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Exotic/Sports Cars

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Wall Street Journal - Dan Neil

The Bentley SUV is making an appearance at the 82nd Geneva Motor Show. Here's Dan Neil's take:

But can we talk about how frightening the Bentley SUV concept is?

Oof. Wow. Woof. The EXP 9F?which wags dubbed the Bentley PCP on account of whoever approved it being on drugs?is a graceless, nay cynical, nay terrible attempt to translate Bentley's sleek styling vocabulary onto a vehicle with Range Rover size and proportions. Somewhere in France there's a bell tower missing its hunchback.
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OD-AP512_CAR_G_20120309011420.jpg


It's actually not that bad from the side. Here's the front 3/4 view, from Bentley's own website, which more adequately displays its "frightening" and "graceless" qualities:

EXP_9_F.jpg


Again, to quote Mr. Neil:

Bentley, the highborn British vassal of VW Group, needs a sport-utility to compete against Range Rover and other ultraluxury brands such as Maserati and Lamborghini, both of which will be launching SUVs in the next three years. Such vehicles are particularly vital in eastern markets, from Russia to China, where the allure of European luxury brands is practically mystical. Indeed, there is an undeniable Russianness to the Bentley. The fog lamps appear to be chandeliers from the Catherine Palace.
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LordJeffBuck;2123593; said:
Wall Street Journal - Dan Neil

The Bentley SUV is making an appearance at the 82nd Geneva Motor Show. Here's Dan Neil's take:



OD-AP512_CAR_G_20120309011420.jpg


It's actually not that bad from the side. Here's the front 3/4 view, from Bentley's own website, which more adequately displays its "frightening" and "graceless" qualities:

EXP_9_F.jpg


Again, to quote Mr. Neil:
Click to expand...

Good god. It's like a Dodge Caliber mated with a Mini. :bonk:
 
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LordJeffBuck;2123593; said:
Again, to quote Mr. Neil:
Click to expand...
Bentley, the highborn British vassal of VW Group, needs a sport-utility to compete against Range Rover and other ultraluxury brands such as Maserati and Lamborghini, both of which will be launching SUVs in the next three years. Such vehicles are particularly vital in eastern markets, from Russia to China, where the allure of European luxury brands is practically mystical. Indeed, there is an undeniable Russianness to the Bentley. The fog lamps appear to be chandeliers from the Catherine Palace.
Click to expand...

So Bentley, a VW division, needs a sport-utility to compete against Maserati and Lamborghini??

Let me read that again. Volkswagen needs Bentley to have an SUV to compete against Maserati and Lamborghini. Lamborghini, currently a division of Audi which is owned by VW, is going to be one of the Bentley's main competitors...

And apparently, also competing in this market will be the Porsche Cayenne Turbo and it's $107,000 (plus Porsche options $$$$). Mind you, Porsche is a majority shareholder of Volkswagen...
 
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http://jalopnik.com/5894921/meet-the-most-amazing-lotus-exige-in-the-world

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HmscSzFurwg"]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HmscSzFurwg[/ame]

Frank Profera has spent six years making his Lotus go faster, stop shorter, and corner harder. Though it only has to move around 2,150 lbs, Frank's Lotus makes 680 wheel horsepower with a twin-charged 1.8L engine; giving it a better power-to-weight ratio than Mario Andretti's Formula One Lotus. It's an ongoing project that may never be finished, because of Frank's never-ending obsession with speed. We had to take it for a ride.
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:banger::banger::bow::bow::yow1::yow1:
 
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sparcboxbuck;2129196; said:
Dunno man. That's sexy... and if it has any kind of performance? Wow.
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I agree that it is sexy. And it will have performance. I'm no Lotus purist...but there's a lot of Lotus purists out there...and they are the ones buying Lotuses. Plus it's risking the future of Lotus to unveil something like 4-5 new models? Developing cars isn't cheap.

I've been in the market for a 2005 Elise recently, and the recent announcement of these high dollar super cars has spiked prices on used Elises by $5000 to $10000. Mainly because you won't be able to buy this kind of performance and simplicity in the future.

I'd say Lotus' current run is probably one of their best in their existence. Granted by best, I mean they've continually build cars without running out of money, like they did in the 60s, 70s, 80s, and 90s. Hell, Colin Chapman didn't even care about making street cars; he did it to finance his race team. Personally, I think their are too many players in the $100k to $150k price range, and not enough in the $45,000-$75,000 range. From my perspective, a $55k sports car becomes a $25k play toy very quickly.
 
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Poe McKnoe;2129377; said:
I agree that it is sexy. And it will have performance. I'm no Lotus purist...but there's a lot of Lotus purists out there...and they are the ones buying Lotuses. Plus it's risking the future of Lotus to unveil something like 4-5 new models? Developing cars isn't cheap.

I've been in the market for a 2005 Elise recently, and the recent announcement of these high dollar super cars has spiked prices on used Elises by $5000 to $10000. Mainly because you won't be able to buy this kind of performance and simplicity in the future.

I'd say Lotus' current run is probably one of their best in their existence. Granted by best, I mean they've continually build cars without running out of money, like they did in the 60s, 70s, 80s, and 90s. Hell, Colin Chapman didn't even care about making street cars; he did it to finance his race team. Personally, I think their are too many players in the $100k to $150k price range, and not enough in the $45,000-$75,000 range. From my perspective, a $55k sports car becomes a $25k play toy very quickly.
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Well, the point is to do for their new car lines what it's doing to the used Elise's, be able to tack on a premium.

And while sympathetic to the Lotus purist pov, The Esprit "brand" is one of their most valuable assets, so, they need to use it.

Besides, if they come out with a submarine version, you can't compete with that kind of ass kicking cool.
 
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Maserati is redesigning the Quattroporte for 2013 - the new version should be a bit longer, with considerably more horsepower (up to 475 from 400), an eight-speed transmission, and with all-wheel drive as a option. It will debut at this fall's Paris Auto Show.

The camouflaged photos don't show much:

LINK-1

LINK-2

LINK-3
 
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