar in the world. As far as a price tag, I am going to guess the SSC Aero II will hit the market at around a million USD, which will make it a bargain compared to the Veyron SS. I think after stealing a market percentage and gaining a reputation, Shelby SuperCars will gain the confidence to raise prices like Bugatti.
Follow links for more on Bugatti, luxury news and to scope out our fleet of very sexy luxury rental cars. That is right, you don’t have to be loaded to indulge in an exotic car on occasion, just rent one of ours!
This is no joke, luxury carmaker Bentley is in a position to recall 596 cars due to its famous “flying B” metal emblem. It seems the metal emblem on some models does not retract, which could potentially injure pedestrians in the event of an accident. What?
Yes, it seems that if the bedazzled logos fail to retract properly, it increases the risk of injury to a pedestrian. So I am picturing this risk, and it seems it would essentially impale said pedestrian, decreasing their chances of survival. I suppose the Bentley hood ornament does have the potential to become a projectile, but highly unlikely. I think someone has too much thinking time to come up with that scenario, though I am not the expert in luxury car crashes.
This risk has been taken seriously by Bentley, who is in the process of recalling 596 Arnage, Azure and Brooklands models from2007 through 2009. Ouch. Bentley will replace corroded emblems, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration website.
No accidents or injuries have been reported thus far, and Bentley will begin the process of replacing the hood ornaments on the $200,000 plus luxury cars and Bentley rentals starting September 27th according to NHTSA. As for the hood ornament supplier (yes, there is one apparently), they have stepped up and taken steps to prevent corrosion, adding grease to prevent water from accumulating inside.
Fun fact: Bentley is owned by German automaker Volkswagen, who also happens to own Bugatti and Lamborghini.
Yes, you read that headline correctly, the Ford Taurus (tortoise as I enjoy labeling it) is attempting to enter the luxury car circuit, though not by traditional methods.
Ford is a stealthy brand, and has taken advantage of the economic crisis to load up its Taurus models with a cornucopia of electronic gear and luxury amenities. The outcome? An onslaught of thrifty luxury shoppers who have actually traded in their BMW’s, Mercedes and other luxury cars in for a Taurus during the hard financial times. Edmunds reports that nearly 10 percent of trade-ins for the 2011 Taurus are from 10 luxury brands, including our beloved BMW’s, Mercedes, and Audis.
Well, Ducati seems to have found a way to buy their way into heaven, by gracing Pope Benedict XVI with not one, but two Multistrada super bikes. What the hell? Pardon my French, but what is the Pope going to do with two awesome luxury motorcycles? Insert jealousy.
Apparently they are for Pope Benedict XVI’s official security motorcade, you know, to protect him in the event that his deity fails to do so. Two Ducati Multistradas should certainly be able to evasively maneuver around the Pope’s motorcade, as the superbikes are agile and wicked fast.
The 2010 Paris Auto Show is fast approaching, and will be showcasing the latest and greatest luxury autos and more from October 2nd through the 17th. The auto blogs are blowing up with rumors of drastic changes from our friends at Lamborghini. So is it true? Is Lamborghini planning to unveil two new cars at the show?
It seems that luxury carmaker Lamborghini is generating some buzz aside from the Jota model (LB715-5), with rumors of a second model also to be revealed at the Paris Auto Show. Could it be? (Insert ‘The Hangover’ jokes here).
According to rumors, the Italian marquee will be simultaneously debuting the Lamborghini Jota and the “83X” at the show. There is also talk that Lamborghini may be showing the “83X” as soon as September 23rd at a special dealership event. So what is this elusive “83X”?
m in Miami sometime prior to halftime of the game. Now people are talking about how badass Estefan is for kicking off her Dolphin-colored Yves Saint Laurent pumps and essentially became like Spiderman, scaling down from the third-level of the stadium as fans watched and snapped photos from below. You go girl!
els with a cornucopia of electronic gear and luxury amenities. The outcome? An onslaught of thrifty luxury shoppers who have actually traded in their BMW’s, Mercedes and other luxury cars in for a Taurus during the hard financial times. Edmunds reports that nearly 10 percent of trade-ins for the 2011 Taurus are from 10 luxury brands, including our beloved BMW’s, Mercedes, and Audis. 
ngover’ jokes here).