Inside Lane“The Supercar Apocalypse is Upon Us”

Issue 24 Supercar Apocalypse

The end is nigh! Fire and brimstone rains down from the heavens bringing an oncoming storm to a once tranquil sky. Dramatic enough for you? This issue is bubbling-over with impressive car launches from the Likes of Ferrari and Aston Martin, not to mention the legendary Pagani Zondaʼs replacement.

There is also a smattering of other interesting motoring news over the page just waiting for your audience. So what are you still reading this for? Give in to your childish excitement and lets see what the next generation of performance machines are all about.

Welcome To The Dark Side...

Porsche have some very ambitious plans for this

year, one of which is to surpass their all-time

sales record. A tuff job but as they produce the

worlds most popular sports cars they feel its

achievable. One way they are planning on

building the numbers is by launching yet more

special edition cars to induce those with rare

tastes in to a purchase. Where better to start this

attack of the limited editions than on a car they

have been developing for 48 years, the 911.

Limited to just 1,911 examples this is the

Porsche 911 Black edition. Based upon the 911

Carrera it is available in both coupe and

cabriolet flavors. It is powered by a 3.6 litre flat-

six with 345BHP and comes standard with 19”

rims. Various plaques make the car known to be

no ordinary Porsche as well as the chrome

touches to the interior. The car will set you back

£67,270 for the coupe and £74,958 for the

cabriolet making it quite the premium to pay for a

car that in truth is just a different colour to the

standard model.

No doubt Porsche will sell every single one but

you must ask yourself “if you are buying this car

for exclusivity, could you point it out in a car park

full of standard 911’s?”

The Legend Turns 50

British sports cars are a bit thin on the ground

these days in comparison to their heyday.

Numbers aside the world unanimously agrees

that nobody builds the breed like us Brits mixing

in character by the bucketload and revolutionary

engineering. A sports car should be about pure

driving pleasure, you enjoying yourself at the

hands of a machine that wants to be driven.

Despite being 50 years old the Jaguar E-Type is

still considered one of the best.

Wind the clock back to 1961 and the first E-Type with its sexy curves and

lashings of pedigree was born. Enzo Ferrari appreciated this machine saying it

was “the most beautiful car in the world.” But it didn’t just win beauty contests

as the race bred D-Type that went before it had huge influences on this car. At

its launch it would do over 150MPH making it the fastest car in the world and

instantly one of the most desired. 50 years on and Jaguar is planning some

celebrations for its golden egg such as appearances at the Festival of Speed,

Pebble Beach and the Nürburgring.

Fuel Sipper The environmental viability of a car appears to be the

new benchmark many manufacturers such as Nissan,

Ford and more are aiming for. We don’t condemn that as

everyday cars, so long as the compromises are small,

can only benefit the user by reducing the fuel bill. VW

have been at the forefront with their brilliant Bluemotion

range offing typical German quality with fuel sipping

benefits. Now they have gone all out on what is called

the XL1.

The concept has been unveiled at the Qatar motor show

and claims that it can do 313MPG in combined

conditions. Now that is staggering! The car is a hybrid

that is powered by an 800cc two cylinder TDI engine and

an electric motor to produce a rather conservative

72BHP. However the cars lightness allows for a

0-62MPH of 11.9 seconds and achieve a top speed of

99MPH. The VW XL1 can seat two adults and despite

the company showing this as a concept they say it is the

future of their “super efficient vehicles.”

With more sneak

previews than a child watching someone

wrapping their Christmas gift, the Lamborghini

LP700-4 is now one of the most anticipated cars

of this year. It will finally be unveiled at the

Geneva motor show in March but until then the

Italian company will continue to torture us with

little glimpses of its new flagship. This car can’t

come soon enough, WE CAN’T TAKE THIS

MUCH LONGER! The raging bull has now

shown a little of what is under the new cars skin.

A few months ago we

saw the LP700-4’s beating heart in the form of

an all new Lamborghini V12, today the focus is

on suspension. This car features a special form

of pushrod springs normally associated with top-

end racing cars. The new bull will be the first

road car to ever use this devise that allows

perfect alinement of the tyre no matter the

position of the suspension. Also note the

addition of some very meaty shock absorbers!

We are just going to have to be patient for the

rest of the car.

Bulls of Steel

“Can I Take Your Order?”

“Yes, Prancing Horse For Four Please”

We have seen spy shots, we have seen

renderings but today in advance of its debut

at the Geneva motor show in March

speculation on Ferrari’s 612 successor comes

to an end. The 612 though not being an

extravert in Italian styling was a prancing

horse through and through providing supercar

adrenalin rushes in four seater form. The car

provided occupants a very unique experience

in that not two but four full grown adults could

experience unrestrained Ferrari performance.

So here it is… The Ferrari FF.

Named the FF as an acronym for “Ferrari

Four” this devilishly handsome GT brings

forth a new incarnation of the popular formula.

The real surprise is that this car is the first

Ferrari to have a four-wheel-drive set-up that

it uses to intelligently distribute torque

throughout the car. With Ferrari V12 power

from an all new 6.3 litre and a luxurious 458

inspired cabin we can already imagine

ourselves building the miles. Total power

comes in the form of 651 perfectly formed

horses than can accelerate the latest Italian

stallion to 62MPH in 3.7 seconds. Top speed

is 208MPH but with this cars epic torque

S is for Sexy

Aston Martin make some of the best sports cars the world has

ever seen. In fact, solely in my personal opinion they are the

best. They are are not about beating records or starting

slanging matches with their nearest rivals… They are about

charm, elegance, beauty and producing a machine that wills

you on to drive it. Now there is another addition to the line-up

and it has gotten up rather excited! The Aston Martin V8

Vantage S.

The Aston Martin V8 Vantage is a masterpiece with THE

BEST V8 I have ever heard that has a base tone so deep in

the right conditions it can be heard from nearly two miles away.

Today the baby Aston just got a bit meatier with this S variant.

Power is up to 430BHP and torque levels are now an eye

swiveling 490Nm. The transmission is an all new 7 speed affair

giving this car the tools not only to conquer your heart but also

to ravage your mind. The muscular bodywork reflects the

beauty and the soul of this car giving onlookers no choice but to stand open mouthed.

“The King is Dead...

LONG LIVE THE KING!!!”

Your

Move

Ferrari

Pagani Huayra

The Pagani Zonda was a machine of biblical

proportions. It propelled the small Italian

company of Pagani to the top of the supercar

game in its 10 year production run. Everyone

from oil barons to Kings and Queens wanted to

call one of these beasts their own for there was

nothing else quite like it. However the days of

the Zonda are over and we have morned its

passing, but rising like a phoenix from the

ashes is its replacement and it is every bit as

deserving of the badge as its predecessor.

Named the Huayra, this one million euro beast

makes the Zonda look like it is made of wood. It

is propelled by a Mercedes-Benz AMG twin

turbo V12 producing more than 700BHP! The

car has 740lb-ft of torque, more than enough to

cause the ground beneath it to disintegrate.

The top speed is a mind shattering 230MPH

and lets not forget this car weighs less than

1,360KG so expect it to get there with

acceleration rivaling that of a lightning bolt.

Inside the cockpit it is much more grown up

than the Zonda with brushed aluminum and

sculpted seating.

The looks are something that I personally like

but it is only your opinion that matters to you.

Ladies and gentlemen, the king is dead…

LONG LIVE THE KING!