Beautiful Cars: 2011

Friday, 12 August 2011

Nemo's Car

this (in a weird kind of way) is a beautiful car ... well, i do like steampunk anyway and i'm pretty sure, that if we lived in the alternative steampunk universe, this is what cars would look like ...

this is nemo's car from the movie "the league of extraordinary gentlemen" ... not exactly a masterpiece of movie making (despite the magnificent cast), but the special effects were passable and this car saved the movie for me ...

unfortunately i can't find an awful lot of information about it, but it looks say it all anyway ...

Saturday, 6 August 2011

Wiesmann Roadster MF3

this is the most beautiful british car design i've ever seen ... this is what thoroughbred british roadster should look like ... it handels better than any british roadster ever built ... leather interior that would put a jaguar or aston martin to shame ... beautiful craftsmanship ... a triumph of british car engineering ... only that this car is not british ... it's german! ... this is the wiesmann roadster and it is build in dülmen/germany ...

a light carbon fibre body and a powerful BMW M3 engine make sure that this beast runs like nothing else, but as always it is the beautiful design, that blows me away ...

the wiesmann roadster MF3 at other websites:

Thursday, 28 July 2011

Dodge Challenger

i like all kinds of cars ... german, italian, british, even american ... a wonderful period of american car design were the 1960's and 70's with their muscle cars ... my absolute favorite of this species is the 1970 dodge challenger ... as i've said before; in my opinion performance is secondary ... looks is everything and that is what dodge obviously thought too ... the scoop hood was fake on most cars ... the scoops simply pushed air into the engine bay, rather than forcing it into the engine ... for that, you needed the "shaker" hood, which was essentially an attachment to the air cleaner that protruded through the hood ...

the 1970 dodge challenger at other websites:

Volkswagen Beetle Cabriolet

Beautiful Cars, Volkswagen, VW, Beetle, Cabriolet, Convertible, German

this is still a proper VW beetle convertible (or VW käfer cabriolet as it was originally called) and not the over prized retro beetle ... it has to be said though, that the original convertible was not prized like a "volkswagen" (peoples car) either ... though the basic VW beetle had a sales price that made it affordable for the working class, the convertible was always a pretty expensive car ... it's a real looker though ...

the VW beetle cabriolet at other websites:

Bugatti Veyron Super Sport

this is THE super car of the modern age ... the bugatti veyron super sport ... everything about it is a superlative ... most car enthusiasts know, that it delivers 1.200 bhp, but it DOESN'T! ... measured correctly the W16 engine produces more than 3.000 hp!!!, but 2/3 of that is heat! ... to deal with that amount of heat each veyron has 10 radiators! ... the control system for the double clutch gear box alone has the same computing power as 4 normal laptops! ... and another interesting fact; if there was a track on earth were you could drive the veyron at full throttle all the time, the tank would be empty in 12 mins! ... but, for me the most important thing; it is one of the best looking cars ever built! ...

the bugatti veyron super sport at other websites:

Dodge Viper

the americans are not exactly known for producing exceptional sports cars, but that changed with the introduction of the dodge viper ... with a 8.4 ltr V10 engine producing 600 bhp (450 kW) this generation IV model is more than sufficiently motorised, but engine power was never a problem with american cars ... it was the handling and cornering abilities where they fell short ... not so with the viper ... track times are better than those of ford GT, nissan GTR, porsche 911 turbo, 911 GT3, and 911 GT2, audi R8, and similar cars ... and, of course, it is undeniably beautiful, especially the rear end (which is, what most people will see of it anyway)! ...

the dodge viper at other websites:

Porsche Carrera GT

after i've shown a few more "affordable" cars i'd like to introduce another gorgeous more exotic car, which probably none of us will ever call our own ... the porsche carrera gt ... it was porsche's first limited production supercar since 959 production stopped in 1988 ... what a beauty! ... and the specs i can only describe with the words of tim "the tool man" taylor: "more power! ... arrrgh, arrrgh, arrrgh" ...

the porsche carrera GT at other websites:

Jaguar XJ12 Series 3

the jaguar XJ12 ... the one i almost bought and i still regret, that i didn't ... i had a BMW 750i at the time and a doctor friend of mine (who had just bought the new model XJ8) offered me his old XJ12 (and an XJ6 of the same year for parts) at a fair price, but the deal never came to pass ... a shame, because this is still one of my all time favorite saloons ...

the jaguar XJ12 series 3 at other websites:

BMW 02

the BMW 02 ... one of the few cars presented here that i once called my own ... i had the 1802 ... not this particular one (sadly, i don't have any photos left), but exactly the same model in the same colour ... it didn't look as good, since i bought it in bad condition to restore it, but the car decided it'd had enough of life and the motor exploded on me before i could get started with the restoration ...

the BMW 02 at other websites:

Volkswagen Samba Bus

the VW samba bus is a good example that even mini buses can be beautiful ... they were marketed for touring the alps, as they had small skylight windows embedded into the vehicle roof to add viewing windows ...

the VW samba bus at other websites:

"Ferrari" Dino

the ferrari that wasn't a ferrari ... though built by the italian manufacturer with the prancing horse it wasn't marketed under that name ... the name ferrari was reserved for their 12 cylinder models, while the dino had only a 6 cylinder engine, which was actually produced by fiat ... i still think that this is one of the most beautiful "ferrari's" ever ...

the dino at other websites:

Triumph Spitfire MK1

unfortunately most good looking cars are pretty expensive, but not all of them ... a triumph spitfire MK1 like this one went for £ 641,- (€ 728,-) in 1963 ... today they are pretty rare, but the very similar MK2 can be had for € 7.000,- to € 10.000,- depending on the condition it is in ... i've always wanted one (and still do) and think it is the most gorgeous reasonably priced roadster ever ...

the XXX at other websites:

Rolls Royce Phantom

ok ... i'm getting prepared to get stoned to death ... the rolls royce phantom most certainly makes feelings run high in one way or another ... some say it's an automobile monster, the others it's a future classic ... in my opinion it's beautiful, because it is all that rolls royce stands for ... big luxury classy cars ... yes it is huge ... yes it has a monstrous radiator grill and what? ... it's a rolls for god's sake! ... i love, that it screams money ... if dagobert duck was a real person he'd drive one (or would be driven in one) ... this is the ultimate luxury packed in a charismatic skin ...

the rolls royce phantom at other websites:

Aston Martin DB9 Volante & DBR9

Beautiful Cars, 2+2 Seater, 2000's, British, Race Car

the DB9 is arguably one of the most gorgeous modern(ish) cars around, but just when you think it can't get any better they make a race version (DBR9) and a convertible (volante) of it ... look at them! ... honestly ... how cool is that? ...

the aston martin DB9 volante at other websites:

the aston martin DBR9 at other websites:

DeltaWing

well ... if that is not a looker, i don't know what is ... this is the DeltaWing, a revolutionary sports car, which will take part at the 2012 le mans 24-hour race ... it has "only" 300 bhp, but because of its aerodynamic shape is still supposed to reach the 200 mph speed required for le mans ... what a beauty! ...

the deltawing at other websites:

Formula One Gurney Eagle

as i have mentioned before, the most beautiful formula one cars were made at the end of the 60s ... in my opinion anyway ... i just found a fantastic piece of art depicting the gurney eagle ... one of the most beautiful grand prix cars ever built, the eagle won the 1967 “race of champions” at brands hatch and also the grand prix of belgium in 1967 ... the first, and so far, only victory for an american in an american grand prix car in the modern era ...

the gurney eagle at other websites:

Aston Martin DB9

most cars in my "beautiful cars" collection are classics or at least out of production ... there are very few new cars that i'd consider beautiful ... one of them is the aston martin DB9 ... the brits can still do it ... on the british automotive show top gear the DB9 the presenters considered it to be "too cool" for the "cool wall" and it received its own category, dubbed the "DB9 sub zero fridge" ...

the DB9 at other websites:

Rolls Royce Corniche Convertible

the rolls royce corniche convertible is already one of the most beautiful 4 seater convertibles ever built, but i messed around with this one a bit ... with all the cars in this collection i made the effort and searched the internet for photographs with exactly the colours i like them in ... in the case of the rolls i couldn't find it (probably, because the paint scheme i like doesn't exist) ... so i ran it through my computer and gave it a two tone paint job and a golden "spirit of ecstasy" ... looks just great! ...

the RR corniche convertible at other websites:

Porsche 550 Spyder

and another fantastic piece of german craftsmanship ... the porsche 550 spyder ... that's the car james dean managed to kill himself in ... it was porsche's first real race car ... it was so low to the ground, that former german formula 1 racer hans herrmann drove it under closed railroad crossing gates during the 1954 "mille miglia" ...

the spyder at other websites:

Mercedes 300SL Gullwing

this is the most beautiful example of german engineering ... the first ever supercar ... the mercedes 300SL ... the car had a complex, tubular-truss chassis ... this dictated the unique roof-hinged doors ... since the tubing ran halfway up the car, conventional side-hinged doors would have compromised frame stiffness ...

the XXX at other websites:

Lamborghini Countach

holy cow!!! ... well ... this is more or less what "countach" means translated into english ... in my opinion the best looking lamborghini ever, though it was a bugger to drive ... brutally fast, aggressive, outrageous, dramatic but essentially unpractical an irrational is probably the best way to characterize the countach ... still, it dominated the sports car scene for the last twenty years of the 20th century ...

the lamborghini countach at other websites:

Jaguar XK120

i don't have to say anything about that one, i think ... pure beauty ... the jaguar XK120 ... the "120" in its name referred to its 120 mph (193 km/h) top speed, which made the XK120 the world's fastest standard production car at the time of its launch ...

the jaguar XK120 at other websites:

Hummer H1

the ultimate off roader ... the hummer H1 ... not necessarily because of its performance (i think the new range rover is as good if not better), but because of its looks ... one feels like arnold schwarzenegger driving one of these ... it's a shame they had to spoil it all with the H2 ... the H1 can climb a 22-inch vertical wall, traverse a 40% grade side slope fully loaded (with nearly 3,500 pounds of payload), and operate in up to 30 inches of water ... the H2 can climb a 16-inch vertical wall, traverse a 40% side slope, and operate in up to 20 inches of water ... so basically the earlier model of this monster was better than the successor and let's face it; it looks better too ...

the hummer H1 at other websites:

Ford GT

another magnificent sports car ... the ford GT and i'm talking about the new one and not the model that was so famous in the 60s, the ford GT40 ... that was also a fantastic car, but the 2005 GT is even better ... looks almost exactly the same (it is longer, wider and higher though), but is more practical and performs even better ... 0-100 km/h: 3.3 secs ... top speed: 330 km/h ... easy to remember, right? ... lots of 3s ...

the ford GT at other websites:

Tuesday, 26 July 2011

Ferrari Enzo

i like sports cars and you will find plenty here in my little collection ... one of them is the ferrari enzo ... only 399 were origonally built, but ferrari built one more "enzo" - the 400th car ... it was auctioned by sotheby's maranello auction in 2005, to benefit survivors of the 2004 tsunami for €950,000, almost twice its list price ... the car with some of the most impressive specs (see our links) and one of the most extreme bodies in sports car history ...

the ferrari enzo at other websites:

1959 Cadillac Eldorado Biarritz

aaahh ... american cars of the 50s ... weren't they just dreams? ... petrol guzzlers, yes, but what a design! ... this 1959 cadillac eldorado biarritz is a good example ... this car had the tallest cadillac tailfins ever ...

the 1959 cadillac eldorado biarritz at other websites:

Monday, 25 July 2011

F1-67 Formula One Car Replica

Beautiful Cars, Formula One Car Replica, 1960's, 2000's, 2010's, Race Car

this is a formula 1 car of an era when they where still cars and not inverted airplanes ... in the 1950s, f1 cars had front engines ... that changed in the 60s and at the end of that decade they started installing those really big monsters of an engine ... that's my favorite time and this F1-67 is a good example ...it's actually a replica, but still absolutely beautiful ...

the F1-67 at other websites:

F1-67

Thursday, 21 July 2011

1958 Corvette

ok ... this is the first post in my new blog "beautiful cars" ... if you like stunningly designed cars, stay tuned to this frequency, because many will follow ...

we start with a 1958 corvette ... in my opinion the most beautiful 2 seater convertible ever built ... it was the first one with four head lamps and it was available with up to 290 bhp engines! ... please note the slightly pastel hue of the red ... it was called "signet red" ... absolutely beautiful! ...

the 1958 corvette at other websites:

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