Used to be if you wanted an exotic Italian automobile, you were looking at a two-door sportscar. Maserati's Quattroporte and Lamborghini's LM002 proved the exceptions, but even the most expensive luxury sport-utility vehicles were boxy, slow-moving machines. Long before Porsche came along with their Cayenne, however, Fornasari was working on a formula for the best of both worlds. For years they produced the three-door RR450 and RR600, but now they've come out with their first five-door sport-ute, and the numbers are unbelievable.

Powered by a 6-liter V8 provided by GM driving 610 horsepower to all four wheels via 60/40 rear split limited-slip differential and six-speed gearbox, Fornasari claims their latest SUV can reach 62 miles per hour in just 3.8 seconds and hit 174 mph flat out. All this in a coachbuilt Italian body. Pricing and availability are not yet available, but with an item like this, if you have to ask....

A Porsche is special enough for most, but for those looking for a bit more, there is no shortage of German tuners that specialize in Zuffenhausen's finest who'll be glad to bring it to the next level. Arguably foremost among them is 9ff, the relatively new outfit that made its mark with the record-breaking GT9.

With the Essen aftermarket tuner show coming up next weekend, 9ff has prepared the new Speed9. Based on the latest 911 Turbo convertible, the Speed9 sacrifices its rear seats for a slick profile evocative of the iconic 1955 Porsche 356 Speedster, with enough ground effects to match. Naturally 9ff hasn't stopped at looks alone, boosting the twin-turbo engine up from 473 horsepower to a shocking 650. No official word on price or performance, but you can expect both to exceed expectations.

We've seen the bag of tricks the exotic auto tuners have used on the brand new four-door Porsche Panamera - now how about a bulletproof version? An armored Porsche Panamera Turbo has just been listed for sale in Frankfurt, Germany via global online luxury marketplace JamesList for €295,000, or about $450,000. It comes equipped with armored steel in the doors, posts, overlaps and walls, and ballistic steel in the roof and floor; bulletproof glass; run flat tires; an armored fuel tank; armored battery and radiator protection; and more. Capable of stopping 9mm rounds as well as an assault from an M16 or .44 Magnum, the car's impressive performance is not hampered in any way by its added security measures.

Conventional wisdom used to be that bigger cars got bigger luxury, and smaller cars did without. But as premium buyers have been migrating to smaller cars for easier access to city streets and a lower environmental impact, automakers have been learning that they expect their luxuries to come with them, just in a smaller package.

Aston Martin is planning an exclusive city car based on the Toyota iQ, and now, about half a year after rumors first surfaced, BMW has reportedly confirmed that its two British subsidiaries Mini and Rolls-Royce will be collaborating on an exclusive line of luxury hatchbacks.

Starting off with the Mini Cooper, the Rolls-Royce factory in Goodwood would then outfit the retro-hatch with all manner of top-of-the-line leather and wood veneer trim. The premium Minis would be made to order individually according to each customer's specifications, with public confirmation expected to come some time next year.

In the world of high-performance sportscars, lighter means faster. That's why Porsche is preparing to take the wraps off the new Boxster Spyder.

Based on its entry-level roadster, the Boxster Spyder benefits from an aggressive weigh-reduction program to cut some 176 pounds off the stock model's curb weight, thanks in part to a lighter roof mechanism. The German automaker has also pulled an extra ten horses out of the direct-injection 3.4-liter flat six for a total of 320hp, driving the rear wheels through a seven-speed dual-clutch gearbox to drop the 0-60 time down to 4.6 seconds.

Of course the "less is more" philosophy comes with a commensurately exclusive price tag of $61,200. The 2011 Porsche Boxster Spyder will make its debut early next month at the LA Auto Show, but we've got a sneak preview for you right here in the high-resolution image gallery below.

49 watches from the private collection of Prof. F. A. Porsche of the famed sports car marque and his sons will be auctioned by Bonhams on Dec. 2 in London during its Fine Watches and Timepieces sale. Included are timepieces by Eterna, Porsche Design, Rolex, Panerai, Jaeger LeCoultre, Breitling, Chronoswiss, Omega and more. Of particular note are prototypes and unique examples of Eterna and Porsche Design watches custom made for the Porsche family. The latter includes a fine 18 carat gold chronograph (above) made especially by Eterna (now owned by Porsche) and presented to Dr. Ferdinand Oliver Porsche for his 40th birthday, estimated at £4,000 - £6,000. Also included in the collection is a very rare Rolex Explorer with ivory dial (£,5000 -£7,000), a selection of Panerai watches including a Luminor Flyback (£3,000 - £5,000), and an original Jaeger LeCoultre Polaris from 1960 (£5,000 - £7,000).

[via JamesList]

Not so many years ago, driving a exotic supercar while clearly demonstrating the owner's financial wherewithal to own such a vehicle was not always such a pleasant experience. Such cars were typically built by small financially shaky companies that didn't have the resources necessary to properly develop the vehicles to be reliable and robust. The interiors were often poorly built and outfitted and were afflicted by assorted mechanical and electrical glitches.

Then in 1990 things suddenly changed when Honda rolled out the NSX. Instantly people realized that there was no reason why a high performance, mid-engine exotic sports car couldn't be just as a reliable and hospitable as an Accord. By the end of the 1990s exotic car builders like Ferrari, Lamborghini and Aston Martin had all come under the wing of major automakers like Fiat, Volkswagen Group and Ford and the engineers began tapping into the parents resources to improve their cars.

Lamborghini in particular took advantage of its relationship with Audi to help develop the Gallardo, the best selling Lambo ever. Audi in turn decided to reverse the process with a supercar of its own to celebrate its decade long dominance at the 24 Hours of Le Mans and used the Gallardo as the jumping off point for the R8. We recently got to spend some quality time with the fastest R8, the 5.2 FSI V10 and you can read about it after the jump.


Photos Copyright ©2009 Sam Abuelsamid / Max Abuelsamid / Weblogs, Inc.

Last month we wrote about the Russian-made $1.5 million Monaco Red Diamond Edition luxury armored SUV, featuring gold and diamond accents and an interior upholstered in whale penis leather. The unnerving upholstery is apparently in tribute to Greek shipping magnate Aristotle Onassis, who had whale penis leather aboard his yacht the Christina. Now pneumatic actress and animal rights activist Pamela Anderson, Greenpeace and the World Wildlife Federation have complained to Dartz, the company responsible, causing them to ditch plans for any whale genitalia to be used in making the insane vehicle. We can't imagine anyone but the Prince of Brothels would ever buy one anyway. Dartz's Leonard F. Yankelovich has now issued an unintentionally hilarious apology of sorts, in Russian-inflected English:

"We have no ideas to kill the whale or something like that," he insists. "All we want - to make just luxury car. Real luxury car which will be world number one car. We just looking for most expensive products for this car - and that's why we choosed whale penis leather when we checked it is most of most. After wave of protest we realised our mistake and make a decision not to use natural leather at all. We will focus on world most advanced nanotechnologies to achieve interior highest quality using artificial materials which also was never used for cars. We want to tell our hello to all whales: 'Our Sea Brothers! We all know that earth are stand on three whales - we will keep You live! We don't want Earth fall down to Ocean!'"

Few cars on the road – at any price – have the presence of an Alfa Romeo. Unfortunately their performance seldom keeps up with their looks. That's where aftermarket modifiers come in.

Last year the Italian automaker contracted British motorsport concern Prodrive to help it out in the performance department. Their answer was the Brera S, removing much of the aggressively-styled coupe's weight and fine-tuning the suspension. Now Autodelta is getting in on the action. The English tuning house has taken Prodrive's Brera S coupe and strapped on a supercharger good for 347 horsepower.

The power upgrades are also available on the Brera's four-door counterpart, the 159, which Autodelta transforms into the J4 3.2 Compressore. The pair were unveiled at London's exciting MPH09, but you can see them for yourself in the gallery below.

To most Bentley customers, cost is no object. Which is a good thing, because they're pretty darn expensive. And the sticker price isn't the end of it. Case in point the new line of accessories which the luxury automaker has released for its own vehicles.

The Bentley Accessories Collection includes such items as a luxurious child seat, a set of self-leveling wheel hubs, an LED flashlight, a form-fitting car cover for the Continental Supersports, and a set of vented body panels for the entire Continental range. They're all available directly from Bentley; the only catch is that you need to have a Bentley in your driveway first.

You might have thought the car industry was going for smaller, more fuel-efficient and more affordable cars, but there are still plenty of wealthy customers out there with extra cash to burn. And they're looking for the next most exclusive exotic supercar they can get their hands on. Which is good news for Arash Farboud. The British entrepreneur started his own supercar-maker, then founded another one, and here's its first product: the Arash AF-10.

As we reported around this time last year when the first photos and details began emerging, the Arash AF-10 is made almost entirely of carbon fiber. Its 7-liter, 550hp V8 engine is derived from the track-munching Corvette Z06. And it will cost over half a million dollars when it finally hits the market, target for next year. Arash says they'll only make 70 of them every year, and there's rumored to be an even more powerful 800hp version and a bonkers 1000hp variant on the way. We'd better start saving.

There are few sports figures paid as highly as Formula One drivers...world champions especially. With the 2009 season already wrapped up, teams are preparing for their assault on next year's championship, with an unprecedented game of musical chairs taking place in the off-season.

Among the changes, two-time world champion Fernando Alonso is moving, at long last, from Renault to Ferrari. Trouble is, the Italian team already has two world-class drivers on contract. So to make room, Ferrari is willing to pay its 2007 world champion Kimi Raikkonen not to race.

According to reports, Raikkonen will be paid a whopping 17 million euros next year just to vacate his seat. He's free to move to another team, but if he does, Ferrari will only owe him 10 million euros. For his part, Kimi says he'll only consider McLaren, and knowing full well of the conditions of his contract, the British team (for whom he drove previously) is offering him only 5 million – a fair bit less than he'd be worth on the open market. The bottom line is that Raikkonen stands to make more money if he sits out next season than if he races.

There are few automobiles we could truly consider works of art. And most of them are expensive. Bentley surely ranks among them, but the British luxury automaker has taken things one step further.

In a new project, Bentley invited its designers to create works of art inspired by their work. No fewer than 22 participated, working in every medium from photography and painting to sculpture. The results are truly intriguing, and will be auctioned off on December 1 in a charity auction held by Bonhams to benefit cancer research at Manchester's The Christie Hospital. The event is by invitation only, but you can view the pieces in the gallery below.

A limited edition Koenigsegg CCXR Trevita diamond-weave carbon fiber supercar (above), the first of only three being built for collectors worldwide, is for sale in South Africa with a whopping pricetag of $5 million, making it the world's most expensive supercar - easily beating out the Bugatti Pur Sang. The Swedish supercar is a special version of the marque's already exotic carbon fiber CCXR model, which goes for about $2 million. Both cars feature a 5.0 liter twin supercharged V8 engine producing 1,018 hp, and can do 0-62 mph in 2.9 seconds with a top speed of over 250 mph. The Trevita's unique diamond weave finish means that when exposed to sunlight it "sparkles like millions of silvery white diamonds infused inside the visible carbon fiber weave bodywork."

Steve McQueen's magnificent 1940 Indian Chief motorcycle, one of the most prized among his collection, is being auction off on Nov. 14 during Bonhams & Butterfields' Classic California sale at the Petersen Automotive Museum in Los Angeles. The King of Cool was pictured with the beloved bike on the cover of the book Steve McQueen: The Last Mile. The actor had the classic moto meticulously restored by Southern California's Starklite Motors in the '70s and used it to zoom around the Hollywood Hills. It's estimated at an extremely reasonable $55,000 - $65,000. Also on offer is McQueen's original condition 1949 Chevy pickup which he used to travel incognito around Beverly Hills, wearing sunglasses and a big cowboy hat to dodge the paparazzi; it's estimated at $20,000 - $30,000.

[via Duncan Quinn]