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Have another update today, you lucky people. As the number of cars per update gets smaller, I'm trying to find bigger pictures and more info. Hope this is OK with you.
Today's Trivia : Joining Renault in the no-votes hall of shame are Hyundai, Kia and Proton. Not a strong showing from our Korean and Malaysian friends. If nothing else I would've expected a sympathy vote for the Hyundai Coupe / Tiburon.
12 point cars. Well, just the one.
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Pagani Zonda C12S - The Pagani Zonda is a very exclusive supercar made by Pagani of Italy. Production started in 1999, and the car makes extensive use of carbonfibre and aerodynamics. The car was designed by Horacio Pagani.
Pagani, an Argentinian, wrote to his fellow countryman (and F1 driver) Juan Manuel Fangio, asking about a job in the Silicon Valley of Speed - Modena, Italy. Fangio wrote a letter of recommendation, and Pagani ended up working for Lamborghini. He formed his own company - Modena Design - in the late 80s, who today count amongst their clients Lambo and Ferrari, Renault and others. However, Pagani wanted to thank Fangio by making a car in his honour. Fangio's response? "I am a Mercedes man, so that is the engine you must use." Originally, the car was going to be called the Fangio F1, but when he died the name changed. Only with the Zonda F - the newest Pagani - does Horacio feel the car is good enough to warrant his idol's name - the F standing for Fangio.
The Zonda today (arguably) holds the record for fastest production car time around the famous Nurburgring, in F Clubsport guise. The C12S version, the one pictured here, had 542 bhp and has a top speed of 220mph. Oh, and a $350,000 price tag. As of 2005, only 60 Zondas (in all guises) had been built.
13 point cars
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Ferrari F355 - In the early 1990s, Ferrari wasn't doing very well. In 1993, production had dropped 50 percent over two years, the F40 was no longer the fastest car on the planet, and the 348 was an also-ran in magazine comparison tests. As CAR magazine summed up in 1994, ?When someone else makes the most coveted sports car in the world, you feel an injustice ... ?. If nothing else, the Honda NSX had shown the Italians that it's possible to make a supercar that won't fall apart after a few miles.
The Ferrari F355 was the followup to the Ferrari 348, and was launched in 1994. The name derives from the engine capacity plus number of valves per cylinder, as they were proud to boast about this technological advancement, so that 355 = 3.5 litres engine capacity and 5 valves per cylinder. The styling was tuned in a wind tunnel, which meant better aerodynamics. It also had a completely flat floor.
Eventually, 5 versions were available : the coupe (Berlinetta), a targa-roof (GTS), a convertible (the Spider), a racing variant (F355 Challenge), and the 355 Serie Fiorano, a limited run of 100 signifying the end of F355 production. Overall, 11,273 F355s were built. The Ferrari F355, in all its forms, was so well-received that that former Ferrari F1 champion Phil Hill named it as one of the 10 best Ferraris ever, placing it alongside such immortals as the 250 GTO and 250 SWB.
McLaren F1 - "The McLaren F1 is one of the most significant cars ever made. This is mostly down to it's mechanicals, packaging and aerodynamics. In therms of design it's no less of an achivement as it still looks every bit as modern today as it did 15 years ago. It was the perfect design done by Peter Stevens to to fit the engineering work done by Gordon Murray."
Before the Bugatti Veyron, there was only one supercar that commanded every superlative and journalistic clich? in the book - the McLaren F1. The styling was done by Peter Stevens (who, since you can't really better designing the F1, ended up taking a job at MG Rover), and the chief engineer was Gordon Murray. The car was able to hit 231mph officially (with a rev limiter), although a five year old prototype F1 hit 240mph at Ehra-Lessien, VW's test circuit in Germany.
The team making the F1 decided to only use the best materials they can. For example, each F1 contains 25 grams of gold (in the form of foil), used as an insulator for the engine. The V12 powerplant was custom-built for them at BMW. Tyres were specially developed by Goodyear and Michelin, and are protected by a tough paint (as normal tyres would not cope with 200mph+ speeds). As carbon-based ceramic brakes were in their infancy, they were shunned and Brembo brake discs were used instead.
To give you an idea of how good the McLaren F1 was, Gordon Murray is often asked if, given the chance, he'd make a new one (or what would he change). His response? "Besides updating the brakes and the headlights, I wouldn't change a thing". There you go.
Aston Martin V8 Vantage (1st generation) - At its introduction in 1973, the V8 Vantage was hailed as "Britain's first supercar", due to its 170mph top speed. It shared an engine from the Lagonda (a V8, funnily enough), but had various tweaks, such as larger intake valves and high performance camshafts.
The Vantage name had been used before on high-performance versions of Astons, but this was the first time it was a separate, distinct model. 0-60mph took 5.3 seconds, which was better than the equivelant Ferrari of the day - the Daytona. The car was famous for its appearance in the Bond film 'The Living Daylights'. Extra features added by Q involved retractable outrigger side skis, a jet engine hidden behind the rear number plate and heat-seeking missiles.
Production lasted 13 years, from 1977 to 1989, and 534 were built - 342 saloons and 192 convertibles. The V8 Vantage name was recently used again for the new 'baby' Aston Martin.