Stile Bertone Mantide
Based on the C6 ZR1
25% less drag
30% more downforce
200lbs of weight reduction
Full carbon fiber body and interior
Between 5 and 10 will be made
$2mil price tag






Future Cop Car
Carbon Motors E7
Rooflights and grill-protecting push bars are integrated into the body for better aerodynamics
Front seats are designed to accommodate a cop's Batman-style gear belt
Air conditioning fans in the headrests
Touchscreen laptop monitor built into the console.
Powerful 3.0l diesel making 300hp gets nearly 30mpg
Rear clamshell doors and safety belts that buckle on the outside edge of the seat make it easier to secure perpetrators. Back seats can be hosed off.

8/31/2009 9:31:56 AM

Quote :

"Back seats can be hosed off."

hah

8/31/2009 9:45:31 AM

or hosed on

10/15/2009 11:10:20 AM

Second Bertone Mantide sold for $1.95 million. 8 more to go!

Quote :

"Despite sounding like it was named after a float in a gay pride parade, the second Bertone Mantide has been sold to a bidder in Dubai for £1.2 million ($1.95 million USD / €1.32 million). Originally shown as a one-off concept, at the 2009 Shanghai Motor Show, the Corvette ZR1-based Mantide proved popular enough to go into limited production. While the names of the first two buyers weren't released, Autocar is reporting Jay Leno may be vying for one of the eight remaining units. As we previously reported, the Mantide features a supercharged 6.2-liter V8 engine with 638 horsepower and 604 lb-ft of torque. Thanks to a 100 kilogram (220 lbs) weight reduction (compared to the Vette), the Mantide accelerates from 0-62 mph in 3.2 seconds before hitting a top speed of 217 mph (351 km/h)."

12/11/2009 1:38:31 PM

12/11/2009 1:56:55 PM

Quote :

"Powerful 3.0l diesel making 300hp gets nearly 30mpg"

wouldn't a 300hp diesel make upwards of 500 lb/ft of torque??

12/11/2009 2:26:27 PM

Anyone else find the Mantide to be extremely ugly?

12/11/2009 2:35:27 PM

looks like an insect to me.

the design is 10-15 years ahead of its time.

12/11/2009 2:51:03 PM

I'll give it 2-3 stupid Sci Fi movies ahead of its time, but that's about it.

12/11/2009 3:07:33 PM

E30!

sorry, haven't said that in awhile...

12/11/2009 6:58:33 PM

i tried to get a job at carbon a while back, but they weren't hiring.

12/11/2009 10:37:16 PM

i clicked on this thread looking for awesome cars. not unrealistic stuff.

12/12/2009 1:33:22 AM

^6 (tchenku)

It's supposedly based on the bmw 335d motor. that one's got 265hp and 425 lbft. I bet the 300 hp number is slightly optimistic. Seems to be the greenie performance unit of choice at the moment. The Local Motors Rally Fighter also is using that engine. They claim 36 hwy mpg and 30 mpg "offroad" in the Rally Fighter.

http://www.local-motors.com/






[Edited on December 14, 2009 at 10:48 AM. Reason : added pics]

12/14/2009 10:36:23 AM

Are those Civic coupe rear tail lights?

12/14/2009 2:22:24 PM

Maybe, but does it matter? The car doesn't look bad at all imo. $50k price tag and it's not AWD would be my issue with it.

[Edited on December 14, 2009 at 2:42 PM. Reason : /]

12/14/2009 2:41:40 PM

How much does this hotwheel sized car cost?

12/14/2009 3:34:22 PM

^
lol. It does look like a hot wheels from this angle. The fenderwell gaps make it especially toylike

Quote :

" * Current estimated price: $50,000 (Note 3) (Note 3: This price is an initial estimate and is subject to change. Check back here for any updates.) "

but it is real. Just not all that real-istic. Still, I hope their little "pseudo-crowdsourced" car company works out.

12/14/2009 4:28:03 PM

lol, i didn't say anything was wrong with Civic tail lights. Just asking

12/14/2009 4:45:21 PM

two road-legal (somewhere, anyway) trackday cars that I'm excited to see come to production soon:

Ginetta G40... 850 kg=1870lb, 180 hp. definitely the more "roadable" of the two, but ginetta wants to sell a single car as purpose-built for a race series and sell it for UK consumption, so no idea if it will get to the U.S.
[image]http://www.ginettacars.com/news_details.php?id=200" target="_blank">http://www.ginettacars.com/news_details.php?id=200</a>
http://www.ginettacars.com/motorsport_range_details.php?id=13
http://www.ginettacars.com/pdfs/Ginetta%20G40%20preview%20brochure.pdf
http://www.pistonheads.com/news/default.asp?storyId=20981











Zolfe Orange GTC-4... this one is definitely for the U.S.- the pics of the black one are at Road Atlanta. 700 kg=1540lb, 185 hp roadlegal... optional track-only spec of 285 hp version of duratec I4, 285 hp.
<a href="http://zolfe.com/[/link]
<a href="http://www.zolfeusa.com[/link]
<a href="http://www.zolfeeast.com[/link]
[link]http://www.zolfewest.com[/link[










http://zolfe.com/Zolfe_Orange_GTC4_Press_Pack.pdf

[Edited on December 14, 2009 at 5:13 PM. Reason : .]

12/14/2009 4:54:47 PM

^nice! Any idea what that car is going to cost here in the US? I see that in the UK it is 30k pounds.

12/14/2009 6:03:25 PM

^I have no idea, but I bet it'll be ~$50k to get one on the road. There's two dealers setting up right now, one in Norcross, GA near the new Atlanta Motorsports Park, called zolfe east (http://www.zolfeeast.com), and one in Santa Monica, CA, zolfe west (http://www.zolfewest.com/). I also read at the AMP website that the US road version is actually going to have just 170 hp... basically a miata's engine and transmission. http://www.atlantamotorsportspark.net/pdf/Zolfe.pdf.

Duratec and Zetec Fords... there's tuning for them, and the zolfe, @ 1500 lbs, isn't too shabby at 8.8 lb/hp with the 170hp motor. I'd just be looking really hard at the cosworth supercharger ($7k installed, 250+hp?) if I was going to pony up $50k just to get one...

I really am loving the ginetta g40 at the moment though. That thing looks sexy as hell. Like a more muscular fiberglass-on-tubeframe second generation miata coupe that never was. Hope that one can come over. I think the Zolfe might be just a bit too raw for me. The interior is basically plastic panels between the triangulated tubes. I've never seen a closed body coupe that looked so roadable for such a low weight.

[Edited on December 15, 2009 at 4:28 PM. Reason : .]

12/15/2009 4:23:09 PM

Meh, I'd rather have a used Cayman S.

12/15/2009 4:27:14 PM

^I wouldn't argue with that.

12/15/2009 4:31:05 PM

i'd rather have the kind of money where i could start making my own cars. then all of my problems would be solved.

12/15/2009 8:27:17 PM

Aston Martin One-77 hits 220 mph

7.3 litre V12
700+ hp
553 lb-ft
3,300 lbs
$2,000,000
77 to be built

Hi-res: http://www.autoblog.com/gallery/aston-martin-one-77-220-mph/full/ (great desktops!)

12/22/2009 5:30:03 PM

god that is sexy. overweight and overwrought and shamelessly ott... but damn sexy.

12/26/2009 4:07:16 AM

the side mirrors look kind of funny though...

12/26/2009 5:27:38 PM

looks necessary to see around that fat ass-end.

12/26/2009 11:34:26 PM

^^^would you rather have 700+ hp and a 3300 lb curb weight or 1001 hp and a 4000+ lb curb weight?

And I think this car is ridiculously overpriced.

12/28/2009 9:26:35 AM

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_ljO7xZo6HA&NR=1

Okay, it's not a car, but it's like a civilian tank

fwiw, I'd rather have the 3,300lb beast please.



[Edited on December 30, 2009 at 8:50 PM. Reason : .]

12/30/2009 8:49:14 PM

ithought this thread was about real cars that were produced to the public

12/30/2009 9:09:12 PM

awesome cars

12/31/2009 12:00:57 AM

you posted a pic of an automatic tranny M3. boo this man

12/31/2009 9:07:54 AM

^@tke. I'm sure I'd prefer the Aston. Just look at it. Having said that....
I'd actually prefer 2 Mils' worth of v8 vantages. But really, even half amills worth of astons would be excess, right? That's like four vantages and some change. Or maybe just one and a lifetime warranty would be plenty. Or maybe the same thing for a vette z06. But really, a grand sport is just as real-world quick and probably more satisfying... And loaded.... That's like 60k. Or I could buy a current c6, or a used c6.... Now were into the high20s and I still get a thoroughly engineered two-place low slung gt... And 400 hp per 3200 lbs? Oh sure 700/3300 is 'better'. But 30+ times better? So I'd satisfy my urges for a one-77, but not for, say.... an elise. That's the real reaso. Why the preference on any cost-no-object scale is so silly. It causes me to pass up, not a cheaper alternative to the same characteristics, but the uncountable sorts of other things I might otherwise afford, whether a completely different sort of car, or a lifetime of feeding a larger family.

[Edited on December 31, 2009 at 2:39 PM. Reason : I really don't want to finish the nc bar app]

12/31/2009 2:25:18 PM

Is it just me, or does the Zolfe look like it should be a TVR from 15 years ago?

12/31/2009 3:27:47 PM

^^^what do you mean auto tranny?

12/31/2009 8:40:18 PM

That's when you can just put the car in "Drive" and it shifts for you instead of you having to do it yourself.

1/1/2010 3:18:57 AM

1/1/2010 3:31:19 AM

^I think they throw in a couple rifles with that purchase too?

1/1/2010 3:50:19 AM

^^is that yours? I remember seeing a thread about someone picking one of those up a while back.

1/1/2010 3:04:39 PM

ginetta g40 debuts at autosport international:




http://www.autoblog.com/2010/01/22/ginetta-g40-spec-racer-debuts-at-autosport-international/

1/22/2010 4:08:44 PM

So it appears TKE is assuming one of those M3s would have an automatic transmission. Some of them could've, but it certainly wasn't standard in any of them...

And I agree, they're such good cars. Certainly worth keeping one around, I think.

1/22/2010 4:22:41 PM

Heynsdyk 2500SF

Quote :

"This is the Heynsdyk 2500SF from Holland: a bespoke body placed over the engine, electronics, and drivetrain of a Porsche 944. The substantially lighter body, in galvanized steel, takes weight down to 900 kilograms (1,980 pounds) while maintaining 50/50 weight distribution. There are six engine choices, from a basic 2.5-liter four-cylinder with 163 horsepower, to a 2.5-liter four-pot S-motor with a turbo. That one will get you 250 horsepower, and from 0 to 60 in six seconds. Top speed is limited to 250 kilometers per hour (155 miles per hour). You can buy the car as a kit or a finished product, and prices start at €14,750 ($20,798 U.S.) for the kit, or €36,995 ($52,158 U.S.) for a ready runner. Like its countrymate Spyker, what the car might lack in beauty it makes up for in unique and arresting looks. [WTF??? ... it is GORGEOUS!!!]"

1/23/2010 4:51:40 PM

HOLY SHIT. That is awesome... And with a v8 already under the hood...

1/23/2010 6:28:55 PM

I like: It's a 944 conversion kit.
I don't like: Any of these profiles

1/23/2010 10:49:39 PM

Something is not right w/those numbers. A 944 Turbo S did 0-60 faster than 6.2 seconds, so to remove 1000+ lbs, and still end up slower... Those numbers I'm guessing are for the 163hp version.

1/23/2010 11:36:46 PM

^yeah, that caught my eye too. 250 hp in a car under 2000 lbs? That ought to be low fours, not low 6's. It's a unique way to get down to that weight.

2/3/2010 11:18:09 PM

pretty interesting, not very pretty. And yeah, 250hp at 2000lbs = a little over 4 seconds 0-60.

2/4/2010 12:40:41 AM

I, too, was wondering about those acceleration numbers. Not making sense

Quote :

"So it appears TKE is assuming one of those M3s would have an automatic transmission. Some of them could've, but it certainly wasn't standard in any of them..."

The one on the left has the chunky 5 spokes, which were standard on the luxury model that came with an automatic Sure you could swap the wheels, but given that's a factory photo...not likely.

2/4/2010 8:37:03 AM

2/4/2010 11:19:17 AM